Saturday, June 30, 2007
Republicans are doing what the Democrats did
Last Friday when she announced with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada the Democrats' list of accomplishments six months after coming to power, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. conceded, "I'm not happy with Congress,” citing "obstructionism of the Republicans in the United States Senate.”
According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, the recent failure to pass immigration reform has gone the way of Iraq, stem cell research, Medicare drug pricing, the 9/11 Commission's recommendations, etc. as watersheds of failure of the current Congress.
Congress has managed a public approval rating in the mid-20s. But Pelosi argued that Congress has "never been popular." She has already turned her sights to 2009 when a new administration will be in power – hopefully headed by a Democratic president.
"Congress is a big institution to turn around," she said. "A new president comes in, and he or she is given every opportunity, because we -- everybody wants the new president to succeed. A Congress comes in, and it's Congress. It's an institution that has not been popular."
But Reid offered a different take: "Nancy, honestly, one other thing. Let's be realistic about this. The war in Iraq is dragging down people's confidence in what's going on in this country."
However, for Julian Zelizer, a history and public affairs scholar at Boston University, it’s just business as usual:
"The Republicans are doing what the Democrats did. They're using the power of the Senate filibuster, and the power in the House when you have narrow majorities, to make a do-nothing Congress -- even when there's a lot of issues on the table, even when there's a lot of interest in accomplishing things."
For sure, House legislation continues to expire in the Senate. Last Thursday night, for instance, Senate Republicans blocked a lobbying and ethics reform bill from even proceeding to a House-Senate conference committee, reported the Chronicle.
"It's becoming very concerning to many of us that we've got a 49-49 stalemate in the Senate, and we are beginning to look to the American people like we're ineffective," said one California House Democrat who did not want to speak for attribution.
"No matter what we do on the House side, we can't get things through the Senate."
Last Friday when she announced with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada the Democrats' list of accomplishments six months after coming to power, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. conceded, "I'm not happy with Congress,” citing "obstructionism of the Republicans in the United States Senate.”
According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, the recent failure to pass immigration reform has gone the way of Iraq, stem cell research, Medicare drug pricing, the 9/11 Commission's recommendations, etc. as watersheds of failure of the current Congress.
Congress has managed a public approval rating in the mid-20s. But Pelosi argued that Congress has "never been popular." She has already turned her sights to 2009 when a new administration will be in power – hopefully headed by a Democratic president.
"Congress is a big institution to turn around," she said. "A new president comes in, and he or she is given every opportunity, because we -- everybody wants the new president to succeed. A Congress comes in, and it's Congress. It's an institution that has not been popular."
But Reid offered a different take: "Nancy, honestly, one other thing. Let's be realistic about this. The war in Iraq is dragging down people's confidence in what's going on in this country."
However, for Julian Zelizer, a history and public affairs scholar at Boston University, it’s just business as usual:
"The Republicans are doing what the Democrats did. They're using the power of the Senate filibuster, and the power in the House when you have narrow majorities, to make a do-nothing Congress -- even when there's a lot of issues on the table, even when there's a lot of interest in accomplishing things."
For sure, House legislation continues to expire in the Senate. Last Thursday night, for instance, Senate Republicans blocked a lobbying and ethics reform bill from even proceeding to a House-Senate conference committee, reported the Chronicle.
"It's becoming very concerning to many of us that we've got a 49-49 stalemate in the Senate, and we are beginning to look to the American people like we're ineffective," said one California House Democrat who did not want to speak for attribution.
"No matter what we do on the House side, we can't get things through the Senate."
Late Nite Jokes
Leno
As I’m sure you know, President Bush's immigration bill failed to pass. To be fair, this is not the first time in his life George Bush has heard the words "failed to pass."
It was voted down by the Senate. I wondered why the help at Wal-Mart seemed a little testy today.
In fact, some illegal aliens are so angry, they’re threatening to leave the country.
They said the Senate switchboard completely shut down after they got over 10,000 calls protesting this immigration bill. Ten thousand calls . . . all from Lou Dobbs.
Letterman
Hot today in New York City. Tell me if you don’t think this is odd: The UPS guy, today, asked me if I’d put sun lotion on his legs.
If you have an oyster bar in your town, try this: Go to the oyster bar, sit down, order coffee, whatever you’re going to order, then when they’re not looking, fill your pants with shaved ice.
Ever been in a New York City cab? On a hot day like this, kind of a dilemma: Do you roll up the windows to keep the air conditioning in, or do you roll them down to air out the driver?
Ferguson
It’s been a crazy week. Paris Hilton went on "Larry King.” Out of habit, Larry asked her for a divorce.
The iPhone came out today. People were camping out all night in front of the store. These people are pathetic, really . . . oh come on — get a life. Especially the people behind me in line. They were noisy.
Two movies opened today, the cartoon "Ratatouille,” and Michael Moore’s "Sicko.” Two very different movies: One is about a big rat who’s obsessed with food, always getting into trouble, and the other one is "Ratatouille.”
Kimmel
The iPhone comes out today. The summer release date coincides perfectly with the first day of pushing people in the pool with their phones in the pockets.
Another presidential debate last night. One of 90 scheduled before the election in November.
Democrats gathered at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Joe Biden talked about AIDS in the community. He’s against it.
Leno
As I’m sure you know, President Bush's immigration bill failed to pass. To be fair, this is not the first time in his life George Bush has heard the words "failed to pass."
It was voted down by the Senate. I wondered why the help at Wal-Mart seemed a little testy today.
In fact, some illegal aliens are so angry, they’re threatening to leave the country.
They said the Senate switchboard completely shut down after they got over 10,000 calls protesting this immigration bill. Ten thousand calls . . . all from Lou Dobbs.
Letterman
Hot today in New York City. Tell me if you don’t think this is odd: The UPS guy, today, asked me if I’d put sun lotion on his legs.
If you have an oyster bar in your town, try this: Go to the oyster bar, sit down, order coffee, whatever you’re going to order, then when they’re not looking, fill your pants with shaved ice.
Ever been in a New York City cab? On a hot day like this, kind of a dilemma: Do you roll up the windows to keep the air conditioning in, or do you roll them down to air out the driver?
Ferguson
It’s been a crazy week. Paris Hilton went on "Larry King.” Out of habit, Larry asked her for a divorce.
The iPhone came out today. People were camping out all night in front of the store. These people are pathetic, really . . . oh come on — get a life. Especially the people behind me in line. They were noisy.
Two movies opened today, the cartoon "Ratatouille,” and Michael Moore’s "Sicko.” Two very different movies: One is about a big rat who’s obsessed with food, always getting into trouble, and the other one is "Ratatouille.”
Kimmel
The iPhone comes out today. The summer release date coincides perfectly with the first day of pushing people in the pool with their phones in the pockets.
Another presidential debate last night. One of 90 scheduled before the election in November.
Democrats gathered at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Joe Biden talked about AIDS in the community. He’s against it.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Mitt Romney 'Dogged' by Old Pet Story
An example of Mitt Romney's crisis management skills has turned into something of a political problem for the Republican presidential contender.
Romney placed his family dog, an Irish setter named Seamus, into a kennel lashed to the top of his station wagon for a 12-hour family trip from Boston to Ontario in 1983. Despite being shielded by a wind screen the former Massachusetts governor erected, Seamus expressed his discomfort with a diarrhea attack.
Now the story, recounted this week in a Boston Globe profile of Romney, has touched off howls of outrage from bloggers and animal rights activists even though it was presented in the story as an example of Romney's coolness under trying circumstances.
When Romney's eldest son, Tagg, and his four brothers complained about the brown runoff down the back windshield, their father quietly pulled the car over, borrowed a gas station hose and sprayed down both the dog and the kennel before returning to the road.
"Massachusetts animal cruelty laws specifically prohibit anyone from carrying an animal `in or upon a vehicle, or otherwise, in an unnecessarily cruel or inhuman manner or in a way and manner which might endanger the animal carried thereon,'" wrote Steve Benen in a post on the blog "Crooks and Liars."
Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, told Time magazine's "Swampland" blog: "If you wouldn't strap your child to the roof of your car, you have no business doing that to the family dog!"
Romney dismissed any outcry about the 24-year-old incident, saying the dog enjoyed his rooftop perch.
"He scrambled up there every time we went on trips," Romney said at a campaign stop in Pittsburgh Thursday. "He got in all by himself and enjoyed it."
An example of Mitt Romney's crisis management skills has turned into something of a political problem for the Republican presidential contender.
Romney placed his family dog, an Irish setter named Seamus, into a kennel lashed to the top of his station wagon for a 12-hour family trip from Boston to Ontario in 1983. Despite being shielded by a wind screen the former Massachusetts governor erected, Seamus expressed his discomfort with a diarrhea attack.
Now the story, recounted this week in a Boston Globe profile of Romney, has touched off howls of outrage from bloggers and animal rights activists even though it was presented in the story as an example of Romney's coolness under trying circumstances.
When Romney's eldest son, Tagg, and his four brothers complained about the brown runoff down the back windshield, their father quietly pulled the car over, borrowed a gas station hose and sprayed down both the dog and the kennel before returning to the road.
"Massachusetts animal cruelty laws specifically prohibit anyone from carrying an animal `in or upon a vehicle, or otherwise, in an unnecessarily cruel or inhuman manner or in a way and manner which might endanger the animal carried thereon,'" wrote Steve Benen in a post on the blog "Crooks and Liars."
Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, told Time magazine's "Swampland" blog: "If you wouldn't strap your child to the roof of your car, you have no business doing that to the family dog!"
Romney dismissed any outcry about the 24-year-old incident, saying the dog enjoyed his rooftop perch.
"He scrambled up there every time we went on trips," Romney said at a campaign stop in Pittsburgh Thursday. "He got in all by himself and enjoyed it."
Late Nite Jokes
Leno
Everyone getting a new iPhone? They say the new iPhone will totally revolutionize the industry. At least until Saturday when they release the iPhone 2.0.
Paris Hilton made her first post-jail appearance on Larry King. She said spending an hour with Larry made her miss solitary confinement.
She told Larry being stripped searched was the most humiliating experience of her life; then she asked Larry, "You make all your guests do that?”
Letterman
Anyone get caught in the blackout last night? Good news. They traced the source of the blackout to Donald Trump’s hair dryer.
Paris says she’s never going to drink and drive again. That’ll be something to see — Paris all tipsy riding the bus.
Paris said she hated prison. There’s some insight.
She said she had to eat mystery meat. I think I’ve actually seen video of her doing that.
Ferguson
A new survey out says California has the worst traffic of any state in the union. We’re No. 1!
I do my part. I carpool. I carpool with the kid from "Two and a Half Men.” I drive; he gives people the finger.
Donald Rumsfeld back in the news. He’s writing a book about his experiences as secretary of Defense. Apparently, he has no problem starting a book, he just has no idea how to end the damn thing.
The Spice Girls are getting back together! That’s great! Your enthusiasm is also phony!
Kimmel
Paris Hilton hysteria is starting to die down. I spotted her at LAX wearing a dark wig and a straw hat. She went to Maui. Which is nice because ever since Don died, Hawaii’s been looking for a new "Ho.”
It’s actually a very risky move on her part, because the cops in Hawaii are savvy to drunk drivers from L.A. ever since the cast of "Lost” arrived on the island.
If you missed Paris’ interview with Larry King, it was about what you’d expect. One interesting tip that she did share: She told Larry that she’s never done drugs. Although it turned out that when she said she’d never done drugs, it meant she’d never had sex with them.
Leno
Everyone getting a new iPhone? They say the new iPhone will totally revolutionize the industry. At least until Saturday when they release the iPhone 2.0.
Paris Hilton made her first post-jail appearance on Larry King. She said spending an hour with Larry made her miss solitary confinement.
She told Larry being stripped searched was the most humiliating experience of her life; then she asked Larry, "You make all your guests do that?”
Letterman
Anyone get caught in the blackout last night? Good news. They traced the source of the blackout to Donald Trump’s hair dryer.
Paris says she’s never going to drink and drive again. That’ll be something to see — Paris all tipsy riding the bus.
Paris said she hated prison. There’s some insight.
She said she had to eat mystery meat. I think I’ve actually seen video of her doing that.
Ferguson
A new survey out says California has the worst traffic of any state in the union. We’re No. 1!
I do my part. I carpool. I carpool with the kid from "Two and a Half Men.” I drive; he gives people the finger.
Donald Rumsfeld back in the news. He’s writing a book about his experiences as secretary of Defense. Apparently, he has no problem starting a book, he just has no idea how to end the damn thing.
The Spice Girls are getting back together! That’s great! Your enthusiasm is also phony!
Kimmel
Paris Hilton hysteria is starting to die down. I spotted her at LAX wearing a dark wig and a straw hat. She went to Maui. Which is nice because ever since Don died, Hawaii’s been looking for a new "Ho.”
It’s actually a very risky move on her part, because the cops in Hawaii are savvy to drunk drivers from L.A. ever since the cast of "Lost” arrived on the island.
If you missed Paris’ interview with Larry King, it was about what you’d expect. One interesting tip that she did share: She told Larry that she’s never done drugs. Although it turned out that when she said she’d never done drugs, it meant she’d never had sex with them.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Ann Coulter Comments Helping John Edwards Raise Cash
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said Wednesday that conservative author Ann Coulter's attacks are personally hurtful and it's important that he respond to them.
While Edwards made his first comments to The Associated Press in response to Coulter's suggestion that she wished he would be "killed in a terrorist assassination plot," his campaign was also using her remarks to bring in donations in the final week before his next fundraising deadline.
It's not the first time Coulter has given the Edwards campaign a financial boost. In March, she called Edwards a "faggot" and the campaign used video of the comment to help raise $300,000 before the end of the first quarter.
The campaign has sent two e-mails to supporters this week, asking them to send donations to defy her attacks and help Edwards meet his goal of raising $9 million in the second quarter ending Saturday. The first e-mail from campaign adviser Joe Trippi showed a clip of Coulter on ABC's "Good Morning America," where she said Monday that she wished Edwards would be killed by terrorists.
When Coulter appeared Tuesday on MSNBC's "Hardball," Elizabeth Edwards called in to ask Coulter to stop making personal attacks on her husband. The exchanged deteriorated, with Coulter shouting over Mrs. Edwards and demanding that the campaign stop using her name to raise money if they want her to stop personal attacks.
Mrs. Edwards followed up with an e-mail to supporters Wednesday morning that included a clip of their exchange and a donation request. The campaign said they raised more money this week than from any previous e-mail campaign, but declined to give a total.
"I think when they engage in these attacks and use the language of hate, it's very important to stand up," Edwards said. "What happens if you are silent when this kind of hateful language is used - not just by her, but by anyone - hate gets a foothold."
Edwards pointed out that Coulter's attacks haven't been limited to him, but also included his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination. Coulter has made fun of Hillary Rodham Clinton's legs and compared Barack Obama to terrorists because his middle name is Hussein.
"What she said about Senator Clinton and Senator Obama is outrageous," Edwards said. "And somebody has to stand up when she makes these kind of attacks."
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said Wednesday that conservative author Ann Coulter's attacks are personally hurtful and it's important that he respond to them.
While Edwards made his first comments to The Associated Press in response to Coulter's suggestion that she wished he would be "killed in a terrorist assassination plot," his campaign was also using her remarks to bring in donations in the final week before his next fundraising deadline.
It's not the first time Coulter has given the Edwards campaign a financial boost. In March, she called Edwards a "faggot" and the campaign used video of the comment to help raise $300,000 before the end of the first quarter.
