Lest We Forget: Raygun And Iran

Second Thoughts on October Surprise | Consortiumnews:

New evidence has shaken the confidence of former Rep. Lee Hamilton in his two-decade-old judgment clearing Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign of going behind President Carter’s back to frustrate his efforts to free 52 U.S. hostages in Iran, the so-called October Surprise case, Robert Parry reports...

Oh and let's not forget Tricky Dick: Did Nixon Commit Treason in 1968? What The New LBJ Tapes Reveal.

Bug Man Squirms Loose

DeLay appellate lawyer: ‘We won the Super Bowl’ | www.statesman.com:

A 3rd Court of Appeals panel, split 2-to-1 along partisan lines, on Thursday reversed the money-laundering and conspiracy convictions that ended the political career of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay seven years ago.

The Sugar Land Republican was facing a three-year prison sentence before the court’s majority opinion ruled that there was “legally insufficient evidence” at DeLay’s 2010 trial before a Travis County jury...

Update: Bug Man's Greatest Hits! Here, here.

Dial Back Police Craziness

The modern age of police over-response began way back in '85 with the MOVE bombing. Everyone saw this coming and now the chickens are roosting and we are all stuck in the guano. We are close to the brink, but before we go completely off the cliff, let's try dialing back the police's ability to swat (pun) flies with Hellfire rockets.

Rise of the Warrior Cop - WSJ.com:

,,,In my own research, I have collected over 50 examples in which innocent people were killed in raids to enforce warrants for crimes that are either nonviolent or consensual (that is, crimes such as drug use or gambling, in which all parties participate voluntarily). These victims were bystanders, or the police later found no evidence of the crime for which the victim was being investigated. They include Katherine Johnston, a 92-year-old woman killed by an Atlanta narcotics team acting on a bad tip from an informant in 2006; Alberto Sepulveda, an 11-year-old accidentally shot by a California SWAT officer during a 2000 drug raid; and Eurie Stamps, killed in a 2011 raid on his home in Framingham, Mass., when an officer says his gun mistakenly discharged. Mr. Stamps wasn't a suspect in the investigation.

What would it take to dial back such excessive police measures? The obvious place to start would be ending the federal grants that encourage police forces to acquire gear that is more appropriate for the battlefield. Beyond that, it is crucial to change the culture of militarization in American law enforcement...

More Than Four Died For Watergate

Before trotting out that already cliched Benghazi phrase, you might want to read and heed this article. Watergate was not just a breaking and entering mission; it was something much more nefarious. And btw, I'm one of three living Americans who voted for Nixon.

The Death Toll of Watergate | Consortiumnews:

Exclusive: Major gaps in the history of Watergate and Iran-Contra have let Republicans minimize those scandals by comparing them to the fabricated “scandal” over the Benghazi attacks. A fuller understanding of Watergate would reveal its links to Richard Nixon’s prolonging the Vietnam War, writes Robert Parry....

Killing Through Breakfast

It's amazing. Unbelievable. No long quotes. I don't want my computer to explode. No More Free Breakfasts | National Review Online: "...These are the ways in which the Left has damaged children and families through free school breakfasts..."

Republican Gangs

Reagan’s Confidant Says Republican Party Is A Coalition Of Gangs That Stands For Nothing (VIDEO):

...No. I don’t because I think the Republican Party is not really a party. It doesn’t stand for anything except reelecting itself. It’s a coalition of gangs….

The Neo Cons which I have no use for are only oriented to an aggressive imperialistic foreign policy, a big defense establishment, and suppression of our civil liberties. That’s a bad. I am against that.

The Tax Cons want to just cut taxes anytime any day regardless of the fiscal situation. That has gone to absurd lengths. I oppose that.

The Social Cons, social policy people, the right to life issue, gay marriage and all that, that’s irrelevant to governing a democracy in a free society...

No Jail For Drug Launderies

Elizabeth Warren: Banks Get Wrist Slaps While Drug Dealers Get Jail

..."If you're caught with an ounce of cocaine, the chances are good you're gonna go to jail. If it happens repeatedly, you may go to jail for the rest of your life," Warren said. "But evidently if you launder nearly a billion dollars for drug cartels and violate our international sanctions, your company pays a fine and you go home and sleep in your bed at night -- every single individual associated with this. And I think that's fundamentally wrong."

