it's in the details, right?

One thing. I really don't care what the WaPo's fashionista (Robin Givham) thinks about Dick Cheney's attire at the Auschwitz ceremony. His attire should be the least of our worries. This woman will get her 15 minutes for writing the piece, the satisfaction that it was Drudged, and a mention in high-profile politiBlogs. L A M E.

Blink twice, and it's right there.

Renommee Moulin

GORE 08

The candidate he endorsed last year, Howard Dean, (for which he took much flak) is poised to become the chair of the DNC. Moveon.org, the organization that sponsored Gore's speeches last year and used him in print ads, raised $30+ million in the 2004 cycle and has an email list as large as, if not bigger than, the DNC's (and they don't have to remain neutral in the primary). Maybe Gore played 2004 just right.

Is it too much to ask for another CLINTON/GORE ticket? Would I be able to handle the Rs talking about how Al Gore became unhinged when he started giving speeches to MoveOn? ...or how Hillary is to the left of Barbara Boxer??! I think so. FETE DE TORTUREZ

The female interrogator wanted to "break him," Saar adds, describing how she removed her uniform top to expose a tight-fitting T-shirt and began taunting the detainee, touching her breasts, rubbing them against the prisoner's back and commenting on his apparent erection. The detainee looked up and spat in her face, the manuscript recounts. The interrogator left the room to ask a Muslim linguist how she could break the prisoner's reliance on God. The linguist told her to tell the detainee that she was menstruating, touch him, then make sure to turn off the water in his cell so he couldn't wash. Strict interpretation of Islamic law forbids physical contact with women other than a man's wife or family, and with any menstruating women, who are considered unclean. "The concept was to make the detainee feel that after talking to her he was unclean and was unable to go before his God in prayer and gain strength," says the draft, stamped "Secret." The interrogator used ink from a red pen to fool the detainee, Saar writes. "She then started to place her hands in her pants as she walked behind the detainee," he says. "As she circled around him he could see that she was taking her hand out of her pants. When it became visible the detainee saw what appeared to be red blood on her hand. She said, 'Who sent you to Arizona?' He then glared at her with a piercing look of hatred. "She then wiped the red ink on his face. He shouted at the top of his lungs, spat at her and lunged forward" — so fiercely that he broke loose from one ankle shackle. "He began to cry like a baby," the draft says, noting the interrogator left saying, "Have a fun night in your cell without any water to clean yourself."

*sigh*

(Will someone please correct my French?)

MIA - GOP Senatorial Balls

"The historic nature of his nomination is rendered meaningless for the Hispanic community when the nominee declines an opportunity to meet with the group of Hispanic members of Congress who have worked for so many years to open the doors of opportunity to fellow Hispanics,"the caucus said in the letter sent Wednesday.

--Hispanic Business Wha wha wha?!?! Are MY people racist for deciding NOT to support AbuGonzales? I wonder if Sean Hannity or the Three Hour Hatemonger will mention the Congressional Hispanic Caucus... The ACLU has a great reference page that provides all of the official documents regarding torture in our prison camps. Check it out.

It's not because they put folks on the moon, no no no...

Bush criticized energy policy, federal land use policy, subsidized housing, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("a misuse of power," he said), and he warned that Social Security would go bust in ten years unless people were given a chance to invest the money themselves.

Sure, it looks like another article about Bush's strong position on the Social Security issue, but it's from 1988! He's been full of shit from the get-go, people.

Breathe, Denise...breathe.

-Blind patriotism is for F O O L S.

-Condi Rice is a L I A R.

-Alberto Gonzales is an embarrassment to H O N E S T Latinos in government.

-The Democratic Leadership Council is a J O K E. I've not written about the dangers of homo-SIN-uality in a while, mainly because lunatic evangelicals don't really need further recognition, but they do seem to get wackier by the minute.

"Nothing is more threatening to the foundation of our country than the radical homosexual agenda and its assault on marriage and the family," Mrs. Fields said.

Mrs. Fields is the president of the Christian Coalition of Georgia. Nothing about the above statement is surprising, but Google-ing "Sadie Fields" led me to an article about Tess Fields, Sadie's queer daughter. Apparently, in addition to being a straight up bigot regarding non-straights, she's also anti-Jew. What a classy broad:

She writes that the first split with her mother occurred when she was in seventh grade and her mother told her that a Jewish friend "will go to hell" if she did not accept Christ. Sadie Fields found out when Tess was 24 that her daughter was a lesbian, she wrote. "My mother came over to where I worked, screaming, and told me I was 'dead' to the family. She called me 'sick,' 'crazy,' and 'of the devil,' " Tess Fields wrote.

