Contemptible Rove Cited For Contempt of Congress

So, does this mean that there is a God?

House Judiciary Committee votes to cite former White House aide Rove for contempt of Congress

A House panel voted Wednesday to cite Karl Rove, formerly President Bush's top aide, for contempt of Congress as its Senate counterpart explored punishment for alleged misdeeds by other administration officials.

But it was not clear that the Democrats controlling a lame-duck Congress will push their case for abuse of power against a lame-duck president beyond televised talk and vague threats just a few weeks shy of final adjournment. As a practical matter, lawmakers have little time and less willingness to follow through on most charges, let alone punishments, before Bush leaves office.

They're finding plenty of time and political purpose, however, for public reviews of what Democrats say is the abuse of power and politicization across the Bush administration. Rove and the Justice Department starred in Wednesday's proceedings.

No, maybe not.

More here.

Department of No F*cking Comment

Yet another atrocity to document. Weary-making, it is.

IN A WAR RIDDLED WITH LIES, PVT. LAVENA JOHNSON "COMMITTED SUICIDE" AND "WAS NOT BRUTALLY RAPED AND MURDERED" We Don't Agree.


by Meg White

"They don't care. They put on a uniform and they say honor and integrity and they have no morals, no honor and no integrity, and I don't even know how to sleep at night.
--Linda Johnson, mother of Pvt. LaVena Johnson

Pvt. LaVena Johnson, 19, was so excited to tell her mother that she was definitely going to be home from Iraq for Christmas, her favorite time of year. The next day, she was dead.

The military's casualty liaison told the Johnson family she committed suicide, found dead in her barracks with a gunshot wound to the head. However, two separate contacts told LaVena's father, Dr. John Johnson, that she was found dead in a contractor's tent. Allegedly, a trail of blood led from the contractor's tent into her tent, suggesting she was dragged there. Her tent was lit on fire, according to the witness who found her body.

More here.

Still more via Jesus' General. I knew about the KBR rape case, hadn't heard about this one. Which contractor was it, this time? So good to spread the American way of life overseas, is it not?

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And Big Tent Democrat on Obama's VP pick.

SMH: Chosen One Already Chosen. Tough Luck, Senator John McCain

The headline in the Sydney Morning Herald says it all:

NO CLIFFHANGER, MORE LIKE OBAMA LANDSLIDE.

Seems like the energy is heading that way to me.

Obama is just so Teflonically Reagan-esquely charming.

Well, I'm not so charmed, but it sure looks like all the shit the right-wing liked to throw at Gore and Kerry, shit that stuck, just ain't sticking to the Boy Wonder. So, you know, in a way this could be sorta fun. In a let's-make-Karl-Rove's-skin-crawl kinda way.

If only The Chosen One would choose to start doing and saying the actual right things?

Might I have the audacity to hope?

FISArugula?

Dalai Lama Squeezes Hand of John McCain

And McCain claims this is not torture?




Plus, hat tip to Corrente, a disturbing piece from Salon on domestic surveillance.

Feet to the Fire on FISA

Apparently one is not alone in continuing to have one's panties in a twist about FISA.

More here.


(Yes, it's still blogging lite. So sue me. It's hot, it's muggy, I'm tired of torture, I'm tired of f*cking Unity Pony, I think Obama is made of total teflon, which could be a good thing, perhaps, if he ever started being an actual liberal, but who cares as apparently I have been swimming with muskrats all this time in rl who knew. So it's hot, it's muggy, I just returned from the garden with three Stupice tomatoes to toss into salad with mesclun and cucumbers and lots and lots of arugula arugula arugula and thanks to Miss Thelma Rantilla who taught my 16-y.o. self about specific detail. ;) )

The Brave New World of Dirty Bush

He's a generous guy, our Preznit Toad-Exploder. He's always working hard to give us all a little bit more of his special way of being.

He's Bubble Boy. He's unique.

He's Dirty Bush.

Among his many special gifts:

Moral bankruptcy.

Fiscal bankruptcy.

Foreclosures.

And now, his drowning of America in Grover Norquist's stinky bathtub results in --death by foreclosure.

OWNER SHOOTS HERSELF AFTER FORECLOSURE

A US woman shot herself shortly after faxing a letter to her mortgage company saying that, by the time it foreclosed on her house, she would be dead.

Police said 53-year-old mother Carlene Balderrama used her husband's high-powered rifle to kill herself shortly after faxing the letter at 2.30pm (4.30am AEST) on Wednesday.

Her husband had petitioned unsuccessfully for bankruptcy three times.

The mortgage company phoned police in Taunton, Massachusetts, who found Mrs Balderrama's body an hour later.

