The Political Carnival

C ya! John Ensign Leaves C Street House

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:35:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

Sen. John Ensign has moved out of the C Street house, the Christian home he shared with other elected officials on Capitol Hill that came under scrutiny for its residents’ beliefs and practices and their role in trying to end the Nevada Republican’s affair with a campaign staff member.

The red brick town house emerged this summer as the subject of political intrigue — not only as a pivotal location in Ensign’s affair with Cynthia Hampton, but also that of South Carolina Republican Gov. Mark Sanford, who sought guidance there as he wrestled with his own affair. [...]
Ensign apparently was not pushed out, but left on his own. He apologized to his colleagues.

He better apologize to them! He let them all down with a thud. Now who will his pals share all those funsy secrets with?

Ensign declined last week to discuss his housing situation, after The New York Times reported that the senator was planning to move.

“I don’t discuss my living arrangements,” Ensign told the Sun.

Well, actually, yes he does... but only with his super secret fellow C Streeters as they sit around the living room campfire sharing tales of their various sexcapades. Can't you just picture them all in their Snuggies, whispering and giggling...?

But the Sun confirmed through another source that he left the house a few weeks ago. [...]
Sensing the ongoing scrutiny of his C Street home could continue, Ensign apparently decided to move on.

He might think about moving to R Street... aka Resign.

Back story and many more details here.

VIDEO: SNL Skewers Fox News Election 2009 coverage + Glenn Beck

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:16:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

Shep's partisan attitude didn't strike me as all that Sheppy, but hey... fun stuff anyway:

(via)

Geography of the health care vote

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:04:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

Here is a visual aid to the House health care vote:

(click to enlarge)

H/t: Tiggrr1

VIDEO ADDED: Neo-Nazis rally against illegal immigration in Phoenix

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:39:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

2007

The good news? There were protesters protesting the Nazi protesters. The bad news? The Nazi protesters:

"I've never done anything like this before, but there's just so much racial tension in Phoenix lately," Wilcox said, as he held a sign that read "Nazis stay out of PHX" "I don't want it to seem like (they are) welcome here."

Members of the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group based out of Detroit, were met with a greater number of protesters. [...]

J.T Ready of Mesa also spoke at the America First Rally. He said the group was defending his country against invaders.

I consider Nazis the invaders... of democracy, of the general health and welfare of this country, of rationality and sanity... the list goes on.

Andy Hernandez of Phoenix said he was surprised at the different types of people who showed up to protest the neo-Nazis.

"There's all kinds of people, from different races and colors," Hernandez said. "We represent America. We didn't shut them down, but we gave them a counter protest. We just oppose what Nazi represents."

The Nazis want to shut down people of all races and colors, yet those very same people, the ones who the Nazis long to eradicate, somehow willingly uphold their enemies' liberties.

And the Tea Partiers/Bachmanns/Becks et al. equate the name Obama with the word Nazi... claiming that they represent "real" America.

UPDATE (blog title has been amended):

H/t: Tiggrr1

House Democrats who voted for Stupak amendment

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:13:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

This may have been the bitter pill we had to swallow in order to pass health care reform in the House, but that doesn't mean we have to like it, or agree with it. I sure don't. Abortions are legal, constitutional, and must be performed by, you know, doctors.

Here is a list of the Democrats who supported the anti-abortion amendment:

Bishop (GA)
Cardoza
Cooper
Costa
Costello
Cuellar
Dahlkemper
Donnelly (IN)
Doyle
Driehaus
Ellsworth
Ethridge
Hill
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kildee
Lipinski
Lynch
Michaud
Mollohan
Murtha
Neal (CA)
Oberstar
Obey
Ortiz
Perriello
Pomeroy
Rahall
Reyes
Rodriguez
Ryan (OH)
Salazar
Snyder
Spratt
Stupak
Wilson (OH)

I guess "choice" is only for those who can afford it. Hopefully the next round of primaries will offer us more of that choice thing. I vote for a robust primary option.

