'Pat Robertson Prays for End of Scientific Study'

That could be tomorrow's headline if TV preacher Pat Robertson reads The New York Times report on the power of prayer. In a story titled "Long-Awaited Medical Study Questions the Power of Prayer," researches who have studied more than 1,800 patients for almost a decade concluded that "prayers offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people who were undergoing heart surgery." The study further suggests that "patients who knew they were being prayed for had a higher rate of post-operative complications..." Looks like Pat and his 700 Club might have some explaining to do!

'Patriot Pastor' Compares Tom DeLay to Jesus? Good grief!

The Texas Freedom Network is a wonderful organization. Their email updates are among the best in the nation! Here is a clip from a recent message:

"God always does his best work after a crucifixion."

--Rev. Rick Scarborough, head of the religious-right group Vision America, offering encouragement to former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, regarding the negative press DeLay has garnered for repeated ethics violations and his indictment on charges that he violated campaign finance laws.

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DeLay says he sees war on Christianity in U.S.
Sugar Land Republican speaks at conference of religious leaders

By SAMANTHA LEVINE
Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
March 29, 2006

WASHINGTON - American society looks down on Christianity, U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay asserted Tuesday at a conference of religious conservatives, but God and Jesus Christ have chosen Christians to stand up for faith.

DeLay, who is facing tough times of his own, offered a half-hour speech that was part history lesson and part sermon to a crowd of about 300 gathered at a Washington hotel for a two-day conference titled "The War on Christians and the Values Voter in 2006." (full story)

BUSTED: 'Abram-off' to jail

Jack Abramoff will soon be off to jail, can Tom DeLay and Ralph Reed be far behind?
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Abramoff sentenced to 70 months in prison

By CURT ANDERSON
Associated Press

MIAMI — Assuring the judge he is working to become "a new man," disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced today to nearly six years in prison for committing fraud in the purchase of a fleet of gambling boats. (full story)

Kenneth Lay: No Jail, No Justice

The prosecution has rested its case against Enron Chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. The duo raked in nearly $375 million between 1999 and December 2001, when the company sought bankruptcy protection.

Lay, whose take during the three year time period was more than $222 million, says "We're looking forward to getting on the stand and getting our case out there -- the positive case."

Positive for him maybe, but what about the employees and investors who lost everything?

If Martha Stewart can do time and these men don't end up in prison there is no justice.

Coming soon ...

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More of the same with Bolten

If you have not yet checked out The Carpetbagger Report you should. It provides a plethora of information for political junkies.
_____________________________________

Meet Josh Bolten

The Carpetbagger Report
March 28, 2006 Posted 10:42 am Printer Friendly

To follow up on my earlier post on Andy Card's resignation, I think it's also worth mentioning that his successor, former OMB Director Joshua Bolten, is getting a pretty big promotion despite not having much success on the job. The president said this morning:

"With me today is Joshua Bolten, who will be the new White House Chief of Staff. Josh is a man with broad experience, having worked on Capitol Hill and Wall Street and the White House staff, and for nearly three years as a Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Josh is a creative policy thinker. He's an expert on the budget and our economy."

I guess it depends on what one means by "expert." As the president's budget director, Josh Bolten has helped add $2 trillion to the national debt in less than three years. He's also helped oversee a dramatic rise in government spending and a series of irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthy that the country couldn't afford.

Bolten has sold reckless tax cuts as fiscal responsibility, defended absurd budget tricks as sensible governing, argued falsely that tax cuts can pay for themselves, made demonstrably-false claims about the budget deficit, and embraced misleading scare tactics to promote privatization of Social Security. Bolten also made quite an impression with a memo last year arguing that the administration could ignore legal restrictions and spend as much as it pleases on fake news segments and pundit payola.

Only Bush would see Bolten as the kind of official in need of a promotion. Anyone hoping that today's staff shake-up might represent a change in direction for the Bush White House is likely to be disappointed.

White House of Card(s) Collapsing

President Bush announced this morning that he has accepted the resignation of White House Chief of Staff Andy Card. The president didn't say it, but rumors have circulated for weeks that someone was going to have to fall on their sword to try and salvage the Bush presidency, and Card is the guy.

Republican's were urging the President to get some "new blood" in the West Wing. Bush has chosen to replace Card with budget director Josh Bolton. Budget director? The irony in that astounding!

AP reports: Bolten is widely experienced in Washington, both on Capitol Hill as well as at the White House, where he was deputy chief of staff before becoming director of the Office of Management and Budget.

At a White House news conference last week, Bush was asked about rumors that a shakeup in the White House staff was in the works. Bush said he was "satisfied with the people I've surrounded myself with."

"I've got a staff of people that have, first of all, placed their country above their self-interests," he said at the time. "These are good, hard- working, decent people. And we've dealt with a lot. We've dealt with a lot. We've dealt with war. We've dealt with recession. We've dealt with scandal. We've dealt with Katrina.

"I mean, they've had a lot on their plate. And I appreciate their performance and their hard work and they've got my confidence," he said.

Bush said, "I'm satisfied with the people I've surrounded myself with. We've been a remarkably stable administration, and I think that's good for the country."

What would be good for the country would be to replace the Republican leadership in Congress with Democrats, and to FINALLY begin impeachment proceedings against Bush and Cheney.

Rule of Law ... Whatever Republicans Want to Make It!

Bush Keeps Breaking Laws, But No One Arrests Him. How Come?

from BuzzFlash.com

Oh, do definitely read our lead editorial this morning.

We have felons in the White House -- and hardly anyone on Capitol Hill appears to care.

In fact the Democratic leadership is more interested in shunning Feingold than making Bush and Cheney abide by the law and the Constitution.

Like, what's up with that? Read today's BuzzFlash editorial and find out.

