Feingold on TV,

This one might be hard to stomach.

Just wanted to make sure you knew that Russ will be appearing on "Fox News Sunday" this weekend

Then again if they come at him with the week republican talking points like they normally do, he should kick ass.

This attack add is kind of funny. It almost seems like an attack on Bush.

Fake news,

Former senator Gary Hart shows Feingold some love on The Colbert Report.

This interview with Fareed Zakaria reeks of common sense. I think Fareed is one of the best voices out there.

It makes me feel sad that I can find more information on a fake news show then I can on the real news. Read what Walter Cronkite has to say about the current news shows.

A really good idea,

Georgia just passed a law to put bibles in schools.

Does making religion into a homework assignment seem like the perfect way to make high school kids atheists or is it just me? Give them enough rope.

Censure tomorrow,

The big censure hearing is tomorrow. I can't imagine it passing, but it should be interesting. If nothing else it is going to bloody up the republican's plenty.

John Dean, Nixon’s lawyer, will be in front of the committee. Here is a preview.

A good preview from The Nation

RIP,

Arrested Development is over. That sucks. There are all these new comedies coming out that look like cheap rip offs of the true comic genius that was A.D. Oh well now I won't have to watch as much T.V.

Crashing the Gate

I finished reading "Crashing the Gate" by Jerome Armstrong (MyDD) and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga (aka Kos). I was expecting more of an attack on the republican's book, but instead I was pleasantly surprised that that wasn't the case. The party that they attack the most in the book is the democrat's, more specifically how the democrat's present themselves. Strangely enough I found this book very encouraging and seemed to be very productive in gaining back control in Washington. I would highly recommend this book if you want to see how things could change and how the people can take control of the party.

Now here is my big problem with the authors, Jerome is working for Mark Warner. Although Kos hasn't endorsed anyone and doesn't do consulting it seems like he is leaning toward Warner. Now they just wrote this book about how the people could take back Washington and all that and then they go and (at least in my mind) endorse Mr. Republican-lite. Every point in there book seems to be undermined by this. Yes Warner is a great example of how a democrat can win a red state, but he is just that a red state governor.

Maybe I am too much a Feinite (One who's politically belief's are similar to Russ Feingold. I might of just invented that.), but lets take our country back with some real beliefs. Not some watered down, borrowed belief's.

Huge shake up,

So Andy Card resigns and Bush replaces him with another White House insider. That should help his poll numbers. How about some real change. By the time he figures out that his ship is sunk no one is going to want to jump aboard.

Kos,

Markos (the guy that runs daily kos) on CNN. He is suppose to be in the media a lot in the next few months promoting his book Crashing the Gate. I am currently reading it and will write a review in the next couple of days when I finish it. It is safe to say the review will be very positive.

Fact Check,

Factcheck.org rips apart the attack add on Feingold. Just to note, this is not a partisan site. Dick Cheney used them in the 04 vice presidential debate, but he gave the wrong address and the site didn't actually say what he said it did.

It is a good day to be a writer,

I finished my writing class yesterday. I don't know how much I actually learned, but was made aware of things that I would otherwise overlook (how's that for a semantic defense of my intelligence). Also the class made me feel like a writer, which these days means a lot.

Also I got three netflix's movies about writers for this weekend. I already watched The Squid and The Whale which has a strong Wes Anderson feel (I think he was the producer). I plan on watching it again later this weekend. I also got Bukowski: Born Into This and Capote. I love movies with authors as main characters. I don't know if that is because I want to be one or because they are just great characters; so eccentric and free.

Feingold on TDS,

Here is Feingold on the Daily Show. It will probably be up on their site tomorrow. Very good.

This is also a great TDS clip especially the end.

Live from Iraq,

So there was this crazy lady on the Today show a couple of days ago pushing the new republican talking point that the media is why things are going so bad in Iraq. She, and I am being serious here, wanted the today show to do a live broadcast from Iraq like they did in the Olympics. Every scenario I come up with when I think of this involves Al Roker getting blown up. It is absolutely amazing to me that the republican's don't realize that bad things happen in war and when the reasons for going to war become cloudy (at best) people are going to be against the war. If the white house needs someone to tell them this I still don't have a job and will be willing to give them my two cents.

