Can you imagine a day when you never again have to pay for gas for your car? Or never pay for a tune up? Or never pay for the electricity that powers your house? Well, with some actual leadership from our elected officials, the days of cheap and clean energy are not some far-off pipe dream. Read this article from the SierraClub and imagine the possibilities.
“Five years ago, I spent about $45,000 and got a brand new car (the RAv4EV) and the solar system,” he says. “We’re still driving the car every day, and the solar system will continue to make fuel for whatever EV we drive in the future. For $45,000 we bought a new car and fuel for the rest or our lives.”
Asked how long it will take for the PV system to pay for itself, Dickey replies: “If we think of everything in terms of what it costs us in the short-term, we’re screwed. It’s the same argument people use against the Prius: When will it pay back in gas savings? But that only accounts for the money paid at the pump. What of the billions of dollars that leave our economy for oil, or the billions of our tax dollars that go toward tax incentives for oil companies? What of the cost of the military and the lives lost to protect our oil?”
$45,000 is no doubt a significant amount of money. But if we invest in this now — like we should have been for the past 20+ years — the price will naturally come down. Darrell Dickey hits the nail on the head when he says we need to think of this modest investment in contrast to the billions of dollars that leave our treasury every year for oil.
Here’s my favorite quote:
My wife has not been to a gasoline station in seven years and 70,000 commute miles—not once!”
US President George W. Bush said in an interview out Tuesday that he quit playing golf in 2003 out of respect for the families of US soldiers killed in the conflict in Iraq, now in its sixth year.
“I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal,” he said in an interview for Yahoo! News and Politico magazine.
“I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander-in-chief playing golf,” he said. “I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them.”
Warren Street at Blue Girl, Red State says that Bush is lying about why (and when) he quit golf:
Actually, it is far more likely that Bush quit playing golf because he was suffering from knee problems throughout the latter half of 2003.
Street then links to a CBS News article published in December 2003[..]
Bush actually played his last round of golf on October 13, 2003. This means that the reason he gave for quitting after the August 2003 U.N. bombing is dubious at best. More likely, he made the story up in a clumsy ploy to gain sympathy. In many regions and cultures around the world, this is called “lying.”
See video of the Politico interview here. And who could forget this gem, made famous by Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11.”
If there was truly any justice in this world, Karl Rove would be cooling his heels in some very uncomfortable room in The Hague, Netherlands right now. Instead, he has jumped from the sinking ship of the Bush White House to a cushy job as a pundit on FOXNews. But even as a pundit, on Monday’s Verdict, Dan Abrams has noted a peculiar tendency on the part of Bush’s Brain to sound exactly like a partisan political propagandist. Case in point: Rove was kind enough to give some “advice” to Barack Obama that read for all the world as a whisper campaign on Obama’s perceived weakness.
But inside that Beltway Bubble, Karl Rove finding gainful employment giving his opinion on Democratic candidates hardly raises an eyebrow. In fact, Tucker Carlson loves him some Rovian punditry:
Well, I’ve seen him a couple of times on the tube.I think he’s excellent, actually.He’s better than I thought he would be.He’s got smart and incisive things to say.Look, the thing about Rove is it’s actually a more honest situation than most.I mean, in a lot of cases you’ve got people—most journalists obviously are liberal Democrats—and most sort of try their best to be objective.You kind of have to guess about whether they’re achieving objectivity or not.With Rove, it’s Karl Rove!You know, like you know exactly who he is, you know where he’s coming from.A smart person takes that into account.Even a dumb person takes that into account.And so, everything’s kind of out on the table and you can evaluate what he says and turn on your BS monitor and if some of it sounds like spin, you take that into account.But I’ve been kind of impressed, being in the pundit business myself for a while, by how good the guy is.Watch him, he’s good! Actually.
