Recently in Republicans Category

No big surprise. Even though he's from Pascagoula, Northrup Grumman's new hero is Mary Mary, since she's in the majority. Trent's brother-in-law is one of the biggest trial lawyers on the gulf coast, and he's suing State Farm on behalf of Trent because the company screwed him on storm damage like they're doing all too many people. Add all that up and it was likely he wasn't going to run. Faced with another year of carrying water for the Worst President Evah, I'd consider quitting, too.

My first memory of Trent Lott was back in high school, when Lott served on the House Judiciary Committee. He was the first "no" vote against the Nixon impeachment resolution that was sent to the full House. Tool then, tool now.

(h/t Karen)

Sometimes news items from El Reg are poignant, sometimes they're goofy, and sometimes they have something to say that's spot-on and scary on more than one level. Here's one of those, from India:

Police in India wrongfully arrested and detained a Bangalore man for 50 days after internet service provider Airtel mis-identified him as the person who posted images on Orkut that insulted a revered historical figure.

Lakshmana Kailash K., a 26-year-old techie, was arrested at his home on August 31 and transported to Pune, more than 10 hours away, according to news reports. He was held for 50 days and was released three weeks after police claimed to have apprehended the real people responsible for the posting.

OK, shit happens, right? Stories of mistaken identity can come from all corners of the earth these days. But here's the part of the article that struck home for me:

Google has said repeatedly it has no option but to cooperate with official law enforcement inquiries - such as this case. Indian police are saying it's not their fault for wrongly detaining a man for 50 days. And an Airtel representative was quoted saying the company is "distressed by the severe inconvenience" caused to their customer.

Translation: if you live in a country where freedom of speech is not protected, you can be imprisoned for weeks at a time for no other reason than you use the net. Sure, Google and your ISP may feel bad about your plight, but they certainly won't be standing behind you.

In these days of rendition, the various incarnations of the PATRIOT Act, and Vice President Cheney, the foul-mouthed Dick, we're not talking run-of-the-mill banana republic here. The above two paragraphs apply not only to India, but the United States of America as well.

But if you can't offer one as a reason for hanging one, you deserve to be fired:

THIBODAUX, La. -- A Thibodaux police officer was ultimately fired for having a Confederate license plate and a noose hanging from the rear-view mirror of his personal car, Chief Craig Melancon.

Cpl. Michael Rodrigue had the vehicle parked on city property. A dozen black police officers went to the chief of police about the display.

"They're hurt by it. You know, what could he possibly be representing to put something like this up?" Melancon said.

The problem is not the noose by itself, but the combination of the Confederate flag and the noose. Seriously, the noose could be explained. Look at the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office. Former Judge Ronald Bodenheimer (R-Club Fed), prior to taking the bench (and subsequently going to jail), Bodenheimer was an assistant district attorney in Jefferson parish. On the wall in his chambers was a "Big Prick" award, a giant hypodermic needle commerating one of the death-penalty cases Bodenheimer prosecuted and won. Subsequent to that, Jefferson Parish ADAs began to sport ties with hangman's nooses and "grim reapers" on them. The practice was banned after defense attorneys complained, but it's an example that Cpl. Rodrigue could have used to defend himself.

Well, had he not put up the rebel flag, of course.

I hope they have a "STUPID" stamp to use on his termination papers down in Thibodaux.

I know the current administration likes Muslims about as much as they like the Eebil Coloreds, but c'mon, guys:

The UK's first Muslim Minister has chalked up his second detention at the hands of the US Department of Homeland Security - with exquisite irony, at Dulles Airport in Washington DC on his way back from talks with, er, the DHS on tackling terrorism.

Shahid Malik, who was also recently identified as Britain's most expensive MP, was detained by DHS officials, and he and his hand luggage were searched. He reports that he and two others, both black Muslims, were taken aside for further questioning.

OK, so they're Eebil Coloreds and they're Muslims, they must be bad, right? Even if they're holding diplomatic passports from H.M. Goverment. But it gets better:

Malik was previously held by staff at JFK in New York, last year while returning from an event where he'd been a keynote speaker on defeating extremism. Then, he claims, he was subjected to an "abusive attitude" from DHS staff.

Let it not be said that our government isn't thorough--it wasn't enough that we pissed this guy off last year, we had to do it again! And he's not the only British government official that DHS has pulled this stunt on:

The DHS' terrorist detection systems do seem to have an unfortunate knack when it comes to impressing relevant British Parliamentarians. Three years ago it contrived to demonstrate the efficacy of no-fly lists, in a negative sort of way, to a delegation from the UK's Transport Committee, headed by chair Gwyneth Dunwoody. As the impressed Dunwoody commented on the regime at the time, "it's a sort of general level of arrogant incompetence." Malik is no doubt similarly onside in the war on terror.

What's interesting is that the Right Honorable Ms. Dunwoody appears to be neither Muslim nor Colored:

"arrogant incompetence?"

nah...

