$2 million for a great cause

Help defeat tom DeLay. Nick promises he won't waste your money to pay for lawyers.

Cheney's Got a Gun

I seen four or five of these Cheney videos and I'm sure you have as well. But for what's it worth here is another.

WATCH THIS ANIMATION ;-)

Ciro lists blogger support

From the Ciro D. Rodriguez for U.S Congress campaign website. Very cool.

The following progressive blogs are closely following Ciro's race, and you can read more about Ciro on these websites

* Abram at Casual Soapbox
* Fred at Truth Serum
* Matt at Just Another Blog
Markos at Dailykos.com
MyDD.com
Eschaton at Atrios.blogspot.com
Firedoglake.blogspot.com
Crooksandliars.com
Burntorangereport.com
Swingstateproject.com

March 7 is right around the corner. Send Him your support and remember who he is running against.

Life at 34% approval

Skippy has posted that bubble boy's approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 34 percent. And to think...three more years.


A really bad episode!

Things look promising for DeLay with 18% approval rating

I would suspect his approval rating to be a few points higher here in District 22. Congratulations Tom!.

According to the new Diageo/Hotline poll, only 18% of respondents viewed Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX) favorably, including only 10% of Independents and 31% of Republicans. This may not bode well for DeLay, who has not only been indicted on criminal charges of conspiracy, but also faces an uphill battle for reelection in 2006 against former Rep. Nick Lampson (D-TX). - Political Wire

Australia says beware of UAE

Have plans to visit the UAE anytime soon?

On Sunday, the Australian government issued the following alert to its citizens: "We advise you to exercise a high degree of caution in the United Arab Emirates because of the high threat of terrorist attack. We continue to receive reports that terrorists are planning attacks against Western interests in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Commercial and public areas frequented by foreigners are possible terrorist targets."

In the meantime, bubble boy secures our country by allowing the UAE into 21 of our ports. 21 ports you say? Yes, the country the Australian government says is planning attacks on western interests is poised to take over 21 of our American ports.


I got Nucular on my mind.

What has Kinky been up to?

Someone you would least like to have a beer with

Can you guess which guy is thinking "get me the hell out of here"?

Tom DeLay faces a surprisingly strong primary challenge.

Here's to a a good battle in the Republican primary and to Campbell for doing a heck of a job of getting his yard signs out front and center.

DeLay's incumbency, and Tom Campbell's challenge, raise two questions about our contemporary politics. One concerns the ethical standard to which voters hold their representatives, and asks whether all accusations of unseemliness can be written off as mere partisan attacks. The other concerns the nature of today's GOP, and asks whether the party has lost its reformist bearings and sidled too close to special interests.

"Principle is more important than power," Tom Campbell told me. "Mr. DeLay has gone to K Street and exchanged our principle for power. He's bartered. When you sell principle for short-term victories, you lose in two ways. Your short-term victories fall apart, and you set a horrible example for the next generation. We can choose power and lose power, or we can choose principle and maintain power."

He spoke quietly. "You don't beat an incumbent," he said. "An incumbent falls under his own weight." - Matthew Continetti

Now this is no friggin' joke. Campbell will also run against Stonewall Jackson, Lyndon Baines Johnson and a World War I lieutenant who led his men out of a trench into battle and is "willing to have a target on front and back saying, 'shoot me first.'"

$$ in Texas-22 Race

Give to the democrat and you can be rest assured that your money won't go to legal expenses.

Lampson, unopposed in the Democratic primary, raised $250,970 in the same time frame and spent $125,027. He has more than $1.4 million on hand.

Tom Campbell, one of DeLay's foes in the GOP primary, received about $77,000 in the first six weeks of 2006, spent about $115,000 and had around $17,000 on hand as of Feb. 15.

Former school teacher Pat Baig received $1,000 in this reporting period, spent about $23,000 and had roughly $35,000 in the bank. She also made a $55,000 personal loan to her campaign.

Lawyer Mike Fjetland received about $7,000 in the first six weeks of this year, spent about $3,000 and had about $3,000 on hand.

DeLay, who faces three contenders in the March 7 Republican primary for the 22nd Congressional District seat, raised $154,712 and spent $304,795 between Jan. 1 and Feb. 15, the time span covered in the reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. The lawmaker reported having about $1.3 million in the bank.

But what is this about?

