Howling Latina

Me in Cuba

2011-05-08T22:05:00.001-04:00

Cuba 2011 - Part III (3): "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Health Care Reform: A Historic Victory

2010-03-31T12:40:00.001-04:00

Senator Webb Delivers Remarks on Health Care Reform Legislation

2010-03-24T20:32:00.001-04:00

Jim Webb, being his usually awesome self.

What's That Man Doing In The Middle Of The Tsunami Waves??

2010-02-27T16:39:00.001-05:00

Webb Will Block GOP's Filibuster

2009-10-25T15:05:00.005-04:00

Today on CNN's "State of the Union," Sen. Jim Webb told John King that he would vote with Dems to break any Republican attempt to block the health care reform bill in Congress.

"One thing I did say to [Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid] is I will vote to proceed forward to debate," Webb said Sunday.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Creigh Deeds is struggling to win support and Washington Post wrote last Friday that administration officials feel Deeds has no one to blame but himself.

Senior administration officials have expressed frustration with how Democrat R. Creigh Deeds has handled his campaign for governor, refusing early offers of strategic advice and failing to reach out to several key constituencies that helped Obama win Virginia in 2008...
[...]
A[n]...administration official, who...spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "Obama, Kaine and others had drawn a road map to victory in Virginia. Deeds chose another path."

Well...as to blame, I would add the gullible Democratic primary voters who listened to the Post and voted for Deeds instead of Moran or McAuliffe.

Would Sheila Johnson be mocking McAuliffe?? Would Wilder be denying the Democratic candidate for governor his endorsement?? Hell, would we be having this conversation if either McAuliffe or Moran had been the candidate...???

Patrick Fitzgerald Protecting America

2009-08-15T20:45:00.011-04:00

U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald doesn't fool around...

Hal Turner, a right-wing shock jock and blogger, had railed against a federal decision that had gone against the National Rifle Association on his radio show.

Outrageous but..no harm, no foul; it's a free country.

However, the next day, the Washington Post reports, the idiot nutwing opined on his blog that the three judges merited to die.

"Let me be the first to say this plainly", he wrote. "These [j]udges deserve to be killed." You see, according to Turner, blood was required for the tree of liberty to be replenished. It seems it needed the same nutrient the guy with the 9 mm pistol strapped to his thigh outside the Obama town meeting was trying to use. And surely a little blood was "[a] small price to pay to assure freedom for millions", Turner reasonably reasoned.

Just in case his readers needed any help in carrying out justice, the good blogger posted pictures of the judges, a map of the courthouse where they worked and an even more helpful guide to where those nasty "anti-truck bomb barriers" were placed for security.

Of course, the FBI was not amused or pleased; and they proceeded to arrest Mr. Turner.

Oops, I "meant no harm", he told them. I wasn't serious, cross my lips and hope to die.

U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald and his prosecutors...charged Turner, a blogger admired by white supremacists, with threatening the lives of three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit: Frank Easterbrook, Richard Posner and William Bauer.

Thankfully, the death-dealing sap "is now [safely] behind bars awaiting trial, accused of threatening the judges." A U.S. magistrate wisely ruled that he "was too dangerous to be free."

Nah, ya think??

Another American Released

2009-08-15T09:15:00.017-04:00

In breaking news, Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia has secured the release of American prisoner John Yettaw from Myanmar.

Yettaw had been convicted of illegally breaking the immigration law that requires Burmese officials be notified whenever a guest stays overnight. Back in May, Yettaw swam "across Inya Lake" to Nobel Prize winner Suu Kyi's house and stayed two days after claiming exhaustion.

While in Myanmar, Webb also met with Kyi who was recently sentenced to an additional eighteen months of house arrest. Just last month, acccording to Wikipedia, "UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon...arrived in Myanmar on a journey seeking the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and to press the junta for democratic reform" but to no avail. Guess Webb has more starpower...

Yettaw had been sentenced to seven years, four in hard labor after being convicted of " illegally entering a restricted zone [and] illegal swimming.

Webb will be bringing Yettaw with him to Bangkok on Sunday.

Go Webb!!

Unbelievable...but Predictable

2009-07-21T06:04:00.003-04:00

After a few days of much needed rest and restoration, the howler feels compelled to now chime in on the latest endorsement to go Bob McDonnell's way in the Virginia governors race.

For fans of Creigh Deeds, don't say you weren't warned. Those who might've voted for Obama, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner are either staying home in November or gasp, voting for the dark side.

Hot off the press, or at least a little luke warm, the media reports Black Entertainment Television co-founded Sheila Johnson is supporting Republican Bob McDonell over the Democratic candidate, Creigh Deeds.

"[T]he former chairwoman of Democratic Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's inaugural committee...crossed party lines today to endorse Republican Bob McDonnell as Kaine's successor, arguing that McDonnell would do a better job of spurring economic development in Virginia," the Washington Post writes.

Johnson, who has been Kaine's second largest individual donor and has contributed more than $600,000 to Kaine since 2000 (Adding Feathers to Her Cap -- Post, January 2006), said her decision came after meeting with both Deeds and McDonnell and coming to the conclusion that McDonnell would be more likely to right Virginia's ailing economy.

Let's not forget last year's famous split with hubby who supported Hillary as Sheila was endorsing Obama. Unfortunately, this is an off-year election so don't be looking for Deeds to pull off any miracles. Personally, can't imagine she would've endorsed McDonnell over Moran.

At Long Last....

2009-07-01T10:35:00.013-04:00

Hear ye, hear ye...

The Minnesota Supreme Court has finally declared Al Franken the winner. Seven months after he won the election, Al Franken of Minnesota will at long last take his rightful spot in the US Senate.

In the meantime, USA Today reports that Democrats have been keeping a seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee warm for Al. And Norm Coleman has accepted the obvious and called it day.

Sixty votes -- and away we go!

RIP - Farrah Fawcett

2009-06-25T13:07:00.001-04:00

How sad...

Froomkin's Firing

2009-06-21T22:28:00.006-04:00

By now everyone knows that Dan Froomkin was summarily fired by the Washington Post. In the meantime stellar voices like gasbag George Will, David Broder, Charles Krauthammer, David Ignatius and Michael Gerson continue to write for the fading paper at death's door.

But dear readers; there's a sure-fire logical reason why Froomkin had to go. And Nobel Memorial Prize winner Paul Krugman is more than happy to explain to you why it was so.

He's Barack Obama

2009-06-20T23:27:00.001-04:00

Waiting on a Breakthrough...

2009-06-20T19:28:00.008-04:00

We are destroying the world as we know it; and betting our very existence on a so-far evasive scientific breakthrough that will change the composition of carbon dioxide to something the planet can handle.

In paraphrasing this afternoon's panel on Gordon Peterson's show from the nation's capital, the seas will rise unless humans can figure out what to do with all the carbon dioxide we're emitting.

In the meantime, governments refuse to reduce carbon emmissions since China has already told them, hey folks, keep China out of your grand plans; we've got two centuries to catch up on.

That's right, boys and girls. China has told the West they have 150 years to come up with a scientific breakthrough before it's irreversible; in the meantime, they're off to the races and will see us in 2200 or before, depending on their luck.

Ronald Reagan Intimate Speaks Truth to Batwings

2009-06-07T22:33:00.008-04:00

In an amazing opinion piece, a Reagan intimate excoriates the current crop of leaders in the Republican Party.

Here's a sample, as published by Los Angeles Times:

The Republican Party that is in such disrepute today is not the party of Reagan. It is the party of Rush Limbaugh, of Ann Coulter, of Newt Gingrich, of George W. Bush, of Karl Rove. It is not a conservative party, it is a party built on the blind and narrow pursuit of power.

The author is no RINO; he is former Congressman Mickey Edwards from Oklahoma, one of the most conservative states in the Union. Edwards was "one of three founding trustees of the Heritage Foundation and national chairman of the American Conservative Union." He also served as an adviser to Ronald Reagan during the 1980 presidential campaign and once held the "fourth-ranking leadership position" in the House.

Read the rest and be enlightened; it explains why people are leaving the Republican Party in droves.

Post Speech Polling

2009-06-06T09:10:00.002-04:00

From Politico:

What should President Obama have talked more about during his speech in Cairo?
Iran 4 %
Israel-Palestine 5 %
Terrorism 26 %
U.S. Muslims 1 %
Something else 9 %
Nothing, I liked the speech as is. 55 %
Results are based on 16654 votes

Oh well...so much for should'ves and missed opportunities.

Out of the Mouths of Home-Grown Terrorists

2009-06-01T10:40:00.012-04:00

Scott Roeder faithfully believes that "lethal force is not a criminal offense if it protects the lives of unborn children." After all, George Tiller wasn't really human; he was a mass murderer and had to be stopped by any means necessary.

Be afraid, folks, very afraid. Scott is not the only Christian Taliban running around the countryside; it's just a matter of time and there will be more blood. Death to the infidels!

Kansas City activist Regina Dinwiddie...said she does not consider death of Tiller, the nation's most prominent provider of controversial late-term abortions, to be a homicide.
"I don't think he was murdered. I believe he was absolutely stopped in his tracks and it was long overdue," Dinwiddie said. She declined to say when she last spoke with Roeder.

But don't trust your ears and eyes, right-wing extremists screech. Contrary to every piece of evidence, there's no link to them and violence; and no need to keep a watchful eyeball on their goings-on. That would be an outrage. Just ask the agin' cheerleader, Michelle Maulkin. or James Young of SkepticalObservor.

Who us??

