As longtime BRAD BLOG commenter, Czaragorn asked for some red meat today, and as we’ve been conflicted on whether to “report” anything on this or not, we’ll just toss it out there and say, oh well, Czaragorn asked for it. And we aim to please.
Surely, you’ve all heard the many and various rumors and speculation of late about a Karl Rove indictment being handed down from the Grandy Jury in the Valerie Plame TreasonGate case. Either that, or you’ve read Jason Leopold’s article from Friday reporting that Rove has informed the White House he’s about to be indicted. Or the follow-up story yesterday, in which he reports that it’s a done deal, Rove’s attorneys have been served with the indictment and that Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald has spent Friday and Saturday with Rove’s attorneys in pursuit of some sort of plea deal.
While we can’t independently confirm or deny any of Jason’s specific reporting, we have received various bits and pieces of note from sources that we have more than a fair bit of confidence in, while at the same time noting a few other interesting signs and tea leaves worth pondering…at least for Cazaragorn’s sake…
For a start, one item that jumped out at us personally, in light of these various reports, was the news that Bush has asked for primetime network clearance for an oval office address on Monday night…on immigration. That sort of misdirection has become de rigueur for this administration whenever they wish to distract and attempt to pre-empt various bad news headlines. Does this mean they expect news of a Rove indictment to slip out somehow Monday morning? Dunno.
As well, since Friday, we’ve received various communications from both respected insiders and respected reporters who have told us in no uncertain terms that it’s a done deal. The indictment was handed down by the Grand Jury on Friday, they say, and now it’s only a matter of when the information will be made public.
Though we were not told by these sources who the sources were from which they received their information. So we cannot stand behind those reports ourselves, but we do believe that their certainty is worth notice.
Meanwhile, out there in InternetLand, former CIA man and spookmate of Plame, Larry Johnson sent an email (some of which he also posted on DU) claiming that: “Joe Wilson heard the same from other sources. And, more importantly, Jason [Leopold] is reporting based on multiple, more than two, sources. His editors realized what a big story this is and did the appropriate checking before posting.”
NOTE: Though we’ve spoken with Wilson from time to time, he’s not one of the “insiders” mentioned above with whom we’ve discussed the latest rumors.
For shits ‘n’ grins, Jeralyn Merrit over at TalkLeft recounts an amusing experience (for us, not necessarily for her) in trying to receive confirm from Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin late last night.
More useful, perhaps, is Jeralyn’s always interesting and insightful analysis of the various tea leaves as they’ve been leaking out in drips and drops since Leopold’s initial report on Friday.
Beyond that, it seems most of folks in Blogistan are staying eerily mum. Burned once, so twice shy after the last premature “Fitzmas” celebrations?
Since we didn’t fall for the Fitzmas bait ourselves last time, we guess it’s okay to help stir up some shit this time around on an otherwise quiet-ish Sunday when we’ve got some good stuff, but we’d hate burn it all on a weekend while you people are out enjoying yourselves anyway as we toil away on Mother’s Day. So, much more to come on those other matters, about which we can report with first-hand certainty, over the next 24 or so.
Until then…Will an announcement of Rove’s indictment come Monday? Later this week? Or not at all? Red meat enough for ya, Czaragorn? Have at it BRAD BLOGsters…
I’m sure that picture isn’t real, but it’s a still a mouth full eye candy!
If it’s irresponsible rumor mongering, Jason Leopold has some ‘splainin’ to do.
It wouldn’t be beyond Rove’s ken to plant stories of his pending indictment with "reliable sources," who then feed them to Leopold. Then, if it doesn’t happen right away, Rove’s friends use the false report as proof of left-wing bias toward the White House.
Don’t think this is the case. But it’s possible.
OT
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It seems to me that if Jason’s sources were good, somebody would have gotten the mug shots up by now. If Fitz told them Rove had 24 hours on Friday, he should be indicted by now, and how do you keep that mum till you see fit to announce it?
Maybe Turd Blossom’s mom’s ticker was too weak to hear about it on this day of all days, but I think "sources" are having a good time with Jason Leopold. We’re talking about pit vipers here, and someone whose heart is really in it, and bragging about how people want to tell him things… it just seems like it would be too big a temptation for the snakes to have some fun at his (and our) expense.
I read that if Leopold’s sources burn him that he is going to out them for giving him misinformation. I think there is no question that Rove is in trouble. It is just a matter of either an indictment or a plea bargain. And I think its time to know.
"That sort of misdirection has become de rigueur for this administration whenever they wish to distract and attempt to pre-empt various bad news headlines."
In Bush’s defense, remember when Bill Clinton bombed an aspirin factory in order to distract everybody from Monica Lewinsky’s testimony before a grand jury?
I’m not saying it’s right, but everybody does it. Just be smart enough to see through it…
#6
Well, maybe it’s too early then to start up a collection for Turd Blossom.
I just thought maybe we could all kick in a few bucks so’s he could get an extra wide cot in his cell, so there’s room for Jeffie.
# 6,…………..
Please God ! ******** Let there be Justice *******
Enough is Enough ! I actually have scandal overload ! Everyday it’s more Republican corruption but I won’t be happy until these scumbags are all Impeached and thrown in jail !
