Senate votes against debating Iraq war rebuke
Sat Feb 17, 2007 at 01:22:19 PM PDT
The Reuters.uk story title I pasted for my diary's title says it all.
Sat Feb 17, 2007 7:29 PM GMT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate refused to consider a resolution on Saturday denouncing President George W. Bush's Iraq troop buildup that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the day before.
For the second time in two weeks, the Senate voted not to debate a non-binding measure snip
"If we believe plunging into Baghdad neighbourhoods with more American troops will not increase chances of success, we are duty bound to say so, and a minority of senators should not thwart that expression," said Michigan Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
No, Senator Levin, you are not duty bound to merely "say so."
You are duty bound to do everything within your constitutional authority to stop it.
Foley Follies: Is Jeff Trandahl the Key?
Fri Oct 06, 2006 at 07:51:59 AM PDT
I think the mandarins over at
ABC's the Note are more than few steps ahead of the rest of the press on Foley's follies; they point to a WSJ article about Foley's that has some interesting tidbits.
Jump the bump for the rest...
Reid Says Talks Are Over
Mon May 16, 2005 at 04:17:19 PM PDT
Hooooahhh! Reid is going to make a stand:
``I've tried to compromise and they want all or nothing, and I can't do that,'' Reid told reporters after a private meeting with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.
Gaurdian
It seems the talks are over.
I think this is an awesome opportunity, at last the Senate Dems can show America that they will fight for their beliefs.
One problem, a lot the affiliation group backers of the Dems might be pissed.
More below.
The End of Judicial Review
Wed May 11, 2005 at 08:01:43 AM PDT
Not as a result of the "Nukular" option, but a provision of the Real ID "rider" that passed the Senate, 100 to 0, with the Military Appropriations bill:
Section 102 of H.R. 418 would amend the current provision to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive any law upon determining that a waiver is necessary for the expeditious construction of the border barriers. Additionally,
it would prohibit judicial review of a waiver decision or action by the Secretary and bar judicially ordered compensation or injunction or other remedy for damages alleged to result from any such decision or action.
Link
Damn Judges might let Law get in the way of RIGHT (sic), so let's start to cut them out of the loop entirely.
House Passes Hellish Real ID Pact with Devil
Fri May 06, 2005 at 09:07:19 PM PDT
Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo, and I was celebrating in true TustonDAZian fashion; hiking high in the mountains above the already scorching late springtime deserts. While I was gone an expected evil happened: the draconian
Real ID passed the House.
What will be the immediate consequences of this bill when it takes effect three years from the day the chimp signs it?
Go below and find out
DHS Raid Liberal Blogger's Home!
Wed May 04, 2005 at 07:50:14 PM PDT
12 late model unmarked cars and SUV's, filled with agents from Customs, Border Patrol, ATF, FBI , and DEA quietly entered the main gate of a Santa Cruz County, AZ ranch belonging to the family of TustonDAZ, a liberal blogger who writes "diaries" at Daily Kos, and is a sometime Guest Poster at
Liberal Street Fighter
Heavily armed with semi auto side arms, fully automatic carbines and "flak" jackets the 15 DHS agents and two canines came in search of a large stash of undefined "contraband" as part of there normal investigative procedures spurred on by an "anonymous" tip.
Cross posted at Liberal Street Fighter
More below:
REDUX: Real ID REALLY Sucks, part 2
Wed May 04, 2005 at 08:59:01 AM PDT
Last night I wrote
this diary, which was cross posted at
LSF, about the still shadowy "concessions" worked out over the draconian
"Real ID rider". More is coming to light and the more visible this Act becomes the more frightening the future of democracy in America looks:
"Don't be fooled by rhetoric: the REAL ID Act won't make America any safer, despite a few changes made at the insistence of concerned Senators. It will drive undocumented immigrants further underground, it will turn away legitimate asylum seekers and it will let the Secretary of Homeland Security disregard almost any law on the books - even civil rights or labor protections. This bill is being forced by the House leadership into law, with no hearings and with little serious study of its consequences.
civilrights.org
More below:
Real ID "deal" REALLY Sucks
Tue May 03, 2005 at 07:15:33 PM PDT
The sadistic and Orwellian
"Real ID" rider attached to the latest Iraq/Military Appropriations bill seems to be set to leave conference and will likely to be sent to the POTUS when the Senate returns next week, because it looks like the deal for the Devil has been struck:
House, Senate reach tentative deal on immigration measures
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate negotiators on Monday accepted a House plan to make states verify that driver's license applicants are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants but softened House-proposed changes in asylum laws.
