St John - Will Say Or Do Anything

John McCain is so obsessed with becoming president that he will do or say anything to become president:

Paxson Contradicts McCain Campaign on Meetings

Broadcaster Says He Met with Senator Several Weeks Before Letters to FCC Were Sent

 Broadcaster Lowell "Bud" Paxson today contradicted statements from Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign that the senator did not meet with Paxson or his lobbyist before sending two controversial letters to the Federal Communications Commission on Paxson's behalf.

Paxson said he talked with McCain in his Washington office several weeks before the Arizona Republican wrote the letters to the FCC urging a rapid decision on Paxson's quest to acquire a Pittsburgh television station.

Paxson also recalled that his lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, attended the meeting in McCain's office and that Iseman helped arrange the meeting. "Was Vicki there? Probably," Paxson said in an interview with The Washington Post today. "The woman was a professional. She was good. She could get us meetings."

 The question is: will the MSM hold him up to the same standard of “truthiness” that they held Bush up to, or the more exacting standard they used on Gore.

St John - Will Say Or Do Anything

John McCain is so obsessed with becoming president that he will do or say anything to become president:

Paxson Contradicts McCain Campaign on Meetings

Broadcaster Says He Met with Senator Several Weeks Before Letters to FCC Were Sent

 Broadcaster Lowell "Bud" Paxson today contradicted statements from Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign that the senator did not meet with Paxson or his lobbyist before sending two controversial letters to the Federal Communications Commission on Paxson's behalf.

Paxson said he talked with McCain in his Washington office several weeks before the Arizona Republican wrote the letters to the FCC urging a rapid decision on Paxson's quest to acquire a Pittsburgh television station.

Paxson also recalled that his lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, attended the meeting in McCain's office and that Iseman helped arrange the meeting. "Was Vicki there? Probably," Paxson said in an interview with The Washington Post today. "The woman was a professional. She was good. She could get us meetings."

 The question is: will the MSM hold him up to the same standard of “truthiness” that they held Bush up to, or the more exacting standard they used on Gore.

Miss Teen South Carolina vs St John

Yes He Is A Fascist - Finally Someone Gets It!!

Keith Olbermann lays it out “Bush is a Fascist”!!!

By your own terms and your definitions — you have just sided with the terrorists.

You got to have this law or we’re all going to die.

But practically speaking, you vetoed this law.

It is bad enough, sir, that you were demanding an Ex Post Facto law, which could still clear the AT&Ts and the Verizons from responsibility for their systematic, aggressive, and blatant collaboration with your illegal and unjustified spying on Americans under this flimsy guise of looking for any terrorists who are stupid enough to make a collect call or send a mass e-mail.

But when you demanded it again during the State of the Union address, you wouldn’t even confirm that they actually did anything for which they deserved to be cleared.

“The Congress must pass liability protection for companies believed to have assisted in the efforts to defend America.” Believed?

Don’t you know?

Don’t you even have the guts Dick Cheney showed in admitting they did collaborate with you?

Does this endless presidency of loopholes and fine print extend even here?

If you believe in the seamless mutuality of government and big business — come out and say it!

There is a dictionary definition, one word that describes that toxic blend.

You’re a fascist — get them to print you a t-shirt with “fascist” on it!

What else is this but fascism?

Did you see Mark Klein on this newscast last November?

Mark Klein was the AT&T Whistleblower, the one who explained in the placid, dull terms of your local neighborhood I-T desk, how he personally attached all AT&T circuits — everything — carrying every one of your phone calls, every one of your e-mails, every bit of your web browsing into a secure room, room number 641-A at the Folsom Street facility in San Francisco, where it was all copied so the government could look at it.

Not some of it, not just the international part of it, certainly not just the stuff some spy — a spy both patriotic and telepathic — might able to divine had been sent or spoken by — or to — a terrorist.

Everything!

Every time you looked at a naked picture.

Every time you bid on eBay.

Every time you phoned in a donation to a Democrat.

“My thought was,” Mr. Klein told us last November, “George Orwell’s 1984. And here I am, forced to connect the big brother machine.”

And if there’s one thing we know about Big Brother, Mr. Bush, is that he is — you are — a liar.