I prefer a public Hanging but I’ll settle for Republican dirtbags rotting in jail : )
KKKarl Rove,… a retrospective salute,…
good-bye.
KKK,..KKK,..KKK. rove : link
Just llok at Peter Daou
http://daoureport.salon.com/syn...d-3c2d64485169
Jason Leopold and the Alleged Rove Indictment – I’ve been watching with intense interest as Jason Leopold has written a series of stories that scoop every major news outlet in America. I’ve watched with intense interest as thousands of bloggers and message board users have welcomed his writing uncritically and have questioned why the traditional media have ignored his groundbreaking reporting. His latest piece is a seemingly authoritative report about Karl Rove’s indictment, a report that has now apparently been refuted by Rove’s spokesman in a conversation with Byron York at The Corner: "I talked with Rove defense spokesman Mark Corallo, who told me the story was completely baseless. "Part of our conversation: Did Patrick Fitzgerald come to Patton Boggs for 15 hours Friday? No. Did he come to Patton Boggs for any period of time Friday? No. Did he meet anywhere else with Karl Rove’s representatives? No. Did he communicate in any way with Karl Rove’s representatives? No. Did he inform Rove or Rove’s representatives that Rove had been indicted? No."
I write this not to undermine two news organizations – Raw Story and Truthout – whose staff and senior editors I consider friends. I simply want to understand what’s going on. How is Leopold the only reporter in America with access to such high-level (and such garrulous) sources in the White House, the RNC, and the prosecutor’s office? In his story, Leopold writes the following: "Details of Rove’s discussions with the president and Bolten have spread through the corridors of the White House, where low-level staffers and senior officials were trying to determine how the indictment would impact an administration that has been mired in a number of high-profile political scandals for nearly a year, said a half-dozen White House aides and two senior officials who work at the Republican National Committee." Is it possible that low-level staffers know about the indictment but not a single news story other than Leopold’s has been written about it? Nothing from the dozens of reporters covering the story? Nothing from a Murray Waas who has been two steps ahead of the traditional press? I just don’t get it.
From everything we’ve seen in public reports, it’s very possible Rove will indeed be indicted this week. In fact it’s looking more and more likely he will be. What was done to Valerie and Joe Wilson is a travesty and there will be justified celebration across America if Patrick Fitzgerald brings everyone who was involved in this repugnant and dangerous act to justice. Nevertheless, something just isn’t adding up. I don’t pretend to know what it is. This blog post is more a question mark than a statement. Perhaps other bloggers with more detailed knowledge of the investigation can weigh in.
My concern – and the reason I write this – is that Leopold’s ubiquitous reporting has set expectations very high in the blog community. We’re at a moment when blogs are under assault by prominent media and establishment figures. I wouldn’t want to see him used as a cudgel to flog the progressive netroots as a bunch of conspiracy nuts. There’s enough of that already. We don’t need to provide ammo to our opponents.
I’ll Cover the KY Jelly, even if it’s not tax deductable. . . . . Save the tax payers, Proctology can be expensive . . .
If you could be so kind as to throw in a rubber
glove or two,.. it would be greatly appreciated.
Although they too are also non tax deductible,..
under the circumstances,..
well worth the expense.
Proctology – KKKarl Rove ?
Can’t Jeff Gannon (Guckert) take care of that ?
I was going to say earlier that Rove gets till tomorrow to be indicted because he and Jeffy were taking his mother out today……. But it isn’t ladylike. So I didn’t say it.
with all due respect to peter daou, who has graciously linked to skippy a number of times…
my concern – and the reason i write this – is that leopold’s ubiquitous reporting has set expectations very high in the blog community. we’re at a moment when blogs are under assault by prominent media and establishment figures. i wouldn’t want to see him used as a cudgel to flog the progressive netroots as a bunch of conspiracy nuts. there’s enough of that already. we don’t need to provide ammo to our opponents.
yeah, ‘cuz it’s not like the msm jayson blair stephen glass ever got something wmd’s wrong.
Mark Corallo: "It is both malicious and disgraceful." If the story false, it is disgraceful. But malicious? Only if Jason Leopold fabricated it himself and quoted sources falsely.
Would Leopold have done that? Not likely. Why would any reporter destroy his own credibility for the sake of a bad scoop? If this story is false, more likely Rove concocted it to make it seem that his enemies in the "left-wing media" are out to hurt him..and maybe to distract attention from something worse…like an invasion of Iran or Bush sending the National Guard to the Mexican border.
Rove would only have to plant false facts with three or four friends he had reason to believe Leopold would check with as "verifying sources." A 15-hour meeting at the lawyer’s office, trying to bang out a plea bargain, sounds credible…and if four people, say, give Leopold the same info, then Leopold can say to himself, "There. I’ve quadruple-checked. It’s true." And he goes with the story, never guessing that the four sources were in cahoots with one another and with Rove.
Or, it could be true. But then Carollo will have lost all credibility here.
