On this day in history, May 22, 1856, United States Representative Preston Brooks criminally attacked Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the Senate, beating Sumner on the head with a heavy cane until the cane broke, and incapacitating Sumner for four years. One hopes that this doesn't give Harry Ried or Markos any ideas.
South Carolina Rep. Preston Brooks was the nephew of South Carolina Senator A.P. Butler, who had been sharply criticized by Massachusetts' Sumner in a May 19-20 speech, "The Crime Agains Kansas."
Sumner had declared that while Brooks "believes himself a chivalrous knight, with sentiments of honor and courage," he "has chosen a mistress" who is "the harlot slavery."
Among the elements of the crime against Kansas was that guns belonging to the free-soil settlers had been confiscated by the pro-slavery territorial government. . . .
There is no known evidence of any pro-slavery Democrats, or anyone else, defending the Sack of Lawrence or other arms confiscations on the grounds that the Second Amendment did not guarantee the right of individual citizens of Kansas to possess personal firearms for non-militia purposes.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/22/2007 15:41 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
What an amazing coincidence! I just wrote a post about the Texas Troubles and mentioned the Brooks and Sumner brawl!
Here: The Long Hot Summer of 1860
#2
That's basically what happened to the Mormons in Missouri in the mid-1830's. The Govornor had the State Militia confiscate all the Mormons' weapons to, "reduce the possibility of violence" and promised that the State Militia would protect them. He was defeated in the next election and the new Govorner declared war on the Mormons. NEVER give up your weapons on promises of Government protection.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/22/2007 21:26 Comments ||
Top||
#3
If there were more beatings in Congress for sheer assholeness, we might have less Schumers, Pelosis, Obeys, Spectors, Murthas..... would we be worse off? I don't think so
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/22/2007 22:49 Comments ||
Top||
The commanding officer of the guided missile destroyer Arleigh Burke was relieved of command Monday, following what officials earlier said was a soft grounding of the ship off Cape Henry Light at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. Oopsie!
Cmdr. E.J. McClure was relieved by Rear Adm. Dan Holloway, the commander of Strike Group 12. The reason for the relief is "loss of confidence in her ability to command," said a 2nd Fleet official. Women drivers!
McClure, a 1987 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, has been reassigned to the Atlantic Fleet Surface Force in Norfolk. I always wonder what people think who work in an office where naughty officers get assigned to. "This person is being punished by working the job that I trained to do!"
The ships executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Allen Hobbs, will become the interim captain of the ship.
The Burke ran aground last Tuesday as it was heading back to Norfolk from a training exercise, the Navy said. It made it back to Norfolk Naval Station under its own power.
A traveling minister who served two years in prison on bigamy charges has been jailed again after at least four women said he proposed to them. Officials also say there is no evidence that Bishop Anthony Owens, 35, divorced the eight wives he had married before going to prison. A judge will decide whether Owens should go back to prison. Owens, who turned himself into the Gwinnett County jail April 30, declined to be interviewed. But his new fiancees aren't keeping quiet.
Betty Dixon, 38, met him last March in a casino near Memphis.
"He was a slick talker," the nurse said. "He told me God had sent him to me and I needed help." Nurse Cheryl Selmon, 48, says Owens proposed to her last October. A month later, he proposed to Darlene Keeler, 42, a manager of a gospel group. Then he met 43-year-old Karen Ward, a mother of two young children, and proposed to her.
According to police reports, Owens' first marriage was in 1990 in Memphis, Tenn., Owens' birthplace. At the age of 18, he married 43-year-old Joanna Hill. He said the marriage was troubled from the start and that a misunderstanding of Mormon teachings led him to marry 41-year-old Earleen Mabien in 1992, even though he was still married to his first wife. After Earleen, Owens married six other women from 1995 to 2002 in South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. The last of those wives learned about the others and called police. Owens has said he did divorce some of the wives, but he can't remember which ones.
#6
Bishop Anthony Owens said: "I thought it was "big of me" to be married to 8 women." He was ordered to either to move to some country and convert to some religion that approves of such flim flammery or get his head examined.
17 Egyptian sailors are reported to have been released from jail in Bosaso city in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in northeast Somalia. The freed sailors were crewmembers boarding on a vessel that was fishing illegally in Puntland water.
The vessel and its crew were sentenced by the Puntland central court to pay large amount of fine for illegal fishing. The lawyer of the defendants argued that there was no hooked fishes on the vessel. The vessel was said to have been contracted by Somali businessmen after having admission from Puntland authority.
The release of the Egyptian sailors came after the Egyptian envoy to Somalia visited Puntland recently over the hostage of the Egyptian citizens.
Renegade fighters attacked observation posts in an eastern Congo nature reserve, killing one ranger and threatening to slaughter a band of rare gorillas if security forces launch a counteroffensive, conservationists said Monday. About 200 of the Mayi-Mayi fighters who remain active after Congo's ruinous 1998-2002 civil war attacked three posts Sunday in Virunga National Park, Wildlife Direct said in a statement. One ranger died and three were injured in the attack, said the group, which is active in the area.
If security forces attack, the Mayi-Mayi are threatening to wipe out a nearby group of gorillas, it said.
