When Nina Totenberg speaks, my imagination takes off.

I think it was yesterday I heard Nina Totenberg’s remarks regarding the “Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act” and the immunity issue. I understood her to say the AT&T people told Bush they do not feel they should be subjected to law suits since it was he himself who came to them asking them to do the surveillance work. AT&T knew they were breaking the law but looked forward to the protection of Bush with feelings he would not let them down. After all, there were all those subpoenas coming from some committees run by the Democrats that he was able to squelch.

I further understood from what Nina was saying, AT&T was telling President Bush that their companies would be devastated by the law suites and his choice was keeping them relevant to continue “ working at the pleasure of the President” or being plague by many law suites. And it they - AT&T - would be constantly plagued by on-and-off surveillance jobs interrupted by law suites, continuity would be broken and the information would be compromised. A real dilemma for him.

-Sir? Mr. President?
-Yes?
-May I offer a suggestion, Sir? May I suggest since AT&T knew they were breaking the law and relied on your protection, allow them to be sued a little bit.
-“ Sued a little bit?” How’s that?
-Well, Sir, it’s like being a little bit thrown under the bus. Purely a gesture for the public, you see, Sir.
-No. No. I don’t see.
-Remember how a cap was put on the amount of money a person can get from a mal-practice suite….
-Got it! We could go with limited immunity and satisfy both sides. A slap on the hand. (Laughter) That’s good. That’s good.
-Well, Sir not necessarily satisfy both sides now, but it would give the issue a well deserved wedge wouldn't you say?
-You know what, I was just thinking. You would look real good with a Medal of Honor draped around your neck.
-That would be nice, Sir. Thank you.
-Now tell me about my intentions to keep what they are calling my “un-authorized” surveillance activities. Hey! What’s wrong?? What’s happening?? What in the hell are you doing??
-It’s my.. It’s my hemorrhoids…. Sir. I got… to go call my wife! (Ooch!))
-Call your wife??
-Yes, Sir. She tells me what….. (Ooooch!) I have to do when I get a bad attack like this. I’ll..I’ll be back when…. (Ouch!) It ….clears up. May, SHII-IIT!!, take a while. Bye, Sir. ~(Whew! Boy was that close!)
As always,
BB

Sen. Obama is holding a "Hot potato".

...will it burn his hands?

-Here, Barack. Catch! (Tee-hee)
-Ouch, Nancy. Why are you giving this to me?
-I don’t want it.
-Well, I don’t want it either! Thought we talked about this last month!
-We did and I thought about it. (Tee-hee) That’s why I say I don’t want it anymore. It’s yours now, brother!
-Damn!
-Your phone’s ringing.
-It’s three AM!
-Yes, I know. (Tee-hee)
-Hello? Yes? It does, however, grant retroactive immunity, and I will work in the Senate to remove this provision so that we can seek full accountability for past offenses.
-(Tee-hee)Who was that, Barack?
-Hillary. Y'all think you got me, don't ya?
-Let's see you talk your way out of this one, pretty boy. (Tee-hee)
-Barack! BARACK, honey, baby, wake up! Wake up!
-Huh??? Oh…….wow! Chelle??
-You were having a bad dream, honey. Screaming’n yelling..
-It seemed so real…
-Sometimes they do. Good-night, sweetheart.
-’Night.
-AAWWWW!!
-What’s wrong, honey? What’s wrong??
-Your hands! They hurt me! Let me see! My god!! They’ve got burn marks on them!!!
As always,
BB

You can't selectively support the Constitution, Senator Obama
by clammyc
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/20/173221/080/691/539330
Comment:
It ain't just the immunity (7+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
gmb, Flippant, VictorLaszlo, greenearth, blueoasis, lightfoot, on the cusp
It's the basket warrants and a lot more. Study up. We're gonna have to hold his feet to the fire a little earlier than we planned -- and on an issue I never expected to be his Sister Souljah move.
My favorite is Social Security.
by DelRPCV on Fri Jun 20, 2008 at 04:12:14 PM PDT
And
I'd rather he take a hit for our constitution. (7+ / 0-)
Recommended by:
gmb, eagle5, Flippant, pwwwayne, greenearth, lightfoot, KingCranky
The greatest gift you can contribute to the goal of world peace is to heal.
by wavpeac on Fri Jun 20, 2008 at 04:40:44 PM PDT

Shirley Golub and Cindy Sheehan donations

I found the address for Ms. Sheehan’s campaign and have sent off a $25.01 check. I am through arguing with Nancy. I know her re-election is a few years away but hey, perhaps my modest contribution will help to keep the “Cindy for Congress” campaign alive and motivated. You never know about such things. At least it will pay for some gas money to go to a speaking engagement or two and her check is in time to go out in the mail with the one I wrote last night for Shirley Golub. Steny Hoyer and Harry Reid’s opponents are next month.

