http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

I guess now we know why Obama was so chummy with Tony Rezko, don't we?  Except some of us knew this months ago.

It's Independence Day.  I still say the United States made a huge mistake breaking away from Great Britain.  Great Britain ended the slavery trade a long time before the War Between the States (nothing "civil" about it) and might've saved the States that bloody crucible.  

Or maybe not.

But I digress, as is my wont.

Poll below:

Who are you going to vote for President?

And why?  That's for the comments.  

Panama says no to U.S. military base

Panama has ruled out hosting a U.S. military base to replace one in Ecuador which is being reclaimed by the Quito government, a senior Panamanian official said on Friday.

Panama -- along with Peru and Colombia -- had been tipped as a possible site to replace the Manta air base in western Ecuador, a key strategic asset in Washington's campaign to stop Latin American cocaine from reaching the United States.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, a close ally of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, has vowed to cut off his arm before allowing Washington to retain the base when the current lease runs out in 2009.

The U.S. military has said it would like to find another site to retain counter-narcotics capabilities.

Panama's Justice Minister Daniel Delgado said his country's often turbulent history with the United States made the establishment of new bases impossible.

"There will be neither bases nor installations (in Panama)," Delgado told Reuters.

http://www.reuters.com/article...

To stop drug running??....likely excuse.

I call bullshit.

banned from Daily Kos

syndicated at impeachmentwatch.wordpress.com

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke

Welcome to Day 25 of ImpeachmentWatch™, your daily diary that tracks Impeachment, whether the Mainstream Media covers it or not.

Kucinich's July 4th message: Help me restore 'rule of law in America'

"Some Democratic leaders say impeachment's off the table," Kucinich begins. "So let's set a new table for our nation, upon which we place the Constitution, and where we demand that all those who've taken an oath to defend it keep their promise and protect our nation from the threat within. Please go to kucinich.us now and sign the petition which calls for impeachment. This is the one petition that will make a difference because I will be personally delivering it to your member of Congress."

"Two hundred thirty two years ago, our nation was 'conceived in liberty,' continues Kucinich, quoting Lincoln's famous phrase. "We have once again reached a moment of truth, one that Lincoln recognized at Gettysburg, as to 'whether this nation, or any nation so conceived or so dedicated, can long endure.'"

"Through the ashes of the Civil War," he goes on, "Lincoln prayed 'that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.' This 4th of July 2008, we face a different kind of war, one which is trying our souls, a war based on lies."

"With the power of truth, the power of the people," Kucinich concludes, "we can achieve a new birth of freedom." As the strains of "America the Beautiful" swell in the background, he urges, "Be the answer to Lincoln's prayer. Please pledge your support now for restoring the rule of law in America. As we once again celebrate Independence Day, let us celebrate freedom from fear and pledge that this government of the people will survive in this land that we love."

Hi everybody!  Today is American Jesus' bday.  I just wanted to honor the occasion, and I hope you will join me.

Here he is this morning going to his BDay Breakfast Extravaganza.

Kiss your privacy behind, one step at a time:

Viacom lawsuit: Google told to hand over all YouTube user details

YouTube users to be revealed

The internet giant Google is being forced to hand over the personal information of every person who has ever watched a video on the YouTube website as part of a billion-dollar court case in the US.

A judge in New York has ordered that Google, which owns YouTube, must pass on the details of more than 100 million people - many of them in the UK - to Viacom, the US broadcasting company which owns channels including MTV and Nickelodeon.

The data will include unique internet addresses, email accounts and the history of every video watched on the website, giving Viacom's experts the ability to conduct a detailed examination of the viewing habits of millions of people around the world.

The decision is the latest twist in a long court battle between the two companies over claims that Google encourages copyright infringement on the video sharing website. Judge Louis Stanton, who is presiding over the $1bn lawsuit, said the data handover was required in order to allow Viacom to build its case.

snip

While information on who has watched YouTube's countless videos of sneezing pandas and laughing babies may seem trivial, civil liberties campaigners fear the ruling could set a precedent for the level of privacy afforded to people using the internet, and that internet companies could now be sued in order to get hold of sensitive personal data.

