Can you hear me now?

A Tale of Two Pictures at Shakespeare's Sister
The Newshog's Instahoglets
The American Street on SCOTUS
Fearguth on Coulter

eRobin on the corruption of Electronic Voting

political, political cartoons, cartoons,Mallard Fillmore, parody, satire, Bush, Iraq, Afghanistan, Support the Troops, Veteran/'s Benefits


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Milhous Fillmore

E Pluribush Unum! Circus Cyaneus araucaria heterophylla janissary hydrocele! Hemroidacus! Testaclees!


political, political cartoons, cartoons, Mallard Fillmore, parody, satire, Rush Limbaugh, Viagra, Pro-Spleen Wisdom, Jeff Gannon, Cock

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New World Odor

Thermate, with a pen tip to Peter at Blondesense... Many people don't want to address the issue of what really happened on September 11,2001, or they will dismiss any questioning as " tinfoil hat conspiracy theories". However, The fact remains that there sure are lots of interesting questions that remain largely unexamined by the Corporate Media Conglomerates. Hey! Look over there! Isn't that Natalie Holloway try to kidnap Britany Spears baby?!?

political, political cartoons, cartoons, Bush, satire, Apocalypse Now, parody, 9/11, September 11th


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Welcome State of Sunshine

Jim Johnson is one of the best commenters on this blog. He has started if own weblog called The State of Sunshine. He's off to a good start. His post on the county mayor petition is worth checking out. I have doubts about the legality of the petition's wording.

BALLOT TITLE: REPLACING THE CURRENT APPOINTED ADMINISTRATOR WITH A NONPARTISAN ELECTED COUNTY MAYOR.

If you remember, the Florida Supreme Court did not believe that the redistricting panel would be nonpartisan. I doubt anyone who follows politics for more than five seconds believes that a Mayor would fit the nonpartisan description. The truth is Hillsborough County has such a horrible commission is because voters put up would Ronda Storms' Ann Coulter shtick and Tom Scott's silly turf battles with City Council over Central Park. When Joe Redner looks like a possible voice of reason for the commision - it is easy to see how an ex-professional wrestler becomes a Commissioner.

An Inconvenient Truth

Al Gore and Davis Guggenheim talk about their movie An Inconvenient Truth on Unscripted.

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The Christian Conservative Sword Falls On Tom Gallagher

Tom Gallagher wanted to live by the social conservative sword. He will now have to fall on it. Michael Fechter of the Tampa Tribune did some digging and found Gallagher's ex-wife Ann Louise filed for divorce after she caught him having an affair. She filed a restraining order after Gallagher broke into the house several times.

Ann Louise told the Trib of how power curropted her husband.

Life changed when Gallagher got into politics, Louise said in an interview. While she supported his 1974 campaign for a state House seat from Miami, she said she saw a transformation in her husband.

"They get such an ego trip and their personality changes," she said. "There were all these female groupies up in Tallahassee. I went up there and I saw what was going on and I didn't care for it."

On one trip to Tallahassee, Louise said her father-in-law rather than Gallagher picked her up. Charles Gallagher Jr. first told her his son was sailing but later disclosed Tom's relationship with a married woman who worked at the Capitol.

She and her father-in-law were close, she said, and when he told her he had to pick up the other woman at the airport, Louise said she was going with him.

"I invited her for coffee and she said OK. I told her she could have him and she said OK. I felt I had been a real patsy. Enough was enough."

I don't think what happened in 1979 should play into whether or not a candidate is qualified. What does bother me is that Gallagher is running a Christian conservative campaign and supporting social policies that even he can't live by. Gallagher and his handlers will look at it as good politics.

The same politics effects the lives of Floridians. School Vouchers have not changed the fact that Florida's education system is a disgrace. Abstinence-only sex education does not prevent teen pregnancy or STDs. These policies are dangerous to the welfare of citizens. Most Republican politicians advise their own children to practice safe sex. (Unless you actually believe Jenna and Barbara Bush are abstaining.) Gallagher getting busted shows the hypocricy behind the Christian consefvative politics.

I want politicians to set pllicies based on solving problems. I don't care what God they worship or who they sleep with.

Harry Reid On FMA

Senator Harry Reid gives the best speech from the Senate floor in ages. Reid talks about the President and Republican majority refusal to discuss high gas prices, alternative sources of energy, an effective policy for winning the peace in Iraq, rising crime rates, stem cell research, global warming and the tradfe deficit. The President and Republican decided that a constitutional amendment for gay marriage was more important. Reid blast Republicans for taking up the FMA while America faces more pressing problems.

