Month: June 2006

She Eats!

by digby

NEW YORK – Conservative author Ann Coulter, in the midst of her new book tour for Godless: The Church of Liberalism, snatched a mother’s newborn child from her arms last night and swallowed her whole.

Bonnie Seaberg, the mother of six-week old Jennifer, stood in horror as Coulter unhinged her jaw and dropped the infant straight down her gullet. “Yes, I was wearing a ‘Gore in ’08’ button,” Seaberg began, teary-eyed, “but it’s a free country, isn’t it? And that woman, that devil-whore-Nazi-cokehead, spotted me and my little Jenny, stopped reading in mid-sentence, ripped her from my bosom and swallowed her like a grape.”

Coulter, in her defense, says, “Look, every audience member who shows up at my book tour must sign a release form. Okay? It specifically affirms that they are not a liberal, are not having liberal thoughts and are not wearing any liberal paraphernalia. Period. I’m very upfront about that. All right?”

When asked if swallowing a newborn whole was simply another publicity stunt to boost sales of her book, Coulter shrugs off the suggestion. “That’s ridiculous! Another convenient accusation spun out of the law of liberal infallibility. Liberals are never willing to take responsibility for their actions. Look, Mrs. Seaberg accepted the conditions of the release form – in a free society, actions have consequences. And you really think I need to feed on the flesh of small children to sell my books? Didn’t you see me on the Today Show with Matty Lauer? Didn’t you see Hillary Clinton doing a better job than my faggy publicist?” Pausing a moment, she adds, “Besides, I’ll defer to the Jews when it comes to eating the flesh of small children. Historically, they’ve certainly set the benchmark. I’m an amateur.”

Read the rest of this shocking tale at Media Bloodhound.

Naturally, the MSM fails to cover it …

And the entire Right Wing Noise Machine comes to her defense.

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Hotlines

by digby

Since this is such a blogerrific day, it seems like a good one to link to this Blogometer Bloggers poll. They asked the top 500 traffic blogs to rank their top 20 favorite bloggers and this is what they came up with.

Thrilling for me, I’ll tell you that. I may not have the hot traffic, but it pleases me to no end to be respected by my peers — even if my peers are at this very moment drinking tequila shots out of Duncan’s fuzzy navel and singing “These Boots Are Made For Walkin'” at the Riviera Karaoke and Kahlua Lounge.

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YKOS Update

by digby

CSPAN1 will be rerunning today’s coverage today at 6:02 PM PDT and at 12:43 AM PDT tomorrow. They’ll be running it again on CSPAN2 at 5:37AM.

They’ll be running more programming live tomorrow beginning at Noon PDT. All times listed here.

That concludes our public service announcements for the day.

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Privates

by digby

Since I blog anonymously, it’s pretty obvious that I’m a big fan of privacy. As such, I admit that I’m kind of shocked at how much information people put online about themselves. It’s probably a temperamental thing more than anything else, but I just can’t fathom why people are so anxious to lay everything out for strangers. (But then I never got why anyone would go on Jerry Springer either.) And I suspect that it’s not a very healthy thing in the long run.

From Sadly No!

Wanna freak yourself out? Consider the Big Brotherly implications of blogging:

New Scientist has discovered that Pentagon’s National Security Agency, which specialises in eavesdropping and code-breaking, is funding research into the mass harvesting of the information that people post about themselves on social networks. And it could harness advances in internet technology – specifically the forthcoming “semantic web” championed by the web standards organisation W3C – to combine data from social networking websites with details such as banking, retail and property records, allowing the NSA to build extensive, all-embracing personal profiles of individuals.

Gee, I can’t imagine how that capability might possibly be abused.

No kidding. My rather paranoid assumption is that there are certain forces in the world that will always use whatever power they have against you. Certainly, I believe that in a country in which the secret policing agencies have been empowered with virtually limitless funds and are allowed to operate in secrecy, it is virtually assured that information will be abused. It’s the nature of authoritarian power.

My spouse is up in Alaska right now working. Apparently, the place is crawling with police, everywhere, and the local daily police blotter is much bigger than it’s ever been despite no population growth. They have received a lot of homeland security money from Uncle Ted Stephens.

This story, which I’ve written about before,really tells the tale:

DILLINGHAM, Alaska — From Anchorage it takes 90 minutes on a propeller plane to reach this fishing village on the state’s southwestern edge, a place where some people still make raincoats out of walrus intestine.

