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  This Week on the Weasel Wagon

  http://desertbeacon.blogspot.com/2008/05/this-week-on-weasel...
  4 days ago in Desert Beacon · Authority: 79

  Since Senator McCain has taken flippity-flopping to such heights that he is in a class by himself, and would monopolize the Desert Beacon Sunday Deck Bass to the exclusion of all other worthy candidates for northern Nevada’s least coveted award, it’s probably a good idea to periodically give him his very own post: This week on the Senator John Sidney McCain III’s (R-AZ) Weasel Wagon. * Doug Goodyear, the individual selected to manage the 2008 Republican National Convention by the McCain campaign resigned May 10th after it was publicized that his lobby shop, DCI, used to represent the military regime in Myanmar. [TPM] DCI has also done ‘consulting’ work for Exxon-Mobil, General Motors and other clients. [Nwswk] Goodyear formerly represented R.J Reynolds before joining the DCI group, “and was instrumental in creating the Ramhurst Corporation which received funds from R.J. Reynolds “to ensure that tobacco industry efforts in Washington were supported by and coordinated with RJR’s nation-wide fake grassroots operations in 1993.” [SrcWtch] DCI also publishes the “Tech Central Station,” website that broadcasts global warming denial materials sponsored by Exxon-Mobil and General Motors. [SrcWtch] * Doug Davenport, a McCain campaign aide tendered his resignation May 11th for essentially the same reasons – connections to DCI and the Myanmar Junta. [Politico] * During the 2000 presidential campaign Arizona Senator John McCain was critical of George W. Bush for not considering exceptions for rape, incest, and a mother’s health in the Republican platform plank on abortion. ABC quotes an un-named ‘senior Republican’ close to the McCain campaign as indicating this round the Senator will not object to the plank, the same as that in the 2000 platform. [ABC] Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, told ABC that if McCain made changes it would be “political suicide.” [via TP] * The Arizona solon is content to abjure comments by the right wing pastor Rev. John Hagee about the Catholic Church being the “Great Whore of Babylon,” however he has yet to disavow Hagee’s comments about Hurricane Katrina being the hand of God slamming down New Orleans for planning a Gay Pride Parade. [TP] For his part, Hagee seemed to temper his comments [LAT] before the Dallas Morning News picked up a conference call in which “a woman on the call asked why he seemed to have backed away from his Katrina comments in face of criticism, Hagee said he hadn't. As for the Katrina, he said, God controls hurricanes and "God always punishes unconfessed sin." [DMN] * Senator McCain has yet to be called upon in any serious way to comment on another right wing pastor’s comments. The Rev. Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church: “Parsley claims that Islam is an "anti-Christ religion" predicated on "deception." The Muslim prophet Muhammad, he writes, "received revelations from demons and not from the true God." And he emphasizes this point: "Allah was a demon spirit." Parsley does not differentiate between violent Islamic extremists and other followers of the religion: There are some, of course, who will say that the violence I cite is the exception and not the rule. I beg to differ. I will counter, respectfully, that what some call "extremists" are instead mainstream believers who are drawing from the well at the very heart of Islam.” [MoJo] * It is one thing for candidate McCain to pledge to get rid of ‘pork barrel laden bills’ and abolish earmarks – but quite another to schedule campaign events at sites like the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey which has been “the beneficiary of multiple federal earmarks.” [TP] * Senator McCain either did, or didn’t, vote for George W. Bush in 2000 – depending on the ‘moment’ [TP] and who is quoting whom from Candice Bergen’s Beverly Hills dinner party. [NYT] * Presidential candidate McCain offered a “new idea” on May 7th – to create a Task force on Human Trafficking. The problem with this new idea is that such a task force already exists. The Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons was created by the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000. [TP] * If candidate McCain is going after women’s votes he has a funny way of doing it. He missed the vote on the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and then explained is opposition by saying that instead of equal pay women should get more education and training [TP]; a stance that totally misses the point that the problem is that women with equal education and training are not getting equal pay.
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  Two Reasons To Smile Today ... Maybe

  http://goodnevilguy.blogspot.com/2008/05/two-reasons-to-smil...
  4 days ago in Good and Evil World · Authority: 2

  The first and most satisfying reason for smiling today was this nest I found recently in an old tool belt of mine hanging in my shop containing four baby Carolina Wrens eagerly awaiting to be fed. I thought that I had been hearing faint noises of their presence for a couple of days before I found them. I think I would buy a brand new belt before I would disturb this one. I am enjoying watching them grow. I think Thoreau would have as well. The second reason I found to smile today really is not smiling at all but another way of expressing my awe at the cerebral activity (or lack thereof) of our political and media icons. I want to thank swiftspeech.blogspot.com for posting this insane conversation. So, before you read this, remember that here we have O'Reilly (who joins Dubya, Cheney, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity as the loudest of the "endless war" supporters, all of which have never served in a war themselves) interviewing a man who spent time in a Vietnamese prison camp where he endured torture for a few years and has, I would assume, physically and emotionally felt the real horrors of war. Now McCain is backing a man that is wanting an economy based on war. How ironic can you get? It appears that he has been kicked in the head one too many times. What does that say about McCain's thinking?!? If this wasn't so damn insane, it would make for a comical skit. Read on ... Think Progress: O’REILLY: Did you vote for President Bush? MCCAIN: Of course not. I campaigned all over this country for him. O’REILLY: So you voted for President Bush. MCCAIN: Of course. I mean, that’s a ridiculous question. I think I will spend the rest of the day watching those baby birds screaming for their mama and daddy to feed them. On second thought, if I do that it will remind me of how the masses are screaming for government to step in and be much more to us than they need to be or were ever designed to be. And they are laughing their ass off at us because they know they are getting us right where they want us. I don't feel like smiling any more. ©2008/Keith Simerson
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  links for 2008-05-11

