For Dems only.

[Soxy]

Mental health care for soldiers. Disturbing.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Peter Pace approves of Don't Ask Don't Tell, because "homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral." Linkage.

 

To be fair, he doesn't say anything about threesomes.

 

Pace was awarded the 2006 Congressional Medal of Honor Society Patriot Award, which is supposed to be given to a "distinguished American who has exemplified the ideals that make this country strong". A shame to see bigoted homophobia in there as one of his ideals because it's certainly not one that I think make this country strong.

 

CBS News military affairs consultant Mike Lyons reported "For the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to make this kind of statement is somewhat alarming," says . "If he felt this way when he took the job, perhaps he should have had second thoughts, because it's this kind of feeling that he knew would get him into trouble politically."

 

"It's bad enough that he thinks that. It's even worse that he would be foolish enough to say that publicly," Arlene Isaacsen of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus told CBS radio station WBZ-AM. "It is crass prejudice, crass bigotry, and brazen ignorance, and it's disgraceful to think that someone in his position would think in these terms."

 

"General Pace's comments are outrageous, insensitive and disrespectful to the 65,000 lesbian and gay troops now serving in our armed forces," the advocacy group Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said in a statement on its Web site. The group represents some of the thousands dismissed from the military for their sexual orientation.

 

The Associated Press reported that Pace's senior staff members said Tuesday that the general was expressing his personal opinion and had no intention of apologizing. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak on the record.

[Balta1701]

Pace was awarded the 2006 Congressional Medal of Honor Society Patriot Award, which is supposed to be given to a "distinguished American who has exemplified the ideals that make this country strong". A shame to see bigoted homophobia in there as one of his ideals because it's certainly not one that I think make this country strong.

The ironic thing to my eyes is that all Pace has done here is push "Don't ask, don't tell" right back into the limelight. It's clearly a stupid policy and there have been gradual movements to improve or do away with it for the last decade, but he may have just given it more front page articles than anyone else since the Clinton years.

[Balta1701]

On the Prosecutor story, it appears that Kyle Sampson, chief of staff to AG Gonzalez and one of the key guys in drawing up the list of US Attorneys who would be removed, resigned yesterday.

 

A bunch of other notes showed up yesterday that are worth writing down here. First, there was a pretty decent document dump which backs up some of the claims being made of White House involvement.

 

Harriet Miers's name appears to come up in emails as having been another key part of planning for their removal.

 

There are also documents released that suggest one of the reasons that a couple of the Attorneys were dismissed is that they were unwilling to bring indictments against Democrats in cases where there were a few in the GOP trying to get voter fraud allegations to stick. The fired attorney from Washington had this to say in response: "There was no evidence, and I am not going to drag innocent people in front of a grand jury."

 

AG Gonzalez is supposed to be holding a press conference within the hour.

[Balta1701]

Rasmussen polls the Minnesota Senate race.

 

Coleman 46

Franken 36

 

Link

 

Given how early we are in the cycle, that's REALLY dangerous territory for an incumbent to find themselves; only up 10, and outside the MOE below 50%.

 

Favorables on Franken are somewhat troublesome, since he's not exactly an unknown, but he does have the time to turn these around, and that's still a troublesome "Favorability" rating for a guy like Coleman.

Coleman is viewed favorably by 51% of Minnesota voters and unfavorably by 42%. The numbers for Franken are weaker—39% favorable and 46% unfavorable. President Bush earns approval from just 36% of voters in a state that he came close to winning in both 2000 and 2004.

[Soxy]

I'm really surprised Coleman's numbers are that high.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Harriet Miers's name appears to come up in emails as having been another key part of planning for their removal.

 

Seems Miers suggested that all 90+ US Attorneys be sacked at the start of Bush's second term in 2005.

[Balta1701]

Seems Miers suggested that all 90+ US Attorneys be sacked at the start of Bush's second term in 2005.

Honestly, that might have been a much more logical and rational step than simply cherry-picking the ones that they decided weren't hard enough on Democrats.

 

Anyway, flipping topics since they'll post together anyway...I started off this campaign as an Obama fan, but I do have to admit, Edwards has been running a damn smart campaign. First to pull out of the Fox debate, and now This.

As part of his efforts to combat global warming, Senator John Edwards announced today that he will make his campaign "carbon neutral." Edwards believes global warming is one of the great challenges facing America and the world and that we can all take immediate action to decrease the amount of carbon we produce. By conserving energy and purchasing carbon offsets, the Edwards campaign will offset the carbon emitted by Edwards and his staff's campaign travel, and the energy used in his campaign headquarters and field offices.

 

"Global warming is an emergency and we can't wait until the next president is elected to take action," said Edwards. "Each of us can take responsibility in small ways to make a big difference. I encourage all Americans to conserve energy in their own homes and workplaces and help fight global warming."

 

In February, Governor Tom Vilsack announced he would be the first presidential candidate to plan a carbon neutral campaign. Edwards shares his commitment to protecting our environment and reducing our carbon footprint.

Another month and every one of the campaigns is going to wind up following Edwards.

[Rex Kickass]

I think it doesn't matter. It affects maybe 10 votes.

