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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: AuBug who wrote (36993)	6/22/2005 10:06:58 AM
From: Alan Smithee	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

Moderate and level-headed as ever, I see.

To: AuBug who wrote (36993)	6/22/2005 11:39:46 AM
From: Lazarus_Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

Honey? You need to get your meds changed. They're not working any more.

To: AuBug who wrote (36993)	6/22/2005 6:58:53 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

"There's a certain, familiar kind of Democrat who confuses an insult with an argument." Howard Dean gallops on Paul Greenberg townhall.com June 22, 2005 Whenever the moon and stars are set, Whenever the wind is high, All night long in the dark and wet, A man goes riding by. Late in the night when the fires are out, Why does he gallop and gallop about? Dick Cheney let the word out during his interview over the weekend with Fox News. (Does anybody else get an interview with the administration's top guns?) But it wasn't exactly a state secret: The vice president allowed as how Howard (Screamin') Dean was the GOP's not-so-secret weapon. Or as he assessed the political impact of the Democratic Party's national chairman and unguided missile: <<< "So far, I think he's probably helped us more than he has them. That's not the kind of individual you want to have representing your political party. I really think Howard Dean's over the top. And more important . . . I think many of his fellow Democrats feel the same way." >>> If not, they should. For the sake of their party's good name. And its success at the polls. Consider just a couple of Mr. Dean's latest contributions to civility in American politics: He's described Republicans as "pretty much a white, Christian party," which isn't the savviest thing for a Democratic national chairman to say in a country full of white Christians. Is this just the usual Christophobia coming out in our elite, or can Dr. Dean not have noticed that the opposition's big tent is getting ever bigger? It's not just the WASPs' party anymore. To quote Ken Mehlman, the GOP's national chairman: "I think that the folks who attended my bar mitzvah would be surprised to know that we were a party of white Christians." So would Colin Powell, Condi Rice, Alberto Gonzales . . . and the gradually increasing percentages of Jewish and Hispanic voters who are going Republican in presidential elections. Howard Dean also asserted that a lot of Republicans "have never made an honest living in their lives." Is this really the way to make friends and influence people at a time when Americans say they'd like to see more civility, not less, in their politicians? When it comes to political weapons, Howard Dean is about as handy as a boomerang; his words keep doubling back to smack him. The Democratic Party may need a doctor just now, but not Dr. Dean. He seems determined to make it over in his own, ill-tempered image. A happy warrior he isn't, just a warrior. He calls it being a fighter; it's more like being a loser. He lacks the fund of good humor that makes the difference between a leader and just another crank. No wonder leading Democrats, including Delaware's Joe Biden and Maryland's Steny Hoyer, the House minority whip, distanced themselves from their chairman's comments. But will their party listen? Maybe not. Rather than the exception, Howard Dean may be typical of a party core that's having too much fun saying outrageous things about the opposition to give up the habit, even if it means losing still more elections. For the more fervid, that's a small price to pay for the release a good scream affords. What's mere victory compared to the joy of saying what's in your heart, or rather spleen? There's a certain, familiar kind of Democrat who confuses an insult with an argument. Unfortunately for the party, one of them seems to be party chairman at the moment. Which, as Dick Cheney noted, is a fortunate thing for Republicans. Howard Dean is turning off the people in the decisive middle of American politics, the very voters Democrats need in order to win. You have to wonder what he thinks there is to gain by all that galloping about without any clear destination. There's no doubting the man's anger; it's all the sadder for being sincere. But where is it taking him - and his party? Like some headless horseman on a regular schedule, Dr. Dean rides by furiously, but to no great effect, except to scare off fair-minded voters. How strange: The Democrats, once the party of Harry Truman and Scoop Jackson, now seem intent on reducing their customer base. Who would have thought that the Republicans would come to represent the populist spirit in American politics and that the Democrats would always be looking back to past glory? Our two major parties seem to have switched stereotypes. And it's the Dems who are now thought of as directionless. It's not too late for the Democrats to find a spokesman who won't just gallop about but appeal to reason. Someone who will elevate the public discourse instead of demeaning it. Someone who can argue the Democrats' case in measured yet appealing tones. Someone who not only defends the party's ideas but uses his influence to see that they're defensible. Someone like . . . Michael Moore? Hey, Dick Cheney would love it. Although it's clear that for now he's perfectly happy to have Howard Dean to kick him around. Dr. Dean makes even Dick Cheney look warm and cuddly. And he just won't stop. Whenever the trees are crying aloud, And ships are tossed at sea, By, on the highway, low and loud, By at the gallop goes he. By at the gallop he goes, and then By he comes at a gallop again. ©2005 Tribune Media Services townhall.com

To: AuBug who wrote (36993)	6/23/2005 3:22:30 AM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

