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Happy Friday To You! "We finally reach!" Actually I have to admit even with all the rain and colder temps my week has been rather good, besides the current GOP and the idiots that support them...That is the reason for the title...Our national discourse has turned into a complete farce...Everything we hear out a politicians mouth is a lie... Our media outlets lie to us and obfuscate on every issue whether they need to or not...Speaking of which, the CBC Institute has finally given up on it's FOX Democratic debate it had scheduled for Sept. 23rd...Now the reason the debate was canceled was because none of the Dems decided to show up except for Kucinich I believe and maybe one or two others...Instead of Bernie Thompson coming out and saying , "Well we can't get the DemoRats front runners to go along with this little "Fundraising Scheme" for the CBCI, so we will just dogged them in the media and hope that shaming them to come to our debate will work...Nope he LIED and went here ( h/t C&L):
Institute chairman U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said in a statement on the group’s Web site that the “overwhelming number of party presidential debates has created a scheduling challenge.”
I mean why lie? We all know that none of the major candidates were showing up because of it being held on Faux! I mean it was on the news in the blogs on the CBCI's website...WHY LIE?! Now I have been reading that this is going to go bad for the DemoRats...That this is going to be run over and over again saying that the DemoRats are scared of Faux...Not in the least...They are not giving any more credence to Faux...Everyone knows Faux Noise is a propaganda arm of the WhoreHouse and that it has no love for black people...It's like going to a party where you know the people throwing the party do not like you...Would you go? I love the decision the Demo-Rats made not to go on Faux for anything...So Bennie you need to find another way to make your money...Lets not forget while the Rethugs are calling the Dems scared that they the rethugs canceled thier scheduled youtube debate...What are the Rethugs afraid of?! They can't face the American?! In my mind that is much worse than worrying about a small percentage of handpicked people that do not like me as opposed to the whole voting public at large...I mean they pick and choose the questions that are going to be used in the youtube debates...Sure they can find a few softballs to lob at the GOP prez candidates right?! They have been doing it every Sunday on the talking heads shows for 6 years...So when you weigh all that info out it looks the Rethugs are a bigger bunch of pussies then the DemoRats...Make sure you check out the Color Of Change website which along with the Netroots movement made this cancellation possible...The Color of Change is a great site if you wanna feel like your involved and get your voice heard especially in things that affect people of color...Like selling black folks out to Faux for personal gain! Bennie STOP COONING!
Okay let's get to all them Faux Noise lies I mentioned earlier...First is that "Fair and Balanced" slogan...It does not mean exactly what most people think it means, such as they are going to show all viewpoints to a particular news item...Nope not at all! What that slogan means is that Faux thinks all other outlets are liberal leaning and the "fair and balancing" comes into play to balance their perceived liberal bias on the news...One of the most successful mind games the GOP has played on the public is the "Liberal Media Lie!" Roger Allies the pig that runs faux came out and said his organization was biased, he said something to the effect of "anyone who thinks there is no bias in reporting is either a liar (which he should know because he is one) or stupid." The second thing about Faux is the perception of how important they think they are and the reality of the situation...From News Corpse:
The third thing is the folks that watch Faux...There have been numerous studies that show that Faux users (because it is like a drug to these folks) are consistently misinformed and confused about the issues...Reminds me of the story about how the producer's of The Simpson's were told not to parody the Faux news ticker because (wait for it...) it would confuse their viewers into thinking it real news at the bottom of a cartoon parody show...At first I thought what a bunch of dumbasses, but as I gave it more thought I understand what Faux was saying because regular viewers are so used to getting their headlines form that very ticker...I do it all the time and you really don't pay attention to what the propagandist is saying because you are concentrating on the ticker...Pathetic either way! They call it programming for a reason! From News Corpse again:
* The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press just completed a study that shows that Republicans are more likely to find fault with the media than non-Republicans. But Republicans for whom Fox is their primary source of news, the number is even higher.
* World Public Opinion conducted a study in 2005 that proved that Fox viewers were significantly more likely to have misperceptions about the war in Iraq. And viewers who paid more attention were even more misinformed.
* The Mellman Group’s research revealed that Fox viewers supported George Bush over John Kerry by 88% to 7%. Only Republicans were more united in supporting Bush. Conservatives, white evangelical Christians, gun owners, and supporters of the Iraq war all gave Bush fewer votes than did regular Fox News viewers.