ACORN Scammer Denutted

Wonket Sexclusive: Totally Blameless Crime-Stopper James O’Keefe To Pay $100,000 To ACORN Criminal

James O’Keefe—the blonde bombshell who set the conservative world of hidden-camera YouTube movies ablaze—has just agreed to a $100,000 settlement to calm down the unjustly fired (and weirdly litigious about it) ACORN employee Juan Carlos Vera. According to a copy of the deal, obtained late last night by your wonkettes and viewable after the jump, O’Keefe has also agreed to ink an 11-word non-apology apology, that sources close to reality are calling...

Injustice For Traitors

Long National Nightmare Over: Jailbird Scooter Libby’s Voting Rights Restored!

...In fact, Republicans are soooo into restoring suffrage to convicted felons that they hardly ever disenfranchise people just for having names that aren’t even the same as those convicted felons! Oh ho ho, and they also hardly ever disenfranchise convicted felons who aren’t actually convicted felons anyway! Goddamn we miss Katherine Harris. That lady was a walking Good Timesparty all by herself! But at least other secretaries of state are keeping the dream alive!...

Comment Of The Day: Scooter Pooter Edition

Comment by thefrontpage

Scooter Libby is one of about 5,000 reasons why about 100 or 200 members of the Bush II administration should have been investigated, charged, tried, found guilty and sent to jail for about 10 years-- each--and that is not a joke. The Bush II administration was literally one of the most corrupt and criminal administrations in this country's history-- along with the Nixon, Reagan and Bush I administrations. Again--no joke. The Republican Party has been simply a center of criminality and corruption for most of the past 50 years-- including scores of civil rights, human rights, war, defense, gas and oil, and big business crimes that have gone uninvestigated, uncharged, untried and unconvicted. The Nixon, Reagan, Bush I and Bush II administrations are four of the worst, most criminal and most corrupt administrations in this country's history-- and skanky, criminal thug people like Scooter Libby are one of several thousand examples of this continuing corruption.

Video Game Racism

We are respectable negroes: Cyber Racism 101: Have You Played the New Christopher Dorner Video Game?

A Modest Proposal (For The FCC)

You make it sound like a *bad* thing, Glenn « The Confluence

...In my humble opinion, the right wing nutjobs like Glenn have been doing just that, inducing fear and panic in average people with their irrationality and lies.

I’d be happy if the FCC cited and fined him for lying all the time. Surely Glenn could get onboard with that, right? Why don’t we ask him? Is it OK to lie to people in order to get them to feel anxious, fearful and willing to do just about anything to protect themselves from non-existent threats?

Disgusting Cons

FreedomWorks Made Video of Fake Giant Panda Having Sex With Fake Hillary Clinton | Mother Jones

Wingnut Round-up

Skeeter Season | his vorpal sword

And so forth. Benghazi is going to be the new Whitewater, the new Birther controversy, the new Monica Lewinsky: an excuse to keep the country paralyzed, while the GOPs try to run out the clock on governance. As they did for Clinton’s entire two terms and Obama’s entire first term. The “skeptics” with the invisible Friend who wrote the Magic Book — neither of which would stand up to a moment of the skepticism they projectile vomit about proportional fonts, spacing, artifacts, photoshopped photos, faked documents, climate science, modern biology, Hawaiian birth laws, etcetera...

Sandy Hook Father Speaks Out

NRA Wants To Revolt?

Josh Horwitz: LaPierre Reveals True Purpose Behind Assault Weapons

...During a hearing in which Republican Senators actively tried to portray assault weapons as merely "scary-looking" pieces of plastic with no real functional purpose, LaPierre's statement revealed that they are in fact weapons of choice for individuals ready to wage war on our government. This was certainly not the first time LaPierre had made such a declaration -- remember, this is the guy who told us "the guys with the guns make the rules" at a CPAC conference -- but his statement on Wednesday was nonetheless remarkable because it so clearly articulated the insurrectionist idea on a national stage, linking it directly to the need for unfettered access to assault weapons. Now, no doubt remains about the type of "firepower" citizens would need in order to fight LaPierre's "tyranny" ... The same type of firepower that Adam Lanza used to kill 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary...

Note: The comment thread at the post is loaded with violent threats from Second Amendment patriots, including calls for insurrection. A tyrannical government would be rounding them all up just about now. If these threats had been launched during the reign of Skippy Bush, Homeland Security would be storming the gates and Fox News would be calling for public hangings.

Vote Robbing Cheese Style

Wisconsin Government Accountability Board - Wisconsin: Where The Burglers Want To Pick The Cops - Esquire

In a certain mad way, you have to admire the Republicans in the state of Wisconsin. The stamina and diligence with which they discover new ways to clown up their elections is something to behold. The latest gambit comes from the incoming Majority Leader of the state senate, one Peter Fitzgerald, a product of one the state's most prominent clans of hack conservatives. It is the opinion of this gentleman that the state's independent Government Accountability Board, which is made up of retired judges and is resolutely nonpartisan, has issued one too many decisions with which Fitzgerald does not agree. His solution? Let the governor appoint the members! What could possibly go wrong there...

