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: 61 0 60 4272

Articles from The Liberal Doomsayer

Have A Banana, Carlos 2007-10-26 14:17:00 Yesterday’s New York Times reported something that I thought was a bit amazing involving Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez (I’ll get to it below).The focal point of the story was Bushco’s typically wrongheaded demonization of Hugo Chavez in pursuit of a trade agreement with Colombia; though it’s an understatement to say that Chavez has issues, he has managed to achieve a level of popularity with those totally ignored by our executive regime, and Chavez has actually tried to establish warm relations with the same nation we are courting also.As reported by the Times here...Many Democrats have opposed trade deals, even those pushed by President Bill Clinton. The administration hopes to win over enough Democrats to pass the Latin American pacts this year or next. There is, however, considerable disagreement whether the argument of countering Mr. Chávez as a security matter will persuade Democrats.Democrats say that the House speaker, Representative Nancy Pelosi, has warned the a ...

Bushco's New Poodle? 2007-10-26 14:00:00 So Aussie PM John Howard has said “the surge” has "been more successful than many of its critics wanted it to be or believe it would be," huh (from here – h/t Thers at Eschaton).Well, according to here, our buds down under have about 820 troops total in Mesopotamia at this moment, and this story from last February tells us that Howard acted like a real pal for us and send over an additional 50 to 70 troops (in advance of a visit from Dark Lord Dick Cheney, who no doubt threatened to “accidentally” shoot Howard in the face if he didn’t pony up).That’s nice, but somehow I don’t think that’s going to make much of a difference since, according to the Wikipedia link, we have about 168,000 over in that pit at this moment.On the other hand, Rep. Jan Schakowsky went over to Iraq about two and a half months ago and tells a very different story here; call me a skeptic, but I’m inclined to believe her over the head of a country that has decided to send what qualifies as a toke ...

Today’s Reasons To Vote For Diane And Steve 2007-10-26 13:03:00 The following letters appeared in the Courier Times yesterday (here, here, and here)…Why haven't Republican Bucks County Commis- sioners Charley Martin and Jim Cawley, both up for re-election, gone on record expressing concern about the Draft Bucks County Regional Traffic Study recently published by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) for state Reps. Dave Steil and Scott Petri's Regional Traffic Task Force?The commissioners were copied on a Sept. 19 letter from citizen watchdog group RRTS to the DVRPC, which stated this about the study: "The strategic and peculiar placement of the roundabout [at the intersection of Stoopville and Washington Crossing roads exacerbates the serious safety and quality-of-life issues that exist on Stoopville and Lindenhurst roads, as it will encourage even higher volumes of traffic, especially commercial traffic, to travel these roads at even greater speeds."The placement of this roundabout will cause Stoopville Road to function mor ...

Kudos To Casey 2007-10-26 11:54:00 I’ve rightfully dumped on Sideshow Bob Casey for a little while now since I believe that he, like many other congressional Dems, has utterly failed us on the two most critical issues facing this country: namely, the FISA giveaway to Dubya (it would be nice if you supported Chris Dodd’s filibuster on immunity to the telecomms, Bob) and the Iraq war (though he did support the Webb amendment entitling our military to stays at home that matched the length of their deployments to Iraq).Update: Speaking of Dodd, if you read nothing else online all day, or all month for that matter - read this!!.However, I should note that Casey did vote here against the confirmation of Leslie Southwick to the Fifth Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals. However, as was the case with the Webb Amendment, Casey did the right thing in a losing cause.Here are the so-called “Democrats” who supported the Southwick confirmation…Akaka (HI)Byrd (WV)Conrad (ND)Dorgan (ND)Feinstein (CA – ugh)Johnson (SD)Lincoln (AR ...

SCHIP, Again 2007-10-26 10:27:00 The New York Times tells us here that the U.S. House in Congress made the following revisions to the SCHIP bill before they voted on it yesterday…House Democrats tried hard to address the issues raised and relentlessly hyped by Republican critics. The bill would speed up the removal of childless adults who have been enrolled in the program in a handful of states, and would reduce the enrollment of parents, even though including parents is often the best way to reach their children.So the Dems thus turned a winning hand into a losing one in an effort to placate the Repugs here – unbelievable.And as the Times editorial continues…House Republicans still wanted more. They sought to eliminate all adults from the program, except pregnant women, and to base eligibility on gross income — with no ability to discount spending on child care or other vital needs. The Republicans also wanted to impose arduous documentation requirements to ensure that no illegal immigrants are enrolled, even ...

Friday Morning Funnies 2007-10-26 07:35:00 I was at first hesitant to put up a video with such an extended excerpt of Dubya, but I think Keith has too many good things to say here, so...And as I watched our red-state president, I found myself wondering if he's been indulging in a little too much in his beverage of choice lately, if you get my drift (some Dickel Sour Mash perhaps)... ...

Thursday Videos 2007-10-25 23:03:00 Seether ("Fake It," uncensored; the song is about 3:36, and there's a lot of stuff after the song ends that you can just click out of if you want)......and happy belated birthday to Bill Wyman, formerly of The Rolling Stones ("Monkey Man," accompanying an edited montage from "Goodfellas" - terrific stuff). ...