“This Saturday at midnight,” you said today, “legislation authorizing intelligence professionals to quickly and effectively monitor terrorist communications will expire. If Congress does not act by that time, our ability to find out who the terrorists are talking to, what they are saying, and what they are planning, will be compromised…You said that “the lives of countless Americans depend” on you getting your way.

This is crap.

I have been telling you all this for months now, it nice to see someone in the media is finally getting it!

American Fascism At Its Finest

Lawmakers Move to Grant Banks Immunity Against Patent Lawsuit

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) has sponsored an unusual provision at the urging of the nation's banks granting them immunity against an active patent lawsuit, potentially saving them billions of dollars.

Adopted with little fanfare, the amendment would prevent a small Texas company called DataTreasury from collecting damages from banks for infringing on its patented method for digitally scanning, sending and archiving checks. The patents were upheld last summer by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office after they were challenged.

The provision, passed without dissent by the Senate Judiciary Committee in July and inserted into legislation scheduled for a vote by the full Senate this month, is a rare attempt by Congress to intervene in ongoing litigation, congressional experts say.

Although the amendment would not invalidate DataTreasury's patents, it would spare the banks from paying for infringing them should courts decide that's warranted. If DataTreasury collected a royalty of just a couple pennies per check, the cost would run into billions of dollars.

The federal government would have to pay $1 billion to DataTreasury over 10 years as compensation for taking its property under the amendment, according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office.

Banks process more than 40 billion checks each year. At one time, those checks had to be delivered physically to be drawn upon. But five years ago -- in the wake of the grounding of aircraft laden with billions of dollars in checks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks -- federal law was changed to allow electronic transfers as well.

Some major financial institutions, notably Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan Chase, have licensed DataTreasury's technology for the purpose. Lawsuits alleging infringement are pending against others, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Wachovia and Citigroup.

When the Judiciary Committee began to draft landmark legislation overhauling the country's patent laws last year, lobbyists for these banks jumped into action.

Remember this from The Fourteen Defining Characteristics Of Fascism:

9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and ?ower elite.

It’s not the Neo-Con’s made up oxy-moron of “Islamic fascism” we have to fear but the reality of a American Fascism which is real and upon us.

Such Christian Behavior - Not!!

Catholic School Teacher Let Go For Pregnancy

A Wabasha catholic school teacher says she's out of a job because she got pregnant. Now this teacher wants to make sure this doesn't happen again to someone else. She says she's angry at the school administration for what happened. Now without a job or a husband and a baby on the way, she says she's left wondering if what the school did was the Christian thing to do. Emily wants us to protect her identity because of future employment. "I was completely blown away. I was shocked," Emily says. With six months under her belt at St. Felix Catholic School in Wabasha, this 23 year old, fifth grade teacher says she felt she was on the right path. "I'm very true to my faith and my church in Lake City," says Emily. And after learning she was pregnant out of wedlock, she felt the right decision was to be honest with the school's principal. "She told me that she was glad I made the right choice in telling her," Emily says. She says after being asked by administration to write a letter to the school explaining what she had done, she was then asked by the principal and the school's priest to resign. "She said it would be best if you did not come back. because otherwise, if you did not resign, it would get worse," says Emily. We tried to talk to the Winona Roman Catholic Diocese and the St. Felix School principal but both declined to comment at this time. Emily says she did sign a contract stating she would follow the Catholic approach to learning and living. When asked, "If you signed something on conduct that said you weren't supposed to do that, isn't it their responsibility to take action?" Emily responds, "Yes, but I don't think they did it in the right way. Personally and morally are they following the contract themselves?" "You mean the bigger contract?" I ask. "Yeah, God's contract," she says. On Monday night around 30 people showed up at the St. Felix School Board meeting in support of Emily. They passed out pacifiers and little baby shoe necklaces to show their support. The family says some of the School Board members didn't even know of Emily's situation, and during the meeting, the administration simply wouldn't talk about it. "I'm embarrassed to be Catholic at this moment," says Emily's family friend JoAnn Ostgulen. Ostgulen is one of many people reaching out to support Emily. "As a fellow Catholic, it disappointed me as to how another child of Christ was handled," says Ostgulen. Emily says, "I love the school. I love what I do, and I love the kids. That's what I'm there for, and I'm not there to exploit the rest of my life." We also tried to contact the St. Felix School Board and the member we spoke with said they were told not to comment. When asked if she would take her job back if she had the chance, Emily said no. We also asked if she would be taking legal action. She said they don't know right now, but they are looking at their options.