I’m sorry, but Truthout has removed stuff that catches too much flak so that you can’t link back to it to make a point, and they add things into pieces later that were not there until someone made a point about it. They certainly may be trying to get the truth out, but they are not very honest about it. The credibility of Blogotopia does not hang on Jason Leopold, and should not. The snakes in DC have no credibility period. This is just a stupid dust-up, signifying nothing, and we still have to wait to see Porky frog-marched (Wilson’s term) out of the White House. Maybe he’ll try to beat it to Mexico in a Bronco… oops… Mexifornia, that is.
Mexifornia,.. where did you get that term ?
"President" Gore opens Saturday Night Live
5/13/06. Spoofs bu$$h.
"President" Gore opens SNL : video link
Gee, so bloggers may appear a bit too anxious for old karl to get his just desserts (‘desserts’?).
Anathema!
Why oh why can’t they exhibit the dignity & restraint practiced by the hallowed (or is that ‘hollowed’?) Mainstream Media??
The reaction to this story, be it true or untrue, in the blogosphere need only be compared to the countless times the MSM has engaged in endless, shameless, ludicrous commentary about inane & unimportant stories.
I am forced to quote here from one of my favorite bumper stickers:
Everybody Please Calm Down.
I thought it was too good to be true. It may be inevitable but they’re playing games with this and it’s shameful.
Hey Fitz, just indict the fool already, would ya!
For Joan: The mainstream (corporate) media detest bloggers. Their main complaint is that we don’t double-check things (Brad does this faithfully, however), thus by printing rumor and gossip on equal terms with verified facts (news), we don’t meet their "high standard" of journalistic integrity.
There’s some truth to this. But we’re the antidote to the corporate-owned press; it won’t call Bush a liar when he lies, instead publishes his falsehoods as if they constitute legitimate arguments deserving of equal standing with the truth (so-called "balance"), and won’t touch hot-button issues like stolen elections, because doing so would weaken the dollar, kill the stock market, and further wound America’s prestige while compromising its right to scold other nations for their stolen elections.
We’re also the antidote to the broadcast media, which shill for the Bush administration and give us brainless talking heads posing as experts on politics, diplomacy, and business…the only requirement being that they smile on cue and look like Barbie and Ken on their first date.
We aren’t perfect. But I’ll take us over The New York Times, Fox, and CNN any day of the week.
MSM = Manikins + Toupees or (fake Boobs) . . .
I didn’t see it, but the other night on Fox someone called Brenda Butler (her last name used to be Buttner, but it was changed for some reason) went on the air and told Fox’s audience of liberal haters and mindless uber-patriots that the stock market had dropped over 100 points for the second consecutive day because some puny tattle-tale had revealed the NSA spy program…but not to worry, Wall Street would never allow this little worm to take down "our market."
This is what passes for news these days. I guess Fox’ viewers were tired at looking at the awful face of Charles Krauthammer and needed a pick-me-up from a buxom cutie willing to spout chauvinistic nonsense on cue.
Do you think this juicy but questionable leak re Rove is supposed to keep blogs off the quards that Bush is putting on the Mexican border?
Bush is talking about building a wall too.
Guards & a wall will keep Mexicans out —But they will also keep Americans IN, my friends…goes with the Halliburton built ‘detention centers’ Bush is building here at home.
For 30 or some years Mexicans have been running across our border in droves & they didn’t give a rat’s ass.
NOW, ALL OF A SUDDEN, they MUST stop them, because, as they have said over & over, "Republicans & a large segment of the population WANT it".
Bullshit.
They’ve got the Canadian border souped up so military can’t flee to Canada anymore like they did to escape dying in Vietnam for nothing.
Now they’re going to plug up the Mexican border too.
Then, when Bush invades Iran, starts the draft & maybe martial law, no one can escape except by boat or plane.
I think there is a good chance it’s coming.
And the list of prominent establishment figures questioning 9/11 as an inside job keeps growing – Google Paul Craig Roberts, along with an ever growing list. And this:
Kevin Barrett: Media hide truth: 9/11 was inside job
By Kevin Barrett
Last Saturday, former Bush administration official Morgan Reynolds drew an enthusiastic capacity crowd to the Wisconsin Historical Society auditorium. It is probably the first time in Historical Society history that a political talk has drawn a full house on a Saturday afternoon at the beginning of final exams.
Reynolds, the former director of the Criminal Justice Center at the National Center for Policy Analysis, and the ex-top economist for George W. Bush’s Labor Department, charged the Bush administration with gross malfeasance, and proposed the prosecution of top administration officials.
Normally, if a prestigious UW alumnus and ex-Bush administration official were to come to the Wisconsin Historical Society to spill the beans about a Bush administration scandal, it would make the news. The local TV stations would cover it, and it would merit front page headlines in The Capital Times and Wisconsin State Journal.
Reynolds’ indictment of the administration he worked for was a stunning, life-changing event for many of those who witnessed it. As the event’s organizer, I have received dozens of e-mails about it from people who were deeply affected.
Despite the prestigious speaker and venue, and the gravity of the charges aired, for most Americans indeed most Madisonians the event never happened. Why? Because it was censored, subjected to a total media blackout. Not a word in the State Journal. Not a word in The Capital Times. Not a word on the local TV news. Not a word on local radio news. And, of course, not a word in the national media.