*WARNING* Not Safe For Human Consumption!
I like the part about the faux users that paid closer attention to the drivel on Faux are even more confused about the real world than casual users...I gotta give Bill Oh'Really a shout out since we are talking about Faux and he is their number on show, but as pointed out above he still gets less viewer share than SpongeBob...I won't go into his latest round of meaningless rants, lies and bullshit, but I do want to point out some of The Oh'Really interview techniques...
Ask direct yes or no questions where one answer is clearly reprehensible and the other is totally meaningless, and bully your guest into responding.
“Do you want the U.S. to lose in Iraq? Well, do you?”
Create an association with an unpopular (preferably mischaracterized) opinion with the broadest attribution possible.
“Do you agree with Harry Belafonte, and the rest of the liberal establishment, that Venezuela should take over America?”
Never concede on substance, even if your arguments are demonstrably false.
“Saddam Hussein did too meet with Osama Bin Laden at Michael Moore’s compound in Libya - Twice.”
Employ ad hominims liberally.
“Why should anyone listen to a radical, Kool-Aid drinking, far-left loon like you?”
Shout louder than your guests and interrupt frequently, especially when they are making a good point.
[Inspired by KimChi]
That just about sums it all up w/ Bill'Oh...Now the problem with all of this is that the other stations seem to think the only way to compete with Faux is to emulate them...No need to do that, if the Dems continue to ignore them and not go on their show that takes away their legitimacy...Once there are no more DemoRats going on Faux to get jumped they will rapidly and steadily loose their user base and go away...One more thing with faux...From Think Progress...
Fox Attacks: Iran.
Robert Greenwald’s Brave New Films has released a new video as part of its ongoing Fox Attacks series. “Fox Attacks: Iran” reveals the network’s efforts to beat the drums for a war against Iran. The ad shows Fox fear-mongering and inflating the threat much the way it did prior to the Iraq war. Watch the ad below, and take action here.
I saw my man Nouri Maliki and he had some tough words for the US and critics of his government...Now I know he is a puppet and real sock puppet at that but lately he has grown a pair...From Crooks & Liars:
AP Via Yahoo:
Iraq’s prime minister lashed out Wednesday at U.S. criticism, saying no one has the right to impose timetables on his elected government and that his country “can find friends elsewhere.”
Bush on Tuesday said he was frustrated with Iraqi leaders’ inability to bridge political divisions. But he added that only the Iraqi people can decide whether to sideline al-Maliki.
“No one has the right to place timetables on the Iraq government. It was elected by its people,” he said at a news conference in Damascus at the end of the three-day visit to Syria.
“Those who make such statements are bothered by our visit to Syria. We will pay no attention. We care for our people and our constitution and can find friends elsewhere,” al-Maliki said. Read more…
White House Moving The Goal Posts On Escalation, Drops Demands For Iraqi Political Reconciliation
When President Bush announced the escalation on January 10, 2007, he claimed the purpose of adding more troops into Iraq’s civil war was to enable political reconciliation:
When this happens, daily life will improve, Iraqis will gain confidence in their leaders, and the government will have the breathing space it needs to make progress in other critical areas. Most of Iraq’s Sunni and Shia want to live together in peace — and reducing the violence in Baghdad will help make reconciliation possible.
More than seven months later, the Bush’s predictions have flopped. Political reconciliation has not occurred, and its prospects look bleak. As a result, the White House is now in the process of moving the goal posts, dropping its prior demands that Iraqi leaders meet certain political benchmarks in order to sustain the escalation.
The surge is NOT working according to plan, which was to give the Iraqi parliament time to get things done in particularly a new Oil Ministry that includes the US...That was the original plan of the "surge" not that latest crap they are trying to spinI found this timeline from the Political Animal:
THE SURGE....Is the surge working? That is, even if you ignore the lack of political progress, are we even making tactical progress? Since violence in Iraq tends to be seasonal, the only reasonable comparison is one between summer 2006 and summer 2007, so I went to the latest Brookings Iraq Index to check out the most recent numbers.
No figures are available for August, and the surge wasn't completely up and running until June, so the best comparison is between June/July 2006 and June/July 2007. I'm not pretending this is conclusive or anything, but the news sure doesn't look very good. The two tables below tell the story.
