Republican Hypocrisy

So much compassion that they filibuster helping out our vets, elderly and poor:

Senate Republicans blocked a move by Democrats on Wednesday to add more than $40 billion in checks for the elderly, disabled veterans and the unemployed to a bill to stimulate the economy.

The 58-41 vote fell just short of the 60 required to break a GOP filibuster and bring the Senate version of the stimulus bill closer to a final vote. The Senate measure was backed by Democrats and a handful of Republicans but was strongly opposed by GOP leaders and President Bush, who objected to the costly add-ons.

What compassion!

The right wing blogs have been in going on about the ten year anniversary of the Monica Lewinsky ordeal. As with any anniversary, it is time to reflect. In particular I would like to reflect on some very obvious hypocrisy's this is pointing out.

• They dwell in the past - Isn't this something the wingnuts attack us on the left for, particularly when it comes to the Iraq war and the non-existent WMDs? So is it bad for us to dwell on the lies George Bush told that has lead to nearly 4,000 dead soldiers and cost us billions, yet it is ok to dwell on two consenting adults engaging in a sexual activity?
• We cannot forgive! - That seems to be the mantra of the right wing. Ironically we saw a Republican Senator get busted with hookers and his wife forgave him, so that was acceptable. We also saw the Reverend Ted Haggard exposed for being in a relationship with another man. The church was able to forgive him. This is fine, yet Hillary is not allowed to forgive Bill?
• They love the cock! - From Ted Haggard to Larry Craig to Mark Foley, nothing says "i love the cock" more for the wingnuts than their constant obsession with Bill Clinton's cock. I swear if they were given the chance any of them would have jumped on the opportunity to switch positions with Monica. Yes - their obsession makes it that obvious.

So why they are celebrating this anniversary, let's celebrate ours. It has now been ten years since we saw that numerous on the right who try to act like the "moral police" of this nation are in fact nothing but hypocritical, phallic envying, jealous little kids.

But let's not dwell on that. Instead we should dwell on the current President's lack of better judgment, and where it has led us. We are a broken nation in an unending war. I for one care about our soldiers and country enough that I want to see some justice done for what has happened to them. I believe our country deserves accountability for this fatally flawed administration. I would gladly go back to the days of blow jobs and white stains instead of this nightmare we are in.

So go back to your corners little Republicans. Curl up in your fetal positions while holding your "Big Bubba Dildo" and go back to screaming "why Monica - why not me???"

It's amazing that there is an apparent leak from the White House that may have just closed a very important back end to al Qaeda. If you have been in a cocoon for the past 24 hours, here is the run down:

A small, privately run intelligence analysis company says that a Bush administration leak has ruined years of clandestine work to find and exploit al Qaeda secrets on the Internet, the Washington Post reports.

SITE Institute, one of many private companies that troll extremist Web content and use secret methods to find unreleased material and release it early, against the wishes of the militants creating it, was the first to obtain an Osama bin Laden video last month.

According to the report, Rita Katz, who runs SITE, told The Post she turned the video over to the White House on the condition that it not be made public until the material was released on line by al Qaeda's own media wing.

Katz told The Post that by the afternoon of Sept. 7, the day she turned the video over to White House officials, it had been leaked and was appearing on myriad news Web sites and television networks around the world.

Of course the White House is denying any involvement in this. Didn't they deny any involvement in the Valerie Plame leak also? Ask Scooter Libby how that went.

To me the biggest outrage of this should come from the silence on the right. When the New York Times reported how the administration was possibly violating the constitutional rights of millions of Americans, the wingnuts immediately called for investigations and called the Times traitors. Now we got a leak that has done evident harm (unlike the NY Times article), and not a peep from these people. So where is the outrage over this?

Oh I get it. The wingers only care about national security when it comes into play with their political beliefs. Their inactions on this proves that point.

The outrage over Larry Craig's conviction is still loud and strong. I find it interesting to see all the outrage on the right. Today's USA Today highlights some of this.

I am still baffled by the outrage over Craig's conviction by some of the same people who came to the defense of Mark Foley. Foley's actions are far worse than the actions of Craig.