The auction was scheduled to start at 5pm and interested buyers arrived at the property while her body was still inside, Taunton police chief Raymond O'Berg said.

Business -- as usual.

(Oh, and don't miss toe-tapping airport mensroom anon sex solicitor Senator Larry Craig's very special support of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Shhh.)

Damn the Arugula, Full Speed Ahead

Yes, I know it's blogging-lite this week. (Yawn). Netroots Nation in SL hangover or something. There were some great people I heard for the first time there, it was really impressive. Larry Lessig, Van Jones. Others I'd heard of but really liked what they had to say -- H. Dean, Pelosi, J. Dean, Clark. Pelosi especially sounded waaay spinier. I had to get over my Great Kos Purge grudge (well, not get over it, just put it aside for a few days) in order to attend, even virtually, but I'm glad I did.

However, speaking of get-over-itism, my inner Frenchwoman points out that: La lutte continue.

Here is Shakespeare's Sister on the Obamatopians' continuing effort to drag bloodied, half-dead Clintonistas out from under the exact Obama bus used to run them over in the first place, turn them upside down, and shake them hard enough that all their money falls out of their pockets while they beg for mercy and admit that's it all their fault in the first place. Not to mention insulting actual Obama supporters who are now rather pissed off at the Boy Wonder for having sold out on FISA, choice, faith-based programs, etc. etc. during his total tap-dance toward the right.

Catch this letter, one that was actually written, and actually sent out. No really.

Don't it make you want to whip out your checkbook, having seen the error of your immature, unresourceful ways? Don't it make you wanna really get over it, all over again, long after you had already gotten over it? Doesn't it not make you remember why you didn't want to get over it in the first place, and leave a really bad taste in your mouth, or something?

This is from Don Fowler, former chair of the Democratic National Committee:

I supported Hillary Clinton and am proud and pleased that I did. But she lost. Barack Obama won. It's over.

It is time for all Democrats, supporters of Senator Clinton and all other contenders for the nomination, to stand with him to secure his election and the election of Democrats at all levels of competition.

I must confess a bit of fatigue and irritation with people who continue to carp, complain, and criticize the results of the primary and lay down conditions for their support. The Los Angeles Lakers didn't establish conditions to recognize the Boston Celtics as NBA Champions; Roger Federer did not demand concessions before recognizing that Rafael Nadal defeated him at Wimbledon.

It is time to act in a mature and resourceful fashion. It's time to put the primaries behind us. It's time to support Barack Obama without conditions or demands.

Oh yes.

Unconditional positive regard. No naughty carping. Shut up about FISA, dears -- what are you, riding the (cotton) unity pony or something?

Just shut UP.


There. That's better.

Please pass the arugula.


(Hat tip to Corrente)

And an older post from TalkLeft, worth a reprise, Obama channeling Scalia and Thomas on choice.

Oh Lookee a WaPo Story On Netroots Blogtopia! (Skippy Coined That)

Liberal Bloggers Brace for Victory.

Oh?

Hmm.

Netroots Nation In Second Life

It's free.

It's fun.

And you can dance your little political hearts out.
Don't miss Netroots Nation in Second Life.


Come on down, fractured little Democratic Party, come on down to Netroots Nation in SL, listen, talk, interact.

Nice big virtual tent, grounded in civil political passion. Please come -- I'm especially extending an invitation to my sublime fellow pumatopians. Let's work on things out while we tango and swing, virtually speaking. Because why not, eh?



READ THIS PIECE BY MELISSA McEWAN ALL THE WAY TO THE END PLEASE OR THE DEMIURGE WILL KILL OFF UNITY PONY.

My favorite paragraph includes her pointing out that

nothing is quite so effective as using Roe v. Wade as This Issue, thusly reframing the argument from "Vote for the Democrat to get what you want" to "Vote for the Democrat to not lose what you've got."

It's a nasty little bit of blackmail, which fails utterly to take into consideration that the veiled threat of losing legal abortion because of one's uncompromising belief in one's own equality and autonomy is so bitterly ironic that it would be laughable if it were not so profoundly sad.

Instead of demonstrations of commitment to protecting Roe as one among many commitments to the basic feminist principle of women's equality, we are meant instead to be motivated by menace and intimidation.

We're supposed to gleefully hop on board with people who ominously warn that failure to do so will evoke tragedy by our own hands -- and, if we succumb, we find that even asking for basic respect, for sexist words and images and behaviors to not be used, is considered too much, an impertinence.

Yes. What she said.


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(Previously at NBFH: BLUDGEON ME NOT WITH ROVE V. WADE)

Department of Spare the Rod Spoil the Child

Letting the child's punishment really really fit the child's crime, eh?