 

Our Police State - Orgies & Softball

Ex-Florida prison boss: Drunken orgies tainted system

Softball, drunken orgies and a prison system run like the mafia. That's what Florida's former prison secretary says he inherited when he took over one of the nation's largest prison systems two years ago.

This house, on prison grounds in Florida, is described as a party house where prison officials held orgies.

In fact, on his first day on the job, James McDonough says he walked into his office -- the same one his predecessor used -- and there was crime scene tape preventing anyone from entering.

"That was an indication we had a problem in the department," McDonough told CNN in an exclusive interview before he stepped down last Thursday.

McDonough revealed a startling list of alleged abuses and crimes going on inside Florida's prisons:

• Top prison officials admitting to kickbacks;

• Guards importing and selling steroids in an effort to give them an edge on the softball field;

• Taxpayer funds to pay for booze and women;

• Guards who punished other guards who threatened to report them.

"Corruption had gone to an extreme," McDonough said, saying it all began at the top. "They seemed to be drunk half the time and had orgies the other half, when they weren't taking money and beating each other up." Watch a corrupted prison system »

He added, "Women were treated like chattel in this department."

McDonough described a bizarre prison culture among those that ran the system -- one that he says seemed obsessed with inter-department softball games and the orgies after games.

"I cannot explain how big an obsession softball had become," he said. "People were promoted on the spot after a softball game at the drunken party to high positions in the department because they were able to hit a softball out of the park a couple times."

"The connection between the softball and the parties and the corruption and the beatings was greatly intertwined."

Boy this was 7 years into the reign of the Krazy King’s Brother Jeb here in the fiefdom of Florida was it not?

 

Our Police State - Let's Play Dump The Quad

Deputy Tips Disabled Inmate From Chair; 4 Suspended

- A deputy roughly dumps a man out of a wheelchair and he tumbles to the floor.

Brian Sterner lands on his ribs, then rolls over and lies on his back while Hillsborough County Detention Deputy Charlette Marshall-Jones checks his pockets before she and another deputy clumsily put him back in the chair.

These moments were recorded by cameras on Jan. 29 in Orient Road Jail. The video has repulsed many and resulted in the suspension of Jones, a 44-year-old deputy with 22 years on the job, and her supervisors.

Sterner, 32, can drive a car but he hasn't been able to walk for 14 years.

He said he told Jones as much when he was booked into jail on a traffic-related charge.

She didn't believe him, he said.

Sheriff David Gee said was at a loss for words after viewing the video.

"This was not training issue," Gee said late Tuesday. "It's a human decency issue. I can't imagine any explanation she might have.

…………

No reports were filed about the incident, so investigators are trying to ascertain what the supervisors knew, Docobo said. Each of the three appears at various times on the video but none intervenes with Jones. Dickey walks into the frame from the side and appears smile as he walks away.

"That none of the supervisors acted upon what they saw is of great concern," Docobo said. "This is not the norm at the sheriff's office. It's an aberration."

Phone messages left for Jones and Hinson were not immediately returned. A number could not be found for Williams.

………..

Sterner was brought into the booking room in a wheelchair owned by the jail. Jones ordered him to stand, Sterner said. He told her he couldn't.

"She was irked that I wasn't complying to what she was telling me to do," he said. "It didn't register with her that she was asking me to do something I can't do."

Sterner said he thought he'd suffered two cracked ribs, but it turned out to be bruising, Trevena said. An X-ray showed no fractures.

Jones offered no apologies, Sterner said. "Not one word."

He was released from jail five days later after posting $2,000 bail, records show.

Sterner said his stay was made even more humiliating when he had a bowel accident and was left to sit in his waste for three or four hours until a staff member helped him clean up.

Video from Tampa Bay 10 News

Sis’ ya forgot to hit him with the taser.