I love it.

All of the crazies (Alan Keyes) have gay offspring. Perhaps the Focus on the Family assholes should focus on acceptance, save their kids grow up to be self-loathing homoheathens.

If I had a "third leg," as it were, I'd make it my personal mission to dick-slap James Dobson.

"Let me see if I can diss-sect your question..."

In February, Bush will outline his plan for cutting the defecit in half. Also, I will grow wings, fly to Spain, and shit gold. He's behind the press-conference podium right now, giving one of those rare Q&A sessions. Already, he's talked about how our children and grandchildren will benefit (in the long term) from a free Iraq. I know this it nitpicky, but I hate the way Bush pronounces "united." It always sounds like "unineted" to me. Whoa, he just talked about a "cauldren of resentment and hate." RAD! Oh yeah, today was the bloodiest day in Iraq since Operation:DrunkWithPower began. Now he's on to yapping about how when I retire, the "system will be bankrupt." Apparently, Dems scare little, old ladies, and republicans scare MY generation. If he "reforms" Social Security, that still wont be his legacy. He's still go down in history as one of the worst presidents in American history, and most definitely the worst in my generation.

"...porque este pais es es es es es es un gran pais."

Waking up to the dulcet sound of this year's Congressional Budget Office's projected budget deficit numbers wasn't quite as bad as I thought it might be. At $400 billion dollars, it's only the THIRD largest in recent history. (The first and second, were last year, and the year before last, respectfully)

These figures take into account some of the administration's request today for another $80 billion for the war in Iraq, but they do not assume an extension. Nor do they assume the likely extension by Congress of some major tax cuts that were enacted in 2001 and 2003 and are scheduled to expire in 2009 and 2011. CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin told reporters that the programs would have to be reined in before that happened. Otherwise, he said, taxes would have to rise to intolerable levels or the government would have to borrow so much money that interest payments would spiral out of control. "You can't borrow it forever," Holtz-Eakin said. "I don't think you can say deficits don't matter. They matter a lot."

In other news, on the I-torture-detainees-because-I-can side of the aisle, it seems like AbuGonzales' nomination will be confirmed by the Senate sometime this week. Despite his pathetic Q&A with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, this asshole WILL be confirmed by: Republicans that fear turning their back on the GOP trough that overfeeds them, and spineless Democrats that are too afraid to vote in the best interests of her/his constituents. Thank God for Boxer. Barbara "The Chainsaw" Boxer. Seriously. What's happening? I'm only 25, but I never in my life could have imagined that the word "liberal" would ever be used as a pejorative. I never thought deceiving an entire country into going to war would be rewarded with promotions and "medals of Freedom." I wish I had more in me. I have 50 pages left in a book I'm reading, and a couple of new magazines to digest and regurgitate.

See ya later...

Tomorrow: -Nu Democrats, courtesy of The South -Neko Case's ass -20th Century Composers

D'you remember when protests were solemn and civil?

I didn't hit up the Seattle protests this afternoon, so I guess you can color me apathetic for not showing solidarity. There's something about inexperienced speakers, tired chants about democracy (and what it looks like), paper mache' puppetry and white girls with dreads dressed as grieving Iraqi mothers that irritates the shit outta me. Despite the cloud of darkness/illegitimacy/duplicity that hung low over the inaugural ceremonies today, I'll admit I'm a sucker for the pomp and circumstance. It's almost bedtime. The food baby I created over dinner is begging me to lie down. For now, check out this clip of a foxy FOX anchorwoman losing her cool when Judy Bachrach from Vanity Fair pointed out the $40 million dollar price-tag for the Presidential Balls. "...gee that prayer service sure will keep them safe and warm in their flimsy vehicles in iraq..."

D'you supopse the Senate majority leader calls his wife the Frist Lady?

A few things I noticed this morning, whilst getting High for Democracy, and doing all in my power to avoid the bitter tears of defeat:

--Condoleezza Rice walked down the Capital steps to a veritable round of rockstar applause, whereas the Clintons, who had walked in front of her not even a minute prior, only recieved a smattering. It HAD to have been her hat. --Guy Hovis' rousing rendition of 'Let the Eagle Soar,' was impressive, but not nearly as moving as the original performance by John Ashcroft.