"One false move and the monkeys get it!"
The fighters "are doing everything to sabotage the good intentions of well- intentioned conservationists," the group quoted park director Norbert Mushenzi as saying.
Fighters in the region killed endangered mountain gorillas in January and Mayi-Mayi fighters machine-gunned hundreds of hippos in eastern Congo in late 2006, the group said. Many people in deeply impoverished eastern Congo subsist on "bush meat" or the flesh of animals like chimpanzees, monkeys and gorillas that may include rare and protected species. The region is deeply impoverished after years of neglect, war and ongoing strife, sullying efforts by conservationists to protect endangered species.
The Mayi-Mayi fought on the side of government troops during Congo's war, and many have resisted joining a postwar army in the country also guarded by thousands of U.N. peacekeeping forces. Famed for their looting and raping sprees, the Mayi-Mayi also claim many parts of Congo's east as their domain, bringing them into conflict with park rangers charged with protecting the Central African nation's dwindling wildlife.
Despite a search involving neighbouring Ivory Coast's navy and a UN helicopter, a broken-down cargo ship stolen by machete-wielding pirates off Liberia earlier this month is still missing, officials said on Monday. According to reports, attackers armed with cutlasses and sticks boarded the 67-metre MV Tahoma Reefer while it was docked off Monrovia on May 8, beat up the crew then returned to tow the vessel away while they sought medical care on shore.
"Right now the ship is lost," the vessel's captain, Volodymr Shteynberh, told Reuters by phone from Monrovia, criticising a lack of co-ordination between the local authorities and the UN peacekeeping missions in Liberia and Ivory Coast. "They say they are using helicopters and ships to find it. But it's not a small vessel. You can't just lose it in the sea."
Meanwhile, security experts are concerned the boat could be used by people traffickers offering Africans illegal passage to Europe or by drug smuggling gangs. West Africa's Atlantic coast is increasingly a transit route to Europe for Colombian cocaine.
Shteynberh, who was on board when the pirates attacked, said their motive was unclear but said the vessel was carrying some 200 tonnes of heavy fuel, worth around $200 000 at local prices. The UN mission in Liberia (UNMIL), helping to restore order after an on-off 1989-2003 civil war, sent a helicopter to look for it as soon as it was reported missing on May 11.
"The vessel was spotted being towed by two smaller boats towards Ivory Coast. UNMIL, which is not equipped with the maritime capability to intercept vessels at sea, immediately alerted the Liberian authorities," it said. An Ivory Coast navy officer said a warship had been sent towards the Liberian border but had failed to locate the vessel.
#1
I've seen some of these cargo ships - the pirates probably didn't realize they needed to keep the pumps running wide open all the time. Just look for an oil slick.
Angry residents in southwestern Chinese set fire to government offices and flipped over vehicles during four days of protests against a harsh population-control campaign, the International Herald Tribune reported.
There were conflicting reports of injuries and deaths.
The rioting apparently was prompted by a crackdown in Guangxi province against violators of the countrys imposed limit on children per family.
Some claim the punishments include forced abortions and other measures against women; officials who do not meet annual population-control targets for their areas face demotion or removal from office.
Several people claim they were forced to pay fines more than once for the same offense under a new tax called the social child-raising fee.
The two-month-long campaign is part of efforts to limit the growth of Chinas 1.3 billion population.
As are riots over things folks would protest politically anywhere else. Still, as long as they can keep the lid on news internally, they can confine this to one province at a time, where its "manageable"
As are riots over things folks would protest politically anywhere else. Still, as long as they can keep the lid on news internally, they can confine this to one province at a time, where its "manageable"
EFL w/Emphasis Added Dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical. Frozen catfish laden with banned antibiotics. Scallops and sardines coated with putrefying bacteria. Mushrooms laced with illegal pesticides. These were among the 107 food imports from China the Food and Drug Administration detained at U.S. ports justlastmonth, agency documents reveal, along with more than 1,000 shipments of tainted Chinese dietary supplements, toxic Chinese cosmetics and counterfeit Chinese medicines. Remember, that's IN JUST ONE SINGLE MONTH.
For years, U.S. inspection records show, China has flooded the United States with foods unfit for human consumption. And for years, FDA inspectors have simply returned to Chinese importers the small portion of those products they caught - many of which turned up at U.S. borders again, making a second or third attempt at entry.
Continued on Page 49
#1
When the Romans made a bridge, I understand that the engineer who built it got to stand under it while it was used for the first time. It made sure he did the best job he knew how to do.
Those in our government who have a hand in protecting our food imports from china should have to subsist solely on food imported from China.
#2
OK, the excessive bold and ALL CAPS makes this a kooky post. Our own government is not to blame, Chinese exporters are to blame. Radical ideas like starting a trade war are not the solution.
#4
dumb asses never should have done business with the commie scum in the first place, we need OUT of China ASAP. Let the greed heads suffer for their own averic, cause the Chinks will fuckem in the end, just like they always do.
#5
Well, I do blame our government. They set the rules of the game and the actors (Chinese exporters, US importers and consumers) maximize their profit under those conditions.
