Delay says "bring it on"

I will be looking for the new ad here in Sugar Land. I'll report the local reaction and see how true the comment below is from this linked story.

So far, no evidence shows that DeLay is losing support in his home district, and according to one report conservative groups based in Washington are organizing acampaign to rally support for him. DeLay will take a weekend off to strategize with his supporters.

Great new Delay ad

via From Campaign for America's Future

Tom Delay tries to wash his hands of corruption!

.

Video-WMP only

Coulter's fans

Ann Coulter's speaking engagement at Kansas University sparked some unruly behavior from the audience gathered at the Lied Center. Hecklers were asked to leave the lecture after she refused to continue unless they were removed.

See local news clip

Hidden news

Twenty-nine percent (29%) of American adults say the U.S. economy is getting better while 55% say it is getting worse.

Rasmussen Reports

God bless us in 2008

08 just keeps looking better and better...

Morrison with money

I voted for Richard Morrison in the last District 22 congressional election and and as a virtual unknown, he put up one hell of a fight. He received the backing of Dean and other smaller groups and received some outside monetary contributions. I'm not sure whether he is the right person to beat Delay, but with the backing of congressional leaders and Richard stressing ethics he may just be the one. Lets wait and and see how Washington responds to his visit.

Believe the Fahren-hype

Documents show Michael Moore right about FBI helping Saudis depart after 9/11 attacks

The FBI played an active role in arranging chartered flights for dozens of well-connected Saudi nationals -- including relatives of Osama bin Laden -- after the 9/11 terror attacks.

The New York Times reported that the documents show Federal Bureau of Investigation agents gave personal airport escorts to two prominent Saudi families who fled the United States, while several other Saudis were allowed to leave the country without first being interviewed, citing newly-released US government records.

The Saudi families, in Los Angeles and Orlando, had requested the FBI escorts out of concern for their personal safety in the wake of the attacks.

Culture of life, part II

'Faces of the Fallen,' a portrait of Americans killed for Bush

Culture of Life?

U.S. bombing of Sha'ab market, Baghdad, April 2003

Congress must stop grandstanding on the Schiavo tragedy

Dear friend:

On Sunday, Tom DeLay and Bill Frist, the Republican congressional leaders, convened an emergency meeting of Congress to pass a bill that recklessly interferes in the tragedy surrounding Terri Schiavo.

Frist and DeLay claim that they're acting out of concern for Ms. Schiavo. But a memo intended only for Republican Senators--uncovered by ABC News--reveals Republicans' true concern: "The pro-life base will be excited...this is a great political issue...this is a tough issue for Democrats." This story also takes the heat off Tom DeLay, who is facing a number of serious ethics charges and legal scandals.

Americans can have different personal opinions about what should happen to Terri Schiavo--life is precious, and this case raises some important ethical questions. But we can all agree that that's what the courts are for: to make the call in difficult circumstances. That's why Congress' interference is such an ugly and shameful incident of political grandstanding.

Will you sign this petition to tell Congress they must stop using one person's tragedy for their own political gain, and move on to the important business facing our country?

Sign now at: http://www.moveonpac.org/grandstanding

Thanks.

Keep faith out of politics, says Blair

Interesting comment from Bush's but-boy Tony Blair. Didn't Kerry say the same?

Tony Blair chose a faith audience in south London yesterday to proclaim his belief that he was opposed to US-style faith politics in British public life.

"Politics and religion - it is not that they do not have a lot in common, but if it ends up being used in the political process, I think that is a bit unhealthy."

U.S. Catholic bishops taking on death penalty

Ok, what will the religious right do now? Will Bush cut his vacation short to save men on death row? Will congress hold a special session? Will Tom Delay grandstand this cause? What about the right to lifers?

"The use of the death penalty ought to be abandoned because we have other alternative ways to protect society," McCarrick said in Washington. McCarrick said the Catholic campaign fit into the church's general ideology of respect for life, Reuters reported. "We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing," he said. "This campaign brings together our social justice and pro-life efforts."

Life is life, isn't it? Read the article in the Boston Globe.