Keith Olbermann has something to say about this. Watch fox news be hypocrites. Finally watch this report on it.

Of course this is not really about the Iraq war it is about calling the media liberal so they put more right wingers on television. It has worked in the past.

2008,

Updated random thoughts

So George Allen who I had thought was going to get the republican nod for 08 has suddenly got a challenger for his senate seat in 06. Jim Webb has emerged as a strong challenger and somewhere I read it is rumored that his inside polls have him tied with Allen. So the question gets asked if Allen loses his senate seat can he win the presidency. My opinion is no.

A few weeks back there was a gathering in Tennessee with all the GOP 08 challengers. They had a highly publicized first straw poll for the republican presidential nomination. It was in Bill Frist home state and it was widely reported he stacked the crowd in his favor. Now the front runner, John McCain decided to tell people to not vote for him and instead write in George Bush since he would be our president for another 4 years and we are at war blah blah blah. Like it was predicted Frist won, but there was a lot of grumbling about what McCain did. From what I hear republican's didn't like that McCain didn't just take his lose like a man. That GOP really doesn't like McCain they will find a reason not to vote for him yet.

I am anxious to see a poll on the democrat side (besides Kos's, that doesn't really reflect the whole party). I am betting Feingold will be way up. Probably not to Clinton numbers yet, but a lot of polls haven't even been putting him on. I think it is really going to help him that the press was calling his censure plan a stunt for 08 now people are going to realize he is running. What a brilliant politician.

By the way Feingold will be on the Daily Show tonight (3-22)

Censure,

Send a email to your senator to support Feingold's censure motion here.

Looks like us Wisconsin residences will get to hear some attack add by the RNC about our fearless leader. You can read them here.

Scary,

My favorite bumper sticker says something like "God save me from your followers" watch this.

Feingold gets love on Kos,

Feingold went way up in the Kos straw poll. Again.

Charlie Rose,

Feingold was on Charlie Rose last Friday. You can watch it here. I think it is free for the rest of today (3-20) after that you have to pay $.99. There is nothing ground breaking in it, but it gives you a good look at how principal driven he is. The interview is about 40 minutes long. After him they interview people from the movie "thank you for smoking".

Framing the debate,

This isn't necessarily an original idea I just want to put my words down about it.

The worst part about the spineless democrat's running away from Feingold is this was the perfect chance to frame the debate going into the 06 elections. If the democrat's would of jumped on the censure motion they would of forced republican's to either stand by their very unpopular president or they would of had to turn their back on him. I don't for one minute think that the far right republican party would hold this president to any kind of accountability, so this would of forced all the republican's running this year to tie their election stance with support of Bush. Over the last few months the news has been reporting on how the republican's are trying to separate themselves with Bush. The censure motion was a perfect chance to show how tied to the white house they are, but the democrat's dropped the ball again.

See far right talking head Bill Kristol say this too. Just to be clear this is a far right guy granted he hasn't drank the whole glass of Kool aide like the other guy in the interview, but he is still far right.

Kos has a good look at the 06 election.

Also Democrat's want to say they will make gains but not win the a majority. That way if they don't win a majority they can say this is what we said would happen and if they win the majority they can say we did better then we expected. Where as republican's want to say they will win the majority, so if the dem.'s do they can say that is what we said would happen and if the dem.'s win seats but not the majority they can say they did gain seats but they were suppose to do better. It is all about framing the debate.

Movers,

Is Condi Rice going to leave Bush? The job she always said she wanted just became available. She hasn't said that she is going to leave, but if she is looking for an out she just got one.

That Gale Norton that quit (here) something to watch about that is it was announced late Friday afternoon. They do this to stories they don't want you to notice. If you are going to read just one paper a week it should be Saturdays. It is the thinnest and least read paper a good way to hide a story. Anyway she has been tied to Abramoff and is suppose to leave the white house at the end of March. Oh yeah Abramoff is going to name names on March 29.

Another day of censure,

Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Joe Wineke supports Feingold. Meanwhile this gutless coward is all upset because he didn't tell him before hand. Grow up you loser. You are why the democrat's don't control anything. Thank god he isn't running again. 48% approval this isn't fringe politics, this is what the people want. That goes for Pelosi too.