Posted by: ed ||
05/22/2007 10:18 Comments ||
Top||
#6
excessive bold and ALL CAPS makes this a kooky post.
Bah! Caplock Joe has more caps in one sentance than in my whole post. If the bolded portions don't leave you feeling outraged, then you aren't paying attention. Yes, my major point is that China is to blame, but a central role of our own government is to protect us. If not from toxic and tainted foods being foisted upon us by our enemy, then what?
If the recent immigration bill proved one thing, it's that our government is infested with money grubbing politicians who will stop at nothing to finance their campaigns or get re-elected. The conniving of Paulson and Bolten at loosening up Chinese trade to the immense profit of their Wall Street cronies simply stinks.
China proves over and over again that it is unqualified to participate on the world stage (read: WTO). China manipulates its currency and gives itself a host of other unfair advantages that not only increase its profit but also hollows out the industrial base of America and other countries as well. This has lead to incresingly centralized production of certain key products in China. Not a good policy when one considers the Chinese proclivity for cutting corners. From a longer version of the same article:
It is not just that food from China is cheap, said William Hubbard, a former associate director of the FDA. For a growing number of important food products, China has become virtually the only source in the world.
China controls 80 percent of the world's production of ascorbic acid, for example, a valuable preservative that is ubiquitous in processed and other foods. Only one producer remains in the United States, Hubbard said.
"That's true of a lot of ingredients," he said, including the wheat gluten that was initially thought to be the cause of the pet deaths. Virtually none of it is made in the United States, because the Chinese sell it for less than it would cost U.S. manufacturers to make it.
So pervasive is the U.S. hunger for cheap mports, experts said, that the executive branch itself has repeatedly rebuffed proposals by agency scientists to impose even modest new safety rules for foreign foods.
Much like Japan's government colluded with its corporations to put several important American industries out of business (television, VCR, modem and specialty ceramics manufacturing among them), so too is China now using similar techniques to monopolize output of vital products. With China's piss poor track record, this should be cause for major alarm. Some of the only food-related regulations making across Bush's desk deal with bio-terrorism. Yet, somehow, this administration is willing to ignore the implications of allowing our communist enemy undue influence over the production of critical food processing ingredients and other materials. What happens when China decides that the United States has become a military target? Who's to say that this is not the case right now? Like I said, this is terrorism lite and we'd best be doing something about it. Just as manufacturing of DRAM ICs, color plasma flat screens, monocrystalline fighter jet turbine blades and other military hardware represent items critical to our national security, food production most certainly falls into that category as well. How much should we be willing to place control over such important products into our enemy's hands?
#7
Not a political laft-right issue. NY Times and Reuters have been running almost daily articles on same. The only really surprizing thing is that US Gov hasn't moved to ban all Chinese food/additive imports. US companies would probably cheer, and no arguments from anyone. Buying cheap chinese shirts isn't the same as worrying your kid will get sick/killed from poisoned food
Posted by: Weird Al ||
05/22/2007 17:36 Comments ||
Top||
#1
Screw the Chinese protestations. If Australia were ever attacked by a outside force, it's unlikely that China would be willing to step up and help out.
At this time, China's got too many of it's own internal problems than to be worried about what the Aussies are up to. They need to get their own house in order.
John Howard's government has been a godsend on the WOT and freedom. God bless you guys down under.
#3
We warned China of what would happen if they continued to encourage Nork development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. First everybody in the region will want to defend themselves, and then they will seriously consider developing their own nuclear weapons.
The Russian Air Force will purchase over 200 Yakovlev-130 operational trainers. They will not buy the one-type MiG-AT aircraft, the AF new Commander-in-Chief Colonel-General Alexander Zelin said on Monday.
We need over 200 planes. The Air Force has chosen one type of plane - Yak-130, the commander told journalists.
#2
Putin's Neo-Soviet 'energy' Empire continues training for a new war, as the bulk of Western leaders remain in their deep slumber.
Shades of late 1938 & early 39. The pre-war era's threats from Berlin, is today's Moscow, the same nuclear power continues arming terrorist exporting Iran & Syria, along with the rest of America's & Israel's other enemies.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
05/22/2007 2:38 Comments ||
Top||
#3
A "Yak Trainer"? Is that some sort of East Asian version of a cow puncher?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/22/2007 6:22 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Dear Russian Air Force:
Congratulations on inventing a late model F-5. Welcome to 1975.
Love,
The US Air Force
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/22/2007 8:39 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Beats the hell out of the T-37, T-38 and T-45 (BAE Hawk) the US flies. Similar weight and thrust to an F-5E, doesn't require afterburner like the F-5E, and 1/3 the cost of the HAWK
Posted by: ed ||
05/22/2007 9:29 Comments ||
Top||
#7
The Yak trainers are just that, trainers for new pilots. They are easy to fly and forgiving.
However, that many trainers means that Russia plans on pushing a butt-load of pilots out soon. I think mark is right. Shades of 39...
Especially with western appeasement running rabid.
Republican National Committee Chairman Sen. Mel Martinez rejected the claim that the new immigration bill will anger conservatives and destroy the GOP's chances to win in the 2008 election. Uh, Mel? What friggin' planet are you on? We're ALREADY madder'n Hell.
On CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer Sunday, Martinez said immigration "could be the saving of the Republican Party, frankly." This isn't about "immigration", Mel. It's about stopping the wholesale flood of illegal invaders coming across from Mexico. "Immigration" is when people come here with our permission. These people DO NOT have our permission to be here.
"And to do nothing would be the wrong thing for the American people." Actually, what I'd like you to do is fulfill your responsiblities under the Constitution by defending the borders of our nation-- BEFORE WE CEASE TO BE ONE.
Martinez is optimistic that the controversial legislation will make it through Congress, and he is counting on President Bush "to get us over the finish line." That's a CLIFF he's taking us over, not a finish line, you fool.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/22/2007 16:55 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Suuurrrrre is could.
Save the GOP from any hope of EVER winning again.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/22/2007 17:15 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Mexicans fear U.S. immigration plan Many in Mexico expressed disappointment Friday with the U.S. Congress' immigration reform proposal, arguing it doesn't let enough Mexicans enter the United States legally to work, while focusing on an arduous path to residency for those who have already taken the illegal path.
Mexican news media and activists attacked what they viewed as a measure to limit the number of seasonal workers allowed into the United States even as the compromise's proponents said it would let in many more.
Jeebus.
Posted by: ed ||
05/22/2007 17:40 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Go to Drudge and read Pat Buchanan's post. Sometimes he's a couple beers short of a six-pack, but his numbers on population shift in California are enough to make your short hairs stand straight up. The Mexicans think California should still be theirs, and at the rate whites are leaving it won't be long before they're right
Posted by: Weird Al ||
05/22/2007 17:41 Comments ||
Top||
#4
In addition, I won't vote any party who sells out my country and my fellow citizens.
Posted by: ed ||
05/22/2007 17:42 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Al, when you have the Mayor of LA siding up with Illegals (along with SF and others) it can't be mucg longer.
#6
Check the want ads early, Mel, and avoid the rush. Pass this Kennedy/McCain Amnesty scam and you and the USA lose Big Time.
For the first time since I worked on the Goldwater campaign in '64, I have written all my elected reps...anger Mel? You got it.
#7
Martinez is a giant POS. He shouldn't have this position. He was hand picked by Bush to push this through completely contrary to the wishes of conservative Republicans.
#10
Idiocy runs the full spectrum. I even saw Jerry BROWN supporting this piece of *** bill, spouting the same bi-partisan clap trap about how the economic pressure Mexicans experience [which I don't doubt] increases immigration, and causes him to conclude (something to the effect) that in the long term the pressure can only be relieved by narrowing the wage gap.
For those who make this argument, pointing out that the wage differential is 8 or 10 to 1 (American wages vs. Mexican wages): just how much pressure do you think needs to be relieved before the flow slows and immigrants choose to stay in Mexico? Would a 4 to 1 ratio stop them? Uh, nooo-if you could quadruple your salary and have a better life, would you? Would a 3 to 1 ratio stop them? Uh, no. 2 to 1? Maybe, but only maybe.
Logically, applying this argument to any group of humans, there WOULD BE NO stoppage to the flow of workers coming here, legally or illegally, unless the economies were to attain near parity.
This blind attempt at some kind of economic pressure valve is going to explode in the American people's-and politicians'- faces. It is a MASSIVE and VERY POWERFUL wealth redistribution scheme being devised by our representatives and president, intended to ward off potential violent confrontations over the vastly disparate economies of Mexico and the US. It won't stop violence-it will just divert it.
#11
Is the GOP really this clueless? Time to have a revolution - and vote every single one of these princes (dem and repub) out of office. We need term limits - NOW!
what's that smell?
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, who as a Democratic presidential candidate recently proposed an educational policy that urged "every financial barrier" be removed for American kids who want to go to college, has been going to college himself -- as a high paid speaker, his financial records show.
The candidate charged a whopping $55,000 to speak at to a crowd of 1,787 the taxpayer-funded University of California at Davis on Jan. 9, 2006 last year, Joe Martin, the public relations officer for the campus' Mondavi Center confirmed Monday.
That amount -- which comes to about $31 a person in the audience -- included Edwards' travel and airfare, and was the highest speaking fee in the nine appearances he made before colleges and universities last year, according to his financial records.
The earnings -- though made before Edwards was a declared Democratic presidential candidate -- could hand ammunition to his competition for the Democratic presidential nomination. The candidate -- who was then the head of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina -- chose to speak on "Poverty, the great moral issue facing America," as his $55,000 topic at UC Davis.
That could cause both parents and students to note some irony here: UC Davis -- like the rest of the public University of California system -- will get hit this year by a 7 percent tuition increase that likely hits many of the kids his speeches are aimed at helping.
We wondered if this is Edwards' going speaking rate, and how come he didn't offer to do it gratis for a college, particularly a public institution.
But Martin of the Mondavi Center said that "as with any other performer, (the speaking fee) has to be negotiated, and there are a long list of considerations ... some of our speakers get more, and some get less."
He said UC Davis' Mondavi Center paid Edwards because at the time "he wasn't a (presidential) candidate and from our point of view, he was a speaker of interest that people in the community were clearly interested in ... we feel it's our mission to present those speakers."