The immigration measures are part of a bill to pay for continuing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Still unresolved was how much more money to spend on border security.
USA Today
USA Today is doing a relatively good job on reporting both the Real ID and Minutemen (sic) project, which I've noted before are intertwined, but they soft pedal the deal over Real ID, and it is much worse than how they make it sound. I'll dive into the dirt down below.
Iraq Violence Spreads: 20 Dead 30 Injured
Sun May 01, 2005 at 02:46:35 PM PDT
BBC News
Twenty Killed in Attack on Kurds
An apparent suicide attack in Iraq has left at least 20 people dead and injured more than 30 others.
The bombing is reported to have targeted a Kurdish funeral in the northern town of Talafar, near Mosul.
Earlier, at least five policemen and four civilians were killed in two separate attacks in Baghdad.
BBC News
Ah... Well... Um... I would snark about turning a corner and sailing on the ship of new democracies in the Middle East but I'm feeling too queasy right-now.
More after the fold.
Minutemen March out of Arizona and into DC
Sun May 01, 2005 at 09:36:21 AM PDT
They've left but they say they're comming back:
'Minutemen' End Unofficial Border Patrol, but Plan to Return
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 1, 2005
NACO, Ariz., April 30, (AP) - Volunteers recruited over the Internet to monitor illegal immigration along a stretch of Arizona's border ended their monthlong campaign this weekend.
Members of the Minuteman Project hailed the program as a success, and organizers said they planned to expand the mission to the other states along the Mexican border and to parts of the Canadian border.
[...] The final eight-hour shift was scheduled to end at 6 a.m. Sunday.
NYT
Okay, I've got more but 1150 characters ain't enough room so go below if you want to know more.
"Real ID" = Mark of the Beast
Sat Apr 30, 2005 at 02:09:17 PM PDT
I hope all of y'all have atoned for your sins (or not) and are ready to meet your maker (or the cessation of personal existence), 'cause
Real ID a "rider" attached to the current military spending (Iraq) appropriations bill surely signals some final countdown to the Eschaton, as we will all now have no rights, but are marked with a national ID number:
The bill gives the federal government authority to maintain databases containing detailed information on citizens, which will be linked to other databases in Canada and Mexico. This includes information currently contained on drivers licenses as well as any other kinds of information the Department of Homeland Security sees fit. This could include retinal scans, fingerprints, and even DNA. The bill also provides for radio tags on IDs which enable authorities to keep track of a person's movements.
Not scared enough yet, well crucensele la frontera and fortify ye livers mayhaps we can kill this hellish rider afore it clears the gates...
Minutemilitias, Real ID and the Coming Fascist State
Fri Apr 29, 2005 at 07:36:38 PM PDT
I hope many of you caught today's
Democracy Now's harrowing piece on the hellish
Real ID/National ID Card "rider" attached to the current Appropriations bill. It is probably less likely that you are aware that the Minutemen "organizers" testified in front of Congress Wednesday amidst
trumpets of towering praise. I fear both are the warm up notes in the death-clarion for Democracy in America. In short order we will likely see, "a little Iraq at the border" and after that who knows how far the War on Terra will reach?
Tinfoilish alarmist trash? Hardly. But I need some room to make my argument, so jump the bump and see why I gotta lump in my throat.
Never Mind the Trees, Look Out for the Forest
Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 10:14:35 PM PDT
Context is everything. Without context, all things lose their meaning.
Milarepa, the cotton clad Himmalayan ascetic, realized that no "thing" exists indpendently, it is the "thing's" relationship to the world around it that defines its very nature. This sublime truth is at the heart of the hackneyed, "He missed the forest, for looking at the trees."
Alas, the trite is often true and this particular myopia seems to cloud our vision of the whole filibuster/judicial nomination issue. While some of our compatriots believe that the weak mewling of "Moderates" is smart political positioning they fail to recognize a simple fact: Frist will "go nukular" unless he gets all of the judges, and he would prefer the Dems try to filibuster, so they can then remove it.
