The Faux Texan

There is a funny piece of Bush trivia in the December 3rd issue of The Texas Observer (if you aren't a subscriber spend a few bucks - it will be the best spent money for a liberal Texas political junky you can spend - published by-weekly with regular columns by Molly Ivins and Jim Hightower among others. Go to www.texasobserver.org). The quote, about the faux cowboy rancher W: "locals speak in code when they define people as either rancher or ranch owners. It's a nice way of acknowledging ranch owners aren't real ranchers. (Note to the White House press corps: Before the Bushes bought land in Crawford in 1999, the 'ranch' was referred to by locals as the Englebrecht hog farm.)"

The Liberalator

Fighting the Right Begins With You

. . . and PTS!

Buzzflash this AM has a great article on a guy named Robert Millman up in Schenectady , NY who wanted to put some issue ads on his local radio station. Here is the text for one ad:

DISSENT
This is a paid radio moment–
Some of us disagree with the President.
We think the Iraq war is a mess.
We think vote suppression is a crime.
We think tax cuts for the rich are a bad idea.
We think business doesn’t know best. (pause)
And we think dissent is an American value. (pause)
This country was born because people questioned authority.
It’s as American as apple pie.
__________

WHOA! FREE SPEECH! PRETTY DANGEROUS STUFF!
__________

The ads were self produced, and he paid for the full price airtime himself and . . . (you are waaay ahead of me here) they were turned down.

You see WGY is a CLEAR CHANNEL station, and they play men of great moral values like Rusty "Hillbilly Heroin" Limbaugh, and liars like Glen Beck and are BIIIIGGG supporters of Bush.

They also don't believe in the first amendment. But we do.

Listen to all the ads below, and send the web address for PTS on to your friends. Lets get these ads out to MILLIONS despite the chumps at WGY.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN (Click on "next ad" to hear the next one)

-Panhandle Truth Squad

Bush Values

UPDATE:
Bush has vowed to now send $35 million in aid to hurting folks in Asia.
Goodie for him.
Too bad it took the entire WORLD complaining for him to do this, not his "Values" or "Leadership".

By the by . . . Bush will spend more on his own inauguration party ($40 million) than he will helping those in this horrific tragedy. It's all about priorities! CLICK HERE
-PS
__________
TSUNAMI/EARTHQUAKE DEATH TOLL RISES TO 70, 000.

Bush Administration Response? $15 million,

He also will, grudgingly, today interrupt his 3 week vacation to say a couple of memorized lines and it's back to clearing brush, after making a smarmy remark yesterday about Clinton?!? CLICK HERE

How Christian is George W. Bush?

In THE largest natural disaster in memory, the Bushistas response of $15 million is the equivalent of what Bushie spends in Iraq in TWO HOURS!

Yep, that's right. At $177 million a day in Iraq, $15 million is nada.

Hey Red Staters who voted for this idiot . . . are these your values? Huh? Really? What would Jesus do?

I expect that he would have spent more time and money trying to help people in a natural disaster than the pathetic response of this morally corrupt administration.

We Democrats should be on every television station right frikkin' now calling on the Bush administration to do what is right in this human disaster.

Or in other words . . . DEMONSTRATING AMERICAN VALUES . . .

-Prodigal Son

Our DNC

Folks, one blogger has done a terrific job following the fight over who will head the democratic national committee. My DD. CLICK HERE

It may seem far away and unimportant, but this fight will determine whether the democrats go from being professional election losers to building something that can smash the Rethugs and send them the way of the Whig Party.

The fight is between the old school Democratic leaders (Pelosi, Reid, Kerry) who want to swing us even further right and, quite frankly, still do not realize (even after getting smacked 3 election cycles in a row) that they are fighting a power mad republican party that sees nothing off limits, has no accountability to the law, has sold it's integrity to the highest bidder, has control over ALL THREE branches of government and has a pravda style media channel to push it's corrupt agenda.

The other side (Dean, moveon.org) wants us to regain our populist roots, restate what we have long stood for and remake a mirror image of the VRWC with new channels such as blogging.

One reader of PTS, our very own PRODIGAL SON emailed in to say that he thinks a convention is in order after we have selected a new leader, to come up with a Democratic "Contract with America" style campaign (except for the hypocracy) and then we need to publicly excommunicate people like Zell Miller and other Dems who do not want to sign on.

Please email PTS with your thoughts for a list of what you think we as demos stand for and we will post 'em.

-Panhandle Truth Squad

Bush World

John Steinbeck's cash strapped hometown is closing all of it's public libraries this upcoming spring. CLICK HERE

On the other hand . . . it's bonus time on wall street! . . . " The client insisted on seeing more apartments that day, but now she wanted to look in the $6 million range. Her husband, a banker at Goldman Sachs in his late 30's, had just received his year-end bonus. "
CLICK HERE

It's all about priorities, my brothers and sister PTS'ers. What kind of America we want for our kids. It amazes me that Republicans and conservatives want to go back to the good 'ol days. That being lower wages, low or NO benefits for employees, and a HUGE gap between the haves and have nots. NEED PROOF? CLICK HERE

You see, Bush republicans see poverty as a moral failing. It's your fault you are poor. Or maybe God has ordained us to be loaded with $$! (Yes, I actually heard that when I waited tables)

1. So what if there are no high paying jobs! Should have gone to (or back to) school!

2. So what if you cannot afford health care and your kid has a chronic health prob, you should be rich. . . like us! SEE #1 above

3. So what if you subsidize our tax cuts by paying more yourself. You should have worked harder! Like us! (Who inherited a name/money/position in your dad's company) SEE #2 above

Excuse the rant, but teachers, firemen, our folks serving in uniform . . . they ARE working hard!
They ARE educated! They ARE our neighbors, brothers and sisters worthy of respect. They CHOOSE to serve us.

Republicans are, RIGHT NOW, fighting not to repect you and those mentioned above, but to create an permanent underclass of folks trapped in a cycle of poverty.

Who has the moral failing now? God, I hate Republicans.

-Prodigal Son

Monday Ha Ha's

OK, this is bad singing of a great song, but it DOES make you cry . . . and laugh

O, Holy Night

For even more hilariousness (is that even a real word) the Star Wars Holiday Special, 1978

Only watch this if you are a hard core Star Wars fan . . . it is that awful! CLICK HERE
(requires quicktime CLICK HERE)


-Prodigal Son

Republican Family Values

College Republicans apparently used front orgs to raise millions, some by illegally associating themselves with the RNC, and some by outright stealing from elderly folks with dementia.

. . . ""I don't have any more money," Cecilia Barbier, 90, a retired church worker in New York who made more than 300 donations totaling nearly $100,000, told the paper. "That was all the savings. . . . Now I'm scrounging." . . . CLICK HERE

-Panhandle Truth Squad

O Come Let Us Ignore Him

I just came from the dark heart of American consumerist culture-- the mall on Christmas Eve. There was this dude there screaming at a poor hapless sales clerk as he completed his purchase: "Merry CHRISTMAS!!! I HATE that 'Seasons Greetings' crap." So now we know: the conservative punditocracy now has the power to simply make up the most ludicrous of non-issues and get the mullets and the freepers worked up enough to totally freak out on some minimum-wage retail worker.

