Consider a thought experiment. Let's go back to late 2002 and early 2003. Assume that the build up on the WMD front is more or less as it transpired. But assume, for our counterfactual, that the costs of what we were getting into had been made pretty candidly clear. Half a million troops to secure the place, maybe years of occupation and nation-building. Then you get to early 2003 when it was clear that even if there was some mustard gas hidden away somewhere, that beside those lamo rockets the inspectors found, there really weren't any big WMD programs or stockpiles. Remember, that was clear, before the war started. Once that was clear, and if people knew the costs of what we were getting ourselves into, is there any way the president would have had any support for still going to war, pretty much just for the hell of it? This is the key. Yes, the American people probably won't support what it takes to make this happen. That's because they make a perfectly rational calculation that so much blood and money for no particular reason just isn't worth it. They're only in this situation because President Bush and his advisors gamed the public into this war on false pretenses knowing that once they were it would be almost impossible to get back out. - - - Josh Marshall

GQ Magazine just interviewed Al Gore. Here's an excerpt, where he's asked if and how he would have handled the events, as President, leading up to 9/11:

That’s a separate question. And it’s almost too easy to say, “I would have heeded the warnings.” In fact, I think I would have, I know I would have. We had several instances when the CIA’s alarm bells went off, and what we did when that happened was, we had emergency meetings and called everybody together and made sure that all systems were go and every agency was hitting on all cylinders, and we made them bring more information, and go into the second and third and fourth level of detail. And made suggestions on how we could respond in a more coordinated, more effective way. It is inconceivable to me that Bush would read a warning as stark and as clear [voice angry now] as the one he received on August 6th of 2001, and, according to some of the new histories, he turned to the briefer and said, “Well, you’ve covered your ass.” And never called a follow up meeting. Never made an inquiry. Never asked a single question. To this day, I don’t understand it. And, I think it’s fair to say that he personally does in fact bear a measure of blame for not doing his job at a time when we really needed him to do his job. And now the Woodward book has this episode that has been confirmed by the record that George Tenet, who was much abused by this administration, went over to the White House for the purpose of calling an emergency meeting and warning as clearly as possible about the extremely dangerous situation with Osama bin Laden, and was brushed off! And I don’t know why—honestly—I mean, I understand how horrible this Congressman Foley situation with the instant messaging is, okay? I understand that. But, why didn’t these kinds of things produce a similar outrage? And you know, I’m even reluctant to talk about it in these terms because it’s so easy for people to hear this or read this as sort of cheap political game-playing. I understand how it could sound that way. [Practically screaming now] But dammit, whatever happened to the concept of accountability for catastrophic failure? This administration has been by far the most incompetent, inept, and with more moral cowardice, and obsequiousness to their wealthy contributors, and obliviousness to the public interest of any administration in modern history, and probably in the entire history of the country!

(h/t Seven of Six)

Kelpie Wilson describes how Texas government is a pox on our civilization:

....Texas is already the number one CO2 polluter in the United States, which is the number one CO2 polluter in the world. If Texas were a separate country, it would rank as the world's tenth largest greenhouse gas emitter. But TXU could care less about that. When the company pitched its plans to municipal leaders last summer, it was happy to point out that CO2 is not a regulated pollutant. Expensive measures to control the gas would not be required. Clearly, TXU is rushing to complete these cheap and dirty plants before any federal CO2 regulations can be enacted, thereby locking Texas and the planet into increased CO2 emissions for the 50 year life of the plants. But Texans are becoming increasingly concerned - about climate change, about escalating power prices and about air quality. A number of local citizen groups have sprung up in opposition, and at least twenty mayors and county executives, including the mayors of Dallas and Houston, have raised concerns. The most immediate victims of TXU's dirty coal expansion will be children and the elderly, some of whom will die. Texas Public Citizen just released a report on the deadly consequences of the fine particulate pollution that the plants will emit. The new plants will add 50,568 tons of sulfur dioxide and 24,031 tons of nitrous oxides per year. The report says: "This pollution can be expected to cause 177 premature mortalities per year, and 8,869 premature mortalities over the expected lifetimes of the plants." [snip] TXU says that since the price of natural gas keeps going up, its new cheap coal plants will bring rates down for consumers. But the company is playing a shell game. Energy regulators in Texas have tied rates to the price of natural gas, so power producers can charge the natural gas premium price for their cheap dirty coal. TXU can make billions of dollars on that price differential because no one will make them pay the real cost of coal. Laurie David, global warming activist and producer of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, calls TXU's new coal plants "global warming factories." She says Texans need help from the rest of country, and she's asking people to write to TXU (txuenergy@txu.com) and tell them to drop their plans for these dirty coal plants. There are more suggestions for action at http://www.stopthecoalplant.org/. On Tuesday, climate scientist James Hansen said that the world has less than a decade to take decisive action on global warming or risk tipping the planet towards catastrophe. "The biggest problem is that the United States is not taking an active leadership role - quite the reverse," he said. The world can't get its act together without the United States, and the US can't do it without Texas. The world may have ten years, but Texas only has six months to stop TXU from turning our climate to toast.

"Thomas Ricks and Robin Wright at WaPo examine the increasing tendency of the American political class to blame the Iraqis for the political turmoil there. "I see. The US invaded their country, abolished their army, gutted their civil service, occupied their cities, and now it is the Iraqis' fault." - - - Juan Cole

Also see this.

Chris Bowers suggests 8 rules for Progressives when politicking within the Democratic Party:

1. The Democratic Party is the primary vessel of the progressive coalition. It is impossible to enact real change without an electoral apparatus within your movement. In a two-party system, it is thus necessary to adopt one of the two parties as the electoral vessel of your coalition. 2. Within the coalition, intra-party democracy must always be adhered to. All party nominees must be determined by an elective primary open to all registered members of the party in the relevant district. The winner of the primary must always be supported by all members of the party apparatus, and all rank and file members should vote for the nominee (especially those who voted in the primary). 3. Party elections should be fair and open to all members of the party, and no one should ever be forced or muscled off of a ballot for a party office or nomination for public office. 4. There are no litmus tests to join the coalition. No one has to read or sign off on any document stating support for a particular policy. If someone wants to join, registering as a Democrat should be the only requirement. 5. Under no circumstances should any member of the party apparatus support any member of any opposing coalition, (in other words, any other political party). 6. Outside of issues relating to corruption, Democrats must never criticize each other in the same manner that Republicans criticize Democrats. 7. No Democrat should ever publicly call any Democrat unelectable, or publicly rank candidates based on perceived electability. 8. Don't expect the party to change on it's own. Be prepared and willing to change it yourself.

Working outside this framework of rules, says Chris, limits a Progressive's ability to drive change in the system.