My Congress Woman - Stupid And Pig Headed

From ThinkProgress.com:

Brown-Waite Refuses To Apologize For Referring To Puerto Ricans And Guamanians As ‘Foreign Citizens’

Last week, Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL) issued a press release attacking the proposed economic stimulus bill in the House. She complained that it would send “hundreds of millions of dollars” to “foreign citizens,” including “residents of Puerto Rico and territories like Guam.” Residents of Guam were declared American citizens in 1900 while Puerto Ricans were granted citizenship in 1917.

Brown-Waite’s spokesman, Charlie Keller, “acknowledged the false characterization” late last week, saying that the congresswoman should have used the word “territorial” instead:

Brown-Waite spokesman Charlie Keller said Thursday the congresswoman knows that they are U.S. citizens, and acknowledged the false characterization.

“The wording foreign was really a way to designate” those who don’t pay federal income taxes, Keller said in an interview. “Territorial would have been a better word.”

Brown-Waite’s comments infuriated the Puerto Rican and Guamanian communities, resulting in the Puerto Rican House of Representatives and lawmakers from Guam publicly calling for a apology from the congresswoman. But she is refusing, calling the “case closed” because she “already issued a clarification.”

In her response to the criticism, however, Brown-Waite “fueled the controversy” by getting more facts wrong about Puerto Rico and the stimulus plan:

In her rebuttal, Brown-Waite fueled the controversy by incorrectly stating that it would be the Puerto Rican government — not its constituents — that would get the $1 billion stimulus package.

However, the stimulus package approved by Congress calls on the Puerto Rico Treasury Department to design a disbursement plan for the island residents, said Eduardo Bhatia, who runs the Washington office of Puerto Rico’s governor, Anibal Acevedo-Vila.

Angered that Florida Democrats have joined the calls for her to apologize, Brown-Waite is now attacking her critics, accusing them of “race baiting politics.”

 

Shuster - Worst Person In The World Material???

NBC NEWS STATEMENT REGARDING CHELSEA CLINTON COMMENT:

On Thursday's "Tucker" on MSNBC, David Shuster, who was serving as guest-host of the program, made a comment about Chelsea Clinton and the Clinton campaign that was irresponsible and inappropriate. Shuster, who apologized this morning on MSNBC and will again this evening, has been suspended from appearing on all NBC News broadcasts, other than to make his apology. He has also extended an apology to the Clinton family. NBC News takes these matters seriously, and offers our sincere regrets to the Clintons for the remarks.

So will Olbermann step up and name one of his own “Worst Person In The World”

**Update - Keith did not name Shuster to WPITW list, but did take him to task in a seperate segment, was not too bad, he still should have been at least a silver.

+++edited for typo

1984 - More Slight Of Hand

CDC blocked release of ‘alarming’ environmental report.

The Center for Public Integrity reports today that “for more than seven months, the nation’s top public health agency has blocked the publication of an exhaustive federal study of environmental hazards in the eight Great Lakes states” because of “alarming information” about “elevated infant mortality and cancer rates” potentially threatening “more than nine million” Americans. In July, just days before the report was to be released, the Center for Disease Control “withdrew it, saying that it needed further review.”

Don’t worry, they just don’t want to scare us and have us average folks all worked up and stressed out.

The Fascist In Charge At The Department Of (In)Justice

Mukasey:The Law Is What The Justice Department Says It Is

Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA) wanted some clarity during his questioning. Was the attorney general really saying that anyone who acted pursuant to a Justice Department legal opinion was "insulated from criminal liability?

" Mukasey wanted to say it more carefully. "I think what I said was that we could not investigate or prosecute somebody for acting in reliance on a Justice Department opinion."

But even if that opinion was "inaccurate," Delahunt wondered, and that behavior really did violate the U.S. criminal code, you're saying that someone who relied on it would effectively have "immunity from any culpability?"

"Justified reliance," Mukasey answered, "could not be the subject of a prosecution." Simple as that. "Immunity connotes culpability," he added, so it wasn't immunity, exactly, but the effect was the same.

