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: 12 0 60 4272

Articles from The Liberal Doomsayer

Friday Cleanup Stuff (12/07) 2007-12-07 17:23:00 Based on this post, is it really any surprise that two Dem lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee (which oversees the FCC) want to investigate that agency’s chairman Kevin Martin (here)?Also, the question of whether or not Iran had nukes was huge this week as we know, but I wonder how many of us know how progressive they actually are concerning AIDS (here)?I’ve been meaning to spend some time looking at Lt. Gen. James Peake, who has been nominated to take over the Veterans Administration with the departure of Jim Nicholson, but happily, Paul Rieckhoff beat me to it a bit here, putting together some questions Peake should be asked before he is confirmed (cross-posted at HuffPo, but again, I’m having technical issues with their site at the moment...ugh, and military.com has ads for that cretin Glenn Beck??).(God, how on earth can any human being with Dubya’s record of failure find a way to smirk about anything?)And finally, I absolutely could not let this week go by ...

"The Press Has Learned..." 2007-12-07 15:44:00 Don’t you just love it when Bushco subverts our government to decide whether or not we need to know something they think is important?As noted here…Angry Democratic lawmakers called for investigations Friday into the Central Intelligence Agency's destruction in 2005 of at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two al-Qaeda operatives in the agency’s custody.Good. It’s long past time to stop treating this cabal of crooks with kid gloves (and I took a shot at Jay Rockefeller a couple of days ago, but based on this, he seems to be “getting his back up also”; we’ll see what kind of a “follow-through” there is, though).As the FIP story also tells us…In a statement to employees on Thursday, Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the C.I.A. director, said that the decision to destroy the tapes was made “within the C.I.A.” and that they were destroyed to protect the safety of undercover officers and because they no longer had intelligence value.Says you (and once again ...

Friday Freeper Double Feature, Part Two 2007-12-07 14:49:00 I truly hope Kevin Ferris of The Philadelphia Inquirer has hit bottom with this column today; I don’t want to imagine how he could possibly sink any lower.I was tempted to do a paragraph-by-paragraph refutation of what he says here, but I won’t primarily because I and many others have done so many times before. So I’ll just post it here with some thoughts afterwards.(Oh, and I have a message for those in charge of approving philly.com’s content; try putting a little more work into making sure what you post has some relationship with reality next time instead of trying to determine which “cheesecake” photo of accused “Bonnie and Clyde” identity theft “queen” Jocelyn Kirsch you’re going to feature for that day, OK?)Back Channels An Iraq campaign for hopeUpbeat Bush knows his change in strategy changed the war's dynamic.By Kevin FerrisInquirer Commentary Page EditorThere's a photo of Lyndon Johnson, alone at a conference table. The president's chair is pushed back ...

Friday Freeper Double Feature, Part One 2007-12-07 12:48:00 (You have to think a minute about this pic, I know, but it’s appro- priate…trust me.)I can see that this Guest Opinion that appeared in the Bucks County Courier Times yesterday written by Bob Callahan of Upper Southampton is going to keep me busy (he describes himself as a graduate of the College of New Jersey with a degree in biology and the Pennsylvania College of Optometry – so, I guess that means that he can understand the strange life form he’s writing about here without actually being able to see it…??), so I’d better get started (no link available – nice one, phillyburbs).This has to do with Flush Limbore’s “phony soldiers” controversy; Callahan is defending Limbaugh, or trying to anyway – I’ll let you decide.In his Oct. 26 column (republished in the CT on the 26th, but originated on the 23rd), Dan Thomasson enshrined the latest lie into media common knowledge. Then Doonesbury attempted to drive it into deeper public awareness, as funny page simpletons re ...

The "Piano Man" And The War 2007-12-07 08:03:00 This AP News story tells us about a new single just released by Billy Joel titled "Christmas in Fallujah," in which he asked 21-year-old singer-songwriter Cass Dillon to sing the vocals. As the story notes, Joel thought the song should be sung by someone "about a soldier's age," and he wanted to help someone else (Dillon) benefit from his experience, which is a classy thing to do.The proceeds from the song will be donated to Homes For Our Troops, which builds homes for severely wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. The song also just went on sale Tuesday at iTunes, which is good because I can't imagine that it will get any radio airplay (should, though, of course, maybe on some of the "classic" rock stations...???).Anyway, here it is... ...

Thursday Videos 2007-12-06 22:48:00 Keane ("Somewhere Only We Know"; uh, OK - nice song, but he's an alien cult leader? Huh??)......Happy 87th Birthday to Dave Brubeck ("Take Five," the tune that epitomized the "cool jazz" of the late '50s and '60s)......OK, I've put this off for as long as I can, but it's December 6th, so it's time for holiday music; here's the tune only for "A Cradle in Bethlehem" from Nat "King" Cole's 1963 "Christmas Song" recording (Happy Hanukkah to those observing the festival of lights, by the way)......and the workshop elves bring us "Crank That Santa Claus" (interesting use of a steel drum, I must say - go dawg!). ...

Thursday Political Stuff 2007-12-06 22:15:00 Testimonials on behalf of Sibel Edmonds (Prof. Marcus "fills in the blanks" here)......and "The Pap Attack" takes on Nancy Nord (more information here from yours truly). ...