From commentator 'euzoius', at The Left Coaster concerning the latest blame game coming from the Administration and other Politicians in Washington: \

Who we blamin' next, asks lil' Georgie? Saddam, Al Qaeda, and now those failed Iraqi peoples?. "To invade is human, to blame, divine". Or something. Iraq had a functioning society with operating institutions under Saddam. Not democratic, not open, not transparent, not civil rights respecting, but functioning. Iraqis could buy food, go to school, do the laundry, and travel to see their relatives, which often included Sunnis visiting shi'tes. We blithely destroyed those institutions, without the consent of the Iraqis. There was no order or security in Iraq from the day Bagdad fell. Chaos. Looting. Murder. "Stuff happens", remember? Without order, without institutions, fear of sectarian retribution and domination becomes very strong, as does the human desire to settle old scores. Iraqis aren't utterly blameless for their ongoing civil war and what it might turn into---each Iraqi has free will, they are independent human beings, who can decide not to kidnap, torture and kill their fellow Muslim co-citizens. If the Sunnis and Shi'a want to have a brutal fight over what sect will control their "country", that is indeed up to them. But we foolishly put them into the pot, heaped on the fuel and started the fire, acting like we were doing them a big favor. Who gets the lion's share of the blame for the resulting stew? I guess we'll chew on this little morsel of shit for the next 20 years, just like we did on the Vietnam debacle. Another little thing to divide our hopelessly divided country.

I recently had this same argument with my wingnut sister. 'euzoius' puts it into perspective much better than I. Sometimes you just have to say, "I wish I said that!"

Seven of Six

"I really never thought this country could be run for a significant period of time by a president who seems captive of dingbat conspiracy theories and the strategic complexity of a children's bedtime story." - - - Josh Marshall

"So, to recap: when insurgents engage in violence before the elections, that's the fault of Democrats because it's done to help them win (and credit to Republicans because it shows how tough they are on The Terrorists). When the insurgents engage in violence after the elections, that's also the fault of Democrats because they are excited by the Democrats' success (and credit to Republicans because Republicans want to stay forever, which makes the insurgents sad and listless). And when there is no violence, all credit to Republicans because it shows how great their war plan is.Put another way, no matter what happens in Iraq (violence increases, violence decreases), and no matter when it happens (before the election, after the election), it is the fault of Democrats and it reflects well on the Republicans. Isn't it fair to say that that's the very definition of the mindset of a cultist?" - - - Glenn Greenwald

The hard-working (occasionally on this blog, too) staff of LEFT is RIGHT (Seven of Six and Mike) are taking the next few days off, so we give to you, two days early.......

FRIDAY F U N

• Stick figure creates havok on your desktop screen (press "Watch Film")
• 7 really, really tiny gadgets
• Bill Clinton was very busy in 1997
• Getting behind with Jesus
• High-tech public urinals (be sure to watch the video)
• Mmmmm.... Donuts
• Far Side cartoons brought to life

And finally.... Once again, for the holidays, LEFT is RIGHT links you to....[drum roll here].... THE MOST INCREDIBLE MUSICAL LIGHT SHOW IN THE HISTORY OF THIS AND ALL ALTERNATE UNIVERSES OF ALL DIMENSIONS KNOWN AND UNKNOWN.

BITS for the Week of November 20 - 24

• Homophobic Wal*Mart bows, once again, to the medieval fundagelical American Family Association.
• 92-year-old woman shot to death by police
• When Bush finally, shamefully leaves the White House, the most unsuccessful President in history, at least he'll have his own pretend "song"
• Falling housing market finally bottoming out? Guess again. Also see: Hard US Lessons, Harder Landings
• The Ugly American within our borders (h/t 7 of 6)
• Avian Flu Update
• Mr. Keith O. is at his awesome best: Educating Bush on Vietnam
• This is one of the main reasons I tossed my L.A. Times Subscription

Groperzenegger sez: Do as I say, not as I do:

Cold Turkey ArnoldWatch Weblog - November 21, 2006 - 12:15 PM - By Carmen Balber Governor Schwarzenegger's California Recovery Team -- a political committee ostensibly created for the Gov to raise and spend money on ballot measures -- reports accepting a $25,000 contribution from Shell Oil last week. Yet Arnold has promised he'll work with the legislature this year and claims to be through with ballot initiatives. Why raise money into a "ballot measure committee" if he isn't going to be supporting measures on the ballot? And why give to a committee with no declared purpose and no clear prospects? As a termed-out legislator, Schwarzenegger can no longer raise money for his candidate committee since he is not running for office. For special interest donors like Shell -- who want to keep the money flowing in, so the favors flow out -- the California Recovery Team provides the opportunity to give unlimited funds, and maintain unfettered access, to a Gov who is otherwise at the end of his fundraising capacity. Shell has a big stake in the Gov's decision about whether to open California to liquified natural gas and in oversight by Schwarzenegger's California Energy Commission. Schwarzenegger also opened a new "officeholder" account this week, expanding his fundraising options under a bill he signed allowing termed-out legislators to continue to shake down donors for their own creature comforts, like lavish parties, junkets and fine steak dinners. The Governor, who promised to clean up Sacramento, can't make any more excuses. With no upcoming election, and no initiatives on the ballot, Arnold doesn't have to keep playing the fundraising game he claims to despise. The first step is admitting his $95K a day fundraising habit is a problem. When Arnold goes cold turkey and kicks the habit, Californians can finally give thanks.

"More than any other measure, more than 10 million airport-security officers, more than walls and sealed borders, a resolution to the Palestine issue will do more to stem terrorism, help pacify the region and protect U.S. security than anything else." - - - Bill Gallagher

Be Thankful!

Who wants to hear bad news right before the holidays? Everyone has so much to be thankful for! I mean, after all we did just win an election victory!

However, my thoughts turn to the troops in harm's way. They are thousands of miles away from their family and loved ones. While we will sit comfy in our chairs and sofas, with a refrigerator full of food, late night snacks and beer avaliable, resting comfortably, a warm bed to crawl into; we have young men and women risking their lives daily. Each mission they go on could be their last. No guilt trips folks, they volunteered for bu$h'$ folly.

I'm truly thankful we have modern medical capabilities for them in the field. What I thought was a modern breakthrough in medicine to help the troops stay alive, has been misleading.

A blood-coagulating drug designed to treat rare forms of hemophilia is being used on critically wounded U.S. troops in Iraq despite evidence it can cause clots that lead to strokes, heart attacks and death in other patients...The Food and Drug Administration said in a warning last December that giving Factor VII to patients who don't have the blood disorder could cause strokes and heart attacks. Its researchers published a study in January blaming 43 deaths on clots that developed after injections of Factor VII. However, the Army medical command considers it a medical breakthrough that gives front-line physicians a way to control deadly bleeding. Physicians in Iraq have injected it into more than 1,000 patients. "When it works, it's amazing," said Col. John B. Holcomb, an Army trauma surgeon and commander of the Army's Institute of Surgical Research. "It's one of the most useful new tools we have." "I've seen it with my own eyes," said Air Force Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bailey, a trauma surgeon deployed this summer as senior physician at the American military hospital in Balad, Iraq.
"Patients who are hemorrhaging to death, they get the drug and it stops. Factor VII saves their lives." However, doctors at military hospitals in Germany and the United States have reported unusual and sometimes fatal blood clots in soldiers evacuated from Iraq, including unexplained strokes, heart attacks and pulmonary embolisms, or blood clots in the lungs. And some have begun to suspect Factor VII, The Sun reported. Doctors say determining the precise cause of blood clots is rarely possible, making it difficult to establish definitively whether Factor VII is responsible for complications. And military doctors caution against drawing any conclusions from individual cases. Officials at Novo Nordisk said complications don't mean the drug is too dangerous to use. "It's really not a question of an absolute safety level, but rather a ratio of benefit to risk that has to be established," said Dr. Michael Shalmi, vice president of biopharmaceuticals for Novo Nordisk. "We're making decisions, in the middle of a war, with the best information we have available to us," said Holcomb at the Army's Institute of Surgical Research.