Delahunt (much like Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) in the last hearing) proclaimed himself baffled. This was a "new legal doctrine" for him. He'd thought "the law is the law." What if there was a mistake? he wanted to know. What happened then?

That made no difference, Mukasey said. If a later legal opinion came to a different conclusion about whether something was lawful, the person who relied on the earlier, erroneous interpretation was still protected.

Delahunt, still baffled, wanted to know if there was a "legal precedent" for this view of the Office of Legal Counsel's power.

Mukasey replied that it was a "practical consideration."

When Delahunt asked again, Mukasey admitted, "I can't sit here and cite a case

I hate to say "I told you so"........but, "I Told You So".

Actually I really like to say it. But that aside, Chuck Schumer and Diane Feinstein are to blame for this disgrace.

CPAC - What A Crock

I am sitting home with a sick child so I am watching this joke called CPAC, and the stupidest man ever to earn a Medical Degree**(hey someone had to be last in the class) Tom Coburn gets up and explains we have not had a president who has been willing to stand up to congress these last seven and one half years and we need John McCain to straighten the Government out.

Wait, who was the president these last seven and one half years wasn’t it the darling of the CPAC folks? What a crock.

BTW McCain does really bad stand up.

****Thanks to Mark for reminding me a doctorate is the term used for PHD

McCain - Just A Hack

From the fine folks at Think Progress :

John McCain (R-AZ) has been repeatedly claiming on the stump that passing an economic stimulus package is at the very top of his agenda. He has told audiences that the “first thing we gotta do is pass the stimulus package through the Senate.” During a Jan. 24 GOP debate, he explicitly pledged to vote on such legislation when it reached the Senate. Watch McCain make this promise on repeated occasions:

As recently as this morning, McCain again told reporters that he planned on returning to the Senate for this evening’s vote on the economic stimulus, stating that Congress needed to quickly pass legislation.

The measure, blocked by conservatives, fell just one vote short of the 60 needed to end debate. At the “last minute,” McCain decided to skip the vote, even though his plane landed in DC in time. McCain claimed that he was “too busy“:

“I haven’t had a chance to talk about it at all, have not had the opportunity to, even,” McCain said. “We’ve just been too busy, focused on other stuff. I don’t know if I’m doing that. We’ve got a couple of meetings scheduled.”

Both Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) were able to return to the Senate and vote on the bill.

The stimulus package, which included “$600-$1,200 rebate checks for more than 100 million Americans,” would also have provided “$44 billion in help for the elderly, disabled veterans, the unemployed and businesses.” The bill was opposed by hardline conservatives whom McCain is hoping to woo. By not voting for bill, as he had promised, McCain caved to the right wing and turned his back on 20 million seniors and 250,000 disabled vets. As the AP notes:

Voting “no” with Republican leaders would have offended millions of Social Security recipients and the disabled veterans not scheduled to receive rebates. Voting “yes,” on the other hand, risked alienating Bush, GOP leaders and conservatives already suspicious of McCain’s political leanings. McCain was speaking Thursday before a meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference, a group that booed him last year in absentia.

Today proved to be quite a detour for the straight talk express.

John you have become just a lying gas bag……..I have lost all respect for you, and I am your target demographic in the general election.

Krazy King George's Good Friends Are At It Again

Religious police in Saudi Arabia arrest mother for sitting with a man

“Some men came up to us with very long beards and white dresses. They asked ‘Why are you here together?'. I explained about the power being out in our office. They got very angry and told me what I was doing was a great sin,” recalled Yara, who wears an abaya and headscarf, like most Saudi women.

The men were from Saudi Arabia's Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, a police force of several thousand men charged with enforcing dress codes, sex segregation and the observance of prayers. Yara, whose parents are Jordanian and grew up in Salt Lake City, once believed that life in Saudi Arabia was becoming more liberal.

But on Monday the religious police took her mobile phone, pushed her into a cab and drove her to Malaz prison in Riyadh. She was interrogated, strip-searched and forced to sign and fingerprint a series of confessions pleading guilty to her “crime”.

“They took me into a filthy bathroom, full of water and dirt. They made me take off my clothes and squat and they threw my clothes in this slush and made me put them back on,” she said. Eventually she was taken before a judge.
“He said 'You are sinful and you are going to burn in hell'. I told him I was sorry. I was very submissive. I had given up. I felt hopeless,” she said.