Bush's World

Army Raises Enlistment Age to 39

US-Insurgent Street Battle Erupts in Ramadi

45 Dead in Iraq Unrest on 2nd Anniversary of US-Led Invasion

Army's Top Civilian Leader Says Service to Pull Out All Stops to Boost Force

Orange County Register First Major Paper to Call for US Pullout in Iraq

US Using Anti-Terror War to Gain World Oil Reserves — Soviet Intelligence Chief

Syria Says US Inciting Trouble in Middle East

Iranian Leader Says He's Ready to Battle to Death

Polls: Most Americans Say Bush Handling Iraq Poorly

Moral talking points

On Sunday, Tom Delay and the republicans cried foul when allegations of politicizing the Schiavo story were brought up. Raw Story now has the republican talking points as proof... This is sick people!

Dems for Wolfowitz

We have a long way to go with people like this in office.

Bush administration lies yet again

read it here

Culture wars continue

I have never witnessed such grandstanding as as I have this weekend regarding the Schiavo issue. Michael Schiavo could not have stated it better... but Michael got it wrong on Delay. He is not pandering for votes but is pandering for his life. This is nothing more than a ploy to deflect attention away from his ethical problems. As for the rest of them...it's all politically motivated no matter how they try to spin it.

Weary after an emotional visit with his wife, Schiavo said he is astonished that politicians want to interfere in such a private matter.

"Instead of worrying about my wife, who was granted her wishes by the state courts the past seven years, they should worry about the pedophiles killing young girls," Schiavo said, referring to a local case. "Why doesn't Congress worry about people not having health insurance? Or the budget? Let's talk about all the children who don't have homes."

He said U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who is leading a charge to extend Terri Schiavo's life, is a "little slithering snake" pandering for votes.

Weekend fun

Now that's a tough bracket...

Let The Truth Be Known

Another Ploy By Bush & Associates

Following President Bush's State of the Union address, FOX News Washington managing editor Brit Hume and National Review contributing editor and former Bush speechwriter David Frum both claimed that the Social Security trust fund is a fantasy and that the program will face a crisis after 2018, the year that the program will begin to draw on trust fund assets -- in addition to new payroll tax revenues -- in order to pay promised benefits, according to projections by the Social Security trustees. In fact, the assets in the Social Security trust fund -- billions of dollars' worth of U.S. Treasury notes -- are every bit as real as the assets held by millions of investors worldwide, including large banks, insurance companies, and individual investors saving for retirement.

Hume's and Frum's comments were intended to support Bush's claim in his speech that after 2018, "every year ... will bring a new shortfall" in Social Security and that "in the year 2027, the government will somehow have to come up with an extra $200 billion to keep the system afloat." While Bush implied that the program will be penniless after 2018, the truth is that 2018 is simply the year when Social Security is projected to begin drawing on trust fund assets to pay promised benefits, rather than relying solely on new payroll taxes.

Freedom of choice

The American people should be free to make their own decisions about what they watch in their own homes, without de facto censorship from right-wing extremists, enabled by the FCC.

Join Wes Clark's cause.

Our Neocon

Biden, Our Neocon who may toss his hat into the ring in 2008...

TODAY SENATOR JOE BIDEN, vice chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a leading Democratic foreign policy voice in that body, voiced strong support for Paul Wolfowitz as President George W. Bush's choice to head the World Bank.

Biden described Wolfowitz, currently deputy secretary of defense, as a man with an "active and fertile mind" who believes in the work of multilateral institutions. Asked for his reaction to the selection, Biden responded with one word: "Solid."

He then elaborated. "Paul is a brilliant guy and a serious person. My differences with Paul relate to his assessment of what we would have to face in Iraq after the war."

Without DeLay: Clean Up Congress

We the undersigned demand that Tom DeLay resign from Congress immediately because he...

Violates ethics rules at will;

Embodies the worst of pay-to-play politics putting big donors ahead of the rest of us;

Abuses his position as House Majority Leader; and

Believes he is above the law.

It's time for Tom DeLay to go.

Sign a petition
(Read the facts about Tom DeLay's ethics and pay-to-play scandals.)

It's time to go, Joe

Lieberman - Democrat in name only.

Gay Republicans

Gannon...now Melhman. This is exactly the morals the red staters voted for in November.

How dare he ask such a question

David Gregory of NBC pressed President Bush about his Social Security plan, or lack of...

.