Operation Rescue President Troy Newman, whose group is based in Wichita and whose Web site carries a "Tiller Watch" feature, said he was "shocked" by the killing.

Yes, yes; everyone is absolutely shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on.

Pro-life Terrorist Opens Fire in Church, Kills Doctor

2009-06-01T09:02:00.001-04:00

With his headline and a few words, John Aravosis of Americablog pins the tail on the terrorist.

Thank God that the Obama administration caved last month to religious right and GOP demands that it withdraw a new domestic terrorism report that indicated, among other things, that radicals might use abortion as a justification for committing acts of domestic terrorism. Now a man is dead, and an American church has been shot up during services.

That's right. Earlier this morning, a prominent late-term abortion doctor was shot and killed by some right-to-life terrorist. Let the Washington Post fully explain:

Tiller, 67, had performed abortions since the 1970s and ran the Women's Health Care Services clinic, one of just three in the nation to perform abortions after the point when a fetus is considered able to survive outside the womb.

Of course, fundies will say this was just an aberration -- a few bad apples of the Abu Ghraib type. But...don't you believe it; as usual, they're lying. Huffington Post has all the gory details.

The Smoking Gun

2009-05-31T22:25:00.001-04:00

No more hushed whispers and pussy-footing around. America tortures; and it's not because of some imminent danger to the homeland that lurks behind every shadow. Nope. The pure and simple reason America tortures or at least the reason why it did is because Cheney wanted to link Saddam to 9/11 so he could justify going to war with Iraq, and any living sap who could corroborate this delusional madness had to be waterboarded or worse.

Don't believe...? Here's the smoking gun from Richard A. Clarke, former chief counter-terrorism adviser on the U.S. National Security Council under President George W. Bush as explained in yesterday's Washington Post.

Despite being told repeatedly that Iraq was not involved in 9/11, some, like Cheney, could not abandon the idea. Charles Duelfer of the CIA's Iraq Survey Group recently revealed in his book, "Hide and Seek: The Search for Truth in Iraq," that high-level U.S. officials urged him to consider waterboarding specific Iraqi prisoners of war so that they could provide evidence of an Iraqi role in the terrorist attacks -- a request Duelfer refused. (A recent report indicates that the suggestion came from the vice president's office.)

Finally, an authoritative voice utters the inconceivable truth. Looks like during the Bush administration, The Decider was actually Cheney; and what Cheney wanted, Cheney got.

Well, there's only one way out of the moral decrepitude that was once boldly called the 'war on terror.' The naked-truth must now be revealed in some form of Nuremberg-like trials with every miscreant from the Bush administration under oath; and if we can't get the truth out of them, well, there's always enhanced interrogation techniques. After all, it's not as if we're not already on the list of nations who torture. Hell, even Abu Sanchez thinks that at minimum we should have a "a truth commission to investigate the abuses and torture" by loyal patriots under Bush & Company.

Mancow Waterboard

2009-05-23T09:43:00.001-04:00

Yep, it really, really is torture.

Barry White - Playing Your Game Baby

2009-05-18T12:39:00.001-04:00

Let's play...

Barry White-Don´t play games

2009-05-18T12:33:00.001-04:00

Don't play games, Repukes.

Kiss Her Liberal A--

2009-04-28T16:05:00.000-04:00

During the last few days Howling Latina has been gettin' some love from splindly male bloggers because gasp, someone mentioned her when posting about "Women for Moran," a group of gals who know that Brian Moran is the absolute best candidate for governor in Virginia.

Well, as she wrote a few weeks ago, Brian Moran is indeed her man; and if anyone has a problem with that, they can kiss her liberal a--. Of course like the divine law of karma, the Washington Post linked to her post and today, it has a story that fully backs the howler's reasoning for endorsing Moran in the first place; Moran strongly came out against that gawd-awful marriage amendment that was enacted in '06.

You see, Moran "is gambling that Virginia Democrats, testing their strength after winning the governor's mansion twice and helping to deliver the White House, will now embrace the candidate they see as their most progressive option in the June 9 primary."

Meanwhile, McAuliffe and Deeds are busy oscillating between Planet Backslide and Planet Claptrap.

Moran's rivals, state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds and Terry McAuliffe, former national Democratic Party chairman, helped create the opening by taking a more cautious approach to the issue in a campaign that has not been marked by significant policy distinctions.
All three candidates oppose same-sex marriage, but they all opposed the 2006 constitutional amendment because they believed it restricted even contractual relationships between same-sex couples.
But only Moran has said he would work to repeal it.

Oh yes, boys and girls, Moran has got a spine to go along with his winning smile and progressive roots; just what Virginians need to fight off the rabid batwings when divvying up the voting precincts after the '10 census.

Specter Switches

2009-04-28T14:02:00.028-04:00

Other than that nasty business with Anita Hill, Sen. Arlen Specter has always been one of the howler's favoritest Republican. Just a few days ago in The New York Review of Books, Specter spelled out what he hopes to accomplish in the Senate; and folks, it's music to a progressive's ears.

It's about the rule of law and "rolling back [the] presidential power grab" that seems to be all the rage of late; and yes, this would include any power grab from Precious One.

In reporting, Washington Post describes how the senator told the truth straight up -- free of spin; after centrists left the Republican party in droves in '08, he simply can't win in Pennsylvania. It also looks like good ol' Joe played an instrumental role in the switch.

[Senate Majority Leader Reid credited Vice President Biden for playing an important behind-the-scenes role in softening Specter's resistance. Biden and Specter are old friends and Senate colleagues, and Biden successfully courted Specter over a period of weeks to support the stimulus bill.

Read it and weep, Republican wingnuts; soon (if not already) ya'll have Rush, Beck, Ingraham, Savage and Hannity as the swine face of your party.

Bwah, ha, ha, ha, ha.

Torturing Cheney

2009-04-26T13:42:00.001-04:00

Don't worry; we don't torture...

Randy Does Fox

2009-04-23T19:53:00.024-04:00

Like that ol' seedy porn of yesteryears, "Debby Does Dallas," Randy Does Fox.

Yes, boys and girls, Rhodes, the whore, is back on reel and this time, she's doing Fox. Well actually, it's even worse; she's signed on with the same deplorable scumbags who corrupt the airwaves with Limbaugh, Hannity, Dr. Laura and Beck; looks like little Randy has found her campestral adobe.

Premiere Radio Networks adds The Randi Rhodes Show to its lineup of nationally syndicated shows, beginning May 11. The show will broadcast live from Washington, DC, and early affiliates will include KTLK/Los Angeles, KKGN/San Francisco, and KPOJ/Portland, OR.
"Randi has carved a niche in talk radio with her straight-forward approach, intelligence, wit, and fact-driven content --- qualities that attract audiences," said Premiere EVP/Affiliate Marketing Julie Talbott. "We can't wait to deliver The Randi Rhodes Show to stations nationwide."

Now isn't that special?? Maybe during the late witchy hours when nothin' much is going on at Fox, Rhodes and Annie the Coulter can spawn their own horror show to perfectly suit their special brand of personage.

Clinton to Rep. Pence (R-IN): Obama Won the Election

2009-04-22T16:18:00.001-04:00

This is about the best slapdown you will ever see.

A.G. Holder: Investigate Torture

2009-04-22T15:51:00.001-04:00

Ever since Moveon crapped on Hillary, they've been on the howler's crapper list. But this ad is goooood. Now let's see if Precious One decides to do anything 'bout it.

Holy Cow! Gov. Perry Gets Spanked by Texas House

2009-04-18T19:52:00.015-04:00

Read all about it in the Houston Chronicle. It looks like Texas legislators have had about all they can take from Perry.

Indeed, if "Gov. Rick Perry carries through on his vow to block some $555 million in stimulus funds for unemployment benefits," the House legislation will take away "$136 million [from] the Enterprise Fund." That's the big corporate give-away that Perry absolutely adores and that bribes, er, entices new businesses to relocate to the Lone Star State.

It's really too bad the commonwealth of Virginia doesn't have a few brave GOPers in the House equal to those in Texas. Instead, they are batwings equal to Perry. And yes, Perry is still touting his support for "affirming Texas' sovereignty under the 10th amendment," whatever the hell that means.

Talk of secession is dangerous business; we all know what happened when a few maverick states decided to secede from the Union more than 100 years ago; nearly 700000 Americans died.

So far, Virginia Republicans are content renouncing cash from Washington and tea-bagging. And with such a glorious strategy, look for them to have another great electoral season. Of course now with their candidate for governor shooting his mouth about somethin' that's really none of his business (whether or not Notre Dame should award a ceremonial degree to Obama), polls could get a little droopy.

Are Cuba and U.S. Heading Toward Reconciliation...?

2009-04-17T20:17:00.010-04:00

The Associated Press writes that "[a]fter a series of overtures by...Obama, Castro said Thursday that he is ready to talk with the U.S. and put 'everything' on the table, even questions of human rights and political prisoners."

Hmmm, don't know about that one. Like Chris Matthews of MSNBC said this morning on "Morning Joe," there's still that pesky business about Oswald and Kennedy and what the heck was Oswald doing at the Cuban embassy in Mexico City in the fall of 1963 -- the same year he shot Kennedy; and why did CIA headquarters lie to its Mexican station??

Back in January 2006, the howler wrote about her suspicions. What with every Democratic and Republican president since Kennedy shunning Castro as if he had infectious nuclear diarrhea. By the way, it's one of her most popular post with some really intriguing comments.

Our Senator in Washington...

2009-04-17T19:21:00.020-04:00

What a great write-up in The Nation about Virginia's senior Sen. Jim Webb; and his crusade to reform the criminal justice system; too many wasted lives.