So basically the American G.I. is a lab rat! Ignore the warnings of the FDA, they are just standing in the way of medical ingenuity. "When it works", WTF, thanks for the help Col. Holcomb! Then the 'money shot' from the "Officials at Novo Nordisk"..."It's really not a question of an absolute safety level, but rather a ratio of benefit to risk that has to be established"!! All I can say is WOW! Then there is more from Col. Holcomb, we come to the Rummy Philosophy, "We're making decisions, in the middle of a war, with the best information we have available to us"!! Please, haven't we heard enough rhetoric during this war!

Please, just keep the troops in mind at your Thanksgiving table this year. I ask this from ordinary Americans because we know it rings hallow if it comes from the bu$h cabal.

crossposted at Low and Left

Seven of Six

I wanted to post some excerpts from this essay by Jamison Foser of Media Matters, but there are so many quotable gems, just please go read the whole thing. Thanks.

FRIDAY F U N

• Can't get the Print Screen key to work on your keyboard? Here's another solution...
• **So Much Trouble... and such a good song
• Discover your personality by drawing a pig online
• Golf (game)
• The 25 most important questions in the universe (and the answers)
• Toilet instructions from around the world
• Flying alarm clock
• What would Jesus say
• Anti-telemarketing script
• World's healthiest foods
• Star Wars in ASCII (note: very slow loading)

**This week's favorite

BITS for the Week of November 13 - 17

• Warning to UCLA students: You'd better have your student I.D. at all times
• My god, CNN newsman Glenn Beck is one huge asshole!
• John McCain, on his new campaign for prez-in-2008 web site, mentions that he's a Republican only once. Hey, Republicans, if it embarrasses you when you're called one, then why don't you just do the right thing and join the Democrats? We sure as hell aren't embarrassed.
• Couple could get 20-year sentence for "snuggling" on U.S. flight.
• Ambramoff claims six highly corrupt Democratic Senators. I say give them the boot too (the left one, of course).
• When you walk like a traitor, you'll tend to talk like one
• Fields of Fire - short video by IRIN about cluster bombs in Lebanon
• VNRs (video news reports), which are corporate-produced fake news segments on TV camouflaged as real news, still a big problem
• Yet another prominent Republican knuckledragger bites the dust

"The facades of a normal society are gradually dropping in Iraq. It isn't a place where you can go to the book bazaar and buy a book anymore. It isn't a place where you can go to college like a normal student or professor. It is a dark, despairing, violent arena. People go about their lives, of course. But they never know when, abruptly, the Grim Reaper will grasp them as they shop for eggplants or fill up their tanks with gasoline or drop the kids off at school. And because they never know, the scope of these daily activities is curtailed more each day." - - - Juan Cole

Irrespective of the b.s./circus impeachment proceedings by the Republicans against Clinton, the fact that the Democrats do not want to pursue impeachment hearings against Bush is unacceptable to me. It is the DUTY, not the OPTION, of the House of Representatives to reprimand a member of the Executive branch when there is evidence that the latter has committed illegal acts. In fact, other than citizens voting the President out at the end of the term (or the expiration of the term), there is no other recourse (of which I'm aware) of removing a criminal from this office.

Voters elected Congresspersons to fulfill the duties of their office, and failure to pursue, as required under the Constitution, the investigation of possible criminal activities of the Executive branch, is a failure by Congress to do the job they swore, under oath, to follow.

If Democrats think they can contain Bush by sweet-talking him about bipartisan cooperation, and get him to pull out of Iraq through controlling appropriations, then I guess they haven't paid a sliver of attention to him during the past 5+ years.

Democrats in the Congress and Senate need to understand that these times are not typical for our nation. These times are not demanding everyday backroom deals and political maneuvering. These times are unusually dangerous for both America and much of the world because unstable regimes (which we have stupidly fostered in the name of corporate power and greed) have nuclear weapons or radical fundamentalist support or unstable governments, any of which could trigger massive calamity. Right now our own government, under Bush, is causing the most calamity.

There's a growing mountain of evidence that Bush has been criminally negligent in protecting our nation (one of his sworn duties) and has criminally started a military action against another non-threatening sovereign nation (causing the deaths of countless innocent humans). I mean, what the fuck more does a President need do before he's pursued as a criminal? Rape a baby during a press conference? Take his prized handgun (obtained from Hussein) and blow out Whoopi Goldberg's brains on live TV?

Why isn't Congress still pissed off at getting deceived into allowing Bush to invade Iraq? Why do Democrats think political posturing is more important than upholding the law?

What the hell is wrong with everyone? This is a no-brainer, people. DEMAND that your congressman/woman seek impeachment proceedings. Bush is a criminal who has no equal in America. We mustn't allow the worst criminal in American history to hold the greatest amount of power in American history. It's just flat-out WRONG.

Demand that your elected representatives do their job.

Demand it.

2 More For The Good Guys!

With last ballot counts and re-counts in 2 separate states, we confirmed 2 more Democratic congressional house winners.

Harry Mitchell defeats J. D. Hayworth for AZ-5th seat. Even though Hayworth was refusing to concede, the margin kept growing.

Democrat Joe Courtney won by 91 votes over Republican Rep. Rob Simmons in Connecticut's 2nd district. Both victories are over incumbents!

Anything else happening in your neck of the woods?