Video-QT

Video-WMP

David: Mr. President, you say you're making progress in the Social Security debate. Yet private accounts, as the centerpiece of that plan, something you first campaigned on five years ago and laid before the American people, remains, according to every measure we have, poll after poll, unpopular with a majority of Americans. So the question is, do you feel that this is a point in the debate where it's incumbent upon you, and nobody else, to lay out a plan to the American people for how you actually keep Social Security solvent for the long-term?

PRESIDENT: First of all, Dave, let me, if I might correct you, be so bold as to correct you, I have not laid out a plan yet, intentionally. I have laid out principles, I've talked about putting all options on the table, because I fully understand the administration must work with the Congress to permanently solve Social Security. So one aspect of the debate is, will we be willing to work together to permanently solve the issue. Personal accounts do not solve the issue...

Bush admits to not having a plan and also acknowledges that private accounts will not help the solvency of Social Security. Gone is the talk about Social Security going bankrupt, and is in crisis. - Crooks and Liars

Kinky's wall

Did you happen to catch Kinky Friedman on the O'Reilly Factor last night? He shared some opionions on border security that were rather eye-opening. Lets just say that some of his comments ought to give pause to anyone promoting Kinky as an fresh and honest alternative to the conservative status quo. An excerpt of the transcript is below.

O'REILLY: All right. Now we just had a discussion on the border and the chaotic immigration. And you're in Texas, you're the governor, what do you do about the border?

FRIEDMAN: Well, my plan is to bring back like the Bracero Program from 1944 that ran for 20 years where the Mexican government vets these people. I mean, they pay for it, and they get green cards, and they're actually legitimate. And then seal the border.

O'REILLY: Do you trust the Mexicans to do that?

FRIEDMAN: Well, we -- it would probably have -- it would be both sides, 679 miles-- fair to both sides. Definitely I would seal the border by bringing in the -- I think you're basically right about that.

O'REILLY: The National Guard.

FRIEDMAN: Bring in the National Guard, the Texas Rangers, the entire Polish Army, whatever it takes.

O'REILLY: Well, you could -- as Governor Friedman, you can call the Guard out and you can put the Guard right behind the federal Border Patrol. Arnold Schwarzenegger could do that tomorrow if he so desired.

FRIEDMAN: And I want them to help. I mean, good fences...

O'REILLY: Absolutely. That's what they're there for.

FRIEDMAN: ...Good fences make good neighbors, and, Mr. Fox, help us build that fence.

from Kos

Each day the sun shines brighter in my neck of the woods.

Chicken Hawks Now to Rule the Financial World

How much more do we have to take of this?!?

Mar 16, 2005 — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, a lightning rod for controversy as one of the main advocates for the Iraq war, is President Bush's choice for World Bank president, administration officials said on Wednesday.

Coalition of the unwilling

So now Italy is pulling out of Iraq...

Memo to Bush, shoot the enemy, not members of the coalition or journalist for that matter.

One step closer

GOP suddenly states concern with Delay's ethical behavior. How much more can we stomach and how many allegations does it take for the GOP to go after one of their own? He is an embarrassment to my state, my district (22) and the U.S. of A.

"If death comes from a thousand cuts, Tom DeLay is into a couple hundred, and it's getting up there," said a Republican political consultant close to key lawmakers. "The situation is negatively fluid right now for the guy. You start hitting arteries, it only takes a couple." The consultant, who at times has been a DeLay ally, spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying he could not be candid otherwise.

Time magazine has the latest on Tom DeLay's graft and sleaze.

Isreal plans stike on Iran - secret plans revealed

We all know who really is behind the secret plans, don't we?

Dick Cheney, the American vice-president, emphasised on Friday that Iran would face “stronger action” if it failed to respond. But yesterday Iran rejected the initiative, which provides for entry to the World Trade Organisation and a supply of spare parts for airliners if it co-operates.

“No pressure, bribe or threat can make Iran give up its legitimate right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes,” said an Iranian spokesman.

US officials warned last week that a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities by Israeli or American forces had not been ruled out should the issue becomedeadlocked at the United Nations.

The Mandate of the New Mainstream

A Speech by Chris Bell. The Texas Reform candidate.

Then I met Tom DeLay.

And it’s not just Tom DeLay. It’s the corrupt culture of Washington that you never really see until you’re on the inside. I never really saw the walls that divided us until the voters of Houston gave me the keys to the kingdom. I had no idea how partisan it was, how locked out people really are.