Here's a paragraph from the story that fully capures the man.

Webb's biography makes him the perfect vessel for this endeavor; it also helps that he's so indifferent to the rudiments of electoral politics. In fact, it's a kind of miracle the man is a senator at all. On a recent afternoon, as he toured the Bragg Hill Family Life Center, which provides social services to ex-offenders in Fredericksburg, Virginia, he was so stone silent that co-founder Rev. Joseph Henderson grew self-conscious. "You can ask any questions," Henderson offered nervously. "We preachers talk too much sometimes." As we walked through the gym, Webb had to be prompted to shake the hands of the (adorable) children scurrying around him, and the look on his face as he prepared to glad-hand was that of a man steeling himself for the dentist's chair.

Christopher Hayes hits it out of the ball park with his last line. Howling Latina can clearly picture the visuals. In the past, she's seen Webb in action as he plods through a queue of smiling supporters and nary a smile from him; he's just naturally shy.

Indeed, the senator may not be an instinctive baby-kisser, but he's a natural born leader; just read his bio and a quote from the senator himself.

"People follow leaders," Webb told [Hayes], "if leaders give them something to believe in."

Right now, Webb is leading the way: fix the American criminal justice system by January 2013 and peacefully go back to private life and writing -- his true passion.

Get Over it...

2009-04-16T21:36:00.024-04:00

Says Meagan McCain, a featured speaker at the Log Cabin Republican convention taking place in Washington, DC as we speak.

With all the gay bashing they've had to put up with through the years, LCRs have had the patience of Job. But...maybe after last fall's humiliating losses, a few sane Republicans will finally start to listen to what they have to say and all that loyalty will ultimately pay off.

And good for former Congressman Tom Davis of Northern Virginia for lending his support to the cause; he's a featured speaker at LCR's annual convention.

Are you listening Newtie, Mittster, Sarah, Good-Hair Perry, and Golden Sanford?? Oh yes, hopefully times will be a-changing...

A Message to Democratic Governor Hopefuls...

2009-04-14T17:03:00.007-04:00

First, a message to the state senator from Bath County via the howler. She wants you to quit filling her inbox with campaign drivel and span; nothing you can ever say will convince her to campaign or vote for you. She's just not that into you; maybe it's all those anti-drug laws you tout on your Web site.

Besides, you are a loser. You lost your campaign for lieutenant governor and you lost your campaign for attorney general. Don't you think you should first prove you can win statewide before you ask for a promotion?? Just asking...

And dear Terry McAuliffe, you would be much better off waiting for the '12 Senate campaign when Jim Webb retires, as he's sure to do. Remember, Webb principally considers himself a writer -- not a senator. With a little patience, you will reach the mountaintop.

Of course, McAuliffe's strategy for getting his name known throughout the commonwealth will likely pay off in '12 but...in the meantime, somebody's gotta win now; and there's only candidate who can do exactly that.

That candidate is Brian Moran. To hell with party dogma about staying above the fray. We all know that above anyone else, Moran deserves the Democratic nomination. Is he not the one who always found the time to campaign and work his butt off to elect Dems throughout the state, from sheriff, state offices to the halls of Congress??

Like Jim Webb against George Allen, Moran is the only candidate who can beat a well-known Republican with a favorite son campaign in Northern Virginia.

Just one tiny query for Delegate Moran, though. How in the hell does one go about contributing $$$ to your campaign?? When somebody drops by Creigh's Web site, he or she is directed to contribute gazillion times. And first thing Terry asks when anyone visits his site is for bread.

Forget twitter, phone banking, facebook, etc. Yes, they're all nice, but Mr. Moran, you're gonna need some hard cash. Don't be ashamed; ask for it in plain site.

Franken Wins

2009-04-13T20:58:00.018-04:00

This time a three judge panel declared Franken the winner; and the guy in the picture lost. Again.

A Minnesota court ruled Monday night that Democrat Al Franken has defeated Republican Norm Coleman and should be granted the election certificate that will allow him to take his seat in the U.S. Senate. The Coleman camp immediately vowed to appeal.

Of course it did. Sure hope Gov. Tim Pawlenty stays in front of this story. Would hate for him to hit some kind of roadblock that sabotages his presidential aspirations for 2012. Just ask former Sen. George 'Macaca' Allen what happens when you don't get reelected first.

Poof!

H/T to Bartcop for image.

"I Did Not Have Sex with that Man..."

2009-04-13T17:58:00.001-04:00

Oh dear, it looks like all the cards from last year's crooked deck are starting to decent for recompense. Chicago Sun-Times via Taegan Goddard's Political Wire reports that Jesse Junior is in deep doo-doo.

It seems that a very special friend of Junior promised former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to raise $5 million if the governor could find it in his heart to allow that yes, Junior was the absolute best candidate to fill Obama's Senate seat.

"Besides the $5 million to be raised by Jackson, the proposal also included another $1 million for Blagojevich's campaign fund that would come from Indian donors, sources say."
"This is the first revelation that a proposal for the Jackson appointment involved an alleged promise that he'd raise campaign cash for the ex-governor. Also, the amount of money allegedly offered to Blagojevich is significantly higher than what's been reported so far."

Hmmm, let's see who's gonna be doing some real crying now. Sure hope all those Obama loyalists who last year bad-mouthed Hill and Bill as closet racists can finally see what utter dunces they were and how they were played by a team of professional gamers; and why sweet baby Jesse was so willing to play the race card right before the all-important South Carolina primary. We're sure a criminal promotion for Junior had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Jesse Jackson Jr. on Hillary's tears

2009-04-13T14:55:00.001-04:00

Right before the South Carolina primary, Jackson trumps the "race card."

No Beef, Just Bullshit

2009-04-12T00:19:00.025-04:00

All those crimes being committed by illegals in Prince William County? It was a dog and pony show to distract the hawking of snake oil from the back of the store, The Washington Post reports.

That's right. Even with tough-on-crime Corey and Jackson in charge and illegals leaving town by droves, crime went up in the county; meanwhile gullible homeowners lost 50 percent of their home value.

The county's crime rate rose last year for the first time since 2004. That increase was driven largely by a surge in property crime, including burglaries and larcenies. But the number of major violent crimes plummeted almost 22 percent from the year before -- more proof, advocates say, that the policy has worked.

Guess all those vacant homes weren't such a great idea after all. But never underestimate the gall of some folks.

"I think what the stats show is the effectiveness of the program," said Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large), who fought hard for passage of the policy.
[...]
"Frankly, illegal immigrants have done one of two things: They have either left the county, or they simply are being very careful not to commit any crimes and end up in jail."

Check your wallets and purses any time a person prefaces a statement with "frankly." Now here's what someone with a grip on reality -- Nancy Lyall -- legal coordinator for Mexicans Without Borders, an immigrant advocacy group, had to say on the subject:

"This is what we have said all along, before the resolution was even passed," Lyall said. "We knew back then that this was just an excuse. The reality was these lawmakers needed an election issue. They needed something to get people riled up about."

Republicans have always had the need for a straw bogeyman. Commies, hippies, welfare queens, homos, illegals, terrorists...and voters always fall for the lowest common denominator.

Now the best case scenario for the county is for renters looking for cheap housing to move right next door to your home; and yes, that especially includes you, Mr. Li. Don't cry for me, Prince William; the howler moved out long ago; and don't say you weren't warned; you've had it coming since oh, 2005 or so.

No Doubt 'Bout It - Ronald Reagan Was a Bastard

2009-04-11T21:44:00.066-04:00

Just finished watching a little documentary about Berkeley College, the Free Speech movement of the early 60s, the antiwar movement that followed, People's Park and how Charmin' Reagan while governor of California thought it was a good idea to blockade a slew of students inside campus walls and gas them to smithereens in 1969. Hey, here's another great idea; let's honor The Gipper by renaming People's Park in his honor.

For the whole month of May, students at Berkeley University had worked hand in hand to build a park where an empty lot had previously stood. But Reagan wanted none of the love. After all, Reagan owed his entire political power to the shameful demonization of the 60s boogie man: those lazy, good-for-nothing, dirty, hippies who'd dared seek freedom of speech inside the hallowed campus walls. Yes, and it was also the fault of all those weak-kneed campus administrators who hadn't had the belly to put the filthy "communist sympathizers, protesters and sex deviants" (Regan's direct words) in their proper place when they started to demonstrate (peacefully) for their right of speech. Why those over-indulging savants had even sided with students; all the way around, discipline was obviously lax.

And so it was the People's Park was fenced off; and poor James Rector was shot. But blood wasn't good enough. Contrary to a vote by the Berkeley City Council, a month later, the good governor decided to send the national guard to Berkeley University and to occupy the city. The following is a sequence of events that took place with blessings from the governor.

[A] midday memorial was held for student James Rector at Sproul Plaza on the University campus. Rector had suffered massive internal injuries from his shotgun wounds, finally dying at Herrick Hospital on May 19. In his honor, several thousand people peacefully assembled to listen to speakers remembering his life. Without warning, National Guard troops surrounded Sproul Plaza, donned their gas masks, and pointed their bayonets inward, while helicopters dropped CS gas directly on the trapped crowd. No escape was possible, and the gas caused acute respiratory distress, disorientation, temporary blindness and vomiting. Many people, including children and the elderly, were injured during the ensuing panic. The gas was so intense that breezes carried it into Cowell Memorial Hospital, endangering patients, interrupting operations and incapacitating nurses. Students at nearby Jefferson and Franklin elementary schools were also affected.