From Front Line to Unemployment Line

U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT RATES OF VETERANS AND NON-VETERANS

Veterans have historically had a higher unemployment rate, but among 20- to 24-year-olds, that rate has been climbing dramatically since the beginning of the war in Iraq.
Chicago Sun-Times

From the front line to the unemployment line

BY CHERYL L. REED Staff Reporter
Chicago Sun-Times
March 26, 2006

Mark Wirth Jr., a 21-year-old from Orland Park, figures the skills he learned as a combat Marine are too valuable to waste waiting tables.

But back in civilian life now after serving two tours in Iraq, Wirth isn't getting any offers for the jobs he wants, the jobs he thought the military had trained him to do -- in law enforcement or security consulting. He says the only job he has been offered, through the state's job bank, is as a truck driver.

"I know how to drive a Humvee," said Wirth, who's aiming for a job that pays at least $13 an hour. "But I don't know how to drive an 18-wheeler." (full story)

The Dixie Chicks Were Right!

Natalie Maines, of the Dixie Chicks, came under fire in 2003 for telling a London audience on the eve of the Iraq war she was "ashamed" the president was from their home state. Following the comment the group had to install metal detectors at their shows because of death threats.

Three years later the American people have caught up with Maines, and have given this president his lowest approval rating to date -- 34 percent.

The Dixie Chicks are back in the news with the release of a new single, "Not Ready to Make Nice." The song addresses the controversy head on, with Maines singing in the chorus, "I'm not ready to make nice. I'm not ready to back down. I'm still mad as hell and I don't have time to go round and round and round."

If you agree with the Dixie Chicks let your money do your talking -- go out and buy their new CD. And call country radio stations and ask that they play "Not Ready to Make Nice" -- heck, ask every radio station in your community to play the song! It's very likely that 66 percent of the people listening will agree!

Former First Lady Ignites Controversy with Katrina Donation

Stealing a line from Bush fan Britney Spears, former First Lady Barbara Bush should be telling son George, "Oops!...I Did It Again."

The Houston Chronicle reports: "As Barbara Bush spent two hours championing her son's software company at a Houston middle school Thursday morning, a watchdog group questioned whether the former first lady should be allowed to channel a donation to Neil Bush's Ignite Learning company through Houston's Hurricane Katrina relief fund.

"It's strange that the former first lady would want to do this. If her son's having a rough time of it, couldn't she write him a check?" said Daniel Borochoff, founder of the American Institute of Philanthropy, a Chicago-based charity watchdog group. "Maybe she isn't aware that people could frown upon this."

"Some critics said donations to a tax-deductible charitable fund shouldn't benefit the Bush family. Others questioned whether the Houston Independent School District violated district policy by allowing the company to host a promotional event on campus."

In February, World Net Daily reported that: "Investors from the United Arab Emirates helped fund the $23 million Neil Bush raised for Ignite!, the learning systems company that holds lucrative No Child Left Behind Act contracts in Florida and Texas.

"Neil Bush's frequent travels to Dubai are documented by Datamatix, a Dubai-based information technology company that has featured Neil Bush as a speaker. The Datamatix website features several prominent photographs of Neil Bush addressing a Dubai conference, identifying Neil Bush as 'the brother of U.S. President George Bush.'

"Neil Bush has a reputation as the 'problem child' of former President George and Barbara Bush. In 1988 he was a director of the failed Silverado Savings and Loan, which collapsed in a scandal that ultimately cost taxpayers an estimated $1 billion. For his role in the savings and loan debacle, he was personally fined and permanently banned from any further activities in banking.

"As investigative reporters start digging to 'follow the money' in what is becoming known as the 'Dubai Debacle,' Neil Bush is certain to find center stage once again in what well could be also dubbed the coming 'Neil-gate' controversy."

This is just what a scandal-ridden administration needs!

It's Fun Friday!

Wonkette.com may be Katherine Harris' biggest fan!

"We’ll admit it, in case you haven’t noticed: we’re kind of obsessed with Katherine Harris. We’re following her determined quest for a U.S. Senate seat very closely, even obsessively."

“I’m really sorry you’re a senile Floridian voter, but there’s nothing I can do…”

South Dakota Abortion Option?

from Boing Boing

Oglala Lakhota president: we'll host abortion clinic on reservation

Responding to South Dakota's statewide abortion ban, the Oglala Lakhota president on the Pine Ridge reservation -- a former nurse -- says she'll provide access to sovereign tribal land for clinics. Snip:

"To me, it is now a question of sovereignty," [Cecilia Fire Thunder] said to [Lakhota Times editor Tim Giago] last week. "I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction."

Link to Native Times article (subscription required), or read excerpt on indybay website here. (Thanks, drogheda, Ryan and others!)

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Indianz.com reports:

"The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women."

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The Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota posted this response on their site. They thank the OGLALA SIOUX but indicate they will stand their ground and use all legal means possible to keep their clinic open. Link

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The state has no jurisdiction over the reservation, but the federal government does. Abortion is still legal in the US for women over 18 who have the means to pay for it ... well, at least for the moment.

Republican Candidates Don't (photo)-Opt for Bush

The NBC owned station in Washington, DC, is reporting that Republican candidates in tight races or swing states don't want to have their picture taken with the president or vice president. It seems that Bush's 34% approval rating scares them. Even staunch religious right conservative Sen. Rick Santorum has closed his event to avoid being photographed standing next to the president. Is anyone surprised?