Lynn Westmoreland: Thou Shall Pander to Christian Right

Congressman Lynn Westmoreland wants to place the Ten Commandments in courthouses and government buildings. It's is so important to him that he can't name all the commandments when questioned by Stephen Colbert.

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Side note: Westmoreland is pandering to the Christian base that rallied unsuccessfully behind Roy Moore.

Ann Coulter Plagiarism

The Rude Pundit and Ron Brynaert catch Ann Coulter plagiarizing passages for her new book (the one where she calls the Jersey Girls "harpies"). Coulter took an entry written on the Illinois Right To Life website and copied it nearly word for word.

"Repair heart attack damage (using the patient’s own blood stem cells)," says the Illinois Right To Life Committee Website.

"Repairing heart attack damage with the patient’s own blood stem cells," writes Coulter.

"Restore bone marrow in cancer patients (using stem cells from umbilical cord blood)," says the Website.

"Restoring bone marrow in cancer patients using stem cells from umbilical cord blood," Coulter writes.

For these fifteen items, Coulter appears to do little more than remove the parentheses and slightly change a word or two, such as "using" into "with."

Go read Ron's full article at Raw Story. For those wondering, this is the same Ron Brynaert who guestblogged at this site.

Bush Linking Iraq To 9-11 Again

President Bush is once again linking Iraq with 9-11.

You know, right after September the 11th I knew that some would forget the dangers we face. Some would hope that the world would be what it's not -- a peaceful place in which people wouldn't want to do harm to those of us who love freedom. I vowed that day, after September the 11th, to do everything I could to protect the American people. And I was able to make that claim because I knew there were people such as yourself who were willing to be on the front line in the war on terror.

Several commissions and weapon inspectors said Iraq had no ties to Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's weapons program was a joke. Bush is going by the old adage that if you repeat a lie enough people will believe it.

Karl Rove Will Not Be Indicted

Karl Rove will not be indicted for his part in the Valerie Plame leak. I can't say that I was surprised by this. There have been several news stories reporting that Rove was working with Patrick Fitzgerald to provide information on the involvement of the Vice-President's office. It appears that Rove's cooperation paid off. There is a good reason for Rove's helpfulness. Mainly, avoiding prison.

Rove revealed to Time Magazine's Matthew Cooper that Valerie Plame was a CIA operative on July 11, 2003. Cooper's email to bureau chief Michael Duffy spilled the beans.

"Spoke to Rove on double super secret background for about two mins before he went on vacation ..." Cooper proceeded to spell out some guidance on a story that was beginning to roil Washington. He finished, "please don't source this to rove or even WH [White House]"

Rove had the audacity to say "Well, I'll repeat what I said to ABC News when this whole thing broke some number of months ago. I didn't know her name. I didn't leak her name." Those words for spoken over a year later at the 2004 Republican convention. Rove once smeared Judge Michael Kennedy by starting false rumors that he was a pedophile. So lying about knowing Plame's identity wouldn't be a big deal.

It gets better.

Rove testified that he had no memory of speaking to Cooper about Valerie Plame. Rove did think his conversation with Cooper was important enough to write an email to national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley.

Matt Cooper called to give me a heads-up that he's got a welfare-reform story coming. When he finished his brief heads-up, he immediately launched into Niger. Isn't this damaging? Hasn't the president been hurt? I didn't take the bait, but I said if I were him, I wouldn't get Time far out in front on this.

Rove was Robert Novak's famous second source. Novak told Rove "You are not going to get burned" and "I don't give up my sources."

So Rove would have good motivation to help Fitzgerald's investigation. Rove was more than happy to tell the grand jury that Lewis "Scooter" Libby may told first told him about Plame. Now that's loyalty.

The Caulfield Sisters On Garageland

The Caulfield Sisters have two songs on Garageland. The tracks are First Bridge of Summer and Dumbfound You. Scenesters may remember Caulfield Sisters' lead singer Cindy Wheeler as one of the owners of Three Birds Bookstore.

St. Petersburg Times Archives

Here is a rather useful resource. The St. Petersburg Times archives from 1987 to present is online with search capability. The search works superbly. Tampa bloggers need to bookmark this baby.

Sue Cobb Sides With Diebold Again

Jim Davis takes Florida Secretary of State Sue Cobb to task creating the new rule that requires county election supervisors to notify voting machine companies when equipment is tested.

“The new rule offered by Florida’s secretary of state will make it harder for local supervisors of elections to test the integrity and accuracy of voting equipment,” said Davis. “We should be making it easier for supervisors of elections to conduct free and fair elections, not making harder to independently test voting machines in advance of Election Day.”