Violence Metrics
June/July | June/July |
| |
Iraqi Military and Police Killed | 349 | 429 | Up 23% |
Multiple Fatality Bombings | 110 | 82 | Down 25% |
# Killed in Mult. Fatality Bombings | 885 | 1,053 | Up 19% |
Iraqi Civilians Killed | 6,739 | 5,300 | Hard to say1 |
U.S. Troop Fatalities | 104 | 187 | Up 80% |
U.S. Troops Wounded | 983 | 1,423 | Up 45% |
Size of Insurgency | 20,000+ | ~70,0002 | Up ~250% |
Attacks on Oil and Gas Pipelines | 8 | 143 | Up 75% |
2Number is for March 2007.
3Numbers are for June only. No July numbers are available.
Infrastructure Metrics
June/July | June/July |
| |
Diesel Fuel Available | 26.7 Ml | 20.7 Ml | Down 22% |
Kerosene Available | 7.08 Ml | 6.3 Ml | Down 11% |
Gasoline Available | 29.4 Ml | 22.2 Ml | Down 24% |
LPG Available | 4,936 tons | 4,932 tons | Down 0.1% |
Electricity Generated | 8,800 Mwatts | 8,420 Mwatts | Down 4% |
Hours Electricity Per Day | 11.7 | 10.14 | Down ~14% |
By those numbers it doesn't look good at all...The National Intelligence Estimate confirms these numbers...From Think Progress:
Read the key judgments of the NIE here. Below, some important findings:
Decrease in Baghdad violence due to sectarian cleansing:
The polarization of communities is most evident in Baghdad, where the Shia are a clear majority in more than half of all neighborhoods and Sunni areas have become surrounded by predominately Shia districts. Where population displacements have led to significant sectarian separation, conflict levels have diminished to some extent because warring communities find it more difficult to penetrate communal enclaves.
Violence to remain high over next six to 12 months:
[L]evels of insurgent and sectarian violence will remain high [over next six to 12 months] and the Iraqi Government will continue to struggle to achieve national-level political reconciliation and improved governance.
National government to become more “precarious” over next six to 12 months:
The Iraqi Government will become more precarious over the next six to 12 months because of criticism by other members of the major Shia coalition, Grand Ayatollah Sistani, and other Sunni and Kurdish parties. … The strains of the security situation and absence of key leaders have stalled internal political debates, slowed national decisionmaking, and increased Maliki’s vulnerability to alternative coalitions
Refugee crisis will continue to spill over during “next six to 12 months”:
Population displacement resulting from sectarian violence continues, imposing burdens on provincial governments and some neighboring states and increasing the danger of destabilizing influences spreading across Iraq’s borders over the next six to 12 months.
However, that doesn't keep the host of the GOP liars from trying to tell us different...The one that stands out the most is David "diaper boy" Vitter...You remember him from the DC Madame Scandal? Anyway, Mr Vitter thanks he can give a great assesment and get back some GOP brownie points but...From Think Progress:
Vitter Needs Only 10 Hours In Iraq To Declare ‘The Surge Is Working Very, Very Well’
Yesterday, Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Bob Corker (R-TN) returned from a brief trip to Iraq, proclaiming that they saw “clear success” on the ground. But their definitive claims of witnessing success were seriously undermined by their traveling partner, Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), who admitted to reporters that the senators had only spent 10-14 hours in total in Iraq.
Now Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), the fourth member of the delegation, is taking his turn at making sweeping pronouncements of success in Iraq while downplaying the superficial nature of his trip:
Vitter said the surge is working.
The United States has made significant strikes against Al Qaida terrorist forces and reduced sectarian violence in the nation, he said.
Vitter said he met with the chief military commander in Iraq, U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, for about 90 minutes.
“My bottom line conclusion is that the surge is working very, very well,” said Vitter, who returned to the U.S. late Tuesday night.
Vitter, who was recently embarrassed in a prostitution scandal, is hoping that “the trip will help him play a more hands-on role in the upcoming Senate debate” over Iraq. “It was very, very helpful to see things on the ground,” he said. MORE!
The big deal about the whole trip is the Military asked the travelers to not say anything until after their return...Of course Vitter and his people were sending out press releases a week in advance...LOSER!