The campaign has sent two e-mails to supporters this week, asking them to send donations to defy her attacks and help Edwards meet his goal of raising $9 million in the second quarter ending Saturday. The first e-mail from campaign adviser Joe Trippi showed a clip of Coulter on ABC's "Good Morning America," where she said Monday that she wished Edwards would be killed by terrorists.
When Coulter appeared Tuesday on MSNBC's "Hardball," Elizabeth Edwards called in to ask Coulter to stop making personal attacks on her husband. The exchanged deteriorated, with Coulter shouting over Mrs. Edwards and demanding that the campaign stop using her name to raise money if they want her to stop personal attacks.
Mrs. Edwards followed up with an e-mail to supporters Wednesday morning that included a clip of their exchange and a donation request. The campaign said they raised more money this week than from any previous e-mail campaign, but declined to give a total.
"I think when they engage in these attacks and use the language of hate, it's very important to stand up," Edwards said. "What happens if you are silent when this kind of hateful language is used - not just by her, but by anyone - hate gets a foothold."
Edwards pointed out that Coulter's attacks haven't been limited to him, but also included his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination. Coulter has made fun of Hillary Rodham Clinton's legs and compared Barack Obama to terrorists because his middle name is Hussein.
"What she said about Senator Clinton and Senator Obama is outrageous," Edwards said. "And somebody has to stand up when she makes these kind of attacks."
Late Nite Jokes
Leno
This week they had the annual congressional baseball game and the House Republicans beat the House Democrats 5-2. It was typical of both parties — the Republicans kept stealing and after the game the Democrats demanded a recount.
Ralph Nader is talking about running for president again. God bless him. He’s been accused of being a "spoiler.” You know what that is, a "spoiler?” That’s a politician who ruins the chances of another candidate. For example: Al Gore’s spoiler was Ralph Nader. He would have won . . . except Florida . . . and George Bush Sr.’s spoiler was H. Ross Perot. And John Kerry’s spoiler was John Kerry.
Did you hear about this? This is all cable news is talking about. Elizabeth Edwards called Ann Coulter on Chris Matthews’ "Hardball” yesterday to complain about the attacks on her husband. It’s a good thing Coulter hasn’t attacked Giuliani . . . She’d have three angry wives calling her. They’d have to get a conference call going.
Universal Pictures announced they plan to make a movie about the life of Hugh Hefner. I don’t want to say that Hugh Hefner is getting old, but do you know who is playing the young Hugh Hefner? Peter O’Toole.
Letterman
It’s so hot today, Britney Spears said that if she wore underpants, today she wouldn’t wear them.
Thank God Paris Hilton is out of prison. Yesterday at Paris’ compound, she had a hair stylist come to the house to add hair extensions. First day out of prison — hair extensions. Ladies and gentlemen — it’s like I have a twin.
Now Paris has to do community service. Man — wait a minute. Community service? You’re telling me an Internet sex video is not community service?
Ferguson
There was a huge blackout in the upper east side of New York. New York hasn’t seen a blackout this bad since Lindsay Lohan was in town.
Or since Danny DeVito was on "The View.”
Big Foot is on the loose. A group of scientists say they’ve seen Big Foot in rural Michigan. They’re launching an expedition to go and find him. I mean no disrespect, but if you’re looking, in Michigan, for a giant person covered in thick hair, you’re going to have to be more specific.
It could just be a Lions fan!
Kimmel
Paris Hilton spoke to Larry King. Larry seemed almost bored. He asked what was the mystery medical illness. She said it was claustrophobia. You mean to tell she had claustrophobia and they kept her in jail? What kind of barbaric society is this?
Maybe she meant chlamydia. I don’t know.
Independence Day is next week. It falls on July 4 this year.
One of the things I love, is the fireworks safety videos. It’s that time of year again where we blow up mannequins. So if you’re a mannequin, be very careful this year.
Leno
This week they had the annual congressional baseball game and the House Republicans beat the House Democrats 5-2. It was typical of both parties — the Republicans kept stealing and after the game the Democrats demanded a recount.
Ralph Nader is talking about running for president again. God bless him. He’s been accused of being a "spoiler.” You know what that is, a "spoiler?” That’s a politician who ruins the chances of another candidate. For example: Al Gore’s spoiler was Ralph Nader. He would have won . . . except Florida . . . and George Bush Sr.’s spoiler was H. Ross Perot. And John Kerry’s spoiler was John Kerry.
Did you hear about this? This is all cable news is talking about. Elizabeth Edwards called Ann Coulter on Chris Matthews’ "Hardball” yesterday to complain about the attacks on her husband. It’s a good thing Coulter hasn’t attacked Giuliani . . . She’d have three angry wives calling her. They’d have to get a conference call going.
Universal Pictures announced they plan to make a movie about the life of Hugh Hefner. I don’t want to say that Hugh Hefner is getting old, but do you know who is playing the young Hugh Hefner? Peter O’Toole.
Letterman
It’s so hot today, Britney Spears said that if she wore underpants, today she wouldn’t wear them.
Thank God Paris Hilton is out of prison. Yesterday at Paris’ compound, she had a hair stylist come to the house to add hair extensions. First day out of prison — hair extensions. Ladies and gentlemen — it’s like I have a twin.
Now Paris has to do community service. Man — wait a minute. Community service? You’re telling me an Internet sex video is not community service?
Ferguson
There was a huge blackout in the upper east side of New York. New York hasn’t seen a blackout this bad since Lindsay Lohan was in town.
Or since Danny DeVito was on "The View.”
Big Foot is on the loose. A group of scientists say they’ve seen Big Foot in rural Michigan. They’re launching an expedition to go and find him. I mean no disrespect, but if you’re looking, in Michigan, for a giant person covered in thick hair, you’re going to have to be more specific.
It could just be a Lions fan!
Kimmel
Paris Hilton spoke to Larry King. Larry seemed almost bored. He asked what was the mystery medical illness. She said it was claustrophobia. You mean to tell she had claustrophobia and they kept her in jail? What kind of barbaric society is this?
Maybe she meant chlamydia. I don’t know.
Independence Day is next week. It falls on July 4 this year.
One of the things I love, is the fireworks safety videos. It’s that time of year again where we blow up mannequins. So if you’re a mannequin, be very careful this year.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Giuliani Slams Bill Clinton on Terrorism
Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday accused former President Clinton of not responding forcefully enough to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing or later terrorist attacks.
The former New York mayor criticized Democrats, accusing them of weakness and naivete in dealing with terrorism. Giuliani made the comments to about 650 business, corporate and political leaders at Regent University, the conservative Christian college founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson.
"Islamic terrorists killed more than 500 Americans before Sept. 11. Many people think the first attack on America was on Sept. 11, 2001. It was not. It was in 1993," said the former New York mayor.
Giuliani argued that Clinton treated the World Trade Center bombing as a criminal act instead of a terrorist attack, calling it "a big mistake" that emboldened other strikes on the Khobar Towers housing complex in Saudi Arabia, in Kenya and Tanzania and later on the USS Cole while docked in Yemen in 2000.
"The United States government, then President Clinton, did not respond," Giuliani said. "(Osama) bin Laden declared war on us. We didn't hear it."
In hindsight, Giuliani said, maybe it's all clearer now, "but now is now, and there is no reason to go back into denial, and that is essentially what the Democratic candidates for president want to do: they want to go back, to put the country in reverse to the 1990s.
"I'm not blaming anybody back then," Giuliani said later in the day at a campaign stop at a Jewish temple in Rockville, Md. "What I am saying is, I do blame people after Sept. 11. Now you have to get it."
Last September, Giuliani defended Clinton's record amid political bickering over which president — Clinton or George W. Bush — missed more opportunities to prevent the Sept. 11 attacks.
"The idea of trying to cast blame on President Clinton is just wrong for many, many reasons, not the least of which is I don't think he deserves it," Giuliani said during a stop in Florida. "I don't think President Bush deserves it. The people who deserve blame for Sept. 11, I think we should remind ourselves, are the terrorists — the Islamic fanatics — who came here and killed us and want to come here again and do it."
In his comments Tuesday, Giuliani said Democrats would abandon Iraq while giving terrorists the U.S. "timetable for retreat."
Giuliani remained aligned with President Bush in keeping U.S. forces in Iraq even as two more senior Senate Republicans — Indiana's Richard Lugar and Ohio's George Voinovich — in the past two days suggested the president's policy is failing and said he should begin bringing troops home.
In his Rockville appearance, Giuliani compared the war in Iraq to the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
"What happened in Gaza is a microcosm of what's going to happen in Baghdad" if the United States withdraws. "It will become something that inflames the entire region."
Democrats were quick to criticize Giuliani.
"Rudy's arrogance has gotten the best of him," the Democratic National Committee said in a one-paragraph response. "How can a man who failed to prepare New York City for a second attack after the first one, who sent firefighters and emergency workers into Ground Zero without respirators and quit the Iraq Study Group to raise money keep America safe?"
Speaking at Regent, Giuliani avoided any mention of two issues that put him at odds with conservatives — his support for gay rights and abortion rights.
But he acknowledged the differences indirectly, drawing warm applause from the conservative audience for doing so.
"Don't expect to agree with me on everything because that would be unrealistic. I don't even agree with me on everything," he said.
Giuliani acknowledged there is little difference between his position and the positions of those of other Republican candidates on terrorism and the Middle East, but said his experience as mayor of New York has prepared him to be better at handling presidential responsibilities.
Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday accused former President Clinton of not responding forcefully enough to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing or later terrorist attacks.
The former New York mayor criticized Democrats, accusing them of weakness and naivete in dealing with terrorism. Giuliani made the comments to about 650 business, corporate and political leaders at Regent University, the conservative Christian college founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson.
"Islamic terrorists killed more than 500 Americans before Sept. 11. Many people think the first attack on America was on Sept. 11, 2001. It was not. It was in 1993," said the former New York mayor.
Giuliani argued that Clinton treated the World Trade Center bombing as a criminal act instead of a terrorist attack, calling it "a big mistake" that emboldened other strikes on the Khobar Towers housing complex in Saudi Arabia, in Kenya and Tanzania and later on the USS Cole while docked in Yemen in 2000.
"The United States government, then President Clinton, did not respond," Giuliani said. "(Osama) bin Laden declared war on us. We didn't hear it."
In hindsight, Giuliani said, maybe it's all clearer now, "but now is now, and there is no reason to go back into denial, and that is essentially what the Democratic candidates for president want to do: they want to go back, to put the country in reverse to the 1990s.
"I'm not blaming anybody back then," Giuliani said later in the day at a campaign stop at a Jewish temple in Rockville, Md. "What I am saying is, I do blame people after Sept. 11. Now you have to get it."
Last September, Giuliani defended Clinton's record amid political bickering over which president — Clinton or George W. Bush — missed more opportunities to prevent the Sept. 11 attacks.
"The idea of trying to cast blame on President Clinton is just wrong for many, many reasons, not the least of which is I don't think he deserves it," Giuliani said during a stop in Florida. "I don't think President Bush deserves it. The people who deserve blame for Sept. 11, I think we should remind ourselves, are the terrorists — the Islamic fanatics — who came here and killed us and want to come here again and do it."
In his comments Tuesday, Giuliani said Democrats would abandon Iraq while giving terrorists the U.S. "timetable for retreat."
Giuliani remained aligned with President Bush in keeping U.S. forces in Iraq even as two more senior Senate Republicans — Indiana's Richard Lugar and Ohio's George Voinovich — in the past two days suggested the president's policy is failing and said he should begin bringing troops home.
In his Rockville appearance, Giuliani compared the war in Iraq to the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
"What happened in Gaza is a microcosm of what's going to happen in Baghdad" if the United States withdraws. "It will become something that inflames the entire region."
Democrats were quick to criticize Giuliani.
"Rudy's arrogance has gotten the best of him," the Democratic National Committee said in a one-paragraph response. "How can a man who failed to prepare New York City for a second attack after the first one, who sent firefighters and emergency workers into Ground Zero without respirators and quit the Iraq Study Group to raise money keep America safe?"
Speaking at Regent, Giuliani avoided any mention of two issues that put him at odds with conservatives — his support for gay rights and abortion rights.
But he acknowledged the differences indirectly, drawing warm applause from the conservative audience for doing so.
"Don't expect to agree with me on everything because that would be unrealistic. I don't even agree with me on everything," he said.
Giuliani acknowledged there is little difference between his position and the positions of those of other Republican candidates on terrorism and the Middle East, but said his experience as mayor of New York has prepared him to be better at handling presidential responsibilities.
Late Nite Jokes
Leno
What a hot day today! I was sweating like Eddie Murphy on Father’s Day.
It was so hot today, Kobe Bryant said he wanted to be traded to a hockey team.
The New York Times says Ralph Nader is thinking about running for president again. Nader says he rejects the term "spoiler.” Still a lot better than "loser.”
Paris Hilton will do her first interview Wednesday with Larry King. They’re billing it as "cranky meets skanky.”
Letterman
How great is summer time in New York City! Everything is festive. All the potholes are full of dip.
Yesterday was the annual Gay Pride parade here in New York City. The parade seemed very long. Here’s why: The parade marchers kept stopping to redecorate the store windows.
Saddam Hussein’s buddy Chemical Ali has been sentenced to death. I feel bad for his wife, Chemical Shirley.
Ferguson
We’re out of power as you can tell. I don’t know what happened . . . maybe Katie Couric left her hair dryer on or something.
Maybe we blew a fuse trying to cryogenically freeze Bob Barker.
Gov. Schwarzenegger has declared this show a disaster area. Unfortunately he did that before the power went out.
Over the weekend, I went to Venice Beach. I went into the ocean, got hit by a wave, and the ocean pulled my trunks completely off. And then threw me onto the beach, naked. And I think, "Well, this is not so bad. Maybe a 'Baywatch' lifeguard will come over and save me. Next thing I know, I’m getting mouth-to-mouth by David Hasselhoff. Ahhh, the taste of hamburger and whiskey.
Leno
What a hot day today! I was sweating like Eddie Murphy on Father’s Day.
It was so hot today, Kobe Bryant said he wanted to be traded to a hockey team.
The New York Times says Ralph Nader is thinking about running for president again. Nader says he rejects the term "spoiler.” Still a lot better than "loser.”
Paris Hilton will do her first interview Wednesday with Larry King. They’re billing it as "cranky meets skanky.”
Letterman
How great is summer time in New York City! Everything is festive. All the potholes are full of dip.
Yesterday was the annual Gay Pride parade here in New York City. The parade seemed very long. Here’s why: The parade marchers kept stopping to redecorate the store windows.
Saddam Hussein’s buddy Chemical Ali has been sentenced to death. I feel bad for his wife, Chemical Shirley.
Ferguson
We’re out of power as you can tell. I don’t know what happened . . . maybe Katie Couric left her hair dryer on or something.
Maybe we blew a fuse trying to cryogenically freeze Bob Barker.
Gov. Schwarzenegger has declared this show a disaster area. Unfortunately he did that before the power went out.
Over the weekend, I went to Venice Beach. I went into the ocean, got hit by a wave, and the ocean pulled my trunks completely off. And then threw me onto the beach, naked. And I think, "Well, this is not so bad. Maybe a 'Baywatch' lifeguard will come over and save me. Next thing I know, I’m getting mouth-to-mouth by David Hasselhoff. Ahhh, the taste of hamburger and whiskey.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Edwards' Wife Asks Coulter to Stop Attacks
Elizabeth Edwards pleaded Tuesday with Ann Coulter to "stop the personal attacks," a day after the conservative commentator said she wished Edwards' husband, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, had been killed by terrorists.
"The things she has said over the years, not just about John but about other candidates, lowers the political dialogue at precisely the time we need to raise it," Edwards said by phone on MSNBC's "Hardball" program, where Coulter was a guest.