And, uh, I've been wondering about this, anyway: what was Bill O'Reilly's beef about not saying the word "Christmas" all about? It was obvious out there today, where the money and the paranoia ran like south Texas floodwaters in mid-summer, that Abercrombie & Gap hasn't celebrated anything about Christ for decades. They celebrate a secular holiday of avarice that is about as far from the Nazarene hippy as you can get. So, Bill, in the spirit of the season, shut up.

And to the rest of you, I'll be blogging very sparadically, so, if I don't talk to you, Merry Whatever.

SPACEDARK

Do They EVER check the Facts?

Once again the anonymous left column editors in the Friday, December 24th Globe-News made the statement “No one in the Bush administration – certainly not the president or the defense secretary – ever has said that achieving ultimate victory is going to be easy.” "click here"

Folks, one more time, that’s www.google.com. In just a few minutes I found the following:

“I really do believe we will be greeted as liberators.” Dick Cheney on Meet the Press, 3/16/2003

“Like the people of France in the 1940s, the Iraqi people view us as their hoped liberators.” Paul Wolfowitz, Assistance Secretary of defense

“I believe demolishing Hussein’s military power and liberating Iraq would be a cakewalk.” Kenneth Adelman, Defense Policy Board member Kenneth Adelman (appointed by Donald Rumsfeld)

“Support for Saddam, including within his military organization will collapse at the first whiff of gunpowder.” Richard Perle, Pentagon policy advisor

“Now it isn’t going to be over in 24 hours, but it isn’t going to be months either.” Richard Perle, Pentagon policy advisor

There is also a web site that has a ton of miscellaneous information that you should look at first: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Main_Page

Give me a break – Do some research!

The Liberaltor

Heros All

Bush likes to play dress up hero, but when it actually came time for him to wear the uniform for real, he deserted.

Wanna see some real heros? Wanna see some folks that did not cut and run like Shrub? This link is tough to look at, but even though our worthless-a** media does not show it, there are real men and women fighting and being maimed for life. CLICK HERE

This holiday season, throw a few bucks their way. Calling cards help them keep in touch with their loved ones. CLICK HERE or you can find something at CLICK HERE

This holiday season, PTS will be praying for something the Bushistas are incapable of understanding since it does not involve stealing from the weak, lining their pockets, or senseless killing.

Quiet . . . hopeful . . . PEACE.

-Panhandle Truth Squad

What You Voted For

NEW:
-A (I'm more Christian than you) President who issued an executive order to TORTURE people at gitmo CLICK HERE
-Permanent dismantling of social security CLICK HERE
-Where's the actual guy who attacked us on 9-11? It's been 1193 Days since "dead or Alive" crap CLICK HERE
_________________________
OLD:
-A mind blowing 7 trillion debt left to our kids CLICK HERE
-Putting politics over making America safe from terrorism CLICK HERE
-"Conservatives" now above the law CLICK HERE and CLICK HERE
-A pension bailout crises costing taxpayers BILLIONS CLICK HERE
-Unchecked war profiteering costing the taxpayers BILLIONS CLICK HERE
-Putting "activist" judges (Guess conservative activists are OK!) on the supreme court CLICK HERE
-Getting rid of ALL checks and balances CLICK HERE
-A fascist form of government for the first time CLICK HERE
-Throwing out prohibitions against lobbying for former officials CLICK HERE
-A new arms race CLICK HERE
-Continuous back door draft CLICK HERE
-Confessions resulting from torture a-ok in court now CLICK HERE
-The disappearance of the dollar as THE international currency CLICK HERE
-Still no WMD's
____________________

-Panhandle Truth Squad

"I want my religion back"

Must reading this AM, and in this season especially.

Feel better! CLICK HERE

-Prodigal Son

The Con$ervative Who Stole Christmas

There was an notable LTE in yesterday's Amarillo Globe-Republican. Samuel G. Dawson relays a story that Safeway stores will be open on Christmas, and that labor unions are outraged that some employees will have to work on the holiday. This is interesting because it is one of many issues where left and right recognize a common problem, but have dramatically different takes on the cause and solution. Dawson blames the "unions (and others)" because they support separation of church and state (I assume the "others" he refers to are liberals in general). Dawson's interpretation is flawed for a couple of reasons. First, he assumes that unions and "others" are irreligious. That certainly isn't true. Secondly, it is because of unions and other such organizations that the weekends and holidays are even available to commoners like us.

While it is probably true that a lack of respect for Christmas as a holy day, or even as just a day for families to be together, motivated the decision to keep Safeway stores open, one has to ask who ultimately made that call? Was that person a liberal? A member of a trade union? Or was that person a card-carrying con$ervative Republican who decided that the money to be made on Christmas day was worth the time and trouble of opening the stores? Is it liberalism that drives retailers to haul out the Christmas merchandise earlier and earlier with every passing year? Is it liberalism that makes people stampede like cattle into Walmart the day after Thanksgiving to buy a bunch of cheap-ass crap?

I almost feel sorry for people like Dawson. They see their world being taken apart bit by bit, but acknowledging the true nature of con$ervative ideology means acknowledging they've sided with the enemy. The Big Business/Wall St. crowd cares little about Dawson's corn-fed, Bible Belt values. Until that realization dawns upon him he will continue to twist logic in anyway he can in order to cast blame upon the rampaging hoards of godless, communist, hippie, faggot liberals that exist only in his head.

Your Silence is Deafening

Dear Rita Diller, Editor in Chief of "West Texas Catholic"

Did you know that according to The British medical journal "the Lancet" 100, 000 civilians have been killed in your President's filthy Iraq war, some of whom WERE PREGNANT WOMEN?

How come it's OK to support that Ms. Pro-Life?

And did ya hear about the Iraqi prisoner KILLED by torture? CLICK HERE That A-OK with you?

And how many articles in the "West Texas Catholic" were written about putting lit cigarettes in the ears of GITMO detainees CLICK HERE (See, if you call them "detainees" you do not have to worry about all that human rights stuff)

BTW, how many unwanted kids have YOU adopted Ms. Diller?

How many girls who have almost died from a botched back alley abortion have YOU counseled lately?

Our point? There are two;

1. You don't get to pick and choose what you like about the Bush crime administration. You support 'em, and you just bought the whole package. If you fail to criticize the other things Bush and the Republicans do that goes against God's law (say . . . the first commandment) you are just a damn hypocrite.

2. Folks, if the Church wants to get in the political game, we think that's fine. BUT NO MORE TAX FREE STATUS.

Your thoughts?

-Panhandle Truth Squad

Welcome to Big Brother News Service!

The Amarillo Pravda News has embraced the crushing of the FIRST AMENDMENT declaring this AM, "U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Clarendon, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, described in detail the new and unique threat cyberspace represents." CLICK HERE

Yep, you read that right . . . cyberspace, the internet, and sites like Panhandle Truth Squad, and your personal email . . . they are a danger to America.

