Saturday, February 28, 2009
It's Me or No One Else
Jim Bunning is threating his brethren; it's me or no one else.
Sen. Jim Bunning has reportedly said privately that if he is hindered in raising money for his re-election campaign he is ready with a response that would be politically devastating for Senate Republicans: his resignation.Of course, Dems would then have the 60 senate votes they need to suppress any GOP filibustering. Read the full article in Louisville Courier-Journal and weep batwings.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Sacré bleu
Oh dear, the sacred blue sky is falling. Obama's Harvard Law Review arguments didn't hold sway with a federal appeals court in California.
Washington Post reports the "administration...[has] lost its argument that the state secrets privilege is a good enough reason to stop a lawsuit over the government's warrantless wiretapping program."
And like the bruised, battered wife with a million dollar bracelet from hubby, neither jewels nor presidency trump the rule of law; the show must go on.
Washington Post reports the "administration...[has] lost its argument that the state secrets privilege is a good enough reason to stop a lawsuit over the government's warrantless wiretapping program."
And like the bruised, battered wife with a million dollar bracelet from hubby, neither jewels nor presidency trump the rule of law; the show must go on.
A federal appeals court in San Francisco...rejected the Justice Department's request for an emergency stay. The Obama administration, like the Bush administration before it, claimed that national security would be compromised if a lawsuit brought by the U.S. chapter of an Islamic charity was allowed to proceed.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Shocking News from Obamaland
Associated Press headlines the shocking news that just like Bush, Obama is fighting to deny detainees in Afghanistan any constitutional rights.
That's right; even though last year the U.S. Supreme Court "gave al-Qaida and Taliban suspects held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay...the right to challenge their detention", Obama doesn't want designated enemy combatants anytime soon to realize those rights in U.S. courts.
AP explains:
Guess the Age of Enlightenment will have to wait a little longer -- AGAIN!
That's right; even though last year the U.S. Supreme Court "gave al-Qaida and Taliban suspects held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay...the right to challenge their detention", Obama doesn't want designated enemy combatants anytime soon to realize those rights in U.S. courts.
AP explains:
Three months after the Supreme Court's ruling on Guantanamo Bay, four Afghan citizens being detained at Bagram tried to challenge their detentions in U.S. District Court in Washington. Court filings alleged that the U.S. military had held them without charges, repeatedly interrogating them without any means to contact an attorney. Their petition was filed by relatives on their behalf since they had no way of getting access to the legal system.All over the blogosphere, progressives have communicated their outrage this morning. DailyKos, zip. Americablog, home of the truth, zilch; investigative news leader Raw Story, zot. Talk Left, nada. Think Progressive, another goose egg; and their deafening silence kept poor Howling Latina awake last night and early this morning.
Guess the Age of Enlightenment will have to wait a little longer -- AGAIN!
The hope we all had in President Obama to lead us on a different path has not turned out as we'd hoped," said Tina Monshipour Foster, a human rights attorney representing a detainee at the Bagram Airfield. "We all expected better."What do you mean we, paleface? Not everyone...but don't worry. Blessedly, Obama is closing Guantanamo; and if the administration's arguments are upheld, we will continue to happily sing kumbaya on the overseas trail of tears without pesky U.S. courts weighing in on the matter.
They've now embraced the Bush policy that you can create prisons outside the law," said Jonathan Hafetz, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who has represented several detainees.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Is Karma About to Take Another Bite??
Howling Latina has noted how nearly every person who maliciously bad-mouthed Hillary during the Democratic primaries has been crushed by the law of just desserts for their backstabbing ways.
Notice the howler said "nearly" everyone. There are a few special persons from this distinguished group who've managed to avoid the cosmic's harsh sledge of retribution. Folks like rabble rouser Donna Brazile and James Enos Clyburn.
But soon Donna may be standing alone; it looks like Enos is about to find himself in well-deserved doo-doo. TPM Muckraker breathlessly reports that in 2005 more than a few lawmakers took a Caribbean junket with Allen Stanford, the same great guy from Houston who sold "$8 billion in certificates" from a bogus bank in Antigua and who's recently vanished into thin air with the SEC hot on his trail; the guest list included Katherine Harris, Tom Feeney and other enemies of the progressive state.
So what does a junket with a shady financier have to do with honest Enos who is still owed a slice of just desserts for his ruse of last year ??