Thinking back to last fall, remember how a lot of these Republicans even went as far as to attack the children Foley was after?

I think everyone needs to call their Republican members of Congress and Senate and ask why there is such a disgusting double standard. It is disgusting because there is no real victim in Craig's crime. There were victims in what Foley did - victims that are children.

I guess it could be summed up best by saying that the Republican party does not care about children. This proves that their priorities are only within votes. They are truly the party of disgust.

Malkin today on the Craig incident:

He’s a supremely arrogant, lying crapweasel. Blaming the press. Non-apology apologizing. How do you spell creep? C-r-a-i-g.

Malkin during the Foley scandal:

Very damning evidence. If it is all true, and it seems very likely that it is, Rep. Foley has shamed himself, his office, his district, and his party.

While she didn't come out and defend Foley, she sure seems to be much more upset with Craig than Foley. Does soliciting sex from an adult of the same gender group deserve more outrage than trying to solicit sex from a child of the same gender group? I think any reasonable person would answer that with a big "Hell No". So what is the difference now? I guess that would be the fact that we are over a year away from the next election, as opposed to being a month away from the election, as was the case when Foley broke.

Everyone has been blasting Pelosi for going to Syria, but there has been no critisism of Republicans doing the same. Today, Rep Darrell Issa (R-CA) is in Syria meeting with Damascus. Now Boehner is giving the Republican excuse of why Democrats can't go to Syria:

Boehner declined to criticize [fellow Republican Rep. David Hobson] for joining Pelosi, saying her stature gave the visit an imprimatur it didn’t deserve.

“It’s one thing for other members to go,” Boehner said, “but you have to ask yourself, ‘Why is Pelosi going?’ She’s going for one reason and that is to embarrass the president. She is the speaker of the House. She’s giving (the Syrian) government more credit than they deserve. They sponsor terrorism. They have not been at all helpful. I wish she wasn’t there.”

There you got it - the old Republican double standard. Boehner showed his true colors. He believes that Republicans should have the only say in our government and Democrats shouldn't. John Boehner has once again proven his hatred for democracy.

"Hospital Officials Knew Of Neglect" - now that says alot, but not as much as the actual article:

Top officials at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, including the Army's surgeon general, have heard complaints about outpatient neglect from family members, veterans groups and members of Congress for more than three years.

A procession of Pentagon and Walter Reed officials expressed surprise last week about the living conditions and bureaucratic nightmares faced by wounded soldiers staying at the D.C. medical facility. But as far back as 2003, the commander of Walter Reed, Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, who is now the Army's top medical officer, was told that soldiers who were wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan were languishing and lost on the grounds, according to interviews.

So all the outrage we heard last week from top officials was nothing more than a publicity stunt; an attempt to spin something so horrible. That is disgusting, but it gets better worse:

In 2004, Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) and his wife stopped visiting the wounded at Walter Reed out of frustration. Young said he voiced concerns to commanders over troubling incidents he witnessed but was rebuffed or ignored. "When Bev or I would bring problems to the attention of authorities of Walter Reed, we were made to feel very uncomfortable," said Young, who began visiting the wounded recuperating at other facilities.

Beverly Young said she complained to Kiley several times. She once visited a soldier who was lying in urine on his mattress pad in the hospital. When a nurse ignored her, Young said, "I went flying down to Kevin Kiley's office again, and got nowhere. He has skirted this stuff for five years and blamed everyone else."

(emphasis mine)

So a member of Congress stopped visiting soldiers because they were "frustrated". Why didn't Mr. Young address this on the House floor? Why didn't he show this level of frustration to other members of Congress, and why didn't they act? My only guess is that they didn't want to bring it up because it might make the administration look bad.

And if you think Bill Young sounds familiar, then you are right. At last year's State of the Union address, Young's wife was kicked out for wearing a "support our troops" shirt, the same night Cindy Sheehan was kicked out. As matter of fact, this is what Young said about the incident:

"She has a real passion for our troops, and she shows it in many, many ways," Young said.