How very lovely! And the beat goes on and on and on. The same gamy gang arose from what should have been their Waterloo in Vietnam and Watergate to inflict more of their special brand of 'freedom' on America with good ol' Ronnie leading the funeral.

It was Ronald Regan who killed the labor movement and stopped the liberal movement dead on its track. And those who were around in the 60s just watched and cheered as their yuppie careers soared and everything else went to hell in a handbasket of greed. Indeed, they were the very ones who elected the bastard in '80 and '84 and then voted for Bush I in '88 and Junior in '00 and '04. No use looking back except when lamenting The Gipper's death.

Hmmm, where have we heard that phrase before...? Oh yeah, the same guy who lauded Reagan as a transformational hero; the same okey-dokey feller who was making it up as he went along but told us not to trust anyone with the last name of Clinton.

Unfortunately, the howler was too young to join the hippie movement in the 60s, and by the time she came of age, Ronnie was running for president. Imagine a world without Scalia, Thomas, Alito, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rove, Iraq, waterboarding, eavesdropping, torture, black sites and all the horrors of the last 30 years. They say that Reagan's biggest disappointment as governor was that he only presided over one execution; state courts wouldn't allow more. Well, at least H/L had the pleasure of casting her first presidential vote against that awful son of a bitch who set America back almost 30 years and counting...

into the groove movie version

2009-04-11T17:48:00.001-04:00

One of my favoritest tunes. Party-on ~.~

Bruce Springsteen - Dancing In The Dark

2009-04-11T17:37:00.001-04:00

Smilin' Tokin' Obama

2009-04-11T15:58:00.001-04:00

Old news but during a slow news weekend, why not?

For your pleasure, here's the video of Obama laughing for no apparent reason like a hyperactive hyaena on drugs. Listen and watch real closely. Vigilant Sugar of Sugar N Spice recently wrote about Obama and how in the video he is talking, acting and looking like he's high on somethin'.

If nothin' else, you gotta admit Obama sure was acting strange...

One More Scoop of 'Just Desserts'

2009-04-10T19:57:00.028-04:00

Anyone remember the ruckus last year during the Democratic primaries when Hillary misremembered a little greeting ceremony in Bosnia while she was First Lady??

Oh, how it made the children laugh and play -- laugh and play -- for a very long time. Until someone from the Obama camp misremembered something too.

"I remember President Bush saying to me one time in the Oval Office," Biden began, "'Well, Joe,' he said, 'I'm a leader.' And I said: 'Mr. President, turn and around look behind you. No one is following.'"

Ooh, major slapdown time! Unless...with the passing of time, Biden is misremembering as well.

The exchange is purely "fictional," said Rove, who was Bush's top political adviser in the White House.

"It didn't happen," Rove, a FOX News contributor and former Bush adviser, told Megyn Kelly in an interview taped for "On The Record." "It's his imagination; it's a made-up, fictional world.
[...]
Rove also said few presidents would spend a long time with anybody in the Oval Office, particularly "with all due respect, a blowhard like Joe Biden."

Touché!

Fox News has duly noted how Biden bragged about his oh, so very private assembly with Bush in the past where Biden went mano-a-mano with 'The Decider' and won.

When I speak to the president - and I have had plenty of opportunity to be with the president, at least prior to the last election, a lot of hours alone with him. I mean, meaning me and his staff," Biden said on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" in April 2006. "And the president will say things to me, and I'll literally turn to the president, say: 'Mr. President, how can you say that, knowing you don't know the facts?' And he'll look at me and he'll say - my word - he'll look at me and he'll say: 'My instincts.' He said: 'I have good instincts.' I said: 'Mr. President, your instincts aren't good enough.'"

In the meantime, Obamazoids are busy reminding the people just what a big fat liar Rove is, which of course begs the question, that's nice but was Biden misremembering a bit, too??

Hmmm, let's see: the word of Karl the political goon against Joe the blabbing mouth plagiarizer. A quickie look at White House records should settle the issue and reveal who exactly is 'El mentiroso,' to mix metaphorical languages.

Snatching a Bloodbath from the Jaws of Victory

2009-03-29T14:13:00.099-04:00

Hard to fathom, but it's starting to look more and more like the 90s. Out of power for 12 straight years in Congress and eight in the White House, Dems are determined to cut short their days in the sun and revert to idiotic days of yesteryears.

You see, with a cynical sigh from the White House and more than a little help from the media, Congress has decided to throw the Employee Free Choice Act under the bus. "[T]he prospects for a landmark pro-union proposal looking increasingly shaky in Congress," writes The Washington Post.

"This is not the time or the place" for card check, said Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), who backed the bill in 2007. "To continue to attempt to bring up something that has already worked its way into being so divisive and distracting is unproductive."

Unproductive indeed; especially when your main focus is saving your job by throwing those who brought you to the dance under the bus.

Los Angeles Times is also reporting the latest Dem travesty. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is asserting that she'll "seek alternative legislation that [is] less divisive." Because you see, there's nothing more devisive than fair pay for fair labor during a "flailing economy." Folks keep in mind that when Bush was in power, Feinstein safely sponsored this piece of legislation. But it's the economy, stupid; otherwise she'd vote for the bill for sure.

"This is an extraordinarily difficult economy, and feelings are very strong on both sides of the issue," Feinstein said in a statement. "I would hope there is some way to find common ground that would be agreeable to both business and
labor."

Guess we need to remind the gentle ladies from Arkansas and California how well the strategy of appeasement worked out for former Sens. Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania and Jim Sasser of Tennessee in '94. Funny how without the restrain of sure-to-come presidential vetoes, Dems will sacrifice an inconvenient stance and toss it aside as if it were a three-headed monster trying to hop on the cash bus and destroy their noble paths to public service. Besides, one can't take any chances with the corporate spigot.

Well, opportunities to enact the progressive agenda which Dems ran on and won back the House, Senate and presidency in '06 and '08 must not be squandered or There Will Be Blood. Card check legislation and health insurance reform top the progressive list of must-haves; they are nonnegotiable.

After all, centrist Dems, please do tell all those activists who busted their butts to elect you into a majority why they should patiently sit by the sidelines while you cut, slash and burn their progressive plans. Congress and Obama need to stop pussy-footing around and honor the rallying pledges of last summer and autumn. If not, expect a bloodbath in '10 -- as is right and just.

And blogger boyz, forget about Arlen Specter; he's a kamikaze pilot flying high above the bus. But maybe you could entice Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina to join your caravan; we hear he's in a little bit of a pickle, to mix-up metaphors.

Anyone remember '94 when Dems stupidly blocked health care reform because of egos and bullshit?? Perhaps we should disregard that crap about always looking forward. To borrow the pecuniary sentiment from DiFi, during these hard economic times, a little trip down memory lane, circa 1992, might actually be useful.

Jon Stewart Speaks and CNBC Cowers...

2009-03-24T17:45:00.040-04:00

Looks like that nasty little rumor about Stewart's takedown of Cramer was true; he did it all for love. And now a few days later, surprise, surprise, CNBC is cowering before the Mighty Poser.

Jason Linkins of Huffy explains:

CNBC has been one of the White House's most fervent critics, what with all the "wealth destruction" and the support for "loser's mortgages" and Robert Gibbs' refusal to give Rick Santelli coffee.

The horror, the horror!!! Except it sounds an awful lot like Newtie's hissy fit during the Clinton presidency about havin' to sit at the back of the bus. Petty and stupid.

But don't worry; it's all good; the tongue lashing worked.

[G]uess what you're hearing out of CNBC today? Total change in attitude! Erin Burnett and Jim Cramer made an appearance on the Today Show and brought everything but the pom-poms

Yep, sad to note but GOPers are not the only ones who cower before some Mighty Mouth with a megaphone. As you will see, even media overlords cower in fear and shame when necessary. And with Jon Stewart spewing his special kind of bile on the airwaves about CNBC, it was very, very necessary.

Burnett offered the heretofore -- considered radical opinion that people needed to be patient with the stimulus package! "One of the things that's finally happening," Cramer remarked, "is that assets are finally going up." YES! Inflated value! It's finally happening, for assets! It's a frabjous day for assets! Along the way, broad predictions that lending would be coming as early as springtime. And executive compensation? It needs reform! But let's not get too reformy.
"The President has become pro-shareholder," Cramer enthused.

Yes indeedy! A choicely moral in this darlin' mini story! Shill, shill, shill, all the while pretending to do so as serious, gold-plated journalists; or in Stewart's case, as a comic provocateur. Bwah-ha-ha-ha- HAH! Lots of fun and games, girls and boys.

Placido Domingo - Tosca - E lucevan le stelle

2009-03-22T14:01:00.001-04:00

Glorious music; idea from one my favorite bloggers, Miss Uppity Woman.

Oh No! Precious Throws the Wrong Person Under the Bus

2009-03-22T13:29:00.007-04:00

The powerful chairman of the Senate Banking Committee is not taking it lying down, either. Chris Dodd has been raising quite a stink of late; and Swamp Politics has all the juicy details...

Jon Stewart's Calculated Cheap Shot

2009-03-17T19:11:00.037-04:00

Richard Cohen of The Washington Post penned a column this morning and Howling Latina fully agrees with his sentiment and then some. It's high time someone in the media take Mr. Cable News Poser to task for his bullying antics.

Cohen writes:

"Jim Cramer...didn't cover up the story of financial shenanigans. [He] didn't even know it existed."