Why the blackout? Because Reynolds violated the ultimate U.S. media taboo. He charges the Bush administration with orchestrating the 9/11 attacks as a pretext for launching a preplanned "long war" in the Middle East, rolling back our civil liberties, and massively increasing military spending.
When a former Bush administration insider makes such charges, how can the media ignore them? Is Reynolds a lone crank? Hardly. A long list of prominent Americans have spoken out for 9/11 truth: Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Sen. Barbara Boxer, former head of the Star Wars program Col. Robert Bowman, ex-Reagan administration economics guru Paul Craig Roberts, progressive Jewish author-activist Rabbi Michael Lerner, former CIA official Ray McGovern, author-essayist Gore Vidal, and many other respected names from across the political spectrum have gone on the record for 9/11 truth.
Are the media ignoring all these people, and dozens more like them, because there is no evidence to support their charges? Hardly. Overwhelming evidence, from the obvious air defense stand-down, to the nonprotection of the president in Florida, to the blatant controlled demolition of World Trade Center building 7, proves that 9/11 was an inside job. As noted philosopher-theologian and 9/11 revisionist historian David Griffin writes: "It is already possible to know, beyond a reasonable doubt, one very important thing: the destruction of the World Trade Center was an inside job, orchestrated by terrorists within our own government."
A growing list of scientists has lined up behind BYU physicist Steven Jones and MIT engineer Jeff King in support of Griffin’s position, as evidenced by the growth of Scholars for 9/11 Truth (st911.org) and Scientific Professionals Investigating 9/11 (physics911.net).
As a Watergate-era graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Journalism, I was taught that exposing government lies and corruption is the supreme duty of the Fourth Estate. I simply cannot fathom the current situation. I do not understand the 9/11 truth blackout. I wish someone would explain it to me.
It is time to break the 9/11 truth blackout. Please put pressure on your local media through letters to the editor, call-ins to talk radio, and phone calls to local and national journalists.
And come see Peter Phillips, director of the media watchdog group Project Censored, who will lead a strategy session on breaking the blackout at the upcoming international 9/11 truth conference in Chicago: 9/11: Revealing the Truth, Reclaiming Our Future, to be held June 2-4 at the Embassy Suites Hotel, Chicago-O’Hare Rosemont. Go to http://911revealingthetruth.org for more information.
The event will feature presentations from dozens of 9/11 truth luminaries, from scientists like Steven Jones to intelligence agency whistle-blowers like David Shayler, and promises to be a historic, watershed event. Be there, or resign yourself to a future of endless war, lost liberty, and a craven media that cannot bring itself to breathe a single word of truth.
Kevin Barrett of Madison is a member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth (st911.org) and SPINE: Scientific Professionals Investigating 9/11 (911physics.net) and serves as coordinator of the Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth (mujca.com). E-mail: Kevin@mujca.com
Published: May 12, 2006
http://www.madison.com/tct/opin...8&ntpid=1
For Hidden Hand: Seymour Hersh said the issue of election fraud (2004, specifically) was "too hot to handle." Meaning, if the media told the truth (or even investigated) Wall Street would collapse, Corporate America would revolt against Bush & Co,,
advertisers would pull their ads in fury, and the entire house of cards would come tumbling down.
If Hersh is right (I’m sure he is), imagine what telling the truth about 9/11 would mean. But there is an important difference. The Kean-Hamilton commission did look into 9/11; not hard enough, and the White House didn’t cooperate fully, but the media do have that as a crutch.
The families of 9/11 victims pushed the envelope, otherwise the commission probably would never have been formed. If voters would put themselves in the same position as 9/11 family members, we could force the issue. We’re no longer the lunatic fringe; 39% now say the election was stolen. That’s 10% more than approve of Bush as president.
Others will disagree, but I maintain the two-party system is responsible. As long as Democrats are willing to accept 2004 as a fait accompli, and the media ignore Independents and third-party voters, the blogosphere has to do all the work. It’s because of Brad Friedman’s leadership, and our participation, that we’ve gotten to 39%; a year ago, who would have thought it possible?
Bad news: The media still won’t cover the story. Good news: That 39% figure means it will be harder for Republicans to rig the 2006 elections; people are now on guard.
Amen, brother.
Our little weasel president is interrupting regular programming tonight to spout his pack-of-lies re immigrants, guards & building a wall on the border, while his proud-for-no-reason-at-all family watches.
That is–the two dumbass presidential daughters who like their liquor as much as daddy, & want to be teachers, for heavens’sake.
They are the daughters of priviledge who, after visiting Sioux City with daddy on the campaign trail, & having a college degree given to them, later told a reporter they had been to "sooks " City!
I kid you not.
‘Yeah, we were in "sooks" City with dad!’
What bubble heads.
Even my 13 yr old son pronounced "Sioux City" correctly when I first showed it to him. He looked at me like I was crazy to see if he could pronounce it correctly & said, "It’s spelled just like the Indian tribe mom".
