Howdy all — coffee is freshly brewed and breakfast oats are cooking. It’s gorgeous here today, hope it is where you are, too.

Our internet was down yesterday. It’s nice to be back online today…

Ignorance or deliberate lying? I’ll say both, Redd.

Good Morning. Beautiful day in NE Iowa.

But I plan to do all I can today to make Grassley vulnerable. I am pushing for Bruce Braley, my wonderful new Rep., to make a run.

Good on ya. Let us know how that goes.

I live in the Republican corner of Braley’s district so usually can take the “pulse ” of the local Rethugs. I hear rumblings of disatisfaction over Grassley’s duplicitous “bipartisan” delaying tactic and his use of Rush’s death panel talking points.

I am particularly angry about his use of Kennedy’s death for disinformation.

Good morning all.

Cold in mid-Hudson, but sunny & beautiful.

Disagree with your title Christy. I’ve never seen any sign of logic, twisted or otherwise, in any of Michael Steele’s word salads.

One of the things about rethugs is that they have a total disregard of professionalism. As a result we get clowns like Dick Cheney, Michael Brown, etc. etc.

The President himself has said he doesn’t want to look backwards, but now he’s allowing his Attorney General to do just that.

It sort of reminds me of a B.C. cartoon I saw years ago. About the first three cartoon panels showed the anteater watching an ant walk up a dune. In each panel, it got closer to the top. In the next to last panel, the anteater flicked out it’s tongue and got the ant, as it neared the top of the dune. In the last panel, the little text bubble said, “I like to let them think they’re going to make it.”

And these are the same guys who talk real tough about scaring people with drills and threats against their wives and children.

Steel is just another Repuk who is defending War Criminals he would have made a great witness at Nerunberg

have you attended any of Congressman Braley’s town halls ?? ( Note: there’s an rsvp button) and will he take the pledge ??

read recently the former state transportation commissioner was gearing up to challenge Grassley – your critter looks good as well – ol Chuckles has gotta go

Mornin’ All

It’s the utter disregard for internal procedure that irritates here — hello, they have rules and regs on not politicizing this stuff for a reason. Too bad you ignored those altogether for the last few years.

The criminals are pushing hard to quosh any attempts at holding them accountable for their criminal activity.

Obama’s people seem to be leaning that way because undoubtedly they will do the same sorts of crimes. It seems as if this goes with the territory of the exercise of power in America.

He’s already in my mind at least, been engaged in war crimes in Afghanistan. He knows it and is on the slippery slope.

Justice for the people not the power. hahaha

His town hall haven’t fit my very hectic schedule, but I talk weekly with a staff member in Waterloo who makes sure he gets the message. I will ask today again if they are going to take the pledge. I am couching it in moral terms as well as political terms to oppose Grassley on this issue.

Perhaps its me…but anyone with a particulate of brain matter would see that the DOJ would be primarily concerned with events in the past. Prosecution of crimes is, by its very nature, retrospective. So to make any sense of Obama’s remarks one has to view them as meaning he sees a wall between his tasks, which are primarily prospective, and the DOJ.

But even here do we really think that a President can ignore the past? If the Republicans are all into “letting bygones be bygones” then we’d have to ignore the whole series of events that fuel their fears…a ll those terror events, the myths they’ve built up about the licentious “Sixties”, Bill Clinton, Obama’s Birth Place, their fears of other races and immigrants, of Islam, of the Japanese (which expands to all people from Asia). They’d have to surrender their myth of American exceptionalism.

The GOP is ONLY about “livin’ in the past”- that’s the whole premise of conservatism…but their “past” is some fairy tale world of historical revisionism…a “Leave It to Beaver” world without minorities, (or worse, of happy slaves incidentally held by nice plant ation owners who rebelled only to protect “States rights”) with an occasional cameo by an “inscrutable” and buffoonish Chinese detectives. Drawbridges up to those evil empires abroad, where we’ve only come to the rescue of failed European societies and Latin American states. Everyone else’s “crimes” are to be dwelled upon (even when they didn’t occur). Yet the Republicans claim that they want only to look to the future? Their whole point of reference is about the “past”- a bulldada past that never happened outside the mind of Ronald Reagan.