For proof, I offer some names. Let's start with Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, who was instrumental in building what is now probably the world's most reviled corporation, AIG. He resigned as chairman and CEO in 2005, but still it is logical to assume that few people knew more about the company than Greenberg. He kept much of his net worth in AIG stock. He's now lost much of that worth.
Or take Richard Fuld. He is the former chairman of Lehman Brothers, which, as we all know, is no more. He lost about $1 billion.
Or take Citigroup's former chairman, Sanford Weill. He lost about $500 million.

So, in spite of all the applause and acclamation by progressive bloggers because Stewart went ballastic on Cramer (who as far as anyone knows committed no thievery like oh, Bernie Madoff, for starters), the howler thinks people should be careful when cheering and clapping for a rufian; the next time, the saps under the bully's gun just might be them.

In the same news cycle, Huffy as the voice of progressives weighed in on the matter; and as usual, she was dead wrong. Here's her insipid quote, thankfully without link to her blog.

"Jon Stewart's Jim Cramer interview was a pivotal moment -- not just for Stewart, Cramer, and CNBC but also for journalism. It was a bracing reminder of what great research and a journalist more committed to getting to the truth than to landing the big get -- and keeping the big get happy, and ensuring future big gets -- can accomplish."

You see, Jim Cramer is as big a "get" as you can get. Even on its bestest day ever, CNBC is hard pressed to find 500,000 viewers. On the other hand, "Comedy Central" regularly rakes in 2 million viewers or more. Please do tell us, dear Arianna, who exactly is David and Goliath in this fight??

Jon Stewart really needs to get over himself. For gawdsake, it's not as if he were an actual scribe in the Edward R. Murrow tradition. Remember, he's not an actual journalist; he's only a comic -- as he likes to plea whenever held to account. But try telling that to poor Tucker Carlton. Ever since Stewart took Tucker Carlton down "in one fell swoop" a few years ago, Tucker has been relegated to blogging and spot appearances on television. In the meantime, Stewart's gotten more and more affected and enamored with his buzz and power.

Of course, there's a nasty little rumor that it wasn't until Cramer started blaspheming against The Chosen One that Stewart went into uncontrollable convulsions and started vomiting bile on the airwaves. All in jest for fun.

Here's a little truth to power. How about we pull a "Crossfire" on Stewart and ask him to waive his "shield of comedy" to answer the plaint that he's a partisan hack for Obama.

Cry Me A River-- Unintended, Of Course

2009-03-07T10:23:00.001-05:00

Boo Hoo Hoo, cry me a river and then pass the salt shaker. Obama can't find enough folks without ties to lobbyists to serve in his administration; and this is so tragic that a heresy has been put forth -- not just by the usual apostates at NoQuarterUSA and The Confluence. No siree; this time the blasphemy has come from Huffy and the Big Cheese.

First Huffy with no link; look it up, if you must:

"Barack Obama made no secret of his feelings for 'Washington lobbyists' during the campaign and vowed that they wouldn't be staffing his White House.

"The implementation of that rule, however, has led to a number of consequences that Obama could never have intended. Eliminating lobbyists from consideration drains the pool of progressive talent that the White House needs at a time when agencies and departments are severely understaffed. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, for instance, barely has any deputies as the economy continues to spiral out of control."

Nah, you think....?

David Waldman aka Krago X and a routine cheese grater at DailyKos also blasts a bit of impiety through the Internet ether by noting the obvious:

"Unintended consequences? I don't think so. It may not be accurate to say that this was the intended consequence, but after years and years of debates about lobbyists -- not to mention term limits, which involved a similar argument about accumulated experience -- who could possibly believe that this wasn't at least a known consequence of this policy?

"Lobbyists who for years have fought for workers' rights, environmental protection, human rights, pay-equity for women, consumer protection and other items on the Obama agenda have found the doors to the White House HR department slammed shut.

"Yeah, I think Hillary Clinton actually told us point blank about that."

Indeed she did; and she was routinely disparaged and denounced as a lobbyist's best friend; the embodiment of a ruined democracy whose principal aim was to screw everyone in America.

Well, surprise, surprise, surprise. Once again, Hillary proves she was right all along. So if there are no deputies at Treasury to help guide the crumbling economy which is getting worse and worse each day, sing along with Justin and cry us all a big frigging river. The day of reckoning is upon us.

Prince William County Makes National News

2009-03-01T16:06:00.018-05:00

Unfortunately, not in a good way; in fact, if ever there was a time ripe for voters to throw the bums out, this election season is the year.

You see, contrary to what folks of a certain political persuasion (i.e., RID -- Republicans In Denial) want everyone to believe this fall, GOP immigrant bashing in Prince William County directly ushered the huge real estate meltdown that was disproportionate to other areas in the region; and indeed, even national media has finally taken notice.

CBS writes:

Manassas...only 35 miles from DC and...served by regional rail...a commuter's haven [has] almost 3,000 houses currently on the market and at least 60 percent of them are foreclosures.

Nothing to see behind those foreclosure signs; move on.

Susan Jacobs is a real estate agent in Manassas County, Virginia with more than 20 years experience.

Most of the houses she's showing these days belong to banks - foreclosure properties on the market for bargain basement prices.
She shows a large house that she plans to put on the market for somewhere between $60,000 and $70,000.
The price of that same house a few years ago?
"In '05 or '06 this property could have sold for $300 [thousand]," Jacobs
says.

Now how is that quality of life working out, Scottie, Corey and Jackson, the howler's favoritest three amigos??

With the universal law of the third time being the charm, Jeanette Rishell has happily informed Howling Latina that she'll be doing duty again this year against Jackson Miller -- only this time she's got names and data showing that a win is definitely in the cards.

It's Me or No One Else

2009-02-28T12:27:00.008-05:00

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.

Sacré bleu

2009-02-27T15:55:00.009-05:00

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.

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.

Shocking News from Obamaland

2009-02-21T08:47:00.007-05:00

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:

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.

Is Karma About to Take Another Bite??

2009-02-18T20:30:00.003-05:00

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!

Rove subpoenaed by Conyers

2009-02-18T20:19:00.001-05:00

And it looks like Obama is busy at work throwing Lady Justice and Siegelman under the bus.

The End of Payola Justice??

2009-02-14T20:16:00.014-05:00

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:

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.

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.

More Fun from Prince William County

2009-02-10T02:07:00.006-05:00

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.

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.

Corey Stewart is a Big Fat Idiot

2009-02-08T20:56:00.010-05:00

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.

Virginia 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.

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 in 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

2009-02-08T20:23:00.007-05:00

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.

The Economy Sucks...!

2009-02-08T18:12:00.011-05:00

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.

Obama "Hope" Artist Arrested

2009-02-07T10:02:00.024-05:00

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.

How's that Nonpartisanship Thing Working Out..?

2009-02-06T19:54:00.027-05:00

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:

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

Caroline Kennedy Out...

2009-01-21T19:10:00.019-05:00

It's official. Brian Williams of NBC News reports that Caroline Kennedy has asked her name to be withdrawn from consideration to replace Hillary in the Senate. It seems that Caroline didn't really want the job after all.

Or...she got the bad news that Gov. David Patterson decided to appoint someone else and decided to save what little dignity she had left and withdraw.

Well, Howling Latina is batting 1000 of late. No "Meet the Press" gig for Olby and Tweety. No DNC chairmanship for Howard; no Cabinet post for Bill 'Judas' Richardson. Roland Burris was seated; and now Caroline goes down. Although every media pundit insisted Caroline was a shoo-in because El Nuevo Dedeterminante wanted her, yep, the howler predicted it all.

The cosmic consciousness of 'just desserts' is simply paying in kind every person who doubled crossed Madame Secretary Hillary Clinton during her presidential run. And it couldn't be happening to a nicer bunch. Now as added whip cream on that sweet gooey design, the howler was also right about Al Franken; he won and it's just a matter of time before he joins his brethren in Washington.

H/T Oooh, Nuance! for Caroline Kennedy image.

Michelle's Gown...

2009-01-20T22:42:00.004-05:00

Barack Hussein Obama looks very GQ.

Michelle...? Not so much. Looks more like something Mamie Eisenhower might've worn in the 50s. Come to think about it, the howler likes Mamie's dress better.

Bishop Flap...

2009-01-20T01:32:00.003-05:00

It wasn't HBO's idea to zap evidence of the good bishop at the jamboree.

Correspondence from HBO reveals the "Presidential Inaugural Committee made the decision to keep the invocation as part of the pre-show.

Hmmm, let's see if Rick Warren gets the same treatment.

Parting Gifts from Real Americans...

2009-01-20T01:02:00.003-05:00

A sweet farewell to The Decider from the American people.

About 500 people marched to the White House and threw about 40 pairs of shoes at the gate while tourists looked on and took photos. Supporters said they were acting in solidarity with Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at Bush during a news conference in Baghdad in December.

H/T Tennesee Guerilla Women.

Gene Robinson's Prayer Kicks off Inaugural Events

2009-01-20T00:41:00.001-05:00

The invocation which must never be seen or heard...

'We Are One' Concert

2009-01-19T23:25:00.007-05:00

The entire show at the Lincoln Memorial, courtesy of HBO.

Enjoy the jammin' jamboree...if you can stand the bloviating.

Shakira - Whenever, Wherever

2009-01-19T22:47:00.001-05:00

Shakira rocked yesterday at The Mall. Party on, dudes.

Obama Girl + Obama Duet!

2009-01-19T20:03:00.001-05:00

Obama Girl Rocks!

Hillary's Confirmation Hearing

2009-01-13T18:28:00.004-05:00

In the morning; and in the afternoon, courtesy of C-SPAN.

