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: 33 0 59 4457

Articles from The Liberal Doomsayer

Standing With Chris Dodd Against FISA 2007-11-08 06:31:00 Sorry I forgot to add this last night, and I know others have posted on this already, but here's AT&T technician Mark Klein opposing immunity to the telecomm companies (please watch this video and then contact the Senate Judiciary Committee to voice your opposition to immunity).Update: What Kagro X sez... ...

Wednesday Videos 2007-11-07 22:59:00 Puddle Of Mudd ("She F*cking Hates Me"; yes, I know that bad word gets repeated a few times, but you'll never rock out so much hearing so many others in their misery)......and Happy Birthday to Joni Mitchell (another great homemade video from YouTuber Novaultrano1 for "A Case Of You"). ...

Fox And Mitch, Perfect Together 2007-11-07 22:40:00 Faux TV doing what it does best (apologies, but it's appropriate to call out these cretins on this nonsense)......and speaking of cretins, Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao has a whole new batch of problems with the election of Kentucky governor Steve Beshear yesterday (don't let the door hit you on the way out, Ernie...guess that little illegal immigration gambit of yours didn't work out so well). ...

Still Getting Milked By Neil's COWs 2007-11-07 17:36:00 The New York Times reported this morning that the inspector general of the Department of Education will take a look at whether or not federal money was “inappropriately used” to buy educational products from Ignite Learning of Austin, TX, a company owned by one Neil Bush (a prior post on this appears here – luckily our friend Ed Secretary Maggie Spellings won’t be in charge, or surely nothing would happen).As the Times tells us…Members of (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, D.C.) and other critics in Texas contend that school districts are buying Ignite’s signature product, the Curriculum on Wheels, because of political considerations. The product, they said, does not meet standards for financing under the No Child Left Behind Act, which allocates federal money to help students raise their achievement levels, particularly in elementary school reading.Ignite, founded by Neil Bush in 1999, includes as investors his parents, former President George H. W. Bus ...

My Leading Economic Indicator 2007-11-07 17:10:00 When supermodel Giselle Bundchen said that she wants to be paid in euros instead of dollars, that tells me that tremors through the NYSE can’t be far behind.And sure enough… ...

Three Really Quick Hits 2007-11-07 16:34:00 Wow, I actually agree with Mike Huckabee here (of course, not getting the nod from the on-high hypocrites Robertson and Weyrich probably dooms Huckabee…but did he really have a shot anyway?).When the announcement comes telling us that former governor “razor blades” is done, let’s see how many of his supporters sign up with “Paulmania.”Faye Flam of the Inquirer tells us here that she’s “never seen anyone under 40” reading the paper (and I thought they were writing to that target audience also - see post for explanation:-).For that admirable bit of candor, I wish for nothing whatsoever to endanger her employment.So, does this mean that Bill O’Reilly is planning to attack us (re: #4 here – tee hee; h/t Paul Krugman). ...

Flushing More Freeper Fiction 2007-11-07 15:32:00 (I was posting about food earlier, so I guess it makes sense in a way to post about one of its byproducts also.)Did you know that the World Toilet Summit was recently held in New Delhi, India, attended by representatives from 39 countries (though I don’t believe that the United States sent a representative; I can’t find that information anyway)?Well, it was, as it has been in a participating World Toilet Organization country every year since 2001 (44 countries are members, as noted here).And the World Toilet Summit was allegedly the topic of this Philadelphia Inquirer editorial by Claudia Rosett of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (and since we’re talking about the Inky, rest assured that this organization is a right-wing “think tank”; a prior Rosett column that assaulted common sense appears here).As Rosett tells us…If (the World Toilet Summit) sounds like a joke, sanitation is no laughing matter. According to U.N. estimates, 2.6 billion people worldwide lack ...

Thanksgiving "Charity" From "Blow 'Em Up" Bolton 2007-11-07 12:18:00 The New York Times Magazine’s Deborah Solomon conducted an interview with former U.N. antagonist and neocon maniac representative John Bolton last Sunday (based on the article from here, though, I have to wonder about the timing of the questions and the manner in which the interview was edited). And if you guessed that the interview was timed to coincide with the release of Bolton’s new book, then you win a commemorate model of the U.N. building with the top 10 stories missing.There is so much in this garbage that could be refuted by the answers that we all know so well, but I want to take note of one item in particular…Your book includes a personal anecdote about a turkey you returned to a supermarket, right before you went back to Florida as one of the lawyers for the Bush team after the election in 2000. It was Thanksgiving Day. My wife and daughter wanted a Thanksgiving dinner, and they didn’t want to eat the turkey because God knows when I was coming back from Florida. So ...