I understood and agree. I particularly remember the rule regarding being especially careful about bringing charges which might effect the outcome of an election. I still have difficulty fathoming that they only see laws, rules, precedent, treaties, agreements, and facts as things to be used, twisted, or ignored as necessary, and much of the public doesn’t get it.

You can’t exactly investigate it until the deed has actually been done, now can you? Logic, not just for the rest of us.

Steele was merely riffing on Old Deadeye’s whine this weekend that any investigation into criminality under the Bush administration is political.

Well hello, Republican morons. Every decision you made was political. Every crime you committed was for political gain; if there was any financial gain, it was a bonus.

Removing U.S. Attorneys? Political.

Abramoff’s corruption? Political.

Torture to create a link between Iraq and al Qaeda? Political.

Terror alerts? Political.

Launching an illegal war in order to boost Republican cred while paying off donors? Political.

Yeah, own it, Deadeye and minions. All your crimes are political, and the whining about prosecution of these crimes is merely projection.

News flash to Steele — you don’t investigate until after a bad act has been alleged

unless of course you want to get someone convicted with legal entrapment, then you set up the situation where it becomes likely a crime is going to be committed and there you have an investigation that begins before the bad act is alleged

Do as we say, not as we do. Again. SIGH

And, btw, you get to use selective bits of history, not actually learn all its lessons. Bread and circuses as strategery for us all. Sad, isn’t it?

That’s the story of all the so-called terrorists that the U.S. has either convicted or pled out. There are simply NO real terrorists in the U.S., or at any that the FBI can find.

Steele thinks there is a future for him in national politics.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

So, exactly who’s politicizing what?

Visibly, crimes have been committed. People have been tortured, which is a crime. Scores of them have been tortured to death. These are thus far unsolved federal crimes; the perpetrators have not yet been identified. And the Attorney General, the nation’s top law-enforcement officer, has asked one of his investigators to look into the matter. And, suddenly, the chairman of the Republican Party and a Republican former vice president are all over the television yelling “dirty politics” and “criminalization of politics” and generally trying, with a great deal of success, to turn this investigation of a crime into a political spectical. Me thinks they protesteth overly much.

There are days when you just have to laugh out loud at the sheer stupid audacity of the ruse. Today is one of those days, eh?

In Steele’s world we don’t need an A G…just more of the beloved 18% Commander Coo Coo. Our past glorified leader and emperor GWB..king of the world and signing statments. heh

Watch the video that Gregg had up yesterday. It’s stunning how disjointed Steele’s understanding of all of this is. Seriously.

At the same time Deadeye says Waterboarding was policy, iirc…policy and practice, by the way. Some folks would call that an Admission against Interest. More brain cells may be gone.

And, his mission was accomplished. That’s the tragic part.

btw, I have a Von Spakovsky sighting up next…because I know you all can’t resist his dulcet tones either. *g*

Surely the reason O’s being pushed to be aggressive in Afghanistan is so that he lands up on the slippery slope. Also.

At the same time Deadeye says Waterboarding was policy, iirc…policy and practice, by the way.

Those whose policies result in crimes have much to answer for. But what is Cheney doing other than “politicizing” the administration of justice, i.e., turning the investigation of a series of crimes into a political matter played out on the Sunday talking-heads shows?

Normally, when a political party takes a pummeling like the GOP received last November,
they wander in the political wilderness for an election cycle or so doing a bit of soul searching. Interestingly, other than to say they may have spent too freely, rather than
re-inventing themselves, this party of Steele seems to have doubled down. I think it is going to lead to their ultimate destruction.

sheer stupid audacity of the ruse
Really great wordage, Redd. And, yes, laughable.
I used your old handle because reading through the comments and the handles…well, I could break into song. Seems Like Old Times…

I think they are banking on a weakness for the other side to call their behavior and conduct out. Here’s hoping they are wrong about that…

easier to control the message that way.