Uh no, actually. Only Roy Sekoff of the Huffington Post seems to get that someone who is responsible for so much of what is wrong with this country and so many criminal acts does not deserve to continue to get a national platform from which to practice and further his divisive ways. Of course if being “wrong” was the metric to ensure not being on TV, Tucker would have been vanquished off by 1994. Most journalists are liberal Democrats, Tucker? You idiot, Karl Rove is on FOXNews. Are you telling me they’re mostly liberal Democrats? That’s just stupid and lazy.
Norah McDonnell perpetuates the “Karl Rove is a political genius” meme so intractably popular in Washington DC circles:
I think everybody knows where Karl Rove comes from.And I think the genius of Karl Rove, whether you agree or disagree with him, even the things he’s done inside the Bush administration, is that he is a brilliant political tactician.There’s nobody since I covered the White House who knows the numbers, who knows demographics of congressional districts, who knows the delegate counts better.I mean, really, other than like Chuck Todd, who does the numbers like that, Karl Rove knows this stuff, lives it, breathes it, digs it, and so that’s why he’s a good source in that regard.But there’s no doubt…I mean, he wants the Republican…and he wants McCain to win, even though he tried to destroy McCain in 2000.
Norah, no one knows better than Karl? Can you say 2006 elections? I predicted the outcome more accurately than Rove did. Where’s my pundit spot where I can attack the Republicans under the guise of my “political expertise”? And I’m not guilty of orchestrating dirty elections, ramping up a propaganda tsunami to force the country into an illegal war or treasonously outing a CIA covert officer. I think a moral compass would be a refreshing change in the punditry, don’t you?
After the embarrassing video of “Papa Bear” Bill O’Reilly surfaced this week in which he goes ballistic on the producers of his old show “Inside Edition,” Stephen decided, in an act of solidarity, to release his own never-before-seen outtake from his stint at a local station in North Carolina.
A New York Times article detailed the connection between numerous media military analysts and the Pentagon and defense industries, reporting that “the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform” media military analysts “into a kind of media Trojan horse — an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks.” A Media Matters review found that since January 1, 2002, the analysts named in the Times article — many identified as having ties to the defense industry — collectively appeared or were quoted as experts more than 4,500 times on ABC, ABC News Now, CBS, CBS Radio Network, NBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, and NPR….read on
We knew they were all over the airwaves, but not to this degree. Di Rita was only trying to bring balance to the news coverage anyway. Glenn Greenwald wonders if Karl Rove was part of this program. What do you think?
Gin and Tacos: Conservatives’ states benefit the most from the federal tax policies they often oppose.
Shakesville: “Obama Racism/Muslim/Unpatriotic/Scary Black Dude Watch Part Forty-Three and Clinton Sexism Watch Part Ninety-One.” Now with Bigot Bingo!
Huffington Post: Ali Eteraz debunks Edward Luttwack’s claims that the Muslim world might seek to execute Barack Obama as an apostate. (Funny how the New York Times is essentially recycling the same, long-debunked concern trolling of Daniel Pipes and other right-wingers from four months ago.)
Media Bloodhound: Not even Tim Russert and his dry erase board can compete with John King’s “months-long affair” with his interactive election map. (The map could do sooo much better.)
Guest roundup by Batocchio. Please e-mail submissions and tips to Batocchio9 at yahoo dot com. Thanks!
In today’s New York Times’ Caucus blog, Carl Hulse reports that House Republicans have got themselves a brand-new slogan:
It looks like Republicans will counter the Democratic push for change from the years of the Bush administration with their own pledge to deliver, drum roll please, “the change you deserve.” […]
What the GOP doesn’t seem to realize, because they are idiots, is that “the change you deserve” is the registered advertising slogan of Effexor XR. … also known as Venlafaxine, is approved for the treatment “of depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder in adults.”