This is the Alaskan bush at its most remote. Here, tundra meets sea, and sea turns to ice for half the year. Scattered, almost hidden, in the terrain are some of the most isolated communities on American soil. People choose to live in outposts like Dillingham (pop. 2,400) for that reason: to be left alone.

So eyebrows were raised in January when the first surveillance cameras went up on Main Street. Each camera is a shiny white metallic box with two lenses like eyes. The camera’s shape and design resemble a robot’s head.

Workers on motorized lifts installed seven cameras in a 360-degree cluster on top of City Hall. They put up groups of six atop two light poles at the loading dock, and more at the fire hall and boat harbor.

By mid-February, more than 60 cameras watched over the town, and the Dillingham Police Department plans to install 20 more — all purchased through a $202,000 Homeland Security grant meant primarily to defend against a terrorist attack.

I suspect that this is happening all over the country and it is almost certainly happening at the federal level. If you pay for it, they’ll use it. And cops will use it to find people who are committing “crimes.” I think we all know where that leads.

Gavin at SN highlights some earlier work he and Lambert did on this topic and it’s really creepy. I predict that this issue is going to be very big. in fact, I would put a pitch in right now that the democratic party becomes the party of privacy. Somebody’s got to.

Speaking of which, I haven’t commented on the “Armando issue” until now because it’s just so depressing. Armando has been a supporter of mine over the years. Before he became a bigshot blogger on his own, he used to comment here prolifically and was always a great booster of my work over on Kos. We have both written a lot about Lincoln 1860 and the American tribal divide and the like. I’m not a DKos regular so I only interact with him on this larger blogospheric level, but in a wierd way we’ve been close.

His outing is disgusting to me, however, on principle and not because he’s been a friend. There have been a spate of these things lately coming from the right and it’s a problem. It’s not surprising, unfortunately. Character assassination has long been one of the most potent weapons in the wingnut arsenal. It was only a matter of time before they began to use it against bloggers. But it’s a cautionary tale. If malevolent people can use their power against you they will. QED.

Update: Here’s a link to Lambert’s entire series on this issue called “Weapons of Mass Surveillance.” (He writes “Use the “up/next/previous” feature at the bottom of the post to see the whole series.”) It’s some fascinating, if scary, stuff.

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More YKOS

by digby

Here’s the schedule, which includes those panels that are being streamed. CSPAN 2 will be carrying the DailyKos superstar panel later today. (Or so they announced.)

This one looks like fun.

I hope they talk about Coulter. Scathingly…

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Cipher

by digby

Bush is on TV right now, going on and on about Al Zarqawi being a criminal mastermind whose raison d’etre was to stop democracy in iraq. Blah, blah, blah.

Does he have any credibility at all these days? I hear this stuff and my first reaction is to say “sez who?” I realize that I’m a member of the partisan angry left and all, but I have to suspect that at 30%, I’m not the only one. I look at the guy now and see nothing but a lying loser.

Imagine what other world leaders think. Or terrorists. It’s dangerous.

Update: Get a load of this:

People are goin’ ta look back on this moment in history and say a democracy in Iraq helped change the world for the better and helped provide security. It certainly helped address the simmering resentment that exists in a part of a region that for too long has been ignored, see…

It’s addressed it allright. Jesus, what a delusional fool he is. We’ll be lucky if 9/11 and Iraq are the worst things that happened to us under this idiots leadership.

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YKOS Update

by digby

C-Span2 is broadcasting the Plame panel at Yearly Kos as we speak. I’ll let you know if I find out when it is to be re-broadcast. It’s fascinating. The panel includes Larry Johnson, Joseph Wilson, Murray Waas, Christy Smith and Marcy Wheeler. Heavyweights all.

And yes, Jane Hamsher is a babe.

Update: You can also sign up for Air America’s streaming coverage, here.

Update II: For those of you at work, Skippy thoroughly liveblogged it, here!

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Epistomolia

by digby

I have written a lot about the right’s infuriating epistemic relativism over the past few years. It’s a difficult concept to discuss. I always liked Josh Marshall’s short tag, “up-is-downism,” but nothing has seemed truly sufficient to explain this strange amorphous thing until now. Finally, someone with writing chops and serious brain power has definitively observed this phenomenon. Behold, The Editors:

Far away, in the magical country of Epistomolia, there live two peoples. One people, called the Seers, believed that Truth is, that to know Truth requires Knowledge, and Knowledge is gained from observation, and from the application of reason. The Truth is the Truth is pretty much the Truth, the Seers believed, and the only trick was knowing how to see it. These people are, in many ways, much like you and me.