"fucking morons"

(h/t El Reg)

I now officially declare a moratorium on Godwin's Law with respect to the Bush Administration, thanks to this tidbit from Frank Rich of the NYT today:

By any legal standards except those rubber-stamped by Alberto Gonzales, we are practicing torture, and we have known we are doing so ever since photographic proof emerged from Abu Ghraib more than three years ago. As Andrew Sullivan, once a Bush cheerleader, observed last weekend in The Sunday Times of London, America’s “enhanced interrogation” techniques have a grotesque provenance: “Verschärfte Vernehmung, enhanced or intensified interrogation, was the exact term innovated by the Gestapo to describe what became known as the ‘third degree.’ It left no marks. It included hypothermia, stress positions and long-time sleep deprivation.”

Some parallels to the Nazis are just extreme, like using "Lebensraum" to describe Israeli settlements on the West Bank, but what scares me about things like the reference above is that I don't think that these guys are smart enough to be students of the Gestapo. They came up with this shit on their own.

sometimes Schroeder really has more fun than he should be allowed to:

I still say someone should show up at every Jindal campaign event dressed like a giant package of diapers.

"Even a Republican audience in New Hampshire is divided on Iraq."

on NPR's Morning Edition today, Fox's Mara Liasson made this comment while reporting on the Fox News-sponsored Republican debate last night.

You should hear the applause for the only anti-war Republican Presidential candidate, Ron Paul, when he points out that 5000 Americans have died in Iraq, then wonders how many more will have to die.

If there are that many NH Republicans who agree with Paul, the GOP is well and truly screwed.

Troll repellant: Yes, it's safe to assume that the audience at that debate was Republicans. Most Democrats don't have the stomach for all those douchebags on the stage at the same time. It was also moderated by Brit Hume. If the candidates weren't enough, that idiot would scare away any other non-Republicans.

I'm amazed at the extent that the Blogosphere thinks the status of some of the more perverted members of the US Senate has to do with morality. It's about simple addition:

If Larry Craig resigns, Idaho's governor appoints a Repug. The Senate remains 50 Dem, 1 Indpendent (Caucusing with dems), 49 Repug.

If Vitty-cent resigns, Blanco appoints a Democrat. The Senate becomes 51 Dem, 1 Independent (caucusing with Dems), 48 Repug.

Now, keep in mind that the Independent is Joe Lieberman (I-Bagdhad). If Blanco is able to replace Vitty-cent with a Dem, it gives Majority Leader Reid the opportunity to be well rid of Surgin' Joe. That has HUGE consequences:

Liebermann's national pulpit shrinks dramatically. He goes from CNN's A-list to doing Sarah Silverman's show on Comedy Central. The last totally pro-war "democrat" is effectively silenced.

The Senate Homeland Security committee will get a new chair, when the Dems suggest to Liebermann that, if he wants a leadership position, he take one in the Israeli cabinet. That means real investigation into FEMA, real investigation on airport security, port security, and a myriad number of topics that BushCo would just as soon not let you hear about.

The Senate Judiciary Committee can either be re-structured (one less repug, one more dem), or "That Liberal Arlen Specter" can be squeezed to play ball more. The senior Senator from PA is a lying, waffling turd who needs to be slapped back in line.

This isn't about bathroom blowjobs or diaper fetishes. The world is crumbling before the eyes of Senate Republicans, and they're trying to deal with it. If Craig refuses to go quietly into the night, it could get ugly for Vitty-cent. If Craig stays, Repugs shut up. They can't afford to do anything else.

Ah, yes, back to school week. Moms cry as their little darlings go off for their first day of school, and the wingnuts come out of the woodwork, looking to ban books:

BOLIVIA, N.C. -- Brunswick County school officials will consider a procedure for students' parents to challenge books available at school libraries.

This comes one year after a public, nationwide discussion about allowing religious materials to be distributed in Brunswick County high schools.

If you look at the tit-for-tat here, it's a clear example of why these people need to be called out whenever they start. The fundigelicals want to be able to challenge books on Wicca and such because they were not allowed to distribute bibles in schools. Because they couldn't make like The Gideons and put a bible in the hands of every child, they now want to be able to pull books off of library shelves.

Apples-and-oranges. Shoot, this is Apples and dinosaurs, the two are so unrelated. The fundigelicals are clever, though. Look at this guy's statement:

Board member Jimmy Hobbs said he sees the importance of reviewing the policy.

"The issue is a valid issue," Hobbs said. "I'm not attacking Harry Potter. When the issue of Bibles in schools came up last year, the ones that raised the most opposition was the group known as Wicca. Does this policy give them a free pass to get their materials into the schools?

I'll wager that there's at least one bible on the shelf at each Brunswick Co. library location. I'll even be bold enough to suggest that a library patron can get their hands on biblical commentary works as well. The wingnut doesn't want you thinking about that, though. They want you to believe that the Godless Homos are putting evil books in the hands of your children.

Call bullshit on them, and call it loudly, when you hear someone spewing this garbage.

Banning books is one of the very few exemptions from Godwin's Law I'll allow. As soon as the wingnuts start on the subject of challenging books on library shelves, it's time to remind them of Nazi book-burnings.

Tbogg on Craig:

If only he had not been so gay and had, instead, just checked into a hotel room, donned a diaper, and fucked a couple of hookers like a normal Republican. They are conservatives and thinking outside the box is just unacceptable.

yeahyourite.