--The First Lady's ensemb' was a pretty hott number. She has proven once again that even robots can be sexy. There was a rare moment of authentic human physicality when a C-SPAN camera zoomed in on the doe-eyed That's-My-Baby look she gave to the most powerful man in world just before he addresed the tens of thousands of sycophantic WASP's before him. My hats go off to the innoventive engineers that created such an affable machine. I can't wait for the trappings of her custom-made Oscar de la Renta this evening.

One of the opening prayers suggested the God "shower our elected leaders with [his] life-giving spirit," which leads me to believe that George W. Bush will indeed be brining people back from the dead. In this current time of war, this can't be such a bad thing.

The President's inaugural address was as predictable as our initial response to the GWOT. I especially loved that he refrained from uttering "9-11," yet still managed to mention the Day of Fire we all expereiced shortly after he took office. He mentioned the "force of human freedom" several times, and hammered in the fact that humans should not have to live "at the mercy of bullies." Dubya reminded us that "the swiftest advance of freedom EVER seen" resulted in "10s of millions [that] have achieved their freedom." Parade coverage soon...

God bless America.

"There's no education in the second kick of a mule."

Where to begin? Required Reading: THE COMING WARS by SEYMOUR M. HERSH What the Pentagon can now do in secret. Basically, Mr. Hersh breaks down the consolidation of power within the military and intelligence communities, which allows for an agressive push for covert operations against the mullahs in Iran. The CIA is being demoted, in a sense, so that Rummy and Co. can go nuts in this Global War on Terror (GWOT) without having to run it by Congress first. Basically, it lays down the tentative plans to eventually invade Iran. (Axis of Evil?)

The new rules will enable the Special Forces community to set up what it calls “action teams” in the target countries overseas which can be used to find and eliminate terrorist organizations. “Do you remember the right-wing execution squads in El Salvador?” the former high-level intelligence official asked me, referring to the military-led gangs that committed atrocities in the early nineteen-eighties. “We founded them and we financed them,” he said. “The objective now is to recruit locals in any area we want. And we aren’t going to tell Congress about it.” A former military officer, who has knowledge of the Pentagon’s commando capabilities, said, “We’re going to be riding with the bad boys.”

Let me remind you that Seymour Hersh isn't some loon-from-the-left. This is the man that broke the Abu Ghraib story. I don't doubt the credibility of his inside sources. The Financial Times ran a couple of stories regarding the Pentagon's reaction to the article:

Lawrence DiRita, Pentagon spokesman, said Mr Hersh had been fed with “rumour, innuendo and assertions about meetings that never happened, programmes that do not exist, and statements by officials that were never made." Pentagon Lashes Out at Iran Claim It is rare for the Pentagon to issue such a long and detailed response to a single news account; Mr DiRita's two-page statement includes four specific refutations of claims made in the piece, including an alleged post-election meeting between Donald Rumsfeld and the joint chiefs of staff in which the defence secretary claimed the 2004 US election was a referendum on aggressive action in the Middle East. It is also rare that defence officials single out a specific journalist for such vitriol. In one part of his statement, Mr DiRita appears to accuse Mr Hersh of anti-Semitism. Mr Hersh reported that Douglas Feith, the number three civilian at the Pentagon, has worked with Israeli military planners to find targets in Iran, a claim the Pentagon said built on "the soft bigotry of some conspiracy theorists". Mr Feith is Jewish. The Pentagon said not such contacts exist.

Ok then... Someone's not telling the truth, and all it takes is one, hard look at this administration's record on truth-telling and intense secrecy to figure out that a fish does indeed rot from the head down. More later.

Where's OUR guy?

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become reality. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on an installment plan. Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Man was born into barbarism when killing his fellow man was a normal condition of existence. He became endowed with a conscience. And he has now reached the day when violence toward another human being must become as abhorrent as eating another's flesh.

When you make impossible demands, I wish I didn't understand...

The imaginary Social Security crisis makes my head hurt. Bush is such a bastard.

"Saving Social Security is an economic challenge. But it is also a profound moral obligation," Bush said in his weekly radio address. Bush, who has yet to unveil a detailed Social Security proposal, was noncommittal about whether he favored cuts in future benefits.