Well, it just so happens that Muckraker has a few photos and guess who was invited to the shindig...?
The go-to guy in the House when Dems need to whip the vote; the same Dem who pulled out the race card before the all-important primary in South Carolina last year, calling Hill and Bill fairy tale racists. Yep, that's the same Enos clinging to the bus, almost as if he knew someday his little vacation would cost him big.
How long before Enos goes under the bus with Caroline and Bill "Judas" Richardson?
Update: It just wouldn't be a schadenfreude banquet without "air hooker" Randy Rhodes. So...courtesy of Not Your Sweetie, she's been invited; it seems the former radio starlet got herself fired. AGAIN!
Notice the howler said "nearly" everyone. There are a few special persons from this distinguished group who've managed to avoid the cosmic's harsh sledge of retribution. Folks like rabble rouser Donna Brazile and James Enos Clyburn.
But soon Donna may be standing alone; it looks like Enos is about to find himself in well-deserved doo-doo. TPM Muckraker breathlessly reports that in 2005 more than a few lawmakers took a Caribbean junket with Allen Stanford, the same great guy from Houston who sold "$8 billion in certificates" from a bogus bank in Antigua and who's recently vanished into thin air with the SEC hot on his trail; the guest list included Katherine Harris, Tom Feeney and other enemies of the progressive state.
So what does a junket with a shady financier have to do with honest Enos who is still owed a slice of just desserts for his ruse of last year ??
Well, it just so happens that Muckraker has a few photos and guess who was invited to the shindig...?
The go-to guy in the House when Dems need to whip the vote; the same Dem who pulled out the race card before the all-important primary in South Carolina last year, calling Hill and Bill fairy tale racists. Yep, that's the same Enos clinging to the bus, almost as if he knew someday his little vacation would cost him big.
How long before Enos goes under the bus with Caroline and Bill "Judas" Richardson?
Update: It just wouldn't be a schadenfreude banquet without "air hooker" Randy Rhodes. So...courtesy of Not Your Sweetie, she's been invited; it seems the former radio starlet got herself fired. AGAIN!
Rove subpoenaed by Conyers
And it looks like Obama is busy at work throwing Lady Justice and Siegelman under the bus.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
The End of Payola Justice??
The Supreme Court is set to hear the case of a hard-boiled, stiff-necked West Virginia coal mine owner who 'invested' $3 million to defeat a judge who'd previously ruled against him. The New York Times explains:
Well, it's been said before that justice is only for those who can afford it. Maybe it's time for fair minded people to admit this is just plain corrupt. Justice should not go to the highest bidder; and judges should not be elected but be appointed by either state legislatures, governors or preferably both.In 2004, he spent $3 million on tough advertisements attacking a justice of the State Supreme Court who was seeking re-election. Some of the advertisements said the justice had agreed to free a sex offender.
[...]
Brent D. Benjamin won that election and went on to join the 3-to-2 majority that threw out a $50 million jury verdict against Mr. Blankenship’s company, Massey Energy.
[...]
The question of whether Justice Benjamin should have disqualified himself is now before the United States Supreme Court.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
More Fun from Prince William County
First they ran off taxpaying homeowners and now Prince William County is set to run off small business owners. 'Cause you know, they're just rolling in dough.
That's right, boys and girls, Washington Post reports that every businessowner who wants his or her county business license renewed (i.e., physicians, mortgage brokers, restaurateurs, insurance agents, merchants and so on) must now stand in a long painful line before they can renew their license.
That's right, boys and girls, Washington Post reports that every businessowner who wants his or her county business license renewed (i.e., physicians, mortgage brokers, restaurateurs, insurance agents, merchants and so on) must now stand in a long painful line before they can renew their license.
Of course, some officials have a few qualms.
Supervisor Martin E. Nohe (R-Coles), a small-business owner who expressed reservations about the business license requirement last year, said it could put Prince William at a competitive disadvantage because people in other counties can apply for their certification online or by mail.
Nah, you think...?
Happy, happy days for the idiot Republicans running the county; this should definitely win them a few more endorsements from the Chamber of Commerce.
Happy, happy days for the idiot Republicans running the county; this should definitely win them a few more endorsements from the Chamber of Commerce.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Corey Stewart is a Big Fat Idiot
Hey Corey, how's that illegal immigrant bashing working out for the economic health of Prince William County, you xenophobic idiot?@!?