DeLay's largest recent expenditure — $110,000 — went to the law firm employing Richard Cullen, the attorney representing him in the Justice Department investigation of an influence-peddling scandal involving indicted former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Sex Pistols: Bullocks to R&R Hall of Fame

Black Sabbath, Blondie, and Lynyrd Skynyrd will gladly pay for a $25,000 table.

Give a shout out

to RGV Politics. Grab a Tecate out of your fridge, have a seat and say hello.

Wingnut vs. Wingnut

DeLay says port deal is "pretty outrageous."

The former Republican majority leader said the administration's approval of the deal is "pretty outrageous." DeLay made the remarks during a campaign event with Houston real estate executives.

Cheney a big bowl of bad

Watch the video.



Is Letterman trying to compete with John Stewart?

What a mess in Iraq

At least things are looking brighter in Iraq.

The violence - many of the 90 attacks on Sunni mosques were carried out by Shiite militias - seemed to push Iraq closer to all-out civil war than at any point in the three years since the U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

But isn't this what John Murtha has been saying all along.

According to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition, the definition of a civil war is a "war between political factions or regions within the same country." That is exactly what is going on in Iraq, not a global war on terrorism, as the President continues to portray it.

Texas Primary Picks

I guess this is a good time as any to climb out from underneath the rock I have been hiding from and offer up some endorsements that are of interest to Truth Serum.

Governor - Chris Bell. I have been following Chris since he broke the informal truce that House members declared on investigations of ethics complaints against its leadership. That leadership being Tom Delay, my District 22 representative. I'll get to that later.

U.S. Senate - Barbara Radnofsky

Lt. Governor - I'm not ready with this one just yet. Give me few days.

District 22 - Nick Lampson. This is an uncontested primary and a shameless plug for the man who will defeat DeLay or whoever wins the Republican primary.

U. S. Representative, District 28 - Ciro D. Rodriguez

State Senate, District 19 - Carlos I. Uresti

You can read other Texas blog endorsements over at BOR.

Ciro Ciro

Ciro Rodriguez has a new ad and I like it. He reminds me of family down in the Rio Grande Valley. So give his campaign some $$$.

Tom losing power in more ways than one

All the more reason for TX D-22 to vote him out. Tom has lost his clout.

When Tom DeLay was the most powerful man in the House of Representatives, Congress and the president devoted $500 million over 10 years for an oil and gas project lawmakers expected to go to a firm in DeLay's hometown.

But just a month after the embattled former House majority leader announced he would not try to keep his leadership job, the Bush administration cut funding for the project from its 2007 budget, and announced in the fine print of its 1,220-page fiscal blueprint that it would seek legislation to kill the program outright.

Time for a change.

Dummies

How about Dummie works for Dummie...and work has been a real real bitch...

Idiots

Sorry for the slow posting. Work has been a bitch lately.

Stop by and say...

hello to Samantha Burns. It's all crazy.

DeLay takes one for the team

That is if he is not aquitted.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is signaling to new Majority Leader John Boehner and other House leaders that he won't seek a return to leadership if he is acquitted of Texas money-laundering charges.

Associates said that DeLay instead will use his position on the Appropriations Committee to boost NASA spending, especially for his hometown Johnson Space Center in Houston, and will move back into the unofficial post as head of the Texas House delegation.

"He'll do what he does best," says an adviser. "He's a team player." There had been indications that he would seek a return, but his allies said that he will instead act as a superdiplomat and whip for Boehner and House Speaker Dennis Hastert. - The Stakeholder

Where's the love

I saw this on Aaren Pena's blog. Where's the love...no kisss?

Watch Democratic candidates for Texas Governor debate

Chris Bell and Bob Gammage, Democratic candidates for Texas Governor, participated in a debate at the WFAA-TV studios on Feb. 9, 2006. If you missed the debate like I did, here is your chance to get learn more about the guys trying to knock Governor Good Hair.

Watch it if so wish.

Fun with Dick and Scoot

Thoughts?

A case for gun control

A hunter with a gun is fine but a crazy man with a gun is not.

Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, spraying the fellow hunter in the face and chest with shotgun pellets.

Harry Whittington, a millionaire attorney from Austin, was "alert and doing fine" in a Corpus Christi hospital Sunday after he was shot by Cheney on a ranch in south Texas, said Katharine Armstrong, the property's owner.

...or man!