A Time for Heresy - Bill Moyers

Moyers Speech at Wake Forest

Tom Paine has posted Bill Moyers' recent speech at Wake Forest University under the title "A Time for Heresy." Here's a quote:

We are witnessing a marked turn of events for a nation whose DNA contains the inherent promise of an equal opportunity at "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." We were not supposed to be a country where the winners take all. The great progressive struggles in our history were waged to make sure ordinary citizens, and not just the rich, share in the benefits of a free society. Today, however, the majority of Americans may support such broad social goals as affordable medical coverage for all, decent wages for working people, safe working conditions, a good education for every child, and clean air and water, but there's no government "of, by, and for the people" to deliver on those aspirations. America is no longer working for all Americans.

How did this happen? By design. For a quarter of a century now a ferocious campaign has been conducted to dismantle the political institutions, the legal and statutory canons, and the intellectual, cultural, and religious frameworks that sustained America's social contract. The corporate, political, and religious right converged in a movement that for a long time only they understood because they are its advocates, its architects, and its beneficiaries.

Their economic strategy was to cut workforces and wages, scour the globe for even cheaper labor, and relieve investors of any responsibility for the cost of society. On the weekend before President Bush's second inauguration, The New York Times described how his first round of tax cuts had already brought our tax code closer to a system under which income on wealth would not be taxed at all and public expenditures would be raised exclusively from salaries and wages.

Their political strategy was to neutralize the independent media, create their own propaganda machine with a partisan press, and flood their coffers with rivers of money from those who stand to benefit from the transfer of public resources to elite control. Along the way they would burden the nation with structural deficits that will last until our children's children are ready to retire, systematically stripping government of its capacity, over time, to do little more than wage war and reward privilege.

Their religious strategy was to fuse ideology and theology into a worldview freed of the impurities of compromise, claim for America the status of God's favored among nations (and therefore beyond political critique or challenge), and demonize their opponents as ungodly and immoral.

To listen to Moyers full speech.

Scandal fatigue in DC, wake me in 2009

The Union Leader, in New Hampshire, is probably one of the most conservative newspapers in the country. So, if they think the recently reported Republican phone jamming scheme is disturbing ... it must be, well DISTURBING!

BuzzFlash.com says: "A new report suggests that the national Republican establishment--including the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and even the Bush White House--may have had a role in the criminal Election Day phone jamming scheme that disenfranchised countless New Hampshire voters in 2002.

The Union Leader today reported that "court records show Ken Mehlman's office received more than 75 telephone calls from now-convicted phone-jam conspirator James Tobin from Sept. 30 to Nov. 22 of that year." At the time, Mehlman--the current RNC Chair--was White House political director. [Union Leader, 3/23/06] This raises the disturbing question of whether Tobin, who worked for the RNC and the NRSC at the time and has since been convicted on two criminal charges for his role in the scheme, discussed the plan with one of the President's most important political strategists." (full story)

The Iraq war, a White House and Republican-controlled Congress steeped in scandal, Bush administration ties to the leak of a CIA agent's name, their tie to the Abramoff scandal, Enron, and massive voter disenfranchisement. Kind of makes one nostalgic for the 'good old days' where the biggest 'crime' in Washington was telling a lie about infidelity.

Why Democrats are in trouble

The Chicago Sun Times reported that with 98.9% of precincts reporting, results for the Democratic primary for District 6 -- a seat held for 32 years by retiring Rep. Henry Hyde -- were as follows:

Christine Cegelis 12,939 40.4%
Lindy Scott 5,038 15.7%
Tammy Duckworth 14,019 43.8%

The paper went on to say: "In his last campaign, conservative icon Hyde got the race of his career from [Christine] Cegelis. The political newcomer took 44.5 percent of the vote. Along the way, Cegelis picked up a devoted cadre.

"But this time, [Senator Dick] Durbin and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) tapped [Tammy] Duckworth to run. Emanuel chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the fund-raising arm for congressional candidates.

"Duckworth made the most of Durbin's and Emanuel's support, raising over $800,000, more than twice the sum raised by Cegelis, her nearest fund-raising competitor. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) cut a TV commercial for her. And Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) raised money for her.

Resentment over national push

"But some Democrats in the 6th District, which covers a large chunk of DuPage County and a smaller portion of Cook, expressed resentment at the way national leaders pushed Duckworth into the race. Duckworth lives in Hoffman Estates, about three miles outside the district.

"While Duckworth's campaign relied on TV ads, mailings and automated phone calls, the Cegelis team poured its efforts into canvassing. On Tuesday, some 260 volunteers went door-to-door in targeted areas, Spidel said. "

Just imagine how well Cegelis could have done with support from her party? Imagine how much money she could have in the bank right now for the fall campaign if Democrats had simply supported her!

Tammy Duckworth served her country honorably in Iraq, and lost both legs in the process. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committtee seemed to think that a veteran would have a better chance of winning. Have they completely forgotten what happened to war hero and veteran Max Cleland? Under Karl Rove's leadership the Republicans were able to get voters in Georgia to question whether or not Clelend would be tough on terrorists!!

Cegelis has the kind of grassroots support Democrats should be nurturing ... not running away from.

Why isn't Kenneth Lay in jail?

Enron Ex-Treasurer Says Lay Endorsed Accounting

By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO and VIKAS BAJAJ
The New York Times
March 22, 2006

HOUSTON, March 22 — A former Enron treasurer testified today that Kenneth L. Lay presided over meetings in which top executives discussed the energy company's precarious finances and endorsed the continued use of complex accounting arrangements because they made it possible for Enron to meet Wall Street's earnings expectations.