Elizabeth Edwards said she did not consult her husband before confronting Coulter on the air, adding that she felt the pundit's remarks were "a dialogue on hatefulness and ugliness."
"It debases political dialogue," Edwards said. "It drives people away from the process. We can't have a debate about issues if you're using this kind of language."
Coulter responded with a laugh and charged that Edwards was calling on her to stop speaking altogether. She questioned why Elizabeth Edwards was making a phone call on behalf of her husband, and she criticized John Edwards for "stealing doctors' money" during his successful career as a trial lawyer.
"I don't think I need to be told to stop writing by Elizabeth Edwards, thank you," Coulter said.
On ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday, Coulter was asked about a March speech in which she used a gay slur to refer to Edwards.
"If I'm going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot," Coulter said Monday, picking up on remarks made by HBO's Bill Maher. Maher suggested in March that "people wouldn't be dying needlessly" if Vice President Dick Cheney had been killed in an insurgent attack in Afghanistan.
Elizabeth Edwards pleaded Tuesday with Ann Coulter to "stop the personal attacks," a day after the conservative commentator said she wished Edwards' husband, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, had been killed by terrorists.
"The things she has said over the years, not just about John but about other candidates, lowers the political dialogue at precisely the time we need to raise it," Edwards said by phone on MSNBC's "Hardball" program, where Coulter was a guest.
Elizabeth Edwards said she did not consult her husband before confronting Coulter on the air, adding that she felt the pundit's remarks were "a dialogue on hatefulness and ugliness."
"It debases political dialogue," Edwards said. "It drives people away from the process. We can't have a debate about issues if you're using this kind of language."
Coulter responded with a laugh and charged that Edwards was calling on her to stop speaking altogether. She questioned why Elizabeth Edwards was making a phone call on behalf of her husband, and she criticized John Edwards for "stealing doctors' money" during his successful career as a trial lawyer.
"I don't think I need to be told to stop writing by Elizabeth Edwards, thank you," Coulter said.
On ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday, Coulter was asked about a March speech in which she used a gay slur to refer to Edwards.
"If I'm going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot," Coulter said Monday, picking up on remarks made by HBO's Bill Maher. Maher suggested in March that "people wouldn't be dying needlessly" if Vice President Dick Cheney had been killed in an insurgent attack in Afghanistan.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Talk Radio May Help Nix Immigration Bill
Immigration has supplanted Iraq as the leading issue on television and radio talk shows, complicating the prospects of a Senate bill desperately wanted by President Bush.
Conservative talk radio's impact on the immigration debate reached new heights last week, with one host effectively writing an amendment for when the Senate returns to the imperiled bill this week.
National talk show hosts have spent months denouncing the bill as providing amnesty for illegal immigrants. Some top Republicans who support the legislation have defied the broadcast pundits. Others GOP lawmakers have tried to placate them, even to the point of accepting their ideas for amendments.
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., the key conservative negotiator behind the compromise bill, told reporters Friday that California-based radio host Hugh Hewitt "had several ideas" that "we are trying to include" in amendments to be offered in an upcoming series of crucial votes.
Hewitt, a conservative who has criticized many aspects of the bill, had Kyl as a guest on Thursday and asked: "Does the bill provide for any separate treatment of aliens, illegal aliens from countries of special concern?"
Kyl replied: "It's going to, as a result of your lobbying efforts to me."
People seeking entry the U.S. from countries that the U.S. has designated as state sponsors of terrorism will get a higher level of scrutiny, Kyl said Friday.
Other Bush allies have tried more confrontational approaches to the talk hosts, sometimes with bruising results.
Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., told reporters last week, "Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem." Some hosts, he added, do not know what is in the lengthy bill.
The comments incensed conservative talk show hosts who generally had supported Lott over the years.
Lott is "upset that the American people got right into the middle of the conversation over the problem with illegal aliens and it didn't turn out all that well for the pro-amnesty forces," Atlanta-based talk show host Neal Boortz wrote on his Web site.
"If Trent Lott and his other buddies up on the Hill aren't listening to 'talk,' then what are they listening to? The answer is either their wallet or their legacy."
Radio host Rush Limbaugh asked his audience: "What are we going to do about Mississippi Senator Trent Lott?"
Lott's treatment contrasted sharply with that given to Kyl. In a column posted on his Web site, Hewitt called Kyl "perhaps the single most effective and principled conservative in the United States Senate."
The immigration bill would tighten borders and workplace enforcement, create a guest worker program and provide ways to legal status for many of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.
The legislation faces showdown votes this coming week that lawmakers on all sides agree will be close.
If the measure fails, talk radio and TV - where CNN's Lou Dobbs has been especially critical - will deserve substantial credit, academics and politicians say.
"Talk radio and talk TV are most effective when there's an immediate action pending," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the University of Pennsylvania, who is an authority on media and politics. "It's a classic instance of mobilization with all the pieces in place and it's sure to have an effect."
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a leading opponent of the bill, said in an interview that "talk radio has had a significant impact on this issue."
A frequent guest of Dobbs, Hewitt and other conservative hosts discussing immigration, Sessions said, "I think people have learned more from talk radio than from reading the newspapers."
As for Lott, Sessions said: "I can't imagine what Trent was thinking. Maybe his mouth was moving and his brain was in neutral."
Michael Harrison, editor of the talk show industry magazine Talkers, said immigration has replaced the Iraq war as the most discussed topic and has led many conservative hosts to show more loyalty to the anti-amnesty issue than to the Republican Party.
"I think talk radio should be credited with possibly saving the American people from George Bush's immigration bill," Harrison said, adding that he and his magazine are nonpartisan.
Some Republicans who recently announced their opposition to the bill said constituent concerns were their main reason. But they acknowledged the intensity of talk radio hostility in their states.
"Neal Boortz, he popped us pretty good," said Lindsay Mabry, a spokeswoman for Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., who shifted from qualified support to opposition to the bill in recent days. She said Chambliss consulted with Boortz on immigration even though the senator was not an on-air guest during the debate.
Immigration has supplanted Iraq as the leading issue on television and radio talk shows, complicating the prospects of a Senate bill desperately wanted by President Bush.
Conservative talk radio's impact on the immigration debate reached new heights last week, with one host effectively writing an amendment for when the Senate returns to the imperiled bill this week.
National talk show hosts have spent months denouncing the bill as providing amnesty for illegal immigrants. Some top Republicans who support the legislation have defied the broadcast pundits. Others GOP lawmakers have tried to placate them, even to the point of accepting their ideas for amendments.
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., the key conservative negotiator behind the compromise bill, told reporters Friday that California-based radio host Hugh Hewitt "had several ideas" that "we are trying to include" in amendments to be offered in an upcoming series of crucial votes.
Hewitt, a conservative who has criticized many aspects of the bill, had Kyl as a guest on Thursday and asked: "Does the bill provide for any separate treatment of aliens, illegal aliens from countries of special concern?"
Kyl replied: "It's going to, as a result of your lobbying efforts to me."
People seeking entry the U.S. from countries that the U.S. has designated as state sponsors of terrorism will get a higher level of scrutiny, Kyl said Friday.
Other Bush allies have tried more confrontational approaches to the talk hosts, sometimes with bruising results.
Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., told reporters last week, "Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem." Some hosts, he added, do not know what is in the lengthy bill.
The comments incensed conservative talk show hosts who generally had supported Lott over the years.
Lott is "upset that the American people got right into the middle of the conversation over the problem with illegal aliens and it didn't turn out all that well for the pro-amnesty forces," Atlanta-based talk show host Neal Boortz wrote on his Web site.
"If Trent Lott and his other buddies up on the Hill aren't listening to 'talk,' then what are they listening to? The answer is either their wallet or their legacy."
Radio host Rush Limbaugh asked his audience: "What are we going to do about Mississippi Senator Trent Lott?"
Lott's treatment contrasted sharply with that given to Kyl. In a column posted on his Web site, Hewitt called Kyl "perhaps the single most effective and principled conservative in the United States Senate."
The immigration bill would tighten borders and workplace enforcement, create a guest worker program and provide ways to legal status for many of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.
The legislation faces showdown votes this coming week that lawmakers on all sides agree will be close.
If the measure fails, talk radio and TV - where CNN's Lou Dobbs has been especially critical - will deserve substantial credit, academics and politicians say.
"Talk radio and talk TV are most effective when there's an immediate action pending," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the University of Pennsylvania, who is an authority on media and politics. "It's a classic instance of mobilization with all the pieces in place and it's sure to have an effect."
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a leading opponent of the bill, said in an interview that "talk radio has had a significant impact on this issue."
A frequent guest of Dobbs, Hewitt and other conservative hosts discussing immigration, Sessions said, "I think people have learned more from talk radio than from reading the newspapers."
As for Lott, Sessions said: "I can't imagine what Trent was thinking. Maybe his mouth was moving and his brain was in neutral."
Michael Harrison, editor of the talk show industry magazine Talkers, said immigration has replaced the Iraq war as the most discussed topic and has led many conservative hosts to show more loyalty to the anti-amnesty issue than to the Republican Party.
"I think talk radio should be credited with possibly saving the American people from George Bush's immigration bill," Harrison said, adding that he and his magazine are nonpartisan.
Some Republicans who recently announced their opposition to the bill said constituent concerns were their main reason. But they acknowledged the intensity of talk radio hostility in their states.
"Neal Boortz, he popped us pretty good," said Lindsay Mabry, a spokeswoman for Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., who shifted from qualified support to opposition to the bill in recent days. She said Chambliss consulted with Boortz on immigration even though the senator was not an on-air guest during the debate.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Momentum against Immigration Bill
Momentum is ramping up against immigration legislation among Senate Republicans, says Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex., according to a report in Bloomberg.com.
"We’re beginning to see some of the people that would have ordinarily voted to proceed with the bill to say, ‘Hey, this process is not fair, it’s not transparent,’” Cornyn told Al Hunt of Bloomberg Television’s "Political Capital with Al Hunt.” "The way this bill has come up has caused it some serious problems.”
The Senate will need 60 votes next Tuesday to resume debate on the bill, which would create a guest-worker program and a route to legal status for 12 million immigrants already in the U.S. illegally.
The most recent Senate vote fell 15 short of the total needed to move toward final passage -- with seven Republicans joining 37 Democrats and one independent. Cornyn voted in opposition. With the backing of Democrats who backed the legislation earlier this month, supporters will need almost two dozen Republicans to move forward, Bloomberg reported.
Cornyn told Hunt that Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Johnny Isakson of Georgia were examples of Republicans who may have supported the measure but are now opposed.
Senate leaders agreed this week on a limited package of about two dozen amendments to be considered next week, but Cornyn told Hunt that in his opinion that isn’t enough.
"This is a bill that was written behind closed doors by a small group of senators, and now it's being brought to the floor again without an opportunity to offer, freely offer, amendments and to have the kind of debate that I think this topic deserves,” Cornyn said.
Cornyn added that the congressional debate on what to do with the 12 million immigrants illegally in the U.S. has focused only on whether to give them citizenship or deport them.
Letting undocumented immigrants gain legal status after paying a fine, isn’t sufficient sanction for people in this country illegally, the senator said, noting, "It looks like we're selling American citizenship.”
Read more on this subject in Related Hot Topics:
Immigration Folly - Michael Reagan
Talk Shows Influence Immigration Debate - NewsMax
Congress Mishandling Immigration - Zogby
Immigration Bill Hides $1 Trillion Time Bomb - Dave Eberhart, NewsMax
Pictures Of The Day
You have sent us many great pictures. This will give us a place to share your pictures with others.
Mrs. Bill Clinton
Momentum is ramping up against immigration legislation among Senate Republicans, says Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex., according to a report in Bloomberg.com.
"We’re beginning to see some of the people that would have ordinarily voted to proceed with the bill to say, ‘Hey, this process is not fair, it’s not transparent,’” Cornyn told Al Hunt of Bloomberg Television’s "Political Capital with Al Hunt.” "The way this bill has come up has caused it some serious problems.”
The Senate will need 60 votes next Tuesday to resume debate on the bill, which would create a guest-worker program and a route to legal status for 12 million immigrants already in the U.S. illegally.
The most recent Senate vote fell 15 short of the total needed to move toward final passage -- with seven Republicans joining 37 Democrats and one independent. Cornyn voted in opposition. With the backing of Democrats who backed the legislation earlier this month, supporters will need almost two dozen Republicans to move forward, Bloomberg reported.
Cornyn told Hunt that Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Johnny Isakson of Georgia were examples of Republicans who may have supported the measure but are now opposed.
Senate leaders agreed this week on a limited package of about two dozen amendments to be considered next week, but Cornyn told Hunt that in his opinion that isn’t enough.
"This is a bill that was written behind closed doors by a small group of senators, and now it's being brought to the floor again without an opportunity to offer, freely offer, amendments and to have the kind of debate that I think this topic deserves,” Cornyn said.
Cornyn added that the congressional debate on what to do with the 12 million immigrants illegally in the U.S. has focused only on whether to give them citizenship or deport them.
Letting undocumented immigrants gain legal status after paying a fine, isn’t sufficient sanction for people in this country illegally, the senator said, noting, "It looks like we're selling American citizenship.”
Read more on this subject in Related Hot Topics:
Immigration Folly - Michael Reagan
Talk Shows Influence Immigration Debate - NewsMax
Congress Mishandling Immigration - Zogby
Immigration Bill Hides $1 Trillion Time Bomb - Dave Eberhart, NewsMax
Pictures Of The Day
You have sent us many great pictures. This will give us a place to share your pictures with others.
Mrs. Bill Clinton
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Dog Registered to Vote: It's So Easy!
The second time Duncan M. MacDonald sent in an absentee ballot, an election worker in Federal Way, Wash., called to ask about the paw print on the envelope. But it took three ballots before the prosecutor contacted the voting dog's owner.
Jane Balogh said she registered the Australian shepherd-terrier mix to vote in protest of a 2005 state voter-registration law that she says makes it too easy for noncitizens to vote.
She put her phone bill in Duncan's name, then used the phone bill as identification to register him as a voter.
"I wasn't trying to do anything fraudulent. I was trying to prove that our system is flawed. So I got myself in trouble," she says.
Prosecutors have offered the grandmother and Army veteran a deal: plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of making a false statement to a public official and they will not file a felony charge of providing false information on a voter-registration application.
Balogh said she doesn't plan to contest the charge because "I know I'm guilty." She said she submitted ballots in the dog's name in the September and November 2006 and May 2007 elections. She wrote "VOID" on the ballots and didn't cast any votes.
Prosecutors said they would recommend she be sentenced to 10 hours of community service, pay a $250 fine and commit no other crimes for a year. Balogh is scheduled to be arraigned in King County Superior Court on Tuesday.
Acting Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg says his office "can't simply look the other way. They say you should let sleeping dogs lie, but you can't let voting dogs vote."
The second time Duncan M. MacDonald sent in an absentee ballot, an election worker in Federal Way, Wash., called to ask about the paw print on the envelope. But it took three ballots before the prosecutor contacted the voting dog's owner.
Jane Balogh said she registered the Australian shepherd-terrier mix to vote in protest of a 2005 state voter-registration law that she says makes it too easy for noncitizens to vote.
She put her phone bill in Duncan's name, then used the phone bill as identification to register him as a voter.
"I wasn't trying to do anything fraudulent. I was trying to prove that our system is flawed. So I got myself in trouble," she says.
Prosecutors have offered the grandmother and Army veteran a deal: plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of making a false statement to a public official and they will not file a felony charge of providing false information on a voter-registration application.
Balogh said she doesn't plan to contest the charge because "I know I'm guilty." She said she submitted ballots in the dog's name in the September and November 2006 and May 2007 elections. She wrote "VOID" on the ballots and didn't cast any votes.