We do need to protect the back-end systems, the hardware and telecommunication equipment we rely on, but the knee-jerk's at the AGN fail to ask even the most simple questions.

Who does the policing of your emails, and the web? How do they do this? Who gets to decide who is an enemy? Reminds me of a guy who fought for freedom in the 1930's you know where.

"First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out.
And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me."
-Martin Niemoller

Yes, if you speak out YOU TOO can be determined as a threat in the war on Terra. . .

Don't like this view? let 'em know. john.kanelis@amarillo.com

-Prodigal Son

Jim Perkins, shy flower that he is..."strikes again"!

Go to www.amarillonet.com and see Jim's op-ed piece 12/19 and Jane's on 12/13.
Makes me proud to say that I am know and am friends with people the likes of Jim and Sylvia Perkins.........and Jim and Jane Alexander. It also reinforces my beliefs as a Democrat........a party affiliation we share with these fine folks who care enough about our community to take the time to write these amazing articles.
Anybody can write a "Letter to the Editor", or an op-ed piece. Let's get organized and let the Globe News know that are people in Amarillo that choose to operate in the "real world", with truth as our guide. Evoke thought, inspire/provoke others to respond (Jim is good at that),...who know, we may pull a few out of "the dark side"!!!
Here's how!
To Our Readers:The Amarillo Globe-News welcomes letters from our readers via e-mail. As with letters sent by mail or fax, we ask letter writers to include their name, address and phone number for verification purposes. Letter writers are limited to one published submission per calendar month, and our word limit for letters is 200 words.
Click here to send your letter.
mailto:john.kanelis@amarillo.com

The Right Deconstructed

The right in this country takes a lie and runs with it better than we do.

I am not advocating that we lie to America like conservatives, but the masses of whining Republican martyrs grabs onto something and never let's it go. Expounding on the fake outrage of the fake original it blows up into a scandal.

When the truth comes out, these lying conservatives never make a correction, they go on to the next outrage, and so all YOU remember is the "Big Lie".

let's take a look at a recent example per alicublog Off we go ! (Highlights mine)
______________________
Back in September, a soldier on leave from Iraq got beaten up outside a Toby Keith concert. The soldier, Foster Barton, said that he was attacked because he was wearing an Operation Iraqi Freedom t-shirt. It was reported that the assailant had slurred Barton's military service.

Though the parking lots of superpatriotic extravaganzas are not normally hunting grounds for roving gangs of John Kerry supporters, blame was laid at their doorstep. "Not anti-war," indeeded the Ole Perfesser, "just on the other side." One account was illustrated with a burning American flag, a silhouetted figure flashing the peace sign in the foreground.

Thomas Segel asked at GOP-USA, "Does This Hate Honor America?... Vietnam veterans commenting on the attack of this wounded soldier recalled the assaults, the spitting and the hate filled language they encountered upon their return from combat. Those attacks occurred at the same time John Kerry was diminishing their service before the United States Congress. It is their feeling Kerry is doing the same thing again during his presidential campaign....and with the same impact on American service personnel."

"It's more than just a local story," the serviceman's family told the press. "He is one of our soldiers fighting for America." Calls and letters of support flooded in.

Eventually the assailant was apprehended. His name is Brent Cornwell, and he is a veteran of the United States Army. Some correspondents picked this fact up; other didn't, including Mark Major, who reported for Suburban News Publications that, in response to the attack, State Representative Jon Peterson "has drafted legislation designed to punish more severely those who assault military personnel than those who attack civilians." County Prosecutor Dave Yost "went further than Peterson, suggesting the legislation contain language expressly allowing prosecutors to apply the law whether or not the suspect knew the victim was a member of the armed forces."

fu**france republished some of the local coverage, omitting the part about Cornwell's military service. "I would say that the offender be forced to join the Soldier's unit... for a week... on tour," one comment read. "I can only shake my head and ask again what someone so opposed to the war in Iraq was doing at a Toby Keith concert," said BitsBlog. "'Peace Activist' Arrested for Beating," announced Conservative Dialysis.

Some authors acknowledged Cornwell's service, but still tied him to their political opponents. "Just because Cornwell served for 4 years in the Army," noted a commenter to Lt. Smash's blog, "does not mean that he isn't now a 'peace activist.'"

Yesterday Cornwell pleaded guilty to a felonious assault on Barton. In his statement to the judge, Cornwell did not denounce the Bush Administration or the Iraqi invasion, or cry "Viva La Huelga." He told the judge that the fight outside the Toby Keith concert "started after the two exchanged insults about the other's military unit," according to the local news.
__________________

Sadly Truth Squaders, we can NEVER EVER take conservatives at their word. Until they start correcting and/or seperating themselves from the right wing echo chamber, their credibility is zip.

Values indeed . . .

-Prodigal Son

Thornberry's staff in the dark?

I called Thornberry's local office at the request of MoveOn.org Friday, 12/17, 10:57 A.M. - (371-8844), and spoke with Nora Shirley (dad-gummit, I didn't ask her title). I identified myself as a constituent and asked how Thornberry voted on the DeLay rule allowing indicted members to keep leadership positions. I was told by Ms. Shirley that "we don't know how he voted because it was a closed door vote. If you will give me your address the congressman will write you himself."

I gave Ms. Shirley my address and am anxiously awaiting my personally signed letter from Mac! Do YOU believe his staff doesn't know how he voted?

If you would like to get the information and give congressman Thornberry a call, here is the web address: http://www.moveon.org/callmade13.html?id

The Liberalator

Fake People, Fake Policies, Fake Values

At the Bush a** kissing festival, or the "Economic Summit", which was a real challange (See blogarillo's terriffic post below LOL) there were speakers supposedly representing the "regular folks"

Of course they fell all over themselves in support of chimpster's "operation: steal social security" , but guess what . . .

Ahhhhh . . . you already knew it. These "regular folks" are activists working for conservative organizations that want to get rid of Social Security. CLICK HERE

You cannot trust any damn thing this administration says or does. Don't even try. Ever.

-Panhandle Truth Squad

BTW, YES emailers, the picture above is real. CLICK HERE
(Tip 'o' the hat to Sister Novena's Portapulpit for the catch!)

Spelling is a "Challange"

"Challanges"

Well, spacedark beat me to a post denouncing Virgil Van KKKamps latest "I hate wetbacks" guest column in this morning's AGN, so this picture of Bush sitting above a TV monitor with the word "challenge" misspelled will have to pass as my contribution for today. Can these guys do anything right?

virgil van camp is a racist, bigoted, white supremacist, John Bircher, segregationist, old southern, secessionist, discriminatory,

prejudiced, race-baiting, doctrinaire, dogmatic, extremist, flag-waving, jingoist, maniacal, persecuting, puritan, red-neck, biased, chauvinistic, contemptuous, dictatorial, fanatical, hateful, illiberal, inflexible, narrow-minded, obdurate, one-sided, small-minded, waspish, immoderate, fascist, arch-conservative, right-wing, anti-immigrant, anti-black, anti-semitic, anti-everybody crank.