Ben F. Glisan Jr., the former treasurer, provided some of the strongest testimony against Mr. Lay heard by the jury so far, as the prosecution entered the home stretch of its case against Mr. Lay, Enron's former chairman, and Jeffrey K. Skilling, the company's former chief executive. The government expects to finish its case by the end of the month. (full story)

Santorum in trouble, calls out God squad

Sen. Rick Santorum's campaign must be in big trouble. Why else would he be soliciting support from churches just weeks after the IRS put them on notice! Looks like the 'family values guy' will do anything to get re-elected. Including, placing at risk the tax exempt status of houses of worship.
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Pastors' Get-Out-the-Vote Training Could Test Tax Rules

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

WASHINGTON, March 20 — Weeks after the Internal Revenue Service announced a crackdown on political activities by churches and other tax-exempt organizations, a coalition of nonprofit conservative groups is holding training sessions to enlist Pennsylvania pastors in turning out voters for the November elections.
. . .

The first training session, on March 6 in Valley Forge, included a videotaped message from a single candidate, Senator Rick Santorum, the Pennsylvania Republican who faces a difficult re-election fight. (full story)

Why the National Debt Matters

The national debt is approaching $9 Trillion dollars

In Fiscal Year 2005, the US government spent $352 Billion of your money on interested payments alone!

To put it in perspective: that's $352 Billion that could have gone toward providing homes to the hurricane victims, building more schools, purchasing books or computers for students, paying college tuition, building community centers to keep kids off the streets, repairing our decaying roads and highways, or providing health care.

How does payment on the interest compare with other expenditures:

• Education at $61 Billion
• Department of Transportation at $56 Billion
• NASA at $15 Billion

Interest payments on the national debt are the fastest-rising expenditure in the federal budget. At the rate debt is accumulating, gross interest costs will exceed defense spending by 2011.

National Security

With all his talk about stopping the terrorists Bush seems oblivious to the biggest threat we face -- that China will call in their loan.

The Editorial Board of the Des Moines Register writes: "All it would take would be for other countries to stop lending money to the U.S. government -- perhaps triggered by another disaster here or abroad -- and there could be soaring interest rates, a crashing stock market and all the misery that would follow.

"More than one-fourth of the national debt is owed to foreigners, with China among the largest creditors. Even a rumor that China will stop buying U.S. notes is enough to send shock waves through Wall Street."


We can no longer afford the spend and tax-cuts-for-the-rich policy of the Bush administration and the Republican-controlled Congress. This is an election year -- it's time some folks got their pink slips.

Review: 'American Theocracy' by Kevin Phillips

Clear and Present Dangers

Review by ALAN BRINKLEY
The New York Times
March 19, 2006

Four decades ago, Kevin Phillips, a young political strategist for the Republican Party, began work on what became a remarkable book. In writing "The Emerging Republican Majority" (published in 1969), he asked a very big question about American politics: How would the demographic and economic changes of postwar America shape the long-term future of the two major parties? His answer, startling at the time but now largely unquestioned, is that the movement of people and resources from the old Northern industrial states into the South and the West (an area he enduringly labeled the "Sun Belt") would produce a new and more conservative Republican majority that would dominate American politics for decades. Phillips viewed the changes he predicted with optimism. A stronger Republican Party, he believed, would restore stability and order to a society experiencing disorienting and at times violent change. Shortly before publishing his book, he joined the Nixon administration to help advance the changes he had foreseen. (full story)

The Jury is In ...

o

Prez and Repubs Losing Ground

Is Anyone Listening?
For six years, Bush has kept his troops in line. But suddenly, the GOP is looking rebellious, disorganized—in short, a lot like the Democrats.

By Richard Wolffe and Holly Bailey
Newsweek

March 27, 2006 issue - The banner hanging over President George W. Bush read united to victory. But as Republicans listened to Bush slog through his familiar pep talk at a $2,500-a-head fund-raiser last Thursday night, the party faithful knew they were anything but united. Over the last year, they ejected a majority leader, squabbled over ethics and spending, and openly criticized the president on Iraq, port security and a Supreme Court pick. If the Republican guests were hoping for a spiritual revival, they left disappointed. Bush's speech met with tepid applause, and GOP officials shuffled to the cash bar feeling deflated. "It just wasn't as celebratory as it has been," said one House aide who declined to be named when talking about a private event. (full story)

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Losing Ground
A NEWSWEEK poll shows President Bush's approval rating dropping to new lows on domestic issues and rising public anger over Iraq and homeland security.

WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Christopher Dickey
Newsweek

March 18, 2006 - A bitterly divided electorate gives President George W. Bush an approval rating of only 36 percent in the latest NEWSWEEK poll, matching the low point in his presidency recorded last November. His image as an effective leader in the war on terror is tarnished, with less than half the public (44 percent) approving of the way he’s handling terrorism and homeland security. Despite a series of presidential speeches meant to bolster support for the war in Iraq, as well as the announcement of a major military offensive when the poll was getting under way, only 29 percent of the people questioned approved Bush’s handling of the situation in Iraq. Fully 65 percent disapprove. (full story)

The Abortion Debate Heats Up

The States: Mississippi Churning
Anti-abortion activists in Ole Miss debate the wisdom of a frontal assault on Roe v. Wade.

Newsweek

March 20, 2006 issue - When "Jane" discovered a few weeks ago that she was pregnant, she nearly collapsed. She already has four kids, ages 6 to 18, to raise on her own, while working full-time as a housekeeper. "I'm struggling trying to take care of them," said the 33-year-old Vicksburg, Miss., native, who gave a fictitious name to protect her privacy. "I'm not financially able" to handle a fifth child. So she turned to what had always been, for her, an unthinkable and morally repugnant option: abortion. On her way in to the Jackson Women's Health Organization in Mississippi last week, anti-abortion protesters descended on her, imploring her not to "murder" her unborn baby. "It isn't that we're selfish, heartless people," she said once inside, her eyes brimming with tears. "When you have that baby, those people aren't going to be around to pay for Pampers or day care." (full story)

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Reality Check for 'Roe'
With the hard right hoping for reversal, the black-and-white war over abortion finds itself immersed in shades of gray.