Former Sen. Jonn Warner Bustin' Move

2009-01-11T15:40:00.006-05:00

Looks like the kabuki planned by Arlen Specter for the Senate Judiciary Committee has been nixed. Politico writes that Virginia's former abled legislator is going to be the point man for Eric Holder by introducing him to the lofty panel.

Sen. Arlen Specter and other Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee may want to derail or slow down Eric Holder’s nomination to become the next attorney general, but one of their just departed colleagues is going to bat for the nominee.
Former Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), who just stepped down from the Senate after 30 years in the body, will appear on behalf of Holder during Thursday’s Judiciary Committee hearing, according to Sen. Patrick Leahy’s (D-Vt.) office. Leahy is the chairman of the panel.
Warner and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) will introduce Holder to the Judiciary panel, and they will offer strong support for his nomination to the AG post.

Get Out of Jail Card

2009-01-11T12:42:00.023-05:00

In "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," Obama gave every Republican operative, er, official, a get-out-of-jail card courtesy of moving forward. But as one might expect, the blogger boyzz are up in arms.

The new Congress and the new President are facing some very daunting challenges; challengers that could create even more of an imperative to forget the past and just move on.

Oh, my bad. It's never Obama's fault; it's always something or someone else. Obama continues to walk on water and build the world in six days. It's the unholy mess we're in; but please, pretty please, don't be seduced by the presidency, Mr. President-elect and forget the blogger boyzz whose praises won the fight for you.

[T]he lasting damage that's been done to our national psyche, our international standing, our Constitution, our democracy by the lawless Bush administration won't be ameliorated by just forgetting it all happened. As a seductive a thought as that is, it's just too big and too dangerous to try to shove under the rug.

Other blogger boyzz like Huffy were even more shameful (as you shall see), framing what Obama clearly stated in Reidspeak language of the 'we-need-a-damn-certificate-' kind as evaluative. It also seems our new sheriff in town can't really legally round up a posse to go after the bad guys until his new deputy arrives and tells him it's okay.

Responding to the most popular inquiry on the "Open for Questions" feature of his website, Barack Obama said on Sunday that he is "evaluating" whether or not to investigate potential crimes of the Bush administration, but that he was inclined to "look forward as opposed to looking backwards."

First, Obama needs to decide the value of going after the crooks in relationship to other weighty matters, like what the hell is he supposed to do now that he's president. Secondly, he needs to express the idea that as president, it's not really his job to go after anyone.

"I think my general view when it comes to my attorney general is that he's the people's lawyer. Eric Holder's been nominated," said Obama. "His job is to uphold the Constitution and look after the interests of the American people, not be swayed by my day-to-day politics. So ultimately, he's going to be making some calls. But my general belief is that when it comes to national security, what we have to focus on is getting things right in the future as opposed to looking at what we got wrong in the past."

Whew! Well at least Obama didn't totally slam the door "to investigating Bush." Let's hope Specter is wrong and Holder is up to the task as "the people's lawyer."

]I]f there's any hope for prosecution in Obama's answer, it is that Attorney General Eric Holder will truly be "the people's lawyer" and fully represent us by prosecuting torturers, wiretappers, and other criminals who committed their crimes from secret undisclosed locations hidden within the Bush-Cheney administration.

That's right, boys and girls. The whole sordid affair of what transpired during the Bush years will likely never be known; and like the benign spirits in Poltergeist, mark the howler's words, these thugs are deadly and will be back unless someone has the balls to go after them now. Let's see Olby do a special comment on that one.

Burris Cleared by Sec. of State

2009-01-09T21:29:00.013-05:00

Looks like the Senate is running out of excuses for not seating Roland Burris.

Howling Latina is happy to link to the unsurprising news: the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled in Burris's favor and as a result, the Illinois secretary of state has finally stopped pussing footing around and "certified Roland Burris' appointment to the Senate."

In another story, Politico reports that Dems are not happy campers, squarely blaming the whole fiasco where it belongs: on the shoulders of Reed and Durbin (for stupidly claiming Burris was tainted when he had done nothing wrong) and Obama (for stupidly agreeing with them when he should've kept his mouth shut).

"Reid operates in this tight, little circle with Durbin and [Sen. Charles] Schumer and [Sen. Patty] Murray," complained one veteran Democratic senator, granted anonymity to speak candidly. "He needs to talk to more people, and maybe these kinds of situations won't occur again."

Check mate, your move guys...

Majority Proves Stupidity

2009-01-06T15:10:00.005-05:00

Another poll proving that a plurality of Americans are idiots, courtesy of USA Today.

A majority of Americans say Roland Burris should be blocked from taking a U.S. Senate seat and Illinois should hold a special election to fill the vacancy he was appointed to fill.

After eight long painful years of Bush eavesdropping, rendition, torture and other illegality, Americans are so inured to leaders breaking the law that it's no longer a big deal. Imagine if anytime a secretary of state decided he or she didn't like some appointed senator and refused to sign a legally executed appointment?

Well, it sure was a big deal when Starr and his buddies in Congress were busy checking Bill Clinton's testicles a few years ago, though.

Franken Wins

2009-01-04T20:18:00.006-05:00

After the last 933 absentee ballots were counted, and with no more ballots to count, Al Franken won a definitive victory by 225 votes.

The Minnesota Canvassing Board will be meeting tomorrow and everyone expects them to declare Al Franken the winner.

That's 59 Dems (if you count Lieberman); and with Specter facing reelection in '10 and the Maine twins solidly in the centrist bank, there is absolutely no reason why Dems can't pass their progressive legislative agenda without breaking a sweat.

NO MORE EXCUSES!

Karma Express...Hang up the Phone

2009-01-04T20:01:00.004-05:00

The Karma Express has decided to take revenge again.

First, it was John Edwards. No spot at the Democratic convention for you; too toxic. Then it was Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, the Twinky misogynists at MSNBC. No "Meet the Press" gig; too partisan. Coals in John Kerry and Bill Richardson's stocking. No job at State; too stupid. Jesse Junior, forget the Senate; too ethnic. Caroline, we're not that into you either; too genteel. And now it looks like the Karma Express is right on time and taking its first passenger of 2009. No commerce secretary job for Bill 'Judas' Richardson; too many questions about "pay-to-play" shenanigans.

Jake Tapper of Political Punch reports that Obambi and Judas kept the phone lines a-buzzing this weekend.

The governor spoke with the president-elect several times over the weekend, their last conversation being Saturday, when Richardson told Obama he was withdrawing his name from consideration.

With Obambi, it will be: "Hasto luego. Gotta run. Say hello to Jesse Junior, Bill Ayers and Jeremiah. Maybe we can all do lunch one day."

Wah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Judas is toast.

This is Stupid

2009-01-04T18:18:00.001-05:00

McClatchy Newspaper reminds us today that once Dubya leaves office, he will be the very first president who does not receive Secret Service protection for life.

Thanks to the legislative geniuses of the 103rd Congress, every U.S. president henceforth will only receive Secret Service protection for 10 years; after that, it's Katy-bar-the-door; presidents are on their own.

Jeez, no wonder Dems lost elections that year by droves; and how well they deserved it, too.

Obama's Crucial Endorsements...

2009-01-04T18:02:00.000-05:00

The Confluence sagely points out that Bill Richardson's latest foible "coincidently [makes] the second of Mr. Obama’s primary supporters/turncoats/opponents to have been caught up in scandal."

Did Mr. Axelrove perhaps find out things that both Judas and John Boy didn’t want out in the open during the primary season? Inquiring minds want to know."

A very interesting question...

It also looks like Jesse Junior was played for a chump; he never had a chance. Reed and Obama had other people in mind for the Illinois Senate seat.

Reformer Without Results...

2009-01-04T17:47:00.008-05:00

Finally the words that shall never be spoken have been declared. Michelle Rhee may have been duping educational elites, full of sound and fury which when measured against nothing will signify the same.

From her tender days in Baltimore as a budding educator where legend has it that she singlehandedly raised her right hand, parted the seas and willed children to learn to today where she's the media darling after firing principals, teachers, secretaries, hell, maybe even a maintenance guy or two just to prove to anyone who might've doubted that she means business; that is, accountability for ALL (well, nearly all, as we shall later see), Rhee is on a quest to educate our little ones.

She is the latest educational guru to come down the pike to try to close the achievement gap between suburban and inner-city schools. And to hear Rhee and her supporters tell it, she's just the one to do it. All educators have to do is listen to her, remain focused, make a few discipline marks on the board, change a seating arrangement or two and voila, students suddenly become "calm and engaged" and thank educators in the process.

The story goes that everything was going swimmingly swell for Rhee, too. That is until those lazy, clueless unionized teachers ignored her teaching methodology and ruined every student gain by adopting their own personal pedagogical style.

Since Rhee's fabled days of teaching in Baltimore, she has gone on to earn a master's degree in public policy at Harvard and run a teaching recruiting firm. In June 2008, serendipity smiled when Mayor Adrian Fenty selected her to run the public school system in the District of Columbia.

Canny Rhee has had almost two years to whip the school system into shape. And she certainly has done so, right...? After all, she's been on the cover of Time magazine, featured in Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, CNN and PBS's "NewsHour."

Well, not so fast, Tonto. Equal to any paper trail from Rhee's days in Baltimore, lady luck has divined no documentation for Rhee to date. Let Bob Somerby explain about her early storied career:

[H]er official resume had long asserted this: “Over a two-year period, moved students scoring on average at the 13th percentile on national standardized tests to 90 percent of students scoring at the 90th percentile or higher.” At best, it’s extremely irresponsible to make such detailed claims on the basis of “informal chit-chat.”