Here's what they have to say at the DNC: Take Action: Stop Bush's Social Security Cuts The George W. Bush plan to dismantle Social Security has begun. The administration floated a proposal to cut benefits to future retirees by changing the way those benefits are calculated. And these cuts are guaranteed -- whether you opt in to the Bush plan or not. Here's what the Bush plan will mean for your retirement: --If you retire in 2022, Bush will cut your benefits by almost 10 percent. --If you retire in 2042, Bush will cut your benefits by more than 25 percent. --In 2075, our children and grandchildren will face a staggering cut of 46 percent to their benefits. And this is just the first step of the Republican Party's plan to dismantle the entire Social Security system that has kept generations of America's seniors out of poverty. Soon Bush will launch a $40 million TV ad blitz to convince Americans that our grandkids will be left out in the cold if Social Security is not privatized. Apparently, people over at the Social Security administration are soon going to jump into the fray, with several key spokespersons advocating the private-account idea. We really do live in an alternate reality these days. They have all the right plans to hijack a perfectly tractable social program. Josh Marshall over at Talking Points Memo has some good links up for further analysis on the so-called crisis: How credible are President Bush's dire predictions? Why We Need Social Security Centrists steer clear of Social Security plans The last article is particularly interesting, as it takes into account such Democrats as Leiberman, Miller and Breaux. Right. I just don't get trying to accomodate to the POTUS' made-up crisis demands. TPM also provides a handly list of the "Fainthearted Faction," Democrats that favor Bush's plan for SS, and the "Conscience Caucus," Republicans who oppose the President's plan, or are open to do so in the future. Write to your Congressional representatives. Write to your Senators. Have a fantastic Saturday, y'all.

2 links.

Limbaugh Dumped for Liberal Show U.S. Lowers Expectations on Iraq Vote

Not again....

Who funds Ann Coulter's livelihood? Who tucks her into bed at night and smooches her in the morning? D'you suppose she cries herself to sleep from time to time? I wonder what she looks like in biker shorts... This, from her latest column, 'Liar, Liar, Now You're Fired' :

"Admittedly, Juanita Broaddrick's charge against Clinton -- that Bill Clinton raped her so brutally that her clothing was torn and her lip was swollen and bleeding, hence his parting words of "you'd better put some ice on that" -- was not a story on the order of Augusta National Golf Course's exclusion of women members. But, unlike the Bush drug-use charge, which remains unsupported to this day, Broaddrick's allegations had been fully corroborated by NBC News..."

She's completely obsessed with The Bill. She always has been. Just hit up the EXTRAS section on her site. The first three bonus-articles we get all center around Clinton's penis. She's completely bananas. Her Universal Press bio offers modest accolade, so much so, one would think a prime sample of her highbrow material would be on display. Instead, they link to a piece she did concerning Mark Geragos (from the Scott Peterson case). That's it? The fucking Lacy Peterson case?!?! Her attempt at gaining credibility in the punditocracy will never materialize if she's a regular on Hannity and Colmes. She will not live to be 70 (2 years from now) if she keeps refusing to eat. I refuse to admit my obsession with her silly, pointless life. Oh yeah... The invasion of Iraq, which ousted Saddam Hussein and has cost the lives of some 1,300 U.S. military personnel and billions of dollars, was "absolutely" worth it, despite the absence of any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, President Bush told ABC News' Barbara Walters in an exclusive interview that will air this Friday. And...25 soldiers have died in Iraq THIS MONTH.

pineapple express

The first thing I saw when I turned on the TV this morning were the FOX and Friends hosts yammering about the People's Choice Awards last night. They're slowly starting that echo-chamber snowball that the folks FOX have perfected in years past. One of the skirts said thast he couldn't posibly be nominated for an Oscar on the documentary tip because "so many things in that movie have been proven to be lies." Right. ...and The Passion won because Mel Gibson is a genius. Expect this sentiment to be expressed by the likes of Rush, Hannity & O'Reilly in the weeks to come. This is from the NY POST (surprise surprise), and was posted on the FOXNEWS page:

Michael Moore's controversial documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" picked up the top honors at Sunday night's People's Choice Awards — amid allegations of ballot stuffing via the Internet.

The Stats

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 1st Session as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate Vote Summary Question: Objection not sustained

(Shall Objection Submitted Be Sustained Re: Electoral Ballot Count )

Vote Number: 1 Vote Date: January 6, 2005, 03:18 PM Required For Majority: 1/2 Vote Result: Not Sustained

Vote Counts: YEAs 1 NAYs 74 Not Voting 25

Boxer (D) California was the YEA.