Now that I have gotten used to making political contributions and I don’t use my cell phone any more, I can budget that money out. Makes me feel good and keeps the blood pressure under control. No more arguing with Nancy Pelosi. Praise the Lord!
As always,
BB
Cindy for Congress
1260 Mission St
San Francisco Ca. 94103
P.S. I forgot. Now I have to write letters to Nancy Pelosi’s campaign telling her I sent money to her opponent. Never a dull moment in politics.
Dear Ms. Pelosi,
I have sent money to the campaigns of your opponents Cindy Sheehan and Shirley Golub to register my complaint as to how thoroughly disgusted I am with your performances as Speaker of the House.

Scaffolds in place: Blogosphere storming the Bastille!

(Author) “Can’t we all just get along?” Sure we can only it seems I have to first kick your ass to get your attention!

Wednesday June 18, 2008 16:49 EDT
Campaign against warrantless eavesdropping and telecom amnesty is expanding
By Glenn Greenwald
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/18/fisa_campaign/index.html
Excerpt:
As of today, Hoyer has stopped falsely denying that he engineered this deal. He has also stopped falsely denying that it contains telecom amnesty. Instead, he is now offering the excuse that he had no choice but to negotiate it because "conservative" Democrats were threatening to support the Rockefeller/Cheney Senate bill and Hoyer was thus forced to negotiate the best deal he could. From CQ today:

And
Open Letter to Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and Congressional Democrats
by jrwebb
Thu Jun 19, 2008 at 08:25:48 PM PDT
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/6/19/231827/335/223/538805
Excerpt:
I have not forgotten the past votes when members of your Democratic Party have voted to authorize war in Iraq, to pass draconian surveillance bills, to pass the Patriot Act and the Protect America Act. I have read the roll-calls, I am keeping tally. I have watched your cowardice as you triangulated the best political position and did not do everything within your power to bring our troops home. Your complicity sullies their sacrifice. How many thousands of dead soldiers have we accumulated since the Democrats won that majority?
Fighting for the dignity of my Ancestors,
God bless Bill Gates (More than ever these days) WPFW, C-Span and the spirits of the unborn for the help,
BB

Shirley Golub to replace Nancy "Tee-hee" Pelosi?

I am sending Shirley Golub $25.01 tomorrow. I’ve written the check, sealed it in an envelope to put in my mailbox tomorrow. I don’t know noffin ‘bout Shirley Golub, don’t care and frankly don’t give a damn! If she is going to try for Nancy Tee-hee’s seat, I’ll support her. The thought of Polosi as Speaker of the House with President Obama in office makes me vomit! Absolutely disgusting! When Cindy Sheehan gets into the race, I’ll also support her with a buck or two.
Shirley Golub for Congress
P.O. Box 170580
San Francisco, CA 94117-0580
Email Shirley

Source:
You have got to be kidding me, Nancy
by clammyc
Thu Jun 19, 2008 at 06:01:57 PM PDT
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/19/205952/177/303/538725
As always,
BB
P.S. I'm not arguing with Nancy anymore or begging her to do nothing but go away! She is truly a disgrace to the Democratic party. Color her "Nuts!"

Swiftboating and Aikido

(I wrote this blog a few days ago but now I understand Sen. McCain is going to use more 527’s to garner votes due to the fact they can not find anything factual on Sen. Obama to stick)
I read about Aikido in a diary this morning not thinking I may be using it later on.

Logic, as is math, is a very old discipline and watching the video on this site made me think about the ways some teachers teach. In the math classes, the teacher can give you some quick ways to do a math problem you have never thought of in a million years. As an example, I as happy when I learned about moving the zero to get answers to some math problems.

I feel there must be such a short cut to test the validity of a logical statement. This video, in my opinion, makes no sense. The fact it is cheap to make is not the point, it just doesn’t make sense and since it is not overt in its statement, the implied conclusions, if any, wander all over the place and finally fall apart. I know the producer of those swifboating films are not your Cecil B. D’miles’ but what cheap crap! Such mediocrity. Damn.