House Democrats Who Voted Against the Health Care Bill

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:58:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

Want to know who shouldn't get your donation next election? Actually, that's not entirely true. Dennis Kucinich voted against it for obvious reasons. Fair is fair. I'm not familiar with some of the others, so feel free to fill me in in Comments.

Click on this chart to enlarge, or go here, to see which Democrats voted against the health care reform bill:

And via Taegan:

The party-buckers on the 220-215 vote on Saturday night included 39 Democrats who voted against the bill. Of them, 31 represent districts that voted for John McCain over Barack Obama. Republicans are targeting many of them for defeat in the 2010 election. Of the other eight, three are serving their first terms in districts in which they defeated or succeeded Republicans in the 2008 election.

Video- Rep Cao says he put his district's needs over his party's wishes

noreply@blogger.com (Paddy) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:45:00 +0000

Wow, there's a word for this but it's so infrequently used about a Republican that I can't remember what it is. Maybe Joe Lieberman knows what the opposite is...

Video- Joe Lieberman: I Will Not Allow a Bill With Public Option to Come to a Final Vote

noreply@blogger.com (Paddy) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +0000

This damn droopy dog just wants attention, like a slutty girl at the dance. "Will he or won't he?" F'r.

Cartoon of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Paddy) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:45:00 +0000

Click to enlarge, via.

Lazy Sunday Links

noreply@blogger.com (Paddy) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:15:00 +0000

I got nothing, but I may have finally kicked this cold's butt.

U.S. Supreme Court: Life without parole for a 13-year-old

Mourners give wolf biologist howling send-off

Children with 'tough love' parents do better in life

Pakistan Suicide Bombing Kills Anti-Taliban Mayor

Highlights of Obama's trip to Asia

As oceans fall ill, Washington bureaucrats squabble

Thousands of Japanese protest U.S. base plan

Top 10 conservative conundrums of 2010

Video- Democratic House Leadership Remarks After Health Reform Bill Passage

noreply@blogger.com (Paddy) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:01:00 +0000

Really can't bitch, they got it done. Via Taegan-

House Democrats narrowly clinched a landmark victory on a sweeping health care overhaul Saturday night, voting 220-215 to deliver President Obama a key win on his top domestic priority, Roll Call reports.

The measure, which passed with only one Republican vote, represented six months of hard-fought compromises and deal-making among Democratic lawmakers.

Rep. Anh ''Joseph" Cao (R-LA) was the sole Republican to vote in favor of the legislation denying Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) the unanimous GOP vote he had sought against the bill.

Sunday Talkers

noreply@blogger.com (Paddy) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:45:00 +0000

Meet the Press: Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey; Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R); Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D); Roundtable: David Brooks (The New York Times), E.J. Dionne (The Washington Post), Rachel Maddow (MSNBC), Former RNC Chair Ed Gillespeie and Tom Brokaw (NBC News).

Face the Nation: Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI); Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO); Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL); Republican Strategist Ed Rollins.

This Week: DNC Chair/Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine; RNC Chair Michael Steele; Roundtable: Democratic Strategist Donna Brazile, Republican Pollster Frank Luntz, Cokie Roberts (ABC News), Sam Donaldsen (ABC News) and George Will (The Washington Post).

Fox News Sunday: Virginia Governor-Elect Bob McDonnell (R); Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN); Former New York Times Reporter Jayson Blair; Roundtable: Brit Hume (Fox News), Mara Liasson (NPR), Bill Kristol (Weekly Standard) and Kirsten Powers (The New York Post).

State of the Union: Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey; Virginia Governor-Elect Bob McDonnell (R); Democratic Pollster Peter Hart; Republican Pollster Bill McInturff; Democratic Strategist James Carville; Republican Strategist Mary Matalin; Former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev; Reliable Sources: Joe Klein (TIME); Beth Fouhy (The Associated Press); Author Kevin Auletta ("Googled").

The Chris Matthews Show: Kathleen Parker (The Washington Post); Andrew Sullivan (The Atlantic); John Heilemann (New York Magazine); Savannah Guthrie (NBC News).