The other people, the Makers, believed that a tribe can create knowledge through the incantation of belief, and, either by overwhelming withvolume or harmonizing with the incantations of other tribes, truth becomes. When choosing to harmonize, ancient custom dictates that for something given, something must also be taken away, for the exchange must be fair – always “a lie for a lie, and a truth for a truth” as their ancient saying goes. At first blush this might seem a more generous way of that of the Seers, and in many ways it was. But the deals the Makers made were not meant to last – after you had agreed to meet them half-way, it wasn’t long before they came back a bit stronger and declared you had to meet them half-way to half-way, and then half-way to that, and so on until, after a while, it always seemed like one tribe had exactly what it wanted, and the other tribe had nothing. These people are, in many ways, much like certain people who shall remain nameless.

Read on. It only gets better…

I love The Editors. In a purely platonic way, of course. (I think)

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They Call The Windbag Pariah

by digby

Steve Benen wonders if Ann Coulter has finally reached pariah status. I doubt it very seriously. She entertains the media and that is what they like above all. And I suspect she says many things with which they agree — or , at least, find funny. She appeals to their puerile sense of humor.

This new controversy is just going to help her sell books. Conservatives love it when the alleged liberal media go after one of their flamethrowers. It validates everything they believe in. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Brian Williams’ little scold the other night wasn’t designed for that very purpose. Has anyone done any research on what interests they might have in common? I’m serious. This “controversy” is simply not believable in light of the kind of things this shrieking harpy has been saying for years.

It’s ok for her to say:

“Liberals hate America, they hate flagwavers, they hate abortion opponents. They hate all religions except Islam post 9/11. Even Islamic terrorists don’t hate America like liberals do.”

But somehow, her saying that the 9/11 widows are exploiting their husbands’ death is beyond the pale? C’mon. The political media are very well aware of her schtick and know exactly what they have in this heinous bitch.

I have personally never heard anyone say something like this:

“Conservatives hate America, they hate blacks and they hate women. They hate all religions except Christianity. Even Islamic terrorists don’t hate America like conservatives do.”

Has Michael Moore ever said anything like that? I don’t think so. Indeed, I don’t think there’s any equivalent on the left to the kind of blanket condemnation of “liberalism” that the bully faction of the RWNM engages in with such relish. Coulter and her ilk don’t just attack liberal political leaders or the Democratic party. They go out of their way to attack their fellow Americans. They bring the fight to the dining room table and say, “If you, cousin Sally, don’t agree with me you hate America.”

Now, I’m willing to get down in the gutter if that’s what she wants. We can start calling out “conservatives” in general instead of Bush or Republicans. In fact, I suspect this may be where this ends up, unfortunately. And I’m prepared for the mainstream media go completely crazy decrying the “angry left” and it’s purveyors of uncivil discourse while Ann Coulter and her buddies lie on the fainting couch hiding their smug smiles behind their fluttering fans.

I. Don’t. Care. Ann Coulter is never going to be a pariah. Her nasty style appeals to the media. They enjoy it. Sadly, I suspect that her downfall will come when she loses her sexual appeal, as everyone does past a certain age. There can be no doubt that being the attractive rightwing dominatrix is a huge part of her appeal for many in the press corps. It goes right to their twisted little lizard brains.

Update: Nice post on the Coulter gaffe at FDL, here.

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It’s Now or Never

by digby

Most of you have probably seen this one by Glenn Greenwald today. It seems that Arlen Specter has introduced a bill that will give give blanket amnesty to the president and his cohorts for the wireless wiretapping:I

The idea that the President’s allies in Congress would enact legislation which expressly shields government officials, including the President, from criminal liability for past lawbreaking is so reprehensible that it is difficult to describe. To my knowledge, none of the other proposed bills — including those from the most loyal Bush followers in the Senate — contained this protective provision. And without knowing anywhere near as much as I would need to know in order to form a definitive opinion, the legality of this provision seems questionable at best. It’s really the equivalent of a pardon, a power which the Constitutional preserves for the President. Can Congress act as a court and simply exonerate citizens from criminal conduct?

I have two thoughts about this. The first is that this completely takes the wind out the wingnuts’ sails about amnesty for undocumented workers.

