The Liberal Doomsayer My blog deals primarily with national politics in the U.S. as well as, on occasion, local politics in Pennsylvania. From time to time, I may have something to say about sports and entertainment as well. I try to interpret information that shapes the news and provide context to current events. I am definitely left of center politically, but as far as I'm concerned, neither major party is perfect. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 28 0 2 4214

Articles from The Liberal Doomsayer

“Senator Honor And Virtue” Rages In Fury! 2007-12-11 14:32:00 Well, I guess “Straight Talk” McCain had to do something to let the world know that his campaign still had a pulse (here)…Senator John McCain had harsh words Tuesday for the Democrats both in Congress and on the campaign trail, accusing them of putting politics ahead of national security.“I can only draw one conclusion from what the Democrats are trying to do today…” McCain said in Inman, South Carolina, “is that their political priorities have taken over their dedication to our nation’s security. And I don’t say that lightly.”Of course not. And I know you didn't enjoy it either...On Monday McCain, R.-Ariz., sent a letter chastising the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org for calling on Democratic presidential candidates to filibuster the war funding bill before Congress. Tuesday, he tied those Democrats to the group.“These are good men and women on the other side of the aisle,” McCain said, “but they’re being driven by the most radical left wing organization ...

Another Sneaky Stolberg Slam 2007-12-11 13:30:00 In her ongoing quest to make our red state president look legitimate, Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times communicates more nonsense in her profile of Ed Gillespie, who is once more pulling Repug strings in an effort to perpetuate confrontation every chance he gets.Bringing Gillespie on board, by the way, was a “by the numbers” move for a regime that has nothing whatsoever to offer for this country except the almighty “base,” thus making way for diversionary attacks of the opposition dutifully spun by our corporate media as politics as usual (but of course, when the Dems do anything like this, along comes David Broder and the Robertses to say "tut tut" and preach about how wonderful it is to achieve a "consensus," provided it's approved by the Repugs, of course).Anyway, Stolberg brought us the following today, again regarding Gillespie and his way of doing business…And Democrats have provided targets, by waiting until two months into the new fiscal year to finish their ...

Ignoring The War Won't Work, BoBo 2007-12-11 11:31:00 God, I wish David Brooks had stayed in China (he wrote some columns from there recently).I don’t know what it says even about a person as disreputable as a member of our pundit class that he or she would consider the 2008 campaign “a postwar election,” as if somehow “the splurge” had just work so magnificently that Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki had managed to achieve unity in his government at long last and started hitting those “milestones” that seem to be drifting further and further out of sight (something that would be pretty miraculous anyway considering that the Iraqi parliament just took another recess).(By the way, the most current info I can find on those milestones Iraq’s “government” is supposed to meet is from last spring. If anyone knows of anything more current, please leave word on that.)But such fiction is what Brooks concocted in his New York Times column today (with Greg Mitchell of Editor and Publisher quite rightly taking Brooks to task here, providin ...

A History Lesson For Bushco 2007-12-11 08:02:00 I sincerely hope that White House flak Dana Perino can take a few minutes from her busy day of misinforming our corporate lap dog media, as well as talking down to Helen Thomas, to learn about the Cuban Missile Crisis (and no, I'm not talking about the mixed alcoholic drink served at Red Square at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas), since she has professed ignorance on that subject.And as for this clip of President Kennedy addressing the nation on the subject, all we can do is recall a better time and keep working for impeachment of these Republican criminals who, short of that, still have about 400 days to go in office (and the obscenities perpetrated under their watch grow more despicable by the minute).Joseph A. Palermo of HuffPo has more.Update 12/12/07: And regarding the "more despicable by the minute" Kos link (h/t Atrios)... ... History

Monday Videos 2007-12-10 22:55:00 Band Of Horses ("Is There A Ghost"; first time I ever saw a pillow fight riot in a music video, I must say)......and believe it or not, Otis Redding was killed in a plane crash 40 years ago (!) today ("I've Got Dreams To Remember" - another great YouTube fan video). ...

Monday Political Stuff 2007-12-10 22:37:00 And now, Rudy ("I Don't Make Many Mistakes, But When I Do, They're Big Ones") Giuliani in action (God, I will never watch the Sunday morning gab fests again; Russert is almost APOLOGIZING as he fawns over this cretin - hat tips to Atrios and TPM)......and I just came across this from Brave New Films ("The Art Of Mental Warfare"), with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails (I don't quite agree with all of these juxtapositions, but understand that Rudy "Giggliani" is very much a part of the mix here, though he just has a lower profile relative to Dubya, Deadeye Dick, Rummy, Turd Blossom, etc. - this has very graphic war footage). ...