Edwards spoke to at least two other California universities and colleges, both private.
He appeared at Stanford University, where he spoke on April 26, 2006; the Palo Alto institution paid him $40,000 to deliver his talks, according to financial records. And Edwards also headlined at the former University of Judaism -- today the American Jewish University -- in Los Angeles on Jan. 30, 2006, where he debated former Speaker Newt Gingrich before about 5,000 people. According to financial documents, the candidate received a fee of $40,000 at that appearance.
And the college and university gigs apparently added up on the bottom line for Edwards.
In 2006, records show Edwards made more than $285,000 speaking to nine colleges and universities, charging between $16,000 and Davis' $55,000 for his talks. They ranged from the $12,000 he got on Jan. 10, 2006 from Gonzaga University Law School in Seattle to the $40,000 he banked from the University of Texas Pan American Foundation on May 22, 2006. Other schools that have paid Edwards to speak before he was a declared presidential candidate: Hunter College in New York ($35,000), Mount Union College in Ohio ($16,00) and Vanderbilt University in Nashville ($40,000).
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/22/2007 08:25 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Another way of looking at $55,000 is 7.25 years of tuition at UC Davis. Nearly two 4 year scholarships could have been awarded to deserving students and untold amounts of CO2 saved.
Posted by: ed ||
05/22/2007 8:36 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Just remember that there are indeed Two Americas. And shakedowns opportunities like this will manage to keep me in my part...
Posted by: John Edwards ||
05/22/2007 9:50 Comments ||
Top||
#3
It isn't the hypocrisy but the fees which astonish me. Edwards would have pay me 55 grand to sit through one of his speeches, let alone his thoughts on poverty. Actually, five hundred bucks would do it.
#6
hmmm,
not to mention the obvious here, to stay on topic of poverty, not if I'm elected President blah blah blah
I like the idea of a scholarship as stated here earlier. Especially since I'm still paying big bucks on tuition for my daughter.
Posted by: Jan ||
05/22/2007 10:36 Comments ||
Top||
#7
"There are two Americas: one in which ragged peasants without two wooden nickles to rub together stumble through a daily desperate struggle for survival, and one in which over-endowed universities pay people like me fifty-five large to lecture a bunch of rich white kids on the subject of poverty."
Posted by: Mike ||
05/22/2007 11:10 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Edwards charges $55,000 to speak to UC Davis students about poverty
#10
Is nothing beneath this man. First the protests on Memorial day and the nerve to accept money to speak about poverty. If he had any credibility, he would either speak pro-bono or offer the money to charity.
Presidential candidate, my ass!
Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday his remarks were "careless or misinterpreted" when he said the Bush administration has been the "worst in history" for its impact around the world. Let's see now. Who else do we know of that uses the excuse "I was misunderstood!" all the time?
Speaking on NBC's "Today," Carter appeared to retreat from a statement he made to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for a Saturday story in which he said: "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history."
Carter said Monday that when he made the comment, he was responding to a question comparing the Bush administration's foreign policy to that of Richard Nixon. Maybe, but what does that have to do with your statement, peanut breath?
"And I think Richard Nixon had a very good and productive foreign policy and my remarks were maybe careless or misinterpreted. But I wasn't comparing the overall administration and I was certainly not talking personally about any president," Carter said. Liar or denier. Either are useless obstructionists.
He added: "I think this administration's foreign policy compared to President Nixon's was much worse," Carter said. But he said he did not mean to call it the worst in history.
"No, that's not what I wanted to say. I wasn't comparing this administration with other administrations back through history but just with President Nixon."
Deputy White House press secretary Tony Fratto, with Bush at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, said Monday: "I think it just highlights the importance of being careful in choosing your words. I'll just leave it at that."
In audio posted Saturday on the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Web site, an interviewer asked Carter "which president was worse, George W. Bush or Richard Nixon?" In his response, Carter gave the broader answer, calling the Bush administration "the worst in history."
On Sunday, the White House dismissed Carter, the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner, as "increasingly irrelevant" after his harsh criticism. Since when was Carter "relevant"? This is news to me.
In response, Carter said: "Well, I don't claim to have any relevancy. I have a completely unofficial capacity. The only thing I lead is the Carter Center." Why don't you go back and do that instead of popping your head up all the time.
After the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette story appeared, Carter spokeswoman Deanna Congileo had confirmed his comments to The Associated Press.
"The overt reversal of America's basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including those of George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and others, has been the most disturbing to me," the newspaper quoted Carter as saying. Somebody had to reverse it or we wouldn't be here as a nation today, bonehead.
In his comments Monday, Carter said he has not been timid about sharing his opinions directly with the president and other world leaders, but said he has been careful not to level personal criticism against Bush. Looks like his Altzheimer's gets the best of him some days no matter how hard he tries.
#4
"Carter's comments careless or misinterpreted."
Wasn't his entire presidency like that?