WEBSTER – A child abuse suspect who police say repeatedly threw her 8-year-old stepdaughter down a flight of stairs was arrested yesterday in Florida.

Cara LeBlanc, 29, will face charges of first-degree assault and criminal restraint when she returns to New Hampshire, police said.

WBBH-TV in Fort Myers reports that Cara LeBlanc waived extradition in a court hearing this morning.

Webster police Lt. Phil Mitchell said the girl suffered kidney and liver damage, three broken vertebrae in her neck and three broken ribs as a result of the attack Thursday.

"I've never seen a child-abuse case this severe,'' he said yesterday. [Note from NBFH: I have.]

The girl's body was also covered with black and blue welts from having been repeatedly whipped with a belt over a nine-hour period Thursday, he said. The beating ended when the belt broke, police said.

Police say LeBlanc dragged the girl up the stairs by her hair seven times, then pushed her down each time. Leblanc also tied the child to a door by her hands and feet and force-fed her cereal during the ordeal, police said.

Mitchell said the girl was originally listed in critical condition at Boston Children's Hospital.

"She's getting better and is expected to recover, but it's going to take some time before she's well again,'' he said.

Police interviewed her Monday at the hospital.

The girl's father, Dan LeBlanc, took her to Concord Hospital Saturday, police said. Professionals there called police.

She was later taken to Boston for treatment of liver and kidney problems.

Two other children who were in the home during the assault -- a 7-year-old boy who police say is LeBlanc's biological child and a 5-year-old girl -- were not harmed. Mitchell said the state Division for Children, Youth and Families received a court order Monday to take custody of the children.

This is not the first abuse allegation investigated at the LeBlanc home, Mitchell said. Two years ago, police filed a complaint with state officials, but an investigation concluded it was unfounded.

More recently, a complaint was filed with the DCF by a former high school boyfriend of Leblanc's, Bill, who asked that his last name not be used.

He said LeBlanc is the mother of his 11-year-old daughter, who has lived with him for the past several years but still visits LeBlanc.

In March, he said, his daughter told him the 5-year-old was punished by being made to run up and down the stairs of LeBlanc's home for 20 minutes without stopping. The girl was also locked in her room from time to time, Bill said.

"I reported it to the state, but they said it was unfounded,'' he said.

Don't get me started.

No, really, don't.


Full story here.

And a related Spare the Rod Spoil the Child kinda story, here, via Buddhist Jihad.

NETROOTS NATION IN SECOND LIFE -- BE THERE OR BE SQUARE DUDES LIKE CLUELESS JOHN MCCAIN WHO CAN'T EVEN DO HIS OWN EMAIL OMIGOD

Come on down, fractured little Democratic Party, come on down to Netroots Nation in SL, listen, talk, interact, get all politically passionate, and work things out while you tango, virtually speaking.

Couldn't be easier.

Really.


Click on "there's more" and read through Pb's diary. Then click through to nninsl.org.

(And somewhere around here is poor little party Unity Pony with her big round sad eyes, and yes, you can -- you can feed poor little Unity Pony a virtual carrot if she'll open her mouth which she probably won't till she calls for her food-taster; yes, you can -- you can bash her over the head with a virtual FISA stick and rip out her timid centrist IV or feed her to a PUMA or hassle her silly about refried bushist fascist faith-based initiatives ugh.

Or even unaccountably fall suddenly back in love with her, holding her pink little hoof to your heart, offering to put her up for canonization while you tantalize her with platefuls of cheap arugula.

Yes, you can.

It's virtual reality so you can virtually do whatever you virtually wish . . . well, kinda . . . just follow the trail of virtual spangles . . . . or are they virtual sparkles . . . . a virtual trail of blood and sweat and spangles and sparkles and tears . . . a trail of tears that leads to virtual Unity Pony's vast flower-filled suite in Intensive Care at Netroots Nation in SL, metaphorically-speaking.)

We can do it, can we not?

Yes, we can.

People Who Love You Get to Hit You & Hurt You: In Jesus' Name, Amen?

Oh. My. God.

How about a little traditional wife spanking in a Christian marriage?

See, it's gay marriage that is so ruining happy traditional sadomasochistic Christian marriages like these.

"What is Christian Domestic Discipline?

A domestic discipline marriage is one in which one partner in the marriage is given authority over the other and has the means to back the authority, usually by spanking.

A Christian Domestic Discipline marriage is one that is set up according to Biblical standards; that is, the husband is the authority in the household. The wife is submissive to her husband as is fit in the Lord and her husband loves her as himself. He has the ultimate authority in his household, but it is tempered with the knowledge that he must answer to God for his actions and decisions. . . .

CDD is so much more than just spanking. It is the husband loving the wife enough to guide and teach her, and the wife loving the husband enough to follow his leadership. A Christian marriage embodies true romance and a Christian man a true hero.

