Yuh, I'll get practical when it's Hillary vs. Rudy and it looks like Rudy has a chance of winning. Then, I'll agree that while Hillary and Rudy are pretty much identical in terms of morals, at least Hillary ain't crazy. So I'll vote for her, if forced to.

Until that time, I'd like to stretch just a little and hope for some real difference, some ideals (oh, I know, SO foolish and impractical), some morality, some honest thought. You guys are big on telling US that we've given up and what a bunch of losers, but I'd say y'all are the ones giving up. It's the Rahm syndrome -- play it safe, don't take any positions (too SCARY!!! EEK!!!) -- but as we saw in 2006, Rahm's candidates didn't do as well as the outspoken Dems.

As for "Clinton's the only winning Dem since LBJ" -- well, if the Clintons had actually tried to help Gore instead of sitting back, plotting for the Hill's 2008 run even then, there's a good chance that statement wouldn't be true. Same could be said for Kerry in 2004 -- where were the Clintons? Nowhere, of course, 'cuz they didn't want to hurt Hill's chances. I'm an idealist, something of a Pauliac, but I was out there working my butt off for Kerry, and I sure as heck didn't see Bill or Mrs. Bill out there with me. The two of them are triangulating power brokers, who don't really give a crap about anything except their own position.

So spare us the patronizing pat on our cute little idealistic heads. We can safely leave the safe cynicism to Rahm & Co.

A few posts ago you said something like, "Hah! Where's the criticism of Schumer?!!!! Pussies!!!!"

So, here's the criticism. Where's your apology?

As a general question, what the heck was the climate change post? Where the heck did that stuff come from?

-- Houngan

Space.

:)

"we don't need that fascist groove thang"

I'm pretty sure there's a YouTube of Ron Paul getting funky with his anti-fascist groove thang. Guess L.W.M. missed it.

Oddly (or not), the Chronicle article quotes Feinstein as saying that telecoms "should not be 'held hostage to costly litigation in what is essentially a complaint about administration activities'" -- the same exact phrase, verbatim, featured in Fred Hiatt's Editorial two weeks ago urging telecom amnesty (Hiatt: "we do not believe that these companies should be held hostage to costly litigation in what is essentially a complaint about administration activities").

How did that happen? Is DiFi quoting Hiatt, or is their an unknown "Q" document that they are both reading from, supplied by the Office of Special Plans in the VP's regime?

I am beginning to understand two historical events more and more personally -- Hitler's rise to power and the lackluster response from right-minded Germans; and the French Revolution...

As for why my sorry a** isn't in the kill zone, lots of people think this is a searingly pertinent question. No answer I could give -- I'm 35 years old, my family couldn't afford the lost income, I have a baby daughter, my a** is, er, sorry, are a few -- ever seem to suffice. But this chicken-hawk nonsense is something that's been batted around too many times to get into again here.

Jonah Goldberg, Feb 5, 2005 NRO, in a response to Juan Cole's query about why Jonah hadn't suited up (Jonah forgot to mention the biggest reason -- no Cheetohs in the Marines!)

Re Jonah and torture -- would be unQuakerly of me to wish the Abner Louima treatment on Mr. Pantload?

What really makes me angry about Jonah, Dershowitz, etc., is that they have changed the mindset in this country from one of "torture is unthinkable" (remember all the outrage, the "we do NOT torture" stuff from Bush & Co?) to "it is manly and just to torture". I will not forgive them easily for that.

Unfortunately, in this day and age, fascism is starting to seem normal.

As for Giuliani's putting his Emergency HQ in the WTC -- we live near NYC and go in to the City frequently. After the 1993 WTC bombing, my husband and I agreed that we would stay away from the buildings, assuming that they would be targeted again. Apparently, we were more sensible than the CIA (which also had HQ there) and Il Duce II.

How long after that report before Bob Woodruff was nearly fatally injured in the mission that had been "accomplished"?

The interesting thing about the Bush presidency is that one gets to do first hand deciphering on the differences between hatred, loathing, revulsion, contempt, disgust, etc.

A worrying article from Eric Alterman

http://mediamatters.org/altercation/200711140006#1

(And Son of Same-- :) -- wonders why "liberals" hate Bush.)

Using Chris Dodd's form -- free phone call! -- I just called Leahy's office. They don't know how the Senator will come down on this. They then transfered me to the Judiciary Committee's office, where they reiterated that point, but told me how good Leahy has been. I agreed and asked that he step up and support Chris Dodd and rule out telecome immunity.

Call, people!

http://chrisdodd.com/immunity

Oh God, do we dare to hope?

I'm so used to living on the dark side these days, don't even know what hope looks like anymore.

Or to put it in 60s terms (for WT & BeBop), been down so long, it looks like up to me. :)

Very OT, but Glenn's humor has infected me. Cruising the intertubes, when I discovered our old UT alum daleyrocks valiantly standing up on his hind legs and advocating torture in a comments section. Nice to see the old cheese still out there fighting for the right of the State to do illegal stuff.

You may now return to your sandbox.

-- shooter242

Can't. Too many troll turds.