Prosecutors said they would recommend she be sentenced to 10 hours of community service, pay a $250 fine and commit no other crimes for a year. Balogh is scheduled to be arraigned in King County Superior Court on Tuesday.
Acting Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg says his office "can't simply look the other way. They say you should let sleeping dogs lie, but you can't let voting dogs vote."
Late Nite Jokes
Leno
It was so hot today, Matthew McConaughey had a reason to run around without a shirt on.
It was so hot today, Paris Hilton was rubbing ice cubes on her chest even when the guards weren’t watching.
According to US Weekly, Paris Hilton does not read the books in the jail library. You know why? Because they’re books!
President Bush is hosting a visit by the president of Vietnam. He didn’t want to go, but his father couldn’t get him out of it.
Conan
Wal-Mart is getting an advance shipment of the final Harry Potter book. They’ve asked their employees not to reveal the ending because they don’t want to spoil it for fans. Wal-Mart said the first thing they did was fire the greeter, who was saying, "Welcome to Wal-Mart; Harry is dead.”
Yankees’ Jason Giambi has told Major League Baseball he will testify about his own steroid use, but he will not mention the names of any other players. Instead he said he’s going to talk about someone whose name rhymes with Harry Honds.
They’re going to reveal President Bush’s presidential library. The committee in charge of President Bush’s presidential library said that they want the building to reflect the spirit of the Bush presidency. In other words, they’re just gonna build some stuff, and see what happens.
This week in Texas, a fire broke out in a warehouse destroying 2,000 pounds of marijuana. Officials say more than 60 firefighters and 2,000 college students responded to the blaze.
Ferguson
There was a new study released this week that listed the most environmentally friendly corporations in the world. One of the corporations that came in last place was CBS. It’s true. We just beat the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl.
CBS has asked me to cut down on my gas emissions. They’ll have to take my burrito from my cold, dead hands.
Today is the day for the 2007 Ugliest Dog competition. It’s a real contest. I’m not making it up. The favorite to win this year is a strange mixed breed from New York. This is an ugly creature. [Picture of Donald Trump.]
To be fair to Trump, he’s not the one entering the contest. It’s just the thing on his head.
Leno
It was so hot today, Matthew McConaughey had a reason to run around without a shirt on.
It was so hot today, Paris Hilton was rubbing ice cubes on her chest even when the guards weren’t watching.
According to US Weekly, Paris Hilton does not read the books in the jail library. You know why? Because they’re books!
President Bush is hosting a visit by the president of Vietnam. He didn’t want to go, but his father couldn’t get him out of it.
Conan
Wal-Mart is getting an advance shipment of the final Harry Potter book. They’ve asked their employees not to reveal the ending because they don’t want to spoil it for fans. Wal-Mart said the first thing they did was fire the greeter, who was saying, "Welcome to Wal-Mart; Harry is dead.”
Yankees’ Jason Giambi has told Major League Baseball he will testify about his own steroid use, but he will not mention the names of any other players. Instead he said he’s going to talk about someone whose name rhymes with Harry Honds.
They’re going to reveal President Bush’s presidential library. The committee in charge of President Bush’s presidential library said that they want the building to reflect the spirit of the Bush presidency. In other words, they’re just gonna build some stuff, and see what happens.
This week in Texas, a fire broke out in a warehouse destroying 2,000 pounds of marijuana. Officials say more than 60 firefighters and 2,000 college students responded to the blaze.
Ferguson
There was a new study released this week that listed the most environmentally friendly corporations in the world. One of the corporations that came in last place was CBS. It’s true. We just beat the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl.
CBS has asked me to cut down on my gas emissions. They’ll have to take my burrito from my cold, dead hands.
Today is the day for the 2007 Ugliest Dog competition. It’s a real contest. I’m not making it up. The favorite to win this year is a strange mixed breed from New York. This is an ugly creature. [Picture of Donald Trump.]
To be fair to Trump, he’s not the one entering the contest. It’s just the thing on his head.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Nancy Pelosi Pledges 'Carbon Neutral' House
The U.S. House aims to slash its energy consumption by 50 percent in 10 years under a "Green the Capitol" initiative.
A final report Thursday by the House's Chief Administrative Officer also pledges that the chamber will operate in a carbon-neutral manner by the end of next year.
The report outlines a series of environmental initiatives such as purchasing electricity generated from renewable sources, installing energy efficient lighting, reducing the use of coal at the Capitol power plant and switching to hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles.
"Global warming and climate change are formidable issues that the entire world is confronting, and the United States Congress must lead by example," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who directed Chief Administrative Officer Daniel Beard in March to prepare the report.
The House side of the Capitol complex generated some 91,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions in fiscal 2006, the equivalent of the emissions of 17,200 cars.
The report found that two-thirds of those emissions could be cut by using renewable fuel sources for electricity and increasing use of natural gas at the power plant, which does not generate power but does provide steam for heating and cooling. Currently, more than half the electricity Congress buys is generated by coal. Only 2 percent comes from renewable fuels.
The remaining 24,000 tons of carbon emissions would be dealt with by buying carbon offsets from the Chicago Climate Exchange.
The pending Fiscal 2008 budget for Congress includes $95,000 for the carbon offsets, $520,000 for the switch to more expensive renewable sources for electricity and $2.75 million to revamp the power plant.
The budget also provides for installation of an E-85 ethanol fueling station.
The greening project was initiated by the House, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., attended a news conference to add their endorsement. "We want to make this 19th century building a 21st century example," Durbin said.
Reid noted that a major energy conservation bill now on the Senate floor would require a 20 percent improvement in energy efficiency in existing federal buildings around the country and stipulate that 15 percent of energy used by the Capitol be renewable by 2017. Reid also has asked Senate officials to buy more energy-efficient computers and other products.
The House is in some disagreement with the Senate over the use of coal at the power plant, with several coal state senators backing a proposal to test clean coal technologies at the plant, the only coal-burning facility in the District of Columbia.
The U.S. House aims to slash its energy consumption by 50 percent in 10 years under a "Green the Capitol" initiative.
A final report Thursday by the House's Chief Administrative Officer also pledges that the chamber will operate in a carbon-neutral manner by the end of next year.
The report outlines a series of environmental initiatives such as purchasing electricity generated from renewable sources, installing energy efficient lighting, reducing the use of coal at the Capitol power plant and switching to hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles.
"Global warming and climate change are formidable issues that the entire world is confronting, and the United States Congress must lead by example," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who directed Chief Administrative Officer Daniel Beard in March to prepare the report.
The House side of the Capitol complex generated some 91,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions in fiscal 2006, the equivalent of the emissions of 17,200 cars.
The report found that two-thirds of those emissions could be cut by using renewable fuel sources for electricity and increasing use of natural gas at the power plant, which does not generate power but does provide steam for heating and cooling. Currently, more than half the electricity Congress buys is generated by coal. Only 2 percent comes from renewable fuels.
The remaining 24,000 tons of carbon emissions would be dealt with by buying carbon offsets from the Chicago Climate Exchange.
The pending Fiscal 2008 budget for Congress includes $95,000 for the carbon offsets, $520,000 for the switch to more expensive renewable sources for electricity and $2.75 million to revamp the power plant.
The budget also provides for installation of an E-85 ethanol fueling station.
The greening project was initiated by the House, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., attended a news conference to add their endorsement. "We want to make this 19th century building a 21st century example," Durbin said.
Reid noted that a major energy conservation bill now on the Senate floor would require a 20 percent improvement in energy efficiency in existing federal buildings around the country and stipulate that 15 percent of energy used by the Capitol be renewable by 2017. Reid also has asked Senate officials to buy more energy-efficient computers and other products.
The House is in some disagreement with the Senate over the use of coal at the power plant, with several coal state senators backing a proposal to test clean coal technologies at the plant, the only coal-burning facility in the District of Columbia.
Late Nite Jokes
Leno
I guess you’ve heard by now . . . there’s a video of Kobe Bryant trashing his fellow Lakers. The good news? This is the first evidence that Kobe’s even aware there’s other members on the team.
It was announced this week that Hillary Clinton has finally picked a theme song for her campaign. Now if she can just pick out a position on Iraq. That would be great. We could move on.
Hillary Clinton has picked "You and I” by Celine Dion as her campaign theme song. And in a related story, John McCain’s campaign song is also by Celine Dion — it’s the theme from "Titanic.”
In Dubai, officials say they want to become the next Orlando. They say the oil money will dry up and they want to build a giant Middle East theme park. They say it’ll be just like Disneyland. The only difference is that every half hour when Prince Charming kisses Snow White, they’ll both be stoned to death for immodesty.
Conan
This week, Ozzie Osbourne sold his mansion in Los Angeles. Ozzie said he had to sell the house because he said, "I could never find it.”
Hillary Clinton has a new campaign ad that spoofs "The Sopranos.” Hillary’s calling the ad a lot of fun, and Bill is calling it a chilling window into his personal health.
It’s been reported that "Nightmare on Elm street” Director Wes Craven is suing Pauly Shore. That’s right — the man who gave you nightmares is being sued by Wes Craven.
Ferguson
Great day for Rosie O’Donnell. She’s meeting with producers of "The Price Is Right” and being considered for Bob Barker’s replacement. They’re also considering Drew Carrey. It’s a dilemma for me. I don’t know who to root for. I’m friends with both of them. They both should get the job. They could share clothes.
I’ve known them both for quite some time. I’ve never seen them in the same room together though . . . Could it be?
NBC is going to pay Paris Hilton a million bucks for a first interview when she gets out of the slammer. A million bucks! I’d spend 23 days in jail for a million damn dollars! I’d spend 23 days in jail for the company.
I’d go to find an audience, that’s why I’d go.
Leno
I guess you’ve heard by now . . . there’s a video of Kobe Bryant trashing his fellow Lakers. The good news? This is the first evidence that Kobe’s even aware there’s other members on the team.
It was announced this week that Hillary Clinton has finally picked a theme song for her campaign. Now if she can just pick out a position on Iraq. That would be great. We could move on.
Hillary Clinton has picked "You and I” by Celine Dion as her campaign theme song. And in a related story, John McCain’s campaign song is also by Celine Dion — it’s the theme from "Titanic.”
In Dubai, officials say they want to become the next Orlando. They say the oil money will dry up and they want to build a giant Middle East theme park. They say it’ll be just like Disneyland. The only difference is that every half hour when Prince Charming kisses Snow White, they’ll both be stoned to death for immodesty.
Conan
This week, Ozzie Osbourne sold his mansion in Los Angeles. Ozzie said he had to sell the house because he said, "I could never find it.”
Hillary Clinton has a new campaign ad that spoofs "The Sopranos.” Hillary’s calling the ad a lot of fun, and Bill is calling it a chilling window into his personal health.
It’s been reported that "Nightmare on Elm street” Director Wes Craven is suing Pauly Shore. That’s right — the man who gave you nightmares is being sued by Wes Craven.
Ferguson
Great day for Rosie O’Donnell. She’s meeting with producers of "The Price Is Right” and being considered for Bob Barker’s replacement. They’re also considering Drew Carrey. It’s a dilemma for me. I don’t know who to root for. I’m friends with both of them. They both should get the job. They could share clothes.
I’ve known them both for quite some time. I’ve never seen them in the same room together though . . . Could it be?
NBC is going to pay Paris Hilton a million bucks for a first interview when she gets out of the slammer. A million bucks! I’d spend 23 days in jail for a million damn dollars! I’d spend 23 days in jail for the company.
I’d go to find an audience, that’s why I’d go.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Canadian Professor: Prepare for Global Cooling
Don't blame rising levels of carbon dioxide (C02) for whatever global warming is now taking place; put the blame on "old sol" — the sun may be getting ready to put the world into the deep freezer.
So say a growing number of scientists who have studied the effect of the sun on the earth's climate and concluded that the only thing scientists understand about climate change is that it is always changing.
"Climate stability has never been a feature of planet earth,” explains R. Timothy Patterson professor and director of the Ottawa-Carleton Geoscience Centre, Department of Earth Sciences, Carleton University in an article in the Financial Post.
"The only constant about climate is change; it changes continually and, at times, quite rapidly. Many times in the past, temperatures were far higher than today, and occasionally, temperatures were colder. As recently as 6,000 years ago, it was about 3 C warmer than now. Ten thousand years ago, while the world was coming out of the thousand-year-long ‘Younger Dryas’ cold episode, temperatures rose as much as 6 C in a decade — 100 times faster than the past century's.”
Dr. Patterson insists that even though advocates of the global warming theory such as Al Gore are insisting that the "the science is settled," that is far from being the case.
"The fact that science is many years away from properly understanding global climate doesn't seem to bother our leaders at all," Patterson wrote." Inviting testimony only from those who don't question political orthodoxy on the issue, parliamentarians are charging ahead with the impossible and expensive goal of 'stopping global climate change.'”
He cited the assertion by Canadian parliament member Ralph Goodale that parliament should have "a real good discussion about the potential for carbon capture and sequestration in dealing with carbon dioxide, which has tremendous potential for improving the climate, not only here in Canada but around the world.” Patterson observed that it "would be humorous were he, and even the current government, not deadly serious about devoting vast resources to this hopeless crusade."
Patterson explained that an extensive scientific project he conducted for his government regarding the health of the Canadian fishing industry yielded results that concerned not just the condition of the native fishery, but how solar activity regulates climate.
The research that involved taking core samples of mud at the bottom of deep Western Canadian fjords used sophisticated technology that enabled him and his team to collect more than 5,000 years' worth of mud. "Clearly visible in our mud cores are annual changes that record the different seasons,” he explained.
Briefly, the research showed "a direct correlation between variations in the brightness of the sun and earthly climate indicators (called proxies ),” a find, he wrote, that is not unique since hundreds of other studies, using proxies from tree rings in Russia's Kola Peninsula to water levels of the Nile, show exactly the same thing: a direct correlation between variations in the brightness of the sun and earthly climate indicators.
Among his conclusions:
"I and the first-class scientists I work with are consistently finding excellent correlations between the regular fluctuations in the brightness of the sun and earthly climate. This is not surprising. The sun and the stars are the ultimate source of all energy on the planet.”
In a 2003 poll conducted by German environmental Researchers Dennis Bray and Hans von Storch, two-thirds of more than 530 climate scientists from 27 countries surveyed did not believe that "the current state of scientific knowledge is developed well enough to allow for a reasonable assessment of the effects of greenhouse gases." About half of those polled stated that the science of climate change was not sufficiently settled to pass the issue over to policymakers at all.
"Ours is one of the highest-quality climate records available anywhere today, and in it we see obvious confirmation that natural climate change can be dramatic. For example, in the middle of a 62-year slice of the record at about 4,400 years ago, there was a shift in climate in only a couple of seasons from warm, dry, and sunny conditions to one that was mostly cold and rainy for several decades.”
"In a series of groundbreaking scientific papers starting in 2002, Veizer, Shaviv, Carslaw, and most recently Svensmark et al., have collectively demonstrated that as the output of the sun varies, and with it our star's protective solar wind, varying amounts of galactic cosmic rays from deep space are able to enter our solar system and penetrate the earth's atmosphere. These cosmic rays enhance cloud formation which, overall, has a cooling effect on the planet."
"Solar scientists predict that, by 2020, the sun will be starting into its weakest Schwabe solar cycle of the past two centuries, likely leading to unusually cool conditions on earth. Beginning to plan for adaptation to such a cool period, one which may continue well beyond one 11-year cycle, as did the little ice age, should be a priority for governments. It is global cooling, not warming, that is the major climate threat to the world, especially Canada.”
