Thursday edition - January 10, 2008

Forget impeachment, get the straightjacket.

"Kind of a scary incident in the Straits of Hormuz this week. Do you know about this, where those Iranian boats threatened our navy? ... President Bush said today he has no plans to attack Iran. Oh, he's still going to attack, he just has no plans." --Jay Leno
 

www.buckfush.com

The-World-Is-A-Safer-Place-Without-Saddam News

• US Military Deaths in Iraq at 3921 The Associated Press

• www.iraqbodycount.org

• 9 US Soldiers Killed in Sunni Strongholds New York Times

• US Warplanes Pound al-Qaida in Iraq Safehouses South of Baghdad Voice of America

• Military Leaders Seek 3000 More Troops for Afghanistan New York Times

• Car Bomb Kills 5, Wounds 67 in Turkey The Associated Press

• Turkey's Kurds look to N.Iraq for jobs, trade Reuters

• Pakistan rejects nuclear watchdog's worries Reuters

• 22 killed, 70 hurt in Pakistan bombing AP

• Democrats: Iraqi troop buildup a failure AP

CIA Official Wants Immunity

Attorneys for Jose Rodriguez told Congress that the former CIA official won't testify about the destruction of CIA videotapes without a promise of immunity, a person close to the tapes inquiry said Wednesday.

Rodriguez, the former head of the CIA's National Clandestine Service, ordered the tapes destroyed in 2005. Rodriguez was scheduled to testify before the House Intelligence Committee at a Jan. 16 hearing.
 

Disturbing News

• Alabama man says he threw 4 kids off bridge: police Reuters

• 4 Dead, 38 Injured in Massive Pileup The Ledger

• Bodies of 4 youths found in D.C. home AP

Dan Rather Update

A judge said Wednesday that he was leaning toward allowing Dan Rather's $70 million lawsuit over his being fired by CBS to proceed.

"I concluded there was enough in the complaint (by Rather) to continue with discovery (pretrial research)," state Judicial Hearing Officer Ira Gammerman said at a hearing on CBS' motion to dismiss the case.

The judge did not issue a final ruling on CBS' motion, but he suggested the parties try to agree on the scope of pretrial discovery — just in case — and told them to return to court Jan. 23 for a conference.

www.buckfush.com

Republican Shenanigans

• Romney, McCain start to cozy up to Michiganders Detroit Free Press

• Summit Fuels Bloomberg 2008 Talk The Associated Press

• Huckabee seeks another 'Colbert bump' AP

Hi, I'm Fred Thompson. I'm not really a presidential candidate — but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. - Zing!

Email

Subject: New Hampshire Vote Fixed?

Lisa,

Diebold gave the NH vote to Hillary. Not all polls are that far off! I don't trust Hillary even tho I thought Bill was a great prez. She should have left him. And now Bill attacks Obama and twists his words. Arrgh.I support Obama and will continue to fight against the Hillary machine. She voted for the war and I distrusted her very very  much ever since then.

What do you think of her win and Diebold? Who do you support?? All other bloggers picked their candidates months ago, why not you??

Debbie

I spend my time fighting the right so this is a disturbing switch.

I'm glad Hillary didn't spend her time making cookies and holding teas, or as my Godmother would say, "to waste your talents is a sin."

As far as Hillary's war vote, which sickened me because I knew Bush was lying and she should have. The bottom line is Hillary voted the will of the people of New York who supported the war.

I don't understand this Hillary hatred. If I was Hillary, and my husband was impeached for cheating on me, I would have made use of my cast iron frying pan, had a good cry and then would want to eventually repair the damage for the good of my family and my country. Would you want to divorce Bill Clinton? Not me.

Diebold? A Republican owned company helping Hillary? Now that would make a great cartoon!

New Hampshire has always surprised us with their primary. They picked Pat Buchanan in 1992 and 1996 for crying out loud. Women put Hillary over the top.

I think any of the top Democratic candidates could beat any of the Republicans.

I've narrowed my choice down to Hillary, Obama and John Edwards and will vote for the last one standing.

Rock-The-Voter News

• Sympathetic female boomers push her ahead of Obama Chicago Sun-Times

• 2004 Dem Nominee Kerry Endorsing Obama The Associated Press

• Court seems to back Indiana voter ID law AP

This week's cover of the right wing mag, Weekly Standard. Ha ha. And to think the New York Times just hired their editor, Bill Kristol, to be a columnist.

Is there no shame?

"They held the New Hampshire caucuses today. Is it caucuses? It's cauci, right? ... The results are in. As expected, a big comeback for John McCain who won on the Republican side. When I last checked, Hillary Clinton had a slight lead over Barack Obama. That one was very close. It was so close, they almost had to call Oprah in to make a final decision" --Jimmy Kimmel
 

Biz-Tech News

• Oil prices extend losses on demand fears AFP

• In India, the world's cheapest car debuts to fanfare, criticism Christian Science Monitor

• As housing slumps, realtors quit The Christian Science Monitor

• Air controllers say staffing too short AP

• Alcoa's profit jumps 76 percent AP

• GM: China vehicle sales rise 19 percent AP

• Company unveils bed with web, iPod, DVR AP

www.wrapped-in-the-flag.com

Email

Subject: The Bush legacy

Failure

Failed to win the 2000 election
Failed to "unite"
Failed to capitalise on the strong economy left by the previous administration
Failed to build on the ground breaking work in improving relations with N. Korea
Failed to listen to pre 9/11 terror warnings
Failed to find OBL, the person behind the outrage that was 9/11
Failed to listen to all those who told him that Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11
Failed to listen to all those who told him that Saddam didn't have WMD
Failed to understand the use and power of diplomacy to achieve anything!
Failed the US army by lack of planning for "what happens later ...."
Failed the people of New Orleans
Failed to protect the constitution (his sworn duty!)
Failed to recognise climate change and the need to address it
Failed the Office of the President
Failed the American people

The list goes on ..... and on .....

John A.

I wish the Democrats had the votes to impeach Bush or at the very least, "to put impeachment back on the table."

The next US president is going to have a mess left on their desk in the Oval Office.

Bush will leave a mess, just as his father did.

Until we hold our presidents accountable for crimes and lack of duty, the US will have more presidents such as Bush. It's too tempting to his ilk.

Thank you for writing, John.

Bush-Prison-Torture News

• Lawyer says Spain complicit in Guantanamo abuse Reuters UK

• Army Officer Is Cleared in Abu Ghraib Scandal Washington Post

Hillary Clinton regained her momentum Tuesday by winning in New Hampshire. Not everybody was happy. Bill O'Reilly leaped over the twenty-foot fence around his desk and mauled three teenagers who were walking through the studio on the Fox News tour. - Argus Hamilton

Go-F***-Yourself News

• Impeachment: Fla ACLU Votes Free Market News Network, FL