If I was George Bush, I would rename the USS Jimmy Carter to the USS Killer Rabbit. After all, that rabbit showed more courage, enterprise and daring than Jimmy has shown in his entire life. I think the rabbit is a much better role model for young Navy officers than Jimmy Carter will ever be.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
05/22/2007 10:38 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Bill Whittle's latest two posts at Eject! Eject! Eject!, discuss the implications of a social mathematical model for cooperation and competition that indicates that the best strategy to adopt is an enlightened "tit for tat" strategy. This is an illustration that it works.
In this case Carter threw a brickbat at the bush administration. In past times, the administration would not throw one back, implementing an "Always forgive, never punish" strategy. This led carter to continue this sort of behavior.
THIS time, the bushes threw a brickbat back at him, and he's now backpedalling, probably privately appalled and offended that this Bush official had the nerve to strike back AT HIM.
The clintons did this to manage the press: they'd punish a reporter once, then cooperated until they re-offended. Worked like a charm.
I tried it out this morning, and got a good response back.
Oh, I'm still Mr. Nice Guy, but I'm starting to refuse to be Mr. ALWAYS Nice Guy.
#6
OK. I'm confused. Which is it? Careless or misinterpreted? Care to elaborate, there, jimmuh? I mean, you should be able to get that foot a whole lot deeper into that big mouth of yours.
#7
"The overt reversal of America's basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including those of George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan...
Hmm, what could have happened in the last few years that might explain such a reversal of long standing policy? These power hungry lunatics must be insane! Why else would they do something drastic like reorient US foreign policy? Hmmmm..........
http://www.tekipaki.jp/~gon/sai/photo/9.11-01.jpg
http://www.tekipaki.jp/~gon/sai/photo/9.11-01.jpg
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
05/22/2007 16:40 Comments ||
Top||
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
05/22/2007 16:43 Comments ||
Top||
#9
And the link's bad. Not my day.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
05/22/2007 16:45 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Amidst all the anti-Americanism and Jew bashing, it's increasingly difficult not to view Carter as an Islamic sock puppet. Especially with that Saudi hand up his ass.
Senate leaders agreed Monday that they would wait until their constituents go back to sleep and stop calling already June to take final action on a bipartisan plan to give millions of unlawful immigrants legal status. The measure, which also tightens border security and workplace enforcement measures, unites a group of influential liberals, centrists and conservatives and has White House backing, but it has drawn criticism from across the political spectrum. In a nod to that opposition, Senate leaders won't seek to complete it before a hoped-for Memorial Day deadline.
"It would be to the best interests of the Senate ... that we not try to finish this bill this week," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., as the chamber began debate on the volatile issue. "I think we could, but I'm afraid the conclusion wouldn't be anything that anyone wanted."
The bipartisan compromise cleared its first hurdle Monday with a bipartisan Senate vote to begin debate on a separate immigration measure. Still, it faces significant obstacles as lawmakers seek dozens of modifications to its key elements. Republicans want to make the bill tougher on the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. Democrats want to change a new temporary worker program and reorder priorities in a merit-based system for future immigration that weights employability over family ties.
The White House has begun an active lobbying effort to drum up support for the measure, especially among Republicans who voted against an immigration overhaul last year.President Bush is still hoping to sign the bill by summer's end, said Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman.
"This is a very high priority for the president," Fratto told reporters in Crawford, Texas. "We know that this is an emotional issue for members on both sides of political parties and both sides of the ideological spectrum, but we hope that we can find common ground."
#1
Good news. This large turd can't survive if there's time for any discussion at all. The more time everyone has to read through it and ferret out all the bullshit, it will die a long and mournful death. Once these asshole Senators return home over the Memorial Day weekend, they are going to be attacked and prodded and pushed far and wide to kill this turkey before it escapes the coop. I would like to see someone duplicate the tactics of the Taiwan Assembly the next time that putrifying Linsey (faggot) Graham stands up in session and continues spewing his idiot speak. Just cluster attack him and beat him in the head with cowboy boots with the spurs still attached.
#2
"It would be to the best interests of the Senate if it wants to avoid getting lynched ... that we not try to finish this bill this week," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., as the chamber began debate on the volatile issue. "I think we could, but I'm afraid the conclusion wouldn't be anything that anyone wanted to experience and remain breathing afterward."
That spattering sound in the background is excrement hitting the twirling blades. Anyone who votes for this needs to be voted out of office in the next election. THIS BILL REWARDS CHEATING. What better way to discourage newcomers from trying to intergrate and assimilate than by giving short shrift to those who were honest enough to follow the rules. None of this even addresses the vicious stab in the back that this bill represents to native born Americans.
#4
I'm actually scared of what this bill means for the future of the US if it does pass. Maybe I'm young and over-reacting, but I will see this as the beggining of the end for our great country if it passes.
Posted by: Charles ||
05/22/2007 4:23 Comments ||
Top||
#5
It sounds like our elected representatives have been getting feedback from their constituents, and are responding appropriately. Separately, it seems they are sending President Bush a military appropriations bill without a deadline or egregious pork. Perhaps things aren't completely going to hell in a handbasket, yet.
#6
"This is a very high priority for the president," Fratto told reporters in Crawford, Texas. "We know that this is an emotional issue for members on both sides of political parties and both sides of the ideological spectrum, but we hope that we can find common ground."