You see, when Jay Matthews of Washington Post wrote Rhee's hagiography, er, article, two months ago, Somerby decided to follow up and ask him how he could be so darn sure that Rhee's students had indeed performed as she'd claimed. Matthews assured Somerby that everything was absolutely true because Rhee had told him she'd had some informal chit-chat with central office and well, they'd told her so.

Oops...just Rhee's self-serving assurances about some "informal chit-chat." Not exactly an airtight source.

As to the sure-fire astronomical progress in DC test scores, they've been rigidly documented, except...no such documentation exists. In fact, the good mayor who fully believes in teacher accountability has "proposed a privately funded study to be conducted by researchers known to be favorable toward a mayoral takeover of schools" to vouch for Rhee and her unconventional dogma.

Well, thank the sweet lord that not everyone in the District is on the Rhee Express. According to Colbert King of Washington Post, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray "has decided that the council must do more than just appropriate funds for schools, leaving Rhee free to run the system as she sees fit."

He said he will propose this month that the council select an independent evaluator to examine the impact of changes initiated by Rhee on teacher and student performance, school system operations, and the school governance structure itself.

Sounds like some really good news; and long overdue. Let's see how those pesky scores come out. Enough with the mythic stories that can't be verified; let's hold the educational bean counters accountable. And may the beans fall where they will...

Bill And Hillary Clinton Ring In New Year Dancing In Times Square

2009-01-01T14:14:00.001-05:00

Roland, You're Likeable Enough...

2009-01-01T10:20:00.037-05:00

For all those weepy eyed folks who just knew that Obama was a different kind of politician who would never, ever, ever mirror the strong-arm tactics of Bush and Company by circumventing laws they didn't like, welcome to 2009.

Oh yeah, and in the process, another sacrificial brother bites the dust under the bus.

Recent news about Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's totally constitutional appointment of former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to Obama's former Senate seat was met with uncharacteristic dispatch by Obama, which begs the question why was the president-in-waiting so willing to jump into the donnybrook while vacationing in Hawaii??

Make no mistake about it. Obama threw poor Burris under his proverbial bus. It was yet another "likable enough" moment for the person now deemed too tainted by the original sin of propinquity in time, space and party label to be redeemable, even by babyjeezus himself. Party elders have spoken...

“Roland Burris is a good man and a fine public servant, but the Senate Democrats made it clear weeks ago that they cannot accept an appointment made by a governor who is accused of selling this very Senate seat. I agree with their decision.”

Well...not everyone is drinking the elders-know-best transformational kool-aid. Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois, who just so happened to beat Obama in 2000 during the Democratic primary for Congress, has decided to pull the handy-dandy race card from the old Obama presidential deck and shake things up with this statement:

“There is no rhyme or reason why he should not be seated in the U.S. Senate,” Rush said. “I don’t think any U.S. senator…wants to go on record to deny one African-American from being seated in the U.S. Senate."

Hmmm, what ever happened to the Obama watchword, 'no drama Obama'? This isn't his fight; his supporters have told us a gazillion times over that our squeeky clean president-elect has absolutely no dog in this messy unpleasantness. So what's the big hairy deal if Burris joins his fellow Dems in the well of the Senate? The whole argument for not seating Burris sounds mighty specious to the howler. And no one explains better the disconnect between law and usurping by thuggery than Donna Christensen, the congressional delegate to Congress from the Virgin Islands.

"[T]he governor of Illinois is still within his right to make that decision and to make that call as long as he's governor and he made it,'' she said. "He chose an outstanding person. And, I don't think that that person necessarily comes under his cloud, it's just under these unfortunate circumstances.''

Get it?? Lawful. No cloud. Unfortunate circumstances having nothing to do with Burris. Let's not go down the road of discarding inconvenient laws. If Dems are going to follow the law, Burris must be seated.

Perhaps under the drudgery of Hawaiian sun spots and Kauai cocktails, Obama jumped the gun a bit and misspoke, but don't count on it. By his rapid fire response, everyone could see that Obambi was not a happy camper. Could the former attorney general know a secret or two...? Stay tuned and look for verbal gyrations of the 'we don't torture' type from Obama and elders to justify breaking the law as it has existed until now because of their other mantra: "YES WE CAN!" Bwa, ha, ha, ha, ha.

And yes, do not worry about a little thing like the rule of law. MSNBC is on the case, good folks. Obama and Company have yet another mouthpiece in Mika the apple polisher of "Morning Joe." She was recently aghast, yes, aghast and appalled at the godawful venal way Blagojevich used his god-given constitutional right to appoint someone who is not accused of doing ANYTHING wrong.

Meanwhile, the smears have already started from the usual suspects. But at least shrewd Digby sees the imminent danger.

Hilary Most Admired Woman

2008-12-29T09:25:00.010-05:00

As 2008 ends, the list of most admired females has Hillary Clinton at the tippy top. Twenty percent of survey respondents chose Hill over every other female in the world. And yes, snarky MoDo didn't even get an honorable mention.

Interestingly, little 'sis,' Sarah Palin came in at number two with 11 percent. And sure, Oprah was right behind Palin with 8 percent but Michelle...not so much. She came in with a puny 3 percent, only one point ahead of Stepford Laura with 2 percent.

Caroline Kennedy Out...

2008-12-19T05:00:00.008-05:00

Political Wire reports that Caroline Kennedy may not be the next New York senator, after all.

If you like to read tea leaves, when a PBS reporter asked Charlie Rangel whom Gov. David Paterson was going to name to replace Hillary, Rangel tried to be cagey but he may have spilled the beans anyhow.

RAFAEL PI ROMAN: Lastly, I know you talked to Governor Paterson about the replacement for Senator Clinton, I was wondering if you have any favorites among the candidates that are being discussed?
CONGESSMAN RANGEL: Well the governor has already made up his mind and he shared it with me, and I support that he's going to select the best possible candidate that he can.
RAFAEL PI ROMAN: When are we going to find that out?
CONGESSMAN RANGEL: When he selects him.

Now remember boys and girls that in spite of all the threats from JJJ, Rangel was a staunch Hillary supporter to the end. Thus, like Matthews, JJJ and Olby, no promotion for CK.

Obama Owes Pastor Rick Warren...

2008-12-18T22:05:00.016-05:00

Just as Obama was about to embark on his uncertain journey to the White House, Pastor Rick Warren made a very fortuitous invitation to the then junior senator from Illinois.

As Howling Latina reported back in November, 2006, Pastor Rick Warren, the evangelical icon and author of the best selling Christian book, 'The Purpose-Driven Life,'" invited Obama to speak at his megachurch. At the time, it was the good reverend who was taking all the heat for inviting the forked-tongue heathen who dared advocate usage of condoms.

So you see, in a perfectly legal quid pro-quo -- not to be confused with the illicit kind that right up front demands the quo before the quid (and yes, we're referring to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, of course), Obama is simply returning the honor.

Back when Obama was trying to win votes, he got to show his wares to Warren's flock. Now Pastor Warren gets a chance to win some souls, hopefully converting a few of the heathens who show up for the jamboree on Jan. 20, including some of the [gasp] godless gays.

H/T Not Your Sweetie

Al Franken Will Be the Next Minnesota Senator

2008-12-18T21:25:00.011-05:00

Al Franken picked up a bunch of votes today and according to TPM Election Central, he is "poised to take the lead tomorrow as the state canvassing board sorts through the remaining hundreds of ballot challenges from the Coleman campaign, which have been mostly frivolous attempts to throw out Franken votes."

[M]ost of Coleman's challenges to Franken's votes were a bust, while some of Franken's efforts to get ambiguous ballots into his own column largely held up.

Yes siree. Dems will have 59 votes in the Senate; almost a filibuster-proof majority. Now let's see if those spineless Dems and Obama decide to hold anyone accountable for the shameless lawlessness of the last eight years. By the bye, can we get an "Amen" at the inagural invocation, Rev. Rick Warren?

Alice Palmer for Illinois Senate Seat

2008-12-14T21:20:00.007-05:00

Riverdaughter of The Confluence has come up with the ideal person to replace Obama in the Senate. His current nemesis but former mentor, Dr. Alice L. Palmer.

Don't know who she is?? Courtesy of The New York Times, all you need to know is right here; and when you've finished reading, you'll no doubt agree that no one is more purrfect.

More Sleaze from...

2008-12-14T15:00:00.007-05:00

The usual suspect. And he must be stopped; a nice arrest for his criminality in the Gov. Don Siegelman case would do just fine for starters.

Al Franken is Going to Win This...

2008-12-13T18:18:00.001-05:00

With the latest two victories by Al Franken in his race against Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman (Crook), no doubt about it, Al is going to win.

Alegre's Corner has the full scoop on the sleazy poop.

Something Funny...

2008-12-11T23:12:00.003-05:00

From what the media has written, Patrick Fitzgerald is a fastidious prosecutor who doesn't overlook anything.

A legend of a lawman who would prosecute his own grannie if she'd so much as beheld a cushy job at University of Chicago Hospitals should he ever become the next senator from Illinois. Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with that; just ask Michelle.

But with that in mind, don't you just wonder why Fitzgerald didn't follow the trail to see whom Blagojevich could entice with his precious power of appointment?? After all, it's a lot easier to convince a jury when you have official witnesses testifying how cash exchanged hands.

All very strange...

Fitmas Carols from Cannonfire

2008-12-11T21:30:00.004-05:00

Get in the Fitzmas spirit with Cannonfire; but first here are few verses that have been shamelessly borrowed for your enjoyment.