All The News That Stinks 2007-12-10 16:55:00 Staying with the New York Times, I should note that, of all of the ridiculous media spectacles we’ve seen recently, I think the faux outrage by Peter Osnos over the furor caused by the snippet of Scott McClellan’s book is right up there among journamalism most stupid moments of the year.(Note: This will be recalled when the time comes for “Doomsy’s Do-Gooders and Dregs,” and I’m going to start really early with that – next week, probably – instead of waiting until New Years’ Eve as I have in the past. I’ve got a ton of stuff, and it’s not going to be possible to produce it at once.)This prior post tells us that the following excerpt was published:“The most powerful leader in the world had called upon me to speak on his behalf and help restore credibility he lost amid the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. So I stood at the White House briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly ex ...

Mike "Ooga Booga" McConnell is BAACK! 2007-12-10 15:12:00 I’ve just finished digesting this Op-Ed written in today’s New York Times by Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, and I have to admit that I’m a bit stunned.I also believe this column should be read by every voter in this country, because doing so will confirm once and for all and for all time that the Bushco regime will NEVER capitulate on any matter with the “Democrat” congress.McConnell’s column is shameless fear mongering and propagandizing from the nearly first word to the very last. At best, it is merely an idiotic rehash of familiar, erroneous GOP talking points. At worst, it is absolutely dreadful in its utter denial of reality.It is utterly uncompromising in its goal of making sure that FISA remains a dead, rotting carcass of a law intended to maintain governmental checks and balances on our domestic and international spying.Basically, it is Bushco in a nutshell.So, where to begin?Before the Protect America Act was enacted, to monitor the communic ...

A John Edwards Campaign Update 2007-12-10 11:10:00 Just a bit of information here – nothing in depth…This Yahoo News story tells us that actors Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon are going to campaign with Edwards in Iowa, with actresses Jean Smart and Madeleine Stowe having already done so (Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne appeared for Edwards also).Yeah, yeah, “who cares about celebrity endorsements,” I hear you ask. And that’s a good question for anyone, but also for the people of Iowa who probably don’t care about anyone not from their area coming from out of town and trying to persuade them (and I don’t blame them either).And it’s a particularly good question given that Valley News Today of Des Moines has come out for Edwards here (I’ll be honest and admit that Edwards reached a bit too far in saying he’d deny health care to members of Congress if they opposed him; I’d like to see that, but even his campaign admits they can’t do that – sorry for this link to Howie Kurtz of WaPo, but I have to do it).But what good ...

Sunday Videos 2007-12-09 22:20:00 Interpol ("No I In Threesome"; kind of atmospheric for a breakup song)......Happy Birthday to Gregg Allman ("Melissa," performed by YouTuber GilsMusic - I thought this was nice)......jazz keyboard legend Jimmy Smith would have been 82 yesterday ("Watermelon Man," aided by guitarist Mark Whitfield, live in Germany in 2004)......James Douglas Morrison of The Doors would have been 64 yesterday ("You Make Me Real," recorded live back in the day - don't have any other info on this)......and now, Christmas music: "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" recorded at St. Paul's Cathedral (I thought I saw Ron and Hermione along with Neville Longbottom - snark)......and "The Wet Spots" are in the holiday mood, probably with the aid of an alcoholic beverage or two ("Fist Me This Christmas"). ...

Oh, And About The War... 2007-12-08 12:40:00 I want to puke...again.And I know I don't need to remind you about this, Patrick, but I'll be watching, along with many others.(By the way, the Kos link to the WaPo story takes you to Page 2 - here's the link to Page 1.)Update: And Dubya is going to veto it anyway without even having seen it, so they sold out for nothing... ...

Say It Over And Over 2007-12-08 12:23:00 Hat tip to Avedon Carol at Eschaton for this (and calling our politicians to keep trying to make this happen is an even better idea)... ...

JWL - RIP 2007-12-08 10:07:00 Two from John Lennon, who left us 27 years ago today; the first is a protest song (as they used to be called) for John Sinclair (he was interviewed recently and the video provides more information)......and "Power To The People" (Lennon put his money where his mouth was, as they say, having learned how to play the media from his moptop days to generate publicity for his causes, which were well deserving more often than not.)Update 1: I thought local Philadelphia journalist Larry Kane (and author of "Ticket To Ride") made some good points here (don't know if registration is required or not).Update 2: Good stuff from Martin Lewis here... ...

Friday Videos 2007-12-07 23:28:00 Sheryl Crow ("Shine Over Babylon")......Happy Birthday to Tom Waits, bringing us some seasonal fare ("Silent Night" opening and closing "A Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis")......Harry Chapin would have been 65 (a live demo of "Cat's In The Cradle")......and Band-Aid ("Do They Know It's Christmas"). ...

Friday Political Stuff 2007-12-07 22:57:00 As far as I'm concerned, John Edwards talks like a president is supposed to on world poverty here (from Brave New Films)......but of course, as K.O. so forcefully and accurately reminds us here, we're stuck with what we've got (h/t Prof. Marcus). ...