Astrophysicist Nir Shariv, a prolific researcher and one of Israel's top young scientists who was cited by Patterson, no longer accepts the logic of man-made global warming. "Like many others, I was personally sure that CO2 is the bad culprit in the story of global warming,” Shariv wrote. "But after carefully digging into the evidence, I realized that things are far more complicated than the story sold to us by many climate scientists or the stories regurgitated by the media."
According to Dr. Shariv there is no concrete evidence — only speculation — that manmade greenhouse gases cause global warming. Even research from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is bereft of anything here inspiring confidence.
"Solar activity can explain a large part of the 20th-century global warming," he states, adding that the sun's strong role indicates that greenhouse gases can't have much of an influence on the climate — nor will cutbacks in future C02 emissions will matter much in terms of the climate.
Even doubling the amount of CO2 by 2100, "will not dramatically increase the global temperature," Shaviv states.
Finally, an article formally located at climatecentral.org, now found at iceagenow.com, states that should solar activity take a dive tomorrow, the temperatures would cool significantly.
"Solar activity has overpowered any effect that CO2 has had before, and it most likely will again,” the article avers. "In fact, we should be more afraid of a cooling trend because of a solar minimum that will peak in 2030 that could be fairly large. As we saw from a minor solar minimum in the mid 1900s, the earth suddenly started to cool. If we were to have even a medium sized solar minimum, we could be looking at a lot more bad effects than 'global warming' would have had.”
Don't blame rising levels of carbon dioxide (C02) for whatever global warming is now taking place; put the blame on "old sol" — the sun may be getting ready to put the world into the deep freezer.
So say a growing number of scientists who have studied the effect of the sun on the earth's climate and concluded that the only thing scientists understand about climate change is that it is always changing.
"Climate stability has never been a feature of planet earth,” explains R. Timothy Patterson professor and director of the Ottawa-Carleton Geoscience Centre, Department of Earth Sciences, Carleton University in an article in the Financial Post.
"The only constant about climate is change; it changes continually and, at times, quite rapidly. Many times in the past, temperatures were far higher than today, and occasionally, temperatures were colder. As recently as 6,000 years ago, it was about 3 C warmer than now. Ten thousand years ago, while the world was coming out of the thousand-year-long ‘Younger Dryas’ cold episode, temperatures rose as much as 6 C in a decade — 100 times faster than the past century's.”
Dr. Patterson insists that even though advocates of the global warming theory such as Al Gore are insisting that the "the science is settled," that is far from being the case.
"The fact that science is many years away from properly understanding global climate doesn't seem to bother our leaders at all," Patterson wrote." Inviting testimony only from those who don't question political orthodoxy on the issue, parliamentarians are charging ahead with the impossible and expensive goal of 'stopping global climate change.'”
He cited the assertion by Canadian parliament member Ralph Goodale that parliament should have "a real good discussion about the potential for carbon capture and sequestration in dealing with carbon dioxide, which has tremendous potential for improving the climate, not only here in Canada but around the world.” Patterson observed that it "would be humorous were he, and even the current government, not deadly serious about devoting vast resources to this hopeless crusade."
Patterson explained that an extensive scientific project he conducted for his government regarding the health of the Canadian fishing industry yielded results that concerned not just the condition of the native fishery, but how solar activity regulates climate.
The research that involved taking core samples of mud at the bottom of deep Western Canadian fjords used sophisticated technology that enabled him and his team to collect more than 5,000 years' worth of mud. "Clearly visible in our mud cores are annual changes that record the different seasons,” he explained.
Briefly, the research showed "a direct correlation between variations in the brightness of the sun and earthly climate indicators (called proxies ),” a find, he wrote, that is not unique since hundreds of other studies, using proxies from tree rings in Russia's Kola Peninsula to water levels of the Nile, show exactly the same thing: a direct correlation between variations in the brightness of the sun and earthly climate indicators.
Among his conclusions:
"I and the first-class scientists I work with are consistently finding excellent correlations between the regular fluctuations in the brightness of the sun and earthly climate. This is not surprising. The sun and the stars are the ultimate source of all energy on the planet.”
In a 2003 poll conducted by German environmental Researchers Dennis Bray and Hans von Storch, two-thirds of more than 530 climate scientists from 27 countries surveyed did not believe that "the current state of scientific knowledge is developed well enough to allow for a reasonable assessment of the effects of greenhouse gases." About half of those polled stated that the science of climate change was not sufficiently settled to pass the issue over to policymakers at all.
"Ours is one of the highest-quality climate records available anywhere today, and in it we see obvious confirmation that natural climate change can be dramatic. For example, in the middle of a 62-year slice of the record at about 4,400 years ago, there was a shift in climate in only a couple of seasons from warm, dry, and sunny conditions to one that was mostly cold and rainy for several decades.”
"In a series of groundbreaking scientific papers starting in 2002, Veizer, Shaviv, Carslaw, and most recently Svensmark et al., have collectively demonstrated that as the output of the sun varies, and with it our star's protective solar wind, varying amounts of galactic cosmic rays from deep space are able to enter our solar system and penetrate the earth's atmosphere. These cosmic rays enhance cloud formation which, overall, has a cooling effect on the planet."
"Solar scientists predict that, by 2020, the sun will be starting into its weakest Schwabe solar cycle of the past two centuries, likely leading to unusually cool conditions on earth. Beginning to plan for adaptation to such a cool period, one which may continue well beyond one 11-year cycle, as did the little ice age, should be a priority for governments. It is global cooling, not warming, that is the major climate threat to the world, especially Canada.”
Astrophysicist Nir Shariv, a prolific researcher and one of Israel's top young scientists who was cited by Patterson, no longer accepts the logic of man-made global warming. "Like many others, I was personally sure that CO2 is the bad culprit in the story of global warming,” Shariv wrote. "But after carefully digging into the evidence, I realized that things are far more complicated than the story sold to us by many climate scientists or the stories regurgitated by the media."
According to Dr. Shariv there is no concrete evidence — only speculation — that manmade greenhouse gases cause global warming. Even research from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is bereft of anything here inspiring confidence.
"Solar activity can explain a large part of the 20th-century global warming," he states, adding that the sun's strong role indicates that greenhouse gases can't have much of an influence on the climate — nor will cutbacks in future C02 emissions will matter much in terms of the climate.
Even doubling the amount of CO2 by 2100, "will not dramatically increase the global temperature," Shaviv states.
Finally, an article formally located at climatecentral.org, now found at iceagenow.com, states that should solar activity take a dive tomorrow, the temperatures would cool significantly.
"Solar activity has overpowered any effect that CO2 has had before, and it most likely will again,” the article avers. "In fact, we should be more afraid of a cooling trend because of a solar minimum that will peak in 2030 that could be fairly large. As we saw from a minor solar minimum in the mid 1900s, the earth suddenly started to cool. If we were to have even a medium sized solar minimum, we could be looking at a lot more bad effects than 'global warming' would have had.”
Late Nite Jokes
Leno
It was so hot today, Kobe Bryant wanted to leave L.A. just because of the heat.
The Vatican this week published something it’s calling the "Ten Commandments for Drivers.” It’s commandments you should follow while you drive. They actually mention Lindsay Lohan by name.
Nissan announced they are going to build a car in India that will retail for just $3,000. But it’s available only to the Indian people. How about building a car for $3,000 for Americans who lost their jobs to India? Wouldn’t that be better?
In a campaign ad that is a spoof of the big "Sopranos” finale. Have you seen this? Hillary Clinton plays the part of Tony Soprano in the diner. You know what the difference is between Hillary Clinton and Tony Soprano? Tony Soprano goes to the strip club to get away from his spouse. Hillary goes to the strip club to find her spouse.
Conan
Yesterday a top aide to Rudy Giuliani was busted for possessing and distributing cocaine. When asked about it, Giuliani said, "Cocaine? I asked him to get me Rogaine.”
A new comic book has come out that features Latino superheroes. Apparently, they leap over the border in a single bound.
Jail officials in England found a cell phone hidden in a prisoner’s rear end. Prison officials became suspicious when they heard the inmate saying, "I’m gonna lose you. My cell phone’s about to go into a tunnel.”
Ferguson
Not a great day for the Republicans. In New York City, the mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has left the Republican Party. He’s now an independent. He used to be a Democrat, then he was a Republican, now he’s an independent. This guy’s gonna run for president, because who’s going to accuse him of flip-flopping? Who?
He’s a billionaire, Bloomberg. He’s so rich, he owns a TV channel dedicated only to money. In 2005, in the mayor’s race in New York, he spent a hundred dollars for everey vote. A hundred bucks! Of course he won! For a hundred bucks, I’d vote for the Olsen twins!
There was one independent president — Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt founded the national park system. President Taft, who followed Teddy Roosevelt weighed 350 pounds. He was our fattest president ever. He was almost a state himself.
He was so fat, he had to have a special bathtub put into the White House. Bill Clinton loved that bathtub.
Leno
It was so hot today, Kobe Bryant wanted to leave L.A. just because of the heat.
The Vatican this week published something it’s calling the "Ten Commandments for Drivers.” It’s commandments you should follow while you drive. They actually mention Lindsay Lohan by name.
Nissan announced they are going to build a car in India that will retail for just $3,000. But it’s available only to the Indian people. How about building a car for $3,000 for Americans who lost their jobs to India? Wouldn’t that be better?
In a campaign ad that is a spoof of the big "Sopranos” finale. Have you seen this? Hillary Clinton plays the part of Tony Soprano in the diner. You know what the difference is between Hillary Clinton and Tony Soprano? Tony Soprano goes to the strip club to get away from his spouse. Hillary goes to the strip club to find her spouse.
Conan
Yesterday a top aide to Rudy Giuliani was busted for possessing and distributing cocaine. When asked about it, Giuliani said, "Cocaine? I asked him to get me Rogaine.”
A new comic book has come out that features Latino superheroes. Apparently, they leap over the border in a single bound.
Jail officials in England found a cell phone hidden in a prisoner’s rear end. Prison officials became suspicious when they heard the inmate saying, "I’m gonna lose you. My cell phone’s about to go into a tunnel.”
Ferguson
Not a great day for the Republicans. In New York City, the mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has left the Republican Party. He’s now an independent. He used to be a Democrat, then he was a Republican, now he’s an independent. This guy’s gonna run for president, because who’s going to accuse him of flip-flopping? Who?
He’s a billionaire, Bloomberg. He’s so rich, he owns a TV channel dedicated only to money. In 2005, in the mayor’s race in New York, he spent a hundred dollars for everey vote. A hundred bucks! Of course he won! For a hundred bucks, I’d vote for the Olsen twins!
There was one independent president — Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt founded the national park system. President Taft, who followed Teddy Roosevelt weighed 350 pounds. He was our fattest president ever. He was almost a state himself.
He was so fat, he had to have a special bathtub put into the White House. Bill Clinton loved that bathtub.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Liberals Want End of 'Right-Wing Radio'
A liberal organization has gone on the attack against what it calls "right-wing talk” radio – while acknowledging that it totally dominates the airwaves today.
The Center for American Progress’ new report, "The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio,” questions whether the "companies licensed to broadcast over the public radio airwaves are serving the listening needs of all Americans,” the Center’s Web site states. "Right-wing talk reigns supreme on America’s airwaves.”
According to the report, 91 percent of the total weekday talk radio programming on stations owned by the top five commercial station owners is conservative, and 9 percent is liberal.
It also notes that 76 percent of the news/talk programming in the top 10 radio markets is conservative. The percentages range from 60 percent in Detroit to 100 percent in Dallas, Houston and Philadelphia.
The report dismisses the obvious notion that conservative dominance is attributable to "simple consumer demand,” calling that a "myth,” and instead maintains:
"The gap between conservative and progressive talk radio is the result of multiple structural problems in the U.S. regulatory system, particularly the complete breakdown of the public trustee concept, the elimination of clear public interest requirements for broadcasting, and the relaxation of ownership rules including the requirement of local participation in management.”
The report calls for an increase in "ownership diversity,” which will supposedly lead to "more diverse programming.”
A liberal organization has gone on the attack against what it calls "right-wing talk” radio – while acknowledging that it totally dominates the airwaves today.
The Center for American Progress’ new report, "The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio,” questions whether the "companies licensed to broadcast over the public radio airwaves are serving the listening needs of all Americans,” the Center’s Web site states. "Right-wing talk reigns supreme on America’s airwaves.”
According to the report, 91 percent of the total weekday talk radio programming on stations owned by the top five commercial station owners is conservative, and 9 percent is liberal.
It also notes that 76 percent of the news/talk programming in the top 10 radio markets is conservative. The percentages range from 60 percent in Detroit to 100 percent in Dallas, Houston and Philadelphia.
The report dismisses the obvious notion that conservative dominance is attributable to "simple consumer demand,” calling that a "myth,” and instead maintains:
"The gap between conservative and progressive talk radio is the result of multiple structural problems in the U.S. regulatory system, particularly the complete breakdown of the public trustee concept, the elimination of clear public interest requirements for broadcasting, and the relaxation of ownership rules including the requirement of local participation in management.”
The report calls for an increase in "ownership diversity,” which will supposedly lead to "more diverse programming.”
Late Nite Jokes
Leno
Do you know this is "Meet a New Mate Week?” Which is more bad news for Scooter Libby. Not looking good.
Speaking of criminals, North Carolina DA Mike Nifong, you know, that guy in the Duke lacrosse thing, has been disbarred. Now the DA just stands for dumb ass.
In an essay published on Friday, Fidel Castro said that the U.S. will never have Cuba. Never have it? We already have it! It’s called "Miami.”
You may have seen this in the paper today. In Santa Cruz County, Ariz., a child molester was sentenced to 6,242 years in prison. He is trying to get transferred to Los Angeles where, with good behavior, he will be out in 23 days.
Conan
Today, Paula Abdul celebrated her 45th birthday. Unfortunately, when Paula blew out the birthday candles, her breath caught fire and scorched a two-block radius.
According to a new poll, 15 percent of Americans say that Hillary Clinton gives them the creeps. The other 85 percent say she gives them the willies or the heebie jeebies.
The White House announced that this summer, President Bush plans to meet with the Mexican president. The two presidents will meet in the capitol of Mexico, Los Angeles.
The FDA announced the new fat blocking drug, Alli, can cause gas and diarrhea. The pill comes in three forms: pills, capsules, and chimichangas.
Ferguson
Great day for Hillary Clinton. She choose the song for her campaign, a song by Celine Dion. Is it wise choosing a Celine Dion song? She’s a singer best known for doing a song based on a sinking ship.
Not a great day for that wacky judge from the Anna Nicole Smith trial. He was crying, then acting crazy. He’s resigning. Look out Judge Judy — here comes "The Crying Judge.”
Is it me, or have all the judges gone nuts? The used to just dispense justice now they’re all crazy. There’s the crying judge in Florida, there’s the judge in D.C. who’s suing the dry cleaners for $67 million because they lost his pants . . . if I had a nickel for every time I lost my pants . . . But there were no dry cleaners involved.
Now there’s a judge in Oklahoma who’s accused of being naked under the robes while court was in session. Not only that, he was wearing what’s known as a "general enhancement” device. It’s just an accusation. I’m sure it will not stand up in court.
Kimmel
I hope all the dads had a good Father’s Day weekend. My kids took me out to eat — free samples at Costco’s.
My son told me her left my present at his mom’s house, so as I was dropping him off, I told him he could run in and get it. But while I was driving, he just sat there quiet. So I said, "It’s not at the house is it?” And he said, "No, it isn’t.” And I said, "Well, where is it?” And he said, "It’s still at the mall.”
I threw his PlayStation in the pool. You have to teach kids.