Yara's husband, Hatim, used his political contacts in Jeddah to track
her whereabouts. He was able to secure her release.

So this is our “good friends” the Saudi’s, the home of most of the 9/11 hijackers, the place that jails rape victims, blames the US for 9/11 and should and would be on the list of state sponsors of terror if not for the Bush family ties.

The real irony is that we have taken Iraq the one country where women were treated with some level of human dignity and are turning it into this also

Iraqi women have paid a high price for the war and occupation of their country. Despite the rhetoric of the Bush administration that women’s lives have improved since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, women are facing a new series of challenges that some say have rolled back decades of Iraqi women’s struggles for equal rights. And the new Iraqi Constitution, while guaranteeing increased political participation by women, leaves open the possibility that conservative clerics could soon have more control over Iraqi women’s lives than ever before.

As this report documents, since March 2003, Iraqi women have been besieged by violence. The lack of security in Iraq and increase in crimes like rapes, murders, and kidnappings has made many women afraid to leave their homes and led them to keep their children, especially girls, home from school. In Central and Southern Iraq, where the violence and chaos is most extreme, violent acts against women are carried out by U.S. troops, foreign contractors, Iraqi police officers, insurgents, gangs and common criminals. In addition, radical religious groups who use violence to enforce their conservative interpretation of Islam assault women.

I said it once before and I will say it again we invaded the wrong repressive Middle East regime.

Our Police State -Busted for bustin' a rhyme( STPT)

BROOKSVILLE - While strolling down the street with a couple of buddies Sunday evening, Christopher Holder (left) broke into song. His choice of lyrics, however, landed him in jail.

Holder, 19, was shouting out a song by rapper Lil Boosie that included repeating the words "motherf-----'' and other similar words when he approached resident Amy Churchill, according to a report by the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. Churchill complained to a deputy, who was at the scene, 7443 Gordon Loop, investigating an animal complaint, that she and her young children did not need to hear such language.

Deputy Scott Reak agreed and called Holder over. Holder said he had done nothing wrong, that he was just singing a song by the Louisiana rapper, but he agreed that the children did not need to hear such profanity.

Because the language outraged Churchill's "sense of public decency'' and "affected the peace and quiet,'' Holder was taken to the Hernando County jail on a count of disorderly conduct and breach of peace, the report states.

Thesmokinggun.com has the arrest documents.

You just cannot make this stuff up…….Had nothing better to do this afternoon Deputy Fife?

 

 

The Delegate Race - It Really Is Kind Of Fun

The talking exploding heads are all a flitter over the delegate count, it is driving them nuts that they cannot put a finger on the exact numbers. I have seen ranges from a 125 delegate lead for Clinton to a 10 delegate lead for Obama. I think it is great fun!!

Of course some of the old school talking exploding heads are saying the “The Republicans will have a clear advantage as they are able to coalesce around a single front runner while the Democrats battle it out”.

I call “BULLSHIT”!!!!

The reason the Dems are pulling millions more voters to the polls is because we like our choices and we are excited to have good candidates to choose from!!!!!

The longer the race the better!!!!!

BTW- all the delegate counts I have seen show Obama taking 65% of Minnesota delegates, However I am hearing from friends back home that the Obama supporters left after marking the nonbinding straw poll ballots and failed to stay around for the actual selection of delegates to the district conventions, who then select delegates to the state convention, who then select the delegates to the national convention. The old school dems who support Clinton hung around and may have easily captured a large majority of the actual delegates when the real dance begins at the district conventions.

My Congresswaman - Clearly A Product Of Florida Schools

REP. BROWN-WAITE SUPPORTS ECONOMIC STIMULUS FOR FLORIDA TAXPAYERS
Opposes Provisions that Give American Taxpayer Funds to Foreign Citizens and Keep Seniors Reliant on Social Security from Receiving Help

“Second, the bill sends hundreds of millions of dollars to people who do not pay federal income taxes, including residents of Puerto Rico and territories like Guam. I do not believe American taxpayer funds should be sent to foreign citizens who do not pay taxes. Americans want an economic stimulus for Dunnellon, Brooksville and Clermont, not for San Juan or Hagatna. As the legislation moves forward, it must be changed to ensure that only federal taxpaying American citizens receive rebate checks.