Well, you know. It’s just that he begged so plaintively this morning for someone to say something like that about him. And I am nothing if not a southern gentleman, so I am happy to oblige.

V.V.C. allegedly writes a “tale of two aliens.” One was the best of aliens; one was the worst of aliens. He compares his daughter-in-law, a German teacher who wants to immigrate to the Untied States, to a straw man: one of the

hordes of illegal immigrants coming into our country to swell the ranks of the estimated 8 million to 13 million already here.

V.V.C. makes it obvious what he has in mind: an illegal Hispanic immigrant straight out of Cheech Marin’s Born in East L.A.

Oh, but his daughter-in-law! His daughter-in-law is an attractive and intelligent woman who cooks and cleans when she comes to visit him. Not just cooks and cleans: she irons his socks and underwear. Thanks, V.V.C. Just a little too much information there.

Thanks to exclusive Panhandle Truth Squad mind-reading technology I am able to read V.V.C.’s mind and tell you that he’s really thinking: Oh how sweet it is to have fought Germans as a young man and now to have a German of my very own issued to me to cook for me and clean for me and iron my bedsheets. Oh and glory be she wants to move here to iron this old American’s bedsheets all the year round!

She has made many trips to the U.S. and wants to become a citizen, especially a Texan. She lives in a mountainous area that is cold and damp. She loves heat and sunshine and complains about our too cold, air-conditioned buildings.

V.V.C. asks us to compare his beautiful German governess with his little brown stereotype swimming across the Rio Grande and asks:

Which will make the more desirable citizen? I'll be called a racist, but I think the answer is obvious.

Desirability, of course, didn’t used to be the point in the great American melting pot. But, as we keep saying, lots of things are changing as America quickly becomes Rome. Now, to be assimilated into the great American empire, you must prove yourself worthy. You must have something of value to offer to the collective.

Whom did Emma Lazarus have in mind when she penned “The New Collosus”: the tired, poor, huddled masses fleeing poverty and oppression, or a comparatively rich European whose socialist utopia is too cold and who wants to use her pension to move to sunny Texas?

I’ll be called a naïve idealist, but I think the answer is obvious.

SPACEDARK

American Media is Crap Part: 2031

NY Times Headline:

It's Inauguration Time Again and Access Still Has It's Price
Lunch with Shrubbie McCokespoon will cost you $250, 000

AND RIGHT BELOW? ALTOGETHER NOW . . .

Armor Scarce for Big Trucks Delivering Cargo in Iraq

Great priorities, huh?

We know that Bush and the Rethuglicans have no equal when it turns to big money grabs. With all of the sheeeet going on, what have they been pushing? Stealing YOUR social security. CLICK HERE (more on this topic later)

For some final Xmas cheer, 900 children have now lost a parent in Iraq, and 40 soldiers have died without ever seeing the faces of their unborn kids. CLICK HERE

Oh, and how many condolences has that basta** Rummy signed? ZIP! CLICK HERE

Grace and strength to these families . . . they won't get it from this evil administration.

-Prodigal Son

What You Voted For, con't

Calling all values voters.

UPDATE: Apparently the link doesn't work for everybody, so here's the scoop: The story's about how Bernard Kerik, Emperor W's choice for Supreme Magus of Homeland Security, was stalking the former Grandmistress of his Harem after she walked out on him. Here's a snippet:

When Regan ate in a restaurant with another man, Kerik called her cellphone, or had the management page her, said the source. Once he got her on the phone, "He'd describe the man she was having dinner with. He seemed to be watching her through the window," the associate said. He kept a key to her apartment, said another pal, and showed up unexpectedly. On a business trip to Los Angeles, she said, he had her followed.

But what frightened Regan most was a call in which Kerik he claimed to be following her son as he drove back to college in Massachusetts.

"He said, 'I'm following Patrick. I'm at this exit at the turnpike. I want you to know this is where he is,' " the associate recalled.

But, you know what? In all the uproar about this, I haven't seen anyone comment on the obvious: a bizarre freakazoid who stalks people, keeping tabs on what they eat and with whom, and who terrorizes their children, might just be the perfect choice for Homeland Security.

SPACEDARK

Wise Men Still Seek Him

But complete idiots seem pretty sure they've found Him and know exactly what He wants us to do.

SPACEDARK

I'd Take the Mouse

Mary Chumbley, frequent con$ervative contributer to the AGN's opinion page, had a real gem printed earlier this week. Her assertion that Bush isn't responsible in any way for the deaths of our troops in Iraq is false. While Bush isn't directly responsible he is the Commander in Chief and it was on his orders that our soldiers were put into harm's way. Chumbley then blames Clinton for 9/11 under the assumption that Clinton didn't do enough to stop al Qaeda. Actually, using that kind of twisted logic you could lay the blame on the Reagan Administration since they supported bin Laden and al-CIA-duh's terrorist war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Chumbley goes on to say that "liberal loons" "would vote for Mickey Mouse if he ran as a Democrat." While I don't consider myself a loon I can't argue with the rest of her comment. Had the last election been between a goofy cartoonish character with a curious speech impediment and Mickey Mouse, I definitely would have gone with the mouse.

war is peace, part ten gazillion

Believe me, I am absolutely sick of describing the Bush adminstration and its enablers as Orwellian . . . and of continuing to have to read such critiques.

But on Sunday the AGN ran the following letter by F. Wayne Chapman under the headline "An insightful one-liner":

In addition to acronymic sharing, it's also evident that the Open Border Lobby and Osama bin Laden are into goal-sharing.

We don't make a habit of debunking every single wingnut letter that gets published by the Amarillo Globe-News (we have jobs), but this one merits notice for a variety of reasons.

The AGN editorial staff will try to claim that they are not biased right-wingers by pointing out that they publish letters and columns by people holding a variety of political opinions. And they're right; in fact, they regularly print letters and columns from PTSers.

However:

The point of a letter's headline is to summarize the author's point, not to add additional editorial comment. The AGN editors showed their cards when they described Chapman's letter as "insightful."

And, in fact, it is not insightful at all. Whoever the "Open-Borders Lobby" may be, they obviously do not refer to themselves as such. A couple of internet searches show that the term is primarily used by right-wing websites such as the Eagle Forum, FrontPage, and the notoriously racist vdare.com.

The term is hardly used in the mainstream press at all. A LexisNexis search finds fewer than twenty references. But of these, only one occurred before September 11, 2001 (in the American Spectator, natch.)

It's clear that the online wingnut community and a few disreputable arch-conservative columnists like Michelle Malkin have seized on the term solely because of the infamous initials. It's the same old tactic: they demonize the word "liberal", they change "Democratic Party" to "Democrat Party," they call us "tax-hiking, government-expanding, latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading, Hollywood-loving, left-wing freak shows."

They call everyone who disagrees with them "terrorists."

And "F. Wayne Chapman" and the AGN editorial staff fell into the wingnuts' trap, having exactly the same "insightful" reaction they were programmed to have. And, yet again, a group (in this case, immigration reformers) are proclaimed to be doubleplusungood and booted unceremoniously out of the public conversation.