Piano teachers have little techniques to pass on, I am sure there are those history teachers, art teachers and all who also have them. There has to be a teacher who teaches logic or some related subject who has a short cut he/she teaches her students to dissect logic. If I were in position, I would go down the hall and ask! It just maybe that simple.

Willy Horton ad producer starts ads for Obama
by docseuss
Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 03:48:37 AM PDT
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/9/63440/34733/272/532630
Opening sentence:
The Swiftboating has started. Here's an ad by the Willy Horton producer from the swiftboating site
As always,
BB
P.S. An average middle school student could give you the right analysis and words. (Smile)
P.P.S.
For example and shooting from the hip, the 527’s have to have some sort of registration as an entity and within that registration process, there are rules and guidelines. I would suggest one set of those rules should govern their the category of the film, a breakdown of the entire production cost, the rational, how it follows FCC rules or a comparable set of rules from wherever, and how it is going to be chronicled for prosperity in relationship to the ‘08 Presidential Primaries. If I were paying for a 527 film, these are things I would want to know if for no other reason to protect my financial resources from scandals and the likes. I would not just simply release my money, rear back in my chair puffing on my Havana cigar.

A Comment:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/19/obama-opts-out-of-public-_n_108018.html
trinity29 See Profile I'm a Fan of trinity29
no they are just scared and they dont know what to say to attack obama that will stick. so now they are trying to attack his message. the thing that the republicans are underestimating is that many people are politically activated and want the country to move in a better direction. the internet compensates for the blathering and obfuscation of relevant information that the media puts out as news. it is not like the 2000's where just buying airtime can help the smears in the day of the youtube. so as long as the republicans continue to personally attack o'bama with smears and fears they send a message to the voters that they are weak on issues and strong on negative campaigning. it didnt work for h'illary and it wont work for the republicans. Go President O'bama!!
Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:41 AM on 06/19/2008

Rep. Kucinich: Articles of Impeachment

I heard about Rep. Kucinich reading the article of impeachment on the house floor but I had no idea it included Black folks and for some reason, feel flattered. I feel the inclusion of Blacks shows just once again how denying us our due as citizens has so disrupted our progress as a country with no end in sight and to think the disruptions started well before the Civil War. I smile seeing progress of other countries due to the fact it lets me know human beings are still on this earth.

I note we have recently sold the Chrysler Building and heard many years ago the selling of Rockefeller Plaza to either Japan or China. With that, I am mindful of the story of the man living in a cold house cutting down all the surrounding forest and trees in his yard up to and including his picket fence in efforts to get warm. Imagine his feelings throwing the last piece of his picket fence onto the fire.

In reference to the Ohio vote, I saw Rep. Stubbs-Jones and her team completely humiliated on the floor by Republicans as when they presented their case for an investigation of the Ohio vote. How they managed to keep their decorum remains a mystery to me to this day and, as I recall, they went down swinging just as they did when confronting Sen. Gore with identical issues.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced articles of impeachment to the House of Representatives on Monday, June 9, that contain articles alleging the president conspired to violate the Voting Rights Act and tampered with free and fair elections.
(AP)
Excerpts:
E. In Franklin County, George W. Bush and his agent, Ohio Secretary of State John Kenneth Blackwell, Co-Chair of the Bush-Cheney Re-election Campaign, failed to protect the rights of African-American voters by not properly investigating the withholding of 125 electronic voting machines assigned to the city of Columbus.
F. Forty-two African-American precincts in Columbus were each missing one voting machine that had been present in the 2004 primary.
G. African-American voters in the city of Columbus were forced to wait three to seven hours to vote in the 2004 presidential election.
And
M. In Toledo, Ohio, an urban city with a high African-American concentration, 28,000 voters were purged from the voting rolls in August of 2004, just prior to the presidential election. This purge was conducted under the control and direction of George W. Bush's agent, Ohio Secretary of State John Kenneth Blackwell outside of the regularly established cycle of purging voters in odd-numbered years.
http://www.truthout.org/article/the-biggest-election-story-not-your-tv
Fighting for the dignity of my Ancestors,
God bless Bill Gates, WPFW, C-Span and the spirits of the unborn for the help,
BB

Sen. Obama’s America #2

After listening to Sen. Obama’s speech today in Flint, Michigan, I can fully understand why there are those calling him a BS’er. I can understand their questioning his Presidential agendi and how in hell he expects to do all those good things for America and in particular, for the people in Michigan he was espousing.