  http://silas216.com/?p=1365
  4 days ago in thoughts from an empty head · Authority: 19

  Dana Milbank - Republicans Vote Against Moms; No Word Yet on Puppies, Kittens - washingtonpost.com It was already shaping up to be a difficult year for congressional Republicans. Now, on the cusp of Mother’s Day, comes this: A majority of the House GOP has voted against motherhood. (tags: news politics Republican congress mothers wtf stupidity lol) Low-tech Magazine: Computing without electricity Fast and complicated calculations are a product of fossil fuels. (tags: calculators computers low+tech mechanical machines toread) If music DRM is dead, the RIAA expects its resurrection “Any form of subscription service or limited play-per-view or advertising offer still requires DRM. So DRM is not dead.” (tags: riaa DRM copyright musicindustry article music future law stupid stupidity technology) House passes bill that will let the RIAA take away your home for downloading music - Boing Boing PRO-IP puts local law enforcement in a position to demand the forfeiture in criminal proceedings of stuff used to violate copyright. Which means that instead of the RIAA simply trying to collect fines, they can also incite local authorities to collect all (tags: copyright RIAA politics music law copyfight capitalism corruption doctorow greed laws legislation piracy) Think Progress » McCain’s 10-second flip on whether he voted for Bush: ‘Of course not,’ ‘Of course.’ File under “Senior Moment”, and then remember that the guy having “senior moments” is running for the job that puts him in charge of nuclear weapons. (tags: mccain senility wtf grampa+simpson) Blackwater unlikely to face charges - Conflict in Iraq- msnbc.com Blackwater Worldwide, the security contractor blamed by an angry Iraqi government for the shooting deaths of 17 civilians, is not expected to face criminal charges — all but ensuring the company will keep its multimillion-dollar contract to protect U.S. (tags: iraq war mercenaries blackwater civilians murder injustice wtf) Rising fuel prices are a driving force for change - away from autos - Los Angeles Times After declining at the end of 2007, L.A. rail and bus ridership started rising in January. From January to March, average weekday boardings were up 16% on the Red Line rail system, 13% on the Blue Line and 17% on the Gold Line, which set a record for high (tags: California commuting energy gas US cars) Gas Prices Send Surge of Riders to Mass Transit - New York Times With the price of gas approaching $4 a gallon, more commuters are abandoning their cars and taking the train or bus instead. (tags: NYT mass+transit fuel economy bus train) Pentagon official barred from aiding war-crime prosecution - International Herald Tribune In a new blow to the Bush administration’s troubled military commission system, a military judge has disqualified a Pentagon general who has been centrally involved in overseeing Guantánamo war crimes tribunals from any role in the first case headed for (tags: Guantanamo Pentagon military trial war+crimes) Most Commented Posts6 November 2007 -- Musical Interlude (10)20 November 2007 -- Benny (9)7 September 2007 -- For Tart (8)
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  I didn’t vote for George Bush in 2000 either…

  http://jrittenhouse.livejournal.com/950887.html
  5 days ago in Jim's Occasional Journal of Sorts · Authority: 4

  …but I’m not the Republican nominee. Story: Famous progressive blogger (Arianna Huffington) mentions on her big blog that McCain and Mrs. McCain had told her at a dinner party in 2001 that neither voted for Bush in 2000. McCain campaign says: Huffington is a lib’ral liar. Then several other people who were at that dinner table mention that they heard it too, including Murphy Brown, Josh and Toby from the WEST WING…or at least the actors who played them. Whitford and Schiff said they did not hear Cindy McCain describe her vote, but both recalled how McCain had conveyed his opposition to Bush just a few days before Bush was inaugurated. “He was going on and on about how horribly unqualified and untested Bush was, how the campaign had attacked his family,” said Whitford, a registered Democrat. “Someone said, ‘If he’s so terrible, why did you support him?’” McCain replied that as a member of the GOP, Whitford added, he always intended to back the party’s nominee. Then, the actor said, someone asked McCain whether he had cast a vote in favor of Bush. “He put his finger up to his lips, shook his head and mouthed, ‘No way,’” Whitford said. Schiff remembered the conversation the same way. “My memory was he said pretty clearly, no, he did not vote for him,” he said. “I discussed it with others afterwards. It was clear to everyone he said no. Did he shout it from the rooftops? No.”

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