SPACEDARK

Dean for DNC Chair

The AGN dissed Howard Dean's run for DNC chair in an anonymous editorial this morning. If the AGN doesn't like him, then he clearly must be the best man for the job. It doesn't surprise me one bit that the con$ervative dominated AGN doesn't want a Democratic party with Dean at the helm. They'd be happier and safer with another corporatist Vichy Democrat dragging the party further to the right.

"In my day, we voted for our leaders . . . "

THE THING THAT WOULDN'T LEAVE: Republican Sheriff still in office despite wishes of voters 

"In my day, we voted for our leaders . . . and if we voted the shurf outta office, he hadda pack up and leave the job! And we liked it that way!"

This is kind of bizarre, but apparently, in Morton County, Kansas, voters can't get rid of a Republican sheriff even after voting him out of office. Twice.

SPACEDARK

Ev'ry morning just the same/Since the morning that we came/To this poor provincial town

Okay, maybe it's not such a big deal, and they are, I suppose, nice people, but is this really front-page news?

SPACEDARK

in a prig's eye: the self-righteous take over

For most of human history, the prig has been a stock comedic character. From Theonoë, the self-righteous priestess of Euripides’ Helen, through Malvolio of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night all the way to Frank Burns and his replacement Winchester of television’s 1970s hit M*A*S*H, audiences have delighted in watching overly inflated balloons get punctured.

What happened?

At the butt-end of 2004, the self-important, self-proclaimed paragon of virtue has suddenly stopped being a comic victim and has become Ruler of the Universe. Instead of Malvolio strutting obliviously about with his socks cross-gartered we now have Carolyn Kepcher, who sitteth at the right hand of Trump the Capitalist Almighty. In a world better conforming to literary convention, James Dobson would have his Bible hidden and altered by Hawkeye and Trapper John. On this side of the looking glass, Dobson pulls the strings of parents who abuse their children on his orders and demands that the lawgivers issue thou shalt nots telling us whom we can love.

It’s not surprising. All the conventions of human intellectual history have been upended and transformed as liberal democracy fails and the last dregs of science and the Age of Reason evaporate into half-remembered myth. The Emperor W himself is a self-righteous draft-evader who parades about in military uniforms, a drunken snorter of Hefty garbage bags full of cocaine who claims that God speaks to him and him alone. Suddenly the entire world is populated with Malvolios and Theonoës and Sheppards straight out of Flannery O’Conner who terrorize us with “Pro-Family” groups that organize against your family, who insist that you go to their church, who call you unpatriotic if you dare to doubt them for a second.

Because the Age of Questions has given way to the Age of Good and Evildoers. For a thousand years, the scientific method gradually taught us that the earth orbited the sun and that man evolved from other forms. For a thousand years, liberal democracy slowly developed concepts of individual rights and an open society. But that’s all over now.

You are no longer allowed doubts and you are no longer allowed honest differences of opinion. You are no longer allowed to search for truth because the truth hath been spaken unto you on the Fox News Channel. Carolyn is watching. Dobson is demanding. Cal is scribbling. O’Reilly is shouting. Drudge is scandalized. And over it all, the child emperor preens and prances in his new uniform: look at me, look at me, look at me.

SPACEDARK

First Amendment in its Death Throes

Bush administration prepares to pull the plug.

In an apparent reversal of decades of U.S. practice, recent federal Office of Foreign Assets Control regulations bar American companies from publishing works by dissident writers in countries under sanction unless they first obtain U.S. government approval.

It has become miserably clear that our government wants to close the marketplace of ideas. If you voted for Bush, you voted to limit all of our freedom to express ourselves. From a writer and a teacher, thanks a lot.

SPACEDARK

Why?

Why is the mere idea that Howard Dean could be head of the DNC so frightening to some?

A prominent local Democrat (though that is, of course, an oxymoron out here in the West Texas desert) recently e-mailed an off-hand statement to the whole entire world to the effect that Dean would have to learn to keep his mouth shut.

Come again? Keep his mouth shut? Why is that, exactly? Is Ari Fleischer now posing as a West Texas Democrat?

It's not so much that I'm a Dean supporter (though I did wear the orange hat). It's that we JUST LOST THE FREAKIN' "BIGGEST ELECTION OF OUR LIFETIMES" to a freakin' moron who is gleefully destroying everything we stand for-- and that means we really need to do some fast soul-searching and quickly look at every-freakin'-option. It's no time for caution, no time for wimpiness, no time for politicasusual.

I don't know if Dean is the answer or not. I do know that "keeping our mouths shut" has not worked, is not working, and will not work.

SPACEDARK

Does your vote count?

On the Globe-News opinion page Wednesday, December 8th the unnamed left column editors ask if your vote counts http://www.amarillo.com/stories/120804/opi_771684.shtml. Well, in three Texas races where Democrats won, getting the most votes, the Repubs are challenging the vote - Heflin is challenging the Vo win, Stick is challenging the Strama win, and Opiela is challenging the Gonzalez-Toureilles win. The Texas Republicans don't really believe your vote counts unless it's for them!

The Liberalator

Hey Pro-Lifers

Where's your outrage about this? CLICK HERE

. . . "Raped, treated as the sexual 'booty' of war or slain by indiscriminate bombings, women are too often the first victims of conflict, Amnesty International charged Wednesday in a report demanding legal redress. " . . .

. . . "on the ground the situation changes very little in favor of women ... In the case of Afghanistan we have seen no improvement.
"Warlords are occupying parts of the territory and see women as commodities for trading, to settle land dispute. Abductions and forced marriages are about as bad, if not worse, than at any time in Afghan history" . . .

-Prodigal Son

Heads up

A reader of PTS, SH, points us to an interesting post.
_____________________________________
"Hey folks, Just wanted to make sure y'all were aware of the issue laid out in this blog post: http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2004/12/local-officials-miss-boat-on-byrne.html

It applies specifically to the Panhandle and South Plains areas -- basically since the drug task forces busted out after the Tulia case, your area just let the task forces go but didn't re-apply to use the money for other stuff.

County commissioners in all those counties will have to decide by January whether to reapply to use the money for stuff like drug treatment, probation programs, forensic science investments and other local needs, or whether to forego any funding based on sour grapes from not having a drug task force anymore. It's a good local issue.

I work with ACLU and we're going to be pushing the issue again at the Legislature."
_______________________________________

Thanks for the heads up!

-PTS

What You Voted For . . .

Hey Republicans . . . got more to add to the list of what you idiots voted for!

