I note that any time you have the party of Limbaugh, Hannity, Delay in power, when the public grows weary of their failure to legislate effectively, it will always be the other side’s fault. When Iraq is over and done with, these people will blame Democrats for its failure, just like they have by laying the failure of Vietnam on the doorsteps of anti-war protestors. Ex-GIs don’t hold any sway, regardless of how many join in the protest, as to this crowd there’s absolutely zero chance that their failure to lead the country in any aspect of government has anything to do with their own actions. So now we have the argument that Congress has been a failure because of the obstruction of Democrats. Here are some facts to chew on:

1. July 17, 2003 - House Ways & Means Committee - Portman-Cardin Pension Bill - The bill that had been agreed upon by both sides of the committee was substituted just prior to midnight by Rep. Bill Thomas (R-CA) who informed everyone that it would be voted on the following day. Committee Democrats met in a room to craft a Democratic alternative, which prompted Thomas to call the Capitol Hill police to run the Democrats out. Like many pieces of legislation put to vote by Republicans in this Congress, there was no time to review the bill or propose ammendments. The problem with this bill was it “would allow companies to reduce the amount of money they have to set aside to meet future obligations to defined benefit plan participants.” Basically it would allow them to cook the books, then down the road move to do what the airlines did by shifting pension responsibilities to the government. I wrote about this a while back: “To inflate earnings companies predict high returns on their pension funds whether they are realistic or not. By predicting a high rate of return, more money can be redirected from the pension funds to the balance sheet, creating higher earnings and investment. A fund can legally be predicted to make a return of 8%, come in at under 1% and the next year be predicted to again come in at 8%…When this happens, the federal program (PBGC) picks up the slack and provides the workers a portion of what they should have received from the company they worked for. In 2001 PBGC reported a surplus of $8 billion, but last year it reported a deficit of $23 billion.”
2. The Patriot Act - Originally crafted in the House Judiciary Committee and approved by a 36-0 vote. The bill is sent to the Rules Committee, where Republicans “simply chucked the approved bill and replaced it with a new, far more repressive version, apparently written at the direction of then Attourney general John Ashcroft”. The Rules Committee rejected ammendments, denied the chance for up or down votes within the committee, and the Ashcroft version went to the floor.
3. Of the 111 rules introducted in the first session of this Congress, only twelve were open. On the opening day of the 104th Congress, then-Rules Committee chairman Gerald Solomon announced his intention to institute free debate on the floor. “Instead of having seventy percent closed rules, we are going to have seventy percent open and unrestricted rules.” That was 1995, in response to Democratic power having turned an 85% rate in 1977 to 30% in 1994. So from Solomon’s statement in ‘95 to today, the rate is 10.8%. Even Democrats at their worst (30% is horrible for an open democracy), aren’t as nasty as Republicans today.
4. Subpoenas - From the 1950s until the GOP takeover in 1995, no Democratic committee chairman issued a subpoena without either minority consent or a committee vote. In the Clinton years, Republicans got rid of that standard and issued 1000+ and went over 2 million pages of documents to find Democratic crimes, misappropriations, coverups, etc. Since George W. Bush became President, this same Congress has issued ZERO. With reasons for going to war with Iraq, no-bid contracts, Katrina…they’ve found NOTHING worthy of a hearing or investigation!?!?!

Those are a few examples out of many. It’s interesting to study the differences between the creators of our democracy, what they intended for Congress to do, and what it is today. Anything the President wants, he gets, and oversight is a thing of the past. There are no checks and zero ballance. This is not the fault of a minority party.

Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 1:01 PM MDT

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“He is exaggerating the effects of the disease,” Limbaugh told listeners. “He’s moving all around and shaking and it’s purely an act…This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn’t take his medication or he’s acting.” For some reason people got upset over Rush’s analysis here, and he appologized, before pointing out that parkinson’s has made Fox almost as sick as liberalism has. Truth is, if the government started funding stem-cell research today, there wouldn’t be a cure for this disease tomorrow, so it’s clearly not worth discussing. Our missile defense shield on the other hand is a mere turn of the screw away from rendering nuclear attacks against the United States forever feckless.