You want to know how broken the system is? When I was thinking of filing the ethics complaint against Tom DeLay, leaders of my own party tried to get me to back down. They wanted to preserve the so-called “ethics truce.”[10] Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous? Only in Washington, D.C. would an “ethics truce” make sense.

I did what any Texan would have done. I did what I thought was right. To paraphrase someone who knows a lot about Washington ethics, I had to choose between Tom DeLay and y’all, and I chose y’all.[11] But after that whole experience, I’m beginning to understand why Davy Crockett said what he did when he lost his congressional seat. He said, “you all can go to Hell, and I’m going to Texas.”[12]

That’s where I find myself right now, and there’s no place that I’d rather be.

I am a free man. But it is a taller order to meet the measure of a reform candidate.

Finally, House Dems Stand Up for Justice!

While listening to Air America, The Majority Report, I caught the tail end of an interview with a congressman who said that the ethical problems Delay is having is nothing more than a test. Yes that's right, he is nothing more than a sacrificial lamb and is taking one for team. He is basically doing this to test the system. He went on to say that Delay is really a very honest guy and that he gets nauseous at the tee box. Yes, golf makes him puke so a free golf game is definitely not an option. I laughed of course.

When will it stop?

Bin Forgotten

Bartcop and I can agree on most things.

Bobby Fischer's crime was playing chess, so tough-on-crime Bush is punishing him. Martha Stewart told a white lie about a crime she didn't commit, and Bush punished her. Tommy Chong sold a plastic pipe and they got him on September 11th, 2001. That's our Bush - tough on crime.

Bush's old partner Osama murdered 3,000 Americans, and he's still free.



The American media tells us George Bush keeps his word and he means what he says, so what happened to his sacred vow, standing on the rubble in New York?

Too bad our candidate in 2004 refused to point out the facts about George Bush...Bartcop

I was extremley excited when Kerry used the 'bring it on' line in the primary. But after he secured the nomination he just went soft. I just wish the Party better luck with a candidate in 08.

Yes, even in Texas

Chris Bell to Help Al Franken Debut in Austin

I received this email today...

Air America is debuting in the Austin market on Monday, March 14 on KOKE 1600AM. Al Franken will do his show live from the State Theatre from 11 am to 2 pm. Chris Bell is appearing on the show at 1:30 pm. The folks at the State Theatre are expecting a large crowd, so get in line early or start pulling strings.

“I predict that the Al Franken Show will fail miserably in Austin,” said Jason Stanford, consultant to the Chris Bell for Governor Exploratory Committee. “We have a Governor that wants to tax lap dances and a Republican legislature that wants to tax love handles, and now they want to reform school finance by taxing bottled water. Satire is dead in Texas, but if he thinks he can add a little mirth to the madness, Al Franken is welcome here.”

“It’s nice that Rick Perry will be able to listen to Al Franken on a local radio station,” Stanford allowed. “Lord knows that man isn’t getting any good advice right now.”

Bell, the Democratic congressman who filed the ethics complaint against Tom DeLay, is exploring a race for Texas Governor.

LISTEN: http://www.airamericaradio.com/listen.asp
KOKE 1600AM (Austin)
KCCT 1150 AM (Corpus Christi)

Congress protests Ann Coulter

Have the righties no shame...

Gamble with your life!

how true...

Rick Perry attacks liberal blogs??

Per Burnt Orange Report

all I can say is boo-hoo.

Leading GOP senator ignites outcry with comments about “getting over” Lincoln

I'll let this one play out.....

Ohio Congresswoman says Jeff Gannon is a 'phony plant' and a 'double agent'

Kaptur Calls for investigation -- Gannon spotlighted her 'bin Laden' remark

By Steve Eder, Toledo Blade

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) believes the man who helped thrust her remarks two years ago comparing Osama bin Laden to American revolutionaries into national prominence is nothing more than a "double-agent" and a "phony plant."

Jeff Gannon, a conservative reporter whose controversial access to the White House cost him his job and ignited a national firestorm, says "Gannongate" is a monumental battle between old media and new media.

Last month questions about the former Talon News and GOPUSA.com online reporter began to emerge as political opponents discredited his journalistic credentials, saying he was planted in the White House briefing room to pitch pro-GOP questions and spread propaganda.