(Anyone else wants to add something we would love to hear from you! Email us: panhandletruthsquad@yahoo.com)

NEW:
-Throwing out prohibitions against lobbying for former officials CLICK HERE
-A new arms race CLICK HERE
-Continuous back door draft CLICK HERE
-Confessions resulting from torture a-ok in court now CLICK HERE
-The disappearance of the dollar as THE international currency CLICK HERE
__________________________________________
OLD:
-A mind blowing 7 trillion debt left to our kids CLICK HERE
-Putting politics over making America safe from terrorism CLICK HERE
-"Conservatives" now above the law CLICK HERE and CLICK HERE
-A pension bailout crises costing taxpayers BILLIONS CLICK HERE
-Unchecked war profiteering costing the taxpayers BILLIONS CLICK HERE
-Putting "activist" judges (Guess conservative activists are OK!) on the supreme court CLICK HERE
-Getting rid of ALL checks and balances CLICK HERE
-A fascist form of government for the first time CLICK HERE
____________________________________

-Panhandle Truth Squad

Monday Ha Ha's

Have you seen Iraq's new terror alert system? Click on picture to enlarge. or CLICK HERE

Tip 'o' the hat to one of PTS's fav sites. www.theonion.com

-Panhandle Truth Squad

When Democrats Had Guts Part 231

Great dailykos post. CLICK HERE to read the whole terrific thing.

. . . "Back in the Presidential Election of 1876, there was close election where vote fraud had been claimed and which involved no less, the State of Florida. That election was between Samuel Tilden (Dem) and Rutherford Hayes (Rep). Tilden had received 250,000 more votes than Hayes, and he needed just one (1) electoral vote from the four disputed states of Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Oregon to win office. On the other hand, the very determined Rutherford B. Hayes needed to take the electoral votes from all four of those states in order to win the Presidency.

Because the Constitution did not give the U.S. Supreme Court the relegated power to decide the election controversy, the dispute eventually fell to the Republican Congress which swiftly voted along party lines and awarded the election to their brethren, Rutherford Hayes. At that point in time, Tilden and his brethren could have sheepishly walked away like Al Gore had done in 2000, as appears Kerry is doing now; however, they didn't.

The Democrats were so outraged and DETERMINED not to be defrauded, they fostered nationwide threats of civil war. With the country in such grave turmoil, the two parties subsequently entered into negotiations and finally reached the famous "Compromise of 1877" by which the Republicans acceded to several hard demands of the Tilden forces which included guaranteed appointments of Democrats to certain Federal offices and posts as well as a promise that Hayes would not seek a second term of office as President. Gosh, if only Gore had been more like Tilden.

The main point of the above history lesson is that Democrats should not be afraid to stand up at any cost and declare they will not be hoodwinked by Republicans fraudsters. Incidentally, Rutherford B. Hayes kept his promise and did not run for re-election in 1880." . . .
____________________________________
Tilden's threats of Civil War were harsh, but when you deal with thugs that act without honor, that feel themselves above the law, ya gotta be willing to play hardball and be prepared to go down swinging.
____________________________________
BTW, the travesty forced on our nation is not over. The stench coming from Ohio is getting more pronounced. CLICK HERE

This is also a story crying for investigation in the SCLM. CLICK HERE

-Prodigal Son

Shrub's True Nature

Know what this picture is?

It is of Bush trying to squeeze himself through the door of Clinton's library ahead of Bill so he can be the first one in at the grand opening.

Go ahead, look at his face . . . the child emperor just can't stand not being the center of attention.

He can't stand criticism, dissenting opinion, staffers with differing ideas, etc.

Is this the Rethugs idea of the "adults" being in charge?

-Panhandle Truth Squad

How Much do You Know

. . . about the separation of Church and State?

Take the Quiz ! CLICK HERE

-Prodigal Son

Welcome to Blogtopia

PTS has been graced by some conservative readers. After reading a few comments, I had a coupla' thoughts here. . .

This is a site for the democratic wing of the democratic party. We are not looking for middle ground, we are not looking to convince any moderate rethugs to come over to a reality based America.

The LAST thing we want/need is "friendly" advice from folks who refuse to recognize that by voting republican this Nov. 2nd "conservatives" voted for:
____________________________________________
-A mind blowing 7 trillion debt left to our kids CLICK HERE
-Putting politics over making America safe from terrorism CLICK HERE
-"Conservatives" now above the law CLICK HERE and CLICK HERE
-A pension bailout crises costing taxpayers BILLIONS CLICK HERE
-Unchecked war profiteering costing the taxpayers BILLIONS CLICK HERE
-Putting "activist" judges (Guess conservative activists are OK!) on the supreme court CLICK HERE
-Getting rid of ALL checks and balances CLICK HERE
-A fascist form of government for the first time CLICK HERE

On and on and on and on . . .
____________________________________________
Can you be for these things and be "conservative"? Really?!!!

Republicans, this war you lied America into that has killed 1235 good men and women is YOUR mess, the massive debt is YOURS, YOU are now the "guv'ment" you constantly bitch about.
_____________________________________________
Lastly . . . why this blog . . . because the Declaration of Independence calls patriots to dissent:

" . . .--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to ALTER or to ABOLISH it, and to institute new Government . . ."
_____________________________________________
Here is the challenge for conservatives. . . admit that this sh** is happening, own up to the fact that it is wrong, and admit that you will hold yourselves 'accountable" (remember that little gem from Shrub in 2000?) Rhiiiiight . . .

Liberals . . . 51% is not a frikkin' mandate. WRITE, FIGHT, and realize that we are the ones struggling to never let the America we love go quietly into the night.

-Prodigal Son

PS: read THIS on a safe computer(Not at work)

Our Republican Gifts

In the Saturday Globe-News (11/27) there are several articles telling us about all the wonderful things we are getting from our conservative friends both nationally and in Texas. First, on the front page, we learn that our fantastic Republican controlled Texas legislature has spent all the money from the Toward Excellence Access and Success (TEXAS) program that has been promised our needy college students PLUS our president and national congress are going to toss 100,000 Pell Grant recipients off the rolls! (Page 1 "College grants get cut"). Then on page 3A our esteemed paper tells us "Audit: Halliburton lost property" to the tune of $18 million dollars! That's our V.P.'s company! And, on page 7A ("Massive Spending legislation becomes a habit for Congress") We see that our nation's congress, without being able to read the more than 3,000 page bill voted to spend $388 billion, on a bill loaded with pork, to keep our country running - and already over $400 billion in debt!

But at least one right-winger was very gracious. David Watson from Pampa (on page 11A in his opinion column), at the end of a convoluted discourse about Tony Tackitt I'm still trying to figure out, quoted one of our most revered liberal Democrats, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Thank you David, for your recognition of one of our country's outstanding LIBERAL presidents!

The Liberalator

Onion: Swift Boaters Still Hounding Kerry

The Onion does its part to prove that the third Bush regime will at least be good for satire. As long as the First Amendment survives, it goes without saying.

But the best line indicts Kerry:

"Kerry has not yet responded to the ads, but several former campaign aides said they expect him to issue a statement disputing the attacks before the end of next year."

SPACEDARK

P.S. Off to Ruidoso. Happy Thanksgiving.

You First

Have a read at this: CLICK HERE

Carl Fowler, former chair of the English Department at Amarillo College spits out this delusion, "The vindictiveness of liberal writers to this newspaper and other publications toward President Bush since his election in 2000 has created much of the divisiveness in the country today"

And this gem, "it should be apparent that the majority of the citizens of our country do not want a socialistic government."