"The court's erroneous ruling is a setback to privacy rights," said Kurt Opsahl, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an online civil liberties group based in San Francisco. "We urge Viacom to back off this overbroad request and Google to take all steps necessary to challenge this order and protect the rights of its users."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tech...

Thomson Financial News
FARC leaders were paid millions to free hostages: Swiss radio
07.04.08, 9:19 AM ET

PARIS (Thomson Financial) - Leaders of the Colombian FARC rebel movement were paid millions of dollars to free Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages, Swiss radio said on Friday, quoting 'a reliable source'.

The 15 hostages released on Wednesday by the Colombian army 'were in reality ransomed for a high price, and the whole operation afterwards was a set-up,' the radio's French-language channel said.

Saying the United States, which had three of its citizens among those freed, was behind the deal, it put the price of the ransom at some $20 million.

The radio said its source was 'close to the events, reliable and tested many times in recent years.'

The report added said the wife of one of the hostages' guards was the go-between, having been arrested by the Colombian army. She was released to return to the guerrillas, where she persuaded her husband to change sides.

Har har de har har har. Just as I suspected. And I bet Chávez brokered the deal.  

Fuck him, fuck everyone like him, and fuck everyone who liked him.

The only proof that he had a heart is his medical records that show he had a quadruple bypass.

May many more who have brought the Republicans so far to the right die horrible painful deaths.

Fuck'em.

I have been wondering of late where it is on the political spectrum that I would feel comfortable? There was a time when I considered myself to be a Democrat. This wasn't because I believed in the party's platform; it was because I disagreed with the Republican point of view. The last seven years have reinforced my view of Republicans, but at the same time my fondness for the Democrats has also waned. The truth is that frankly, I don't see much of a difference between the two; both the Republicans and the Democrats are financed by the same entities.

Who are the people behind the curtain, so to speak? Well, they are basically the same people and organizations that have always ruled in this country (with periodic breaks from time to time). These are the captains of industry and the bankers that back them, and lately, religious groups (that pop-up occasionally). The government claim that the people are behind the government and they are responsible for electing their government is patently untrue. The only thing that the people are responsible for is rubber-stamping the candidates that are selected for us. The two political parties, the Republicans and Democrats, seem to be the only game in town, so to speak. While it is true that this nation has other political parties, in national elections, there are basically only two parties that matter.

There is a trend that is occurring, its cause is probably frustration with the two major political parties, and that trend is that many people are now calling themselves Independent. The failure of the Democrats to initiate any real oversight of the executive branch, the failure to stop the war in Iraq, the collusion between the two parties in Congress and many more examples of political ineptness have caused many Democrats to reevaluate their political affiliation. The Republicans, many of who are embarrassed by the two terms of the Bush/Cheney regime and the scandals that have plagued the GOP, are also double-thinking their political allegiance. The mantra of "Change" that Obama is voicing seems to have struck a nerve with many people.

crossly posted at Obama's website blog..... (except for the poll)

http://my.barackobama.com/page...

I thought the Old Barack Obama's stance on abortion was fine--the choice lies primarily with the woman. Now, in this inexplicable drive to allay conservative Christians, the New Barack Obama gets involved in the particulars:

"Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says "mental distress" should not qualify as a justification for late-term abortions, a key distinction not embraced by many supporters of abortion rights.

In an interview this week with "Relevant," a Christian magazine, Obama said prohibitions on late-term abortions must contain "a strict, well defined exception for the health of the mother."

Obama then added: "Now, I don't think that 'mental distress' qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term."

Last year, after the Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on late-term abortions, Obama said he "strongly disagreed" with the ruling because it "dramatically departs form previous precedents safeguarding the health of pregnant women."

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/...  