Speaking of feckless, how about this President of ours! He’s on TV saying “we’ve never been stay the course”, which on its own is enough to keep you laughing and/or crying (depending on whether or not you’re in the military) for a few hours, days, deployments…here’s a video with him saying over and over and over the three word phrase most liked by the phonics monkey writing the bulk of his Iraq war jargon until just recently. Here’s a good Q&A with Tony Snow on the matter: Q: Tony, it seems what you have is not “stay the course.” Has anybody told the President he should stop calling it “stay the course” then? SNOW: I don’t think he’s used that term in a while. Q: Oh, yes, he has, repeatedly. SNOW: When? Q: Well, in August, because I wrote a story saying he didn’t use it — and I was quite sternly corrected. —— OK then, so the President hasn’t said “stay the course” in a long time, except for in August, and the Republicans who have been saying it a hundred times a day each just aren’t paying attention to what’s happening “on the ground” I suppose. Because our strategy is quite dynamic these days, what with the patrols and shooting and the new Popeye’s Chicken that opened up in the Green Zone…but wait, Donald Rumsfeld is being intereviewed by Sean Hannity on the radio today and says, “of course (Bush) isn’t backing away from ’stay the course’”…I’m sure Tony Snow will clear all of this up tomorrow.

As for Iraq itself, it’s clearly going well over there, as the death toll has been in decline, chocolate bars are being accumulated in preparation for Halloween, and in just a few days we should be hearing an announcement on the Summer Olympics coming to Baghdad. Today something funny happened, perhaps a big of trickery in honor of October 31st…General Casey and the ambassador are holding a press conference touting the progress being made, and the lights go out. That’ll make your shirt collar feel a little tight.

F-Jackie! — Oh, and BC kicked Florida St in the teeth last Saturday, on their home turf…nail up that scalp alongside our two wins in two years vs. Clemson, last year in Death Valley and…carry the two…factor in wind…32 mason jars of moonshine…

Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 11:59 PM MDT

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I’ve consumed enough “so what about the Celtics” articles by now, I could go without a single word along those lines for the rest of the season…in fact, the next “where is this team headed” piece I read is going to be a few weeks before the draft next year. Enough bullshit already…that’s how I feel at this point.

My only question heading into the regular season is, what in particular made it obvious to anyone that Doc Rivers was cut out to be an NBA coach prior to him arriving in Boston? How about since? One thing I’m convinced of at this point is he’s outmatched or unmotivated in terms of stoping another team in the half court defense. There’s no consistent plan that I can see from game to game since he’s been here, and the result, especially when it comes to the one-step-late mess in the paint, is the kind of thing that a veteran offense drools over whether its regular season or playoffs.

It seems to me that he’s taken the attitude with two HIGH SCHOOL draftees in Perk and Al, that by covering their man and being “coached” over time, they’ll figure it out. The result is piss-poor footwork, no consistent triggers for rotation or doubleteam or help, and fouls committed by these two, who both have the athleticism to be much better than they are at this point in their careers. We went out and got a ringer because of this, although Ratliff could also be viewed justifiably as a throwin along with Telfair…I happen to think otherwise though, that the difference between #7 and Telfair was worth the difference between Lafrenz and Ratliff, and Ainge’s hope is that by having a guy who doesn’t need “time” or “coaching” to not look foolish on the inside, perhaps Doc can finally figure out how to stop a team every once in a while.

I think it’s a bad sign if man-up in the halfcourt the majority of the time, and a ranking in the bottom third of the league in team defense is reality come January. If that’s the case, Ainge should have already reviewed enough tape of Doc’s Orlando teams (ESPECIALLY THE SERIES VS DETROIT IN HIS LAST SEASON AS COACH) to realize that under Rivers, this team will never be able to utilize its athleticism on defense well enough to win a playoff series. At this point Doc can either figure it out or he can’t. Can the opposing PG get a step on (West/Rondo/Telfair)? What do I do about that? Has the team practiced anything that will get the ball out of so and so’s hands? HOW DO I MAKE THIS TEAM TAKE JUMP SHOTS TO BEAT US?