Bush and the criminals he runs with are COMPLETELY inncocent of;

Not lying about national security: CLICK HERE

Not lying this nation into war: CLICK HERE

Not Bush's lies about taxes and the economy: CLICK HERE

Not the swift boat liars: CLICK HERE

Carl Fowler and his fantasy based crew are SHOCKED at those big meanie liberals.

Get it? those pinkos criticizing dear leader should just roll over.

Tell ya what Carl . . . you start apoligizing to the families of those who were killed and wounded in Iraq, and those jobless and broke, and the 45 million uninsured, etc.

You first buddy . . .

-Prodigal Son

Federal Prison Blues

Per Josh Marshall, I just called up Congressman Mac Thornberry's (Texas 13th District) office to see if Big Mac Attack supports the Delay Rule allowing members of the House leadership to keep their leadership posts after they've been indicted for felonies. I was told that the caucus was closed but that Congressman Thornberry doesn't think the court system should decide who gets to be chairman. Something about former Congressman James Traficant and running committees from behind bars was mumbled.

Of course, if I was convicted of a felony, the court might want to decide whether I got to keep my job. Even under indictment, I doubt that I'd be able to go on teaching. But no matter! If you have an opinion of Congressman Thornberry's opinion that felons should be allowed positions in the House leadership, by all means contact him.

SPACEDARK

Dear Mr. Radio Preacher Part Deux

Thank you for responding.

We agree with you about "Deliberate Deception" as being the basis for a lie. See! Fellow Christians can agree on some things!

Now by your own definition, let's have a lookee at just a couple of Bush's lies and claims of a "Looming threat" as you put it from Iraq. (Too many to REALLY cover!):
__________________________________________________
Bush knew and lied anyway example #1:
“Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program.” GWB, 10/2002.

Fact:
A 1997 report by the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)—the agency whose purpose is to prevent nuclear proliferation—stated there was no indication Iraq ever achieved nuclear capability or had any physical capacity for producing weapons-grade nuclear material in the near future.

In February 2001, the CIA delivered a report to the White House that said: “We do not have any direct evidence that Iraq has used the period since Desert Fox to reconstitute its weapons of mass destruction programs.” The report was so definitive that Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a subsequent press conference, Saddam Hussein “has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction.”
_______________________________________________________
Bush knew and lied anyway example #2:
“The Iraqi regime possesses biological and chemical weapons…And according to the British government, the Iraqi regime could launch a biological or chemical attack in as little as 45 minutes.” Bush, 9/26/2002 [Source: White House Web site]

Fact:
The Washington Post reported that Bush “ignored the fact that U.S. intelligence mistrusted the source” of the 45-minute claim and, therefore, omitted it from its intelligence estimates. Bush also ignored the fact that the Defense Intelligence Agency previously submitted a report to the administration finding “no reliable information” to prove Iraq was producing or stockpiling chemical weapons. According to Newsweek, the conclusion was similar to the findings of a 1998 government commission on WMD chaired by Rumsfeld.
____________________________________________________

I always like to state facts based on actual evidence, as I am sure you do on your radio show.

By the by, I failed to see one checkable quote in your response. Facts can stubborn little things!

Now onto your uninformed comments regarding my beliefs,
The 10 commandments:
My understanding is that these are not to be displayed, but were placed in the Ark of the Covenant, and "written on the heart" of every believer. Isn't placing monuments idolatry?

Abortion:
Are awful, terrible, and should be rare and legal. To my knowledge Christ never said anything about abortion.
_____________________________________________________
Two things:

1. Do you have enough guts to pray on the air for the thousands of Iraqis civilians killed?

2. Do you have enough guts to have a liberal on the air to state their case rather than spouting what you presume they stand for as you do in your email response?

Best,
Panhandle Truth Squad

Dear Mr. Radio Preacher

UPDATE: PTS gets a response to our email (Posted Below)
Folks, this is the kind of discourse we can look forward to from the Christian right.
Dodging, spinning, providing no evidence (links, actual quotes with dates, etc.), and if you dare question you are not a Christian yourself.
PTS's response forthcoming.
-PTS
________________________________

We were indeed attacked by terrorists. President Bush did not lie. Neither did I. First of all, the President acted on the intelligence that he was given. Almost everyone, including the U.N. and the French, and most of the anti-war liberals in this country believed that Iraq had WMD and that Saddam was fully intent on continuing to build his strength. Past history with him indicated that he was a threat to us. He was unquestionably a sponsor of terrorism. To act on that intelligence, especially after Saddam's rebellion against 17 U.N. resolutions warning him of consequences if he didn't cooperate, is not a lie. If the intelligence is faulty, that doesn't make the President a liar to act on it.

Obviously, you don't know what a lie is. A lie is "deliberate deception". To believe something is a certain way and act accordingly may be acting on a lie someone else told, but it doesn't make you a liar to have acted in good faith and full confidence that you were being truthfully informed. If you are really a "truth squad", perhaps you should learn what a lie is. You call me a liar for stating that the President said he would take the war to the terrorists before they could bring it to us. He did say that. That's what I said he said. And, you call that a lie. I didn't say Iraq attacked us. Read my article again and you will find quite the contrary. I mentioned others that DID NOT attack us, but that we attacked. President Bush did not say Iraq attacked us.

Clearly, you aren't interested in truth. Apparently, you are interested in promoting your liberal agenda and promoting hatred of George W. Bush. Nothing he could do (short of resignation) would please you folks. Had he not attacked Iraq, and if they had attacked us, you would criticize him for sitting around while they built up their arsenal and killed our citizens. You "truth-proclaimers" would have been vicious in your attacks on him for not recognizing the looming and growing threat of Iraq.

How much do you really know about Christian virtues? I suspect that you are also on the side of removing the Ten Commandments from public places, and likely on the side of pro-abortion. And, if that is so, I will look forward to your next sermon to me on Christian virtues. It should be interesting.

I will read your e-mail on my radio program tomorrow morning.

Ricky Pfeil

kjrt@kingdomkeys.org

___________________________________________
Mr. Radio Preacher,
We read your column in Today's Amarillo Globe News.

You state, "We were attacked by terrorists. President Bush responded with force, declaring that we would take it to the supporters of terrorism" . . .

The truth is that Iraq did not attack us on 9-11.

Also, Bush's reason's for going to war in Iraq was that it was an immediate threat, and there is no evidence that Saddam supported Al Queda.

You are lying when you say different

Is lying to the public in our local paper a Christian value? Who lacks perspective and honesty here?

I look forward to hearing your correction on your Radio Shows

-Panhandle Truth Squad
(We are also Christian. Please see Beatitudes about peacemakers.)

PS: Any readers want to join us and let 'em know that lying is a sin?
kjrt@kingdomkeys.org

We Are Not Going Away

Think you are alone?
Don't know anyone else pissed off about dubya dubya 2?
Surrounded by Rethugs at work, walking around with smug expressions, poking you in the chest and spouting about their 'values'?
Afraid to scream out, "F*** you POS Bush!" because the brownshirts are out there, and they are watching you, so fall in line and report for re-education. . .

