Trust Us! We Won't Abuse the Power You've Given Us... Ha! Ha! Fingers Crossed!

Yet another reason we might want to change up the 'old guard' in Washington this election. You know, that "freedom thing" that we might want to keep around for all of us and our children. This repost from ABC News.

-Maltok 5


Exclusive: Inside Account of U.S. Eavesdropping on Americans
U.S. Officers' "Phone Sex" Intercepted; Senate Demanding Answers
By BRIAN ROSS, VIC WALTER, and ANNA SCHECTER
Oct. 9, 2008

Despite pledges by President George W. Bush and American intelligence officials to the contrary, hundreds of US citizens overseas have been eavesdropped on as they called friends and family back home, according to two former military intercept operators who worked at the giant National Security Agency (NSA) center in Fort Gordon, Georgia.
Intercept operators allege the NSA is listening to citizens' phone calls.

Watch the video.

The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), called the allegations "extremely disturbing" and said the committee has begun its own examination.

"We have requested all relevant information from the Bush Administration," Rockefeller said Thursday. "The Committee will take whatever action is necessary."

"These were just really everyday, average, ordinary Americans who happened to be in the Middle East, in our area of intercept and happened to be making these phone calls on satellite phones," said Adrienne Kinne, a 31-year old US Army Reserves Arab linguist assigned to a special military program at the NSA's Back Hall at Fort Gordon from November 2001 to 2003.

Kinne described the contents of the calls as "personal, private things with Americans who are not in any way, shape or form associated with anything to do with terrorism." [more]

Does Anyone Remember the Last Time McCain Helped Tank the Economy?

Well, if you were in Texas or pretty much any of the southwest states, it was pretty gnarly. This repost from Wonkette.

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Reporters Also Can’t Remember McCain’s Banking Scandals

Here’s some hilarious video from outside a McCain campaign stop in Ohio, where some older people chant “Keating Five,” which was the great group of corrupt senators (including John McCain) who caused the last collapse of American finance, in the late ’80s. This teevee reporter has no idea what they’re talking about, of course. [Blogger Interrupted]

Repost - This Is Your Nation On White Privilege

This fellow has put into words a sad but true commentary on the underlying issues still facing this country as it continues to wrestle with the undercurrents of code speech, white indignation and the other dark corners of our history still affecting our present. Apparently he was once called a "leftist extremist" by that godfather of centrists, our own ex KKK member, David Duke. In that context, it sounds like a badge of honor.

-Maltok 5

September, 14 2008

By Wise, Tim
Tim Wise's ZSpace Page
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For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

• White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
• White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.
• White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.
• White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."
• White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.
• White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.
• White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.
• White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."
• White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.
• White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.
• White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.
• White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a "light" burden.
• And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.

White privilege is, in short, the problem.

From a great columnist and presidential historian, Richard Reeves, whose books and writings on Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan and Clinton I have always enjoyed. I always appreciate his perspective on current issues through his lens into history.

-Maltok 5

IS OBAMA ALREADY PRESIDENT?

by Richard Reeves
Mon Sep 8, 10:01 AM ET

NEW YORK -- As a member of the Elite Eastern Media in good standing (I hope), I would like to say that St. Paul was the most educational and enjoyable Republican National Convention I have ever watched. Thrilling, really. I did not know that we, the people like me, were running the country until hearing it from John McCain, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and the rest of that wonderful bunch from real America.

This is just great, I thought again and again. My favorite revelation was Romney's declaration that the Supreme Court was "liberal." And I was delighted to hear Sen. McCain described as: "A restless reformer who will clean up Washington ... (and will) drain that swamp." Wow! You really have to pay attention these days, what with things changing so fast.

Romney was a hoot. My favorite. He must hate the media more than most of those who were in St. Paul, because he spoke as if he has not read or noticed anything for years. It is hard to believe he said:

"Is Washington now liberal or conservative? Let me ask you some questions. ... Is a Congress liberal or conservative that stops nuclear power plants and off-shore drilling, making us more and more dependent on Middle Eastern tyrants? It's liberal. Is government spending, putting aside inflation, liberal or conservative if it doubles since 1980? It's liberal. ... Throw out the big-government liberals and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin. ... You know, it's time for the party of big ideas, not the party of Big Brother."

The big-government liberals he's apparently worried about are the reigning Big Brother, Vice President Cheney, and the reigning borrow-and-spend budget-busting president, whom I had been thinking was named Bush.