The dumbass wife, Laura, totally degraded & humiliated herself when she went on camera to tell blue jokes at a roast–re Bush masterbating a horse–because Bush thought it might get his popularity up. Does she have no dignity, no shame–no balls at all to stand up to monkey boy & say "No"?
They are working with monkey-boy right now so he can pronounce ‘immigrants’ successfully tonight.
Ruining America was the reason for not protesting the 2000 stolen election too, wasn’t it? I think the truth coming out about stolen elections and 9/11 is the only thing that would raise our standing in the world’s eyes. You don’t even have to pay attention to know it was an inside job. Cheney’s war games are enough evidence for me. Who made money off the put options. No investigation except after the families pushed for it. It’s right under our noses. Everybody is too scared to ask for a real investigation. Dashule and Lahey could have changed some votes on the Iraq war..their offices were anthraxed . Nobody ever found the guilty party. Although it was discovered the anthrax was Govt. issued. Wellstone was threatened by Cheney over the Iraq war vote.
So may questions,..
so few answers,..
the fingerprints of a dictator.
Come hell or high water,..
we will take our country back !!!!!
where did my "N" go ?
So many questions,…………
__________
Democracy and freedom are not "quaint"
conceptions of thought.
For Molly: Yes, it was about "ruining America" in 2000, but it was more than that. It was hanging chads, disenfranchised voters, and eventually a legal battle. Overhanging all of it was this uniquely American tradition of accepting election outcomes without complaint, otherwise one is a "sore loser."
Why do we have instant replay in football now? Because too many games were decided by bad calls, and "sore losers" demanded that referees do a better job of getting the calls right. But the same jocks and macho men who scream bloody murder if their team is victimized by a zebra on the football field will cry "wimp!" or "sore loser" if an Al Gore or John Kerry says he lost a rigged election. American culture is so enamored of the Alpha male image that no public figure with testicles ever violates it.
If it were up to me, I’d impeach the five justices who voted to overturn the Florida Supreme Court. Not because they voted to install Bush, because they usurped the prerogatives granted to states through the Electoral College. It’s up to STATES, not THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, to decide election questions, even in national elections. When the Supremes decided the election, they invalidated the Electoral College…from where I sit, that should have meant that Al Gore, the popular vote winner, won the election.
The Supreme Court ruling said, in effect, a federal court may decide an election, yet the Electoral College still rules…thereby contradicting itself. Once the Supremes got away with that, all bets were off as far as future elections were concerned.
It’s a very short leap from abrogating federalism and hijacking an election.
Perhaps the news media got a heads up that they are being watched by the NSA:
" … phone calls and contacts by reporters for ABC News, along with the New York Times and the Washington Post, are being examined as part of a widespread CIA leak investigation" (Raw Story link).
Old Turk – did I spy a haiku in there?
PS – We really need Instant Runoff Voting, in a huge way – that would solve the problem, if coupled with public funding and equal media time provisions. It’s so simple. Too bad the media can’t get their obtuse heads around it.
RLM: Two of those Justices are already gone. Now we gotta impeach their replacements for monarchism.
Hey Brad, nothing like starting out the day with a big slab of red meat. Thanks! 😉
#39 A99 – Yes restore Justice to the S. C.
OT
Has anyone noticed any of the following strange computer anomalies ? ? ?
* Keystroke Delays * unexplained & expected Hard drive activity * BradBlog was Black Holed for a while*
I was impressed with AAR’s Ed Schultz & Randi Rhodes on Larry king.
MSM Misses The Bigger Story About Wiretapping: AGAIN!!!
The article above, points out that the bigger thing we should be worried about, is the private companies that are linking together with the Bush administration, to help Bush trample on the Constitution, against us. Notice all these companies like AT&T, etc…are private companies, now in league with our government, against US?
Mike, "providing ammo to the opponents" could well be the whole point here. Except it would be the opponents furnishing the ammo, not us, with Leopold as the delivery boy.
Whoever Leopold’s sources are, they could be acting in Rove’s behalf. One source wouldn’t be enough, because Leopold would "verify" his info with another source (who’s also in on the scheme).
As Leopold scampers around, the White House press corps plays dumb, denying everything. And the blogosphere takes a hit from "responsible" media sources like WaPo and The New York Times.
It could be a distraction from something big…like an attack in Iran.
More and more and more private companies, outsourced by our government against us, in spying, etc.. are going to come out in the open in the near future. This is the tip of the iceberg. We outsource our torture, too, to private companies.
KKKarl Rove’s,.. November 2006
mid-term election agenda/talking points,..
hot button wedge issues,.. the politics of division.
FOXFAN CENTRAL
FOXNEWS.COM HOME > POLITICS
GOP Campaign to Focus on Flag Burning, Gay Marriage, Abortion
Sunday, April 16, 2006
WASHINGTON — Protection of marriage amendment? Check. Anti-flag burning legislation? Check. New abortion limits? Check.
Between now and the November elections, Republicans are penciling in plans to take action on social issues important to religious conservatives, the foundation of the GOP base, as they defend their congressional majority.
In a year where an unpopular war in Iraq has helped drive President Bush’s approval ratings below 40 percent, core conservatives whose turnout in November is vital to the party want assurances that they are not being taken for granted.
