WATER-BOARDING...I'ts Torture!

Friday, December 28, 2007

Chris Matthews' Vampire Imitations

This soo funny!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Townsend: fear of subpoenas ‘crippling’ White House.

In an interview with the NY Times, President Bush’s outgoing homeland security aide Francis Fragos Townsend said she was concerned about “the acrimony” that hangs over Bush’s last year in office. “I find it both offensive and crippling,” she said. “When both career people and political people are worried about getting subpoenaed, it’s hard to get a lot accomplished.” Steve Benen responds, “Oh, those poor, poor White House officials. If only Congress would go back to ignoring the administration’s scandalous, sometimes criminal, behavior, the president and his aides would find it much easier to go about their business without the fear of accountability.”

Monday, December 24, 2007

Snow: Situation In Iraq Was ‘Sour’ For Only ‘15 Months’

In a new interview with Reason magazine, former White House press secretary Tony Snow attempts to whitewash the failures of the Bush administration in Iraq, claiming that the only time the situation was “sour” was for 15 months, between Feb. 2006 and early 2007:

Reason: There’s a strong sense, borne out by action or the lack thereof, that the president is impervious to his critics. So for a long time, people had been telling him that the Iraq war wasn’t going well, but he was not listening.

Snow: The critics quite often have criticisms but they don’t have recommendations. The new narrative is that somehow the Iraq war has been a failure for a long time and that everybody knows that it’s been a failure for a long time. The period when Iraq went sour was from the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samara in February 2006 until really the surge in 2007. Fifteen months, maybe?

Even out of the administration, Snow is still repeating the talking point that the Feb. 2006 bombing was the start of Iraq’s deteriorating security situation. In January, Snow also claimed that no one anticipated the “eruption of sectarian violence.” While such fighting did escalate after the bombing, it wasn’t calm before that point. A look at the pre-Samara situation one more time for Snow:

– “The numbers of car bombs, suicide car bombs and roadside bombs all doubled from 2004 to 2005.”

– In 2005, there were more U.S. casualties in Iraq (846) than there were in 2006 (821).

– On Feb. 27, 2005, Knight Ridder quoted then-Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim warning about sectarian violence, “It’s the beginning, and we could go down the slippery slope very quickly. … Both sides are sharpening their knives.”

– On Sept. 26, 2005, CBS News reported that “there is an undeclared civil war already underway in Iraq, between the Sunni minority who ruled this country under Saddam and the Shiite majority.”

Furthermore, it’s premature to declare victory in Iraq. Military commanders and other Iraq experts have warned that the “positive” momentum is “not yet irreversible” and Iraq is “going nowhere” in “political terms.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Joe Klein Gives Huckabee Political Courage Award, Ignores His Backtracking On Immigration

In his new Time column, Joe Klein hands out “Teddy Awards” — in honor of Theodore Roosevelt — to figures who have “performed honorably” in the public arena. One of his “honorable mention” recipients? Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, for his supposedly strong position supporting undocumented immigrants:

Mike Huckabee gets an honorable mention for standing by his position in favor of scholarships to public colleges for illegal immigrants who do well in high school. “We never should grind our heel in the face of a child” is a sentiment that should go without saying, but needed to be said to his Republican colleagues.

The problem with Klein’s endorsement is that Huckabee has largely abandoned his scholarships plan. It’s true that as Arkansas governor, Huckabee supported providing college assistance to undocumented immigrants.

But early this month, Huckabee announced his Secure America plan, which would require all 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States to leave within 120 days. Those who failed to do so would “face deportation if arrested and would be barred from re-entering the U.S. for 10 years.” (It’s awfully tough to get a college education if you’re forced to leave the country.)

Additionally, Huckabee recently received the endorsement of Jim Gilchrist, president of the right-wing anti-immigrant Minuteman Project.

Perhaps Klein had “neither the time nor legal background” to look into Huckabee’s record.

OUTRAGE OF THE DAY!