Fareed Zakaria GPS: Walter Isaacson (Aspen Institute); Author Robert Caro ("The Years of Lyndon Johnson"); Peggy Noonan (The Wall Street Journal); Author Neil Irvin Painter ("Creating Black Americans"); Former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf.
Amanpour: Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohammed El-Baradai; U.S. Special Envoy to Afghanistan/Pakistan Richard Holbrooke; Ex-Student Leader/U.S. Embassy Hostage-Taker Ebrahim Asgharzadeh; Former Iranian Hostage John Limbert; Former Aide to President Carter Gary Sick.

Line up via Silly Rabbit.

New Docs: Pentagon Ignored FBI’s Warnings on Abusive Interrogations

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:00:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

After reading The Dark Side by Jane Mayer, this isn't all that new. But that's a book, and these are declassified Department of Justice-released documents:

Sadly, they reveal that the FBI knew perfectly well — and repeatedly warned Defense Department officials, as well as Justice Department lawyers — that the abusive interrogation techniques being used on detainees at Guantanamo Bay were likely to be ineffective and make subsequent prosecutions impossible.

As one memo says, while the interrogation techniques based on tactics used in the U.S. Army Search, Escape, Resistance and Evasion (SERE) training “may be effective in eliciting tactical intelligence in a battlefield context, the reliability of information obtained using such tactics is highly questionable, not to mention potentially legally inadmissible in court.”

Yes. Yes, that's what many of us have been saying for years...

That memo was written in May 2003. The “enhanced” interrogation techniques, such as stress positions and prolonged sleep deprivation, were still being used and justified in memos as late as July 2007. The memo raises several important questions. Did the Office of Legal Counsel lawyers drafting those later memos for the CIA not know about the FBI’s earlier objections? Or did they just dismiss them out of hand? Were they told to ignore those earlier conclusions?

Please read the whole piece. It's not long. It ends this way:

That they were so blatantly ignored suggests more than just bad judgment. It suggests a deliberate indifference to the facts and the law, which cries out for a more thorough investigation.

But remember, we can't look backwards, only forward. Move along.

******

All my previous posts on this subject matter can be found here; That link includes one specific to only Fayiz al-Kandari's story here. Here are audio and video interviews with Lt. Col. Wingard, one by David Shuster, one by Ana Marie Cox, and more. My guest commentary at BuzzFlash is here.

Lt. Col. Barry Wingard is a military attorney who represents Fayiz Al-Kandari in the Military Commission process and in no way represents the opinions of his home state. When not on active duty, Colonel Wingard is a public defender in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

If you are inclined to help rectify these injustices: Twitterers, use the hashtag #FreeFayiz. We have organized a team to get these stories out. If you are interested in helping Fayiz out, e-mail me at The Political Carnival, address in sidebar to the right; or tweet me at @GottaLaff.

If you'd like to see other ways you can take action, go here and scroll down to the end of the article.

Then read Jane Mayer's book The Dark Side. You'll have a much greater understanding of why I post endlessly about this, and why I'm all over the CIA deception issues, too.

More of Fayiz's story here, at Answers.com.

Only one network covered Speaker Pelosi's health care remarks live

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:17:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

This is ridiculous:

Tonight, Fox News was the only news channel [other than C-SPAN] to provide live coverage of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi making her way to the house chamber, then speaking to members ahead of tonight's vote on health care reform. CNN stayed with a taped replay of The Situation Room. MSNBC was airing a crime documentary, but mentioned that Pelosi was speaking during a scheduled live cut-in.

Credit where credit is due. But, overall:

The news is on sabbatical. How can there be an informed public and real democracy when we have no meaningful source of facts and information?

Midnight

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:38:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

Updating the health care debate time schedule:

Votes will start around 10 p.m. The final vote might happen close to midnight.

Sources: Pelosi, Dems lock up 218

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:04:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

We've heard this before, but from what appears to be more confident attitudes and body language, I believe it this time:

Hours before an expected vote on a sweeping health care bill, House Democrats believe they've secured the 218 votes they need to approve the bill, several party insiders said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took to the House floor about 6:30 p.m. to say, “Today we will pass the Affordable Health Care for America Act.. . .We will make history. We will also make progress for America's working families."