Two years ago Mr. Gannon, born James Guckert, used his seat in the White House press room to put a national spotlight on Miss Kaptur when he asked former press secretary Ari Fleischer why the President had not commented on the "offensive remarks by Democratic Congressman Marcy Kaptur, who likened Osama Bin Laden to our founding fathers?"

ACLU - terrorist group is coming to get you

Thank you Media Matters for debunking this nut...

So look, I'm declarin' war on the ACLU. I think they're a terrorist group. They're terrorizin' me and my family. They're terrorizing me. I think they're terrorists. Can I get some lawyers to help me out here? Can we sue 'em? They're puttin' us all in danger.

audio clip

.

In the past, O'Reilly has called the ACLU "the most dangerous organization in the United States of America right now ... second next to Al Qaeda" and "a fascist organization." He has also said that "Hitler would be a card-carrying ACLU member. So would Stalin."

Bin Laden draws rare mention from Bush

I was begining to wonder if Bush ever thought Osama existed. What ever happened to - wanted dead or alive? Can we say 'All Hat and Cattle'. No better time than to through in a little scare to build support to go after those evildoers - Iran and Syria.

$50 Per Barrel Could Be The Norm

More Oil Profits for Bush and Co. Just as they scripted...

Funny how only a few months ago the country was crying foul on rising gas prices. How quickly our nation comforts to the notion that our President is looking out for our best interests, while he preaches moral values and pockets our money...

Oil prices briefly surpassed $55 a barrel Thursday and settled at their highest level since late October. The recent rally - crude futures are up more than $10 since the year began - reflects concerns that the world's petroleum supply is being stretched thin by strong economic growth, though some traders are nevertheless stunned by the commodity's rapid advance.

The making of an exciting Texas race

Just make the anouncement please...

Chris Bell - Reform Candidate

The coming crackdown on blogging

libraries, abortions, sex, cable television,

...Blogs? Just what will they think of next.

Bradley Smith says that the freewheeling days of political blogging and online punditry are over. In just a few months, he warns, bloggers and news organizations could risk the wrath of the federal government if they improperly link to a campaign's Web site. Even forwarding a political candidate's press release to a mailing list, depending on the details, could be punished by fines.

The Members of the Bush Cartel Lie and Our Soldiers Die: U.S. Troop Deaths in Iraq Rise to 1,500

As Bush speaks this morning... our soldiers die ... How can anyone believe this guy...

The number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq (news - web sites) has topped 1,500, an Associated Press count showed Thursday after the military announced the deaths of three Americans, while car bombs targeting Iraqi security forces killed at least four people in separate attacks.

Amid the violence, interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi extended the state of emergency, first announced nearly four months ago, for another 30 days until the end of March. The order remains in effect throughout the country, except in northern Kurdish-run areas.

House Democrats will force vote on Gannon investigation as it relates to outed agent

Democrats set to play new card in 'Gannon' Scandal

Get the scoop from Raw Story.

Perhaps this is when the Democrats begin to grow a spine.

For a quick laugh..pay a quick visit to his Gannon/Guckert website and see his White House briefing question of the day. Does this guy actually think he will get back in? In typical fashion, the question is more of an attack on democrats.

And isn't it funny that one of his biggest defenders is prostitute gay loving Ann Coulter.

"Liberals keep rolling out a series of attacks on Gannon for their Two Minutes of Hate, but all their other charges against him fall apart after three seconds of scrutiny. Gannon's only offense is that he may be gay," Coulter wrote.

I won't even get into his weekend stud services and man-date web sites which were plastered all over the internet; so 'may be' is out of the question. But wait...Maybe Bush really does have a man-date.

Wait there's more...

"Liberals keep telling us the media isn't liberal, but in order to retaliate for the decimation of major news organizations like the New York Times, CBS News and CNN, all they can do is produce the scalp of an obscure writer for an unknown conservative Web page. And unlike [former New York Times executive editor Howell] Raines, [CBS News anchor Dan] Rather and [former CNN chief news executive Eason] Jordan, they can't even get Gannon for incompetence on the job."

Media Matters has more on her lies and deceptions...

Can I take the tape off my mouth!