BTW Ginny just so you know:

Puerto Rico is a commonwealth^[4] or unincorporated organized territory of the United States, and its political status^[5][6] allows it "self-government in respect of internal affairs and administration, subject to relevant portions of the Constitution and the laws of the United States"^[7] and the plenary powers of the U.S. Congress. It was allowed to establish a constitution for the internal administration and to handle matters of purely local concern, but "matters of currency, defense, external relations, interstate commerce",^[8] "postal system, social security, and mining activities and minerals, among other areas"^[5] are within the jurisdiction of the U.S. federal government.

Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens by the 1917 Jones Act. The commonwealth has a republican form of government,^[4] subject to U.S. jurisdiction and sovereignty.^[3] Its current powers are all delegated by the U.S. Congress .

Ok, so Ginny look in the mirror, reach up and slap yourself for being stupid, then fire your Chief of Staff.

Krazy King George - The Man Is Delusional!

Like Lincoln my left check (to steal a phrase from Neal Boortz)…..not sure who is more delusional , the Krazy King or the folks at Faux News who created this Mockumentary

 

Fox News Documentary: George W. Bush is SO like Abraham Lincoln

You know, I think I really learned a lot from this propaganda documentary from Pravda Fox News. I really don’t know how it is that I hadn’t noticed previously how much George Bush is just like Abraham Lincoln, the founder of the Republican Party, or that Bush is already known for giving “some of the most eloquent and visionary speeches ever delivered by an American President,” just like the Gettysburg Address!

So, which of Bush’s speeches do you think will be memorialized for generations to come? Will George W. Bush go down in history as being a great President, or the greatest President? Discuss …

 

Our Police State - Strip Searched

Woman sues Ohio sheriff's deputy over 'outrageous' strip search

Hope Steffey's night started with a call to police for help. It ended with her face down, naked, and sobbing on a jail cell floor. Now, the sheriff's deputies from Stark County, Ohio who allegedly used excessive force during a strip search 15 months ago face a federal lawsuit, and recently released video won’t help their case.

Steffey's ordeal with the Stark County sheriff's deputies began after her cousin called 9-1-1 claiming Steffey had been assaulted by another one of their cousins. When a Stark County police officer arrived, he asked to see Steffey's driver's license. But instead of handing over her own ID, she mistakenly turned over her dead sister's license, which she contends she keeps in her wallet as a memento. That's when the situation became complicated.

"Hope was not treated as a victim," her lawyer told WKYC News. "The officer said to her 'shut up about your dead sister.'"

Eventually, Steffey was arrested and taken to the Stark County Jail, charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. But once in custody, her attorney says seven jail workers, male and female, forcibly removed Steffey of all her clothes, including her undergarments, while she lay face down in handcuffs. Local news footage shows Steffey wailing, asking "What are you doing?!?"

"And you have to ask yourself, what was the purpose of the strip search?" said Steffey's lawyer. "What was the necessity of it? This was a disorderly conduct claim."

The lawsuit says that Steffey remained in the cell for six hours and wrapped herself in toilet paper to stay warm. During that time, she was not allowed to use a phone or seek medical assistance for injuries she accrued that night, including a cracked tooth, bulging disc, and bruises.

Although the sheriff's policy requires officers conducting any strip search to be of the same sex, the sheriff contends that the tactic used on Steffey was not actually a strip search. He also questions the validiy of the events leading up to Steffey’s arrest.

WKYC NEWS PART 1

WKYC NEWS PART 2

Granted the Sheriff and deputies are not going to go on the record but the video provided so far is pretty damning ,, makes you wonder what they failed to release? Bottom line they got caught this time (it clearly is not the first time, did you see the whole parade of folks following down the hall) and it will cost the tax payers a couple million bucks.

McCain Is Just Hack Who Will Now Say Anything To Become President

I have pointed out several times , here, here and here, that McCain is no longer the straight shooter he claims to be. Well, The folks @ Firedoglake reminded me of the list The CarpetBagger was maintaining on the McCain flip flops, scary part is they haven’t keep the list up for a while now, and it is even crazier now.