Rummy plans Iran attack

Here we go again...

Strategists at the Pentagon are drawing up plans for devastating bombing raids backed by submarine-launched ballistic missile attacks against Iran's nuclear sites as a "last resort" to block Teheran's efforts to develop an atomic bomb.

Central Command and Strategic Command planners are identifying targets, assessing weapon-loads and working on logistics for an operation, the Sunday Telegraph has learnt. - Telegraph

I need to divert attention from this eavesdropping mess. - banjo monkey

Labor backs Ciro

Down with the awol lover.

"He is our No. 1 primary target in the United States," said Chuck Rocha, national political director of the United Steelworkers of America.

The Laredo Democrat got to the top of the Pennsylvania-based union's hit list because of his vote last July for the Central America Free Trade Agreement. Cuellar was one of 15 Democrats who broke ranks in the House, ensuring the bill's passage. The pact, which organized labor feared would kill jobs and push down wages, passed by two votes.

United Steelworkers has been the loudest union seeking to bring down the first-term congressman. But it's got plenty of company among unions that assail what they consider Cuellar's Republican leanings.

Rocha said labor has put together "a comprehensive plan" to unseat Cuellar and return Ciro Rodriguez , whom Cuellar narrowly defeated two years ago, to Congress.

A lie on the “widely attended” holiday parties

The Bush White House caught with their pants down again.



"You know, I, frankly, don't even remember having my picture taken with the guy. I don't know him."-- President Bush, when asked at a Jan. 26 news conference about his contacts with Jack Abramoff

"The guy saw me in almost a dozen settings, and joked with me about a bunch of things, including details of my kids. Perhaps he has forgotten everything, who knows."-- Jack Abramoff, in a letter about his contacts with President Bush

Sources: Reuters, whitehouse.gov

AOL Online Poll

Whose account of Bush and Abramoff's ties seems more believable?
Jack Abramoff's
69%
President Bush's
22%
Not sure
10%
Total Votes: 115,274

A Big Ass Truth Serum Alert!

Find the bad seed

President Bush's FY 2007 budget cuts epilepsy program

Now this really hits home in more ways than one.

On February 6, 2006, President Bush released his FY 2007 budget to Congress. This budget, which serves as a first step in determining how federal dollars will eventually be allocated by Congress to states and local agencies that administer programs, eliminated or sharply cut hundreds of programs. One of the programs eliminated is the Epilepsy Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Included in the President’s Budget are cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Supported Employment programs for people with disabilities, Higher Education demonstrations for Students with Disabilities, Real Choice Systems Change Grants for people with disabilities, and many more. The Epilepsy Foundation is greatly concerned with this budget that cuts so many vital programs for children, the elderly and low-income Americans. While many of these programs have been on the chopping block before, others are cut for the first time this year. The President plans to save $14.7 billion by making these cuts.

The Epilepsy Foundation national staff will be asking for your assistance over the next few months as we work with the Congressional Budget and Appropriations Committees to create a more reasonable budget and to ensure adequate funding for needed programs. First and foremost we will be working to fully restore the CDC Epilepsy Program.

The CDC Epilepsy Program is currently funded at $7.6 million, about half of which supports Epilepsy Foundation and affiliate public health education programs like Emergency First Responders - training about seizures for police, firefighters, and Emergency Medical Technicians, the School Nurse Program which trains school nurses nationwide to understand and respond to seizures in the school environment, and the Take Charge of the Facts program which helps teens take charge of their seizures and health care. Additionally, the CDC Epilepsy Program has a component called Seniors and Seizures which includes advocacy, research and education about this fast growing population of people often experiencing seizures for the first time.

Without the CDC funding, these programs and others funded by the CDC could not happen. We hope that you will join the Epilepsy Foundation national office and work with us as we fight to restore funding for our program. There are several action steps that will be needed over time. Some of these actions include:

* Helping to place letters to the editor or op-ed pieces in your local newspapers

* Writing letters or placing calls to Capitol Hill asking for restoration of the funding for the CDC Epilepsy Program

*Visiting key Members of Congress during the Public Policy Institute (PPI)/ Kids Speak Up! Program March 28-31, 2006.

Through e-mails and by targeted calls, we will keep you apprised of how you can help and will provide messages and templates to assist you. Please also encourage people to join the Speak Up Speak Out network to assist us in restoring our funding this year. If you have any questions regarding the President’s Budget or the congressional process for funding, please contact Donna Meltzer at dmeltzer@efa.org.

