Stupid Is As Stupid Does

I generally don't watch Glenn Beck on Fox or John Stossel on 20/20 because they both speak nonsense...but this video is a good laugh!!!

'Eating Endangered Animals' - 05/08/09

The Plan To Save The GOP

From Mark Fiore: WATCH

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Republican
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Jesse Ventura Speaks Out

Jesse Ventura, the former Governor of MN, was a recent guest on the Larry King show. Ventura, a former Navy SEAL, indicated that he had completed the SERE program, Survival Escape Resistance Evasion. As part of that program he experienced being water boarded.

VENTURA: It was a required school you had to go to prior to going into the combat zone, which in my era was Vietnam. All of us had to go there. We were all, in essence -- every one of us was water boarded. It is torture.

Larry King asked Ventura what it was like to be water boarded. Jesse tells it like it is:

VENTURA: It's drowning. It gives you the complete sensation that you are drowning. It is no good, because you -- I'll put it to you this way, you give me a water board, Dick Cheney and one hour, and I'll have him confess to the Sharon Tate murders.

King also asked about Cheney and whether Rush Limbaugh was a better Republican than Colin Powell.

VENTURA: I don't have a lot of respect for Dick Cheney. Here's a guy who got five deferments from the Vietnam War. Clearly, he's a coward. He wouldn't go when it was his time to go. And now he is a chicken hawk. Now he is this big tough guy who wants this hardcore policy. And he's the guy that sanctioned all this torture by calling it enhanced interrogation.

KING: Do you think Rush Limbaugh's a better Republican than Colin Powell?

VENTURA: No, not at all. In fact, if you compare the two, let's look at Colin Powell, who's a war hero, who strapped it on for his country, and didn't run and hide.

KING: Twice.

VENTURA: And then you look at Dick Cheney who ran and hid. I have no respect for Dick Cheney. I have tremendous respect for General Powell.

Torture Report Contradicts Cheney

Waterboarding Neither "Efficacious Or Medically Safe"

From Gregg Sargent's The Plum Line:

There’s a big piece of news about Dick Cheney and torture buried toward the end of this big Washington Post piece about the torture wars.

Specifically: The White House has decided to declassify and release a classified 2004 CIA report about the torture program that is reported to have found no proof that torture foiled any terror plots on American soil — directly contradicting Cheney’s claims. The paper cites “allies” of the White House as a source.

Dem Congressional staffers tell me this report is the “holy grail,” because it is expected to detail torture in unprecedented detail and to cast doubt on the claim that torture works — and its release will almost certainly trigger howls of protest from conservatives. [...]

Here’s the key nugget from the Post piece:

Government officials familiar with the CIA’s early interrogations say the most powerful evidence of apparent excesses is contained in the “top secret” May 7, 2004, inspector general report, based on more than 100 interviews, a review of the videotapes and 38,000 pages of documents. The full report remains closely held, although White House officials have told political allies that they intend to declassify it for public release when the debate quiets over last month’s release of the Justice Department’s interrogation memos…

Although some useful information was produced, the report concluded that “it is difficult to determine conclusively whether interrogations have provided information critical to interdicting specific imminent attacks,” according to the Justice Department’s declassified summary of it.

This news is particularly timely in light of Cheney’s continuing high-profile claims that torture may have saved “hundreds of thousands of lives.”

Sam Stein from Huffington Post notes:

But there is no need to wait for the report's declassification. Information from its pages was already made public in the footnotes of the Office of Legal Counsel memos written by Steven Bradbury in 2005 and released by the current administration less than one month ago.

And the conclusion seems pretty clear: Not only did interrogators, for a period of time, use waterboarding that was deemed by U.S. officials to be more frequent and intense than was medically safe, it did so to apparently limited results.

As the Huffington Post reported back in mid-April, on a footnote on Page 41 of the Bradbury memo, it is written that "Agency interrogator[s]" had "in some cases" used the waterboard in a manner different than the way "used in the [the Marine Corps' Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape] SERE training."