Why the GOP would ever think the slogan “the change you deserve” is going to work for them is beyond me. This is an election year when 22 of the 34 Senate races, 5 of which are open, are Republican, as are open House contests by more than 3 to 1 (26/8), not to mention the White House is occupied by most unpopular President in our history. Good luck with that. Change is exactly what the people deserve. This has to rank right up there in GOP nescience-cum-hilarity apropos of everything right alongside their choice for the RNC Convention logo following Sen Larry Craig’s toe tapping scandal.
Marietta bar owner Mike Norman says the T-shirts he’s peddling, featuring a look-a-like of cartoon chimp Curious George peeling a banana, with “Obama in ‘08″ underneath, are not meant to offend.
Norman acknowledged the imagery’s Jim Crow roots but said he sees nothing wrong with depicting a prominent African-American as a monkey. We’re not living in the (19)40’s,” he said. “Look at him . . . the hairline, the ears — he looks just like Curious George.”About a dozen prostestors rallied against the shirts Tuesday afternoon, condemning them as racist and asking Norman, longtime proprietor of Mulligan’s Bar and Grill on Roswell Street, to stop selling them.
Marietta native Pam Lindley, 47, joined the protest after reading about the controversy online.
“I don’t want people to think this is what Marietta is all about,” she added, motioning towards the tavern. “This is what some people think the South is still like. Marietta’s come a long way but I guess it’s still got a little ways to go.”
What’s just as scary is the poll results so far. I grabbed this last night from the same web-page.
About a month ago, Joe Lieberman explained that he’s open to delivering the keynote address at the Republican National Convention in September. “If Sen. McCain, who I support so strongly, asked me to do it, if he thinks it will help him, I will,” Lieberman told The Hill.
At the time, the Democratic Senate leadership didn’t seem prepared to do anything about Lieberman’s antics. Asked whether Lieberman’s chairmanship was at risk in the next Congress, Majority Leader Harry Reid said succinctly, “No.” Majority Whip Dick Durbin added, “We have one difference of opinion, maybe two with Sen. Lieberman. As a whip, I can tell you time and again, he’s been there when we’ve needed him.”
Democratic discontent, however, seems to be on the rise.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) could be stripped of his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee after the next election, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said.
Speaking to MSNBC host Keith Olbermann on Friday, Reid suggested the former Democrat, who lost to a left-wing primary challenger in 2006 and has now endorsed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for the presidency, is not guaranteed to keep his prestigious chairmanship.
Olbermann asked Reid if there was “anything that he could do that would make you move to take his leadership position away on Homeland Security.” The majority leader responded: “Yes, of course,” but did not elaborate.
Earlier on Friday, Reid added, “I think it’s wrong what he’s done [campaigning for McCain], and I told him that.”
A Lieberman aide told The Hill, “Sen. Reid has made it clear that the chairmanship is absolutely not in jeopardy.” A month ago, I’d say that sounded right. Now, I’m not sure. (Read the rest of this story…)
And by the way, praise the lord Mike Huckabee has edged out Condoleeza Rice for Vice in the Congressional Quarterly VP Madness game! Don’t forget we have a West Virginia Primary Open Thread going as well here.
Absolute shocker tonight as the special election in MS-01, one of the reddest districts on the map, has been won by Democrat Travis Childers. Russert, Matthews, Olbermann, and even Huckabee all agree: this is very, very bad news for the GOP.
Both Darth Cheney (Russert’s words) and Mike Huckabee campaigned for Childers’ opponent. Maybe it’s not a good idea to have the least popular guy in America promoting you. Just a thought.
The Democrats are now 3-for-3 in these red district special elections: Along with Childers’ win tonight, Bill Foster took Denny Hastert’s old IL seat, and Dan Cazayoux took the solidly red 6th district in LA.
Another bit of good news comes out of Nebraska tonight, where true Democrat Scott Kleeb beat out fake Democrat Tony Raimondo by a wide margin for the right to take a run at Chuck Hagel’s open seat. Congrats, Scott.