Not on censure, but I wish Edward Abbey were walking around today. I used my REI dividend to buy the The Monkey Wrench Gang, further assuring I am being spied on.

I have been waiting for this,

The Daily Show did a piece about Feingold called motion censure. It is great.

Survey says,

The first poll has come out on censure and 48% of voters are in favor and 43% are opposed. Maybe now the rest of the democrat's will realize that Feingold knows what he is doing.

The other interesting thing in the poll is that among the independents 42% are in favor of censure while 47% are in favor of impeachment. They are the only group to be more in favor of impeachment. Midterm elections here we come.

The great thing about Feingold doing this is people are now being surveyed on whether they think the president should be impeached. That just wasn't happening before.

I think it is also a big help that when you listen to Feingold discuss the issue he comes across as a common sense straight forward guy with a legitimate concern, not some crazed liberal out to get the president. At least that is my impression and in Jontown....

Another day and more Feingold,

Here is a good interview on the Ed Schultz show with Feingold.

Here is a press briefing Feingold had this morning.

More,

Read this and sign this.

Here shows how weak the rest of the democrat's are. If they won't fight they will always be a minority party.

I might as well give you another Kos link, this shows the democrat's who support censuring the president (Hint it isn't Bush).

I am a little frustrated today. While my guy is fighting America's oldest enemy, monarchy all alone Kos is praising Warner for attending some fucking convention. What a turn coat. This clip is how I feel.

Here is a petition to get Feingold to run for president.

More censure stuff,

Read this and sign this.

Here shows how weak the rest of the democrat's are. If they won't fight they will always be a minority party.

I might as well give you another Kos link, this shows the democrat's who support censuring the president (Hint it isn't Bush).

If nothing else people are writing about him,

I think that Feingold's attempt to censure Bush is working for two reasons; 1. It brought a dead issue back into the lime light. 2. There is a ton of talk about Feingold and when you are going to run for president that is a good thing. Although I don't think his motivation has anything to do with him running for president. He is a very principled politician and this isn't out of character for him.

Here are some articles about him;

This is a nonpartisan article from The Hill about him. I think it is a bit heavy on opposition and a bit light on his support, but that is the media for you. By the way what Frist says is just stupid because the president could get a warrant in those circumstance so it has nothing to do with what Feingold is doing. A real reporter would of pointed that out.

This is from The Nation (very liberal) and very good.

And These three short spots on Crooks and Liars. (I think this is suppose to be the middle link.)

Where is Hillary,

So where is Hillary on this whole censure thing? I would think that if anyone would be 100% for it it would be her. After all most of the people against censuring Bush are the same people that voted to impeach her husband. So what is more important a president cheating on his wife or a president spying on innocent citizens without a warrant?

And yes I think Bush is spying on innocent citizens, probably anti-war protesters and political opponent. The reason why I don't think he is just spying on terrorist like he says is he could of got a warrant if that was the case. The only reason why he would not get a warrant is if he is doing something wrong.

So far the only other one to come out for it that I have heard of is John Kerry. I think he is starting to realize if you want to be president you are going to have to fight.

My walk,

On my walk this morning when I past the place that sells "monuments" (tombstone) they were putting astroturf in, bright green astroturf. I have never been into a "monument" store before so maybe this is standard, but seemed really tacky to me.

Censure,

You can co-sponsor Feingold's attempt to censure Bush here.

Here is a good interview were Feingold calls out CNN for using republican talking points as facts. (I still can't find that damn liberal media)

It seems the big talking point coming out from the right is this will help terrorist. Which is the republican party once again saying the American people are dumb and do not know what is going on since if they are bugging terrorist they can easily get a FISA warrant.

Feingold's blog on Kos here.

Here is a copy of the resolution.

Feingold calls for censure,

Russ Feingold will introduce resolution to censure George Bush tomorrow, watch the clip here. When I heard the intro clip I thought oh no what is he doing, but once again after listening to him talk I felt like standing up and cheering.

Nevermind if he can win or not I thoroughly enjoy supporting this guy.

I quit,

The secretary (against) the Interior Gale Norton resigns.

But with President Bush's approval rating among Americans near all-time lows and congressional elections eight months away, Senate Democrats are likely to use the confirmation hearings to slam the administration's environmental policies and close ties to big oil companies that have earned record profits from high gasoline and oil prices.

