More: continued here

More: continued here

Anyone else thinks that Ron Paul needs to join with the Libertarian Party and run? Any votes he can take from Obama and McCain is a good thing.

In Republicanland, it means everything the Supreme Court has told them they’ve been wrong about for the past 7 years is one vote away from being suddenly right. And staying that way forever.

One more vote, and torture isn’t unconstitutional.

One more vote, and indefinite detention on the president’s say-so isn’t unconstitutional.

One more vote, and warrantless wiretapping isn’t unconstitutional.

And do we really need to follow the implications in other arenas? Surely no executive branch official could be forced to testify at Congressional oversight hearings. And don’t even ask about reproductive rights. John McCain (for whom at least a very few a very few Hillary Clinton holdouts insist they will vote in November, presumably as punishment for Democrats who failed to grasp their wisdom) could not be more overt about his desire to eliminate them:

John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned, and as president he will nominate judges who understand that courts should not be in the business of legislating from the bench.

One vote away.

One more vote, and everything you thought you understood innately about the nature of our system of government can change, and the insane right-wing trolls who’ve astounded you with their seemingly otherworldly interpretations of constitutional law will be right, and will claim they’ve always been right, but for the interference of “liberal, activist judges.”

And they will laugh in your face.

But in the meantime, they’ll be spitting in it. Like Sen. Lindsey Graham does, when he says he’s so sure the Court is wrong in Boumediene that he’s willing to amend the Constitution to prove it:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) vowed Thursday to do everything in his power to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision on Guantanamo Bay detainees, saying that, “if necessary,” he would push for a constitutional amendment to modify the decision.

These are the Republicans with whom — if we’re to believe the buzzwords — we’re supposedly obligated to seek “bipartisan compromise.”

There’s no such thing as “compromise” with people who believe that you and your “correct” understanding of the Constitution, what it says, and what it means is more properly viewed as being merely “pre-wrong.”

More: continued here

Coming Up on Sunday Kos ….

• The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, also known as PEPFAR, is a five-year, $15 billion American Government initiative to combat the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Called the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008, it’s being blocked by Republican Senators led by Tom Coburn. DemFromCT will discuss the politics behind saving lives the ‘right’ way and how ideology continues to hamper public health efforts.
• georgia10 will write about McCain’s YouTube problems vs. Obama’s email smear problems.
• BarbinMD will take a look at some more straight talking claims from John McCain.
• Impeachment, among other things, is something we’re constantly reminded is not a “productive” use of Congress’ time. Kagro X will take a look at a few of the competing definitions of what it means for Congress to be “productive.”
• DemFromCT will review the recent (March) Planned Parenthood Action Fund sponsored poll of 16 battleground states conducted by Peter D. Hart. “Given their past and current voting patterns, women in these battleground states will almost certainly be a critical swing audience in determining the outcome of the presidential election as well as other key state and local races.”
• smintheus will discuss the growing resistance to the Status of Forces Agreement that a lame duck George Bush is trying to impose upon the Iraqis, and upon the next president
• The cowboy image has suffered mightily with the fake one we’ve had in office for the past seven years. In the interests of rehabilitating that image, mcjoan will explore the Cowboy Myth and the cowboy reality and whether either could get us out of the pickle the cowboy-wannabe has put us in.

More: continued here

Apropos of nothing: Vito Fossella is pulling out all the stops to stay out of jail on his now-well-publicized drunk driving charge.

He hasn’t just lawyered up, he’s recruited a crew of private dicks to help him out. In fact, he has the same crack team of PIs that O.J. Simpson hired.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - What does Rep. Vito Fossella have in common with O.J. Simpson, Patty Hearst and John Gotti?

The Staten Island GOP lawmaker has hired the same ex-NYPD gumshoes.

Well, I must say, that’s quite a client list.

Told of the big-city Mickey Spillane-types sniffing around his case, laid-back Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney Randolph Sengel chuckled.

“Great,” deadpanned the veteran prosecutor, upon learning of the duo’s celebrity client list.

In Sengel’s 28 years as a prosecutor, rarely has he seen a DWI defendant hire private eyes. “That’s pretty unusual,” he said yesterday.

I guess our man Vito is pretty serious about avoiding jail time. Serious enough to have signed the O.J. Dream Team.

More: continued here

More: continued here
Powered by SmartRSS

More: continued here

Former SEC head William Donaldson, who was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, joined Arthur Levitt and David Ruder in backing Obama, who leads rival Hillary Clinton in the number of delegates necessary to become the Democratic White House nominee.

Levitt was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, while Ruder was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, a Republican.

How much must it sting in McCain land to see that SEC appointees from Bush and Reagan don’t want him sailing the ship of the economy?  

In the statement they praised Obama’s “reasoned approach” in analyzing “the current financial crisis and the need for balanced regulatory reform.”

The former chairs liked Obama’s reasoned approach and sensible policies, as opposed to McCain’s economics of delusion.

Q: Are Americans better off than they were eight years ago?

A: You could argue that Americans overall are better off, because we have had a pretty good prosperous time, with low unemployment and low inflation and a lot of good things have happened. A lot of jobs have been created.

…

A: I think we are better off overall if you look at the entire eight-year period, when you look at the millions of jobs that have been created, the improvement in the economy, etc.

How has the economy really done during the Bush administration?  

• Record levels of family debt.
• Flat wages, with only 1.4% growth in seven years.
• Oil prices up 400%.
• Higher prices for necessities.
• Record foreclosures.
• Fewer people with pensions.
• Fewer people with health care.
• The dollar at record lows.

Can the American economy stand another term of McCain’s “pretty good prosperous time?”

More: continued here

More: continued here