Howdy folks. I'm back at work on the Farm. Part of my absence was dealing with the installation of a new pellet stove, but I'm back at the keys and ready to grumble. I think I'll start this post with a piece I'll call...
Gore Bitch-Slaps Bush
In a stirring speech to the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy and the Liberty Coalition today, former Vice-President Al Gore showed the fire he should have shown during Campaign 2000 as he lambasted Preznit Flight Suit Fantasy for his dictatorial stance regarding the illegal wiretapping of U.S. citizens. AOL News AP Wire excerpt:
WASHINGTON (Jan. 16) - Former Vice President Al Gore asserted Monday that President Bush "repeatedly and persistently" broke the law by eavesdropping on Americans without a court warrant and called for a federal investigation of the practice.
Speaking on Martin Luther King Jr.'s national holiday, the man who lost the 2000 presidential election to Bush only after a ruling by the Supreme Court on a recount in Florida, called Bush's warrantless surveillance program "a threat to the very structure of our government." Gore charged that the program has ignored the checks and balances of the courts and Congress.
Gore said that Bush's actions - which the president has defended as indispensable in the war against terrorism - represented a "direct assault" on the special federal court that considers, and decides whether to authorize, administration requests to eavesdrop on Americans.
Tracey Schmitt, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, shot back: "Al Gore's incessant need to insert himself in the headline of the day is almost as glaring as his lack of understanding of the threats facing America. While the president works to protect Americans from terrorists, Democrats deliver no solutions of their own, only diatribes laden with inaccuracies and anger."
I wonder if Ms. Schmitt is referring to the "lack of understanding of the threats facing America" Gore displayed after the first World Trade Center bombing a mere five weeks into the term he and President Bill Clinton shared? The attack that those two successfully prosecuted without shredding the Constitution, curbing the civil liberties of American citizens, or invading a country that had nothing to do with the attacks.
Is Ms. Schmitt similarly unaware that, unlike the perpetrator of the September 11, 2001 attack, the ones responsible for the February 1993 attack are either: 1. In jail, or are: 2. Dead? Perhaps a better question to ask Ms. Schmitt is this: Do you realize how completely and utterly full of shit you are making statements like that?
And as far as that "Al Gore's incessant need to insert himself in the headline of the day" nonsense is concerned, all one has to do to refute that bullshit notion is to recall how everything in the so-called mainstream media has been nothing but a 24 X 7 Al Gore-fest since December 2000...
Gore said that there is still much to learn about the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program: "What we do know about this pervasive wiretapping virtually compels the conclusion that the president of the United States has been breaking the law repeatedly and persistently," he maintained.
Full Story
It is too bad that more people don't understand what Gore said, either today, or during the 2000 campaign. The world would be a much different, and likely a much better and safer place than it is today if that was the case.
Here is the full text of Gore's speech. Please read it and see if you agree with the right-wing attack dogs that have already begun to foam at the mouth at Gore's audacity to question the motives of the Spoiled Little Tyrant. Are any of you Bush supporters re-thinking your decisions of 2000 and 2004? I know, it's just a rhetorical question at this point because the vast majority of Bush supporters I know would rather gargle with razor blades and jab corkscrews into their eyes rather than admit that this weak, petty man could ever make a mistake about anything.
Hillary Gets Her Punches In
New York Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton helped to pile on the FSF administration with her speech in Harlem today. LA Times excerpt, courtesy of Atrios:
NEW YORK -- Sen. Hillary Clinton on Monday blasted the Bush administration as "one of the worst" in U.S. history and compared the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to a plantation where dissenting voices are squelched.
Speaking during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event, Clinton also offered an apology to a group of Hurricane Katrina survivors "on behalf of a government that left you behind, that turned its back on you." Her remarks were met with thunderous applause by a mostly black audience at the Canaan Baptist Church of Christ in Harlem.
The House "has been run like a plantation, and you know what I'm talking about," said Clinton, D-N.Y. "It has been run in a way so that nobody with a contrary view has had a chance to present legislation, to make an argument, to be heard." "We have a culture of corruption, we have cronyism, we have incompetence," she said. "I predict to you that this administration will go down in history as one of the worst that has ever governed our country."
A spokeswoman for the White House declined to comment and referred questions to the Republican National Committee. RNC spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said: "On a day when Americans are focused on the legacy of Martin Luther King, Hillary Clinton is focused on the legacy of Hillary Clinton."
Full Story
Wow, this Schmitt character never knows when to quit does she? Apparently she likes the look of egg on her face. Doesn't she have anything better to do than monitor the words of Democrats and then spew idiotic "I know you are, but what am I?" type remarks? Apparently the biggest qualification to be a Republican spokesperson today is to have the ability to simply act like the man in the Monty Python Argument Sketch in which John Cleese simply says "No it isn't" to whatever Michael Palin utters.
Perhaps Clinton's best line was "I predict to you that this administration will go down in history as one of the worst that has ever governed our country". And you know what? Whether the bought-and-paid-for hacks that have done nothing but carry water for this bizzaro administration ever come back to reality, the truth of those words is blatantly obvious. Question to Bush supporters: How do the current problems these fools are experiencing make you feel in light of Bush's campaign 2000 promise to have "the most ethical administration ever"?
Pats Playoff Win Streak Ends
The amazing ten-game playoff win streak of the New England Patriots came to an end this weekend. I don't follow football with anywhere near the intensity that I follow baseball, but nonetheless, I was rooting for the Pats to become the first team ever to win three consecutive NFL Super Bowls. Alas, that is not to be thanks to Saturday evening's loss to the Denver Broncos. Two observations about the game: 1. You cannot turn the ball over five times and expect to have a chance to win, even against mediocre teams, which Denver is most assuredly not. 2. Assante Samuel was robbed at gunpoint by that atrocious pass interference call that immediately led to a Broncos TD. Well, at least Peyton Manning ate it raw once again yesterday at home against the Steelers, who got jobbed just as badly as Samuel on that interception/non-interception review that must have Troy Polamolu STILL shaking his head.
Latest Red Sox Stuff
And speaking of baseball, the Red Sox now have one less idiot on the team now that first-baseman/barely and outfielder Kevin Millar has signed a free-agent deal with AL East rival the Baltimore. Orioles. The Orioles must sense a glaring need to add a slow bat, slower feet, and even slower reactions in the field to have made this move.
Millar seems like a good guy who keeps everyone loose, but his power numbers, 25 HR and 96 RBI in 2003, 18 HR and 74 RBI in 2004 and 9 HR with 50 RBI in 2005, show an alarming decline in productivity for a middle of the order guy who had a ton of men on base in front of him for three years in a Sox uniform. Still, he did get the crucial walk after which Dave Roberts pinch-ran to steal a base and eventually a victory in the 2004 ALCS to aid in that incredible comeback over the Yankees to become eventual WORLD SERIES CHAMPS! Good luck Kevin, we'll always have 2004.
The Sox have also made a move to allegedly strengthen their bullpen by signing free-agent veteran righthanded reliever Julian Tavarez, cut loose from the St. Louis Cardinals. I worry a bit about this because Tavarez has always been a bit "tightly wound". Lots of other players who appeared less so wilted under the harsh glare of the Boston media, so he needs to get off to a good start in 2006.
And with the signing of J.T. Snow to share first base with Kevin Youkilis, all the Sox need now are a center fielder and a shortstop.
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