Sincerely,

Alexandra (Sandy) K. Finucane, Esq.
VP, Legal and Government Affairs
Epilepsy Foundation
301-918-3760
301-459-0340 F

Plame leak came from the top

Such the evil doer...

A former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney told a federal grand jury that his superiors authorized him to give secret information to reporters as part of the Bush administration's defense of intelligence used to justify invading Iraq, according to court papers.

Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said in documents filed last month that he plans to introduce evidence that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff, disclosed to reporters the contents of a classified National Intelligence Estimate in the summer of 2003.

I actually was friends with Abramoff before I wasn't friends with him

Flip flop...

On 01/03/06, Tom Delay's lawyer Dick Deguerin said that Jack and Tom were great buddies:(video)

Dick: There's no question that they are friends and Tom Delay's not the kind of person that's going to turn his back on a friend that's in trouble---Tom Delay is not going to abandon Jack Abramoff just because Abramoff has done some illegal things...

Today-The Carpetbagger Report writes:

DeLay added: "The reality is, Jack Abramoff and I were not close personal friends. I met with him only occasionally, in fact less frequently than numerous others who brought issues before Congress — never did he receive preferential treatment....read on"

So now Tom is saying they weren't buddies, while his lawyer says they are. It's always fun to watch one shady character turn on the other.

Republican primary challenger says DeLay lacks Integrity

DeLay Republican primary challenger Tom Campbell new ad explains what his opponent Tom DeLay is lacking...Integrity.

See the ad here.

A picture truly does say a thousand words

For those of you that need a little help...

Eat, drink, and buy art with Kinky this weekend

Sounds like a great place to catch a beer buzz and meet folks who like to throw a good party. Click on Kinky for good time.



Also, the Kinkster has somewhat of a new online look.

Nick Lampson does Talking Points Memo

Tell Evan thanks for posting the TPM Nick Lampson interview.

Grow a spine, Tom Vilsack

A Republican with a backbone.

A House Republican whose subcommittee oversees the National Security Agency broke ranks with the White House on Tuesday and called for a full Congressional inquiry into the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program.

The lawmaker, Representative Heather A. Wilson of New Mexico, chairwoman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence, said in an interview that she had "serious concerns" about the surveillance program. By withholding information about its operations from many lawmakers, she said, the administration has deepened her apprehension about whom the agency is monitoring and why.

A spineless Democrat.

Gov. Tom Vilsack said Monday that Democrats risk political backlash if they object to the Bush administration's wiretapping but cannot show that Americans' civil liberties are at risk.

The Democratic governor, who is weighing a 2008 presidential bid, said the party will suffer if it continues to be perceived as weaker than Republicans on national security.

(snip)

"If the president broke the law, that's unacceptable. But I think it's debatable whether he did," Vilsack told Des Moines Register editors and reporters.

"And I think Democrats are falling into a very, very large political trap," he said. "Democrats are not going to win elections until they can reassure people they are going to keep them safe."

Come on Tom, get with the program.

Yes, we get it!

Others just don't get it...

Ciro Rodriguez picking up steam

Kos calls it like it is in the District 28 race.

So I know what you're thinking. 1,329 people have contributed nearly $62K in the last week to Ciro Rodriguez. But you're still looking for motivation to join the bandwagon in a race that will replace a fake Democrat whose entire career (from his state lege days) has been designed to provide "bipartisan" cover for George Bush, with a real Democrat.

Perhaps the fact that Cuellar calls himself an anti-homosexual, anti-abortion "Democrat" in a district that is far more liberal than its congressman isn't enough?

Well, how about this? Henry Cuellar supports continued war in Iraq, while Ciro Rodriguez voted against Bush's war authorization. Winning this race would get get us one vote closer to ending our disastrous Iraq quagmire.

Get the vote out and donate.

It's already too late

A minute with CBN and Tom DeLay

An interview for the DeLay faithfull.

CBN News: Do you feel like you may have made too many enemies, to the point where now it's becoming too much of an uphill climb?

Tom DeLay: I don't think it's too much of an uphill climb, but you're right -- I've made a lot of enemies.

CBN News: Who are you angry at?

DeLay: I'm really not angry. My faith has sustained me. I struggle with loving your enemies and I try my best to love my enemies and pray for my enemies, but I'm not angry.

