Actually, Rove, Addington, Cheney and all the other plotters in the overthrow of the Constitution likely know every line number, syllable and placement of punctuation. You can't game the system without knowing the system.

And that is the neocon, Republican bottom line: This crew do not like the principles on which this country is based, and have been very, very determined to pull it all apart.

Know your enemy and all that yada yada snore.

And they have been extremely successful in this now 30 year long back-channel overthrow. There is deep-tissue and organ damage to the living breathing frame of the Constitution and country, and we may be just this one election away from seeing fruition of their plans.

When Reagan (and Podhoretz and Robertson and others) began this overthrow, intoning that "the government doesn't solve problems; government is the problem," what the heck else can that mean?

The Reagan Revolution was exactly that: A revolution, intent on overthrowing that most liberal of documents, our Constitution, and replacing with... . Well, with the mess we see around us today.

The one word response is indeed the perfect response: Enough!

Posted at October 4, 2008 3:10 AM in response to The WashU Atmosphere Today (And Why Palin May Need Shock Therapy More Than Thomas Eagleton)

What drives me crazy on that tired, old "he has no experience but..." line (and there should be an ad out there running as follows):

He had training as a lawyer. Who seriously trusts lawyers?

He only served several terms in the Illinois Senate. How does that prepare you to take charge of national issues — especially in such times of crisis?

He only has one complete term in US Congress — and yet he says that's enough to lead us?

Seriously. Do not be fooled by such inexperience!

Do not vote for ABRAHAM LINCOLN!

Posted at October 4, 2008 2:50 AM in response to Krauthammer Gives The Race To Obama

It is only with a very guarded optimism that I recall how close the polls were between Ronald Reagan and Fritz Mondale in the 80s (yes...I'm that old; in fact old enough to remember seeing Eisenhower deliver speeches on TV -- but I was very, very young then):

One poll (Newsweek) showed Mondale beating Reagan by 18 points not too long before the actual election.

But that poll (and quite a few others) did not gauge the depth of new "Reagan Democrat" or religious-right support. Reagan beat Mondale in a landslide.

Don't read me wrong: I believe Reagan was one of the worst things visited upon this republic, since he started the whole slippery slope that leads directly to the quagmire we are in today. They were not kidding when they call the movement he started a revolution.

That he won isn't the point, but that the pollsters totally missed polling a large sector of the populace brought out by his (snake oil) charisma.

At least we now have a choice whose charisma does not appear to arise from some dark netherworld. And I don't mean McShame: That one has a hole in his soul.

Posted at September 30, 2008 3:50 PM in response to Obama Maintains Big Lead In Today's Tracking Polls

EastWest

Worth noting:

• Domestic spying without court authorization at that time was a felony
• Any statute of limitations on such a felony will still be in effect even after the DoJ is purged of the neo-fascists put in place under Bush the Lesser
• If a conspiracy to commit a felony complete with actions designed to cover up their role in the crime is proven with some RICO-like twist, the whole pack of them could be standing before a judge facing hard time in prison
• How can it not be proven, since they have already admitted to it?
• This is wa-a-a-ay beyond simple impeachment, since all impeachment does is remove the offender from office

Once the DoJ is freed from its current neo-con servitude, this could be completely out of the hands of Congress and placed where it belongs.

In court.

They are deep-Red criminals. If any energy is directed anywhere, it should be in pressuring whoever is Attorney General under President Obama to whip up a grand jury as soon as they're sworn in and have purged a sufficient number of equal-justice-refuseniks left over from Bush the Lesser, Ashcroft, Gonzalez and Mukasey.

Posted at September 28, 2008 1:18 AM in response to Report: Gonzo Told Investigators That Bush Directed Him To Ashcroft's Hospital Bed

Of course Allen would be their minority outreach specialist...

...in exactly the same, cynical, in-your-face, "we don't give a s**t about your creamy-soft-center sensitivities" way that Palin was chosen to attract the "disenfranchised" female vote.

It is the manifestation of all-things-Orwell made flesh. The Ministry of Love wages war, the Ministry of Truth spews lies and rewrites history on-the-fly.

Remember, these who literally screwed this country into the ground in every way -- political standing in the world, economy, outsourcing the core functions of the federal government, putting dysfunctional cronies in charge of our safety and health -- are now "reformers" too.

But, then, they have been re-forming this country in ways it was never meant to go for almost 30 years now.

And the creamy-soft-center of the voting populace, the "swing voters" lo these past 30 years, have been happily lapping up this milk of human meanness, while the vast majority failed to go to the polls.

That has given them a comfort and confidence that allows them to make such obvious moves, transparency of such poke in the eye audacity.