Though this seems unusual in today's United States, this kind of marriage has been practiced throughout history and is still practiced in many parts of the world today."

Mm, that's a fine argument, lady, and one which would support many other interesting traditional practices such as child prostitution,slavery, boiling in oil, and the death by a thousand cuts, eh?

It's a great site, right from its top to its (bruised) bottom.

There's a page called "When to Show Mercy." There's info on after-care, applying aloe to wounds. Everyone is referred to as a "lady" or a "gentlemen."

Don't miss the glossary for gentlemen husbands.

Which includes:

Corner time: An alternative form of punishment where a wife is required to stand facing a corner, often with her bottom on display, before, during, or after a spanking.

Diaper Position: Spanking position where wife lies on her back with her legs raised upwards toward her head.

TMI, but hey, it's inspirational. Really. It inspired me to write this post.

Call me buddhist for the past 30 years, but before that, I spent 10 years in Sunday School, from which I graduated, btw, and I sure don't remember Jesus teaching any shit like this

Regular garden-variety Talibangelicals also don't bother practicing the Beatitudes, much less the Golden Rule, but them I'm used to.

But these Christians -- they're really special. So Story of O Meets The Last Supper kinda special.

These people -- I don't know -- God help them. They're um like so deluded, how can they stand it?



Hat tip to Jesus' General.

And some related kiddie-spank posts via Buddhist Jihad.

What Goes Around Comes Around: Rummy, Dirty Bush, Big Dick Recycle Commie Brainwashing at Gitmo

This is a nice story.

It's the kind of actual in-depth journalism that, had the NY Times been so doing all along, one wouldn't still be thinking of the New York Times as belonging to the media whore media.

The cool thing is that Rummy/Dirty Bush's 21st century All-American torture techniques were originally designed by their original designers TO ELICIT FAKE CONFESSIONS.

Haha.

I mean, really, hahaha.

WASHINGTON — The military trainers who came to Guantánamo Bay in December 2002 based an entire interrogation class on a chart showing the effects of “coercive management techniques” for possible use on prisoners, including “sleep deprivation,” “prolonged constraint,” and “exposure.”

What the trainers did not say . . . was that their chart had been copied verbatim from a 1957 Air Force study of Chinese Communist techniques used during the Korean War to obtain confessions, many of them false, from American prisoners.

The recycled chart is the latest and most vivid evidence of the way Communist interrogation methods that the United States long described as torture became the basis for interrogations both by the military at the base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Original report, here.

Unity Pony Flutters Sparkle-Ridden Eyelashes

Oh my GOD.

Markos comes out as a PUMA Obamist!

In the New York Times, no less! Be still my heart!

"I will continue to support him,” Mr. Moulitsas said in an interview. “But I was going to write him a check, and I decided I would rather put that money with Democrats who will uphold the Constitution."

w00t!




Guess I'll have to stop calling him a nappy-headed ho, eh?

Sayin' It Don't Make It So. (well unless you say it 3x thats different)

What is it about the Unique Power of Three?

Third time's a charm? Three's a crowd?

Is it the short form of the Big Lie?

Well, way back in my days with the Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell (had I forgotten to mention that, dear?) the mantric formula for membership consisted of a three-fold chant -- "I am a W.I.T.C.H., I am a W.I.T.C.H., I am a W.I.T.C.H.! -- and poof! The deed was doned.

Who knows, but there is certainly something very special about three if you're a Bushist fascist with the Great Egg of Torture all over your face (and what's that other sticky stuff there, dear? No dont tell me.).

If one asserts a fact thrice, it becometh fact, for those who create their own realitiez.

Except, some uppity judges think that that's really stupid.

They're so uppity they make, like, literary references 'n stuf.

As in --

The Hunting of the Snark

"Just the place for a Snark!" the Bellman cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair.

"Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice:
That alone should encourage the crew.
Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice:
What I tell you three times is true."

From AP:

The three-member court was particularly pointed in its criticism of the argument that says s evidence is reliable because it appears multiple times.

"The government insists that the statements made in the documents are reliable because the State and Defense Departments would not have put them in intelligence documents were that not the case. This comes perilously close to saying that whatever the government says must be treated as true.

Lewis Carroll notwithstanding, the fact that the government 'said it thrice' does not make an allegation true."

COURT: GITMO LOGIC NONSENSE

Does this mean someone's starting to wake up from the long Bushist fascist nightmare? God, one hopes so.

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But on the downside, here's another hammer to the ankles of Unity Pony: A New Campaign Charge: You Supported Clinton.

Yet on the upside, there's Two Great Men Stand Up For Marriage.