Seven of Six

Maybe some of that hot air incessantly spewing out of Washington D.C. can be put to good use:

Hot Air May Be an Effective Nonchemical Treatment of Head Lice Désirée Lie, MD, MSEd November 13, 2006 — Of 6 different methods used to eliminate head lice, a hot-air device was most effective, according to the results of a study reported in the November issue of Pediatrics. "Each year millions of children are infested with head lice, a condition known as pediculosis, which is responsible for tens of millions of lost school days," write Brad M. Goates, MS, from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and colleagues. "Head lice have evolved resistance to many of the currently used pediculicides; therefore, an effective new treatment for head lice is needed. In this study, we examined the effectiveness of several methods that use hot air to kill head lice and their eggs." The investigators tested 6 different treatment methods, each delivering hot air to the scalp in a different way, on 169 infested individuals. They evaluated how well these methods kill lice and their eggs in situ, and they performed follow-up inspections to determine whether the sixth, most successful, method could cure head louse infestations. Although all 6 methods killed at least 88% of eggs, they showed more variable success in killing hatched lice. The most successful method, using a custom-built machine called the LouseBuster, resulted in nearly 100% mortality of eggs and 80% mortality of hatched lice, even when operated at a comfortable temperature (slightly cooler than a standard blow-dryer). Virtually all subjects were cured of head lice when examined 1 week after treatment with the LouseBuster, and no adverse effects were observed. "Our findings demonstrate that one 30-minute application of hot air has the potential to eradicate head lice infestations," the authors write. "Hot air is an effective, safe treatment and one to which lice are unlikely to evolve resistance." The authors suggest that the LouseBuster could be an institutionally based machine operated by healthcare providers, school administrators, or trained parents and other volunteers. Although effective use of the LouseBuster is not difficult, they note that it does require a little practice to perfect. "The advantage of an institutionally based device, particularly for schools, is that it could be used to simultaneously treat all children with head lice, minimizing the problem of reinfestation," the authors conclude. "In our experience, this would be particularly useful in the case of children with parents who cannot afford the time, expense, or discipline required to treat head lice effectively in their home." The University of Utah, Primary Children's Medical Center Foundation, the Utah Centers of Excellence Program, and the National Pediculosis Association funded this study. The National Pediculosis Association also provided free LiceMeister combs. Three of the authors have disclosed having US and international patents pending for methods of using heat to treat head lice. Pediatrics. 2006;118:1962-1970.

"The United States is in acute crisis, constitutionally with the NSA scandal and in the Iraq War. The rule of law is gone, trashed by reactionary freaks, and the middle east might barely be contained after squandering a trillion dollars, hundreds of thousands of lives and the Bill of Rights for a failed, lost war. "Our chattering media class and enabling politicians severely disservice the country using words such as “withdrawal” when the real word is retreat. We lost, we are in a serious hurt of trouble and sickening vague terms like “phases” only stack the corpses higher in a maddening evolution of evasion. "If in fact the Democratic leadership decides to tactically take on Bush with no tangible power it had better work, or the party, our soldiers and country will pay a terrible price in an extremely dangerous war. It will take every bit of party and message discipline we have with real language that completely reflects reality to force Bush to act on Iraq, not lone Sunday Senators. "As a country and party we no longer have the luxury of evasion and obfuscation. We’re out of time and very much in crisis. We have to be our best under unified leadership for the sake of our soldiers and party." - - - Paradox

"Since the attacks of September the 11th, 2001, more than 190,000 men and women have stepped forward to wear the uniform of the Marine Corps. Like the Marines who have come before them, this new generation is serving freedom's cause in distant lands. Like the Marines who have come before them, this new generation faces determined enemies. And like the Marines who have come before them, this new generation is adding its own chapters to the stories of liberty and peace. And years from now, when America looks out on a democratic Middle East growing in freedom and prosperity, Americans will speak of the battles like Fallujah with the same awe and reverence that we now give to Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima." George Bush, Nov. 10, 2006

I'm not sure who is more insulted by this comment: Marines who fought at Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima, or the thousands of Fallujah civilians slaughtered at the hand of Bush's raging lunacy. (h/t to lefti on the news)

Best Veteran's Day Ever!

The best present for Veteran's Day this year (besides Rummy being gone) is that Steven Buyer will no longer be Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs and that Larry Craig, will no longer be Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. The damage these 2 men have done to our Veteran's is remarkable!

Buyer has tried to redefine who is a veteran... Shortly after winning the chair at
HVAC Buyer said, “Some of the veterans service organizations, they are having
this belief that everyone should have open access to the VA system, when in fact
I believe that the VA system should follow its core constituency and the intent
of Congress when we laid out our priorities, and that was in fact to take care
of our disabled and indigent veterans first.” So, what is happening here? Buyer
is trying to redefine “veteran” and in so-doing reshape benefit programs to meet
his new definition. In short, this means fewer benefits for fewer veterans. The
two keys here are Buyer’s references to “intent of Congress” and “core
constituency.” By rejecting the “intent of Congress” when they passed
legislation defining benefits and eligibility Buyer is telling us Congress was
wrong and he is going to change it. By referring to the VA’s “core constituency”
as “disabled and indigent veterans” he is eliminating veterans who do not fall
into those categories.

Steven, it's not your place to say who is a Veteran and who is entitled or not entitled to health care! We know you had a job to carry out, the simple dirty work of the bu$h Admini$tration!

Well Steven, you may have been re-elected but you will no longer have the Veteran's or their Service Organizations to "kick around". Your slash and burn tactics will no longer work!

Buyer has tried to lockout the veterans' service organizations (VSO's) from the VA's
budget process... Buyer is known in the Republican Party as a team-player
who does not stray from the Party line. In the veterans’ community, Buyer is
known as a hard-liner who tenaciously resists any effort to fully fund VA health
care. Last Tuesday (Nov. 8, 2005), in a press release, Buyer announced he would
now be holding hearings on the VA budget in February instead of March. The
hearings would be before the HCVA only, not the traditional House and Senate
venue. Buyer said he was doing this to “ensure that veterans have greater input
in the [VA’s budget] process.” (Buyer’s press flack, Jeff Phillips, wrote this
and he’s a master at making the really bad sound really good.) For almost two
days this seemingly “little” news story went unnoticed. Then the firestorm
struck. VSOs realized that Rep. Buyer was trying to pull a “fast one” with their annual VA budget testimony. For 55 years the VSOs have come to Capitol Hill in March to testify before a joint session of the HCVA and Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs (SCVA). Now, Rep. Buyer will limit VSO testimony to just the HCVA, thus eliminating access to the Senators who are directly involved in the VA budget process. But, there is a political side to Rep. Buyer’s decision. By
moving the testimony from March back to February, VSOs come to the table with
only part of the information they need to adequately make recommendations on the
VA budget. During the Joint Committee hearings held in March, VSOs have had the
VA’s budget request AND the White House’s response to that request (generally a
lower dollar amount). And, there would be enough time to analyze both sets of
figures and give testimony in the best interest of veterans. With the single
committee hearing moved to February, the VSOs would have to outline their VA
budget priorities at the SAME TIME the White House figures are released. There
wouldn’t be time to go through the White House’s VA budget numbers and come up
with a response. The VSOs dismissed Rep. Buyer’s contention that the February
hearings would give them greater influence on the VA’s budget. They claim Buyer
is seeking to avoid the public relations nightmare of having angry veterans’
groups blasting the White House. “Some people don’t want to be criticized for
being deficient,” said Richard Fuller, legislative director for the Paralyzed
Veterans of America. This move is Rep. Buyer’s way of paying back the White
House for his Chair on the HCVA. With February hearings, VSOs would not be able
to criticize the low dollar figure offered by the White House for the VA budget.
Rep Buyer is doing his job by protecting the White House from criticism by VSOs
who have become increasingly vocal about the Bush Administration’s underfunding
of the VA.