Friday, December 21, 2007

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

MPAA Rejects ‘Taxi To The Dark Side’ Movie Poster Because It Depicts A Hooded Detainee


Alex Gibney’s new critically-acclaimed documentary Taxi to the Dark Side follows the path of Afghan taxi driver Dilawar, who was innocent of any terrorist ties but still “tortured to death by interrogators in the U.S. prison at Bagram Air Base.” It also examines the Bush administration’s torture practices at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has rejected Taxi’s poster, displayed to the right, as being “not suitable for all audiences.” The poster for the film simply shows two soldiers walking away from the camera, holding a hooded detainee between them. Variety notes that the military has also tried to censor the photo on the poster:

The “Taxi” ad art is actually an amalgam of two pictures. The first, taken by Corbis photographer Shaun Schwarz, features the hooded prisoner and one soldier. Another military figure was added on the left. Ironically, the original Schwarz photo was censored by the military, which erased his camera’s memory. The photographer eventually retrieved the image from his hard drive.

According to ThinkFilm, which produced the documentary, the MPAA objected to the “image of the hood.” Last year, the MPAA also censored the poster for the documentary The Road to Guantanamo, because it showed a detainee “hanging by his handcuffed wrists, with a burlap sack over his head and a blindfold tied around the hood.”

As Gibney notes, Taxi is “not a horror film.” It is “a documentary and that image is a documentary image.” ThinkFilm plans to appeal the MPAA’s ruling.

More war, More war!

This idiot could only be on Faux Noise

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Prager’s Hypocrisy: Romney’s Religion Shouldn’t Matter, Ellison’s Religion ‘Undermines America’

Last November, Keith Ellison became the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress. When he announced that he was going to take the oath of office with his hand on the Koran, right-wing talk show host Dennis Prager protested, arguing that Ellison would “embolden Islamic extremists“:

He [Ellison] should not be allowed to do so — not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization. […]

Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don’t serve in Congress. […]

Ellison’s (taking the oath on the Koran) will embolden Islamic extremists and make new ones, as Islamists, rightly or wrongly, see the first sign of the realization of their greatest goal — the Islamicization of America.

Prager’s outrage was based on nothing but his own need to create controversy. What’s most interesting is that today — when a Republican candidate, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, is under attack for his Mormon beliefs — Prager seems suddenly concerned about the role religion plays in the political choices of some Americans:

(T)he theological beliefs of a public figure should matter only when one is choosing a theological leader, never a political leader — unless those beliefs form the basis of social and moral values that one abhors. It is very important to know the theological beliefs of one’s clergyman or the head of one’s seminary, but as far as the head of one’s country is concerned, only his moral and social values matter. I would much sooner vote for an agnostic whose values I shared than for a believing Christian or Jew whose values I did not share.

Ah, Dennis, but what if Romney wants to swear-in on The Book of Mormon?

Monday, December 17, 2007

Flip Flop Mitt hearts Bush

Right wing attacks CBS for ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ story.

On CBS’s 60 Minutes last night, correspondent Lesley Stahl reported that “discharges of gay soldiers” due to the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy “are dropping dramatically.” In the report, Stahl told the story of Army Sergeant Darren Manzella, who was “told to go back to work” after revealing to his battalion commander that he was gay. Speaking to CNSNews today, Matt Barber of Concerned Women for America attacked CBS for airing the story:

“If the bleeding-heart lefties over at CBS News and the SLDN really want to do something to support our troops and help the military, they should abandon their attempts to radically alter and undermine the armed forces, pipe down, put a cork in it and let our brave fighting men and women win this war on terror,” he added.

Andrew Sullivan notes how the 60 Minutes report “reveals that, in fact, wartime is the period when gay discharges routinely decline.”

Sunday, December 16, 2007

McCain laughs off ‘bomb bomb Iran’ moment.

In April, a questioner asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) if an attack on Iran was in the works. “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran,” McCain responded, to the tune of the Beach Boys’ Barbara Ann. (Watch it below). NBC’s First Read reports that, at an event in South Carolina on Saturday, a man reminded McCain of that moment and asked what he will do now in the wake of the NIE that says Iran has shut down its nuclear program:

McCain’s response: “No thanks for reminding me, you jerk. [Laughter]. I don’t know where the intelligence came from. But, if you are enriching the material then it doesn’t take long to make a nuclear weapon. Second, I don’t detect a change in Iranians behavior…they still pose a threat to our country.”

UPDATE: Back in September, when a high school student asked McCain whether he was too old and too conservative to be president, McCain responded, “Thanks for the question, you little jerk. You’re drafted.”

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Bolton On Global Warming Conference: ‘If Anyone’s Isolated Here, It’s Al Gore’

Recently, former Vice President Al Gore — to “rapturous” applause — slammed the Bush administration for being “principally responsible for obstructing progress in Bali” by opposing mandatory greenhouse gas caps.