Before there was rock’n'roll– just before– there were The Platters. And before the Doors, Love, X or Black Flag came along, The Platetrs were the L.A. Sound. The band had a string of worldwide smashes– “Only You,” “The Great Pretender,” “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” “My Prayer,” “Twilight Time,” “Harbor Lights,” and… “The Magic Touch” from the mid-50’s into the mid-60’s. The song popped into my head yesterday when I heard the GOP was sending Vice President Dick Cheney to northern Mississippi to use his magic touch in today’s congressional race down there.
On the eve of the West Virginia primary, most Democrats nationally say Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton should continue the campaign, but more now say that it’s time for Clinton to quit.
In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, 55% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents also would like Illinois Sen. Barack Obama to choose Clinton as his running mate, although there’s notable resistance among his backers.
Nearly six in 10 Democrats who are aligned with one of the candidates said they would prefer to see Clinton and Obama continue campaigning until one of them wins a clear victory, rather than bringing the fight to an early conclusion.
Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall (WV03) assures Chris Matthews that democracy is alive and well and that the process is working out as it should.
These primaries have been good for the Democratic Party.It shows the diversity in our party.It shows the strength that we can have a difference of opinion and yet unite, which I fully believe we’ll do. Not to have that Alfred Hitchcock scenario at the convention, Chris, but rather to go into that convention united as a party, ready to beat John McBush this fall, I mean, McCain.
UPDATE: (Silent Patriot) There’s also another race to follow closely tonight in Mississippi’s 1st congressional district. Rep. Roger Wicker was promoted to the Senate after Trent Lott stepped down, and this seat, which went to Bush by 30 pts in 2004, has a realistic shot at going blue.
You can check the results here. We’re pulling for Travis Childers.
I’d assume that he got a tremendous amount of pressure from McCain’s camp and under the non-stop posts from the liberal blogs—Pastor Hagee recanted his anti-Catholic hatred.
John Hagee, an influential Texas televangelist who endorsed John McCain, apologized to Catholics Tuesday for his stinging criticism of the Roman Catholic Church and for having “emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholic and Protestant relations with the Jews.”
Hagee’s support for McCain has drawn cries of outrage from some Catholic leaders who have called on McCain to reject Hagee’s endorsement. The likely Republican nominee has said he does not agree with some of Hagee’s past comments, but did not reject his support.
Like clockwork, Bill Donohue said all is forgiven. What a political tool this man is. Hey, what’s a few decades of anti-Catholic hatred compared with a politically motivated apology that means absolutely nothing. Donohue just sold out Catholics everywhere.
Donohue, one of Hagee’s sharpest critics, said he accepted the apology and planned to meet with Hagee Thursday in New York. “I got what I wanted,” Donohue said in an interview. “He’s seen the light, as they like to say. So for me it’s over.”
The Catholic League’s loud mouth had this to say about Hagee previously:
Donohue: This thing is out of bounds and this is why McCain has to look at thi—this–it’s the totality of what the man stands for. He’s been bashing Catholicism for decades and making a mountain of money over it.
There was a virtual black out of Bill Donohue from the world of TV media when McCain sought and received Hagee’s endorsement, but I believe we’ll see him all over the airwaves now in the next few days. How fast will Matthews have him on?
“As a nation, America is under the curse of God, even now.” That ominous slam at America came from Pastor John Hagee, whose endorsement Republican presidential candidate John McCain he is “glad to have.” Hagee claims God’s “curse” and “doom” is upon America because of two key issues: reproductive freedom and broad support for the teaching of the theory of evolution.
Hagee claimed the Roman Catholic Church conspired with Hitler to kill Jews in the Holocaust but also, in the same book, blamed the Holocaust on Jews themselves (for worshiping idols) and wrote that Hitler and the Nazis were actually working for God, divine agents sent to chase Jews, through the rather inefficient and brutal mechanism of killing them in massive numbers, towards Palestine, “the only home God ever intended for the Jews to have.”