No, it's not an "emotional issue". It's an issue of central importance to this nation's ability to defend itself against outside aggressors seeking to infiltrate our society and mount an attack from within.
What should be a high priority for the Administration is not passage of this horseshit bill, but to start listening to what the American people are telling it: GET CONTROL OF OUR BORDERS. GET CONTROL OVER WHO COMES INTO THIS COUNTRY AND WHEN.
And our so-called "representatives" should start representing the people, not Archer Daniels Midland and other agri-megabusinesses.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/22/2007 6:58 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Dave D. - I believe I'm going to crib heavily from your post and e-mail my two senators and one representative with the push of a single button.
No, I'm not asking your permission, but you should be flattered!
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/22/2007 7:18 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Maybe I'm young and over-reacting, but I will see this as the beggining of the end for our great country if it passes.
It'll be the end of the end for the Republican party, first.
#9
Are there any debates scheduled during this time frame ?
It would be fun to boo the shit outta McCain and Brownbeck over this fiasco. Like Ron Paul before them, they are toast. Now there are 7.
#11
This breaks the compact between the people and the government. It can not be a nation of laws when the laws are ignored for the convenience for more ballot stuffing and unlimited labor for business. When you sell America as a sovereign entity and then turn around and sell it to the highest contributor, you have no integrity. When you demand of those who swear allegiance to a concept predicated upon obedience to law, making positive contribution for the common good, and duly paying ones taxes, and then gut that very notion for political expediency, you are just running another confidence game in history. To these scoundrels the Constitution is merely an icon upon which they justify their power. They are oblivious to the underlying meaning of power derived from the consent of the governed that the Constitution embodies.
Deaf they are. Deaf as Lord North and his ministers as they sat in London. It is now coming to the time when the rights of Americans are now in great jeopardy at the hands of those who seek to destroy the historic definition of what constitutes a sovereign nation. Soon each of us may have to make that horrible decision as the founding fathers made over two hundred years ago. It is not the act, but the mental adjustment that will be required from each of us to choose the path that is all too quickly coming upon us. They do not and apparently can not read Jefferson. However, his admonition is a pertinent today as it was on that July 4th.
#12
The Senators are getting too much heat from their constituents. The message has been toss the screwed up bill. Get control of the borders. I don't live in a border state, but from what I can glean, illegals are an unholy mess in these states. If we don't get control of our borders as JSU astutely observes, we will lose our country.
#13
One good sign is that Sen. McCain seems to be losing his temper more often. He dropped an F-bomb on fellow Sen. Cronyn during a Senate hearing on this bill. Then he accused Mitt Romney of flip-flopping and made some caustic remarks about how Romney might want to use his varmint gun on the Guatamaulans on his front lawn. The polls seem to be showing Romney gaining ground. McCain, it seems, has painted himself into a very uncomfortable corner. Not that I trust Romney but it's amusing to watch McCain melt down. Keep them cards and letters coming, folks.
#14
Crib all ya want, Bobby; it's there for the taking.
I have a sense that a lot of the fury over this issue is due to a sneaking suspicion among the people that we are no longer governing ourselves via our elected representatives-- rather we are being ruled by a priviledged authoritarian bureaucracy whose members don't give a shit what we think or want.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/22/2007 11:56 Comments ||
Top||
#15
Hadn't thought of it that way, DaveD, but I believe you are right. The trust that is an essential component of our Republic has been eviscerated by a Government bureaucracy that chooses to ignore its own laws and people.
#16
This breaks the compact between the people and the government. It can not be a nation of laws when the laws are ignored for the convenience for more ballot stuffing and unlimited labor for business. When you sell America as a sovereign entity and then turn around and sell it to the highest contributor, you have no integrity. When you demand of those who swear allegiance to a concept predicated upon obedience to law, making positive contribution for the common good, and duly paying ones taxes, and then gut that very notion for political expediency, you are just running another confidence game in history. To these scoundrels the Constitution is merely an icon upon which they justify their power. They are oblivious to the underlying meaning of power derived from the consent of the governed that the Constitution embodies.
Word, P2K. At the final moment, may Jefferson's word ring in their ears.
we are being ruled by a priviledged authoritarian bureaucracy whose members don't give a shit what we think or want.
Uh ... yup. Which goes to show that elitism is not the sole province of (however coveted by), democrats. This bill has ripped the mask off of our bought-and-sold politicians for all time. Pretty much the whole damn crew has to go. If a few babies get thrown out while we empty this swimming pool tub of horseshit bathwater, then so be it. Washington D.C. needs a thorough housecleaning.
Our government is no longer on speaking terms with the truth.
#17
Amen to all the above. Eloquence and passion are the hallmarks of the sincere and committed patriot. Washington is a place where people make decisons based on calculating what they can get for what they trade. Sometimes that involves high ideals, but increasingly, it is just a market selling our national wealth and priviledge to some special interest group. And always, at the heart of it, is disregard for what is best for America.
We need a better way to punish those who get elected and fail us. They escape culpability abd derive pensions for poor service. We need to stop that somehow. I recommend an annual job appraisal process, where we have the ability to affect salary and pension benefits, so after we elect them we can moderate their behavior while in office. Perhaps a citizen review board like that which oversees major police departments. Can't remove them from office but can inflict pain for crappy performance.
