Carl e-mailed to highlight Folding Star's "Harry Reid is at it Again:"
Senator Harry Reid is at it again. According to a news report, the Democratic Minority Leader in the Senate has been assuring Republican colleagues that he has no plans to filibuster any Supreme Court Nominees, except in 'extreme' cases. This from the very man who pledged to stand firm on the issue of judicial filibusters to begin with and then caved and offered the Republicans a deal that would have effectively killed the filibuster in practice while saving it in theory.
The leader of the Opposition (though I wonder if Harry Reid has any idea that that's what he is? He doesn't act like it!) shouldn't be rushing around assuring Republicans that his party has no plans to filibuster a Supreme Court Nominee. Let's get real- Bush isn't going to nominate a moderate to the Supreme Court! Should he have the chance, he'll go with another Scalia or Rehnquist. He aims to reshape that court, above all others, into a place of far right judicial activism.
As long term members know, Folding Star is a Common Ills member who decided to DIY (do it yourself) and start a blog: A Winding Road. The focus is primarily the Senate (when it's in session) and Folding Star does a wonderful job.
I wished I'd seen this earlier today when I was having a conversation with a friend who's primary focus is the environment. She self-identifies Democrat (but admits to leaning Green more and more) and in a long conversation, she brought up the issue of a "coward" in the Senate.
Someone was apologizing for calling the Bully Boy a "loser." I knew right away it was Harry Reid. I didn't need to read the brief item in this morning's Times to know that Harry Reid had called Bully Boy a loser or to hear any news report that he'd backed down to know it was the increasingly spineless Reid. When I offered his name, she said that was indeed who was apologizing. (And then did a funny riff on Amy Heckerling's film Loser which, had I taken notes, I'd note here.) Reid continues to disappoint. For anyone who missed the send up to the spineless Reid at The Third Estate Sunday Reveiw, I'd refer you to "Harry Reid: Determined to lead us to the promissory note land?" Here's a highlight:
"Dems Adjust on Literature"
Elisabeth Bumiller (New York Times)
June 15, 2005
Following what some are terming a "focus group" and others are calling a very painful blood letting on Bill O'Reilly's The O'Reilly Factor, stinky Senator Harry Reid warily approached the press this afternoon to announce that the Democrats were strongly against literature.
"Uh, well," Reid began wiping some fop sweat from his brow, "I don't know what to tell you. Somewhere, somebody spread a nasty rumor that we supported literature. It's not true, it never was. Have you read Nabokov? Lolita? That's just smut. What about D.H. Lawrence? Smut, smut, smut, smut."
When asked if the Democratic Party was against reading, Reid appeared to backtrack as the Democrats so often do."We are for children's picture books -- especially if they're retelling Bible stories -- and we are for coffee table books. We are also for cook books."
When an aide to Senator Reid reminded him of all the monies the TV dinner industry had contributed, he corrected the last remark. "Cook books are smutty. We are officially against them and, of course, Martha Stewart as well."
Asked of education, Reid stated that as long as he was a functioning adult, the Democratic Party would continue it's "historical" support of education.
(Unfounded) Rumors abound that the suit Harry Reid was wearing was picked out by infamous feminist Naomi Wolf prompting some (in the press corps) to make cheap jokes at his expense.
America's mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush, long term education maven and all round round-the-way-gal, declared Reid's remarks repugnant.
"How dare he leave out Jokes for the John?" admonished the lovely Mrs. Bush. "My family is a typical family, like everyone else's, and we have long enjoyed fart jokes. When Senator Reid refuses to include them but includes coffee table books, it's obvious that this is one more example of a Democrat elitist who's less interested in the people and more interested in being . . . well, I won't say the word but it rhymes with 'bitch.'"
The piece is a send up. (To be clear after the confusion that came from Alexander Cockburn article we highlighted awhile back.) (And, disclosure, I assisted with this article, as did Rebecca and, if I'm remembering correctly, so did Betty and Kat.)
Heath notes that Anthony Lappé was on The Majority Report with Janeane Garofalo Friday (he will be a regular Friday night guest on The Majority Report) and that he highlighted a story he felt hadn't gotten enough attention. So from Guerrilla News Network, Heath refers us to Greg Palast's "Impeachment Time: 'Fact Were Fixed:'"
Here it is. The smoking gun. The memo that has "IMPEACH HIM" written all over it.
The top-level government memo marked "SECRET AND STRICTLY PERSONAL," dated eight months before Bush sent us into Iraq, following a closed meeting with the President, reads, "Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam through military action justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."
Read that again: "The intelligence and facts were being fixed...."
For years, after each damning report on BBC TV, viewers inevitably ask me, "Isn't this grounds for impeachment?" -- vote rigging, a blind eye to terror and the bin Ladens before 9-11, and so on. Evil, stupidity and self-dealing are shameful but not impeachable. What's needed is a "high crime or misdemeanor."
And if this ain't it, nothing is.
The memo, uncovered this week by the Times [of London], goes on to describe an elaborate plan by George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair to hoodwink the planet into supporting an attack on Iraq knowing full well the evidence for war was a phony.
We highlighted this via a BuzzFlash thing this week (if I'm remembering right and I could be wrong) but it bears noting again. And more information can be found at Greg Palast's web site.
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