Maybe it was me who got it wrong. I must admit that I was sorry to hear that this president -- Barack Obama, is it? -- is screwing up so bad, fighting wars and building bridges to nowhere and presiding over a tailspinning economy. You know, until McCain and the rest told me, I didn't even realize Obama was in charge the whole time. Pay attention!

Oops! This just in: George W. Bush is still president and has been for more than seven distressing years. I guess I was fooled by the fact that his name was almost never mentioned in St. Paul. A computer count indicated that Bush's name was used 12 times as often at the Democratic convention in Denver than in St. Paul -- but you know the Eastern Elite Media, they probably made that up.

And, darn, the papers said McCain has been in Congress for more than 25 years. His party, the Republicans, have controlled the White House or Congress or both since 1980. That did make me wonder a bit why McCain said, "We're worse off than we were four years ago." And then he added: "I promise you, if you're sick and tired of the way Washington operates, you only need to be patient for a couple of more months. Change is coming! Change is coming! Change is coming!"

Maybe he really does think Obama is now and has been for four years our president.

No, he must know Bush is still in office. Why else would he and Gov. Palin, the sparky leader of that expensive federal preserve called Alaska, declare victory in Iraq? Some victory. McCain said triumph was a result of his personal resolve and the surge led by "the leadership of a brilliant general, David Petraeus." Petraeus is one smart and admirable guy, but his timing is not always perfect. Just before McCain spoke, it was revealed that the general has recommended to the president (Bush) that sharp troop cuts trumpeted by the Republicans should be postponed until next year.

But, of course, McCain has already said we may be there for a hundred years. He may be right.

The conventions were fun and games and a bit of fantasy this time around. But except for introducing the country to Gov. Palin of the Yukon, "Caribou Barbie" to the bloggers, I doubt these rock concerts did much beyond holding the contenders in place. This race will still be about Bush's record, Obama's race and McCain's age.

Previous: WHO IS PREPARED TO BE PRESIDENT? NOBODY

And While We're on the Subject of Spending...

This from cartoonist Steve Greenberg at the Ventura County Star. Sent in by our friend, Richard B.
-Maltok 5

Former POW says McCain is Not Cut Out To Be President

This guy doesn't seem to have a big axe to grind. He might even be telling the truth. Either way, it's good to try to put a countering argument to the whole "I'm a hero! Vote for me!" thing McCain and his campaign have been doing, regardless of the topic. They cheapen the true worth of McCain's actual heroic deeds.

Karl Rove Leaks the Truth About the Palin Choice

Bill O'Reilly's wooden nose grows almost as long as the "bridge to nowhere," and Dick Morris eats his own foot.

Fair Questions?

Okay, so I'm really going to just be reposting this story, as I couldn't have said it better myself. I will say that maybe the campaign that has lived by the Rove, might just die by the truth. And sure, take away all the questions about her family, and there's still plenty to make this little alien sceer'd ta death about this person being a heartbeat away from McNasty, what with all the cancer and age stuff. Oh well...

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Have You Hugged a Republican Today?

When did the Republican Party become the Pity Party?

What has surprised me this week in St. Paul is the sense of grievance that Republicans feel, or pretend to feel, at the cruel forces that are treating them in such a beastly manner. The news media are the principal villains. Having rallied around Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate, Republicans are outraged that anyone would ask whether a first-term Alaska governor, whose only other political experience was as a small-town mayor, is the right person for the job. Having announced that Sarah Palin’s unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, the McCain campaign is irate that anyone would write about this circumstance, much less ask further questions about it.

“Why hound the Palin family over such a private matter?” the campaign protests. Uh, maybe because you put out a press release?

Anyone who questions Palin’s qualifications, or points out that she was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it, is being sexist. Anyone who mentions that McCain is 72, which would make him the oldest man to be elected president, is being ageist. Who knew the Republican Party was so keenly attuned to delicate matters of political correctness? It’s hard to square the image of the party that Fred Thompson tried to project Tuesday night -- tough, muscular to the point of being martial, unafraid and uncompromising, able to skin a moose -- with all the exquisite sensitivity, all the wailing and the lamentation and the gnashing of teeth, on display in St. Paul. This is a party that seems to want reassurance, validation, and maybe a hug.

It all reminds me of those old Saturday morning cartoons in which an elephant would jump up on a stool and tremble in fear at the sight of a mouse.