About The Elites

Lest We Forget: Leaking Edition

From jimbo123 @ White House Leak Inquiry Sought - The Daily Beast re: evil Democrats giving up government secrets:

jimbo123

35 Minutes Ago

yes of course, what in the world would make you think one is less than the other? 

Here's a list of a number of republican leaks and scandals throughout the Bush admim. Might interest you.

Philip Cooney – chief of staff, White House Council on Environmental Quality – a former oil industry lawyer with no scientific expertise, Cooney resigned after it was revealed he had watered down reports on global warming.

* George Deutsch – press aide, NASA – resigned amid allegations he prevented the agency’s top climate scientist from speaking publicly about global warming.

* Michael Elston – chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty – announced his resignation on June 15, 2007. Despite allegations that he’d threatened at least four of the eight fired US Attorneys, McNulty said Elston had served the Justice Department “with distinction for nearly eight years.”

* Kyle Dustin “Dusty” Foggo – appointed executive director of the CIA, the agency’s third-highest post, in October 2004 – resigned and was ultimately indicted on bribery charges related to the Duke Cunningham scandal.

* Alberto Gonzales – former Attorney General – resigned without explanation amidst investigations of the firings of U.S. Attorneys, the politicization of the Justice Department, warrantless surveillance, and the torture and mistreatment of detainees.

* Monica Goodling – former Justice Department liaison to the White House and senior counsel to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales – resigned on April 7, 2007 amidst the investigation of the firings of U.S. Attorneys.

* Michelle Larson Korsmo – deputy chief of staff, Department of Labor – Helped her husband (see John Korsmo, above) with his donor scam. Quietly left her Labor plum job in February 2004, about two weeks before news broke that she and her husband were the targets of a criminal probe.

* Howard “Cookie” Krongard – former State Department inspector general — accused of not properly investigating State Department contractor fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan; of retaliating against whistleblowers in his own office; and of not telling the truth about his knowledge of his brother’s ties with Blackwater, a State Department contractor. Faced with a possible perjury investigation, Howard Krongard resigned on December 7, 2007.

* Julie Macdonald – former deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks at the Interior Department – resigned in May 2007 after an “inspector general’s report found she had improperly leaked information to private organizations, bullied staff scientists and broken federal rules.” The Department of the Interior is investigating many of her decisions regarding endangered species; so far seven have been overturned.

* Paul McNulty – Deputy Attorney General for the Department of Justice – resigned, after questions about his involvement in the U.S. attorney firings and his testimony to Congress about the firings.

* Richard Perle – Chairman, Defense Policy Board – resigned from Pentagon advisory panel amid conflict-of-interest charges.

* Susan Ralston – assistant, White House – resigned amidst revelations that she had accepted thousands of dollars in gifts from Abramoff without compensating him, counter to White House ethics rules.

* Janet Rehnquist – inspector general, Department of Health and Human Services – resigned on June 1, 2003 in the face of an investigation into her alleged efforts to block a politically dangerous probe on behalf of the Bush family.

* James Roche – secretary, U.S. Air Force – resigned in the wake of the Boeing tanker lease scandal, after it was revealed he had rather crudely pushed for Boeing to win a $23 billion contract.

* Kyle Sampson -former chief of staff for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales – resigned amidst the investigation of the firings of U.S. Attorneys.

* Joseph Schmitz – Inspector General, Defense – Resigned amid charges he personally intervened to protect top political appointees.

* Bradley Schlozman – resigned from his third and final post with the Justice Department after accusations of actively politicizing the department. He’s currently under investigation by the Department’s inspector general.

* Thomas Scully – Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – shortly after Scully resigned in 2003, an investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general found that Scully had pressured the agency’s actuary to underestimate the full cost of the Medicare reform bill by approximately $100 billion until after Congress passed the bill into law. Scully was also hit with conflict of interest charges by the U.S. attorney’s office for billing CMS for expenses incurred during a job search while he still headed the agency. He settled those charges by paying $9,782. 

Oh, and don't forget Scooter and Dead Eye Dick destroyed an entire intelligence network and probably got people murdered via the Plame scandal.

No Headline Necessary

By: The Pragmatic Progressive Page

1% Drivers

State Troopers, NFL star implicated in "Death Race 2012" on New Jersey Highway | Fox News