Well, it didn't work Buyer, the disabled Veteran's are still here and the VSO's are getting stronger. Now if we can get rid of the old timers. Like the leader's who shake bu$h and cheney's hand and come out with negative comments about a disabled Veteran who lost her legs in Iraq while she is running for Congress. Please understand, these old timers love to get their picture taken with political hacks who are still trying to fuck over all disabled Veteran's for, "The Good of the Country!"

Buyer has used third-party slurs to push his anti-veteran agenda...
One of Rep. Buyer’s third-party, anti-veteran slurs came earlier this year when
he referred to veterans as “whiny” because they complained about proposed cuts
in Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) benefits. When questioned about his use
of the word “whiny,” Buyer said that “others” have called veterans “whiny.” When
the reporter asked who actually used the word “whiny,” Buyer refused to answer.
So, Rep. Buyer got out his message that veterans are “whiny” when confronted
with losing VA benefits and he was able to disassociate himself from the
statement by saying someone else said it... VA Secretary Jim Nicholson had just
announced the cancellation of the VA’s review of 72,000 Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD) claims that had already been awarded at 100 per cent disability.
The VA had looked to lower or deny PTSD benefits based on faulty record-keeping
on their part. Praise for the VA’s decision to cancel the review came from both
sides of the political aisle. Rep. Buyer had not opposed the review of the PTSD
claims and his press release was mean-spirited and misleading. Buyer said,
“Today the [VA] announced their decision to conclude the review of 72,000 [PTSD]
cases…Very few claims were found to be fraudulent.” This statement would lead
people to believe that veterans had been committing fraud to receive benefits
for PTSD.

OK, I get it, call disabled Veteran's "whiney" and "frauds"! I swear, there is no depths this asshole would go to deny the men and women who served their country with honor, proper, life sustaining benefits!

Buyer wants a VA run by political appointees instead of healthcare professionals... House Vets' Chair wants to get rid of VA professionals and replace them with political appointees - Says agency must be run like a business - And, wants vets to pay for their healthcare with enrollment fees, deductibles and co-pays.

Nice try, how many of your personal friends were you going to set up with special information to start this private enterprise?!

Now onto Senator Larry Craig. Besides the accusations of him being part of the republi-con gay agenda , I could take up pages detailing the harm this small-minded man has done to Veterans and the VA system.

Oh fuck it...please, read it yourself...it's truly amazing that we had these miscreants representing our disabled Veterans. Another fine tribute to the bu$h legacy looking out for our finest! Thank God they will be swept off their Committee Chair's with the other trash early next year!! There is reason to celebrate!! This is truly one of the best Veteran's Days ever!!!

Seven of Six

FRIDAY F U N

I'm takin' it easy Friday, so here's a day-early selection that will whittle away at least 15 minutes of your boredom:

• McDonald's drive-thru order a la song
• Paper cutouts as art
• Flying coach can mean insufficient headroom (video... takes a minute to download)
• New Math is back
• Corporate press conferences sure seem different lately
• Amazing... can't really describe this site. Just start clicking away.
  

BITS for the Week of November 6 - 10

• I understand that the U.S. economy is going to tank within the next 12 months or so, but this scenario seems a bit outrageous.
• Never, ever, in my wildest imagination did I ever think I'd see this
• Buy greeting cards (for the upcoming holidays) made by union workers
• Want to see the future of American politics? Look no further than this week's California election results.
• Australia to Santa: "We'd like some of the wet stuff this year."
• Acetaminophen May Be a Leading Cause of Acute Liver Failure (note: subscr. req.)
• Union of Concerned Scientists implore FDA to not use new effective (to humans) antibiotics on cattle
• Dems start "sweeping" corruption from government
• Here is a terrific site that is monitoring voter suppression actions going on right now, plus info for voters on whom to contact for voting problems.
• LA Times just exhaled its last breath of life
• Olbermann explains Republican RoboCalls
• After today's election, Bush-war will still have the reins to our debacle in Iraq. Here's a new blog that delves deeply into analysis of U.S. foreign policy.
• So, I wonder how the rich are faring...
• Here's one group of the animal kingdom that can't get enough global warming
• If you've been asleep since Friday, then you've been missing the latest, greatest, unethical Republican campaign tactic
• Campaign commercials a la Mark Fiore
• If students and their parents are so incredibly stupid to fall for this recruitment tactic, then maybe they deserve the consequences? I mean, we're supposed to protect the hungry, the poor the homeless, etc., but are we also required to protect the stupid? Just a question....
• "Please leave," military begs Rumsfeld

The Republicans offer their excuse for losing:

What Went Wrong on Election Day Richard Engle, President NFRA [National Federation of Republican Assemblies] To put it plainly, nothing went wrong. The American voter made his collective decision deliberately. He had his reasons and he had the right to make his decisions in accordance with those reasons. The voter cannot be blamed. Did he make a good decision to overturn both houses of Congress? I don’t think so but I deny the premise that he made his decision for reasons that are wrong or insignificant. I also deny that he failed to become educated on the issues. He understood the issues regarding the candidates that were running. He saw commercials with handsome families and caring people in loving communities talking about just about nothing. He heard radio commercials doing the same thing. He got loads of junk mail doing the same thing. The Democrats almost admitted that they have no answer to how to conduct ourselves in the war, that they have no specific answers regarding any of the real or imagined problems caused by the GOP. They did a very good job complaining about how much the GOP is spending and a better job calling the Republicans hypocrites. They offered no answers but neither did the Republicans. Republican candidates wimped out and said they stood strong for local values and would fight to represent them but largely did so without any specifics. Oh yes, they are against bad things and very courageously favor good things but surprise, surprise so were the Democrats. For the first time in a very long time the Democrats could not be nailed down as liberal because they (those that were running against incumbent Republicans) had very little in the way of records to run against. Some would openly call themselves Christians and would even give lip service to being pro-life. The voter who bought the line of the Democrat shared the frustration over the problems, didn’t like the excessive spending, and was not afraid of the lip service to social issues because he hasn’t been impressed with the GOP on those matters. If there is a dimes worth of difference the voter only saw that one side had no agenda and admitted it, but complained as well as anyone could. The other side said they had a plan but did little to prove it. Yes, there are exceptions to these generalities. In Connecticut, Senator Joe won reelection despite being denied his party’s nomination because he was willing to have a broad based agenda including one issue in which he was contrary to very many of the voters. Strong positive standards without apology win. Oh yes, the Senator in Missouri stood his ground on an issue that he assumed his state would agree with him on but failed to communicate how and why he stood as he did. The voter made a decision that he could make. He chose from two candidates (in most states) who looked like high end used car salesmen. He could not pick someone who would not run or could not get the nomination. He wanted to make a decision on issues but the information presented to him made it a race based on “pink, puff and piffle” where content was skin deep and personality mattered more than truth.

Man, do they sound confused! On top of that, Engle insults used car salespeople. And of course, in the eyes of Republicans, Lieberman is the shining Democratic exception. And finally, notice the sexist slant in the writing style: the words "she" and "her" are nowhere to be found.

Scott Adams fondly remembers ATMs: "Is it too late to start selling bumper stickers that say 'I think I voted'?"