Leno
Do you know this is "Meet a New Mate Week?” Which is more bad news for Scooter Libby. Not looking good.
Speaking of criminals, North Carolina DA Mike Nifong, you know, that guy in the Duke lacrosse thing, has been disbarred. Now the DA just stands for dumb ass.
In an essay published on Friday, Fidel Castro said that the U.S. will never have Cuba. Never have it? We already have it! It’s called "Miami.”
You may have seen this in the paper today. In Santa Cruz County, Ariz., a child molester was sentenced to 6,242 years in prison. He is trying to get transferred to Los Angeles where, with good behavior, he will be out in 23 days.
Conan
Today, Paula Abdul celebrated her 45th birthday. Unfortunately, when Paula blew out the birthday candles, her breath caught fire and scorched a two-block radius.
According to a new poll, 15 percent of Americans say that Hillary Clinton gives them the creeps. The other 85 percent say she gives them the willies or the heebie jeebies.
The White House announced that this summer, President Bush plans to meet with the Mexican president. The two presidents will meet in the capitol of Mexico, Los Angeles.
The FDA announced the new fat blocking drug, Alli, can cause gas and diarrhea. The pill comes in three forms: pills, capsules, and chimichangas.
Ferguson
Great day for Hillary Clinton. She choose the song for her campaign, a song by Celine Dion. Is it wise choosing a Celine Dion song? She’s a singer best known for doing a song based on a sinking ship.
Not a great day for that wacky judge from the Anna Nicole Smith trial. He was crying, then acting crazy. He’s resigning. Look out Judge Judy — here comes "The Crying Judge.”
Is it me, or have all the judges gone nuts? The used to just dispense justice now they’re all crazy. There’s the crying judge in Florida, there’s the judge in D.C. who’s suing the dry cleaners for $67 million because they lost his pants . . . if I had a nickel for every time I lost my pants . . . But there were no dry cleaners involved.
Now there’s a judge in Oklahoma who’s accused of being naked under the robes while court was in session. Not only that, he was wearing what’s known as a "general enhancement” device. It’s just an accusation. I’m sure it will not stand up in court.
Kimmel
I hope all the dads had a good Father’s Day weekend. My kids took me out to eat — free samples at Costco’s.
My son told me her left my present at his mom’s house, so as I was dropping him off, I told him he could run in and get it. But while I was driving, he just sat there quiet. So I said, "It’s not at the house is it?” And he said, "No, it isn’t.” And I said, "Well, where is it?” And he said, "It’s still at the mall.”
I threw his PlayStation in the pool. You have to teach kids.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Hillary Booed Again at Liberal Conference
Trying to win over her party's liberal activists, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday accused President Bush of disregarding the Constitution and promised to bring a new progressive vision to the White House.
Bush's government has "a stunning record of secrecy and corruption, of cronyism run amok," she said in one of the more partisan speeches of her campaign. "It is everything our founders were afraid of, everything our Constitution was designed to prevent."
Clinton returned to the Take Back America conference where she was booed last year for opposing a set date for pulling U.S. troops from Iraq. This time, she said she is working to deauthorize the war.
Her comments on Iraq at the end of her 30-minute speech drew heckles, but she also won applause for promising to get out of Iraq and for embracing liberal positions on domestic issues such as health care, worker rights, education and stem cell research.
Bush was scheduled to veto a bill later in the day that would have eased restraints on federally funded embryonic stem cell research. Clinton promised to lift the ban if elected.
"This is just one example of how the president puts ideology before science, politics before the needs of our families, just one more example of how out of touch with reality he and his party have become," she said. "And it's just one more example as to why we're going to send them packing in January 2009 and return progressive leadership to the White House.
One audience member yelled, "Impeach him!"
On Iraq, Clinton said the military has succeed by removing Saddam Hussein from power, giving Iraqis the chance for free and fair elections and to govern themselves.
"The American military has succeeded. It is the Iraqi government which has failed to make the tough decisions that are important for their own people," Clinton said, although a loud chorus of boos cut off the end of her sentence.
"I love coming here," Clinton said with a smile while the crowd continued to boo, with her supporters trying to drown the protesters out in cheers.
Members of the anti-war group Code Pink stood up throughout the audience, raising signs and holding up their fingers in a peace sign.
"I see the signs - 'Get us out of Iraq now.' That is what we are trying to do," she said. She said she is working with Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., to sponsor legislation to deauthorize the war.
One of the protesters was Laurie Meier of St. Louis, who was wearing a police-style cap and shirt that said "Pink Police" on the back. She said Clinton is responsible for her vote to authorize the war and for repeatedly voting to fund it, until the most recent spending bill that she voted against.
"To blame it on the Iraqis is a cop out," Meier said.
Clinton said the Bush administration has manipulated science to meet a conservative ideology.
"On everything from stem cell research to global warming to Plan B contraception, the president has worked to turn Washington, D.C., into an evidence-free zone," she said to loud applause. "Facts have been subordinated to opinions and beliefs. I think we've had enough. There is no conflict between faith and science.
Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, another presidential candidate, also spoke Wednesday. He said Vice President Dick Cheney should be impeached and won enthusiastic applause from the audience.
Trying to win over her party's liberal activists, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday accused President Bush of disregarding the Constitution and promised to bring a new progressive vision to the White House.
Bush's government has "a stunning record of secrecy and corruption, of cronyism run amok," she said in one of the more partisan speeches of her campaign. "It is everything our founders were afraid of, everything our Constitution was designed to prevent."
Clinton returned to the Take Back America conference where she was booed last year for opposing a set date for pulling U.S. troops from Iraq. This time, she said she is working to deauthorize the war.
Her comments on Iraq at the end of her 30-minute speech drew heckles, but she also won applause for promising to get out of Iraq and for embracing liberal positions on domestic issues such as health care, worker rights, education and stem cell research.
Bush was scheduled to veto a bill later in the day that would have eased restraints on federally funded embryonic stem cell research. Clinton promised to lift the ban if elected.
"This is just one example of how the president puts ideology before science, politics before the needs of our families, just one more example of how out of touch with reality he and his party have become," she said. "And it's just one more example as to why we're going to send them packing in January 2009 and return progressive leadership to the White House.
One audience member yelled, "Impeach him!"
On Iraq, Clinton said the military has succeed by removing Saddam Hussein from power, giving Iraqis the chance for free and fair elections and to govern themselves.
"The American military has succeeded. It is the Iraqi government which has failed to make the tough decisions that are important for their own people," Clinton said, although a loud chorus of boos cut off the end of her sentence.
"I love coming here," Clinton said with a smile while the crowd continued to boo, with her supporters trying to drown the protesters out in cheers.
Members of the anti-war group Code Pink stood up throughout the audience, raising signs and holding up their fingers in a peace sign.
"I see the signs - 'Get us out of Iraq now.' That is what we are trying to do," she said. She said she is working with Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., to sponsor legislation to deauthorize the war.
One of the protesters was Laurie Meier of St. Louis, who was wearing a police-style cap and shirt that said "Pink Police" on the back. She said Clinton is responsible for her vote to authorize the war and for repeatedly voting to fund it, until the most recent spending bill that she voted against.
"To blame it on the Iraqis is a cop out," Meier said.
Clinton said the Bush administration has manipulated science to meet a conservative ideology.
"On everything from stem cell research to global warming to Plan B contraception, the president has worked to turn Washington, D.C., into an evidence-free zone," she said to loud applause. "Facts have been subordinated to opinions and beliefs. I think we've had enough. There is no conflict between faith and science.
Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, another presidential candidate, also spoke Wednesday. He said Vice President Dick Cheney should be impeached and won enthusiastic applause from the audience.
Late Nite Jokes
Leno
As I’m sure you know by now, a judge has turned down Scooter Libby’s request to delay his prison term. In fact, the judge gave him an extra three months just for having that stupid name, Scooter. Not the name you want to have going into prison.
I guess you heard, there’s a huge problem with the Russian space station. The computers failed. The whole computer system went down. Pretty scary. But they’re hoping they can fix the problem and call tech support when they fly over India.
Actually, two thirds of it have been fixed. Although the system that controls oxygen manufacture had been down for two days. And you know what happens when astronauts don’t get enough oxygen. They drive 900 miles in a diaper to kidnap other astronauts. You have to be very careful.
According to a new study 30 percent of Cubans are overweight. The other 70 percent are still in Cuba.
Conan
Barack Obama’s Secret Service code name is "Renegade.” Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is still using her old Secret Service code name, "Ballbuster.”
Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback kicked off a 1,200 mile campaign trip in Iowa. Brownback said, "I’m not going to stop until I find someone who knows who the hell I am.”
Bob Barker retired last Friday. He has endorsed Rosie O’Donnell to become the host of "The Price Is Right.” If she takes the job, Rosie will end each show by saying, "Please remember to spay or neuter Donald Trump.”
Scientists in Japan have developed an umbrella that has Internet access and allows users to search the Internet while they walk. An electronic device that you carry in a rain storm. What could possibly go wrong?
Ferguson
Not such a great day for the international space station. All the space station’s computers crashed. It must be terrifying for these astronauts. No way to download porn.
The airport in Milan, Italy, had to be shut down because it was overrun by rabbits. Animals are out of control. Italian rabbits at the airport. Last week, German squirrels were attacking people. German and Italians working together . . . does this sound familiar?!?
Here in America we’re safe from rabbits. We have Elmer Fudd to protect us [picture of Dick Cheney].
Leno
As I’m sure you know by now, a judge has turned down Scooter Libby’s request to delay his prison term. In fact, the judge gave him an extra three months just for having that stupid name, Scooter. Not the name you want to have going into prison.
I guess you heard, there’s a huge problem with the Russian space station. The computers failed. The whole computer system went down. Pretty scary. But they’re hoping they can fix the problem and call tech support when they fly over India.
Actually, two thirds of it have been fixed. Although the system that controls oxygen manufacture had been down for two days. And you know what happens when astronauts don’t get enough oxygen. They drive 900 miles in a diaper to kidnap other astronauts. You have to be very careful.
According to a new study 30 percent of Cubans are overweight. The other 70 percent are still in Cuba.
Conan
Barack Obama’s Secret Service code name is "Renegade.” Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is still using her old Secret Service code name, "Ballbuster.”
Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback kicked off a 1,200 mile campaign trip in Iowa. Brownback said, "I’m not going to stop until I find someone who knows who the hell I am.”
Bob Barker retired last Friday. He has endorsed Rosie O’Donnell to become the host of "The Price Is Right.” If she takes the job, Rosie will end each show by saying, "Please remember to spay or neuter Donald Trump.”
Scientists in Japan have developed an umbrella that has Internet access and allows users to search the Internet while they walk. An electronic device that you carry in a rain storm. What could possibly go wrong?
Ferguson
Not such a great day for the international space station. All the space station’s computers crashed. It must be terrifying for these astronauts. No way to download porn.
The airport in Milan, Italy, had to be shut down because it was overrun by rabbits. Animals are out of control. Italian rabbits at the airport. Last week, German squirrels were attacking people. German and Italians working together . . . does this sound familiar?!?
Here in America we’re safe from rabbits. We have Elmer Fudd to protect us [picture of Dick Cheney].
Monday, June 18, 2007
Hillary Clinton Tape Reveals 'Felony': Claim
This article was written by Fred Lucas, staff writer for CNSNews.com
A videotape shows New York Sen. Hillary Clinton committing felonies and should be admitted as new evidence in a California civil case, a forthcoming legal brief to be filed by Friday argues.
The tape shows Clinton - currently the leading Democratic presidential contender - speaking in 2000 with Peter Paul, a Hollywood mogul, and comic book icon Stan Lee about a massive fundraising event for her 2000 Senate race. Paul spent about $2 million of his own money to produce the event. The legal contribution limit to a candidate then was $2,000.
"The evidence is of that rare type that captures the very commission of a crime, namely, that of knowingly soliciting, coordinating and accepting federal campaign contributions far in excess of the legal limit of $2,000," says the brief to be filed by Paul's attorney with the Court of Appeal, 2nd Appellate District arguing in favor of including the tape as evidence.
Cybercast News Service first reported the existence of the tape in April.
A portion of the videotape captures the closing words of a lengthy conversation in which Paul was present.
The voice of Hillary Clinton is heard telling Lee that Paul and her chief campaign aide "talk all the time, so she'll be the person to convey whatever I need." She is then heard adding, "I wanted to call and personally thank all of you ... [and] tell you how much this means to me. It's going to mean a lot to the president, too."
Clinton and her supporters have maintained that she had no direct knowledge that the event violated campaign finance rules. In a written declaration for the California court filed on April 7, 2006, the senator said only that she didn't remember discussions with Paul about the fundraiser.
"I have no recollection whatsoever of discussing any arrangement with him whereby he would support my campaign for the United States Senate in exchange for anything from me or then-President Clinton," Clinton said in the declaration.
"I do not believe I would make such a statement because I believe I would remember such a discussion if it had occurred," she added.
The Federal Elections Commission already ruled that Clinton's 2000 campaign committee underreported cash it received at the fundraising event Paul sponsored. The FEC slapped the campaign committee with a $35,000 fine.
The fallout from Paul's Hollywood fundraising event also led to the federal indictment of David Rosen, the senator's campaign finance director, who was acquitted on charges of lying to the FEC.
Paul alleges this tape proves Clinton and her campaign were not truthful to either the FEC or the grand jury investigation that led to Rosen's indictment.
Neither Clinton's presidential campaign nor her Senate office returned phone calls regarding this story Tuesday. Likewise, Clinton's attorney David Kendall did not respond.
In recent briefs in the case, Clinton's attorneys point out that Paul pleaded guilty to manipulating the company's stock price. He has two previous felony convictions, pleading guilty to fraud in the 1970s and to a drug charge in the 1980s.
The U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York gave copies of 90 tapes to Paul on April 11. The office had taken possession of the tapes six years ago during an investigation of a securities case against Paul in 2001.
Paul was the majority partner with Lee in a multi-million dollar Internet venture in 2000 before the company collapsed.
Paul contends that President Clinton had agreed to work as a rainmaker for the company after he left the White House in exchange for the massive star-studded fundraising event in Hollywood which Paul produced that included Cher, Whoopi Goldberg, John Travolta, Brad Pitt, Sugar Ray, and Queen Latifah.
Trying to stay out of the lawsuit while she ran for reelection to the Senate and laid the groundwork for a presidential campaign, Clinton used a California statute intended to protect political candidates from frivolous lawsuits.
That's where this tape could be key, said election law expert John Armor, who has tried election laws since the 1960s.
"The tape shows her committing several crimes," said Armor, who is not a party to the case but will appear on camera for a documentary Paul is producing on the case. "The court either should accept it on appeal, or bump it back to the trial court."
Oral arguments will likely be made to the three-judge panel this summer on whether to release Clinton from the lawsuit, with a decision expected soon after. But the entire case could go on for much longer.
Past precedents have denied the introduction of new evidence into appeals proceedings because it either could have been introduced at the trial level, isn't conclusive or contains a factual dispute, said Wilson, Paul's attorney.
That would not apply here, she said.
"This is set apart. It's a wow case," Wilson told Cybercast News Service. "At the trial level, this would have changed everything."
This article was written by Fred Lucas, staff writer for CNSNews.com
A videotape shows New York Sen. Hillary Clinton committing felonies and should be admitted as new evidence in a California civil case, a forthcoming legal brief to be filed by Friday argues.
The tape shows Clinton - currently the leading Democratic presidential contender - speaking in 2000 with Peter Paul, a Hollywood mogul, and comic book icon Stan Lee about a massive fundraising event for her 2000 Senate race. Paul spent about $2 million of his own money to produce the event. The legal contribution limit to a candidate then was $2,000.