These people decided NOT to vote:

Akaka (D-HI)Allen (R-VA)Bayh (D-IN)Bingaman (D-NM)Bunning (R-KY)Burns (R-MT)Chafee (R-RI)Corzine (D-NJ)Craig (R-ID) Ensign (R-NV)Feinstein (D-CA)Frist (R-TN)Hutchison (R-TX)Inhofe (R-OK)Kerry (D-MA)Kyl (R-AZ)Landrieu (D-LA)Lugar (R-IN) Martinez (R-FL)McCain (R-AZ)Murkowski (R-AK)Murray (D-WA)Shelby (R-AL)Thomas (R-WY)Vitter (R-LA)

The rest voted NAY. Included in the gutless bunch:

Joe Biden (D-DE)Robert Byrd (D-WV)Cantwell (D-WA)Hillary Clinton (D-NY) Dick Durbin (D-IL)Ted Kennedy (D-MA)Joe Lieberman (D-CT)Barack Obama (D-IL)Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)

I wonder if they really thought it would be political suicide to vote their conscience. I wonder if their fingernails were cutting into their palms when Tom DeLay spewed his corrupt, partisan bile on the floor. Did he really say he thought the whole thing was like an X-Files episode? Did he really say that there was NO proof that there was fraud in 2004 AND 2000? Projection truly is an incredible thing.

Seriously. I could stab a bitch.

More on the Congress later.

Democracy is Dead. God Bless Boxer.

Statement On Barbara Boxer's Objection To The Certification Of Ohio’s Electoral Votes - Jan 6, 2005

For most of us in the Senate and the House, we have spent our lives fighting for things we believe in – always fighting to make our nation better.

We have fought for social justice. We have fought for economic justice. We have fought for environmental justice. We have fought for criminal justice.

Now we must add a new fight – the fight for electoral justice.

Every citizen of this country who is registered to vote should be guaranteed that their vote matters, that their vote is counted, and that in the voting booth of their community, their vote has as much weight as the vote of any Senator, any Congressperson, any President, any cabinet member, or any CEO of any Fortune 500 Corporation.

I am sure that every one of my colleagues – Democrat, Republican, and Independent – agrees with that statement. That in the voting booth, every one is equal.

So now it seems to me that under the Constitution of the United States, which guarantees the right to vote, we must ask:

Why did voters in Ohio wait hours in the rain to vote? Why were voters at Kenyan College, for example, made to wait in line until nearly 4 a.m. to vote because there were only two machines for 1300 voters? Why did poor and predominantly African-American communities have disproportionately long waits?

Why in Franklin County did election officials only use 2,798 machines when they said they needed 5,000? Why did they hold back 68 machines in warehouses? Why were 42 of those machines in predominantly African-American districts?

Why did, in Columbus area alone, an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 voters leave polling places, out of frustration, without having voted? How many more never bothered to vote after they heard about this? Why is it when 638 people voted at a precinct in Franklin County, a voting machine awarded 4,258 extra votes to George Bush.

Thankfully, they fixed it – but how many other votes did the computers get wrong?

Why did Franklin County officials reduce the number of electronic voting machines in downtown precincts, while adding them in the suburbs? This also led to long lines.

In Cleveland, why were there thousands of provisional ballots disqualified after poll workers gave faulty instructions to voters?

Because of this, and voting irregularities in so many other places, I am joining with Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones to cast the light of truth on a flawed system which must be fixed now.

Our democracy is the centerpiece of who we are as a nation. And it is the fondest hope of all Americans that we can help bring democracy to every corner of the world.

As we try to do that, and as we are shedding the blood of our military to this end, we must realize that we lose so much credibility when our own electoral system needs so much improvement.

Yet, in the past four years, this Congress has not done everything it should to give confidence to all of our people their votes matter. After passing the Help America Vote Act, nothing more was done. A year ago, Senators Graham, Clinton and I introduced legislation that would have required that electronic voting systems provide a paper record to verify a vote. That paper trail would be stored in a secure ballot box and invaluable in case of a recount.

There is no reason why the Senate should not have taken up and passed that bill. At the very least, a hearing should have been held. But it never happened.

Before I close, I want to thank my colleague from the House, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

Her letter to me asking for my intervention was substantive and compelling. As I wrote to her, I was particularly moved by her point that it is virtually impossible to get official House consideration of the whole issue of election reform, including these irregularities.

The Congresswoman has tremendous respect in her state of Ohio, which is at the center of this fight. Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones was a judge for 10 years. She was a prosecutor for 8 years. She was inducted into the Women’s Hall of Fame in 2002.