Yesterday on Fox News, former U.N. ambassador John Bolton criticized Gore, claiming that he is “wrong” on the climate change issue. Bolton claimed that the U.S. was pursuing the right path by refusing to support mandatory limits on climate change, since Canada, Japan, Russia, and China also oppose them:

Well, not unusual for Vice President Gore to be wrong, either, as he is in this case. Of the G8 industralized democracies, four — the United States, Japan, Canada, and Russia — share our view. .. If you look at the developing countries, Brazil, India, and China all oppose these targets as well. So, the notion that this is the fault of the U.S. is wrong.

If anybody’s isolated here, I think it’s the Europeans and Al Gore. … This is a U.N. conference after all, and that’s principally what people like to do — blame us for all the problems.

Watch it:



Bolton is part of the fringe, discredited global warming denial community that claims there is still a debate on the causes of global warming. Just last month, he told the New York Times:

I don’t think the world has a correct temperature. It goes up and it goes down.

In 2005, he “recommended scrapping” over 400 passages from a 38-page U.S. draft prepared for a U.N. climate change summit, even requesting that “respect for nature” be cut from the document.

Bolton’s environmental cluelessness is underscored by his belief that India and China, two of the heaviest greenhouse gas emitters, are a model for the U.S. to follow at Bali. Furthermore, as “the only major industrialized nation to reject the Kyoto treaty, [the U.S.] is widely seen as the outcast of Bali,” noted the LA Times.

Bolton seems to think his ideological penchant for U.S. unilateralism can be used for war in the Middle East as well as climate change.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Savage: "90 percent of the people on the Nobel Committee are into child pornography and molestation, according to the latest scientific studies"

Summary: On his radio show, Michael Savage referred to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the Nobel Peace Prize, as "socialist perverts." He continued: "Why do I call them socialist perverts? Answer: because they are. By and large, 90 percent of the people on the Nobel Committee are into child pornography and molestation, according to the latest scientific studies."

Dumbass Billo' I won the war on Christmas part 2

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

After Opposing Resolutions On Ramadan And Diwali, Rep. King Introduces Christmas Bill

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) plans to take the House floor today and introduce a bill (HR 847) recognizing the “importance of Christmas and the Christian faith.”

A spokesman for King told ThinkProgress that the bill was introduced in response to previous resolutions recognizing the Muslim celebration of Ramadan and the Hindu Diwali. King, in fact, mirrored his Christmas resolution on the Ramadan one, according to the spokesman:

The Christmas resolution Congressman King has offered is only being offered because there have been two previous resolutions earlier this year in October, one for the Muslim holiday of Ramadan and one for the Hindu holiday of Diwali.

It was actually entirely unprecedented to even consider them for a vote. Religions have not been singled out and honored previously in Congress. But now that this precedent has been set, Congressman King thought it was important to honor Christmas. This is just simply the exact same language used as the Ramadan resolution on Oct 2.

Yet King didn’t even vote for the Ramadan resolution. King instead joined a handful of right-wing lawmakers, including Reps. Virgil Goode (R-VA) and Tom Tancredo (R-CO), who voted “present.” (They didn’t want to explicitly vote “no” because they didn’t want to be seen “as not commending religion in general.”)

Additionally, it’s questionable whether these religion resolutions are truly “unprecedented,” as King’s office claims. In the 109th Congress, the late JoAnn Davis (R-VA) also introduced a resolution recognizing the “the importance of the symbols and traditions of Christmas.” King voted for that bill.

Monday, December 10, 2007

FRC ties Colorado shooting to ’secular media.’

In its Action Update today, the Family Research Council (FRC) partially cast blame for the tragic shooting at a megachurch in Colorado yesterday on “the secular media.” In the e-mail, which was sent under the name of FRC Action President Tony Perkins, the group says it’s “hard not to draw a line between” the shooting and “hostility” by “some in the secular media toward Christians”:

It is hard not to draw a line between the hostility that is being fomented in our culture from some in the secular media toward Christians and evangelicals in particular and the acts of violence that took place in Colorado yesterday. But I will say no more for now other than that our friends at New Life Church and YWAM are in our thoughts and prayers.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

NBC reverses course, plans to run Freedom’s Watch ad.

After rejecting an ad by the group Freedom’s Watch which NBC claimed was too political, the network reversed course today. In a statement issued Saturday evening, NBC said: “We have reviewed and changed our ad standards guidelines and made the decision that our policy will apply to content only and not to a referenced Web site. Based on these amended standards the Freedom’s Watch ad will begin to run as early as Sunday.”