Now they are talking about bringing back a strong arm type like Saddam again to get Iraq and the Iraqi's whipped back into shape...From Crooks & Liars:
Watch this report from Michael Ware with Wolf. Since Maliki isn’t cutting it as the leader in Iraq and there is virtually no government—what is being said is that we need Saddam, but not really Saddam, just somebody that’s tough, but not too tough, that can keep Iraq together so that it’s still friendly to the US, but that isn’t friendly with Iran because that would be bad, Mkay? The tribes were called losers by the White House, but they aren’t losers now—so who are the losers?…Now we’re hearing about the Musharraf option that people just loved as far back as 2004. Or Operation Stongman as I like to call it…But didn’t the Iraqis vote with their purple fingers? Round and Round it goes…As long as the US keeps “surging” along…
Download (864) | 
Download (413) | MORE!
We got plenty more where that came from...They are seriously trying to get rid of Maliki...From Think Progress...
Right-Wing Operatives Plot To Overthrow Maliki, Replace Him With Reliable Collaborator Allawi
The powerful Republican lobbying group of Barbour Griffith & Rogers is plotting an effort to displace Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and supplant him with former interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. IraqSlogger reported:
BGR’s work for Allawi includes the August 17 purchase of the Web site domain Allawi-for-Iraq.com.
In recent days, BGR sent hundreds of e-mail messages in Allawi’s name from the e-mail address DrAyadAllawi@Allawi-for-Iraq.com.
BGR’s staff is stacked with conservative operatives with extremely close ties to the White House. Its president is Bush’s former envoy to Iraq, Ambassador Robert Blackwill. Philip Zelikow, a former Counselor to Condoleezza Rice, serves as a senior adviser to the firm. Lanny Griffith, chief executive officer, is a Bush Ranger having raised at least $200,000 for Bush in the 2004 presidential election. And Ed Rogers, chairman and founder of the firm, has been a reliable political ally for the Bush White House. MORE!
Let's see what the states are up to and what lies they are telling...First we have to visit with the folks in NOLA...There are over 43,000 people living in those Fema trailers...At least a 1000 have asked to be moved out of the trailers...Just a reminder of why...From The Boston Globe:
FEMA moves storm victims from trailers
By Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press Writer August 23, 2007
NEW ORLEANS --About 1,000 Louisiana families have asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to move them out of government-issued trailers and mobile homes over concerns that the shelters are contaminated, FEMA officials said Thursday.
Jim Stark, director of FEMA's Louisiana Transitional Recovery Office, said the agency already has moved -- or is moving -- about 140 of the families into apartments at the agency's expense.
To accommodate others, FEMA has identified roughly 6,500 apartment units across the state that meet the agency's "fair-market value guidelines," according to Stark.
"We're going to try to move people where they can fit," he told The Associated Press during an interview Thursday.
With roughly 43,000 Louisiana families still living in FEMA trailers and mobile homes following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, officials are investigating complaints that the units are exposing occupants to dangerous levels of formaldehyde, which can cause respiratory problems.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is developing plans to test the air quality inside FEMA trailers, but those tests haven't started yet, a CDC spokesman said Thursday. MORE!
Meanwhile the new storm season has hit and I guess every time the thunder cracks in NOLA folks must start heading for the hills...Next up Texas...
Via YoursDaily.com:
In Alabama, you can sell guns on any street corner but you can’t sell sex toys.
That’s right. Alabama is a vibrator-free state!
Well, technically you can go across state lines and buy sex toys in Georgia and Tennessee and carry them home. But the Alabama Legislature, in its infinite wisdom and in the spirit of protecting citizens from moral turpitude, a while back banned the sale of sex toys (or “marital aids” as some lawmakers coyly call them).
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court has shown a gleam of interest in this controversial state law, which has been challenged in Alabama courts by adult toy retailer Sherri Williams. She has been fighting the law for nearly 10 years. MORE!
I can't forget about Texas as they reach another milestone in the state...From Crooks & Liars:
And the culture of life continues…
Via The Telegraph UK:
A man convicted of shooting dead a store clerk during a robbery has become the 400th person to be executed by Texas since the US Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976.
The southern state accounts for almost a third of the 1,091 American executions over the last three decades, and this year it will be responsible for almost two thirds - 21 out of 35 judicial killings so far. MORE!
Yeah and the beat goes on...I guess I could go on also but it was hot and I had a lot of running around to do in that heat and it has zapped my energy and desire to dig around in the muck and mire with the GOP...So I am going to cut it off here and wish you all a great weekend and I will see ya's on Monday with the Manics! As usual let me know what I missed got wrong or something you need clarification on...
PEaCE!
10-acious_D
The New Defenders Of Friday!
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