Anticlimactic Punishment? 2007-12-06 17:24:00 This story tells us that the State Supreme Court of New Jersey recently upheld the death sentence of Ambrose Harris, convicted of the rape and murder of Bucks County graphic artist Kristin Huggins in 1992 (Harris also killed fellow prison inmate Robert “Mudman” Simon, though a jury found in 2001 that Harris acted in self defense).The larger issue, though, is that New Jersey is probably going to abolish the death penalty in that state shortly, meaning that Harris’s sentence would then be commuted to life without parole.I posted about this here, and as I noted last May, there are plenty of valid reasons to do this, chief of which is that it would cancel the appeals process for criminals sentenced to death. Also, Harris is only one of eight inmates on that state’s death row anyway, and New Jersey hasn’t executed anyone since 1963.But somehow, I just worry that there will be fallout for this that will hit the Dems chiefly (the NJ Repugs, as per usual, are already crying that the ...

What’s Next? Reporters From Guangzhou? 2007-12-06 16:40:00 I don’t know what cost-cutting move the Sacramento Bee (a McClatchy paper) will come up with next based on this story; a worrisome trend, I'd say.First the customer service center goes to the Philippines, then the artists go to India.Of course, maybe if the management and executive jobs went to Belarus or South Africa instead… ...

A Toothy Problem 2007-12-06 15:40:00 This is a local thing that doesn’t pertain to politics, but it’s a pet peeve of mine, so here goes.The Bucks County Courier Times published this Guest Opinion yesterday from Dr. Brent Monahan (does not specify whether or not Monahan obtained his doctorate in dentistry) in which he argues that it is unnecessary to fluoridate all of Pennsylvania’s water supplies (currently the water for Lower Makefield and Yardley Borough in PA remains non-fluoridated). And (somewhat amazingly to me) he used this information to support his claim…Untold billions of dollars in dental care have been saved by water supply fluoridation, since this procedure has been credited with lowering the occurrence of cavities by as much as 60 percent in children up to 16 years of age. Since mouth infections can be fatal, lives have also been saved by a technique that requires no extra time or application by the general public.The crux of Monahan’s argument seems to be that most people in his experience and imm ...

I Wish I Could Forget This “Elephant” 2007-12-06 14:44:00 And by the way, regarding Iran and the latest NIE, Little Ricky Santorum weighed in today on the pages of (where else) The Philadelphia Inquirer (here) with this somewhat obscure detail…We must view this information in light of the continued obsession of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with the return of the Twelfth Imam. That's the ninth-century Shiite leader who, according to his view of Shiite theology, will return to earth to lead them after an Armageddon in which Islam has conquered Christians and killed the Jews.Wow, do you think we’d better turn that “Eye Of Mordor” somewhere else in the Middle East then, former Senator “39 Percent Approval Rating” (here)?("Divest from Iran, just like I said in my Iran Freedom From Terra! Terra! and 9/11, 9/11 Act before I lost to Bob Casey, bad liberals, this is a recording, blah blah blah...") ...

Fiscally Reckless Now And Always 2007-12-06 14:04:00 From today’s New York Times here…President Bush’s lame-duck attempt to repair the Repub- lican Party’s thread- bare fiscal reputation is an increasingly reckless game. In the latest exercise of irresponsibility for political gain, Mr. Bush reportedly wants to slash counterterrorism funding for front-line police and firefighters.The administration’s own Homeland Security agency requested $3.2 billion for this first responder aid to high-risk cities and states in the 2009 budget — the one that Mr. Bush’s successor will inherit. The White House is considering cutting that request by more than half to $1.4 billion by eliminating grants for port and public transit security, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.While Mr. Bush wrestles with more responsible members of his own administration, his larger and more immediate game is to portray the narrow Democratic majority in Congress as feckless overspenders.In October, he vetoed a sensible bill that would have ...

Dubya Writes A Letter 2007-12-06 13:18:00 (This would not be news for any other president, of course...).In response to the story about our chief executive finally deciding to contact a head of state he doesn’t like after seven years in office, I should note that I have tracked down the contents of Dubya’s correspondence, as follows...Dure Kim John ill,I hop yure r gun to bide bi tha gree ment to disabul yure nukuler pro graam be four I leve off iss in Januery uf two thousan ann nine. I haaf to du suum thin too haf uh legucy lik mah daddy diid when he wus presedent.Sinceerely,Goerge W. BushP.S. Jus’ jokin’ aah bout tha “little pigmy” and “asses of eveil” there…hee heee.And he’s finally going to The Middle East also? Ya’ think, on some level, George W. Milhous Bush is starting to get the hang of this whole “president” thing?Naaahh. ...

It Truly Never Ends 2007-12-06 12:23:00 Regarding this post, we have the following CNN headline today to yet another opinion column brimming with "good news for Republicans" (that is, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's plan to freeze interest rates on "some 2 million troubled mortgages" - Atrios clarifies this here).Update: I don't know how this supposedly wonderful plan of Dubya's is going to "boost the GOP" when he tells people the incorrect phone number to call for assistance (here).Also, here are two (more) quick updates:- It looks like The Mittster FINALLY gave that speech of his on religion, and Kagro X sums it up here (a follow up to this post).(Update 12/07/07: Len Hart shames us with typically awesome posts like this, but we're all the better for it...tons of great information to digest).- This is the best analysis I’ve read to date of Dubya’s latest NIE follies (there's a reason why a Google search for George W. Bush and the phrase "bait and switch" returns 108,000 hits, people). ...

Wednesday Political Stuff 2007-12-05 22:54:00 "DHS Follies - The Movie" (ugh)......and on a lighter note, Jackie and Dunlap offer to take over Mitt Romney's landscaping. ...