I am proud to stand with her in filing this objection.

Our hearts have been broken (again) by the machine.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but the mailboxes of every, single Democratic Senator are full for the night. I don't know what to tell you. [click]" That was the response I received from one of the operators working the Capitol's switchboard this afternoon. One can only hope that all the messages are from twice-heartbroken progressives that want nothing more than to preserve what tiny slivers of democracy we have left in this country. Then again, it could be Republican phone-jamming. The overwhelming evidence of disenfranchisement of minority voters in Ohio is staggering, perhaps even more so than the debacle we all saw in Florida back in 2000. How can we parade around the world claiming to be this superpower, this bastion of democratic ideals that other nations should model themselves after if we can't even come up with a way to hold decent and fair elections at home? I still can't figure out what the repercussions would be if a Senator chose to stand in line with Congressman John Conyers and the rest of the Congressional Black Caucus tomorrow morning when they reject and protest the electors from Ohio. Might they lose political capital? Might members of the GOP have "naked pictures of Democratic Senators golfing with Satan?" (Randi Rhodes) This is their chance to stand the fuck up (pardon) and be recognized as the true party of the Constitution. Earlier today, Conyers confidently stated that, "the Senate [would] not be embarrassed this time around." As there is no debate allowed in the joint session, only ONE member of the Senate is needed to investigate the situation and ultimately bring it to a place where the matter CAN be debated and discussed. Methinks more than one Senator will grow a pair tomorrow morning.

We need to be fighting the fight to win, instead of always throwing blind punches in a losing battle. Speaking of fighting the fight to lose, I just received my thank you letter from John Kerry. Nearly 3 million people received the same email. Here are a few choice cuts: No American citizen should wake up the morning after the election and worry their vote wasn't counted. No citizen should be denied at the polls if they are eligible to vote. And, as the greatest, wealthiest nation on earth, our citizens should never be forced to vote on old, unaccountable and non transparent voting machines from companies controlled by partisan activists.

Tomorrow, members of Congress will meet to certify the results of the 2004 presidential election. I will not be taking part in a formal protest of the Ohio Electors.

A recent report from Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan) reveals very troubling questions that have not yet been answered by Ohio election officials. I commend the Democratic National Committee for its announcement this week that the DNC will be investing resources and reaching out to non-partisan academics in a long term study of Ohio voting irregularities. I am only sorry that we haven't seen the same from Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell and GOP officials.

I guess this means Senator Kerry will be one of the proud members to stand up tomorrow. WRONG. Our former candidate wont even be present for this session, which, until the mess of 2000, had just been a formality. He's having a grand old time with King Abdullah II of Jordan this week, discussing political and peacemaking developments taking place in the region.

It's hard to feel good about this. It's hard to accept that MY candidate is laying low, and taking it up the A like this. No one expects the election to be overturned in favor of John Kerry, but it will diminish any sort of capital President Bush claims to have earned this time around. It will force talks on election reform and voter fraud into the fray.

"Let Congress choose the President this time around." That's what Randi Rhodes kept repeating on her show today. She's right. George W. Bush should be forced to serve another four years under the existing cloud of political illegitimacy, as the only two-term President to be elected by a branch of government, and not the will of the people. "We follow the notion of keeping hope alive."-----John Conyers 1/5/05 The Randi Rhodes Show

In other news...

The Senate is meeting tomorrow to confirm the nomination of Alberto Gonzales as our next Attorney General. I'm all for Latino empowerment, but not when it's in favor of some rat-bastard that's been one of Bush's cronies since he took office as the Governor of Texas. This is the guy that got Bush out of jury duty in order to keep his DUI a secret. This is the guy who briefed Governor Bush on the pending execution of Terry Washington, excluding the minor detail that the prisoner was mentally retarded. This is the guy that rendered parts of the Geneva Convention obsolete, AND approved a memo sent from the U.S. Justice Department that condoned certain types of torture. For Christ's sake, this is the guy that vetted Bernard Kerik.

Hispanics United in Support of Historic Nomination; Urge Confirmation of Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General

That press release came from the Hispanic Alliance for Progress Institute (HAP), which is actually a conservative non-profit formed by former President George H.W. Bush and former Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr.

If any of you out there are brown and proud like me, PLEASE call Audrey Mullen of the HAP at 202-270-2772, and urge her to stop supporting filth like Gonzales in our name.

Thank you, and goodnight.