Saturday, December 8, 2007

O’Reilly: Fox News Turned Down Pro-Constitution Ad Because It Was ‘Anti-American’

The Center for Constitutional Rights recently produced an ad called “Rescue the Constitution” that criticizes the Bush administration for “destroying the Constitution” through the use of tactics like renditions and torture. Fox News refused to air the ad, claiming that it needed “documentation” that the constitution “is indeed being destroyed.”

In the ad, actor Danny Glover states, “Trials. Renditions. Torture. The Bush administration is destroying the Constitution. They can be stopped. Rescue the Constitution.”

Yesterday, while discussing NBC’s recent refusal to run an ad from the White House front group Freedom’s Watch, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly explained why Fox News turns down ads:

Yeah, but I understand why. Fox News turns down blatantly anti-American ads. We just turned one down recently. I understand that.



It is not “anti-American” to believe that President Bush has shredded the Constitution. In fact, 55 percent of voters believe Bush “has abused his powers in a way that rises to the level of impeachable offenses.”

But protecting Bush’s power is a priority for Fox News. The network previously refused to run an ad that was critical of then-Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. The decision was seen as an “effort to shield President Bush’s choice for the high court.”

Tancredo to boycott tomorrow’s Univision debate.

Tomorrow, Univision will be hosting a GOP presidential debate at 7 PM EST. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) is boycotting the event, and yesterday put out a statement criticizing the other candidates for attending:

“It is the law that to become a naturalized citizen of this country you must have knowledge and understanding of English, including a basic ability to read, write, and speak the language,” Tancredo said, in a press release e-mailed by his campaign to reporters. “So what may I ask are our presidential candidates doing participating in a Spanish speaking debate? Pandering comes to mind.”

“America has been a melting pot of people from all over the world but it can not survive as a nation if our immigrants do not assimilate. A common language is essential to that goal. Bilingualism is a great asset for any individual but it has perilous consequences for a nation. As such, a Spanish debate has no place in a presidential campaign.“

Dumbass Billy'O: Interrogation Tapes Destroyed Blame Far-Left

Friday, December 7, 2007


From Matthew Yglesias:

How, you wonder, does the CIA get away with something like destroying video evidence of illegal activity? Surely there's some congressional oversight. Well, as it turns out, there sort of is: Senator Jay Rockefeller and Rep. Jane Harman knew some of what was going on and were maybe kinda sorta upset about it, but they didn't take any public action of the sort that might have actually prevented the evidence from being destroyed. As Marty Lederman observes, "Jay Rockefeller is constantly learning of legally dubious (at best) CIA intelligence activities, and then saying nothing about them publicly until they are leaked to the press, at which point he expresses outrage and incredulity -- but reveals nothing."

The Democratic leadership really needs to start taking these Intel Committee postings more seriously. These are jobs that require smart, savvy, credible people who are prepared to wield the authority of their offices effectively. The country, by necessity, is going to have intelligence services who do a lot of things in the dark with someone minimal oversight. The burden of doing that oversight falls on the intelligence committees, and it's an extremely important job. Time and again Rockefeller looks not ready for prime time.

O’Reilly: Progressive blog readers = ‘devil worshippers.’




On Fox News yesterday, Bill O’Reilly let loose on “far-left websites” like DailyKos, stating, “If you read these far-left websites, you’re a devil worshipper. You are.” O’Reilly’s ombudsman responded, “As a journalist, you know better than that.” O’Reilly shot back: “Satan is running the DailyKos. Yes, he is!”

At the end of the segment, O’Reilly said, “That was a little satire there…don’t get too upset about it.” But he then added, “I still think they are satanists.”

Thursday, December 6, 2007

MEDIA BIAS...MY ASS

Former Bush communications director Dan Bartlett gives his views on the political press:


TM: Do you think the press corps is responsible for putting that word out—that the president was lying [about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq]?

BARTLETT: I don’t think they’re purposely doing it. Look, I get asked the question all the time: How do you deal with them when they’re all liberal? I’ve found that most of them are not ideologically driven. Do I think that a lot of them don’t agree with the president? No doubt about it. But impact, above all else, is what matters. All they’re worried about is, can I have the front-page byline? Can I lead the evening newscast? And unfortunately, that requires them to not do in-depth studies about President Bush’s health care plan or No Child Left Behind. It’s who’s up, who’s down: Cheney hates Condi, Condi hates Cheney.