"That level of hate seems to short-out the logic circuits and reroute the "thinking process" to an area controlled by desired outcome instead of one which weighs facts carefully.... ...Maybe all should back away, put down our 'smoking guns' and try to deal with facts instead of political fantasy and conspiracy based on twisted polemics and hearsay 'evidence'." Hitchens, the Downing Street Memo and Leftist fantasy Posted by: McQ The QandO Blog Wednesday, June 22, 2005 Christopher Hitchens manages to distil the nonsense surrounding the so-called Downing Street memo in three relatively short paragraphs: <<< I am not one of those who uses the term "conspiracy theory" as an automatic sneer of dismissal. Conspiracies do occur. I spent a lot of my life at one point trying to show that William Casey of the Reagan-era CIA had made a private deal with the Iranian hostage-takers in 1979, inducing them to keep their prisoners until the Carter administration had been defeated, and I still firmly believe that something of the sort (which eventually culminated in the Iran-Contra underworld) was at least attempted. So do many senior members of both parties in Washington, with whom I am still in touch. But the main Downing Street document does not introduce us to any hidden or arcane or occult knowledge. As Fred Kaplan wrote in Slate last week, it explains no mystery. As protagonist Jim Dixon observes in another context in Lucky Jim, it is remarkable for "its niggling mindlessness, its funereal parade of yawn-enforcing facts, the pseudo-light it threw upon non-problems." On a visit to Washington in the prelude to the Iraq war, some senior British officials formed the strong and correct impression that the Bush administration was bent upon an intervention. Their junior note-taker committed the literary and political solecism of saying that intelligence findings and "facts" were being "fixed" around this policy. Well, if that doesn't prove it, I don't know what does. We apparently have an administration that can, on the word of a British clerk, "fix" not just findings but also "facts." Never mind for now that the English employ the word "fix" in a slightly different way—a better term might have been "organized." >>> The reason only the fringe in this country are excited about this is because most of those in the big middle have already figured out what Hitchens says here. Not only is this not a "smoking-gun", its not even a loaded gun. It's a third hand account of someone's opinion in which a term, 'fixed', must be willfully misused to give it any credence at all. But as Dale pointed out, and before the right begins patting itself on the back for not falling for this sort of thing, it's very reminiscent of some of the Clinton era nonsense that was trotted out by the extreme right. On both ends of the spectrum, the hate was and is almost palpable. That level of hate seems to short-out the logic circuits and reroute the "thinking process" to an area controlled by desired outcome instead of one which weighs facts carefully. Let's face it, the desire of the extreme left is they find something which would allow them to start impeachment proceedings against this president which would result in a humiliating demise for Bush ala Nixon leaving the White House for good. That is much the same dream the extreme right had for the 8 years of the Clinton era. The Downing Street Memos are going nowhere. Why? Because they are, as Hitchens points out, essentially an innane, badly worded and third-hand opinion about a meeting by a junior clerk. It is the Da Vinci Code of the left. Those who choose to believe the memo constitutes "proof" of Bush perfidy find themselves in direct opposition to another memo recently released by Blair and the findings of numerous commissions and panels which have looked in depth at these sorts of accusations. Charles Rangle can have all the faux hearings he wishes, but in the end, this is a non-event in terms of political reality. You've probably noticed John Kerry has backed away. But like the list of those who had died during Clinton's presidency, this will remain a staple of those on the left who must continue to build the conspiracy theory necessary to sustain their hate of George Bush. Fair warning: just as this sort of shrill nonsense backfired on the extreme right in Clinton's day, it will do the same to the left now. And another fair warning: those on the right who are touting Ed Klein's book on Hillary Clinton as "The exposé that may do to Hillary Clinton's presidential ambitions what Unfit for Command did to John Kerry's" (yes, that was in an email I received) are treading the same path ... again. Maybe all should back away, put down our 'smoking guns' and try to deal with facts instead of political fantasy and conspiracy based on twisted polemics and hearsay 'evidence'. qando.net politics.slate.msn.com

To: AuBug who wrote (36993)	6/23/2005 3:29:41 AM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