"It seems like for only six months, every two years — right around election time — that we’re even noticed," said Tom McClusky of the Family Research Council.
"Some of these better pass," he added. "You notice when it’s just lip service being paid."
Former presidential candidate Gary Bauer agreed that the effort matters.
"If they get to these things this summer, which we expect that they will, that will go a long way toward energizing the values voters at the base of the Republican Party," said Bauer, head of Americans United to Preserve Marriage.
GOP leaders long have known that the war and merely riding the coattails of a second-term president could disillusion their base.
If there was any doubt, conservatives issued a concise warning last month. Four groups representing evangelical Christians said an internal survey found that 63 percent of "values voters" — identified as evangelical Christians whose priorities include outlawing abortion and banning same-sex marriage — "feel Congress has not kept its promises to act on a pro-family agenda."
The Family Research Council, which headlined the survey, also announced it would hold a "Values Voter Summit" in September to "raise the bar of achievement for this Congress." At the top of the agenda could be a call for new leadership in Congress if those in power have not acted on social conservatives’ issues.
Some leaders read the warning signs early.
The House has approved an amendment to the Constitution to outlaw flag burning and passed a bill to crack down on the practice of minors’ crossing state lines for abortions to evade legal limits in their own states
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and a possible presidential candidate in 2008, announced early this year that the Senate would consider those and the anti-gay marriage amendment that has failed in both chambers despite Bush’s endorsement.
"When America’s values are under attack, we need to act," Frist told the Conservative Political Action Conference in February.
Those were sweet words to Bauer’s ears.
"The marriage amendment is in a class by itself because of what’s at stake," Bauer said.
House Republican officials close to the scheduling process said the marriage amendment is headed for a House vote in July.
Sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., also a possible presidential candidate, the measure would have the Constitution define marriage as the union between a man and a woman — in effect rescinding a 2004 Massachusetts law that made gay marriage legal.
Sending the proposed amendment to the states for ratification may not win the two-thirds majority required in the House and Senate. But committing to a vote in June is a gesture of good faith that would resonate with social conservatives, Bauer said.
The amendment banning flag desecration, a perennial vote and favorite of some conservatives, would need the same majority for ratification. Frist has promised to bring it up in June. The amendment was ratified by the House last year but was not brought to a vote in the Senate after 35 senators declared their opposition.
The bill to curb abortions among minors has long been on Frist’s list of legislative priorities. Legislation imposing penalties on anyone who helps a minor cross state lines to obtain an abortion won easy passage in House last year.
Frist has promised to bring a similar bill to the Senate floor before the year is out.
Not on the Senate’s schedule, however, is a bill allowing taxpayers to underwrite human embryonic stem cell research, a science still in its infancy that could lead to cures for many diseases.
Social conservatives, including Bush, say that the process by which the cells are derived is morally akin to abortion because the fertilized egg is destroyed.
Frist, a surgeon who enraged many in the GOP base last year when he supported a House-passed bill to fund the process, had planned a Senate vote on the matter by Easter. Congress adjourned for the holiday this month without such a debate anywhere on the Senate’s calendar.
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From the NY Sun:
"A spokesman for a top White House aide under scrutiny in a criminal leak probe, Karl Rove, yesterday vigorously denied an Internet report that the political adviser to President Bush was told that he had been indicted on charges of perjury and lying to investigators.
"The story is a complete fabrication," the spokesman for Mr. Rove, Mark Corallo, told The New York Sun. "It is both malicious and disgraceful." "
I guess if the White House is denying it… it must be true? 😎
KKKarl Rove’s,.. November 2006
mid-term election agenda/talking points,..
hot button wedge issues,.. the politics of division.
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GOP Campaign to Focus on Flag Burning, Gay Marriage, Abortion
Sunday, April 16, 2006
WASHINGTON — Protection of marriage amendment? Check. Anti-flag burning legislation? Check. New abortion limits? Check.
Between now and the November elections, Republicans are penciling in plans to take action on social issues important to religious conservatives, the foundation of the GOP base, as they defend their congressional majority.
In a year where an unpopular war in Iraq has helped drive President Bush’s approval ratings below 40 percent, core conservatives whose turnout in November is vital to the party want assurances that they are not being taken for granted.
"It seems like for only six months, every two years — right around election time — that we’re even noticed," said Tom McClusky of the Family Research Council.
"Some of these better pass," he added. "You notice when it’s just lip service being paid."
Former presidential candidate Gary Bauer agreed that the effort matters.
"If they get to these things this summer, which we expect that they will, that will go a long way toward energizing the values voters at the base of the Republican Party," said Bauer, head of Americans United to Preserve Marriage.
GOP leaders long have known that the war and merely riding the coattails of a second-term president could disillusion their base.
If there was any doubt, conservatives issued a concise warning last month. Four groups representing evangelical Christians said an internal survey found that 63 percent of "values voters" — identified as evangelical Christians whose priorities include outlawing abortion and banning same-sex marriage — "feel Congress has not kept its promises to act on a pro-family agenda."
