Monthly Archive for September, 2005

Random newsbits

As Judith Miller testifies this morning about the outing of Valerie Plame, remember this little tidbit:

The President has set high standards, the highest of standards for people in his administration. He’s made it very clear to people in his administration that he expects them to adhere to the highest standards of conduct. If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration.

And as Tom DeLay continues to serve in the House of Representives, let us recall the strong stand taken by our own Chris Clem:

Our Founding Fathers knew that the legislature needed the ability to dismiss members when the integrity of the system was called into question. Our Founding Fathers knew that the legislature may need to protect its process just like a bank or a daycare needs to protect its clients.

I imagine we might have to wait until after the weekend to hear Clem’s call for DeLay’s resignation, eh?

Hunter responds to Mark Noonan:

Welcome to the world of the politics of personal destruction, you tubthumping, chin-jutting, Bush humping gits. Welcome to the nasty and partisan world that Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Hugh Hewitt, Grover Norquist, Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay, and a legion of insignificant lowest-rung toadies like yourselves nurtured into fruition daily with eager, grubby hands, and now look upon with dull-faced faux horror.

Oh, the Virtues! They could fill a book! Bennett stands behind his racist remarks. And then he goes on to demonstrate that he really doesn’t have a clue as to why what he said upset people:

I was putting forward a hypothetical proposition. Put that forward. Examined it. And then said about it that it’s morally reprehensible. To recommend abortion of an entire group of people in order to lower your crime rate is morally reprehensible. But this is what happens when you argue that the ends can justify the means.

TGIF. It’s been quite a week. Perhaps someone will manage to take the high road in October…

UPDATE: … or sooner! Enter Barak Obama:

The bottom line is that our job is harder than the conservatives’ job. After all, it’s easy to articulate a belligerent foreign policy based solely on unilateral military action, a policy that sounds tough and acts dumb; it’s harder to craft a foreign policy that’s tough and smart. It’s easy to dismantle government safety nets; it’s harder to transform those safety nets so that they work for people and can be paid for. It’s easy to embrace a theological absolutism; it’s harder to find the right balance between the legitimate role of faith in our lives and the demands of our civic religion. But that’s our job. And I firmly believe that whenever we exaggerate or demonize, or oversimplify or overstate our case, we lose. Whenever we dumb down the political debate, we lose. A polarized electorate that is turned off of politics, and easily dismisses both parties because of the nasty, dishonest tone of the debate, works perfectly well for those who seek to chip away at the very idea of government because, in the end, a cynical electorate is a selfish electorate.

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Friday Creature

I’ve posted a photo of the red-bellied woodpecker before, but the brilliant colors here just blew me away so I had to share. I hope they come through for you — I’m still working out saturation issues and playing around with post-processing. The photo dates from the middle of the summer when I was visiting family in West Virginia. As always, if one bird leaves you hungry for more, head over to the ark for a bigger critter fix!

The TACA Craft Fair will be in Chattanooga this weekend and has once again secured a beautiful weather forcast for the occasion. Perhaps I’ll see you local folks over there…

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

UPDATE: Here are some absolutely beautiful bird photos from Mike, who is visiting Vegas.


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Roberts Confirmation

Just for the record, every Republican voted for confirmation. The Democrats split, and Jeffords voted yes.

Democrats who voted in favor of confirmation: Baucus, Bingaman, Byrd, Carper, Conrad, Dodd, Dorgan, Feingold, Johnson, Kohl, Landrieu, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Lincoln, Murray, Nelson, Nelson, Pryor, Rockefeller, Salazar and Wyden.

Democrats who voted against confirmation: Akaka, Bayh, Biden, Boxer, Cantwell, Clinton, Corzine, Dayton, Durbin, Feinstein, Harkin, Inouye, Kennedy, Kerry, Lautenberg, Mikulski, Obama, Reed, Reid, Sarbanes, Schumer and Stabenow.

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Personalized Google

Maybe the link has been there for a while, but I just noticed it. Click here.

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The Waltz Continues…

Developing

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It’s a Game

Find the Brownie!

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Ob DeLay Post

Yeah, I heard about DeLay. Sorry I’ve been quiet, but it’s been a really busy week. I’m behind at work, behind at home, and all the activism stuff is building up as well. On the up side, I was stopped for speeding this afternoon (on Hwy. 153, if any locals are wondering), and I didn’t get a ticket! The cop took pity on me. Score! Then I took my car in for its regular service and it cost less than $50! Double Score! After all this, I finally arrived home to read the news about DeLay. I turned on the news, and the Republicans have got so many surrogates out spinning for them, it looks like a knitting mill! It’s pretty hilarious (you either gotta laugh or cry and between the cell phone company and the cop, I’ve got no juice left) to see so many of the same people who went after Clinton (over a blow job, no less) crying about how DeLay’s legal troubles are all just politics. Ha. Ha.

UPDATE: in all my distraction, I’ve been missing the crescendo as the Stacey Campfield story has gone national. Fortunately, egalia at TGW has been collecting links.

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Lego Chruch

My sister and/or brother-in-law (without a signature, I usually can’t tell) just sent me a link to this: Abston Church of Christ. It all started with a lego house and a cat. Freaky.

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Now. PBS.

No Direction Home. Dylan. Scorsese.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: via c i r c a n o w and whoa katrina (category 5 outrage), a bit of synchronicity: The Ghosts of New Orleans, by Bob Dylan.

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Did anyone notice how Bill Frist’s pants just burst into flames?

Via Atrios:

Bill Frist can and should now be referred to in the press as “Senator Bill Frist, documented liar.”

UPDATE: Thanks to egalia for this gem: “Bill Frist has this all upside down. He thought Terri Schiavo could see and his trust was blind.” — Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.)

UPDATE: Here’s a timeline of the relevant events.

UPDATE: Yeah — what TL said! ;-)

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