Frankly, just happy the internet is working here today. *g* But it is good to see everyone…

With Justice as an end point, can we draw closer to justice while hiding the truth as in the torture videos and pictures?
Seems to me we will be forever perfecting the union bound by the constitution as the best tested way forward, with the attendant International treaties. As mistakes are made by commission or omission we have to look back as we move forward to rectify or punish as an example those who fail their constitutional oath to preserve and protect that which binds us. As we can see people who fail at this basic pledge could never develop a winning strategy in foreign or domestic affairs .

The pictures and videos portion of things is still being litigated, though — so that fight isn’t over yet, either. ACLU still pushing forward on that as well.

I had a neighbor who used to sprinkle pepper on his lawn once a week. He did this week after week he get out his pepper grinder and walk around his year turning its handle putting pepper on his lawn.

Finally I asked him, “Why do you sprinkle pepper on your lawn, week after week?”

“To keep the elephants away,” he replied.

I pointed out to him that there were no elephants within a hundred miles of our small town.

“See how well it works,” he replied.

For whatever reason, Dick Cheney reminds me of that guy. Maybe it the bald head and glasses.

Speaking of ACLU, they are also arguing for further accountability. Details available here.

I had asked about you yesterday. Having been on vacation and then not seeing any CHS comments, I was somewhat concerned for ya. Even when you are out of town, you usually post something. Glad it was only a technical glitch and not some emotional diversion.
(PS – I got the gym job, so now I have two minimum wage part time jobs. I feel like Daffy Duck. I’m rich, rich, rich, I tell you.)

Yay — that’s great news on the job front. Good for you!

Hi Christy,
Thaks for making me recall Sheldon Whitehouse’s WH/DOJ access charts.

Just watched it again yesterday while titling some recordings and they still put my jaw in my lap.
Leahy was gobsmacked enough to rise out of his seat to see them.

Charts r Great!

Congratulations! Now on to buy that bicycle.

OT Christy did you know the ACLU attorney that was murdered in the DC park

Those charts were sheer genius, weren’t they?

Yes, I’ve been trying to follow how things are going with the investigation thus far. Really nice guy.

Larry Frankel

Thanks. The camping trip was truly re-creating. Read a lot, walked a lot and saw some wonderful creatures. Ten feet from a Great Blue Heron, Dolphins, Snowy Plovers and the usual jack rabbits, gulls and pelicans. I won’t even go into the fabulous food. *g*

btw, the Von Spakovsky news is up and running for folks who are interested…

Woo hoo. With a big comfy seat. You know what? This was the first trip in years that I didn’t have hip soreness from all the walking or lower back pain from leaning over the fire pit to cook. I cannot say enough about the benefits of exercise.

Gee, maybe that is what happened to my perfect mate….something has been keeping him away ;)) Guess it works.

will use my dvd library when my nephews are older as part of their civics education.

of course FDL will play a major role in the lesson plan. right now working on getting them away from the stoopid video games. Can’t thank you and Jane enough for being there when i discovered blogs. one of your attygate posts was my introduction to the blogosphere.

sunshine here in nyc. hope it’s shining on all firepups today.

Demi…Ive forgotten…where did you go?

A State Park just below Ventura. Not far, but at an hour and a half out of town, it was far enough. Part of that campground is a bird sanctuary and we attended a naturalist’s talk on the birds and their behaviors. Was fascinating. Much better than watching tv after dinner. :)

Good for you…I have taken a couple of days off to “catch up”….so why doesn’t my house look better by now? Have a lovely day…we are having hints of cool here in TX after a record heat this summer. Even a small difference is well, great.