Inquiring minds can read all about it in the Washington Post and then have a good cry or laugh -- depending on whether they live in the county or not.
Richmond; and like a bunch of roaches after the Orkin man has arrived, they're all running for cover.
In the meantime, poor Howling Latina's son, who lives in PWC, saw his real estate taxes on a modest home jump by $300 a month. He'll be appealing, for sure, but first he has to wait for a little form to come in the mail by April. In the meantime, the county is collecting $$$ they damn well know they have no right to collect and will eventually have to return. Guess that's one way to take care of any cash flow problems caused by jaundiced-eyed county leaders and simple-minded voters who trusted them.
Not to worry, though. Dems have the states' and counties' back with a stimulus package that every Republican in the House voted against. And you damn well know that Corey Stewart would've voted against it if he'd been in Congress.
Inquiring minds can read all about it in the Washington Post and then have a good cry or laugh -- depending on whether they live in the county or not.
Of course sweet Corey is trying to do a little backtracking. He knows that things are gonna get real interesting in Virginia after the '10 census. In other words, his days are likely numbered -- as are the days of every Republican batwing inVirginia Republican Corey A. Stewart built his reputation as a combative ideological firebrand who wanted to tackle head-on the quandary of illegal immigration.
But over the past several months, home values have plummeted, state Republicans have suffered repeated electoral defeats and the public has become consumed by economic concerns. So Stewart, the pugnacious chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, began setting his sights on a new mission: navigating Republican loyalists out of the immigration debate with the same vigor he used to help draw them into it.
Stewart's approach is to push Republicans away from their emphasis on social issues and back in the direction of pocketbook concerns.
Richmond; and like a bunch of roaches after the Orkin man has arrived, they're all running for cover.In the meantime, poor Howling Latina's son, who lives in PWC, saw his real estate taxes on a modest home jump by $300 a month. He'll be appealing, for sure, but first he has to wait for a little form to come in the mail by April. In the meantime, the county is collecting $$$ they damn well know they have no right to collect and will eventually have to return. Guess that's one way to take care of any cash flow problems caused by jaundiced-eyed county leaders and simple-minded voters who trusted them.
Not to worry, though. Dems have the states' and counties' back with a stimulus package that every Republican in the House voted against. And you damn well know that Corey Stewart would've voted against it if he'd been in Congress.
Sen. Jim Webb Speaks
Here's a link to Sen. Jim Webb's Charter Day speech at William & Mary for your sheer enjoyment.
And as you read his remarks, be sure to thank Virginians for having the wisdom and foresight of electing Jim Webb over racist George Allen. It's really too bad that we won't get to keep him; the howler still thinks he's a one termer. Just notice how in his remarks Webb refers to himself as a writer time and again.
Indeed. Writing is his passion and Webb will likely go back to writing and family life once his tour of duty as senator is over and the Commonwealth of Virginia is safely in Democratic hands, both in Congress and in Richmond.
And as you read his remarks, be sure to thank Virginians for having the wisdom and foresight of electing Jim Webb over racist George Allen. It's really too bad that we won't get to keep him; the howler still thinks he's a one termer. Just notice how in his remarks Webb refers to himself as a writer time and again.
Indeed. Writing is his passion and Webb will likely go back to writing and family life once his tour of duty as senator is over and the Commonwealth of Virginia is safely in Democratic hands, both in Congress and in Richmond.
The Economy Sucks...!
Howling Latina knew the economy was in the tank when she received her graduate degree in professional writing and editing from George Mason University and couldn't find a job that paid more than $30000.
But that was before everyone started getting the ax and HL was too proud, too ashamed, too something to ever breathe a word about her miserable financial "situation."
So what to do?? What to do?? Well, she joined the rat race and is happy to report she's teaching youn'uns the art of writing and literature with a bevy of benefits befitting every county employee where she works as a teacher. Can't complain; at least they pay her extra $$$ for her education; and yes, for all you rabid batwings, HL is
busy turning students into commies as they read Nelson Mandela and stories about Anthony Burns. 
Bwah, ha, ha, ha, ha.
But that was before everyone started getting the ax and HL was too proud, too ashamed, too something to ever breathe a word about her miserable financial "situation."