This seems like a shockingly reasonable assessment of the situation. One might add that a huge amount of the problem is lock-in. If the incentives facing the people who do this kind of coverage point in the direction of pointless, dumb stories then people who are strongly averse to doing that kind of work tend to get out of the business. Those who succeed are the ones who not only understand the incentive structure but who embrace it, thus further re-inscribing it.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Savage echoes Rush: Gay general is a ‘phony general.’

At a recent CNN/YouTube presidential debate, Brig. Gen. Keith Kerr, an openly gay man, asked the Republican candidates why they “think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians.” On his radio show yesterday, right-wing host Michael Savage said that Kerr is a “gay, phony general“:

CNN is a bear trap for anybody conservative. Look what they did the other night, last week rather, with the YouTube/CNN debate, when they put a planted, gay, phony general in the audience to throw out a question, and then Anderson Cooper followed up with intelligible, “Did you get the question answered adequately?” That’s your idea of a fair debate? It’s like a Stalinist show trial.

Savage’s line echoes that of Rush Limbaugh, who recently attacked soldiers who speak out against the Iraq war as “phony soldiers.”

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Bill O'Reilly vs. The USO & Drowning Pool

Bill O'Reilly is an irrelevant, lying, moron....and this proves it.


Does the U.S. tolerate anti-Muslim speech?

From Think Progress: In October, right-wing radio host Michael Savage went on an anti-Muslim tirade on his show: I’m not gonna put my wife in a hijab. And I’m not gonna put my daughter in a burqa. And I’m not gettin on my all-fours and braying to Mecca. And you could drop dead if you don’t like it. You can shove it up your pipe. I don’t wanna hear anymore about Islam. I don’t wanna hear one more word about Islam. Take your religion and shove it up your behind. I’m sick of you. Since that time, a “handful” of companies have pulled their advertising from Savage’s show. But he’s still on air. According to a piece in the Christian Science Monitor today, “That leaves many Muslims-Americans — and non-Muslims like Mr. Gronseth — suspicious that Americans have a double standard when it comes to Islam.”

UPDATE: Yesterday, Savage sued the Islamic civil rights organization CAIR for “copyright infringement over the organization’s use of a 4-minute segment of his show in which he called the Quran a ‘book of hate.’“

Monday, December 3, 2007

CT-04 Chris Shays should resign...

and go to work for Blackwater. This video is about 2 months old but i can't resist posting it, try not to get sick it's messy.

WATCH NOW:

Craig: I’m still not gay

After the Idaho Stateman reported five separate new accounts of gay men claiming to have encounters with Larry Craig (in addition to three earlier reports), the Idaho senator has responded by sticking with his claim that he’s never been gay. A statement from Craig:

It is unfortunate that the Idaho Statesman has chosen to continue to lower itself to the standards of what can best be described as tabloid journalism. Like its previous coverage, these latest allegations are completely false and have no basis in reality.

In fact, the paper itself states that these baseless accusations contain no definitive evidence yet they still decided to print them anyway. However, despite the fact the Idaho Statesman has decided to pursue its own agenda and print these falsehoods without any facts to back them up, I won’t let this paper’s attempt to malign my name stop me from continuing my work to serve the people of Idaho.

In August, Craig said it was the Idaho paper’s fault that he pled guilty to disorderly conduct.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Blogs thrive because people like David Gregory Fail to report

From Think Progress
David Gregory: Blogs are to blame for polarization: At a National Press Club event earlier this week, NBC White House correspondent David Gregory argued that, because is so much polarization in politics today, “people try to divine or assign our motives” for asking certain questions at the White House press briefings. When Helen Thomas asked Gregory what was responsible for the polarization, Gregory answered:

I think it’s because of the internet largely. The polarized atmosphere in the internet and blogs and whatnot have been a major contributor to that.

Watch it:

In February — at a similar event at the Press Club — Gregory pointed the finger at blogs for the reason that “politics and political coverage has become so polarized.” Glenn Greenwald wrote at the time:

The reality, of course, is that most media-criticizing bloggers do not want journalists to be “political advocates.” They want them to do what journalists are supposed to do — which is not…sit around with their good, trustworthy, nice-guy friends in the White House and simply “ask questions” and “get information,” but instead to scrutinize that information, treat it with doubt, investigate it before passing it along to determine whether it’s true.