First Bozo, now the sad news that Jesse Helms has shuffled off this mortal coil.

Who's next?

Favorite quote so far (there will be worse) from dkos:

But it's not like he was George W. Bush or Pol Pot.

What a eulogy.

For the record, thank god this evil piece of shit is dead. I only wish I believed in hell, so he could roast there for a thousand years.

He said what he learns [when he visits Iraq this summer] could affect how many residual troops might be needed to train the Iraqi army and police.

. . . his 16-month timeline "was always premised on" not endangering either U.S. troops or Iraq's stability, which he had previously been told by commanders was possible.

Obama's position has been that troops should only remain in Iraq to protect the U.S. embassy, engage in humanitarian efforts, and conduct counterterrorism operations. [Obama advisor Susan Rice] said Obama would consider having the U.S. continue to train Iraqi police forces if they show some progress . . .

Okay, so the man who may be President is in school now, learning from the military commanders and other wise old hands, and doesn't have anything definite worked up yet. Anyway, take the poll, how many troops do you think Obama will decide are needed longer term in Iraq, after listening to those wise and entirely objective generals and defense contractors and so on? [And this is 'U.S.' troops: I'm not counting as U.S. the 100-200,000 mercenaries that U.S. tax dollars will be paying to kill for us.]

This is my 67th Fourth of July and this is a Eulogy.

I need to lay to final rest, once and for all, the last tattered shreds of my love for and blind faith in this land of mine.

To lose a long beloved one, is very hard. Even harder, is having to admit that that long beloved one never truly existed in the first place.

As if only yesterday, the memories of being literally filled to overflowing with a such deep and abiding love of America I could hardly contain it are still fresh for me.  

Every soldier I saw on the street was a part of my very own child's heart: I loved them all so much, I embarrassed my mother terribly by inviting every soldier I met home for dinner. I had to do "something" for them at age six..anything..to show them how much I loved them all.

I remember that I cried off and on all day on the 4th of July, as I watched the Parade, hearing the Parade Drums, seeing the crisp formations of soldiers pass by, simply overwhelmed with pride and yearning to be a part of them someday. I'd find a way, even if I was "just a girl".  

Memorial Day and the Fourth of July were the most important days in the year to me,  much more special than Christmas. The whole world stopped back then, to honor these days of gratitude for those who sacrificed their lives for our beloved America, and to celebrate her with all we had, on Independence Day.

Some of those memories are permanently etched in my brain.
Memorial Day at Evergreen Cemetery, the whole town present, the crisply uniformed ranks, the solemn boom of the 21 gun salute, the planes flying over in missing man formation...and oh, all of the flags proudly flying against the verdant green, on the graves of all those who sacrificed their lives for us....

Then came the 4th of July. Independence Day. Time to truly celebrate the birth of this Great Nation: the Home of the Free and the Brave. I am feeling frustrated as I write, because I sense there are no words I could use, to bring anyone back there with me who has never once experienced this kind of Patriotism, the kind that  seemed programmed into ones very DNA.

Another memory is also etched permanently and so vivid it can still bring tears. Standing at full attention, saluting, as the crisp, perfect formations of Soldiers marched by, my own heartbeat in total synch with the Parade Drums. Every cell of my six year old body yearning to be a part of this, filled with determination to BE a part of it, someday, even if I was "just a girl".

So odd it seems, that memories like that not only refuse to die, but refuse to even fade, after all these long hard years of discovering that nearly all of it was a bald face lie.

This discovery took forever..and was, in a word, simply excruciating, every damned bit of it.  It was like getting my heart torn out of my body, one small bloody bit at a time. (Except during Viet Nam, when half of it got butchered and buried along side my brother in a very short time)

And it has meant giving up the very foundations my life was built on.  The love of a land where I "belonged" to something so vast, so grand, something that would always be there for me, take care of me, something so good, ... to  spend the rest of my life without that foundation at ALL. I am now a  "person without a country" because the country I thought I belonged to simply never existed  

"My Country 'Tis of Thee.." I sang out so proudly, for so long,  along with everyone else.."Sweet Land Of Liberty...of Thee I Sing!"