Congrats to Matt and Diane (And A Reprimand) 2007-11-07 10:53:00 In Lower Makefield Township, Bucks County yesterday, Matt Maloney was elected to the Board of Supervisors while incumbent Republican Pete Stainthorpe also won another term. Grace Godshalk, the other incumbent Republican on the board, finished third, and Deb Wachspress finished fourth in close voting (I saw a reference to some problems with the Danaher touch screen voting machines approved by Martin and Cawley, pictured with Sandra Miller – gee, what a surprise – so I don’t know about formal concessions here, and I’ll try to find out more information).Had Steve Santarsiero been elected as a Bucks County Commissioner, Grace would have been retained to fill Steve’s vacancy. However, Diane Marseglia will replace Sandra Miller now as the sole Democrat on the board of commissioners.And with that in mind, I want to say a word about Jay Russell, the third-party candidate in the commissioner’s race who I pretty much ignored previously (more information is here).Simply put, I want to ...

News For Philly Folk 2007-11-07 08:08:00 A benefit will be held at Finnigan's Wake at 3rd and Spring Garden streets in Philadelphia tonight to support the Philadelphia Police Survivors Benefit; cops in that city have been facing particularly lethal threats lately, including the recent slaying of Officer Chuck Cassidy.Radio Station WMMR will run the Beef and Beer from 6 to 9pm - $10 at the door includes buffet and drink specials. There will also be a raffle to win a ton of great prizes, with all proceeds going to the Benefit (more info here). ...

Tuesday Videos 2007-11-06 22:32:00 Incubus ("Stellar," live at Red Rock, with some of the Police thrown in a bit at the end)......Happy Birthday to jazz trumpet legend Arturo Sandoval ("Esse Toca Muito," I believe, with Dizzy Gillespie)......James Honeyman-Scott of the Pretenders would have been 51 on Sunday ("Stop Your Sobbing" by The Kinks; no word yet on how much of that I'll be doing tomorrow morning - generate positive vibes, Doomsy)......and Happy 61st Birthday to goddamn Sally Field (recalling this moment from the Emmys that almost nobody else saw, as well as more Faux TV hypocrisy). ...

Tuesday Videos 2007-11-06 22:32:00 Incubus ("Stellar," live at Red Rock, with some of the Police thrown in a bit at the end)......Happy Birthday to jazz trumpet legend Arturo Sandoval ("Esse Toca Muito," I believe, with Dizzy Gillespie)......James Honeyman-Scott of the Pretenders would have been 51 on Sunday ("Stop Your Sobbing" by The Kinks; no word yet on how much of that I'll be doing tomorrow morning - generate positive vibes, Doomsy)......and Happy 61st Birthday to goddamn Sally Field (recalling this moment from the Emmys that almost nobody else saw, as well as more Faux TV hypocrisy). ...

Some Lies Are Easy To Refute 2007-11-06 17:49:00 White House press mouthpiece Dana Perino, speaking here on behalf of President 24 Percent Mandate (or should we call him George W. Milhous Bush?)..."This Congress has not sent a single appropriations bill to the president’s desk this year – a new record of failure," Perino said.(And again, I would support Kucinich if he didn't expose himself as a total fraud for voting against SCHIP here.)This post from Kagro X at The Daily Kos tells us the reality.This is a recording. ...

A Video (Or Two) For Voting Day 2007-11-06 09:43:00 (I have no idea whether or not I'll be posting today, by the way.)Did you know that Halloween was "a liberal holiday"? Well, it must be, since Sean Hannity says it is here...Well, then how come "Deadeye Dick" got into the spirit?And here's a timely video from Paul Hipp of HuffPo about something near and dear to the heart (literally, I hope) of soon-to-be-confirmed AG Michael Mukasey (heck of a job again, Chuck and Di).(By the way, sorry about the video links not working from time to time; I fixed the Edwards/Clinton one yesterday. I'll try to watch that.)Update: More evidence that the Repugs "get" Halloween after all; Myers is extremely unqualified for the position anyway (h/t The Daily Kos)... ...

Get Out The Vote Tomorrow, Bucks County Dems! 2007-11-05 22:20:00 Tomorrow is it for Steve Santarsiero and Diane Marseglia against Jim Cawley and Charley Martin in the election for Bucks County Commissioners; all of the blood, sweat and tears, as they say, comes down to one day on the calendar, so let's wrap this up the right way.And by the way, is it even worth pointing out that, on October 30th, the Inquirer endorsed Cawley and Martin? I mean, after all, these are the same geniuses who gave the nod to Mike Fitzpatrick last year along with Joe Pitts (ugh).Borrowing almost verbatim from the Guest Opinion in the Courier Times written by Cawley and Martin on the same day, the Inky endorsed the Repug incumbents because, under their watch, Bucks has earned its highest bond rating in 20 years and kept taxes comparatively low. However, as noted here, the county budget has risen $109.7 million since 2002, more than $47 million in the last two years (the linked post also describes the sordid dealings of Jim Cawley and Charles "I Have A Semi-Open Mind" Marti ...