"The evidence is of that rare type that captures the very commission of a crime, namely, that of knowingly soliciting, coordinating and accepting federal campaign contributions far in excess of the legal limit of $2,000," says the brief to be filed by Paul's attorney with the Court of Appeal, 2nd Appellate District arguing in favor of including the tape as evidence.
Cybercast News Service first reported the existence of the tape in April.
A portion of the videotape captures the closing words of a lengthy conversation in which Paul was present.
The voice of Hillary Clinton is heard telling Lee that Paul and her chief campaign aide "talk all the time, so she'll be the person to convey whatever I need." She is then heard adding, "I wanted to call and personally thank all of you ... [and] tell you how much this means to me. It's going to mean a lot to the president, too."
Clinton and her supporters have maintained that she had no direct knowledge that the event violated campaign finance rules. In a written declaration for the California court filed on April 7, 2006, the senator said only that she didn't remember discussions with Paul about the fundraiser.
"I have no recollection whatsoever of discussing any arrangement with him whereby he would support my campaign for the United States Senate in exchange for anything from me or then-President Clinton," Clinton said in the declaration.
"I do not believe I would make such a statement because I believe I would remember such a discussion if it had occurred," she added.
The Federal Elections Commission already ruled that Clinton's 2000 campaign committee underreported cash it received at the fundraising event Paul sponsored. The FEC slapped the campaign committee with a $35,000 fine.
The fallout from Paul's Hollywood fundraising event also led to the federal indictment of David Rosen, the senator's campaign finance director, who was acquitted on charges of lying to the FEC.
Paul alleges this tape proves Clinton and her campaign were not truthful to either the FEC or the grand jury investigation that led to Rosen's indictment.
Neither Clinton's presidential campaign nor her Senate office returned phone calls regarding this story Tuesday. Likewise, Clinton's attorney David Kendall did not respond.
In recent briefs in the case, Clinton's attorneys point out that Paul pleaded guilty to manipulating the company's stock price. He has two previous felony convictions, pleading guilty to fraud in the 1970s and to a drug charge in the 1980s.
The U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York gave copies of 90 tapes to Paul on April 11. The office had taken possession of the tapes six years ago during an investigation of a securities case against Paul in 2001.
Paul was the majority partner with Lee in a multi-million dollar Internet venture in 2000 before the company collapsed.
Paul contends that President Clinton had agreed to work as a rainmaker for the company after he left the White House in exchange for the massive star-studded fundraising event in Hollywood which Paul produced that included Cher, Whoopi Goldberg, John Travolta, Brad Pitt, Sugar Ray, and Queen Latifah.
Trying to stay out of the lawsuit while she ran for reelection to the Senate and laid the groundwork for a presidential campaign, Clinton used a California statute intended to protect political candidates from frivolous lawsuits.
That's where this tape could be key, said election law expert John Armor, who has tried election laws since the 1960s.
"The tape shows her committing several crimes," said Armor, who is not a party to the case but will appear on camera for a documentary Paul is producing on the case. "The court either should accept it on appeal, or bump it back to the trial court."
Oral arguments will likely be made to the three-judge panel this summer on whether to release Clinton from the lawsuit, with a decision expected soon after. But the entire case could go on for much longer.
Past precedents have denied the introduction of new evidence into appeals proceedings because it either could have been introduced at the trial level, isn't conclusive or contains a factual dispute, said Wilson, Paul's attorney.
That would not apply here, she said.
"This is set apart. It's a wow case," Wilson told Cybercast News Service. "At the trial level, this would have changed everything."
Sunday, June 17, 2007
CNN Polls Tied to Hillary Donor
Bill and Hillary Clinton’s ties to InfoUSA Chairman Vinod Gupta have raised conflict-of-interest concerns over the firm’s links to CNN.
In December, database company InfoUSA acquired the polling firm Opinion Research Corp., which provides CNN with polling services for its coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign.
Gupta is actively campaigning for Hillary, and as a result the polling firm’s findings "could be perceived as being colored by Gupta’s connections to the Clintons,” TheDeal.com observed.
"In May, for example, CNN cited results of an Opinion Research poll that showed Hillary Clinton gaining momentum among liberal voters, without disclosing that the pollster is owned by a company whose owner is working to elect her.”
A shareholder lawsuit has disclosed that Gupta has had InfoUSA pay Bill Clinton $2.1 million in "consulting fees” since he left the White House, with another $1.2 million promised.
The lawsuit also states that InfoUSA spent more than $900,000 to provide corporate jet flights for both Bill and Hillary Clinton.
The Clintons vacationed at Gupta’s home in Hawaii and flew to Acapulco on a corporate jet. Gupta has helped raise considerable sums for Hillary’s campaigns – most recently serving as vice chairman of a fundraiser in New York – and once spent the night as a favored guest in the White House’s Lincoln bedroom.
On June 5, NewsMax’s chief Washington correspondent Ronald Kessler first reported that Gupta has also hired House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s son Paul Jr. as a $180,000-a-year senior vice president – even though he has no experience in Gupta’s company’s main business activities.
Opinion Research began conducting polls for CNN in April 2006, according to TheDeal.com. A month after InfoUSA closed on its purchase of the polling company in December, CNN and Opinion Research announced a 2-year partnership, with Opinion Research conducting political polling for CNN through next year’s election.
In an e-mail statement, Opinion Research President Jeff Resnick defended the company’s work for CNN: "Each week, great care is taken to ensure the poll results are accurate and free from any bias. An examination of the poll results will support this statement.”
But Bruce Weinstein, who writes an ethics column for BusinessWeek.com, said just the perception of a potential conflict of interest could hurt a media organization’s credibility.
Bill and Hillary Clinton’s ties to InfoUSA Chairman Vinod Gupta have raised conflict-of-interest concerns over the firm’s links to CNN.
In December, database company InfoUSA acquired the polling firm Opinion Research Corp., which provides CNN with polling services for its coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign.
Gupta is actively campaigning for Hillary, and as a result the polling firm’s findings "could be perceived as being colored by Gupta’s connections to the Clintons,” TheDeal.com observed.
"In May, for example, CNN cited results of an Opinion Research poll that showed Hillary Clinton gaining momentum among liberal voters, without disclosing that the pollster is owned by a company whose owner is working to elect her.”
A shareholder lawsuit has disclosed that Gupta has had InfoUSA pay Bill Clinton $2.1 million in "consulting fees” since he left the White House, with another $1.2 million promised.
The lawsuit also states that InfoUSA spent more than $900,000 to provide corporate jet flights for both Bill and Hillary Clinton.
The Clintons vacationed at Gupta’s home in Hawaii and flew to Acapulco on a corporate jet. Gupta has helped raise considerable sums for Hillary’s campaigns – most recently serving as vice chairman of a fundraiser in New York – and once spent the night as a favored guest in the White House’s Lincoln bedroom.
On June 5, NewsMax’s chief Washington correspondent Ronald Kessler first reported that Gupta has also hired House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s son Paul Jr. as a $180,000-a-year senior vice president – even though he has no experience in Gupta’s company’s main business activities.
Opinion Research began conducting polls for CNN in April 2006, according to TheDeal.com. A month after InfoUSA closed on its purchase of the polling company in December, CNN and Opinion Research announced a 2-year partnership, with Opinion Research conducting political polling for CNN through next year’s election.
In an e-mail statement, Opinion Research President Jeff Resnick defended the company’s work for CNN: "Each week, great care is taken to ensure the poll results are accurate and free from any bias. An examination of the poll results will support this statement.”
But Bruce Weinstein, who writes an ethics column for BusinessWeek.com, said just the perception of a potential conflict of interest could hurt a media organization’s credibility.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Brownback Sorry for Mormon Comments
NewsMax - Republican presidential hopeful Sam Brownback on Monday telephoned rival Mitt Romney to apologize for a campaign staffer's e-mail criticizing the Mormon church.
The Kansas senator "was very disappointed, clearly sort of personally hurt that this had happened in his team, and he said he is going to be very aggressive to make sure it doesn't happen again," spokesman Brian Hart said. "There's no place for this in his campaign."
The e-mail asked for help in fact-checking negative statements about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for which Romney is a member, such as "the LDS Jesus is not the same Jesus of the Christian faith." Hart said the aide who sent it, Emma Nemecek, was reprimanded.
Brownback is a former Methodist who converted to Roman Catholicism.
Earlier in the day, Brownback kicked off his summer road trip — a 1,200-mile, four-day, 27-stop tour through Iowa.
The Kansas senator said he hopes the road trip through Iowa, which launches the presidential nominating season with caucuses, will attract attention to his message of uniting social and fiscal conservatives.
"A lot of times, you go into towns that frequently don't get visited by candidates, and they're excited to see you, and I think it will be a great public opinion bath for me from Iowans," he said during a conference call with reporters.
NewsMax - Republican presidential hopeful Sam Brownback on Monday telephoned rival Mitt Romney to apologize for a campaign staffer's e-mail criticizing the Mormon church.
The Kansas senator "was very disappointed, clearly sort of personally hurt that this had happened in his team, and he said he is going to be very aggressive to make sure it doesn't happen again," spokesman Brian Hart said. "There's no place for this in his campaign."
The e-mail asked for help in fact-checking negative statements about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for which Romney is a member, such as "the LDS Jesus is not the same Jesus of the Christian faith." Hart said the aide who sent it, Emma Nemecek, was reprimanded.
Brownback is a former Methodist who converted to Roman Catholicism.
Earlier in the day, Brownback kicked off his summer road trip — a 1,200-mile, four-day, 27-stop tour through Iowa.
The Kansas senator said he hopes the road trip through Iowa, which launches the presidential nominating season with caucuses, will attract attention to his message of uniting social and fiscal conservatives.
"A lot of times, you go into towns that frequently don't get visited by candidates, and they're excited to see you, and I think it will be a great public opinion bath for me from Iowans," he said during a conference call with reporters.
Late Nite Jokes
Leno
This Sunday, of course, is Father’s Day. Except in Beverly Hills where it’s forefathers day. Where kids celebrate their four fathers. The stepfather . . .
Democrat presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich is heading an impeach Dick Cheney movement. How many heart attacks has Cheney had, five, six? If you want to get rid of this guy just buy him a cheeseburger.
As you know, all the candidates have released their financial statements. It turned out that Bill Clinton made $10 million from speaking engagements last year. Ten million dollars! That sounds glamorous but come on. Imagine all those nights in a hotel room, Hillary half a country away. Him sitting there by himself. How lonely that must be though.
Mike Nifong, the DA in the Duke Lacrosse case is resigning. He said he is looking forward to making up charges and ruining people’s lives in the private sector now.
Letterman
Crime in New York City is at an all-time low. It’s been weeks that I walked through Central Park screaming, "I’m hit! I’m hit!”
Many of you will make it back to your hotels alive.
Paris Hilton got an Emmy for her work on a daytime soap opera. Have you seen it? "The Young and the Brainless?”
Rosie O’Donnell was also nominated for Best Talk Show Host. She looked fantastic by the way, at the Emmy Awards. She spent the day getting her back waxed.
Conan
In honor of Father’s Day, a group of doctors is offering dads free prostate exams. So next year, your dad will be happy when he gets a tie. That tie will be looking pretty good.
Hillary Clinton has launched a new Web site where people can get all the latest Hillary news. John Edwards has launched a new Web site where people can get his blend of shampoos and conditioners.
The Iranian parliament has passed a law calling for the execution of all Iranian porn stars. Of course, in Iran, a porn movie is any movie where a woman exposes her chin.
It’s been reported that during the brief period that Paris Hilton was out of jail, she received a consultation from Michael Jackson’s plastic surgeon. Michael's plastic surgeon told Paris, "There’s nothing I can do for you. You’re already a white lady.”
Ferguson
"Fantastic 4" opens today. I don’t know why they’re fantastic; they look just fabulous to me.
There is itchy, stretchy . . .
Anyway, The Thing gets married. I guess to "Miss Thing.”
The Nancy Drew movie opened today. That’s the one I’ll be seeing. Nancy Drew is a spunky teenager who fights crime and wears a miniskirt. I went through a phase like that.
Kimmel
We have a tradition on Father’s Day. I wake up to the site of my two beautiful children standing by my bed with a pillow trying to smother me.
Father’s Day is a day for kids to show appreciation to their dads. Well, once Maury Povich identifies who their dad is.
Today was Bob Barker’s last day on "The Price Is Right.” After 35 years, he realized that the show was boring.
Leno
This Sunday, of course, is Father’s Day. Except in Beverly Hills where it’s forefathers day. Where kids celebrate their four fathers. The stepfather . . .
Democrat presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich is heading an impeach Dick Cheney movement. How many heart attacks has Cheney had, five, six? If you want to get rid of this guy just buy him a cheeseburger.
As you know, all the candidates have released their financial statements. It turned out that Bill Clinton made $10 million from speaking engagements last year. Ten million dollars! That sounds glamorous but come on. Imagine all those nights in a hotel room, Hillary half a country away. Him sitting there by himself. How lonely that must be though.
Mike Nifong, the DA in the Duke Lacrosse case is resigning. He said he is looking forward to making up charges and ruining people’s lives in the private sector now.
Letterman
Crime in New York City is at an all-time low. It’s been weeks that I walked through Central Park screaming, "I’m hit! I’m hit!”
Many of you will make it back to your hotels alive.
Paris Hilton got an Emmy for her work on a daytime soap opera. Have you seen it? "The Young and the Brainless?”
Rosie O’Donnell was also nominated for Best Talk Show Host. She looked fantastic by the way, at the Emmy Awards. She spent the day getting her back waxed.
Conan
In honor of Father’s Day, a group of doctors is offering dads free prostate exams. So next year, your dad will be happy when he gets a tie. That tie will be looking pretty good.
Hillary Clinton has launched a new Web site where people can get all the latest Hillary news. John Edwards has launched a new Web site where people can get his blend of shampoos and conditioners.
The Iranian parliament has passed a law calling for the execution of all Iranian porn stars. Of course, in Iran, a porn movie is any movie where a woman exposes her chin.
It’s been reported that during the brief period that Paris Hilton was out of jail, she received a consultation from Michael Jackson’s plastic surgeon. Michael's plastic surgeon told Paris, "There’s nothing I can do for you. You’re already a white lady.”
Ferguson
"Fantastic 4" opens today. I don’t know why they’re fantastic; they look just fabulous to me.
There is itchy, stretchy . . .
Anyway, The Thing gets married. I guess to "Miss Thing.”
The Nancy Drew movie opened today. That’s the one I’ll be seeing. Nancy Drew is a spunky teenager who fights crime and wears a miniskirt. I went through a phase like that.
Kimmel
We have a tradition on Father’s Day. I wake up to the site of my two beautiful children standing by my bed with a pillow trying to smother me.
Father’s Day is a day for kids to show appreciation to their dads. Well, once Maury Povich identifies who their dad is.
Today was Bob Barker’s last day on "The Price Is Right.” After 35 years, he realized that the show was boring.
Friday, June 15, 2007
McCain Buys Anti-Romney Web Site Name
John McCain’s presidential campaign has bought the Web site name www.mittvsfact.com and will launch the site to illustrate White House hopeful Mitt Romney’s alleged flip-flops.
As NewsMax reported, the McCain campaign on Wednesday sent out an e-mail release, with a "Mitt vs. Fact” letterhead, that attacked Romney on the abortion issue.
It linked to a video showing then-Massachusetts Gov. Romney vowing to uphold the state’s abortion-rights laws.
Romney has now called for the repeal of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationally.
A McCain aide confirmed to The Politico on Friday that his campaign had purchased the mittvsfact Web site last month and "indicated that they would use it as a sort of one-stop shop ‘to brand’ Romney,” according to The Politico.