By Eugene Robinson

McNasty Chooses Experienced Basketball Player to Be A Heartbeat Away

Well, John McCain has sure stirred things up, that wily wascal maverick type old guy that he is. Hmmm... let's see... How can we tap into that whole "youth, change" thing? Oh I've got it! Let's pick an anti choice former school basketball star who has been mayor and is now governor of a state with very little population! Oh yeah, well, she's got five kids, one a newborn with special needs... ah she even said recently she wasn't ready to be Vice President. Er, uh that'll sure shake things up. See? I am a maverick, yes I sure am...

Don't worry that I'm 72, have had 2 bouts with cancer and might blow a head gasket next time I get angry. This person can do the job. And... she'll pick up all those disgruntled Hillary voters.

Well, maybe not, with that anti choice thing she's got going. It is historic though.

John McCain Gets Owned on Meet The Press

Tim Russert watches John McNasty eat a crow sandwich.

Obama Goes After McCain's "Energy Strategy"

It takes a pretty brave politician to tell folks the truth, that solutions to our energy problems won't be super easy and fixed by "drilling more at home."

Obama ridicules McCain's plan to tap offshore oil

3 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Democrat Barack Obama Tuesday accused White House rival John McCain of "posturing" as the Republican, tapping voters' anxiety about sky-high fuel prices, called for offshore oil drilling.

In a speech later in the Texas oil capital of Houston, the Arizona senator was to call for a 27-year-old moratorium on offshore exploration to be lifted -- reversing his own support for the ban when he ran for president in 2000.

McCain was again to push for a summer suspension of federal taxes on gasoline, to ease a little of the pain at the pump for voters already reeling from an epidemic of home foreclosures and job losses.

Obama, who has been hammering McCain and the Republicans on the economy, said his White House opponent's support of the moratorium in 2000 was "certainly laudable."

"But his decision to completely change his position and tell a group of Houston oil executives exactly what they wanted to hear today was the same Washington politics that has prevented us from achieving energy independence for decades," the Illinois senator said in a statement.

"Much like his gas tax gimmick that would leave consumers with pennies in savings, opening our coastlines to offshore drilling would take at least a decade to produce any oil at all, and the effect on gasoline prices would be negligible at best since America only has three percent of the world's oil.

"It's another example of short-term political posturing from Washington, not the long-term leadership we need to solve our dependence on oil."

Hillary Sacrifices For You

Monday, April 14, 2008

Things Hillary Clinton Would Do To Become President

In order to become President, Hillary Clinton would...

- undergo torture
- slip Dick Cheney the tongue
- eat hair out of the shower drain
- sit on a porcupine
- invent a fictitious black grandparent
- swim across the Arctic ocean
- become a Republican
- become a Libertarian
- become a Socialist
- become a Communist
- become a Whig
- try out for American Idol
- shoot herself in the forearm
- bear the child of a Superdelegate
- sell Chelsea to gypsies
- eat a banana peel
- iron your shirt
- step on a rusty nail
- sleep with Fidel Castro
- watch "Gigli" on loop for four days
- pour acid on her skin
- attempt to escape actual sniper fire by Bosnian militants with no running start
- shave her eyebrows
- disavow pantsuits
- stare down an angry rhinoceros
- admit that perhaps she might have sort of conditionally been a hair of a smidge wrong for voting for the Iraq war but really only kinda sort of wrong if you look at it from the right perspective and take into account the facts of the time which were not at all straightforward and really hypothetically if she had been president at the time she not only would have not made the same decision she might not have even been partly wrong about the fact that she voted incorrectly that is to say if her vote was incorrect in the first place given the facts on the ground at the time and actually if you want to get technical about it she was not president and was only a senator making a potentially and possibly ill-advised vote if you want to look at it in that fashion but really it was not that kind of a vote
- clip Rush Limbaugh's toenails
- become a Wiccan
- stand in line at Target to get you a Wii
- donate both kidneys
- eat nothing but Big Macs for two months
- fire a shotgun at reporters to demonstrate love of 2nd Amendment
- release her tax records
- lie down in a busy intersection
- walk 500 miles
- work as a rodeo clown
- be an actress in a Herpes medication ad
- agree to be bitten by a rattlesnake
- walk naked through Baghdad
- cry
- join The View
- kick Howard Dean in the nuts
- change her last name to Bush
- start her own country
- hike across the Gobi desert with no water
- smash a beer bottle over her head
- become Obama's Vice-President, then murder him
- sell her soul to anyone buying
- marry Bill Clinton