The article says that he really believes this is "a left-wing conspiracy designed by the Democrats who do not like DeLay's conservative Christian values and his hardball tactics". Is it me or the "left wing conspiracy" talk sounding just a bit silly and how did he catch on that we all hate bible thumpers. Geez.

They are quite the comedy dual...

Christine DeLay: They don't like Tom DeLay, because Tom DeLay has been very effective in making some serious changes in this country.

Tom Delay: All they have is the politics of personal destruction and character assassination.

Christine: And the liberal media.

Tom: And the liberal media.

Christine: That's huge.

Let us see, the liberal media that charters an expensive private jet to a paid interview to tell the truth according to Tom Delay. Remember this...

Unsaid, but revealed in documents DeLay later filed in the U.S. House, was that DeLay's Oct. 2 appearance cost Fox News $14,000.

The money rented a private jet to ferry DeLay from a small airport near his Sugar Land home to Fox studios in Washington. The next day, after engaging in a give and take with host Chris Wallace, DeLay and his Capitol Police security detail were flown back to suburban Houston. -Chuck Lindell

Ok, back to the CBN interview.

CBN News: How much pressure did you feel you were under, to give up that House leadership position?

DeLay: I felt no pressure at all.

Sure you didn't.

And a final thought...

In the end, DeLay's bottom line is that, one day, the truth will set him free.

Amen.

The Karl Rove blacklist

Now why is Karl Rove still in the White House?

Dems - No backbone. Repugs - Turd Blossom robots.

Congressional sources said Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has threatened to blacklist any Republican who votes against the president. The sources said the blacklist would mean a halt in any White House political or financial support of senators running for re-election in November.
*****
The sources said the administration has been alarmed over the damage that could result from the Senate hearings, which began on Monday, Feb. 6. They said the defection of even a handful of Republican committee members could result in a determination that the president violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Such a determination could lead to impeachment proceedings.

GOP senators refuse to put Attorney General under oath on wiretaps

Truth Serum Alert!! per this story.

Republican senators refused to put Attorney General Alberto Gonzales under oath in his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee about President Bush's clandestine wiretap program, RAW STORY has learned.

The move was first picked up by ThinkProgress. ThinkProgress has the video here.

Don't they just look so guilty?


Put me in coach!

So who's addicted to oil?

Thank you DU.

New MoveOn.org ad: Two of Kind

In reality every time Bush defends his illegal wiretapping he is basically saying to the world, "I am not a crook".Here is the ad.

DeLay: leave my golf trips alone

I now fully understand why people are running from the man they once called the hammer. During a question and anwser last week he had this reply to a question regarding lobbying reform:

Delay: This effort is being driven by the left wing groups like Common Cause, Democracy 21, the ACLU and others...their ultimate goal is public financing of campaigns and total isolation of elected officials."

OK, so corruption has nothing to do with it?

C&L has the audio.

Vote no on conservative Henry Cuellar

I know the Dems have a big tent and all, but when our own Club For Growth endorsed Texas democrat pulls the ultimate Lieberman stunt, I'm just estatic, you might say, he has a primary opponent we can all support. Today Truth Serum throws all it's support to Ciro D. Rodriguez in hopes of removing the Lieberman twin out office.

Throw a little love his way here. This is a race to watch!!


Gag me with a spoon!

Remember the kiss

Tutu wearing kiss ass...

Why kill your livelihood?

If you exterminate all living roaches some exterminators may eventually be out of work. But the exterminator may survive if he fraudulently allows the roaches to live even though he was hired to kill them. Here is a prime example from today's voting in the House of Representatives.


Out of control partisan spray can.

At your local newstand

Texas money laundering case takes new turn

I pity the poor D-22er's who still support this clown...

A European trip former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay took six years ago with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff is the new focus of a money laundering investigation in Texas, court documents filed Wednesday in Austin, Texas, show.

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle wants DeLay's wife and several associates who joined him on the trip to turn over travel itineraries, expense reimbursement requests and other documents. - SUZANNE GAMBOA

DeLay legal expenses top $1 million

$1 million dollars and all I got was a stinkin' indictment.

Embattled U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay raised more money for his legal defense in 2005 than ever before but still owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to lawyers, according to documents released Tuesday.

The DeLay Legal Fund needs you.