First Door on the Left

James Webb was Secretary of the Navy during Ronald Reagan’s administration. He wrote a column for today’s New York Times…

Purple Heartbreakers

IT should come as no surprise that an arch-conservative Web site is questioning whether Representative John Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who has been critical of the war in Iraq, deserved the combat awards he received in Vietnam.

After all, in recent years extremist Republican operatives have inverted a longstanding principle: that our combat veterans be accorded a place of honor in political circles. This trend began with the ugly insinuations leveled at Senator John McCain during the 2000 Republican primaries and continued with the slurs against Senators Max Cleland and John Kerry, and now Mr. Murtha.

Military people past and present have good reason to wonder if the current administration truly values their service beyond its immediate effect on its battlefield of choice. The casting of suspicion and doubt about the actions of veterans who have run against President Bush or opposed his policies has been a constant theme of his career. This pattern of denigrating the service of those with whom they disagree risks cheapening the public’s appreciation of what it means to serve, and in the long term may hurt the Republicans themselves.

Not unlike the Clinton “triangulation” strategy, the approach has been to attack an opponent’s greatest perceived strength in order to diminish his overall credibility. To no one’s surprise, surrogates carry out the attacks, leaving President Bush and other Republican leaders to benefit from the results while publicly distancing themselves from the actual remarks…

The political tactic of playing up the soldiers on the battlefield while tearing down the reputations of veterans who oppose them could eventually cost the Republicans dearly. It may be one reason that a preponderance of the Iraq war veterans who thus far have decided to run for office are doing so as Democrats.

A young American now serving in Iraq might rightly wonder whether his or her service will be deliberately misconstrued 20 years from now, in the next rendition of politically motivated spinmeisters who never had the courage to step forward and put their own lives on the line.

Click on the headline to continue reading. Then you’ll understand what the Bushies really mean why they say “support the troops.”

See also: Right wing escalates war on veterans.

The “First Lady” apparently thinks that Senator Hillary Clinton’s remark that the House of Representatives is run like a plantation was “a ridiculous comment.”

Does Mrs. Bush also think that all these comments were ridiculous?

What is really ridiculous is that Laura Bush thinks she is entitled to critique the comments made by an elected United States Senator. Laura Bush has never been elected to any office. She is not a government official. Her job is to sleep with George W. Bush and make sure he has clean underwear. That, and smile and wave for the cameras.

Period.

Loophole in Lobbying Bill Leaves Wiggle Room

Lawmakers are about to bombard the American public with proposals that would crack down on lobbyists. Several prominent plans, including one outlined yesterday by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), would specifically ban meals and privately paid travel for lawmakers.

Or would they?

According to lobbyists and ethics experts, even if Hastert’s proposal is enacted, members of Congress and their staffs could still travel the world on an interest group’s expense and eat steak on a lobbyist’s account at the priciest restaurants in Washington.

The only requirement would be that whenever a lobbyist pays the bill, he or she must also hand the lawmaker a campaign contribution. Then the transaction would be perfectly okay.

Did you get that? If you missed it, go back and read the bolded paragraph again.

Republicans: “It’s okay to bribe me as long as you also give me money.”

Today’s “HUH?” moment.

Lookout – the right-wing evangelicals are on the march again…

Pastor Protests Gay Rights

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) – A pastor on Monday called for a national boycott of Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and other companies that support a gay civil rights bill, saying the corporations have underestimated the power of religious consumers.

The Rev. Ken Hutcherson, pastor of Antioch Bible Church in the Seattle suburb of Redmond, said he would formally issue the boycott Thursday on the conservative radio show Focus on the Family.

“We’re tired of sitting around thinking that morals can be ignored in our country,” he said. “This is not a threat, this is a promise. Check out the past presidential election. We made the moral issue the No. 1 issue.”

Last week, several companies, including Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Boeing Co. (BA), Hewlett Packard Co. (HPQ), and Nike Inc. (NKE) signed a letter urging passage of the measure, which would add “sexual orientation” to a state law that already bans discrimination in housing, employment and insurance based on race, gender, age, disability, religion, marital status and other factors.

People like Mr. Hutcherson are to be pitied. They are at the bottom of the food chain. They are still operating under the belief that their “morals” won the last presidential election. They are but bugs beneath our shoes.

Discrimination is no longer tolerated in the United States of America. Love it or leave it.

A movie about gay cowboys.

There must be a lot of pissed off rabid right-wingers tonight.

Senator Harry Reid had an op-ed piece published in today’s Houston Chronicle. It is worth the time to read…

If we can beat mob, we can fight DeLay-style politics

In 1977, I was appointed chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission. It was a difficult time for the gaming industry and Las Vegas, which were being overrun by organized crime. To that point in my life, I had served in the Nevada Assembly and even as lieutenant governor, but nothing prepared me for my fight with the mob.

Over the next few years, there would be threats on my life, bribes, FBI stings and even a car bomb placed in my family’s station wagon. It was a terrifying experience, but at the end of the day, we cleaned up Las Vegas and ushered in a new era of responsibility.

My term on the gaming commission came to an end in 1981, and when it did, I thought I had seen such corruption for the last time. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. It is not quite the mafia of Las Vegas in the 1970s, but what is happening today in Washington is every bit as corrupt and the consequences for our country have been severe.

Our nation’s capital has been overrun by organized crime — Tom DeLay-style…

If we could kick the mob out of Las Vegas in the 1970s, we can change the culture of Washington and give America a government as good and honest as the people it serves.

Planned Parenthood is selling condom key chains. This, of course, has the religious right screaming. One key chain in particular has them up in arms. It shows God handing Adam a condom…

I think the whole thing is absolutely hilarious.

Get your key chain by clicking on the link above.

“…and the little missus will even shed a few tears, if that’s what it takes…”

Continuing our them of yesterday’s so-called town hall meeting…

What I don’t like is when somebody said, he lied. Or, they’re in there for oil. Or they’re doing it because of Israel. That’s the kind of debate that basically says the mission and the sacrifice were based on false premise.

Said George W. Bush.

In other words, it’s okay to discuss the invasion of Iraq, as long as you say what he wants you to say. It’s not okay to say that Bush lied (he did), or that we’re there for the oil (we are) or that the entire war was based on false premise (it was).

In George W. Bush’s democracy, you are free to say what you want to say as long as what you want to say is what he wants you to say. Don’t you dare speak the truth!