There is, I don't think, any safer more wonderful feeling a human can ever have, than to feel THAT  much belonging; THAT  much love for ones country.

So when I run into older right wing patriotic types now, the ones who WILL NOT SEE...and WILL NOT CHANGE, yes, I understand them. To expect them to change, is to expect them to willing cut out their own hearts. Not all of us can do that and still survive, or are willing to even try. Then factor in the effects of right wing fundamentalist religion,  ..and it's easy to see why maintaining the status quo is their life's work.

I don't believe most of todays (ah hem) "leaders"  who have systematically torn down even the illusion of what America was and is, are old "cellular level" Patriots like this.

I think most of THEM  are greedy, power mad, souless, sociopathic  BASTARDS who are smart enough to have learned how to exploit and harness up all us old patriots, and exploit the hell out of us for personal power and gain.

And until "WE"  ALL DIE OFF...(everyone who was raised with that almost cellular level of  patriotic programming, about the history of this country, and those so well programmed by war-like religious fundamentalism,) and are replaced by enough of you, who were born into lifetimes where you had a damned chance to form your own beliefs..not a hell of a lot is going to go in any direction other than the one we're heading in right now, big picture. That's just how it looks to me from here.

So now must say my final good by to that America I once believed was my very own Heart-Land.  It was but an beautiful illusion, inserted into my soul.  

I can no longer sing  "My County, 'Tis of thee, Sweet Land of Liberty, of Thee I Sing!"

But I can still sing, in a softer, sadder voice,
"My Country, Yet To Be...Sweet Land Of liberty...of Thee I Sing.."

And I am singing it, to all of you.

Take her. She's yours now, such as she is.

Don't hate us too much please.
Most of us did the best we could, with what we believed was true.

Remember that America, as she could be, and as I believe she is intended to be, is still in the womb gestating. She has not yet truly been "born" yet: the labor is long and it is hard, and it is going to take all of you to get this baby delivered.

It won't be an easy birthing and I don't think it can be done with old methods and systems long in place, either. Those belong to an era that is passing by. If every there was a time for innovation, for blazing new pathways... it's now.

Me, well, I'm fine now. Us humans are remarkable in how much we can adapt to "whatever is", given time enough to get past all the phases of shock, denial, depression, bargaining and finally, to acceptance and peace.

I trust you. I can make my exit knowing you will do your part in this birthing process.

(Not perfectly, however. You will bumble and stumble and get lost and try to kill each other off..just as we did!)

I still can hear the fetal heartbeat of this land yet to be born and I believe she is still viable.

And somehow, I just know I will get to see it, wherever the hell I end up..even if only as dust on the wind.. :)  

 

Withdraw from Iraq?

Withdraw from the race!

Wow...the guy wasn't kidding.He's all about  change.

Jeezus H. Christ.
If this guy moves any more to the right then I'll vote for the guy.

Since when is Obama a right- winger?
I don't even recognize this guy anymore.
How long is it before we see him out there duck hunting.

"My fondest memories are shooting ducks with shotguns with my white grandfather.
I learned my first cuss word on the back of a pick-up truck"

What happened?
I thought the guy was supposed to be a flaming leftie.
Lately he is beginning to make Rush Limbaugh look like Michael Moore and Barack is turning into Archie Bunker.
I guess that makes all of us the dingbats.

He's against campaign finance reform.
He supports FISA.
He now supports carry and conceal laws and gun rights.
He believes in the death penalty for child rapers.
He now believes in restrictions for late term abortions.
He is pro-Isreal.
He wants to lower taxes.
He is now for welfare reform and apparently always was.

"It's time to get those lazy ass welfare layabouts back to work"

Next thing you know he will be telling us that he is against radical black churches and black liberation theology.
And now he even has changed his position of withdrawal from Iraq.