By Martha Brant and Evan Thomas
Newsweek

March 6, 2006 issue - At first glance, it appeared that the forces of the pro-life movement were on the march last week. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case on partial-birth abortions, and the betting was that the justices would uphold a federal law that bans the controversial procedure. In South Dakota the state legislature voted to outlaw all abortions except to save the life of the [woman]. The legislation, which did not even include the usual exception for rape or incest, was clearly intended as a frontal assault on the high court's 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade, guaranteeing a woman's right to an abortion. (full story)

Too fun to pass up!!

from Wonkette.com:
It’s Friday, Time for a CNN Headline Post







Coming to CNN.com in the near future:

• NSA to Employees: Eavesdrop Til You Drop!
• FBI to Employees: Catch Terrorists, ‘n Stuff!
• FCC to Employees: Cover That Breast!
• FEMA to Employees: Be Competent!

NASA to Employees: Be More Careful! [CNN]

Democratic Prospects in Senate Looking Up

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent
March 17, 2006

WASHINGTON - It wasn't too long ago that Democratic leader Harry Reid mused aloud how it would take a miracle for his party to gain a 50-50 tie in the Senate, much less wrest control from Republicans this fall.

No one is claiming divine intervention in the days since. Yet eight months before midterm elections, Republican incumbents in Pennsylvania, Montana, Rhode Island, Ohio and Missouri face difficult races for re-election in a noticeably more challenging political environment for the GOP. And the early polls show a competitive campaign in Tennessee, where Majority Leader Bill Frist is retiring.

"We're feeling pretty good. If they did a snapshot today, the Senate would be 50-50," said New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, campaign committee chairman for the Democrats. (full story)

"South Park" Spanks Scientology, and Vice-Versa

First came news that Scientologist, former soul god, and aging love-bomb Isaac Hayes, voice of Chef on still-hilarious-after-all-these-years "South Park," has split the show claiming religious bigotry on the part of writer/creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, despite how he's been on the show for 10 years and apparently never had a problem with the show repeatedly mocking the living hell out of fundamentalist Christians, Catholics, Mormons, Jews, Muslims, aliens, Republicans, liberals, whores, gays, Mel Gibson, lesbians, the Japanese, Barbara Streisand, black people, rich people, the handicapped, dwarves, basketball players, plastic surgery, anal probes, John Edward, China and about a thousand others -- that is, until the show went after Scientology. Then, of course, Chef had a problem.

Now comes the delightful news that newly minted Hollywood religious nutjob and megalomaniac Tom Cruise has pressured execs at Viacom, which owns Comedy Central, to yank a second showing of the now-famous 'Trapped in the Closet" episode of "South Park" (the same episode that, presumably, sent Chef into a tizzy), in which Stan is declared the second coming of founder L. Ron Hubbard and is coerced into writing the next cheesy sci-fi episodes of the "religion's" history, and also in which a whiny Tom Cruise locks himself in Stan's closet and refuses to come out and a multitude of characters (including Nicole Kidman and John Travolta, the latter of whom also locks himself in the closet) spend the remainder of the show begging Tom to, you know, come out of the closet, while Tom sits behind the door and denies he is actually in the closet.

(Scientologists, remember, believe that there was a great alien battle 75 million years ago and evil warlord Xenu stuffed billions of frozen alien souls into Earth's volcanoes and then blew them up with hydrogen bombs and brainwashed them with a giant propaganda movie and then... oh hell, read about the weirdness here, if you want. Or here. Plus there's a great Slate piece on Hubbard's general pill-popping hucksterism over here).

Upshot: Chef quit the show, the "Out of the Closet" episode got yanked, Tom got his way while growing numbers of people think he's become more obnoxious than Paris Hilton on a Bacardi bender, and Scientology continued on its merry way of being the singlemost annoying, litigious, bizarre, well-funded group in the modern world next to Mel Gibson's "Holy Family" and maybe Heaven's Gate.

Why should you care? Because it all prompted what might be the best public reply letter ever written, from Parker and Stone and sent to Daily Variety. It is thus:

So, Scientology, you may have won this battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun!

Temporarily anozinizing our episode will not stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies.

Curses and drat! You have obstructed us now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu.
--Trey Parker and Matt Stone, servants to the dark lord Xenu

Which might actually redeem them for the overall lameness of "Team America: World Police," no? (Original source)

Which drug is more dangerous, RU 486 or Viagra?

Any death attributed to the use of a legally prescribed drug is tragic. The reality is, however, that there is a risk involved in taking most any legally prescribed drug. Why else would the disclaimer, usually in very fine print, fill a page in most magazines that carry drug ads.

On Friday, Christian Coalition President Roberta Combs called for the drug RU 486 to be taken off the market. In a weekly legislative alert, Combs said: "It is imperative that the United States Congress ensures that this deadly abortion pill is taken off the market. "

The Christian Coalition leader cited the recent deaths of two women -- which bring the total number of reported deaths to seven -- as justification for the alert.

It is no secret that Religious Right groups like the Christian Coalition want to see an end to all abortion, but there is no foundation for such a drastic move. As mentioned above, any death attributed to the use of a legally prescribed drug is tragic -- so why hasn't the Christian Coalition called for a removal of Viagra?

Viagra, which is used to treat erectile dysfunction, has been linked to the deaths of 522 men. Clearly, using Viagra is vastly more dangerous than the use of RU 486. Why doesn't Combs care about men?

We're here, we're queer, get over it!

Remark About Gays Shadows St. Pat's Parade

By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer
March 17, 2006

NEW YORK - The chairman of the nation's biggest St. Patrick's Day Parade sidestepped questions Friday about his incendiary remarks about gays, as bagpipers and bands marched past hundreds of thousands of flag-waving spectators.