I love this roster - - - - for the first time in it seems forever, we aren’t going into the season with a shoehorn in either hand hoping a shooting guard can play the point - AND - there is enough competition at every position on the roster to keep everyone hungry, UNTIL…teams are reaching 100 points too easily, and it gets to where people start feeling that no matter how hard they work, the wins just aren’t going to come. Doc needs to prove himself as a coach EARLY in this season as far as I’m concerned.

Posted by Al Swearengen as Sports at 9:36 PM MDT

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Stupidity at high levels of government should offend everyone, especially when an example of it has to do with life and death. I posted a map of the Sunni/Shia breakdown in the middle east a few weeks ago…wasn’t overly complicated, as you had a map with two colors that your average second grader could have memorized and understood, yet we have this:

Willie Hulon (chief of the bureau’s new national security branch), asked by a reporter about the difference between Sunni and Shia muslims:

• Hulon: “The basics goes back to their beliefs and who they were following”
• Reporter: What about today? Which one is Iran and Hezbollah, Sunni or Shiite?
• Hulon: “Sunni.”
• Reporter: Wrong.

Terry Everett (seven-term Alabama Republican Congressman), VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE SUBCOMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL AND TACTICAL INTELLIGENCE:

• Reporter: Do you know the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite?
• Everett: …low chuckle…”One’s in one location, another’s in another location. No, to be honest with you, I don’t know. I thought it was differences with their religion, different families or something.”

Jo Ann Davis (Virginia Republican) - Head of a House intelligence subcommittee charged with overseeing the C.I.A’s performance in recruiting Islamic spies and analyzing information:

• Reporter: Do you know the difference between Sunnis and Shiites?
• Davis: “Do I? You know, I should. It’s a difference in their fundamental religious beliefs. The Sunni are more radical than the Shia. Or vice versa. But I think it’s the Sunnis who’re more radical than the Shia.”
• Reporter: Do you know which branch Al Qaeda’s leaders follow?
• Davis: “Al Qaeda is the one that’s most radical, so I think they’re Sunni, I may be wrong, but I think that’s right.”
• Reporter: Do you think it’s important for members of Congress charged with oversight of the intelligence agencies, to know the answer to such questions?
• Davis: “Oh, I think it’s very important, because Al Qaeda’s whole reason for being is based on their beliefs. And you’ve got to understand, and know your enemy.”

No intellectual curiosity, nor the desire to even be competent enough to do their jobs!

Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 2:03 PM MDT

24 Comments »

Rape charge recommended for Israeli president

JERUSALEM (CNN) — Police in Israel are recommending that the country’s president be charged with rape and other crimes against several women, a police announcement said.

Police issued a statement Sunday announcing that they have asked Attorney General Menahem Mazuz to charge Israeli President Moshe Katsav with rape, indecent assault and sexual harassment of an undisclosed number of women.

This righteous player from NYC has agreed to post on deadissue - we welcome him! An avid reader of the white man’s lies, an avid eater of the white man’s turkey bacon, we’re glad to have him on board.

Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 1:51 PM MDT

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• Phil - Shaq, Yao, Artest, Hinrich, Randolph, Duhon
• Ricky - Garnett, R. Allen, Bibby, A. Stoudamire, R. Jefferson, C. Frye
• Murray - Kobe, J. Smith, Josh Howard, Peja, Ben Gordon, D. Williams
• Chris - Iverson, B. Wallace, J. O’Neal, G. Wallace, Alston, Kevin Martin
• Ritch - Bosh, V. Carter, Billups, Terry, Illgauskas, Villanueva
• Rory - THE TRUTH, Marion, Cassell, Sheed, Juwon Howard, R. Gomes
• Mark - TMac, Wade, Diaw, Redd, Melo, R. Felton
• TJ - Kidd, Nash, Lebron, Jamison, Mike James, Marvin Williams
• Eric - Arenas, Brand, Joe Johnson, Boozer, Wilcox, Dwight Howard
• Frank - Duncan, Dirk, R. Lewis, Kirilenko, Baron Davis, Chris Paul