Electronic Voting Machines Years ago when I worked at a big bank, one of the hot issues was that many customers didn’t trust our new-fangled ATM machines. Amazingly, this fear had almost nothing to do with the fact that I worked in the ATM department. Indeed, my suggestion to include a paper shredder hole right next to the deposit hole was barely even considered. In the end, ATMs rarely stole anyone’s money and kept it for long. Now most people trust ATMs. I think about the history of ATMs when I hear all the nervous Nellies wetting their pants over electronic voting machines. I believe those worries are totally misplaced. Now don’t get me wrong – there’s a 100% chance that the voting machines will get hacked and all future elections will be rigged. But that doesn’t mean we’ll get a worse government. It probably means that the choice of the next American president will be taken out of the hands of deep-pocket, autofellating, corporate shitbags and put it into the hands of some teenager in Finland. How is that not an improvement? Statistically speaking, any hacker who is skilled enough to rig the elections will also be smart enough to select politicians that believe in . . . oh, let’s say for example, science. Compare that to the current method where big money interests buy political ads that confuse snake-dancing simpletons until they vote for the guy who scares them the least. Then during the period between the election and the impending Rapture, that traditionally elected President will get busy protecting the lives of stem cells while finding creative ways to blow the living crap out of anything that has the audacity to grow up and turn brownish. The important thing with democracy – and this has always been the case – is that the citizens a) Believe the election result is based on the common sense and voting rights of the citizens, and b) Have enough handguns to wax any politicians who gets too seriously out of line (also known as a “check and balance”). And here the definition of “seriously out of line” would not include humping interns and stealing from taxpayers. Those things should be allowed, even encouraged, so we can attract the most capable candidates from private industry. Call me an optimist, but electronic voting machines make me feel good about my country. Is it too late to start selling bumper stickers that say “I think I voted”?

Wow. Unbelievable. The Dems won the Senate. Rumsfeld is gone. Please don't wake me up yet. I'm enoying it more than a wet dream.

And now we will have a female Progressive running the House? Unbefuckinglievable.

Hmmmm....... if there is any way Cheney, with his underused yet fragile heart, could take Bush on a hunting trip..... Pelosi could then be measuring for curtains in the Oval Office. Wait! Wait! It's part of my dream, dammit!

Other than the rampant corruption in U.S. politics, the most important failing prevalent today in our faux democracy is the nearly complete lack of an independent free press. This post, stolen from DailyKos, sums it up:

The Miraculous Appearance Of An Agenda by georgia10 Wed Nov 08, 2006 at 09:46:20 AM PST Notice anything about the media's post-election coverage? The Republican battle cry echoed by the press prior to the election was that Democrats have no plan. That Democrats are short on ideas. That Democrats were basically passive mutes. That Democratic candidates were basically blank-eyed dolts that dutifully kept their mouths shut as the GOP imploded. In reporting on GOP talking points that "Democrats will raise your taxes," the press did not temper their parroting of these talking points with fact check (hey voters, remember, the President has the last word on taxes via his veto power). In reporting on outrageous ads, they failed to mention the lies contained therein, choosing instead to salivate on the shallow and gush over graphics. The Democrats' 100-hour-plan was barely a blip on the radar screen. Hours of so-called "analysis" was focused on what those subpoena-hungry liberals would do to "embarrass" the president. Republican talking point after Republican talking point was fed into the noise machine and irresponsible members of the Xerox media spat the distortions out without analysis. They did not balance lies with truth as a responsible press should have done; rather, they chose to air the Republican hysteria without rebuttal. Only now, after most races have been called and it's clear that the Democrats will take power, only now do they report on that which they had suppressed throughout the campaign. Now we get articles detailing the Democrat's tax plan. Now we get articles on the minimum wage and the effect of a Democratic house on industry. Now we get articles about how Democrats stand for a balanced budget. Now the talking heads report breathlessly on the 100 hour agenda, on how Democrats will affect the middle class, and how Democrats will try to fix healthcare. Now the press chooses to report on the Democrats' agenda. Now they're laying out the difference for voters, only after they've cast their ballots. Only now have members of the press suddenly seen the Democratic plan materialize before them like some Lady of Lourdes in all her glory. Only after the votes are counted do they report that Democrat control means that D.C. will be bathed in the light of change. But, as we know, throughout the campaign, the plan was always there. The ideas were always apparent. The difference between the parties was always crystal clear. The Democrats didn't win because of the press. They won in spite of it, in spite of a press that gave wall-to-wall coverage of Kerry's blunder and call-me ads, in spite of a press that chose feigned scandal over true substance. In the face of such a hostile media environment, the Democrats still won. And that, my friends, is a true miracle.

Holy Cow! Now the good news just won't stop!

Continued Vigilance Needed!

From Glenn Greenwald:

This is only one small step towards the restoration of our country and its defining values, not a magic bullet. There is much work to be done, accountability to be imposed, facts to be uncovered, radicalism to be reversed, damage to be undone, and the rule of law to be re-established. And none of that will be easy.Even Democratic control of both the House and Senate is no guarantee that the abuses will end. Quite the contrary. It is worth recalling that the central premise of this President is the Irrelevance of Congress and of everything else other than his will and his power. Takeover of the houses of Congress and the end of one-party rule is but one weapon to be used in the ongoing fight. It is not the end of the fight. Far, far from it.But if nothing else, yesterday's results should galvanize everyone who recognizes the danger this country has been placed in by the radical, hate-mongering, deeply corrupt authoritarians who have been controlling (and destroying) it. That movement has been severely wounded, but not yet killed.

Remember people, this is only one election, we have to continue our vigilance. Basically, as long as Rove is out there and the Republi-con Attack Machine is operating, our work as citizens is not over! We must continue the struggle!

Seven of Six

While co-blogger Seven of Six is partying big time with his wife in Arizona, I'm sitting here in California befuddled at the inability of this state's voters to get over Groperzenegger, but oh so thankful that my prediction was oh so wrong. Could there really be something to this grassroots/netroots political movement?

Democrats must now take the determination they used to get back the House and redirect it into getting our butts out of Iraq a.s.a.p. There is absolutely nothing more important that our federal government can do right now.

VICTORY!
I ran upstairs, the wife jumped off the bed and she jump into my arms! The moment we had waited for, a Democratic House , was here! The feeling of elation was overwhelming! To realize, that finally, we are taking our country back from bu$h and the neo-cons is un-fucking-believable!

Next stop, finish off the Senate victories in Montana and Virginia and a Democratic Congress is in our control! There is hope for this country after all!!

Yes, J.D. Hayworth is questioning the results in AZ-5th, I'm sure there will be plenty of whining from the 'right', now that the shoe is on the other foot. I wanted Jay Fawcett to pull it off in CO-5th but it held it's place in history as a continued bastion of knuckle dragging.

Anybody else have a story they want to share?

Seven of Six

Some cogent advice for Democrats from Greg Palast, regarding the Republicans stealing (as usual) today's election:

"It's true you can't win with 51% of the vote anymore. So just get over it. The regime's sneak attack via vote suppression will only net them 4.5 million votes, about 5% of the total. You should be able to beat that blindfolded. If you can't get 55%, then you're just a bunch of crybaby pussycats who don't deserve to win back America."