"The difference was in the manner in which the detainee's breathing was obstructed," read the footnote, citing the IG report. "At the SERE school and in the DoJ opinion, the subject's airflow is disrupted by the firm application of a damp cloth over the air passages; the interrogator applies a small amount of water to the cloth in a controlled manner. By contrast, the Agency interrogator... applied large volumes of water to a cloth that covered the detainee's mouth and nose." [...]

The important things to take away from the footnote seem clear: for a period of time interrogators were using the waterboard with a "frequency and cumulative use" that had to be toned down. Moreover, they were doing it in a way that was determined to not be "efficacious."

The officials tasked with crafting and implementing the interrogation methods adjusted the techniques to fit within the legal parameters set forth by the Bush Department of Justice. But for a period of time, they were operating in excess and outside those bounds.

New DNC AD

GOP Survivor

The Four G's

"Guns, Gays, God and Go Home"

New American Media ponders the direction of the Republican Party.

Some Republicans believe that the GOP must broaden its tent, and change its mantra of "Guns, Gays and God." Others seem to think the party should strengthen its conservative base, and that the new message should include: "Go home!" [...]

Whether they are conservative or moderate, Republicans seem to agree that the United States has the inherent right to wage war on the world. The only difference is that some believe that this right comes directly from God, whereas the others believe it is simply a cultural or even genetic right -- due to American exceptionalism.

Tana Ganeva at AlterNet finds that while the Republican Party talks of change some factions are acting like its 1992.

One of the GOP’s all-time favorite talking points — the racist, classist (and non-existent in real life) specter of welfare recipients living large on the government’s dime — appears to be making a comeback, this time inspired by a Massachusetts car ownership program for welfare recipients.

A Fox Nation headline proclaims in outrage: “What?? Free Wheels for Welfare Recipients!”

Clicking through to the actual article, or course, reveals that the program’s beneficiaries are hardly awash in luxury. And, despite the fact that the article itself is laughably biased — one brief quote by an advocate of the program, sandwiched between three quotes by Republicans bloviating about government waste — it’s pretty easy to figure out that the program is not exactly a harbinger of socialism.

The state does not pay for the cars, but rather “... the car’s insurance, inspection, excise tax, title, registration, repairs and a AAA membership.” (The cars are supplied by non-profits.) Applicants have to show that they are either employed, or are actively looking for work. In order to get the cars, they have to prove that it is impossible for them to reach work using public transportation. Only families with children are eligible. And on and on.

You may have already surmised much of this, because you’re not an idiot. The same cannot be said for Fox Nation readers.

Change is not easy for the Republican Party. One faction seems to want to move forward while another faction of the GOP is looking back.

Citigroup Calls it a Choice

Scenerio:

Citigroup takes bailout funds, $45 billion
Citigroup spends bailout money on emails to student loan borrowers
Citigroup wants students who have loans to sabotage the Obama plan by
signing the Petition for Choice and Competition in Federal Student Loans

TPM has the story:

Obama has been talking about overhauling student loans since at least 2007, echoing GAO estimates that banks had been taking in $15 million a day peddling and securitizing private student loans without taking on any risk, since student loans are guaranteed by the government and cannot even be discharged in a bankruptcy. The "most controversial" aspect of his proposed legislation, according to the New York Times, would cut out the proverbial middleman so all students could borrow directly from the government. Any "controversy," of course, is likely to be fomented by the banks that make money off the arrangement -- as Citigroup's letter would seem to indicate.

Citibank The Student Loan Corporation

May 7, 2009

Dear [Redacted],

Thank you for the opportunity to help you obtain the education of your choice. As a student loan provider for the past 50 years, Citi has provided financial aid assistance to millions of students and parents nationwide.

Given the challenging economy and continued increases in the cost of higher education, it is critical that the U.S. student lending system serves the best interests of students and their families. If you believe that competition and choice among student loan providers is valuable, you have an opportunity to make your voice heard.

Why Get Involved?
The government budget outline proposes offering federal student loans solely through the federal government's Direct Lending Program starting July of next year. While this proposal will not impact a borrower's ability to obtain a federal student loan, it will eliminate your ability to choose a student loan provider. It will also substantially increase the national debt since each and every federally-insured student loan will be funded by the Federal Treasury through the issuance of treasury securities. This proposal impacts you as a citizen - both as a taxpayer and as a borrower.