That is the furthest thing from Cobb's mind. Remember, she threatened legal action against Ion Sancho after he tested the Diebold machines and found they could be hacked. After Sancho went public with his findings; none of the voting machine companies that had contracts with the state would do business with him. Cobb then filed legal action against Sancho for not having machines in place. Charle Crist's office issued investigative subpoenas to Diebold Inc., Election Systems & Software Inc., and Sequoia Voting Systems Inc. The investigation is still ongoing. Diebold agreed to sell voting machines to Leon County after the subpeonas and negative media and blogging attention. Sancho was vindicated.

To understand why Jeb Bush's office is so protective of Diebold is simple. Diebold gave $200.965 to the Republican party in 2000 and 2002. Diebold donated zero dollars to Democrats during that time. Former Diebold chief executive officer Walden O'Dell was quoted saying that he was committed "to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the President." Diebold has refued to provide paper trail records for their machines.

If Sue Cobb wants to follow the career path of Katherine Harris then more power to her. Jeb Bush won't go to bat for her. Republicans will only give lip service to supporting you, Sue. Taking one for the team is something Republicans believe the person sitting next to them on the bench should do. Voters are tired of Florida elections being a national disagrace. Sancho proved that standing up to the Jeb Bush and Diebold juggernaut is possible. Sue, I hope you have a nice job in the private sector waiting for you.

Update: Ion Sancho is not happy.

"I simply do not see how the state has the authority," Sancho said.

Sancho accused the department of using the rule-making process to punish him for tests he conducted last year. The tests uncovered a security flaw in the Diebold optical-scan voting system that could allow hackers to skew election results. A group of Sancho supporters who gathered in an auditorium at the R.A. Gray Building for the workshop burst into applause. Sancho accused the state of ignoring his test results until they were duplicated in California.

"Not only were the test results valid, but they identified a security threat that went all the way through the traditional testing process without being detected," Sancho said.

Developing.

Stephen Colbert On 60 Minutes

I finally got a chance to watch the profile 60 Minutes did on Stephen Colbert. It's worth watching. Colbert describes his alter ego as a "well-intentioned, poorly informed, high status idiot."


Click to see Video

Henry Rollins Love Letter to Ann Coulter

SNL Weekend Update

The HeretiK on Zarqawi's nine lives
Don Davis learns that the GOP is abandoning flag burning and gay marriage amendments, and instead seeks a return to slavery!
Ron at Why Are We Back In Iraq calls bullshit on Ellen Knickmeyer at the Washington Post for refering to military documents as "critics".
Who Hijacked Our Country writes about the bogus "Pharmacist Rights Movement"
Shakespeare's Sister wishes you a Happy Jesus Day
As Always, The Progressive Blog Digest has a good roundup of links.
The Newshog wants the question asked: "Will you, if elected, pledge to roll back the Bush vision of total Presidential executive power?"
Last Left Before Hooterville spent an evening with Greg Palast
The Dark Wraith has spoken!


political, political cartoons, cartoons, satire, parody, Saturday Night Live, Zarqawi, Generalisimo Francisco Franco, Weekend Update

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Katherine Harris Kicks Out the Gay Marriage Wedge

Katherine Harris is now using gay marriage as a wedge issue against Bill Nelson. This is the email she is sending out supporters.

(Tampa, Fla.) - The Katherine Harris for U.S. Senate campaign called on Senator Bill Nelson to support the Marriage Protection Amendment today.

"I believe the majority of Americans strongly support the preservation of traditional marriage. We must never undermine the uniqueness of an institution that continues to serve as an essential thread in the fabric of our society. I support the passage of the Marriage Protection amendment being debated in the Senate," Congresswoman Harris said.

Campaign spokesman Chris Ingram said, "It's time for Nelson to stop making bogus claims of being a moderate in Florida while voting like Ted Kennedy in Washington, D.C. Bill Nelson should stop voting like a liberal and start voting with the values of common-sense Floridians. A good first-start would be by voting in favor of the marriage amendment which simply defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman."

The anti-gay marriage amendment will go nowhere in the Senate and Republicans know it. They are desperate to bring out the Christian Right base. In the long term, the farher they go right the more they will alienate the middle. Voters are more concerned with gas prices and education than gay marriage.

There is also the matter of her ex-campaign manager, Jim Dornan, wanting her to stay away from tight clothing.

Harris likes tight clothing. Jim Dornan, her former campaign manager, compares it to debutante attire. "It's not the type of dress a U.S. senator should or would wear," he says. She wore a tight peach sweater to Red Belly Day, a festival named for a local fish, and sucked on a lollipop. "Oh, no," aide Brian Brooks said as a photographer snapped pictures.

Watch out for the dreaded lollipop photo-op.

Gay Marriage Ban Amendment

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cartoons, satire,
Bush, Gay Marriage, Mallard Fillmore, parody, Constitution


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