[Mplssoxfan]

I'm really surprised Coleman's numbers are that high.

 

He's been running to the middle for the last two years, and he's a likable guy. (I was going to say "genuinely likable", but almost nothing about Coleman is genuine.)

 

My gut tells me its going to be a very close race.

[Balta1701]

Dear Republican Chairman Ray Hoffmann of Iowa, Republican Chairman Paul Willis of Nevada, Republican Chairman Katon Dawson of South Carolina and Republican Chairman Fergus Cullen of New Hampshire,

 

As the new president of Air America, I'd like to offer to host or co-host one of your upcoming presidential debates.

 

Why us? First, this would allow your debate to reach many voters. Combining our 2 million radio audience, along with our satellite, internet and web audiences, means that some 2.5 million Americans would hear or read about the debate..

 

Second, it would allow Republicans to differentiate themselves from Democrats – embracing a debate hosted by a progressive media outlet after Nevada Democrats canceled a debate scheduled to be hosted by the conservative Fox Cable News Channel. The MoveOn organization spurred 265,000 people to complain about the original plan, calling Fox a “mouthpiece for the Republican Party.” In reply, Fox’s Mort Kondracke called the Nevada Democratic Party's rejection of Fox a “Stalinist” violation of “free speech and free debate.” So should you accept Air America's offer, Republicans would both embrace free debate and stick it to Stalin at the same time.

Third, our offer permits you to include any other national media company as a co-host -- like Fox. For example, a panel with Fox representing the conservative viewpoint and Air America the progressive viewpoint would make for a very "fair and balanced" debate -- not to mention that Fox's viewers per evening are coincidentally comparable to our 2.5 million listeners, meaning that several million unique people would hear your debate (assuming next to no overlap between our two disparate audiences).

 

We would be honored not only to co-host such an event; but also to broadcast it live without commercial interruption on the day that you choose.

 

I look forward to your response and to working with you on this important event.

 

Yours,

 

Mark Green

 

President, Air America Radio

[BigSqwert]

Was that really released by Mark Green? That's hilarious.

[Balta1701]

Yawn, New Orleans, corruption, Bush family, and industry. Guess that means its a Tuesday. Oh wait, it's not.

The Army Corps of Engineers, rushing to meet

President Bush's promise to protect New Orleans by the start of the 2006 hurricane season, installed defective flood-control pumps last year despite warnings from its own expert that the equipment would fail during a storm, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

 

The 2006 hurricane season turned out to be mild, and the new pumps were never pressed into action. But the Corps and the politically connected manufacturer of the equipment are still struggling to get the 34 heavy-duty pumps working properly.

 

The pumps are now being pulled out and overhauled because of excessive vibration, Corps officials said. Other problems have included overheated engines, broken hoses and blown gaskets, according to the documents obtained by the AP.

 

Col. Jeffrey Bedey, who is overseeing levee reconstruction, insisted the pumps would have worked last year and the city was never in danger. Bedey gave assurances that the pumps should be ready for the coming hurricane season, which begins June 1.

 

...

The 34 pumps — installed in the drainage canals that take water from this bowl-shaped, below-sea-level city and deposit it in Lake Pontchartrain — represented a new ring of protection that was added to New Orleans' flood defenses after Katrina. The city also relies on miles of levees and hundreds of other pumps in various locations.

 

The drainage-canal pumps were custom-designed and built under a $26.6 million contract awarded after competitive bidding to Moving Water Industries Corp. of Deerfield Beach, Fla. It was founded in 1926 and supplies flood-control and irrigation pumps all over the world.

 

MWI is owned by J. David Eller and his sons. Eller was once a business partner of former Florida Gov.

Jeb Bush in a venture called Bush-El that marketed MWI pumps. And Eller has donated about $128,000 to politicians, the vast majority of it to the Republican Party, since 1996, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

 

MWI has run into trouble before. The U.S. Justice Department sued the company in 2002, accusing it of fraudulently helping Nigeria obtain $74 million in taxpayer-backed loans for overpriced and unnecessary water-pump equipment. The case has yet to be resolved.

 

Because of the trouble with the New Orleans pumps, the Corps has withheld 20 percent of the MWI contract, including an incentive of up to $4 million that the company could have collected if it delivered the equipment in time for the 2006 hurricane season.

 

Misgivings about the pumps were chronicled in a May 2006 memo provided to the AP by Matt McBride, a mechanical engineer and flooded-out Katrina victim who, like many in New Orleans, has been closely watching the rebuilding of the city's flood defenses.

 

The memo was written by Maria Garzino, a Corps mechanical engineer overseeing quality assurance at an MWI test site in Florida. The Corps confirmed the authenticity of the 72-page memo, which details many of the mechanical problems and criticizes the testing procedures used.

 

About a dozen of the 34 pumps on order were already in place in New Orleans when Garzino wrote her report, according to Bedey.

 

In her memo, Garzino told corps officials that the equipment being installed was defective. She warned that the pumps would break down "should they be tasked to run, under normal use, as would be required in the event of a hurricane."