"And most members in this House know that, but because she had on a shirt, that someone didn't like, that said, 'Support Our Troops,' she was kicked out of this gallery while the president was speaking and encouraging Americans to support our troops. Shame. Shame."

Now this was well over a year after Young and his wife stopped going to Walter Reed "out of frustration", and yet at the time of the State of the Union, they were claiming this superior support of our troops. It was fine to use wounded soldiers when Young needed them to make political statements, yet when the soldiers really needed him he just ignored it. Beverly Young saw a brave soldier who was wounded lying in his own urine at our military's top medical facility and did Bill Young use any of his congressional power to try and correct this? The Youngs are just as bad as the people who caused this mess at Walter Reed.

This is a perfect example of how the Republicans use our troops for their own gains. When the going gets tough then they run and hide. Young should have been on the House floor every day yelling about what was happening, but he didn't. Him and his wife claimed their support for our troops, yet when he saw troops that really needed support, he turned the other cheek. I believe Bill Young, as well as the Republican leadership, have some serious questions to answer in their complicity to this heinous act.

If a citizen of this country sees a crime and doesn't report it then they can be charged. What has happened at Walter Reed is a crime and the Youngs should be held accountable for their inactions!

TPM has this statement from the NRCC about one of their contributors being indicted on charges of funding terrorism:

We are extremely concerned and disturbed by these charges but we need to be careful not to rush to judgment as the judicial process moves forward. If the individual in question is actually found guilty of a crime, it is our intent to donate the money to charity.

So I guess due process comes with a price in America. Jose Padilla would have loved to gain such considerations. I am sure many other people that were rushed into the system, only to be found innocent later on, would have also loved this consideration. These are the kind of people that the Republicans have tried to remove any sort of due process on. But wait! Here we have a REPUBLICAN indicted for helping fund terrorism and it is a whole different ball game.

How about a new fundraising motto for the NRCC - "Give us money and then send the rest to al Qaeda!". That can replace last year's motto of "Send us money to protect our child predator congressmen!"

More than a day after the WaPo exposes the horrible way some of our wounded soldiers are being treated at Walter Reed and we still don't even have mention of it from the right-wing blogs. Yup - these poor soldiers are no longer of any value to them because they aren't out there "killin some brownies".

Meanwhile, John has dug up an interesting article where Bob Novak at least showed some interest in the way our veterans were being treated.

This is just to interesting to pass up:

A daughter of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was arrested Monday night in Wheaton and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and child endangerment, Wheaton Deputy Police Chief Thomas Meloni said.

Ann S. Banaszewski, 45, was stopped about 7:25 p.m. in a 1996 Ford Econoline van near Gamon Road and Longfellow Drive after a citizen reported a possible drunken driver was at the McDonald's restaurant near there, Meloni said.

Three of Banaszewski's "small children" were in the van with her at the time, leading to the child endangerment charge, Meloni said. He would not disclose their ages. Meloni would also not disclose details of her alleged intoxication, but said she submitted to a field sobriety test, though he could not disclose its outcome.

So this is family values - getting drunk and driving around with the kids? I wonder how Scalia feels about this?

Melissa McEwen of Shakespeare's Sister has resigned as part-time technical advisor for the Edward's Campaign. Chris has her full release over at MyDD.

I don't like the fact that Melissa had to resign from the campaign, but it was the right choice. The wingnuts had a field day with some posts she made, and those attacks were uncalled for. Even more troubling are the ramifications of the wingnut's actions:

There will be some who clamor to claim victory for my resignation, but I caution them that in doing so, they are tacitly accepting responsibility for those who have deluged my blog and my inbox with vitriol and veiled threats. It is not right-wing bloggers, nor people like Bill Donohue or Bill O'Reilly, who prompted nor deserve credit for my resignation, no matter how much they want it, but individuals who used public criticisms of me as an excuse to unleash frightening ugliness, the likes of which anyone with a modicum of respect for responsible discourse would denounce without hesitation.

Of course we already got chief wingnuts already defending their actions. Malkin could not wait to jump on this:

As usual, guess who's getting blamed. More blame-the-messenger hysterics and hyperbole at--where else?--HuffPo.