This cynical thinking is, in my opinion, not without merits. One has to only reflect back to the ‘06 elections to ponder the promises the candidates made with the most prominent being the promises of Nancy Pelosi, John Conyers and Charlie Rangel. Not any of their promises have even approached the light of day. I will not go through their promises individually, but they were grandiose and on the same level and with the same sincerities we are hearing from Sen. Obama. There is no wonder Sen. Clinton attacked Sen. Obama’s speeches as being empty rhetoric. She knows the back-up is not there and perhaps will not be in the near future. To my knowledge and save Sen. Wexler, there has been no Democratic congressperson saying they fully identify with a single one of Sen. Obama‘s promises and will work hard to see that it is implemented or at the very least, in the congressional pipeline.

During one of Sen. Obama’s speeches it would be nice to hear him say, “I have just been told Sen. So-and-so and Nancy Pelosi are at this very moment introducing a bill on the promise of which I speak. I promised you a change and already it is happening. So you see, Flint Michigan, when I am elected President, we will already be hitting the ground running.” Such an announcement would open up a whole new world of Sen. Obama‘s supporters. Speaking for myself and perhaps a few others, it surely would make the Independent voters crack a smile and perhaps such a move would hit their hand. You never know about such things. I can not imagine such a vast group of people sitting around waiting to do nothing. Speaking as the people from Missouri and the adolecent boy to his first girl friend, "Show me!" A classic case of "You show me yours and I'll show you mine."

To not do back-ups like this in support for your candidate leaves Sen. Obama vulnerable. Very vulnerable giving the appearance of a BS’er. How else can one view the situation? He makes promises with absolutely no foundations and no back-ups. You figure that one out considering your average non- internet user yet savvy and mentally alert citizen! “Where’s the beef?”

Sen. Clinton knows her co-patriots in the Democratic party will continue sitting back with folded arms across their chest saying, “Look at that boy go!” “Un-huh! He’s good!” “Good for the party.” “Now I know we’re gonna win in November.” The question remains: Upon what foundation does Sen. Obama base his programs? What evidence is there that the ‘06 class before him did anything meaningful with their pre-election promises? Where is the foundation for these promises? Are they just made of whole-clothe?

The ‘06 Class has made Sen. Obama’s bid for the White House very difficult as have the members from the class of ‘06 and before. For all practical purposes, they have done nothing, nothing you hear, that would make a person believe anything would come from Sen. Obama’s promises. Sen. Kucinich is, in my opinion, the only one to carry a light, dim as it is, to providing some substance to the Democrats and I would strongly suspect the impeachment of Pres. Bush was not one of his campaign promises. All the more reasons to consider him an American Hero.

Speaking of a hero, Sen. Al Gore enters the stage as some sort of hero now that Sen. Obama has made it safe for him to show his fat “fear of confrontation” ass. I, for one, am not impressed and I have yet to see his endorsement of Sen. Obama. I am still bitter Sen. Gore and others let Sen. Obama flail in the hostile winds of politics to the dismay of all who love him and believe in him. What Dr. Dean did not do anything to stop the bitterness of other Democrats directed towards Sen. Obama and what Sen. Gore did today was more of the same bull shit from the Democratic party and I am not impressed, continuing to have mixed feelings calling for Sen. Obama to come on back home. “We’ll find something for you to do.” The speech today was brilliant and, yes, I cried yet again! Couldn’t help it. Tears just started flowing. A mind of their own, those tears of mine. One of these days I’m gonna show’em whose boss. Humph!
Fighting for the dignity of my Ancestors,
God bless Bill Gates, WPFW, C-Span and the spirits of the unborn for the help,
BB
P.S. Looking forward to a non Neo-con to fill Russert’s place on “Meet The Press”. Donahue? Imus? Enough, already!

Sen. Obama’s America: No help from MSM

Seeing and listening to Sen. Obama speak in Flint, Michigan today was, as usual, a joy hearing him outline his plans for America.

I heard it on C-Span and I can only identify the show by what I saw on the screen: On the left, Road to the White House and below that, Economic Policy, Flint Michigan and on the right of the screen, C-Span Campaign 2008 so it was hard to figure out what program it was.