The Family Research Council, which headlined the survey, also announced it would hold a "Values Voter Summit" in September to "raise the bar of achievement for this Congress." At the top of the agenda could be a call for new leadership in Congress if those in power have not acted on social conservatives’ issues.
Some leaders read the warning signs early.
The House has approved an amendment to the Constitution to outlaw flag burning and passed a bill to crack down on the practice of minors’ crossing state lines for abortions to evade legal limits in their own states
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and a possible presidential candidate in 2008, announced early this year that the Senate would consider those and the anti-gay marriage amendment that has failed in both chambers despite Bush’s endorsement.
"When America’s values are under attack, we need to act," Frist told the Conservative Political Action Conference in February.
Those were sweet words to Bauer’s ears.
"The marriage amendment is in a class by itself because of what’s at stake," Bauer said.
House Republican officials close to the scheduling process said the marriage amendment is headed for a House vote in July.
Sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., also a possible presidential candidate, the measure would have the Constitution define marriage as the union between a man and a woman — in effect rescinding a 2004 Massachusetts law that made gay marriage legal.
Sending the proposed amendment to the states for ratification may not win the two-thirds majority required in the House and Senate. But committing to a vote in June is a gesture of good faith that would resonate with social conservatives, Bauer said.
The amendment banning flag desecration, a perennial vote and favorite of some conservatives, would need the same majority for ratification. Frist has promised to bring it up in June. The amendment was ratified by the House last year but was not brought to a vote in the Senate after 35 senators declared their opposition.
The bill to curb abortions among minors has long been on Frist’s list of legislative priorities. Legislation imposing penalties on anyone who helps a minor cross state lines to obtain an abortion won easy passage in House last year.
Frist has promised to bring a similar bill to the Senate floor before the year is out.
Not on the Senate’s schedule, however, is a bill allowing taxpayers to underwrite human embryonic stem cell research, a science still in its infancy that could lead to cures for many diseases.
Social conservatives, including Bush, say that the process by which the cells are derived is morally akin to abortion because the fertilized egg is destroyed.
Frist, a surgeon who enraged many in the GOP base last year when he supported a House-passed bill to fund the process, had planned a Senate vote on the matter by Easter. Congress adjourned for the holiday this month without such a debate anywhere on the Senate’s calendar.
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Big Dan #41 – Ed Shultz said today the NSA Wiretapping story that out, is just the tip of the iceberg.
The Rapture Right lays out the marching orders
for the Christo Fascist Republican Party for the mid-term 2006 election.
Karl Rove dancing to the Fascists goose-step.
Link NYT : Dobson/Rove/2006 Election Plan
Maybe the dumb ass president can give his speech from a Indian Reservation. Mission accomplished fck face.
#38: They aren’t obtuse and unable to "get their [collective] heads around it," they’re, at the least, follow orders, and at worst, complicitous to everything that’s happened.
Those "news" celebs are vile, soulless automatons who subvert the constitution and lie with their every breath to cover for policies of mass murder. They’re the true lap dogs of the fascists, all the more contemptuous because without their lies and omissions [SILENCE = CONSENT] the public would have the facts, and all the $ in the world wouldn’t save the fascists frail asses at that point …"you may say I’m a dreamer…." Remember Poppy Bush saying in an interview something about how if the public ever found out what [they] got up to they’d lynch us in the streets?
Anyone working in MSM may just as well suck a gun barrel at this point, cause they have ZERO moral credibility and even less factual credibility. As the late Bill Hicks said re those working in marketing in any capacity – "go kill yourselves immediately, cause you’re satan’s little helpers, and it’s the only way to redeem your soul!"
Big Dan #42: Yep. It sends a chill up the spine as one begins to correlate what’s happened/happening with some of those "whacky" NWO conspiracies, eh?
If gov is the shadow cast by business over society …well, doesn’t it make sense that the Powers That Be would prefer not having to maintain such grandiose deceptions? …which serve to dissuade us from seeing that it’s the multi-nationals that have more or less run The Show for a very long time anyway.
Hell man, Orwell himself couldn’t have imagined the technology being controlled globally by the Few Big, successfully duping so many. Just keep telling yourself "it’s only a movie …it CAN’T happen here!!! …it’s only a movie …it CAN’T happen here!!!…."
I’ll take your evil wind
And give it right back to ya
Hungry buzzards are waiting
On the gray fence of ignorance
It’s a classic case, they obfuscate
A brainwashed populace
Screaming crows and sirens
A normal world is crying
Bright bird of redemption
Winged truth with eyes of fire
One more fool, divide and rule
A brainwashed populace
You dance around the questions
Cause the answers you must hide
You crept into this dimension
Now be lost through all time
It’s a classic case, they obfuscate
A brainwashed populace
~ Spirit Caravan
Looks like Luskin is burying Leopold.
The latest from TalkLeft
We’re going to find out that more and more private companies are in cahoots with the Bush administration.
Does anyone realize how huge this is??? Is Quest in trouble for NOT going along with the wiretapping? That would mean private companies are being PENALIZED for NOT compromising are civil liberties and NOT going along with the Bush administration!!!