Take five minutes today and CLICK HERE

-Prodigal Son

Ted Rall Nails It!

Expounding on Spacedark's post below . . . we have to remember what OUR values as Americans are.

Sound off! We wanna hear from you. (Click on "Comments")

BTW, Dr. Dobson still has not responded to the letter we wrote him earlier. (See Post Below)

-Panhandle Truth Squad

When Will They Ever Learn?

The liberal side of the blogosphere's aflame with rumour. Apparently, our losing presidential candidate has been using his muscle to push Tom Vilsack for the DNC chair. Vilsack is the governor of Iowa, the Midwestern state whose denizens inscrutably live in perverse farmhouses with putrid enclosed porches that smell like someone's nearly-dead Grandma. Iowa, you will recall, gave us John Kerry for our nominee and then traitorously turned and voted for Bush on November 2.

I was in Vilsack's trashy little state in January, wearing the orange hat for Howard Dean. Dean is also being pushed for DNC chair by the Jesse Jacksons, Bill Richardson, and Donna Brazile. Dean's ability to fundraise and his fiery partisan loyalty make him a natural choice. Nancy Pelosi apparently realized this several months ago, but has now had her mind changed by Kerry.

Dean's fierce loyalty to Democratic populism compelled him to work his tail off for Kerry, despite bad blood stemming from the Kerry campaign's dirty tricks during the Iowa caucuses. Even after losing the nomination, Dean kept right on campaigning for the Democratic ticket. Right after winning the nomination, Kerry went snowboarding.

Vilsack pretended neutrality during the Iowa caucuses, but his wife openly supported Kerry. And the Vilsacks delivered Iowa to the Massachusetts Senator in January. They could not do so in November, but no matter. The bills are due, and Kerry is paying back the man who handed him the nomination. It matters not that he must, once again, stab in the back a man who swallowed more pride for the good of the party than John Kerry will ever have.

This is ugly, ugly, ugly. John Kerry lost. He would have done even worse on November 3 had it not been for the spine transplant given him and the other Dems by Dr. Dean. The Republican-lite philosophy exemplified by Vilsack has been thoroughly repudiated time and time and time again. If we nominate a man whose website now features a box titled "Strengthening Iowa Values," we will continue down that ignominious path. We might as well nominate Joe Lieberman or Zell Miller. It's death to the party. It's also a slap in the face to all of us who bit our tongues and worked our grass-roots off for Kerry despite knowing in our heart of hearts that he was exactly this sort of a son of a bitch.

SPACEDARK

Dear Dr. James Dobson

Dear Dr. Dobson CLICK AND SCROLL DOWN

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the other specific laws and how to follow them.

1. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual cleanliness - Lev.15:19-24. The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offence.

4. Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don.t agree. Can you settle this?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? - Lev.24:10-16. Couldn.t we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev.20:14)

Best,
Prodigal Son

What he said

As seen on BARTCOP

Hey, Bush voter, enjoy your tax cuts and moral values now because:

When the public school doesn’t have money for textbooks… When you don’t have money for a private school…

When you are forced to have your rapist’s child… When your parents have to choose between food and medicine…

When you are forced to work in a hazardous work environment… When your job gets sent to China…

When your child is drafted and dies in an un-necessary, illegal war… When you get sick due to the environment…

When you get sicker due to corporate malfeasance and lack of government oversight… When a treatable, but expensive medical condition debilitates you…

When you can’t get insurance because you couldn’t afford to fund your private account… When you are turned away at the emergency room for lack of insurance…

When you can’t get unemployment benefits because the program was killed… When you can’t get SSDI, because your private account is too small…

When you can’t find a job that pays the bills… When you can’t buy food because food stamps no longer exist…

When your son is thrown in jail for being gay… When your daughter dies from a botched abortion…

When you are homeless because Section 8 no longer exists… When bankruptcy laws don’t allow you to clear your debt…

When you can’t afford a lawyer and none is afforded to you… When you are put in prison to work off your debts…

When the prison has too few guards and you are routinely tortured… When you retire on your private account and a well-connected CEO takes the money…

Don’t ask the Democrats for help. It is not that they don’t want to help; they can’t; so they wont. Sit back and enjoy the “Neo-Con Show Part II”.

-Prodigal Son

RIGHT ON!

Feeling angry?

Read this great rant (not suitable for work, got some cussin') CLICK HERE

-Prodigal Son

Re: How Democratic Party can get back in the game

Greg Sagan's piece in this morning's AGN made some good points, but I take exception to other parts of it.

Sagan asks whether or not Kerry's failure to reach out to middle America is the fault of candidate or the party, and later asserts that Kerry "blew it." I disagree. If major fault lies with anyone on our side it is the Dems who picked the "safe" candidate in the first couple of primaries that set the tone for the others. I don't know anyone who had Kerry as their first pick. He's a stuffy, preppy millionaire and does little to counteract that image. Bush is every bit the wealthy, Ivy League-educated elitist that Kerry is, but he comes off like Tom Arnold, and a lot of the dopes out there bought into that. After 9/11 and the 2002 elections things were looking pretty bleak for the Dems and Kerry took back a lot of ground.

We've been bashing ourselves a lot over the past week. What did Kerry do wrong? What did we do wrong? What did we miss? I have a thought: What if we did a lot of things right? Instead of pointing a finger at ourselves let's point a finger at the people who gave Bush a second term despite his astounding record of failure, because when it comes down to it, it's their damn fault. Some voted for him simply because he is Republican, others because they are jerkoffs who believe in his jerkoff policies. How many voted for him because their preacher told them to? How many voted for him because they are just plain stupid?

Sagan states that the Dems need to start defining themselves instead of letting the Repubs do it for them. I couldn't agree more. Dems have been painted as a party of snobs, elitists, hippies and Hollywood celebrities. Kerry's status as a wealthy New England aristocrat certainly didn't help matters. We need to demonstrate to the country that the vast majority of us are average working Joe's and Jane's and one of the best ways to do that is to get more us involved in running for office. Where is it written that the only people who can represent us are lawyers and wealthy business men? Not only do we need to make our own definitions of liberalism and progressivism, but we also need to do to right-wingers what they have done to us. We need to define them as the borrow-and-spend, bigoted, freedom-hating conservatives they are.

Sagan then suggests that Dems abandon the defense of the minimum wage. This is wrong for two reasons. First, I don't think we should concede anything to the Repubs. You give them an inch and they take a mile. You extend your hand to them and they will bite it off. We give them nothing from this point forward. Secondly, any kind reduction in the minimum wage is going to cause an increase in the number of America's working poor. It will do nothing to slow the jobs moving overseas. The jobs being lost these days aren't minimum wage jobs. They're professional and union jobs that paid well above the minimum. The minimum wage may be the only safety net that keeps people from starving even though they work 40 hr/wk at some McJob.

I don't know if I agree with Sagan's assertion that Dems should "give up the low row in campaigning." The fact of the matter is negative campaign ads work. Look what it got Bush. We should fill 2006 with the most vicious, black-hearted attack ads in the history of politics.

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