I sure hope so.

Feingold on TV,

I got this in a email today,

Russ will be on ABC's "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos, this Sunday, March 12. He is going to talk about national security, including the illegal domestic surveillance program that the President has authorized. As you know, Russ has been a leader in getting to the bottom of this program and also holding the President accountable for his illegal actions in authorizing it. It will be a really good interview, so please check your local listings and watch.

Celebrity GOP

So this apprentice guy is running for congress as a republican. I don't watch and apprentice and hope and pray it will go off the air and Trump will disappear into obscurity (long shot I know) and don't know much about his chances of winning. The reason why I point this out we hear so much about liberal Hollywood and all that crap, but if you look at politicians the party that is most represented by celebrities is by far the GOP.

Donald Trump was considering running against Spitzer for Governor of NY. He wisely decided not to since Spitzer is going to run away with it.

Fred Dalton Thompsom most notably know as the DA on Law and Order was the Republican senator from Tennessee. He was in movies before and after his senate term and still plays a roll in in the republican party. He helped John Roberts get confirmed and there was even some people that wanted him to be appointed to the spot that Alito eventually got.

Sonny Bono ran as a republican to be mayor of Palm Springs and later after failing to win the nomination to run for the senate he was elected as a congressman for California's 44th District.

Arnold Schwarzenegger I don't think I have to say more about him.

And who could forget the most famous Hollywood republican Ronald Reagan.

These are the names that just came to me off the top of my head and for the life of me I can't think of one Democrat that came from Hollywood. I won't argue that celebrities are more conservative I would just like to say the liberal one's are just talking and writing on blogs while the conservatives are making laws.

Random Friday thoughts,

Books

I had to read the first chapter for "Time Travelers Wife" for my class. If anyone close by me has this book let me know. I would like to read it. The first chapter was very interesting.

As I am reading "Angles and Demons" I find it really funny how wrong he got the coverage of the Pope's death. He repeatedly talks about how little attention it is getting until... Well I won't give anything away, but I specifically remember that nothing else in the world happened until a new pope was name when John Paul died. At least according to all three major channels nightly news coverage.

Movies

Last weekend I watched "Junebug" and "Serenity". Junebug I felt was short on a lot of the story, while Serenity gave too much away. I think that has more to do with Serenity being part of a series. They left room for more movies, but also put them in a spot where they can end it. If they want to make more (and I hope they do) they should of not answered so many questions.

Politics

I think one of the funnies things I heard coming out of Washington after the 04 election was Bush talking about all the capitol he had gained. The media ate it up and regurgitate it like fact in their typical spineless way. This guy won elections by the slimmest of margins and both election were not without controversy. He may have won the election and gained seats in the senate, but he didn't win over any opposition. In fact he probably gained opposition. So when he went forth with his fringe policies and exposed to a lot of people just how fanatic the Republican party has become, his approval dropped and now there is all sorts of stories about where did his capitol go. The answer is he never had it. If he was a smart politician he would of realized that he didn't have as much support from the public as he did on the hill and would reached across the isle. Then again I did say if he was a smart politician.


So there is this nut case running for congress. I went to his website to see if he was actually a republican or just running as a third party and found this;

My concept of family is the same as the one God ordained in the Garden of Eden thousands of years ago -- one man, married to one woman, with so many children as God should see fit to entrust to their care.

What does that mean? He is pro-incest?

Wednesday 2008: Random thoughts,

So when it all boils down I think because of the unpopular Bush presidency and corruption it is going to be 65% chance for the democrat's and 35% for republican's. If Hillary Clinton gets the D's nomination she will make it closer to even and McCain might give republican's a slight advantage.

The elections this year will be a big sign as to how things will go. If democrat's win a majority and push for meaningful legislation (health care, energy independent, real campaign finance reform) they will improve their 08 chances. If they get control and go after impeachment and other partisan attacks it will probably hurt them. If republican's maintain control they will probably loose the presidency, senate (in 08 rep's have 21 seats to protect while dem's have 12. This year dem's have one more than rep's and one indepenant) and the house in 08.