1. (Rnd1) Phil - Steve Francis Read the rest of this entry »

   Posted by Al Swearengen as Sports at 11:12 PM MDT

   11 Comments »

Reid got $1M in land sale

As I see it, when you’ve got a mandatory minimum sentence for some kid a few grams over the statute limit for whatever substance they’re caught with…if that’s how our government wants to carry it when it comes to crime and punnishment down here on our level, then it’s about time the same started happening with these politicians! Hook up one of these suits with 20 years for insider trading or pay to play and you’ll see DC clean itself up REAL quick. Duke Cunningham is in the joint not even a year and he’s already cracked, writing crazy accusations about how the local papers framed him.

Introduce some of these pigs to the reality they’re forcing millions of others to fear, that warped reality that insists a “victimless crime” is something that doesn’t exist, because “society” is always the victim…you know, that same rationale religion has used to keep people in line forever, kids too with that list Santa Claus is working on all the time.  I hope the Democrats take back both houses, but I’ve got my shotgun loaded and ready for when they start acting like this last batch of Republicans with the thieving. If either house or the President had been in Democrat control these past 6 years, a lot more crooks would be going to jail. I’m dying to see whether or not it’s just as bad with all three in Democrat hands.

In the Army during the whitewater investigation…the Washington Times ran something on it every day it seemed, so I wasted many hours of my life reading about it, a ton of money was spent, with zilch to show for it in the end. So the legislature CAN round up the posse if they have the will to do so, yet nothing like that happened during this period from 00-06, and we all know a lot of people got fat. It was so easy to steal that most never thought they could be touched. The Foley thing is waking people up to it, but for me…the VA being run underbudget year after year while contractors get hundreds of millions for nothing is a million times worse.

If any collection of Americans are in more of a dire need for some non-friendly incentives to do the right thing than people in politics, I’m all ears.   

Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 10:13 PM MDT

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During my brief stint as a local sports media flunky a few years back, Kenny Rogers suckerpunched me in the clubhouse for no reason, and for a long time I’ve been replaying the moment again and again in my head, especially when I’m drinking…totally uncalled for. It was that moment when I decided the gig wasn’t for me, picked up my glasses and pocketprotector, both on the floor after the assault, with about 20 people laughing at the whole scene, as I stood up he hollared something at me like “WATCH THE FUCK OUT NEXT TIME” - I responded with “THROW STRIKES” - and a second assault took place, this time a teammate joined in, battering my skull with a cup still inside the jock strap, stomping on me with cleats…I blacked out.

He’s shutting out the Yankees through six in game 3.

Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 10:30 PM MDT

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Regardless of how she’s making you feel at the time, congratulating a female state trooper on her sex change is never a good idea.

Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 11:45 PM MDT

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This has been bothering me for a while now, and with conditions on the ground in Iraq being what they are, the military in general today compared with five years ago, when is the Defense Secretary’s boss going to finally tell him to focus on his own job for a change?  He’s failed at every step, yet wants to pretend he’s running the State Department…picking out Chavez and saying we need to do something about his military buildup is not supposed to be his decision to make, nor is his business at this point to play politics with our foreign policy.  If Bush had any respect for Secretary Rice, he’d put an end to this nonsense once and for all.  The man is in charge of the Pentagon, and whether he likes it or not, takes orders from someone higher up on the food chain. 

Or is the President simply too much of a wimp to do what it takes to get his shop in order?  Screw the ‘political fallout’ - the infighting has to stop - as nothing productive comes from this.

Posted by Al Swearengen as Words at 11:06 AM MDT

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