 We are now up to a whopping 17 John McCain Flip-Flops.

* In 2006, McCain sponsored legislation to require grassroots lobbying coalitions to reveal their financial donors. In 2007, after receiving “feedback” on the proposal, McCain told far-right activist groups that he now opposes the measure.

* McCain said before the war in Iraq, “We will win this conflict. We will win it easily.” Four years later, McCain said he knew all along that the war in Iraq war was “probably going to be long and hard and tough.”

* McCain went from saying he would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade to saying the exact opposite.

* McCain went from saying gay marriage should be allowed, to saying gay marriage shouldn’t be allowed.

* McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as “an agent of intolerance” in 2002, but has since decided to cozy up to the man who said Americans “deserved” the 9/11 attacks. (Indeed, McCain has now hired Falwell’s debate coach.)

* McCain used to oppose Bush’s [tag]tax cuts[/tag] for the very wealthy, but he reversed course in February.

* In 2000, McCain accused Texas businessmen Sam and Charles Wyly of being corrupt, spending “dirty money” to help finance Bush’s presidential campaign. McCain not only filed a complaint against the Wylys for allegedly violating campaign finance law, he also lashed out at them publicly. In April, McCain reached out to the Wylys for support.

* McCain supported a major campaign-finance reform measure that bore his name. In June, he abandoned his own legislation.

* McCain used to think that Grover Norquist was a crook and a corrupt shill for dictators. Then McCain got serious about running for president and began to reconcile with Norquist.

* McCain took a firm line in opposition to torture, and then caved to White House demands.

* McCain opposed a holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., before he supported it.

* McCain was against presidential candidates campaigning at Bob Jones University before he was for it.

* McCain was anti-ethanol. Now he’s pro-ethanol.

* McCain was both for and against state promotion of the Confederate flag.

* McCain decided in 2000 that he didn’t want anything to do with former Secretary of State Henry [tag]Kissinger[/tag], believing he “would taint the image of the ‘Straight Talk Express.’” Kissinger is now the Honorary Co-Chair for his presidential campaign in New York.

* McCain is now both open and closed to redeployment in Iraq.

* And McCain claims to have “bitterly disagreed” with a “failed strategy” in Iraq for more than three years, despite having argued the need to “stay the course” just one year ago.

So much for the “straight shooter”

It's The Economy Stupid

I always enjoy the way the Jim Hightower can break it down so simply, its a shame that some of the MSM don't understand these simple economic facts for the majority of americans.

Who'll Represent Reality?

Here's a statistic that George W., most presidential candidates and the majority of Congress critters are not aware of, much less dealing with, even though this statistic affects millions of American families: $4 a gallon. That's not for gasoline. That's what the cost of a gallon of milk is approaching. Milk prices have jumped by more than 20 percent in the past year, eggs are up by 44 percent, and other grocery?essentials are rising, as well. Add in ballooning mortgage rates, soaring home heating bills, ever-rising medical costs, and hikes in the other basics of life -- combined with stagnant wages -- and you've got a harsh economic reality that doesn't fit the rosy picture touted by clueless politicians and media barons.

A weekly paycheck that used to last a week now isn't lasting more than two or three days. This is a reality that is now experienced not only by low-income families, but also the middle-class majority -- folks making $35,000 or $40,000 a year. But politicians and media elites don't hang around people from these neighborhoods, nor do they personally experience the stress of living paycheck to paycheck, so they accept the contrived wisdom that somehow or other the economy is booming.

They don't ask the essential question: a boom for whom? The elites running our country mostly dwell in what one economic analyst calls the "plutonomy" -- that's the golden strata of our economy, made up of CEOs, hedge fund managers, Washington lobbyists and other swells who live in a rarified world of luxury homes, private jets and bottles of cognac priced at $200,000 each. So what if milk is $4 a gallon? No one cares about that . . . do they?

This aloofness is why so many working-class Americans are down on both political parties. They wonder where the political party is that'll represent reality, that cares more about $4 milk than catering to the cognac class.