And the reason bloggers want them to do that, the reason that bloggers demand more of journalists…is not because bloggers are enraged, confused, unreasonable partisans. It’s because bloggers are American citizens who are deeply concerned about what has happened to their country over the last six years.

New York Public Library Criminal Mug Shot Art Of Pres. Bush

ANOTHER FAKE OUTRAGE FROM FAUX NOISE

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Glen Beck is a dick

Media Matters - Beck invoked purported "reconquista" movement in discussion of rioting in France: "Summary: In discussing recent riots in Paris suburbs with guest Steve Emerson, Glenn Beck likened the rioting there to the purported situation in the American Southwest, where '[y]ou've got people coming here that have no intention of being Americans. They say, you know, 'Hey, this is our land. We deserve it back.'' Beck's question invoked the 'reconquista' concept initially spread by a 'vitriolic Mexican-basher' and perpetuated by some conservatives, including Michelle Malkin and Pat Buchanan. "

Friday, November 30, 2007

BREAKING NEWS

Ann Coulter takes hostages at Hillary Clinton campaign office in Rochester, NH. Witness's thought it was a man with a bomb, when in-fact it's Ann Coulter

Thursday, November 29, 2007

O’Reilly declares a ‘great victory’ in ‘War on Christmas.’

Earlier this month, ThinkProgress noted that Fox News host Bill O’Reilly had reignited his annual conniption fit over a perceived “War on Christmas,” taking aim at the Fort Collins, CO City Council’s consideration of a plan to eschew publicly-funded displays of traditional Christmas decorations. Last week, the council voted to continue using traditional decorations. Now O’Reilly is gloating, calling it “a great victory” in his War:

BILL O’REILLY: Also in Fort Collins, Colorado, the anti-Christmas task force, which recommended banning traditional decorations on public property has been rebuffed. The folks said no. …It’s a great victory.

Rep. Hoekstra Was Source Of Joe Klein’s FISA Lies, Decries ‘Paranoid,’ ‘Self-Absorbed’ ‘Far-Left Critics’

In Time Magazine last week, columnist Joe Klein baselessly claimed that Democrats’ proposal fix to FISA would require “every foreign-terrorist target’s calls to be approved by the FISA court.”

Today, House Intelligence Committee member and “Bush loyalist” Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) revealed that he was a “source” for Klein’s error-filled column, and proudly defends Klein in a column titled “Klein Kerfluffle” in the National Review.

In his original column, Klein insisted that Democrats’ legislation to provide constitutional protections for government surveillance of Americans, or the RESTORE Act, would require a court order to spy on foreign terrorists (Klein has since recanted these statements). In the column, Hoekstra insists that “Klein was correct in his original contention.” In reality, as the legislation clearly states:

A court order is not required for electronic surveillance directed at the acquisition of the contents of any communication between persons that are not known to be United States persons .

Klein ignorantly claimed the RESTORE Act “would give terrorists the same legal protections as Americans.” Hoekstra adds that Klein’s assertions are a “demonstratable fact.” Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ), a chief author of the RESTORE Act, countered that the legislation does exactly the opposite:

This bill provides exactly what the Director of National Intelligence asked for earlier this year: it explicitly states that no court order is required to listen to the conversations of foreigners that happen to pass through the U.S. telecommunications system. It does not grant Constitutional rights to foreign terrorists.

In his National Review piece, Hoekstra repeatedly attacks the progressive bloggers as “civil liberties extremists,” stating that a “belief that efforts to target al-Qaeda operatives in foreign countries” may involve U.S. citizens is evidence of “self-absorption” and “paranoia.” “The issue is not nor has it ever been about surveillance of Americans,” he alleges.

But under the hastily-passed Protect America Act, there are “virtually no protections” for U.S. callers in international communications, leaving surveillance authority to the administration. In fact, 61 percent of voters favor court protections for surveillance of Americans.

Marcy Wheeler notes that Hoekstra “is nuts, and very much in the business of creating propaganda.” And Joe Klein is willing to blindly publish whatever lies Hoekstra spews to him.

MITT ROMNEY HATES KIDS

Mitt romney wants to kick 10 year old's out of school if there parents came here illeagly! Why oh why...ther fucking crazy

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Republicans support JOHN EDWARDS

A women in the cnn focus group was asked who she supported and her responce was she supported John Edwards...funny things goin at them republicans debate!

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