Where is the MSM on this huge story???
Facsism is here.
OT
Judge of Judges – # 40
Yes, I have noticed strange occurences happening. Had keystroke delays a while back but not any more. Now I find spy cookies when I run my spy sweeper program.
I’m not PC literate by any means, but I did run a test and found out through my own personal elimination process that, of all the sites I visit, bradblog is the only one that triggers these spy cookies.
Maybe El Chimpo has this awesome blog on his list of folks to spy on.
Question …… how do I get rid of these spy cookies permanently…..or is that not possible, short of wiping my hard drive clean and starting from scratch..?
Help….!!!!
Well, that said, there ARE some pretty nasty people who make some pretty clever/evil stabs at messing you up lurking around here.
We’re going after computer whizzes here, after all, and they’re mad as hell about it.
Nothing on a Rove indictment from Fitzgerald’s office on Monday. Seems to me if Leopold’s story is accurate, something would have been announced.
It’s looking more and more as if Leopold was set up to create a "liberal media" paradigm for Fox Network and Limbaugh to pillory. "Look at that liar, spreading false rumors about Karl Rove…etc." If this is the case, the good news is that the country is wise to these tricks by now.
Leopold says he’ll name names if his sources were double-crossing him. But don’t expect the mainstream media to cover his story, because they stayed away from the original "scoop." It will be Fox and Limbaugh vs. the blogosphere, a classic case of "us vs. them."
We’re "them," by the way.
Mar: If you have a program that tests for spyware, there should also be a feature for you to delete it when it’s found. Bradblog doesn’t put cookies on your computer. There are all kinds of pernicious things that get put on your computer when you web surf, and you should definitely just dump all the cookies on your computer regularly, put up a firewall, Google for freeware that scans your machine for malware and helps get rid of it… but BEST:
Buy a Mac. End of problem.
Also, NEVER open attachments on emails from strangers. If you like to read your spam, or visit porn sites, it’s a wonder your computer works at all, there’s THAT much pernicious stuff out there. Keystroke delays are about your processor working so hard it doesn’t have time to get the letter out on time. This can be because all the mini programs left in your cookie folder are so busy reporting home to their masters that you have lost control of your own life. Literally hundreds of strangers have taken over your computer. If your browser starts crashing and not closing, and not letting you get offline, it is because these hundreds of spyware, keylogger, malware, tracking cookies are trying to report all at once. It can get SO bad you have to coldcock your computer to get offline. Buy a Mac.
Who thought up the word blog or blogosphere anyway?
What could we call the MSM?
The scribeosphere.
The echosphere.
The deadbeatsphere.
The rumorsphere.
The gossipsphere.
The smearisphere
The scandalsphere
The shockosphere
The punit (learned person) sphere
The blathersphere
The spinisphere
The pompousphere
The koppelsphere
The blondosphere……..
The corporate-mainstream-media-sphere, beyond which no other spheres exist.
The Borg.
Agent99 # 54
Thanks for your input……it was muchly appreciated. I do have a spy sweep program that I run frequently and always quarantine and delete any lurking ‘gremlins’ that it finds. Also, just before logging off every evening, I delete all cookies and start with a ‘fresh slate’ next morning.
I’m a good girl…..honest..!!! I never open attachments unless I know the person they came from. Spam is channeled into a special folder and gets deleted regularly, unopened. And, as for porn sites……I’m a 62 year old unattached female, so daren’t go there, as there’s nobody around here to attack afterwards….(sniff, sniff…..hmmm, I never CAN find a handkerchief when I need one..)..ha, ha, ha…!!!
And last but not least……never mention the word Mac to me…!! I used to have a friend by that name until he downed one too many neat Crown Royals, opened his big yap and told me to f*** off, and I didn’t even DO anything to deserve it, so you can see why Mac is a dirty word around THIS household….lol..!!
Thanks again for your input…..nighty night and pleasant dreams……zzzzzzzzz…..
How the MSM got perverted,..
New video,.. "Orwell Rolls In His Grave"
MSM,.. Corporatist,.. Politicians conspire to hijack the Media. The media then becomes an anti-force that constantly whittles away at Democracy.
Heavy hitters discuss the issue,..
Link : To Video
PROPAGANDOSPHERE = MSM
Al Gore’s new movie coming out soon
"An Inconvenient Truth",…
Too inconvenient for Exxon and the Competitive
Enterprise Institute,.. they plan to buy ad time to
dispute the content of the movie. Their claim,..
global warming is not a valid concern,.. go buy 2 or
3 more Hummers,.. they help make the
environment better.
Link : Big Oil/Attack on Gore and Global Warming
Hey, here’s a thought:
If Luskin says he was at the vet’s office on the day in question, prove it.
I did a check through records, and Luskin’s home address might be here:
Robert Luskin
3415 Prospect St NW
Washington, DC 20007-3219
Any competent reporter can dig into possible veterinary locations in that area, and get a pretty good idea where Luskin might have taken his cat.
From THAT point, simply call the office and confirm Luskin was indeed there that day.
Come on, people. Use some intelligence. So what if you’re poking into someone’s private life. You really think the NSA isn’t?