They don't even think our troops deserve a couple hours of their time on the Senate floor. Why? To protect the most hated President in the history of the United States.

This should mean a new war if the Democrats care about Iraq. Throw the "bi-partisan" bullshit out the window. The Democrats are in power because the people wanted change. Now use that power to stop anything Republican. Don't give them one piece of damn legislation until they stop their childish games. Reid should also get with Pelosi and carry this over to the House. They get nothing until they grow up and realize their crap is what made them the minority - not the Democrats.

From Planned Parenthood:

Over the past 72 hours, a 21-year-old woman in Florida was raped, jailed on an outstanding warrant (for a 2003 juvenile arrest), and blocked from taking emergency contraception because a jail worker had "religious objections" to the medication. This is an absolute outrage.

According to the St. Petersburg Times,

"A doctor had given her Plan B, the so-called ‘morning-after pill' approved by the FDA, to prevent pregnancy. But Moore [her attorney] said a medical supervisor at the jail refused to let her take the second of the two pills on Sunday."

The woman was not allowed to take the second pill until Monday afternoon. For emergency contraception to work, the second pill must be taken within 12 hours. This woman was refused for 36. Only after media inquiries did the jail allow the woman to take the second pill. After surviving assault and rape, this woman was denied access to the care she needed and deserved. This is clear violation of a woman's right to make her own health care decisions.

Yet how dare those Muslim cab drivers refuse to transport people with alcohol because of "religous objections". So how much of a hypocrite was Jesus? If there really is a Hell, then everyone of these fuckers will certainly burn in it. If they don't then send me there because Heaven must be really fucked up!

This story has received a lot of attention this past week:

Commissioners at one of the country's biggest airports are considering punishing Muslim cab drivers who refuse service to passengers possessing alcohol or guide dogs.

The cabbies claim transporting those items violates Islamic law.

"It is against our faith and the airport is discriminating against Muslim drivers," says a cab driver who would only give his first name, Hashim.

Three-quarters of the 900 cabbies licensed to operate at the airport are Muslim, most from Somalia. It is unclear how many are adhering to this letter of Islamic law which considers the purchase, drinking and transport of alcoholic beverages a sin.

Of course this is being used to fuel more intolerance against Muslims in this country, but how does it compare to other issues in America? Take the case of pharmacists who refuse to dispense the Morning After pill. These people are given a "pass" because it "violates their religious beliefs", yet the same meme doesn't apply to the Muslim world?

Perhaps this paragraph from the same article sums it up best:

"This is a public access issue," says Chuck Samuelson, of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, "Bottom line is we are a secular society, and that's the way it is."

Yes we are. If people are going to take a stand and denounce these cab drivers for what they are doing, they better be prepared to denounce doctors who refuse to provide legal abortions due to "religious conflict" or pharmacists who refuse to dispense the very legal morning after pill. And remember on that note - a Muslim refusing to transport someone for having alcohol with them is not putting a life endanger. Refusing to provide medical care very well could put a life in danger. How do the hypocritical wingnuts justify that?

Remember last year when Clinton had that sit down with Chris Wallace on FOX News? He was tired of everyone saying he caused 9/11, so he let Chris know about it. The wingnuts quickly jumped on it and was calling him things like "unhinged".

Well CNN just re-aired the Wolf Blitzer interview of Dick Cheney. Actually seeing it all at once, I have come to a big conclusion. If Clinton was "unhinged" with Wallace, then Cheney was down right combative with Blitzer. The most distinguishing factor is that during Clinton's interview there was an attempt to rewrite history, while the Cheney interview involved the most important current event in our nation - Iraq.

Cheney exhibited such a massive disconnect from not only the people of this country, but also George Bush, that he should be forced out of office. This level of hostility people in the administration shows towards the American people is not acceptable. They talk about showing divide towards our enemy - yet the unwarranted attacks of people like Cheney sends this message stronger than any debate in Congress. I guess Cheney was just working to embolden our enemy even more.