Thirty-two Democrats have publicly declared their opposition to the bill, giving party leaders the narrowest possible margin to push the bill across the finish line. But numerous sources said Democrats believe they do have the votes after a day of intense lobbying of wavering Democrats.

H/t: Chris LeVoie

Alabama county celebrates official Obama holiday

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:23:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

We hear a lot of criticism of President Obama, and how the honeymoon is long over, how people are disenchanted. Oh yeah? Well, we'll show them! Here are some who are still very enchanted:

The rural, mostly black county has proclaimed Monday as an official holiday celebrating the election of the nation's first black president, Barack Obama. It's one of Alabama's poorest counties, but it's sparing little during five days of festivities.

County employees, as well as city workers in Marion and Uniontown, will get a paid holiday Monday as government offices close, culminating a series of events including an old-fashioned civil rights rally and march, a golf tournament, a weekend carnival and a parade Monday through Marion.

"I feel great about the holiday," said county maintenance worker Leon Brown. "It's history. It's the first time ever we've had a black president. I hope it's not the last time ever." [...]
The Obama holiday was proposed by Commissioner Albert Turner Jr., whose father was one of the marchers beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in the 1965 "Bloody Sunday" voting rights march in Selma. [...]
He said another reason for the holiday was to let the nation know the role Perry County played in protests that led to passage of the Voting Rights Act. Some of the events recall the demonstrations.

"It's not that we're celebrating Obama. We're celebrating America living up to it's creed that all men are created equal," Turner said.

Then a Rushpublic did his Rushpublic thing and found a way to spin a very positive moment into a negative:

But Michael Brooks, a Judson College professor who is a Republican Party official in Perry County, wondered if the five days of events celebrating Obama's election wasn't a little too much for the small, poor county.
"I question whether we needed another paid county holiday in the middle of a recession," Brooks said. "For the first year, it seems it could have been a bit more modest."

Yeah, celebrating is way too much for people bursting with pride to handle when they're trying to find a silver lining during tough times. What could they be thinking?

G.O.P.: Grumpy Old Poopyheads.

High school student Matt Morgan displays his Obama Day holiday tee shirt as he attends a rally at the Marion Military Institute in Marion, Ala., Friday, Nov. 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Obama leaning toward 34,000 more troops for Afghanistan

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:54:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

I've been consumed by the health care debate on CSPAN today, but thought it might be important to pass this along to you:

As it now stands, the administration's plan calls for sending three Army brigades from the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. and the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y. and a Marine brigade, for a total of as many as 23,000 additional combat and support troops.
Another 7,000 troops would man and support a new division headquarters for the international force's Regional Command (RC) South in Kandahar, the Taliban birthplace where the U.S. is due to take command in 2010. Some 4,000 additional U.S. trainers are likely to be sent as well, the officials said.

The first additional combat brigade probably would arrive in Afghanistan next March, the officials said, with the other three following at roughly three-month intervals, meaning that all the additional U.S. troops probably wouldn't be deployed until the end of next year. Army brigades number 3,500 to 5,000 soldiers; a Marine brigade has about 8,000 troops.

This is a no-win for the president. Whether he adds troops or pulls them out, he'll hear about it. IMHO, get them out. But what do I know, right? I just happen to be one of those people who hates death and maiming and putting our military at risk without a clear reason or positive outcome.

VIDEO: Coal ash from U.S. blamed for Dominican town's birth defects

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:06:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

This is excruciating to watch, but it's a must:

Villagers in the Dominican Republic say coal waste from a U.S. power plant has caused birth defects. [...]
It has been six years since a contractor from Delray Beach, Fla., brought the black dusty residue to the province of Samaná, and three years since the ash was cleaned up. Several civil lawsuits and criminal cases later, just when everyone thought it was over, the other shoe has dropped.
A civil lawsuit filed Wednesday in Delaware charges that toxic levels of waste dumped at the Arroyo Barril port has made people nearby sick. After years of repeated miscarriages, women whose blood levels show abnormal levels of arsenic are giving birth to babies with cranial deformities, with organs outside their bodies or missing limbs.
The case highlights the debate over coal ash, an unregulated byproduct of coal energy, which when processed and recycled is used in everything from cement to the foundation for golf courses. Popular Mechanics magazine this month calls a concrete made from coal ash one of the "10 Most Brilliant Products of 2009.''
The ash, a concentrated form of naturally occurring contaminants, is what is left over from burning coal for power. It usually contains arsenic, lead, cadmium, chromium and nickel. But as towns in Tennessee and Maryland clean up massive spills of the substance, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is poised to rule on whether it should be classified as hazardous -- which would be a tremendous blow to influential power companies that have long lobbied against such a classification.

Much more here.

"Clean" coal, my ash.

VIDEO: Shadegg Uses Baby as Prop During Health Care Debate

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:11:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

I wanted to "spit up", and wished Maddy had.

Yes, John Shadegg actually used an innocent infant as a prop, spoke baby talk, and provided us with nothing more than what was most likely in Maddy's diaper at the time. And for this, he got applause.

The collective (im)maturity of the Rushpublic side of the aisle doesn't come close to measuring up to Maddy's level of sophistication.

How utterly humiliating.

Afterthought: Did the Rushpublics start up a new recession era business... Loaner babies?

PhotOH! Tea Partyless in D.C.

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:51:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

Via my Twitter pal Strawberry Blonde, we get a libs-eye-view of the Gigantic Overhwelming Not-Million-Schmuck Tea Party that went on during the House health care debate. She tweets:

"Crowd of abt 150 at e front of capitol. Or 500K using teabagger math."

(click to enlarge)

In the room with President Obama and the Democratic caucus

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:29:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

Via Todd Zwillich:

(click on image to enlarge)

Dep't. of Bad Advice -Memo to Deeds: To win, be wary of Obama, Kaine

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:40:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

Memo to Creigh Deeds: Stop reading misguided pollster's memos...

In early summer, pollster David Petts showed Virginia gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds (D) how he could the win the general election.

The advice in the memo obtained by Politico: "Go negative on the Republican nominee, capitalize on his natural advantage with independents, and be wary of two fellow Democrats -- incumbent Gov. Tim Kaine and President Barack Obama."

Great advice! Wow! Who could ever imagine that Deeds would lose by moving to the right and disassociating himself from a popular president?

VIDEO: The House Debates On Health Care, Obama Says 'Time to Finish Job'

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:29:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

I liveblogged this, but now you can see President Obama's remarks without all my typos and errors.

Palin: If "child in womb" isn't "valuable", then “perhaps the same mind-set applies to" elderly

noreply@blogger.com (GottaLaff) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:59:00 +0000

By GottaLaff

The lying, self-absorbed little death panel-monger is at it again. She really should stick to posing for coloring books:

Speaking to a fund-raising banquet of Wisconsin Right to Life, the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee asserted that if policy-makers don’t believe a child in the womb is valuable, then “perhaps the same mind-set applies to other persons.”

“What may they feel about an elderly person who doesn’t have a whole lot of productive years left,” Palin asked an audience of about 5,000 who paid $30 each to hear her speak in an airplane hangar-like exhibition hall at the Wisconsin state fairgrounds just outside of Milwaukee. “In order to save government money, government health care has to be rationed… [so] than this elderly person that perhaps could be seen as costing taxpayers to pay for a non-productive life? Do you think our elderly will be first in line for limited health care?

“And what about the child who perhaps isn’t deemed normal or perfect per someone’s subjective measure of their use or questionable purpose in the eyes of a panel of bureaucrats making our healthcare decisions for us,” she continued.
Palin did not expressly raise the prospect of government-mandated “death panels” to determine who lives or dies – the incendiary and inaccurate charge she made over the summer about Democratic health care plans—but repeatedly suggested that liberal social policies could lead to de facto euthanasia.

Speaking of euthanizing... How about ending her-- well, it's no longer a career... but whatever it is, it needs to be rationed and then death-paneled.

More here.