"Today is St. Patrick's Day. We celebrate our faith and heritage. Everything else is secondary," said the chairman, John Dunleavy, who set off a firestorm this week by comparing gay Irish-American activists to neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan and prostitutes. (full story)

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Discrimination, in any of it's ugly forms, must never be tolerated. Someone needs to remind Dunleavy that it wasn't all that long ago that Irish-Americans faced terrible discrimination and violence in this country. His comments about gay and lesbian Americans are just the justification some extremists need to inflict violence today. Come on, it's 2006 already ... get over it!!

Bush & Harris Bombing

We should know soon whether or not bombing the heck out of Iraq will raise Bush's approval rating. Does he even care about the innocent civilians whose lives are being destroyed? And come to think of it, why did we go to war with Iraq? Wasn't it to remove Saddam and capture all the weapons of mass destruction? Well, there are no WMD and Saddam is on trial. So tell me again why we are bombing Iraq?


And, Bush must not be allowed to invade Iran to salvage his plummeting polling numbers, or the mid-term elections for the Republican party. The administration is beating the war drum regarding Iran, and there seems to be no challenge from mainstream media.


On Thursday, NBC White House corresponded David Gregory reported that the Iraq war was overshadowing all the "good" things Bush had done -- like THE TAX CUTS! Is Gregory kidding? Or is he among the top 1% that benefit from the tax cuts? Who knew being a reporter paid so well.


And speaking of bombing -- Katherine Harris has announced that she is not dropping out of the Florida Senate race, even though she is bombing in the polls. Harris said she will spend $10 million of her own money to fund her campaign. Her decision has earned Harris the GOP Hypocrite of the Week award from BuzzFlash.com.

Bush Bombs Iraq ... Budget ... and the Law!

This is why I love BuzzFlash.com -- and why I keep sending them money!
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Military launches largest air assault since the invasion of Iraq nearly three years ago. Winning hearts and minds by blowing them to pieces. http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=mj8gwtbab.0.mdggwtbab.ruvvpabab.7227&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2006%2FWORLD%2Fmeast%2F03%2F16%2Firaq.main%2Findex.html


Senate Votes to Raise Debt Limit (That's $30,000 for every man, woman and child), on a 52-48 vote, and sent to President Bush a bill raising the ceiling on the national debt to nearly $9 trillion and preventing a first-ever default on U.S. Treasury notes. "When it comes to deficits, this president owns all the records," said Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=mj8gwtbab.0.qdggwtbab.ruvvpabab.7227&p=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.yahoo.com%2Fs%2Fap%2Fcongress_debt_limit%3B_ylt%3DAs0jurS8_FcMBKYhGzyE9_is0NUE%3B_ylu%3DX3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--


Sen. Harkin: "We have a President who likes to break things. He has broken the federal budget, running up $3 trillion in new debt. He has broken the Geneva Conventions, giving the green light to torture. He has repeatedly broken promises – and broken faith – with the American people. And now, worst of all, he has broken the law." http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=mj8gwtbab.0.ndggwtbab.ruvvpabab.7227&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tomharkin.com%2F

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Yikes! And ... hurry up mid-term elections!!

GOP Ship Sinking?

o

Let's talk about sex ...

Religious right leaders teach kids that sex is the most awful, filthy, disgusting thing on earth and that you should save it for someone you love. (Anonymous)

"Just saying 'no' prevents teenage pregnancy the way 'Have a nice day' cures chronic depression." (Faye Wattleton)

"I think sex is better than logic, but I can't prove it." (Anonymous)

"Housework is like bad sex. Every time I do it I swear I will never do it again. Until the next time company comes." (Marilyn Sokol)

"If sex doesn't scare the cat, you're not doing it right." (Anonymous)

"During sex I fantasize that I'm someone else." (Richard Lewis)

"I love sex. It's free and doesn't require special shoes." (Anonymous)

"There's nothing inherently dirty about sex, but if you try real hard and use your imagination you can overcome that." (Lewis Grizzard)

The Price of Gas

I always hated the big cars my family would drive, and stated emphatically that when I could buy my own car it would be something small. Over the past 30 years I've done just that -- Ford Mustang, Mazda GLC, Toyota Corolla, Suzuki and now a Ford Focus. The gasoline tank in each of these cars held approximately 10 gallons of gasoline.

I could fill up the Mustang and Mazda for around $5, and the Toyota and Suzuki for around $10 dollars. The increase from $5 to $10 seemed like a lot at the time, but nothing compared to what it has recently cost to fill up my tank.

The most I have spent is $31, which to people with SUV's or other large vehicles probably doesn't seem like a lot.

I don't take a lot of trips with my car, or spend a great deal of time just driving around. I use it to get to work, go to the grocery story, take my dogs to the vet, and other 'regular daily tasks.'

The price of gasoline doesn't just impact me at the gas pump, it has caused the price of my groceries to go up, the cost of vet care, and virtually every business dependent on gasoline to move their products.

As I review my budget, looking for ways to absorb these rising prices, I can't help but question the 'fairness' of major oil companies (who used the Katrina tragedy as justification for sharply increased prices) earning record profits in 2005 -- estimated at around $130 billion (with a "b").

Marriage Equality & Church-State Separation

The following is an exchange we would LIKE to hear regarding a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage:

Marriage Equality advocate: ... and that is why I support marriage equality for same-sex couples.

Religious Right elected official: "But sir, my Bible says marriage is only between a man and a woman. What do you have to say about that?"

Marriage Equality advocate: "Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You did not place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."

The Politics of Abortion

A brief history ...

Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were all known to have suggested abortion. Even Hippocrates, who spoke against abortion because he feared injury to the woman, recommended it on occasion by prescribing violent exercises. Roman morality placed no social stigma on abortion.

Early Christians condemned abortion, but did not view the termination of a pregnancy to be an abortion before "ensoulment," the definition of when life began in the womb. Ensoulment was said to occur forty days after conception for a boy and eighty days after conception for a girl.

At the beginning of the 13th century, Pope Innocent III wrote that "quickening" -- the time when a woman first feels the fetus move within her -- was the moment at which abortion became homicide; prior to quickening, abortion was a less serious sin.

The tolerant approach to abortion which had prevailed in the Roman Catholic Church for centuries ended at the end of the nineteenth century. The change was seen by some as a means of countering the rising birth control movement, with its declining Catholic population. In Italy, during the years 1848 to 1870, the papal states shrank from almost one-third of the country to what is now Vatican City. It has been argued that the Pope's restriction on abortion was motivated by a need to strengthen the Church's spiritual control over its followers in the face of this declining political power.

From 1307 to 1803, abortion before quickening was not punished under English common law, and not regarded by society at large as a moral problem. Because most abortions took place before quickening, punishment was rare. Even if performed after quickening, the offense was usually considered a misdemeanour. This was the case until the nineteenth century; the entry of the state into the regulation of abortion has been relatively recent.

Abortion was not mentioned by the founders when drafting our Constitution, probably because it was legal at the time.

In the United States there is substantial evidence that suggests laws restricting abortion were not driven by prevailing public opinion. The strongest force behind the drive to criminalize abortion was the attempt by doctors to establish for themselves exclusive rights to practice medicine. They wanted to prevent "untrained" practitioners, including midwives, apothecaries, and homeopaths, from competing with them for patients and for patient fees.

The best way to accomplish their goal was to eliminate one of the principle procedures that kept these competitors in business. Rather than openly admitting to such motivations, the newly formed American Medical Association (AMA) argued that abortion was both immoral and dangerous. By 1910 all but one state had criminalized abortion except where necessary, in a doctor's judgment, to save the woman's life. In this way, legal abortion was successfully transformed into a "physicians-only" practice.

It has also been suggested that one of the motivations for anti-abortion laws, which varied from state to state, included fears that the population would be dominated by the children of newly arriving immigrants, whose birth rates tended to be higher than those of "native" Anglo-Saxon women.

The prohibition of legal abortion from the 1880s until 1973 came under the same anti-obscenity or Comstock laws that prohibited the dissemination of birth control information and services.

Criminalization of abortion did not reduce the numbers of women who sought abortions. In the years before Roe v. Wade, the estimates of illegal abortions ranged as high as 1.2 million per year. Although accurate records could not be kept, it is known that between the 1880s and 1973, many thousands of women were harmed as a result of illegal abortion.

In 1965 the Griswold v. Connecticut Supreme Court decision struck down a state law that prohibited giving married people information, instruction, or medical advice on contraception. That was followed in 1972 by Eisenstadt v. Baird, a ruling that established the right of unmarried people to use contraceptives.

In 1973 the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade made it possible for women to get safe, legal abortions from well-trained medical practitioners. This led to dramatic decreases in pregnancy-related injury and death. It also launched the beginning of a sometimes violent anti-abortion movement.

Now, 33-years later, South Dakota has become the first state to enact sweeping anti-abortion restrictions -- and other states are lining up to follow suit.

And surprisingly, neither of the two major political parties have shown any interest in either supporting or opposing this trend. The Republican leadership seems to fear the loss of one of its biggest organizing tools, see "The GOP's Abortion Anxiety."

And the Democrats -- in their rush to become "Republican-lite" -- are not taking advantage of this opportunity to mobilize not only their base, but the nearly 60%* of Americans who think women should have a basic right to safe and legal abortion. (FOX New/Opinion Dynamics Poll, Feb. 28-March 1, 2006, of registered voters nationwide indicated 58% oppose SD ban, with +/- 3%)

Political roundup

from IndianapolisStar.com
Frist leads informal GOP poll for '08

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - With home-field advantage, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist placed first in an informal poll of 2008 presidential hopefuls at a Republican conference Saturday night. The two-term Tennessee senator received 526 first-place votes, or 36.9 percent, in the Southern Republican Leadership Conference's "straw poll" sponsored by Hotline, a political digest. Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney finished second with 14.4 percent and Sen. George Allen of Virginia finished third, tied with President Bush - who cannot seek a third term.


from Columbus (OH) Dispatch
Blackwell schedule lists more contact with two pastors
Meetings were not political, candidate says

Dramatic elections forecast
GOP scandals give Democrats best shot in years


from DesMoinesRegister.com
Primary changes could help Vilsack
03/11/2006 - Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack would face a unique challenge, should he run for president in 2008: Find a place besides his home state to generate all-important campaign momentum.

Romney courts GOP activists for 2008 bid
03/11/2006 - Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Friday that Iowa is a bright spot on a challenging election-year map for Republicans running for governor.

Edwards, McCain to appear at political events in Iowa
03/09/2006 - Prospective 2008 presidential candidates John Edwards and John McCain are scheduled to visit Iowa in the coming weeks.

Huckabee courts social conservatives
03/07/2006 - In the political equivalent of preaching to the choir, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee introduced himself to many of the Iowa social conservatives whose support he will need should he run for president.


from UnionLeader.com
Kerry tells NH voters: GOP on wrong path
Nashua - Former Presidential candidate John Kerry was in the state yesterday drumming up support for local Democrats and sounding like a man with his eye on higher office again.

Primary buzz is building early
With the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary slightly less than two years away, they’re already working for the political hearts and minds of a relatively small number of Republican and Democratic activists.