So funny and oh so true.

Just when you thought the Republican Party couldn't possibly be more lawlwss, evil and shameless, today's election events are proving otherwise. If I knew words that are more definitive than blatant and unbelievable, I would use them. You can follow the disintegration of our democracy at these great sites:

BradBlog

TPM Muckraker

DailyKos

FireDogLake

Voters Unite

Too little and much too late....

"The fact is that solid Democratic candidates will lose today across the country in close races due to voter intimidation, egregious voter ID requirements that are aimed at suppressing Democratic voters, robo-calls and push-polling, inadequate machinery and poll worker training, and failing that, outright fraud by election machinery vendors who are GOP campaign contributors working hand-in-hand with GOP registrars and secretaries of state. "Democrats will not lose today because of inadequate candidates, being wrong on the issues, or even inadequate levels of money. They will lose because in many cases the party went to sleep while the GOP took over the machinery of voting, and didn’t stay engaged on the issue right after the 2004 election. Democrats will be more competitive than ever before due to Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy, and because Rahm Emanuel and Chuck Schumer recruited good candidates across the country and raised boatloads of money for them, yet we acted as if the GOP would play by the rules this time. "The GOP never plays by the rules, and we need to start assuming the worst in the GOP and deal with them accordingly." - - - Steve Soto

Courtesy of The Center for American Progress:

109 Reasons To Dump The 109th Congress: We need a new Congress -- here's why: 1. Congress set a record for the fewest number of days worked -- 218 between the House and Senate combined. [Link] 2. The Senate voted down a measure that urged the administration to start a phased redeployment of U.S. forces out of Iraq by the end of 2006. [Link] 3. Congress failed to raise the minimum wage, leaving it at its lowest inflation-adjusted level since 1955. [Link] 4. Congress gave itself a two percent pay raise. [Link] 5. There were 15,832 earmarks totaling $71 billion in 2006. (In 1994, there were 4,155 earmarks totaling $29 billion.) [Link] 6. Congress turned the tragic Terri Schiavo affair into a national spectacle because, according to one memo, it was "a great political issue" that got "the pro-life base...excited." [Link] 7. The chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works thinks global warming is the "greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people." [Link] 8. The House leadership held open a vote for 50 minutes to twist arms and pass a bill that helped line the pockets of energy company executives. [Link] 9. Congress fired the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the lone effective federal watchdog for Iraq spending, effective Oct. 1, 2007. [Link] 10. The Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee thinks the Internet is "a series of tubes." [Link] 11. Congress established the pay-to-play K Street corruption system which rewarded lobbyists who made campaign contributions in return for political favors doled out by conservatives. [Link] 12. The lobbying reform bill Congress passed was a total sham. [Link] 13. Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) shamefully attacked Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) on the House floor, telling him that "cowards cut and run, Marines never do." [Link] 14. Congress passed budgets that resulted in deficits of $318 billion and $250 billion. [Link] 15. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said Donald Rumsfeld "is the best thing that's happened to the Pentagon in 25 years." [Link] 16. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) baselessly announced that "we have found the WMD in Iraq." [Link] 17. Congress passed a special-interest, corporate-friendly Central American trade deal (CAFTA) after holding the vote open for one hour and 45 minutes to switch the vote of Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC). [Link] 18. Senate conservatives threatened to use the "nuclear option" to block members of the Senate from filibustering President Bush's judicial nominees. [Link] 19. Congress stuck in $750 million in appropriations bills "for projects championed by lobbyists whose relatives were involved in writing the spending bills." [Link] 20. The typical Congressional work week is late Tuesday to noon on Thursday. [Link] 21. Congress has issued zero subpoenas to the Bush administration. [Link] 22. Congress eliminated the Perkins college loan program and cut Pell Grants by $4.6 billion. [Link] 23. Rep. Don Sherwood (R-PA) paid $500,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging that he strangled his 29-year-old mistress. [Link] 24. Congress decreased the number of cops on the streets by cutting nearly $300 million in funding for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. [Link] 25. In a debate last year over the reauthorization of the Patriot Act, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee abruptly cut off the microphones when Democrats began discussing the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. [Link] 26. Just two out of 11 spending bills have made it out of Congress this year. [Link] 27. 1,502 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since Congress convened. [Link] 28. The House Ethics Committee is "broken," according to the Justice Department. [Link] 29. The FBI continues to investigate Rep. Curt Weldon's (R-PA) willingness to trade his political influence for lucrative lobbying and consulting contracts for his daughter. [Link] 30. Congress failed to protect 58.5 million acres of roadless areas to logging and road building by repealing the Roadless Rule. [Link] 31. Congress spent weeks debating a repeal of the estate tax (aka the Paris Hilton Tax), which affects a miniscule fraction of the wealthiest Americans. [Link] 32. The percentage of Americans without health insurance hit a record-high, as Congress did nothing to address the health care crisis. [Link] 33. Both the House and Senate voted to open up our coasts to more oil drilling, "by far the slowest, dirtiest, most expensive way to meet our energy needs." [Link] 34. Congress stripped detainees of the right of habeas corpus. [Link] 35. The House fell 51 votes short of overriding President Bush's veto on expanding federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. [Link] 36. Only 16 percent of Americans think Congress is doing a good job. [Link] 37. Congress confirmed far-right activist Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. [Link] 38. Congress spent days debating a constitutional amendment that would criminalize desecration of the U.S. flag, the first time in 214 years that the Bill of Rights would have been restricted by a constitutional amendment. [Link] 39. Congress raised the debt limit by $800 billion, to $9 trillion. [Link] 40. Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) hid bribe money in his freezer. [Link] 41. Congress passed an energy bill that showered $6 billion in subsidies on polluting oil and gas firms while doing little to curb energy demand or invest in renewable energy industries. [Link] 42. Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) used his seat on the House Appropriations Committee to steer earmarks towards to one of his closest friends and major campaign contributor. [Link] 43. Congress passed a strict bankruptcy bill making it harder for average people to recover from financial misfortune by declaring bankruptcy, even if they are victims of identity theft, suffering from debilitating illness, or serving in the military. [Link] 44. The House passed a bill through committee that that would "essentially replace" the 1973 Endangered Species Act with something "far friendlier to mining, lumber and other big extraction interests that find the original act annoying." [Link] 45. Congress failed to pass voting integrity and verification legislation to ensure Americans' votes are accurately counted. [Link] 46. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) distributed a memo urging colleagues to exploit 9/11 to defend Bush's Iraq policy. [Link] 47. Congress repeatedly failed to pass port security provisions that would require 100 percent scanning of containers bound for the United States. [Link] 48. Ex-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) declared an "ongoing victory" in his effort to cut spending, and said "there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget." [Link] 49. Congress allowed Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) stay in Congress for a month after pleading guilty in the Jack Abramoff investigation. [Link] 50. Congress didn't investigate Tom DeLay and let him stay in Congress as long as he wanted. [Link] 51. The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the Senate Majority Leader's sale of HCA stock a month before its value fell by nine percent. [Link] 52. Congressional conservatives pressured the Director of National Intelligence to make public documents found in Iraq that included instructions to build a nuclear bomb. [Link] 53. Conservatives repeatedly tried to privatize Social Security, a change that would lead to sharp cuts in guaranteed benefits. [Link] 54. Congress is trying to destroy net neutrality. [Link] 55. Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) accepted contributions from disgraced lobbyist Mitchell Wade and MZM, Inc., her largest campaign contributor, in return for a defense earmark. [Link] 56. Former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) was sentenced to eight years federal prison for taking $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for lucrative defense contracts, among other crimes. [Link] 57. Congress passed a $286 billion highway bill in 2005 stuffed with 6,000 pork projects. [Link] 58. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) abused his power and suspended a Democratic staffer in an act of retribution. [Link] 59. Congress failed to offer legal protections to states that divest from the Sudan. [Link] 60. The Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) tried to earmark $223 million to build a bridge to nowhere. [Link] 61. Congress spent days debating an anti-gay constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. [Link] 62. Congress isn't doing anything significant to reverse catastrophic climate change. [Link] 63. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) secured a federal earmark to increase the property value of his land and reap at least $1.5 million in profits. [Link] 64. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) used a video tape "diagnosis" to declare that Terri Schiavo, who was later found to be blind, "certainly seems to respond to visual stimuli." [Link] 65. Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) resigned in disgrace after ABC News revealed explicit instant messages exchanges between Foley and former congressional pages. [Link] 66. Half of all Americans believe most members of Congress are corrupt. [Link] 67. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) said that gay marriage "is the most important issue that we face today." [Link] 68. The House voted against issuing a subpoena seeking all reconstruction contract communications between Cheney's office and Halliburton. [Link] 69. Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) told a Virginia-based volunteer firefighting team they had done a "piss-poor job" in fighting wildfires in Montana. [Link] 70. The House voted against amendments prohibiting monopoly contracts and requiring congressional notification for Department of Defense contracts worth more than $1 million. [Link] 71. Congress failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform. [Link] 72. During a floor debate on embryonic stem cell research, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) held up a picture of an embryo drawn by a 7-year-old girl. Brownback explained that one of the embryos in the picture was asking, "Are you going to kill me?" [Link] 73. Sen. George Allen (R-VA) used the slur "macaca" to describe an opposing campaign staffer of Indian descent, and has been repeatedly accused by former associates of using racial epithets to refer to African-Americans. [Link] 74. Congress refused to swear in oil executives testifying about high prices. [Link] 75. Against congressional rules, ex-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) accepted expensive foreign trips funded by Jack Abramoff. [Link] 76. Rep. Steve King (R-IA) went on the House floor to unveil a fence that he "designed" for the southern border. King constructed a model of the fence as he said, "We do this with livestock all the time." [Link] 77. Ex-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) threatened the judges who ruled in the Terri Schiavo case, saying the "time will come" for them "to answer for their behavior." [Link] 78. Congressional conservatives wanted to investigate Sandy Berger, but not the Iraq war. [Link] 79. Rolling Stone called the past six years "the most shameful, corrupt and incompetent period in the history of the American legislative branch." [Link] 80. Not a single non-appropriations bill was open to amendment in the second session of the Congress. [Link] 81. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) claimed that supporters of Bush's Iraq policy "show the same steely resolve" as did the passengers on United 93. [Link] 82. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) appeared with prominent Christian conservatives in a telecast portraying opponents of Bush's judicial nominees as "against people of faith." [Link] 83. Under the guise of "tort reform," Congress passed legislation that would "undermine incentives for safety" and make it "harder for some patients with legitimate but difficult claims to find legal representation." [Link] 84. Despite multiple accidents in West Virginia and elsewhere, Congress passed legislation that failed to adequately protect mine workers. [Link] 85. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) said "if you earn $40,000 a year and have a family of two children, you don't pay any taxes," even though it isn't true. [Link] 86. Monthly Medicare Part B premiums have almost doubled since 2000, from $45.50 in 2000 to $88.50 in 2006. [Link] 87. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) inserted a provision in the Defense Appropriations bill that granted vaccine manufactures near-total immunity for injuries or deaths, even in cases of "gross negligence." [Link] 88. Congress appropriated $700 million for a "railroad to nowhere, but just $173 million to stop the genocide in Darfur. [Link] 89. Congress included a $500 million giveaway to defense giant Northup Grumman in a bill that was supposed to provide "emergency" funding for Iraq, even though the Navy opposed the payment. [Link] 90. Ex-Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), who has since pled guilty to talking bribes, was put it charge of briefing new lawmakers "on congressional ethics." [Link] 91. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) can't tell the difference between the Voting Rights Act and the Stamp Act. [Link] 92. Three days before Veterans Day -- House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-IN) announced that for the first time in at least 55 years, "veterans service organizations will no longer have the opportunity to present testimony before a joint hearing of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees." [Link] 93. Members were caught pimping out their offices with $5,700 plasma-screen televisions, $823 ionic air fresheners, $975 window blinds, and $623 popcorn machines. [Link] 94. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) skipped a vote on Katrina relief to attend a fundraiser. [Link] 95. Congress made toughening horse slaughtering rules the centerpiece of its agenda after returning from summer recess this year. [Link] 96. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) wants to send 20,000 more troops into the middle of a civil war in Iraq. [Link] 97. Katrina victims were forced to take out ad space to plead "with Congress to pay for stronger levees." [Link] 98. Congress passed the REAL ID Act, "a national ID law that will drive immigrants underground, while imposing massive new burdens on everyone else." [Link] 99. Congress extended tax cuts that provided an average of $20 relief but an average of nearly $42,000 to those earning over $1 million a year. [Link] 100. Congress received a "dismal" report card from the 9/11 Commission -- five F's, 12 D's, nine C's, and only one A-minus -- for failing to enact the commission's recommendations. [Link] 101. Congress won't let the government negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs for people on Medicare. [Link] 102. Congress has left America's chemical plants vulnerable to terrorist attack. [Link] 103. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) "threw the senatorial version of a hissy fit" when he threatened to resign unless the Senate approved funding for his bridge to nowhere. [Link] 104. Congress didn't simplify the tax code. [Link] 105. Seventy-five percent of voters can't name one thing Congress has accomplished. [Link] 106. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), has "raised campaign contributions at a rate of about $10,000 a day since February, surpassing the pace set by former Representative Tom DeLay." [Link] 107. Congress failed to ensure Government Accountability Office oversight of Hurricane Katrina relief funds, resulting in high levels of waste, fraud, and abuse. [Link] 108. When a reporter asked Rep. Don Young (R-AK) if he would redirect spending on his bridge projects to Katrina victim housing, Young said, "They can kiss my ear!" [Link] 109. There were just 12 hours of hearings on Abu Ghraib. (There were more than 100 hours of hearings on alleged misuse of the Clinton Christmas card list.) [Link]