Some article's about candidates;

George Will is a conservative neo-con talking head. He wrote this article about Feingold. It is a slight hit piece and that is why I am putting it up. It seems the biggest point he has against Feingold is

"A good liberal -- the Senate's most pure, according to the liberal Americans for Democratic Action,"

First of all wasn't John Kerry the most liberal person in the senate last year? I guaranty whoever gets the democratic nomination will be labeled the most liberal whatever. It all depends on how you set the standards for the test. Then later on it the article he talks about how he has upset liberal groups with his vote for Roberts (you could also throw in his vote for Ashcroft). Sounds more like an independent to me.

Anyway this is the second article about Feingold that George Will has wrote and the first one wasn't even a slight hit piece. I wonder why George is so interested in Feingold.

Here is a article about McCain on lobbying reform. Granted this article half justifies his actions, but it also shows he is not as sincere as people think. Keep in mind McCain got involved in lobbying reform only after he was scolded for his role in the Keating Scandal,

In the late 1980s McCain was named in the embarrassing Keating Five scandal in which he and four other Senators provided routine help to Charles Keating, who was secretly manipulating savings and loan banks. The Senate ethics committee's special counsel concluded in 1991 that McCain was not substantially involved in the influence-peddling scheme, but criticized him and three others for "questionable conduct." McCain remained in the Senate and made campaign finance reform a key legislative interest.

NostraJONmus

So here is the weird thing about getting that rejection letter yesterday. The night before I got it, I had a dream about getting it. Coincidence you say? It doesn't stop there. I also had a dream about something that ended up happening to me about a month ago. It wasn't anything big like getting hit by a car or anything, actually I don't even really remember what it was about anymore. I just remember standing in my dining room thinking this is really weird. It was sort of a strange deja vu type feeling with an emphasis on strange. There was something else that happened to me, but I won't get into that one.

I'm not trying to claim to have paranormal powers or anything. Even if I did it would be of no help since they are very minor things that knowing in advance would have almost no benefit. It has just been weird around here for the last month or so.

Blue Monday,

I got another rejection letter from an agent for my book this morning. Nine rejections out of ten so far. I don't understand why it takes over two months to send out a form letter. Anyways this was probably the agent I wanted to represent me the least amount. Fortunately the agent I want to represent me the most is the only agent I have yet to hear from. That may not be such a good thing since it has been so long, but that is just the way it is I guess.

I sent for a brochure from this company that publishes books on demand. It sounds relatively cheap for me to do, but the book would be somewhat expensive ($20 for a paperback).

Oh well, we shall see. I still have a bunch of balls up it the air.

Pretty good,

For the most part I got all my Oscar picks right. I did get best actor and actress wrong but that was only because of the higher standard I set for playing a real person. I would of picked Philip Seymour Hoffman if I didn't do that, but I am going to stick by my Felicity Huffman pick. I also picked Street Fight to win best documentary, but I knew penguins would win. I just liked Street Fight a lot more.

Over the weekend there seemed to be a right wing agenda to trash the Oscar's and make Hollywood seem out of touch with mainstream America. There was many predictions that ratings would be really bad. I did a search this morning to see if I could find out what they really were and couldn't find a real news articles. Instead I found a bunch of right wing websites saying they were really low with no source backing up their claims. So I don't know if the ratings were bad or good or the same. There probably will be something out about it later. The funny thing to me is all these right wingers that complain about Hollywood's influence and all that stuff. If I was trying to fight someone's influence while I was in control of everything I probably wouldn't talk about it so much. I guess if they didn't have anything to complain about they would actually have to come up with idea's of their own and it has been proven that they just don't have any.

Links 3/5/06

I dare you to try to make it through this. Fucking bitch. And she is wrong on almost every point.

March 29 sounds like it is going to be a big day in the Abramoff case. I can't wait to see how many people he names.

This is good. Not the very beginning so much, but after that it is really good.

A whole bunch of nothing,

I stuck my thumb on a piece of metal that had been sitting in a 450 degree oven for about an hour last night. At the time I was completely sober, but as I started drinking I had to stick my thumb in my drink to stop the pain. Brandy and coke has so many uses.

I watched SNL last night. For the life of me, I don't understand why Horatio Sanz is on. He is not funny, unless you think trying not to laugh at your own not funny jokes is funny.