Why Does Competition And Choice Matter?
Without private lender involvement through the Federal Family Education Loan Program, students and their families will not enjoy the benefits that competition has made possible for more than 40 years. This competition has provided not only a choice of lenders, but also innovative products and services, such as:

* a variety of borrower benefits that lower your cost of borrowing
* financial literacy programs that educate you on how to borrow responsibly
* web-based tools and resources to advise you about your financing options
* default prevention services to help you pay back your loans

Competition also has driven increased customer satisfaction as a result of the responsiveness, personal attention and on-campus support that student loan lenders have provided to borrowers and schools nationwide.

Make Your Voice Heard
If you value the ability to shop for, evaluate and choose your student loan provider, make your voice heard by contacting your Members of Congress and by signing one of the online petitions that support borrower choice and competition in federal student lending.

Sincerely,

The Student Loan Corporation

And that, we suppose, is just another example of grassroots democracy in action: petition supporters stand at 8712 and counting.

Intelligent Design

The Adelaide Zoo in Australia was closed for several hours on Mother's Day due to the attempted escape of a 27-year-old orangutan named Karta. She had the intelligence to short-circuit electrical wires and build a make-shift ladder to climb a fence in order to escape.

CULT-LIKE QUALITIES....

From Steve Benen at The Washington Monthly:

CNN's Bill Schneider is hardly a liberal voice in media. He's a resident fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank, and has offered some nasty anti-Democratic rhetoric on the air. So, when the CNN analyst spoke at UCLA yesterday, these weren't the kind of remarks most expected.

"The Republicans aren't a party, they're a cult."

"The moderates aren't a wing of the Republicans, they're a feather."

In each case, Schneider said he was quoting what people in Washington are saying to him. But he didn't seem to disagree.

As for the "cult" comment, Kevin Drum twists the knife: "[T]oday's GOP does seem to check most of the boxes in the International Cultic Studies Association's 'Characteristics Associated with Cultic Groups.' Except for this one: 'The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.' That doesn't seem to be much of a priority for them these days."

Ouch.

The Ultimate Mother

MOTHER EARTH

A Very ...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

All you Mothers!!

'Moderate' is not a Republican Word

Former VP Dick Cheney was on Face the Nation. When asked whether he would side with Powell over Rush Limbaugh about the future of the GOP (moderation vs. doubling down on core principles) he rejected moderates and chose Gingrich over Powell.

If I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I'd go with Rush Limbaugh. My take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn't know he was still a Republican.

Slightly taken aback, host Bob Schieffer asked Cheney whether he truly thought Powell was "not a Republican."

I just noted he endorsed the Democratic candidate for president this time, Barack Obama. I assumed that that is some indication of his loyalty and his interest

While Cheney defined the move as a product of Powell's changing politics; Limbaugh has insisted the endorsement was race-based.

Today on ABC's This Week, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) also said, "I don't want to moderate either. I think our policies, the principles of our party, are as viable today as they have been in the past."

Charlie Brooker on the American News Media

Very Funny!

The Sunday Morning Line-Up

It's the GOP 'Where Are They Now' Sunday.

• ABC, This Week: Gen. David Petraeus, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

• CBS, Face The Nation: Former VP Dick Cheney

• CNN, State Of The Union: Gen. David Petraeus

• Fox News Sunday: Gen. David Petraeus, former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)

• NBC, Meet The Press: Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan; Asif Ali Zardari, President of Pakistan

Why is the media giving former VP Cheney a platform? Where are the Democrats?

We're In or You're Out

Barack Obama: "We're all in this together." WATCH:

Recently Dick Cheney spoke on the issue of the number of mainstream conservatives dwindling in the Republican Party. When asked if the Republican Party needs to moderate as, Colin Powell suggested, Cheney said, "it would be a mistake for [the GOP] to moderate" its policy views. LISTEN:



CNN reports:

Days after national Republicans launched a new campaign to broaden the party's outreach, former upstart presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says the GOP is at risk of becoming "irrelevant as the Whigs."

"Throw the social conservatives the pro-life, pro-family people overboard and the Republican party will be as irrelevant as the Whigs."

The GOP: "It's my way or no way."