Remembering Heroes 2007-10-25 17:23:00 We continue to greatly miss Paul Wellstone in this country, both as a person of character and a politician of vision and courage; he, his wife, their daughter and five others died in a plane crash five years ago today.I can only imagine how he would be reacting at this moment to the sight of Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer slapping down a fellow Democratic member of Congress for speaking out against Iraq (and Pete Stark is an Air Force veteran of the Korean War, no less).Update: I went a bit "brainless" above; though I'm sure Wellstone would have been concerned, to say the least, about Pelosi and Hoyer, I think he would have taken issue more directly with the actions of Harry Reid, since Wellstone served in the Senate.Also, our forces sustained our 2,000th casualty in Iraq two years ago on this date; who could have ever imagined that we'd be closing in on almost twice that number today?Update 10/27: mcjoan at The Daily Kos has more. ...

"Genghis" Cohen And Memories Of "Old Europe" 2007-10-25 13:20:00 I don’t think we’ll ever have to worry about anyone getting wistful for the return of Don (“Hiding Out At The Hoover Institution”) Rumsfeld to Bushco, particularly since Roger Cohen of the New York Times seems to be so eager to “channel” Rummy today concerning the Now And Forever You Pete Stark-Supporting Chicken Libtard Global War On Terra Terra Terra!!!(“Libtard” – I haven’t been called that for awhile now, and it chokes me up a bit actually…sniff :-).Here is an excerpt from Cohen’s latest offering today, in which he laments the toll on NATO exacted by the Afghan war, particularly in the Taliban-held south and east (I made a passing reference to that conflict in the last post)…That, however, is a fact Europeans are reluctant to accept, just as the link between slaughter in Madrid, London or Amsterdam and the Afghan-Pakistani terror nexus seems unconvincing to many Europeans floating on an Iraq-comforted wave of moral smugness.That’s some interesting new fr ...

You Want It? Pay For It! 2007-10-25 11:50:00 I am adamantly opposed to any notion whatsoever of trying to reinstate the draft because George W. Bush has decimated our military to the point where new recruits are so desperately needed.However, I do support a war tax such as the one proposed here a few weeks ago by House Democrats David Obey, Jack Murtha, and Jim McGovern.I didn’t say this previously perhaps when I should have, but I was reminded to do so by this New York Times editorial today which restates Bushco’s catastrophic fiscal priorities. And at this point, I’m tiring of the pathetic whining of this “president” about spending when he continues to sink untold dollars into the black hole that was once the country known as Iraq.And I am equally tired of the placid acceptance by too many people in this country of the horrific status quo; as nearly as I can determine, it really is true that the war at this point has turned into background noise for anyone not immediately affected by it or willing to protest it in any ...

Another SCHIP Reminder 2007-10-25 07:59:00 Another vote coming up in the House today (more here)... ...

Doing Anything On Saturday? 2007-10-24 21:47:00 The Mobilization To End The War will take place on October 27th; here's more...(and they're planning for more, as we know...) ...

Some Surprising Help 2007-10-24 17:39:00 The WaPo tells us today that former PA governor Dick Thornburgh testified before the House Judiciary Committee that his client, Cyril Wecht (a coroner and high-profile western PA Democrat) was being singled out by U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan (pictured)…"(Wecht) has always been a contentious, outspoken, highly critical and highly visible Democratic figure in western Pennsylvania," Thornburgh told the House Judiciary Committee. "In other words, he would qualify as an ideal target for a Republican U.S. attorney trying to curry favor with a department which demonstrated that if you play by its rules, you will advance."Thornburgh also said that Wecht "was not the only apparent political prosecution in western Pennsylvania," pointing to three high-profile cases of other local Democrats brought by (Buchanan) of Pittsburgh.And this tells us more about Buchanan’s penchant for self-promotion through prosecuting specious cases other attorneys wouldn’t touch, such as one in particular ...

Little Ricky And The Inky Consummate At Last 2007-10-24 15:51:00 Well, isn’t Brian Tierney of Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C. all aglow over this.It seems that our infamous former Senator has decided to ply his minimal talent in the name of writing a column for Philadelphia’s freeper paper of record (and as D-Mac notes here, I was expecting “Islamo-fascism Awareness Week” to come and go pretty much without incident; color me surprised).Who knows, though – Senator Man-On-Dog may actually prove to be an improvement over Smerky, who seems content any more to churn out such dreck as another of his “muzzle meter” columns, an ode to stink bugs (serious), and a supreme fluffing of Flush Limbore (no shot on links).However, I want to take a moment to focus on the other columnist hired by the Inquirer today, and that would be George Curry (see, the Inky seems to think they can get by forever with this “conservative spin/liberal spin” thing on any chosen writer or topic, and that will always be good enough – not holding my breath).I don ...

Wednesday Bucks County Dem Wrapup 2007-10-24 15:30:00 The following Guest Opinion appeared in today’s Bucks County Courier Times from Steve Santarsiero and Diane Marseglia…With Republicans in charge of Bucks County, property taxes have risen 46 percent in just six years. As we approach Election Day, taxpayers should ask themselves: What have we gotten for our money?During this campaign, we have been saddened by the missed opportunities and disturbing pattern of misplaced priorities we have uncovered. Just a few examples should make our point.We suffered three catastrophic floods recently. Congressman Patrick Murphy quickly offered to help launch an Army Corps of Engineers study of the Delaware River. The current county commissioners refused to help fund this critical initiative even though significant federal funding will not flow unless the study is done. Our opponents found $250,000 for political mailings and self-serving signs, but ignore the health, safety and welfare of our residents along the Delaware. There is no excuse for the ...