Specter’s bill, introduced yesterday at a committee meeting, was a compromise worked out with Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and designed to gather enough Republican support so it can be taken to the floor for a vote. During a conversation with Cheney yesterday afternoon first disclosed by an administration official, Specter (R-Pa.) said he arranged to have Justice Department officials begin reviewing his proposal.

Let Cheney sign on. Debate it on the merits. Let the committee vote on it. And when the Republicans like Kyl, a harsh anti-immigration guy, vote for it, spring link a jungle cat on these hypocritical scumbags.

Amnesty for Bush and Cheney but not for some poor Mexican who’s only crime was working in this country for years to make a better life??? It would be a gift.

This will, of course, require that Democratic senators have some discipline. I’m not holding my breath.

My second thought about this is on the politics of accountability. As those of you who read this blog regularly know, I believe that we desperately need to hold this Bush administration accountable for this power grab or this country will come to regret it. Back when I was very young, we had another president who attempted to create an elected dictatorship. Some of those at the very top in this administration learned at the knee of that man and admit that they came into office looking to restore the doctrine of presidential power that that disgraced president had instituted.

CHENEY: All right. But in 34 years, I have repeatedly seen an erosion of the powers and the ability of the president of the United States to do his job. We saw it in the War Powers Act. We saw it in the Budget Anti-Impoundment Act. We’ve seen it in cases like this before, where it’s demanded that presidents cough up and compromise on important principles.

ROBERTS: And they always do.

CHENEY: Exactly, and that’s wrong.

ROBERTS: So in the end, it always comes out anyway, so why…

CHENEY: It’s wrong. And–well, but the…

ROBERTS: … go through this agony?

CHENEY: Because the net result of that is to weaken the presidency and the vice presidency.

And one of the things that I feel an obligation, and I know the president does too, because we talked about it, is to pass on our offices in better shape than we found them to our successors. We are weaker today as an institution because of the unwise compromises that have been made over the last 30 to 35 years.

Back in those days, I was in favor of pardoning Richard Nixon for his crimes. I thought it would be bad for the country to go through any more upheaval. I was wrong. As you can see from Cheney’s statement above, it never sunk in, despite the Church Committee, much legislation, the elections of 74,76 and 78 that the country had rejected this imperial presidency. Iran-Contra didn’t do it either. There is absolutely no reason to believe that this younger “revolutionary” generation of Republicans will not be even more adamant about restoring the ancien regime than Cheney and Rumsfeld.

It looks more and more to me as if installing Bush was a conscious decision to do this by these now grey eminences of Nixon’s administration. Cheney was, after all, a highly influential money man as CEO of Halliburton who was in charge of searching for the VP. Even more interestingly, he was the guy who put together the administration during the transition:

…Cheney was put in charge of the presidential transition (the period between the election in November and the accession to office in January). Cheney used this opportunity to stack the administration with his hardline allies. Instead of becoming the de facto president in foreign policy, as many had expected, Secretary of State Powell found himself boxed in by Cheney’s right-wing network, including Wolfowitz, Perle, Feith, Bolton and Libby.

In the short term, I think that we are going to have a hard time winning elections if we don’t finally stand up to these people and force some accountability. We don’t have to go through their underwear drawers or impeach them for private behavior. Their unconstitutional power grab is quite enough to justify thorough investigations.

I believe the public expects it. The right is mau-mauing this because they know that after they umpeached a president for his private sexual behavior they lowered the bar so low that the public will not see this as outrageous. Indeed, they know that if they can successfully intimidate the Democrats into NOT holding them accountable at the first opportunity, they will have sealed the reputation of Dems as being cowards for another generation.

I know it’s fashionable to think that the Democratic party has been losing steadily for the last 35 years because they have been too liberal and the GOP has therefore been able to portray them as soft in all the manly virtues. I would suggest that the Democrats have been losing for the last 35 years because they have failed to beat the shit out of the Republicans when they pull this crap. The GOP smells weakness and the public loses their respect for us. We’re long past the “fool me twice” phase.

In the long term, this is important because we need to save the country. This has now been going on in one form or another during my entire adult lifetime. And I’m not young anymore. There is every reason to believe that the next time they gain power, these spawn of Nixon’s will do exactly the same thing. They are stubbornly determined to change the way our system works and undermine the constitution. They did it 35 years ago and they are doing it again today. And God knows how many of these little creatures have been born in this godforsaken administration and GOP congress. We must stop this now. It’s both good policy and good politics.

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