But 62 days after he declared himself “very proud” and “honored” to the have the endorsement of the End Times Pastor John Hagee, Republican John McCain still has not answered - or even been asked - the question that should concern all Americans:
Does John McCain agree with Pastor John Hagee that war with Iran is the fulfillment of the biblical prophecy of Armageddon?…read on
…it seems that fires are burning, cyclones are hitting and massive earthquakes are shaking. It’s very gloomy around the world. Hi, Global Warming. And let me tell say this, those aftershocks scare the heck out of you just as much as the quake itself. From what I’ve read, the quake shook for three minutes in China. The two I experienced lasted about 20 seconds each. If LA’s ‘94 shocker lasted that long, the devastation would have been unbelievable. Over 12, 000 gone and counting…
The Hillasked the other 97 sitting US Senators whether or not they would accept the offer to be #2. Richard Shelby’s answer was probably the most, shall we say, colorful:
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) ruled himself out because of disinterest and said McCain would look elsewhere anyway.
“Besides, there was a famous quote about the vice presidency from Franklin Roosevelt’s vice president,” Shelby said. “You should look that up.”
Shelby was referring to John Nance Garner, who served under Roosevelt from 1933 to 1941 and described the job as “not worth a bucket of warm piss.”
Two weeks ago, an NBC/WSJ poll found an interesting trend in American public opinion: after hearing about Jeremiah Wright’s controversial sermons in a constant loop for months, voters were more concerned with John McCain’s association with Bush than Obama’s association with his former pastor. (Specifically, 43% of respondents were worried about McCain and Bush; 32% about Obama and Wright.)
George W. Bush may do as much damage to John McCain’s chances of being elected as Jeremiah Wright does to Barack Obama’s, according to results of a recent USA Today/Gallup poll.
The May 1-3 poll finds 38% of likely voters saying McCain’s association with Bush makes them less likely to vote for McCain, while 33% say Obama’s association with Wright diminishes their likelihood of voting for Obama.
A strong majority of Americans (64%), including a near majority of Republicans (47%) said the Wright issue will not have any effect on their vote.
I’m a little torn as to whether this is good news for the likely Democratic nominee or not.
On the one hand, I’m delighted Americans are more concerned about McCain and Bush than Obama and Wright. That’s how it should be. On the other hand, shouldn’t the margin be considerably more dramatic than 38%-33%?
It now appears that the case between Wal-Mart and Jim and Debbie Shank will finally be settled, but Keith Olbermann still gives them the bronze award for good measure on his Worst Person in the World segment on Monday’s Countdown. As of today, the Shanks should finally have control over Debbie’s estate so that her husband can pay for her 24/7 care.
The silver goes to Doug Goodyear, John McCain’s pick to run the RNC National Convention — until it was revealed that Goodyear’s lobbying firm netted several hundred thousand dollars for lobbying on behalf of the military dictatorship of Myanmar, which has been blocking cyclone relief aid from it’s own citizens.
The gold went to…BillO. Mr. Orally went overboard about a Seattle newspaper for refusing to post photos of two men who were seen “acting suspiciously” on a local ferry, even sending his flying monkey-boy producer to the home of the paper’s publisher to pressure him into publishing the photos. As it turns out, the two men turned up at a U.S. embassy a couple of weeks ago and identified themselves as European business consultants who were sight seeing while they had some time off for work. They even turned over copies of the pictures they took that day.
Can you imagine a day when you never again have to pay for gas for your car? Or never pay for a tune up? Or never pay for the electricity that powers your house? Well, with some actual leadership from our elected officials, the days of cheap and clean energy are not some far-off pipe dream. Read this article from the SierraClub and imagine the possibilities.
If he really cared about the troops, he would have quit the Presidency.
After the 
Absolute shocker tonight as the special election in MS-01, one of the reddest districts on the map, 
Clinton, Hillary
The Hill 