Why? Simple, to remove any chance for the impediment of the coronation of Scalia as CJ and the imposition of a relgious state. Don't believe me? Well then Jump the Bump and hear what Washington Times columnist Bruce Fein has to say about it:
Minutemen Detour Menaces Migrants with Death
Tue Apr 26, 2005 at 10:52:44 PM PDT
The Minutemen, are not only a truly
brilliant scheme of manipulating the media,but also a watered down, encrypted-21st century version of a Lynch mob. They are typical white men who fear cultural and racial mecegenation and refuse to aknowledge the dangerous foreignness of their presence in Arizona deserts and are having near tragic consequences already:
Tucson Citizen
CLAUDINE LoMONACO
Victor Hernandez said a prayer with each drop of prickly pear he squeezed into his sister-in-law's mouth. "Please, God, let her live," he repeated as he cradled her tiny, unconscious body on the hot desert sand. Three others from their group of 25 had also collapsed. More were vomiting from dehydration. Nearby, several others huddled around a cell phone they'd wrestled from their smuggler just moments earlier. After many attempts, one of them got through to 911. "They are dying," he said in a panic. "People are all around me, and they are dying. Please come. Come quickly."
More Madness about the Minutemen
Sat Apr 23, 2005 at 01:24:22 AM PDT
That's it, I've fucking had it. America's been royally jived once again,
Somos idiotas. How many times will these mysteriously financed wingnut groups succesfully manufacture a meme changing media event?
James Gilchrest, a retired accountant from LA, and organizer of the "Minuteman Project" has serendipitously been called to testify before the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus just as in the desert dizzying temperatures begin their precipitous ascent into real heat of our first summer (we have three or four here):
"He is claiming victory ... so he felt it would be appropriate to wrap up his participation this week and prepare to go to Washington," said Chris Simcox, the project's field operations director.
Simcox, who also plans to be in Washington next week, said Gilchrist isn't severing his ties to the project or with other organizers.
Despite Gilchrist's departure and Simcox's temporary absence, Simcox said patrols will continue as planned until April 30, albeit under the name of Simcox's organization, Civil Homeland Defense.
Talabani's Recipe For Disaster
Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 08:19:10 AM PDT
No, this is not a cookbook diary, but it is basically a small smorgasborg of something sinister simmering in the Iraqtrasphe:
Iraq's new president has said the insurgency could be ended immediately if the authorities made use of Kurdish, Shia Muslim and other militias.
Jalal Talabani said this would be more effective than waiting for Iraqi forces to take over from the US-led coalition.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4454985.stm
There's a limit on space here, so let me just say that that would be like giving guys like Rudolf and McVeigh their own National Gaurd units of fellow rascists in Harlem, nevermind that that wouldn't be "effective".
more blurbs and links and snark below
Iranian Kurds Ready to Revolt
Fri Apr 15, 2005 at 07:57:11 AM PDT
IRAQ: KURDS IN IRAQ PREPARE FOR GUERILLA WAR IN IRAN
Near Sulaimaniya, 14 April (AKI) - Kurdish fighters who want to overthrow the government in Iran to establish autonomy for ethnic Kurds in the country, are hiding in the mountains of northern Iraq, training and waiting for the opportunity to strike. According to a report in the daily Gulf News, these fighters are ready for a full-scale guerilla war. "Our armed struggle began in Iranian Kurdistan and will continue until we have freedom," said Ebrahim Alizada, the founder and leader of the rebel group, Komala.
Komala is a group of militant, socialist Kurds whose aim is to bring down the government in Tehran. According to the news report, hundreds of young men and women armed with AK47 rifles, machine guns and rocket propelled grenade launchers are training in northern Iraq. The group claims that rebels already in Iran conducting covert operations.
Just in time for the busy US summer Invasion-season...
TustonDAZ's News from Iraqi Kurdistan
Thu Apr 07, 2005 at 06:41:06 PM PDT
KIRKUK, Iraq -- Flush from an election day sweep in this divided city, the Kurds who now dominate the provincial council made it clear this month that they intended to do things differently when they conducted their public meeting in Kurdish, not Arabic.
For 90 minutes, about two dozen Kurdish council members debated issues and shared jokes, leaving Arabic-speaking citizens and journalists in the audience scratching their heads and walking out in frustration. U.S. officials in attendance scrambled to replace their usual Arabic-language interpreter with one who spoke Kurdish.
[...]
Kurdish leaders in Kirkuk have insisted they will be gracious winners and reach out to their longtime rivals.
"We are extending our hands to the members of the other slates," said Abdulrahman Mustafa, a Kurd and the U.S.-backed governor of Kirkuk, who is likely to retain the job. "They are all our brothers."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/complete/la-fg-kirkuk27mar27,1,2110162.story?coll=la-ir
aq-complete&ctrack=1&cset=true
Brothers? Yeah I guess Cain and Abel were brothers too...more below the fold.