 

The pumps, 60 inches in diameter and capable of moving 200 cubic feet of water per second, are run by pressurized hydraulic oil. The supercharged oil cranks up a hydraulic motor, which in turn spins water-moving propellers.

 

The pumps failed less-strenuous testing than the original contract called for, according to the memo. Originally, each of the 34 pumps was to be "load tested" — made to pump water — but that requirement for all the pumps was dropped, the memo said.

 

Of eight pumps that were load tested, one was turned on for a few minutes and another was run at one-third of operating pressure, the memo said. Three of the other load-tested pumps "experienced catastrophic failure," Garzino wrote.

 

The memo does not spell out what would have happened if the pumps had failed in a storm. But the Corps has acknowledged that parts of New Orleans could be hit with serious flooding if the floodgate pumps could not keep up.

[Balta1701]

Let's see, Walter Reed, U.S. attorneys, and the usual Iraq war...I wonder how long they've been holding onto this "bad headline blocker".

[FlaSoxxJim]

Let's see, Walter Reed, U.S. attorneys, and the usual Iraq war...I wonder how long they've been holding onto this "bad headline blocker".

 

It certainly does knock all of the negative administration stories out of the limelight for a bit, but I doubt they had the confession before this weekend when they got the confession statements for everything else from him.

[Rex Kickass]

I agree completely, it would have come out two weeks ago if they were sitting on this.

[longshot7]

I think the whole carbon offsetting thing is rather ridiculous. Schwarzenegger does that out here. What guarantees that the carbon you emit will find the trees you've purchased for that purpose?

[Balta1701]

I think the whole carbon offsetting thing is rather ridiculous. Schwarzenegger does that out here. What guarantees that the carbon you emit will find the trees you've purchased for that purpose?

Dude, it's actually a zero-sum game. Unless there's an isotopic tag, no one in the world can tell one molecule of CO2 from another. Because the atmosphere is so well mixed, if you release an amount of CO2 in the U.S. and you sequester the same amount of CO2 in Europe somewhere, then overall the atmosphere sees a zero change.

[Balta1701]

An interesting bit of 04 data from a Dem Pollster.

Instead of providing “fair and balanced” reporting, Fox has created an audience ignorant of the facts, but fully supportive of management’s ideology.

 

An audience that decides for itself, based on “fair and balanced” coverage, ought not to reach monolithic conclusions. Yet, in our 2004 polling with Media Vote, using Nielsen diaries, we found that Fox News viewers supported George Bush over John Kerry by 88 percent to 7 percent. No demographic segment, other than Republicans, was as united in supporting Bush. Conservatives, white evangelical Christians, gun owners, and supporters of the Iraq war all gave Bush fewer votes than did regular Fox News viewers.

 

None of this argues for a boycott of Fox. While harboring no illusions, Democrats should try to communicate on Fox and through every other channel. I appear as a guest and will continue to, in the unlikely event they invite me again. However, if Fox wants the legitimacy afforded by official sponsorship of Democratic debates, it needs to become a relatively objective news organization, not a dispenser of partisan cant.

[FlaSoxxJim]

DOJ under Gonzo is all about the obstruction, aren't they?

 

What's the over/under on Abu G lasting the rest of the month of the week?

 

Prosecutor: Bush appointees interfered in case.

 

Front-page of Thursday's WaPo

 

The leader of the Justice Department team that prosecuted a landmark lawsuit against tobacco companies said yesterday that Bush administration political appointees repeatedly ordered her to take steps that weakened the government’s racketeering case.

 

Sharon Y. Eubanks said Bush loyalists in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales’s office began micromanaging the team’s strategy in the final weeks of the 2005 trial, to the detriment of the government’s claim that the industry had conspired to lie to U.S. smokers.

 

She said a supervisor demanded that she and her trial team drop recommendations that tobacco executives be removed from their corporate positions as a possible penalty. He and two others instructed her to tell key witnesses to change their testimony. And they ordered Eubanks to read verbatim a closing argument they had rewritten for her, she said.

[Soxy]

Guess whose district got better known last night? Oh, that's right mine. And 10 points for mentioning speidies, the most deliciously simple "sandwich" on the planet.

[NorthSideSox72]

Guess whose district got better known last night? Oh, that's right mine. And 10 points for mentioning speidies, the most deliciously simple "sandwich" on the planet.

You lost me...

[Balta1701]

Guess whose district got better known last night? Oh, that's right mine. And 10 points for mentioning speidies, the most deliciously simple "sandwich" on the planet.

Congrats on having your representative guaranteed a win in the next election! (My Rep. was like the 15th or 20th guy they did. Stephen kept trying to bribe him)

[Soxy]

Congrats on having your representative guaranteed a win in the next election! (My Rep. was like the 15th or 20th guy they did. Stephen kept trying to bribe him)

I think Hinchey is in his 8th term or something and usually runs unopposed--so he probably would have won again if he had repeated the "I like cocaine" fiasco.

[FlaSoxxJim]

You lost me...

 

Yeah, I'm familiar with the assorted marinated-meats-cooked-on-a-skewer wonder of speidies courtessy of a NY friend, but I missed the news item too.