Can I take the tape off my mouth! I am still disgusted with the Repugs crying about the need for more moral values in America. The WMD story is quickly fading away. Where is the so-called liberal media that I hear on the radio and television? Forgotten was the urgency to prevent the mushroom cloud, yellow cake theory and Osama. Oh yeah, Osama is a different story, anyway that is forgotten too. Am I talking to myself, anyone care for that matter.

But anyway, I want to get back to WMDs. I want to motion for a special investigation into the search for WMDs. The USA did something like this, a special investigation, when they hired Kenneth Star to investigate the Whitewater deal in Arkansas. No fruition to that.

Wait a minute, wait a minute! I motion for us to impeach the current President of the USA for the false pretenses to invade Iraq and the failure to find WMDs. The USA did this impeachment thing when they were curious to know if a former president lied about sex. If Lady Justice placed these two matters on her scale, it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the WMD matter would weigh more than some white matter on a lady’s dirty laundry. Let’s see, WMDs vs. Dirty Laundry. Thousands dead vs. a trip to the cleaners. Where’s our moral values!?! Posted by future contributor TexMex

and how about this one...

If Saddam Hussein has nothing, I will apologize to the nation, and I will not trust the Bush Administration again, all right? -- Bill O'Reilly of Faux News (Club Football Sport Hero)

Dean says Democrats 'not going to concede the South'

Go gettum' Dean. Let's take back the Ranch! I think the DNC finally has a boss with balls.

Praying for American troops and evoking biblical images of helping the needy, Howard Dean told Mississippi Democrats on Tuesday night that the national party won't give up on socially conservative states."

We're not going to concede the South," the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee told an overflow crowd of more than 900 people in a dining room that was set up for 800 in the Clarion hotel near downtown Jackson.

"The South will rise again, and when it does, it will have a D after its name," Dean said to applause from the diverse crowd of blacks and whites.

Dean, a former Vermont governor, was an early front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination last year before his campaign faded after early primaries. He was elected DNC chairman last month and is on a "red, white and blue" tour of states with long records of voting Republican.

read on...

Judy Woodruff issues an apology for Novak

From Crooks and Liars:

From Inside Politics:

CNN's Robert Novak reported an item about Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean and said that when Governor Dean spoke to students at Cornell University last week, Dean remarked that in 30 years Social Security would lose 80 percent of its benefits. Bob Novak misquoted Governor Dean, it turns out. Bob tells us that he intended to report that Governor Dean said that in 30 years, if nothing changed, Social Security would be reduced to 80 percent of its current benefits. We apologize for the mistake and we're happy to set the record straight.

That is an out and out lie, because Novak did it on Feb 26th as reported by Media Matters on The Capitol Gang.

What's That Plan Again?

From Atrios...

Cute trick.

The AARP, which claims 35 million members age 50 and over, is "against a solution that hasn't been written yet," said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay after a closed-door meeting with the GOP rank and file

....

Younger Americans would be allowed to invest a portion of their payroll taxes on their own. In exchange they would receive a lower government benefit than they are now guaranteed, on the assumption that the proceeds of their investments would make up the difference. In addition, though, even younger voters who choose not to establish personal accounts would receive a reduced government benefit under Bush's plan, according to GOP congressional officials who have been briefed on the plan.

Questions the media should be asking Guckert

The DKos gang has put together a series of questions the media needs to ask GannonGuckert:

Questions Posed To James D. Guckert by ePluribus Media volunteers

1. Is James D. Guckert your real name or is it, like “Jeff Gannon,” another pseudonym? Have you used other pseudonyms in any of your other business ventures?

2. Were you paid for any of your work for Talon News or GOPUSA? If so, who paid you?

3. How did you begin your association with Bobby Eberle or GOPUSA? Did anyone contact you, or did you volunteer?

4. Have you ever been associated with GOPUSA in any capacity other than as a reporter?

5. In what capacity did you entertain Tony Blair during his visit on July 17, 2003?

6. How did you learn about GOPUSA.com?

7. At one point, you claimed you saw Talon News, liked it and began submitting articles to them. However, Talon News didn't exist until after you were put in the White House by GOPUSA. Do you wish to clarify this contradiction?

8. You claim in your bio that you served in the military. Which branch? Where and when did you serve? Have you worked for the government in any other capacity?