So, to stay with the trite, we have an honor bound obligation to put truth to the tired old concept that pride goeth before the fall, eh?

They are school-yard bullies who have literally been stealing our lunch money for way too long. It must stop, and it must stop now.

Well, okay... in November.

Posted at September 19, 2008 1:01 AM in response to Virginia GOP Planning Rally To Reach Out To Minorities -- Starring George Allen!

To LBJ's Brain(less shadow):

As to the body of people attempting to obstruct a citizen's right to cast their vote?

Not a single Democrat. What a surprise.

Posted at September 17, 2008 2:07 AM in response to Senators Seek DOJ's Help in Preventing Disenfranchisement of Voters Losing Homes

Okay, maybe "stupid" is not the correct term to use here.

Perhaps the phrase "mob mentality" gets closer to the idea, and what is suggested was the concern of federalists (vs. the states-rights idealogues that the current Republicans say are their ideological ancestors).

The idea that groups of people will do radical things that separate individuals would never consider doing if their most base feelings are manipulated is an old, old understanding, and has been shown to be real.

For that, just think about stuff like a mob that, after their favored sports team loses a game, floods into the streets, flips cars and sets them on fire.

That could easily be viewed as a stupid thing to do, since it's only a frakking game, right? But we've all seen it happen, more than once.

That's where the whole criminal charge "inciting to riot" came from: The idea that large groups of people can have their emotions whipped-up to the point they end up doing very stupid things that make no sense when looked back on with a "cooler head" after the mob frenzy has passed. It's a criminal activity because individuals (or organized groups) consciously manipulate group reactions precisely to goad them into doing something damaging, to doing something "stupid" (read that: Actions that go against the individual mob members' own self-interests).

Posted at September 13, 2008 12:26 PM in response to Are the Voters Wrong or Stupid? And are You a Federalist or a Small-D democrat

About the use of "Barracuda": Did you hear the Wilson sisters had their lawyers slap a cease-and-desist on McCain-Palin using their song?

Oh, Jackson Browne, you are such a trend-setter (sorry Fogerty, I'm not forgetting you either)!

Posted at September 5, 2008 11:40 PM in response to McCain Speech: Smothering Palin's Sizzle?

Up front disclaimer: I'm really just responding to the front page title, "We have to catch up to history."

Of course he does. Because if it ever catches up to him (or Palin)... .

Sadly, unless we become more active to counterbalance the MSM McCain-leaning bias, in some form of more organized manner, and leave it to the MSM to distort history into the very thing McCain wants, then history will catch up to all of us.

When/if it does? Poof! No more Constitution (there's little enough of it left already after the last 8 neo-fascistic years). Blam! The DoJ stays Republican and no Republican political wrongdoing will ever be punished again. Ever.

You think the Supreme Court is conservative now? Just wait until McCain delegates our dear Pentecostal Sarah Palin to vet the next one or two SC justice nominees.

Instead of asking "What makes you want to serve George Bush," as DoJ applicants have been over the past eight years it will likely be "What makes you want to stand out of the way when we incorporate our national fundamentalist Christian religion with [name your branch of government]?" or "Tell me all the things that are good about deleting the National Science Foundation and replacing it with the True Word of creation 'science'?"

But, then, since McCain's handlers told us a few weeks ago that he does not speak for the campaign (Lieberman, anyone?), perhaps those handlers will tackle the responsibility themselves, Right?

Yup. They are the new change-agents on the block, by (Pentecostal) God!, and the change they bring is the one started by Bush/Cheney -- the coup de grace to our former Constitutional way of life.

That's the history that needs to be caught up with.

Posted at September 5, 2008 11:36 PM in response to McCain Speech: Smothering Palin's Sizzle?

Thera: That is not the first time he has said that.

You know, like his bulls**t about "country first" and the fact that on Monday he was doing his impersonation of empathy for Gustav victims: That is when he (and all the other talking-point-mantra-spewing neos) said:

"There are moments when we have to take off our political hats and put on our patriotic ones... ."

Okay. Call me nit-picky. There are only moments for patriotism??? Doesn't that mean politics first then?

And then there is that phrase "have to".

Doesn't that sound like they are forced to place country before politics? I mean, isn't "need to" or "want to" maybe a little more empathic after all?

Certainly a political gaff in that language -- where "gaff" is defined as accidentally telling the truth.

Sort of like the headline I really wanted to see over the Palin pick: McCain's Will Broken By Demands From Rabid Right (because he really, really wanted to pick Lieberman but was told by his handlers that he couldn't).

But, as we know, those handlers already told us that McCain does not speak for his own campaign, Right?

Posted at September 4, 2008 8:13 PM in response to McCain's Speech: Obama Doesn't Have "The Scars" That I Have