Chronic(what?)cles of Narnia! is pretty good. They did something similar with Natalie Portman last night that was pretty good. Here it is. SNL also has it but it is not on the front page.

They are investigating Pat Tillman's death again. Politicizing his funeral is going to prove to be a big mistake for the Republican's.

Out of all the things I write about, I find it really funny that the first critical comment I got was over my Oscar picks.

Holly Balls!

I was watching a little of Leno last night while Salma Hayeek was on. The interview mostly bored me. So after I got a good look at... uh lets say her dress, I flipped over to Letterman and watched that for a while. When Letterman went to commercial I flipped back to Leno in time to see a clip from Salma's new movie. The clip looked interesting, but when they said the name of the movie Ask The Dust my head exploded. Ask the Dust is a John Fante book I read some years back. It is one of my favorite books. I had always thought that is was pretty obscure and to hear they made a movie out of it really caught me off guard. Not only did they make it into a movie but they got some big names; besides Salma, Colin Farrell plays the lead. As you can tell I am really excited about this and hope that it is released in the Milwaukee area.

Everyone should see this movie or better yet read the book.

My Oscar Picks

Will I watch? Maybe, but only because Jon Steward is hosting. Personally I could care less who they give the awards to. Because in Jontown only one opinion matters and here it is;

Best Picture; Crash
I haven't seen Brokeback mountain or Capote so maybe they are better and as they come out on DVD I will be able to tell. But in my opinion Crash is the movie on race in America at present time. Unlike most movies that have one good side and one bad side this movie gives each character one good side and one bad side.

Best Actor; Heath Ledger
I am going out on a limb since I haven't seen this movie, but from what I have seen in previews and clips he has seem to create a interesting character. Philip Seymour Hoffman (I assume), Joaquin Phoenix and David Strathairn all do a really good job, but I set the standard higher for playing a character that actually existed compared to someone the actor has only a script and his mind to work from. Terrence Howard was also good, but I think Heath has him beat.

Best Actress; Felicity Huffman
Once again I haven't seen the movie (Transamerica), but she really looks like a guy in drag. The only other one that is any good is Reese Witherspoon and there is that whole real person thing.

Best supporting actor; George Clooney (Syriana)
Best supporting actress; Rachel Weisz (Constant Gardener)
Best screen play; Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco (Crash)
Best Documentary Feature; Street Fight

The rest of the awards don't matter. Now you can watch the show and see how many they get right.

Wednesday 2008; The Republicans

First off I should say I don't follow the Republican's as much so keep that in mind.

Senator John McCain of Arizona; The front runner. The big question for me is, can he convince the republican's that he really is a conservative (which he without a doubt is) and at the same time have the rest of the country believe the biggest myth in Washington that he is a moderate. He is going to have to straddle a lot of fences. Also he will be two years older than Reagan was at the start of his presidency and I believe he has some health issues (although I am not sure what). In the end much like Clinton I wouldn't be surprise if he doesn't even run.
Senator George Allen of Virginia; If I had to pick I would say this will be their guy. A strict party guy from a red leaning swing state. Very dull. He will have to be given the votes, I don't think he can earn it.
Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee; With a large majority in the senate he has been able to get a surprising little amount accomplished. I think his boat is sunk.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia; His name is out there, but he resigned in disgrace. If Larry Flint can bring him down I don't think he has much of a chance.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; Although he is always in the top 3 in polls he is pro-life and pro-gay rights. There is no way a republican can win with that record.
Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska; A true moderate republican. Sorry Chuck your party is to extreme right now for a guy like you. Maybe in 12.
Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana; I know very little about him, but I think he will be a top contender. Possible dark horse candidate.
Dr. Condoleezza Rice, current U.S. Secretary of State; She has denied running so much that it will be an issue if she decides to run. Although her potions are mostly unknown I have heard her referred to as a closet liberal. I also just do not see the republican party nominating a black woman, as the saying goes; not all republican's are racist, but all racist are republican's.
Governor George Pataki of New York,Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts; Eastcoast governor's. Giuliani will get it before either of these guys.
Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado; two guys I have never heard of until finding a list for this post.

In the end I think it is going to be between McCain, Allen and Pence, with the possibility of someone coming out of no where.