In my opinion, Mainstream Media (MSM) will not help Sen. Obama implement his program. MSM is too ornery and its surrogates too ignorant and selfish and for sure, they do not want a Black man to get any credit for that kind of program and vision for America. That’s why they have limited themselves to “Meeting our enemies without any pre-conditions” stupid shit! MSM’s backers and surrogates are the same people who run the Gaza strip in Israel and a recent documentary about Gaza is a visit to hell on earth. It is beyond tragic the way those people have to live and mind you, they are controlled by the same group that has their hands on the throat of America.

I base my position on vivid memories how the MSM trashed and guttered “No Child Left Behind” before it took its first breath. “No Child Left Behind” could be showing some positive results by now if it were given a chance and now during the primaries, Sen. Clinton advocated abolishing it all together. Not trying to work with the law due to some of its merits but rather a compete abandonment.

That is the reason I feel Sen. Obama’s plans for America will not get any help and in most cases the light of day from MSM and Nancy Pelosi if she remains Speak of the House. I no longer trust her and for very good reasons. A leopard does not change its spots and she has had enough time to at least try. If that is indeed true, the full burden of implementing Sen. Obama’s plans will lie on the keyboards of internet users and Bloggers in particular.

Shooting from the hip, and from my limited interactions with web sites, the Drudge Report and Dkos are the two sites I feel can meet the challenge with whatever modifications have to be made; financial and otherwise. One site is completely authoritarian and the other 100% democratic. They compliment each other. One site has multiple contributors from ALL sources and interest minus a vast pool of one ethnic group and the other is, in many aspects, a response site consisting of the same sources. Together, there is a “call and response” interaction between the two of them usually of opposite and equal forces. If Sen. Obama’s programs are going to get any meaningful exposure at all and passages of his programs in the congress, information will have to come from the internet and Bloggers.

There is no doubt in my mind Drudge and Dkos have the seed instruments, and with appropriate fertilizer and water, the ability to grow into giant beanstalks to the envy of Jack. (Smile)
Fighting for the dignity of my Ancestors,
God bless Bill Gates, WPFW, C-Span and the spirits of the unborn for the help,
BB

Great balls of fire! Frank Rich’s “War and Peace!”

The first person calling me today before or after church will receive an invitation to buy me a copy of the New York Times. Next week I hope it is Frank Rich’s “Le Miserable”. Can’t wait!! (Hat tip to diarist RKA who also effectively gets his/her points across.)

Three cheers for Frank Rich
by RKA
Sat Jun 14, 2008 at 09:50:57 PM PDT
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/6/15/0949/15788/839/536139
Curtain opener:
Finally. Someone is cutting through the BS media coddling of John McCain. Frank Rich's column this week is a must read:
And
So three cheers to Frank Rich for pointing out the truth. I have little confidence that the rest of the media will heed his words. They have corporate masters to serve, not the American people. We are going to have to work hard to cut though the BS and hopefully speed the well-deserved obsolescence of the traditional corporate media.
As always,
BB

Sen. Obama: Humanizing America

I’m going to just come out and say what I think about those people who, deep into the bottom regions of their hearts, do not want to see Sen. Obama become President of the United States.

A vast number of them do not want to think of a Black as a human being. All their lives and the whole lives of generations in their families, Blacks were and to date are considered tolerable but by the same token, not as human as they are. They feel they are being forced to do and feel something they do not want and that is accepting his humanity and thus, him as an equal. So it is, they resist any information or emotions suggesting the contrary. “We don’t know him” they orate. “We’ve got to learn more about him”. This sentiment is coming mostly from the Neo-con controlled Mainstream Media and surrogates. I’m mindful only humans, Neo-cons, can live in their state of Israel and if the whole Middle East has to die for Israel’s right to live, so be it. “Those irritating non-humans. Oy!” I am mindful during the recent primaries how upset the Mainstream Media was learning how many white males were voting for Sen. Obama. This has really upset them and they have yet to recover.

Rick Sanchez on CNN tonight had a report how the world is viewing a possible President Obama. It was positive but I heard more than a positive report. I heard human voices re-acting to another human’s rhetoric and soul. Not good news for the nay-sayers. Not good enough. “You just don’t understand. He’sa,…. he’sa Muslin!” the straw grabbers are saying. Anything to deny a basic human instinct recognizing another human as an equal and graduating Cum Laude from a prestigious American university is definitely not a plus: It confuses them. Those people have their crosses to bear. I have mine. May God bless the both of us.
As always,
BB
P.S. Note the Clintons appear emotionally and politically closer to Sen. McCain than to Sen. Obama.