"Other than the political motivations possessed by those determined to destroy this administration, there is no reason at this time for public hearings on this matter, especially ones held by preening politicians." Gitmo Will Remain An Issue For A While, Despite Tears And Apologies By Lorie Byrd PoliPundit.com Everyone isn’t buying the sincerity of Dick Durbin’s apology. Still others, like Andrew Sullivan, don’t think he needed to apologize for anything in the first place. I think that the apology went far enough to remove the topic of Dick Durbin’s Gitmo comments as the top item for discussion on the conservative blogs, talk radio and the cable news shows. The topic of Guantanamo Bay will be around for a while, though. I watched Special Report with Brit Hume last night and saw the segment on the statements from Nancy Pelosi and some other House Democrats calling for an investigation into the Gitmo Gulag. The tightrope act they are attempting to walk is one worthy of Ringling Brothers. It is obvious that they are trying not to suffer the same fate as Dick Durbin, but the resulting statements they made were completely nonsensical. To watch them do the contortions necessary to repeat several times that they are not blaming the troops for anything that might have happened at Gitmo, but that they are interested in the “chain of command” and those administration policies that led to the purported abuses there was laughable. Michigan representative, Republican Pete Hoekstra took to the floor of the House and made some excellent points in response to the calls for a public investigation into Gitmo abuses. He reminded Democrats that there is already an investigation going on in the Congress into abuses at Gitmo. I agree with him. I am all for investigating claims of abuse wherever they exist, but what Democrats are calling for is a televised circus where politicians could grandstand and preen and attack President Bush and Donald Rumsfeld and the rest of the Nazis they detest. The result of such a spectacle would be to broadcast unsubstantiated claims to a world audience from a branch of the U.S. government, which would give them an air of authenticity that many of the claims, no doubt, do not deserve. No matter how hard Democrats would try to insulate “the troops” from their accusations, it would not fly. It is hard to imagine how George Bush and Don Rumsfeld could abuse prisoners, or Korans, or anything else, from long distance without involving “the troops.” Even if all the accusations were eventually found to be without merit, by giving so much television time to the claims of abuse, the world audience would be painted a picture of widespread systematic abuse by members of the American military and that would make their already difficult jobs much more dangerous and difficult to perform. There are already lawsuits addressing the policies of holding detainees indefinitely, and other legal issues, and there are investigations underway into specific claims of abuse. Other than the political motivations possessed by those determined to destroy this administration, there is no reason at this time for public hearings on this matter, especially ones held by preening politicians. polipundit.com radiobs.net gatewaypundit.blogspot.com gaypatriot.net hoekstra.house.gov

To: AuBug who wrote (36993)	6/23/2005 5:39:43 AM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

"You conservatives out there, if you have a liberal friend or relative out there who's -- let's just say a few bricks short of a load -- send this to them and let them know that they breath easy." Soothing The Loony Left By John Hawkins on Conspiracy Theories Right Wing News As I perused the Democratic Underground, I came across another kooky Republicans ='s Nazis thread, which admittedly is rather unexceptional these days. While it would be easy to just call a moonbat a moonbat here, I decided to do something a little different this time. What I would like to do is reassure all you leftwing nuts out there -- and you know who I'm talking about -- you with the tinfoil hat on, who thinks the election was rigged and Bush might be behind 9/11, you're who I'm talking to here -- I'd like to let you know that most of your deepest, darkest fears about conservatives are groundless. Take my word for it when I tell you this, because I know that of which I speak. Thousands of conservatives read what I write each day, the RNC now answers my email, and I've interviewed countless numbers of big name conservatives. Moreover, I consume enormous amounts of content written by conservatives. Typically, I read 90+ blogs and 10-15 right-of-center political websites each day. So while I may not be the spokesman for conservatism, I understand conservatism very well and I when you read what I'm about to say about to say about conservatives, believe it, because it's absolutely true. All you loony libs ready? Here goes, here's the truth about conservatives: -- We don't want to put you in camps. -- We're also overwhelmingly opposed to the idea of a police state. -- We detest Fascism & Nazism, just as we detest Communism. -- We also don't believe there's any danger of America becoming a Fascist country. -- We don't believe Bush is "another Hitler" or that there is any chance America will become "another Nazi Germany". -- We're overwhelmingly against a draft. -- We don't believe it's unpatriotic to disagree with the President. -- As a matter of fact, many of us disagree with the President, particularly when it comes to illegal immigration and deficit spending. -- Not only do we believe in following the Constitution, we believe we're much more serious about doing so than our political opponents. -- We believe conservative economic policies are more beneficial to poor and middle-class Americans than liberal policies. -- We're overwhelmingly opposed to the idea of creating an American empire. -- We don't believe the Bush administration let 9/11 happen on purpose or made it happen on purpose. -- We don't believe Iraq was a war for oil. -- We don't think the war in Afghanistan was about oil or a pipeline. -- We don't believe Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction. -- We don't dislike people because of their skin color. -- We don't believe the vote was rigged in 2000 or 2004. -- We would rather lose an election than cheat to win. -- We're totally opposed to theocracy and dominionism. You conservatives out there, if you have a liberal friend or relative out there who's -- let's just say a few bricks short of a load -- send this to them and let them know that they breath easy. Sure, liberals and conservatives may not agree on a lot of things, but at least the lefties who're waiting for the FBI to kick in the door and drag them off to a death camp can rest a little easier a now... rightwingnews.com democraticunderground.com