Almost unanimous DNC panel votes to put other states before New Hampshire
Washington, D.C. - An influential panel of national Democrats voted overwhelmingly yesterday to have one or two ethnically, economically and geographically “diverse” states join Iowa inholding presidential nominating caucuses before the New Hampshire primary in January 2008.

Tennessee Women Question Support for Dems

The List: Six Dems for Misogyny

From TENNESSEE GUERILLA WOMEN
Saturday, March 11, 2006

Why should anyone give money to a party that funds candidates who seek to strip women of the most basic of citizenship rights? Why support a party that gives money to candidates whose tenure in office is a threat to the lives of women?

It's time for that Feminist Party that NOW has been talking about for years and years and years. (full story)

Navy Man Returns His Wings

From Truthout.org

Letter to President Bush
By Joseph W. DuRocher
Saturday 04 March 2006

Forwarded from Marni Harmony, the minister of a church in Orlando. Joe is one of her parishioners.

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

As a young man I was honored to serve our nation as a commissioned officer and helicopter pilot in the US Navy. Before me in WWII, my father defended the country spending two years in the Pacific aboard the USS Hornet (CV-14). We were patriots sworn "to protect and defend". Today I conclude that you have dishonored our service and the Constitution and principles of our oath. My dad was buried with full military honors so I cannot act for him. But for myself, I return enclosed the symbols of my years of service: the shoulder boards of my rank and my Naval Aviator's wings.

Until your administration, I believed it was inconceivable that the United States would ever initiate an aggressive and preemptive war against a country that posed no threat to us. Until your administration, I thought it was impossible for our nation to take hundreds of persons into custody without provable charges of any kind, and to "disappear" them into holes like Gitmo, Abu Ghraib and Bagram. Until your administration, in my wildest legal fantasy I could not imagine a US Attorney General seeking to justify torture or a President first stating his intent to veto an anti-torture law, and then adding a "signing statement" that he intends to ignore such law as he sees fit. I do not want these things done in my name. (full story)

Supreme Mistakes

Sandra Day O'Connor helped place George W. Bush into the White House in 2000. It was her decision to resign and allow Bush to choose her successor. Now see what she has to say.
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Sandra Day O'Connor rips into GOP, DeLay, Cornyn, and warns of the "beginnings" of dictatorship

NPR's Nina Totenberg aired an amazing story this morning about a talk that just-resigned Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor gave at Georgetown University. The first woman to serve on the High Court wouldn't allow her actual words to be broadcast, and that's a shame, because -- based on Totenberg's report -- every American needs to hear what she said. The Reagan appointee who became a moderate and an American icon -- Bush v. Gore notwithstanding -- all but named names in thinly veiled attacks on former House majority leader Tom DeLay and Texas Sen. John Cornyn, and ended with a stunning warning.

We transcribed some of the report, which you can listen to here. (UPDATE: Here's a full transcript from Raw Story.)

O'Connor told her Georgetown audience that judges can make presidents, Congress and governors "really really mad," and that if judges don't make people angry, they aren't doing their job. But she said judicial effectiveness is "premised on the notion that we won't be subject to retaliation for our judicial acts." While hailing the American system of rights and privileges, she noted that these don't protect the judiciary, that "people do": (full story)

March 8 - International Women's Day

From International Planned Parenthood Federation

Today is International Women's Day, a day dedicated to all the women who have struggled to participate in society as men's equals and made history in the process.

There is a lot to celebrate -- from Michelle Bachelet, Chile's new President-Elect, a single mother of three and Chile's first woman President to Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson, Liberia's new leader, an economist, mother of four and the first female President of an African nation, women are taking on a new level of global leadership.

While these are very important and exciting achievements there is still a long way to go to truly achieve women's equality around the world.

Please join us in celebrating International Women's Day by calling on the United Nations to honor its commitment to women around the world by electing a woman to serve as its Secretary-General this year.

Click here now to send a free message asking the UN Security Council members to elect a woman leader in 2006.

The UN is a powerful force for advancing the status of women worldwide and one of International Women's Day biggest supporters. That's why we're asking the UN to make history in 2006 by choosing a woman to serve as its Secretary-General for the first time in its 60 year history.

There are many highly qualified women from all regions of the world who could do the job of UN Secretary-General and do it well. Click here for a short sampling of qualified candidates.

Click here now to send your message asking the Security Council members to nominate one of these many highly qualified women candidates.

Please help us spread the word about this campaign -- click here to send a message to ten friends asking them to join you in celebrating International Women's Day by contacting the United Nations.

Thanks for your help and a happy International Women's Day to you!

Why thoughtful US citizens are concerned ...

Our national debt is quickly approaching $9 Trillion dollars. I remember in the 80's hearing former NY Governor Mario Cuomo talk about how it had taken the United States more than 200 years to become a trillion dollars in debt, and then-President Reagan less than four years to nearly triple that number. Under George W. Bush the problem has nearly tripled once again.

Congress has reauthorized Patriot Act Provisions that give Bush powers he has already proven he will brazenly abuse. Clearly they have forgotten the words of one of our nation's founders, Benjamin Franklin, who said: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Ethically challenged Republican Congressman Tom DeLay, who spent election night partying with lobbyists, won his contested primary race -- keeping him in the running for a return trip to Congress.

Republicans in the Senate prepare to cover up Bush's crime of illegal wiretapping.

What do you do when the crooks are running the government? And the Attorney General is one of the crooks?

The sleeper issue of continued GOP one-party rule over the country has been the issue of privatized voting machines. The issue first surfaced in the 2000 election, when Republicans stole the presidency over how the votes were counted. BuzzFlash has given New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson this week's BuzzFlash "Wings of Justice Award" for requiring paper ballots in his state.