So what to do?? What to do?? Well, she joined the rat race and is happy to report she's teaching youn'uns the art of writing and literature with a bevy of benefits befitting every county employee where she works as a teacher. Can't complain; at least they pay her extra $$$ for her education; and yes, for all you rabid batwings, HL is
busy turning students into commies as they read Nelson Mandela and stories about Anthony Burns. Bwah, ha, ha, ha, ha.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Obama "Hope" Artist Arrested
Shepard Fairey, the artist who designed the "red, white, and blue posters of President Barack Obama, was arrested last night" for outstanding warrants of the mysterious kind.
The artist's arrest could be a fitting metaphor for what's happened to the progressive agenda Dem elites and blogger boyzz just knew would be their due once Obama was elected to office. With arrested frowns on their faces, they're now jointly bemoaning the mysterious force that has bagged the liberal agenda which according to their past false proclamations only Obama could be trusted to bring to fruition.
Let's see: within the last of days we've learned that Obama has nominated a Republican partisan who voted against emergency Census funding as secretary of commerce; and oh yeah, to boot this nominee has a senior staff member who is being investigated by the Justice Department with links to the Abramoff scandal. Obama also will be "inject[ing] billions in fresh capital [without] requir[ing] banks to increase lending." And because during an economic meltdown certain segments must never, ever suffer the least little bit of discomfort, Obama caved in to Republican calls for more military expenditures and business tax cuts with his hyper "bipartisan" stimulus package where a whopping three GOP senators from azure blue states are set to gallantly vote with Dems.
Yes, one can definitely feel the love. And all the change we can definitely believe in...OR NOT.
Yes, one can definitely feel the love. And all the change we can definitely believe in...OR NOT.
Friday, February 06, 2009
How's that Nonpartisanship Thing Working Out..?
Howling Latina decided to take a little break from posting just to see how that stimulus package that's going to save the world from the abyss would pan out in the end.
The telltale sign of how things are going is the image of Obama in the Oval Office taken recently after he learned all that schmoozing and boozing had fallen on deaf ears; a rookie mistake; guess he didn't know that lizards have no ears.
Yep, it looks like Dems are getting ready to feast on some bipartisanship crow of the losing kind with poor Ted Kennedy having to be hoisted from his sick bed just to provide the winning margin for this Republican hodgepot of obstruction.
Never mind that Dems hold an overwhelming majority in Congress. It seems that while Obama and Michelle were busy checking out those 16 rooms on the second floor at the White House, Republicans were busy outmaneuvering Dems in the halls of Congress. Once again, Dems are holding the empty bag of campaign promises.
Here's the sad list of programs that didn't make the kumbaya round of merriment and those that did, courtesy of Digby:
The telltale sign of how things are going is the image of Obama in the Oval Office taken recently after he learned all that schmoozing and boozing had fallen on deaf ears; a rookie mistake; guess he didn't know that lizards have no ears.
Yep, it looks like Dems are getting ready to feast on some bipartisanship crow of the losing kind with poor Ted Kennedy having to be hoisted from his sick bed just to provide the winning margin for this Republican hodgepot of obstruction.
Never mind that Dems hold an overwhelming majority in Congress. It seems that while Obama and Michelle were busy checking out those 16 rooms on the second floor at the White House, Republicans were busy outmaneuvering Dems in the halls of Congress. Once again, Dems are holding the empty bag of campaign promises.
Here's the sad list of programs that didn't make the kumbaya round of merriment and those that did, courtesy of Digby:
Total Reductions: $80 billion
Eliminations:
Head Start, Education for the Disadvantaged, School improvement, Child Nutrition, Firefighters, Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard,Prisons, COPS Hiring, Violence Against Women, NASA, NSF, Western Area Power Administration, CDC, Food Stamps
*****************************
Reductions:
Public Transit $3.4 billion, School Construction $60 billion
*****************************
Increases:
Defense operations and procurement, STAG Grants, Brownfields, Additional transportation funding
Perhaps Obama will finally take note how Republicans only know one thing: overwhelming power that crushes them to smithereens. Of course, Madame Secretary Clinton has the battle worn scars from past scrimmages and could have told him as much. But we didn't need experience from day one, remember???
H/T Not Your Sweetie
H/T Not Your Sweetie