#18
Amen to all the above. Eloquence and passion are the hallmarks of the sincere and committed patriot. Washington is a place where people make decisons based on calculating what they can get for what they trade. Sometimes that involves high ideals, but increasingly, it is just a market selling our national wealth and priviledge to some special interest group. And always, at the heart of it, is disregard for what is best for America.
We need a better way to punish those who get elected and fail us. They escape culpability abd derive pensions for poor service. We need to stop that somehow. I recommend an annual job appraisal process, where we have the ability to affect salary and pension benefits, so after we elect them we can moderate their behavior while in office. Perhaps a citizen review board like that which oversees major police departments. Can't remove them from office but can inflict pain for crappy performance.
#19
Amen to all the above. Eloquence and passion are the hallmarks of the sincere and committed patriot. Washington is a place where people make decisons based on calculating what they can get for what they trade. Sometimes that involves high ideals, but increasingly, it is just a market selling our national wealth and priviledge to some special interest group. And always, at the heart of it, is disregard for what is best for America.
We need a better way to punish those who get elected and fail us. They escape culpability abd derive pensions for poor service. We need to stop that somehow. I recommend an annual job appraisal process, where we have the ability to affect salary and pension benefits, so after we elect them we can moderate their behavior while in office. Perhaps a citizen review board like that which oversees major police departments. Can't remove them from office but can inflict pain for crappy performance.
#21
Not 100% sure, but I think that's a record for duplicate comments.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/22/2007 17:50 Comments ||
Top||
#22
'Stop the Madness' has the Mac 3 Echo.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
btw, the immigration thingy if accepted and codified in its current form will loosen the bond between each American citizen and the United States America.
It will devalue and change the high status of each US citizen in its relation to our American Government..
and by extension will diminish the value of America also, for they are quite inseparable and without the exalted value of each they both will fall.
Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico formally announced his candidacy for president Monday, launching a bilingual campaign for the Democratic nomination that emphasized his Hispanic heritage, his extensive diplomatic and political experience and his knowledge of issues. Richardson chose to launch his bid in California, the state where he was born, in part to attract as much media attention as possible in a race that already includes numerous high-profile candidates.
After an introduction by his wife of 35 years, Richardson delivered a simple, straightforward announcement speech, outlining his basic proposals for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, encouraging energy efficiency, providing health care insurance, boosting the middle class and addressing immigration. He presented himself as a pragmatist whose record in New Mexico proves his ability to pass legislation. Richardson, known as a boisterous character throughout his career as a member of Congress, an ambassador to the United Nations and U.S. energy secretary, also gave a frank assessment of his political strategy for the presidential campaign. He said that the accelerated Democratic nominating process -- with early primaries in large states such as New York, California and Florida that have significant Hispanic populations -- would give him an advantage.
He spoke repeatedly in Spanish, without offering an English translation, proudly declaring: "I am the first Latino to run for president in the Democratic Party." Richardson has drawn strong support from prominent Hispanics, especially in New Mexico.
#2
The best way to get the VP spot is to show strongly among a minority that the President will need to win. Richardson knows he'll never win the Presidency, but is hoping he'll get enough Hispanic votes that he will win the VP spot in the Democratic ticket.
Posted by: Charles ||
05/22/2007 4:27 Comments ||
Top||
#3
This peels off a huge chunk of the Wesley Clark vote.
#6
Governor is the about his limit under the Peter Principle. He can only do harm there, not nationally.
Wen Ho Lee affair demonstrated his integrity.
He blasts the Bush Administration for lax border enforcement, but directs his own bureaucracy to ignore illegals in their effect upon the state's limited resources. That's called creating a inviting nuisance.
He blasts big oil, but the state's massive investments in the market created a revenue bubble which he wastes on unsustainable programs and takes personal credit for minor tax cuts it permits.
He makes his name in New Mexico, but goes back to California to announce his run. That's a big thanks mi amigos. It's all about positioning. Just another hack.
And as for the 'hispanic' vote - note well, they voted Bush in '06 in New Mexico and are very family and church oriented. Wait till he gets pinned nationally on Roe vs Wade and the selection of SCOTUS justices. Hasta la vista baby.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Renegade fighters attacked observation posts in an eastern Congo nature reserve, killing one ranger and threatening to slaughter a band of rare gorillas if security forces launch a counteroffensive, conservationists said Monday. About 200 of the Mayi-Mayi fighters who remain active after Congo's ruinous 1998-2002 civil war attacked three posts Sunday in Virunga National Park, Wildlife Direct said in a statement. One ranger died and three were injured in the attack, said the group, which is active in the area.
Despite a search involving neighbouring Ivory Coast's navy and a UN helicopter, a broken-down cargo ship stolen by machete-wielding pirates off Liberia earlier this month is still missing, officials said on Monday. According to reports, attackers armed with cutlasses and sticks boarded the 67-metre MV Tahoma Reefer while it was docked off Monrovia on May 8, beat up the crew then returned to tow the vessel away while they sought medical care on shore.
Senate leaders agreed Monday that they would wait until 