9. Have you ever been a member of a GOP activist group? If so, which one(s)?

10. Were you politically active as a college student or young adult?

11. When did you attend the Leadership Institute's Seminar for Broadcast Journalists?

12. The minutes of the Standing Committee of Correspondents, which accredits journalists to the Senate Press Gallery, makes reference to the fact that you are or were the Executive Director of the "Free Speech Foundation." Registration information for the Free Speech Foundation's web site reveals that the domain is owned by one "J. Daniels," though that information was later changed to list the owner as "I. Christian." Given that your close involvement with the Foundation was something you had no reason to hide from the Standing Committee, why did you use a pseudonym to register the domain name, since "Jeff Gannon," the name by which you were best-known and which would have generated the most positive publicity for the Foundation among your readers and listeners, was itself a pseudonym, thus protecting whatever privacy you used to enjoy?

13. Given the limited number of publications you had been affiliated with (and both publications boast a decidedly conservative slant), coupled with your fairly unknown status among the press corps, how did you arrange the interview with former Ambassador Wilson?

14. As a novice reporter, how did you learn the procedure for obtaining a day pass to the White House?

15. When did you first apply for a hard pass with the White House Press Corps? Did you apply for it or was it arranged through Bobby Eberle/GOPUSA.com?

16. When did you first apply for a daily pass with the White House Press Corps? Did you apply for it or was it arranged through Bobby Eberle/GOPUSA.com?

17. Did any members of the press question you on how it was that you were showing up regularly, but on a day pass rather than on a permanent pass?

18. You posted on an online discussion group that you have been subpoenaed to testify in the Valerie Plame case. In the same online discussion, you posted that you had seen the memo regarding Valerie Plame. Recently, however, you have suggested that you found out about this matter through the WSJ and that you were interviewed but not subpoenaed regarding the Plame case. Why have your recent responses not been consistent with your past statements? What is the truth?

19. Did anyone in the administration ever give you advanced information on any subject? Did they show you with a copy of the CIA Plame document?

20. Have you ever met Karl Rove? When? Where? How many times?

21. How did you come to find out about the Mary Mapes scoop with respect to the CBS/TANG documents?

22. What other parts of the White House have you seen or been in, other than the White House press briefing room? Who was your host on these occasions and what were the purposes of these visits?

23. Have you ever been to the President's ranch in Crawford, Texas and, if so, on what occasion and for what purpose?

24. You've used fabricated quotes, reprinted press releases and extensively cribbed from writers for other news publications such as the Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan, Arcspace.com, and Newsquest, all beneath your own byline. Did your training in journalism include any coursework on ethics?

25. Legitimate journalists subscribe to a code of ethics, what do you think about those who violate or ignore that code?

26. Do you think working journalists should take money from anyone other than the professional news organization or publication that employs them for pieces they write? Did you?

27. Which falsehoods have been spread about you that you would like to dispell right now? For example, will you go on record saying that you were not running an escort service? We feel that this is relevant because of your past articles accusing others of behavior that you now consider "private, personal" information.

28. Since you've begun your own blog, do you think of yourself as a "blogger" or a "journalist"? Do you think of yourself as a "professional?" Since most people accept that a professional is someone who earns his living functioning in a known career field, how are you earning your living as a professional? Could you characterize how much monetary income constitutes “a living” in your opinion?

Nailing the Hammer

I have to give it to Chris for giving it to the Hammer. He's my choice for Texas Governorship to date...but it's early and things change...right..





Chris Bell

It's Hammer Time

I must admit Tom "The Hammer" Delay is not one of my favorite people. It's beyond me, how a representative of my district, who has fraud and crook attached to his name in all the recent press clippings can manage to stay in office. But when the the Repugs control all branches of goverment, fraud and theivery is really no big deal if it's one of their guys.

from AP

A political committee created to elect Republicans to the Texas House was a highly sophisticated organization that did not report some expenditures as required by state law, a campaign finance expert testified Tuesday.
Texans for a Republican Majority, formed by Republican U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, should have reported some $600,000 in expenditures on state disclosure forms, Trevor Potter testified.
Some of the money was spent for political consultants, printing for mailouts and other items that five Democratic plaintiffs claim were political expenses. Potter, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, agreed.

Now the true reason I know nothing will happen to him...

DeLay has congressional immunity from being forced to testify in the civil lawsuit.