Oh, you better watch out
You better watch out
You better WATCH OUT! [I'm telling you why]
The FBI is tapping your phone.
They know when you've been scheming
They know that lips are loose
Blago blabs like he's doing meth
And he's going to cook your goose...

Yes boys and girls, there are more Fitzmas tunes right here.

Is Jesse in Trouble...?

2008-12-10T21:55:00.002-05:00

You betcha. The FBI wants to ask him a few questions...Fitzmas anyone??

Illinois Lost Senate Seat

2008-12-10T21:13:00.014-05:00

Wouldn't it be ironic if Republicans in the Senate filibuster the auto industry bridge loan that would have saved thousands and thousands of American jobs and the country has to suffer and silently watch because the Democrats came up just one teeny weeny vote short of cloture?? Right now, chances of passage in the Senate are "dicey," according to Washington Post.

Guess folks from Michigan will probably soon be asking themselves, "Hell, is this the change we voted for?? And by the way, can you please tell us exactly why Obama resigned when he knew the country was going to hell in a handbasket and his vote in the Senate might just be the one we'd be looking for??"

Indeed, all very good questions. Correct the howler if she's wrong, but Kennedy, Johnson, Humphrey and Gore had the good sense and decency to remain in Congress until the congressional lame duck session was over. You know, just in case their votes were needed. But no such concerns for a man in a hurry to get to the top of the world.

Can't help but wonder, just exactly why was Obama's in such a big hairy hurry...? Other inquiring minds might also want to know.

Jesse Jackson Jr.'s Press Conference - "I did not have any relationship with that man, Gov. Blagojevich"

2008-12-10T20:58:00.001-05:00

Yep, Mr. Junior gets his 'just desserts.'

Obama Co-Chair Jesse Jackson, Jr. Questions Hillary's Tears

2008-12-10T20:55:00.001-05:00

Looks like it's now Jesse's turn to cry...boo, hoo, frigging boo...no Senate seat for his future.

Does Fitz Wanna Talk to Junior???

2008-12-09T19:40:00.028-05:00

According to Politico via Talk Left, Senate Candidate #5 in the 76-page criminal complain against Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois is none other than Obama's happy warrior; the national co-chair who cooly threatened every black politician who dared support Hillary during the primaries.

Oh yes, who can ever forget Junior's sweet little entreties last winter -- just to make sure the candidate we had all been waiting for 'won,' fair and square, of course.

"Many of these guys have offered their support to Mrs. Clinton, but Obama has won their districts. So you wake up without the carpet under your feet. You might find some young primary challenger placing you in a difficult position."

Yes, that's right, boys and girls. it's quite natural that Jessie Junior would be in the thick of the fight for Obama's seat. From The Atlantic via MyDD:

On Dec. 4, Blagojevich allegedly told an advisor that he might "get some (money) up front, maybe" from Senate Candidate 5, if he named Senate Candidate 5 to the Senate seat, to insure that Senate Candidate 5 kept a promise about raising money for Blagojevich if he ran for re-election. In a recorded conversation on Oct. 31, Blagojevich claimed he was approached by an associate of Senate Candidate 5 as follows: "We were approached to `pay to play.' That, you know, he'd raise 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a Senator."
[...]
From the context, it's probably Jesse Jackson. Jr.
"Later on December 4, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke to Fundraiser A. ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated he was "elevating" Senate Candidate 5 on the list of candidates for the open Senate seat. ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated he might be able to cut a deal with Senate Candidate 5 that provided ROD BLAGOJEVICH with something "tangible up front." ROD BLAGOJEVICH noted he was going to meet with Senate Candidate 5 in the next few days."
The only candidate with whom Blagojevich met within that period was Jesse Jackson, Jr.

Again, don't be surprised; after all, Junior has been pining for a Senate seat ever since the presidency was just a twinkle in Obama's eyes. Here's more about the meeting from Chicago Tribune via Cannonfire.

Following a 90-minute audition meeting today with Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. said he was confident in the process the governor is using to make his choice for a Senate successor to President-elect Barack Obama.
Jackson has mounted the most highly visible campaign among several people who are being considered for the Senate post. He said the meeting with Blagojevich amounted to a “very productive conversation, very thoughtful” that covered a broad range of issues.
Jackson has mounted the most highly visible campaign among several people who are being considered for the Senate post. He said the meeting with Blagojevich amounted to a “very productive conversation, very thoughtful” that covered a broad range of issues.“I am convinced that the governor has a very thoughtful process that he has put in place and is wrestling and weighing a number of issues in this enormous decision that he has to make,” Jackson said

Well, with fresh attention from Fitz, it doesn't look to good for him. In the blink of a eye, poof; there goes the coveted Senate seat. With the latest scandal, Junior is spoiled goods and will never be appointed. Moreoever, if he were to decide to run in the future, he'd never be able to win a statewide election. Maybe he can find a cushy seat under Obama's bus because you know that's-a-coming.

Wah, ha, ha, ha, ha. First Tweety and Olby of MSNBC get their comeuppance when they're passed over for the "Meet the Press" gig. And now Jesse gets his. Well, it all couldn't have happened to a bunch of nicer boyzz.

Tit for Tat...

2008-12-07T17:05:00.004-05:00

Boyzz will be boyzz...no harm, right??

H/T Not your Sweetie.

It's Official...

2008-12-02T20:59:00.004-05:00

No, not Hillary's appointment, silly. Something much, much more momentous. All those nasty rumors during the primary have been officially confirmed by the dean of comedy. John Stewart recently coronated MSNBC as the new Fox.

Enjoy!

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

MSNBC Replaces Fox News

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Did you Know...??

2008-11-30T20:47:00.019-05:00

Psss, did you know that the Obama team is busy "repackaging Clinton's foreign policy credentials" since the only thing of worth on her resume were the highfalutin' tea parties she gave while First Lady?? Well, at least that was the story Obama & Company told back when he was fighting Hillary Clinton tooth and claw for the Democratic presidential nomination.

According to Huffy (and yes, no link), poor Barack is now having to eat a little crow after tearing down Hillary's "foreign policy credentials" in light of his soon-to-come announcement of the New York senator as his secretary of state. Surely you haven't forgotten Obama's subtle but oh, so much on the mark commentary during those frantic days in March.

"What exactly is this foreign policy experience?" Obama asked mockingly. "Was she negotiating treaties? Was she handling crises? The answer is no."

Oh, the indignity of it all! But folks relax and enjoy the show as you witness a whole lot of squirming by a bunch of worms. Lord knows Tweety has been trying for weeks to find someone, anyone who will bad-mouth Obama's choice. The most people will say is that shameless Bill must absolutely stop trying to feed the poor.

No Time Obama

2008-11-29T17:14:00.008-05:00

What do Bill, Al, Sarah, Zell and John McCain have in common??

It's a state of Georgia on their mind. Meanwhile, poor Obama can't seem to find the time to campaign for Dem Senate hopeful Jim Miller. Miraculously though, he's found the time to talk-it-up with the governors, Miss Sarah included, of course.

Yep, next week right after Saxby Chambliss has been safely reelected, Obama plans to drop in at the National Governor's Association meeting.

HOLIDAY CHEER!

2008-11-29T11:13:00.016-05:00

Howling Latina went to a turkey bash and a guest who works at the White House confirmed that Bush is drinking. A lot. Which means all those crazy stories in the National Enquirer were true.

Additionally, right after some Obama flack from dailykos was answering some rather lame queries from the audience this morning, she had a chance to call-in C-SPAN. It was kinna sweet to hear the kos guy (can't remember the name) parse with callers what a great candidate Hillary was for state, especially in light of the Web site's vitriol during the Democratic presidential primary race.

During the show, it looked like only Obamazoids were getting through the lines; every caller opined how horrible it was that Hillary had been selected when the brilliant Bill 'Judas' Richardon who collected the sum total of 50 votes during the primary (and that was only due to his extended family) should've gotten the nod.

Well, the howler couldn't let the world think that every Dem was still drinking the kool aid so she thanked the kos flack for his newfound agnoticism and then reprimanded previous callers for dissing the candidate who won 18 million votes during the primary and were still characterizing her expansive world experience as nothing more than tea parties abroad.

In the meantime, kos is still spewing...

Lights to go Out in Georgia...

2008-11-26T03:42:00.010-05:00

It's only a matter of time; on Dec. 2, the lights will go out in Georgia.

Yes, Democrats have a new president who could make all the difference in the Georgia Senate race run-off between Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R) and former state Rep. Jim Martin (D). But "[t]he Obama transition team has remained silent on whether the president-elect will stump in the state for Martin." Which means no Obama speechifying; no reinforcement; the poor sap has been thrown under the famous Obama bus.

The Washington Post explains:

Democratic strategists closely watching the race believe that Martin faces long odds -- despite the close poll numbers -- and even if Obama visited the state, the Democratic Senate nominee could lose. But, they also note, that Martin's only possible path to victory includes an Obama visit, which would drive excitement and intensity within the base of the party -- particularly among African Americans -- that Martin will struggle to re-create otherwise.

Hmmm, so the polls are tightening and the only path to victory is an Obama visit. That's too high a price. The Precious One must never be sullied by politics. Or at least that's what some of his followers are saying.

Dems need to get the African American vote out, but not at Mr. Obama's expense. Congressman Bishop and other Georgian African American leaders should be leading the way.

So suck it up, Georgians; too bad, so sad; here's an Obama commemorative victory plate with its own certificate of authenticity for only $19.95 to make you feel less blue -- a bargain for sure.