But the Romney campaign said McCain’s attacks pointed to trouble in his own campaign.
"Desperate candidates do very desperate things,” Romney spokesman Kevin Madden declared.
"Sen. McCain has, sadly enough, been faltering so badly lately that his campaign is left with the last resort of launching attacks against Gov. Romney.”
John McCain’s presidential campaign has bought the Web site name www.mittvsfact.com and will launch the site to illustrate White House hopeful Mitt Romney’s alleged flip-flops.
As NewsMax reported, the McCain campaign on Wednesday sent out an e-mail release, with a "Mitt vs. Fact” letterhead, that attacked Romney on the abortion issue.
It linked to a video showing then-Massachusetts Gov. Romney vowing to uphold the state’s abortion-rights laws.
Romney has now called for the repeal of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationally.
A McCain aide confirmed to The Politico on Friday that his campaign had purchased the mittvsfact Web site last month and "indicated that they would use it as a sort of one-stop shop ‘to brand’ Romney,” according to The Politico.
But the Romney campaign said McCain’s attacks pointed to trouble in his own campaign.
"Desperate candidates do very desperate things,” Romney spokesman Kevin Madden declared.
"Sen. McCain has, sadly enough, been faltering so badly lately that his campaign is left with the last resort of launching attacks against Gov. Romney.”
Late Nite Jokes
Leno
Happy Flag Day. This is, of course, the day when we fly a flag made in China, in a country that freed itself from England so one day it could become the home to 12 million Mexican immigrants.
Israel elected a new president. 83-year-old Shimon Peres. Surprisingly the deciding factor? The Jewish vote.
Finally some good news today. There has been a breakthrough compromise in the immigration bill that will make everyone happy — under the new bill we let in 12 million illegal immigrants but deport Paris Hilton.
In a jailhouse telephone interview with Barbara Walters, Paris Hilton said God has given her a second chance. Today God insisted that Paris didn’t get any special treatment.
Letterman
Sunday is Father’s Day. The hookers in Times Square are doing their part. For an extra $20, they’ll call you Daddy.
Donald Trump is 61 years old today. He had a beautiful birthday cake — 87 stories tall with parking in Retail.
I got him a woodchuck so his hair would have a playmate.
More trouble for the New York Yankees. Jason Giambi may be suspended if he doesn’t answer questions about steroids. This is serious. This is no laughing matter. This why Rosie got fired.
Letterman's Top Ten
Top Ten Things Overheard At Donald Trump's Birthday Party
10. "I hope the candles don't set fire to that thing on his head"
9. "Hey, the Dominos guy is here"
8. "Do I really have nothing better to be doing?"
7. "I'm suprised he showed up — usually Trump hates attention"
6. "Look, David Hasselhoff's eating cake off the floor" — this joke never gets old
5. "Who invited the guy with the drug-resistant tuberculosis?"
4. "It's my birthday, I'm a billionaire and you're telling me there's no 'slaw?!"
3. "Wow, a $10 gift card to Old Navy"
2. "Lindsay Lohan left rehab for this?"
1. "Letterman . . . sorry, no Letterman on the list"
Conan
Arnold Schwarzenegger in the news. Yesterday, Arnold Schwarzenegger told a Latino group that if immigrants want to learn English, they should not read foreign language newspapers. The Latino group told Arnold, how about you tell us how you learned English, and we’ll do the opposite.
Bill Clinton in the news. Bill Clinton earned more than $10 million last year from giving speeches, but he says he gave half of it to charity. Clinton gives the other half to her sister Tiffany.
Republican presidential candidates Sam Brownback and Tom Tancredo both promise that if they are elected president, they will pardon Scooter Libby. Sorry, Scooter . . . You are going to jail.
Ferguson
Earlier today, Barbara Walters got a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Barbara, of course, had another "Star” about a year ago, but she fired that bitch.
There’s something crazy going on in Germany. Three people have been attacked by psychotic squirrels. These squirrels are not only crazy, they’re German. You know they’re just getting started. World domination. The start of Squirrel War 1. The French have already surrendered.
Most squirrels will only attack you if you provoke them. Like if you go for their nuts.
I have to say, I’m the same way. Normally very placid, but if you go for my nuts . . .
Kimmel
We’ve been hearing complaints from Paris’ fellow prisoners that her family has been getting special treatment, but according to recently released inmates, the special treatment has been trickling down to them. "We are getting special treatment because of her. We’re getting two peanut butter sandwiches, two jellies, two bologna sandwiches . . . we only get one usually.” Check me in.
It’s part of the Hilton Awards Program, I guess.
Meanwhile, Lindsay Lohan is still in rehab. She’s planning her birthday party while she’s in there. She planning a big bash in a night club in Las Vegas. What a way to celebrate your sobriety.
How many "re’s” can you put in front of rehab?
Leno
Happy Flag Day. This is, of course, the day when we fly a flag made in China, in a country that freed itself from England so one day it could become the home to 12 million Mexican immigrants.
Israel elected a new president. 83-year-old Shimon Peres. Surprisingly the deciding factor? The Jewish vote.
Finally some good news today. There has been a breakthrough compromise in the immigration bill that will make everyone happy — under the new bill we let in 12 million illegal immigrants but deport Paris Hilton.
In a jailhouse telephone interview with Barbara Walters, Paris Hilton said God has given her a second chance. Today God insisted that Paris didn’t get any special treatment.
Letterman
Sunday is Father’s Day. The hookers in Times Square are doing their part. For an extra $20, they’ll call you Daddy.
Donald Trump is 61 years old today. He had a beautiful birthday cake — 87 stories tall with parking in Retail.
I got him a woodchuck so his hair would have a playmate.
More trouble for the New York Yankees. Jason Giambi may be suspended if he doesn’t answer questions about steroids. This is serious. This is no laughing matter. This why Rosie got fired.
Letterman's Top Ten
Top Ten Things Overheard At Donald Trump's Birthday Party
10. "I hope the candles don't set fire to that thing on his head"
9. "Hey, the Dominos guy is here"
8. "Do I really have nothing better to be doing?"
7. "I'm suprised he showed up — usually Trump hates attention"
6. "Look, David Hasselhoff's eating cake off the floor" — this joke never gets old
5. "Who invited the guy with the drug-resistant tuberculosis?"
4. "It's my birthday, I'm a billionaire and you're telling me there's no 'slaw?!"
3. "Wow, a $10 gift card to Old Navy"
2. "Lindsay Lohan left rehab for this?"
1. "Letterman . . . sorry, no Letterman on the list"
Conan
Arnold Schwarzenegger in the news. Yesterday, Arnold Schwarzenegger told a Latino group that if immigrants want to learn English, they should not read foreign language newspapers. The Latino group told Arnold, how about you tell us how you learned English, and we’ll do the opposite.
Bill Clinton in the news. Bill Clinton earned more than $10 million last year from giving speeches, but he says he gave half of it to charity. Clinton gives the other half to her sister Tiffany.
Republican presidential candidates Sam Brownback and Tom Tancredo both promise that if they are elected president, they will pardon Scooter Libby. Sorry, Scooter . . . You are going to jail.
Ferguson
Earlier today, Barbara Walters got a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Barbara, of course, had another "Star” about a year ago, but she fired that bitch.
There’s something crazy going on in Germany. Three people have been attacked by psychotic squirrels. These squirrels are not only crazy, they’re German. You know they’re just getting started. World domination. The start of Squirrel War 1. The French have already surrendered.
Most squirrels will only attack you if you provoke them. Like if you go for their nuts.
I have to say, I’m the same way. Normally very placid, but if you go for my nuts . . .
Kimmel
We’ve been hearing complaints from Paris’ fellow prisoners that her family has been getting special treatment, but according to recently released inmates, the special treatment has been trickling down to them. "We are getting special treatment because of her. We’re getting two peanut butter sandwiches, two jellies, two bologna sandwiches . . . we only get one usually.” Check me in.
It’s part of the Hilton Awards Program, I guess.
Meanwhile, Lindsay Lohan is still in rehab. She’s planning her birthday party while she’s in there. She planning a big bash in a night club in Las Vegas. What a way to celebrate your sobriety.
How many "re’s” can you put in front of rehab?
Thursday, June 14, 2007
McCain Strikes Hillary Clinton's Pork Projects
Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Wednesday he will try to squash nearly $150 million in proposed defense spending backed by Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton, calling the projects wasteful and unneeded by the military.
Speaking to reporters outside a downtown fundraiser, the Arizona senator said Clinton larded a Senate bill with a lineup of "pork-barrel" proposals that would drain funds needed to shore up armed forces arrayed around the globe.
McCain plans to offer amendments or join with other members on the Senate floor to "eliminate these earmarks and pork-barrel spending projects, which the Pentagon had no request for and had no need for."
"We can't do this earmarking and pork-barreling if we ever are going to be careful and serious stewards of the taxpayers' dollars," McCain said.
A Clinton campaign spokesman, Luis Vizcaino, said the New York senator "has worked hard to advance measures that protect our troops abroad and assist their families here at home."
The Clinton camp said McCain previously praised the bill that he was criticizing, saying in May that it proves strong national defense and saving taxpayers' money were bipartisan priorities.
McCain spokesman Matt David said the Arizona senator "supports the legislation but opposes earmarks. ... McCain obviously has a fundamental disagreement with Hillary Clinton when it comes to pork barrel projects."
The Hill newspaper reported Wednesday that Clinton secured 26 pet projects, or earmarks, worth $148 million in a 2008 defense-spending bill - more than any other Democrat except for the chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group, has calculated that Clinton landed 360 earmarks worth $2.2 billion from 2002 to 2006 in various spending bills. The beneficiaries have ranged from defense giant Northrop Grumman Corp. to New York-based Telephonics, which won $5 million for helicopter equipment.
Democrats on Capitol Hill have pledged to cut earmarks in half from prior levels. President Bush is demanding that the number and total cost of earmarks be cut in half.
McCain, a longtime critic of such spending, had none. He said Clinton's proposals would shortchange the military at a time of war.
"We need a bigger Army. We need a bigger Marine Corps," McCain said. "You look around the world - Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan. It's not going to be over for a long time."
Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Wednesday he will try to squash nearly $150 million in proposed defense spending backed by Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton, calling the projects wasteful and unneeded by the military.
Speaking to reporters outside a downtown fundraiser, the Arizona senator said Clinton larded a Senate bill with a lineup of "pork-barrel" proposals that would drain funds needed to shore up armed forces arrayed around the globe.
McCain plans to offer amendments or join with other members on the Senate floor to "eliminate these earmarks and pork-barrel spending projects, which the Pentagon had no request for and had no need for."
"We can't do this earmarking and pork-barreling if we ever are going to be careful and serious stewards of the taxpayers' dollars," McCain said.
A Clinton campaign spokesman, Luis Vizcaino, said the New York senator "has worked hard to advance measures that protect our troops abroad and assist their families here at home."
The Clinton camp said McCain previously praised the bill that he was criticizing, saying in May that it proves strong national defense and saving taxpayers' money were bipartisan priorities.
McCain spokesman Matt David said the Arizona senator "supports the legislation but opposes earmarks. ... McCain obviously has a fundamental disagreement with Hillary Clinton when it comes to pork barrel projects."
The Hill newspaper reported Wednesday that Clinton secured 26 pet projects, or earmarks, worth $148 million in a 2008 defense-spending bill - more than any other Democrat except for the chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group, has calculated that Clinton landed 360 earmarks worth $2.2 billion from 2002 to 2006 in various spending bills. The beneficiaries have ranged from defense giant Northrop Grumman Corp. to New York-based Telephonics, which won $5 million for helicopter equipment.
Democrats on Capitol Hill have pledged to cut earmarks in half from prior levels. President Bush is demanding that the number and total cost of earmarks be cut in half.
McCain, a longtime critic of such spending, had none. He said Clinton's proposals would shortchange the military at a time of war.
"We need a bigger Army. We need a bigger Marine Corps," McCain said. "You look around the world - Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan. It's not going to be over for a long time."
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Rudy Giuliani: 'Stats' Solve Problems
NewsMax - Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has a ready answer for the nation's woes: statistics.
Iraq-stat. Border-stat. Energy-stat. In numerous campaign appearances and debates, the word "stat" - short for statistics - has become a catchword for the former New York mayor, who argues that his use of statistics to fight urban crime can help solve national problems such as illegal immigration and port security.
Crime dropped by half while Giuliani was mayor of New York in the 1990s, a fact he attributes to a system of mapping crime patterns and making police commanders responsible for reducing crime.
Called Compstat - short for computerized statistics - the program was copied throughout the New York government and by several other cities.
"You get what you measure," Giuliani said Tuesday in Bedford, N.H. "If you don't have measurement standards, government is out of control. I imposed these measurement standards on 23, 24, 25 city agencies. In almost every case, it meant major change in their ability to deliver performance."
If elected president, Giuliani wants a similar system for Washington, with "Border-stat" to stop illegal immigration and "Terror-stat" for homeland security. Details are thin on how such programs would work, but Giuliani said a "Border-stat" program, for example, might analyze where people illegally cross the border and deploy border patrol agents to react.
An "Iraq-stat" program might look at how many children are going to school, how many factories are open and people going back to work, so that U.S. authorities could respond accordingly.
Some experts caution that a numbers-driven program can't fix all the nation's ills and that Washington has programs to hold agencies and departments accountable.
In New York, experts agree that the Compstat program helped curb crime, although they disagree over how much credit Compstat deserves.
"I'm not sold," said Andrew Karmen, sociology professor at City University of New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Other factors contributed to the decline such as an improved economy, an influx of immigrants who were generally law-abiding, and more criminals serving jail time. Karmen also cited open admissions at New York City's public colleges, which provided an education to more young people.
The state and city also sent resources and money to the department before Giuliani took office.
But Karmen acknowledged that Giuliani has never claimed Compstat deserves all the credit.
"He always argued for smarter and tougher policing," Karmen said, mentioning the New York Police Department's zero tolerance approach, arresting people even for misdemeanors such as turnstile jumping. Those small-time arrests sometimes helped police track criminals responsible for murder and other major crimes.
Credit for the drop in crime has historically gone to Giuliani as well as his former police commissioner, William J. Bratton. The two clashed and Bratton was ousted after receiving national attention for the city's turnaround.
Giuliani and Bratton, now chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, have reconciled, and Giuliani has been mentioning Bratton in speeches. At a speech last week in Washington, Giuliani told how Bratton's deputy, Jack Maple, came up with the idea by collecting crime statistics by precinct, writing the numbers on napkins and spreading them out on bar tables.
Eventually, the system evolved into a sophisticated, up-to-the-minute database of crime by area, and local commanders had to justify their crime rates at regular meetings.
Talking about crime plays to Giuliani's strengths, said Tony Fabrizio, a Republican pollster.
"Republicans are known for their tough, take-no-prisoners attitude in combatting crime, and Giuliani has that image and has that record, to a large degree," Fabrizio said. But, he said, Giuliani could weaken his image with the bureaucratic-sounding "Iraq-stat" and "Border-stat."
"People aren't going to spend a lot of time focusing on what the details of the plan are or how he did it," Fabrizio said. "They know Rudy Giuliani drove down crime in New York City. If accountability is the theme, they should call it that. Taking too bureaucratic an approach actually dilutes his strength."
Giuliani says he talks about Compstat because people like to hear about "doing the impossible."
"If you think it's impossible to control the borders, if you think it's impossible to make sure America is secure from terrorism - people thought it was just as impossible to dramatically reduce welfare in New York City in 1992 and 1993," he said.
"We used a Jobstat program and we reduced welfare by 640,000 people. That is larger than most cities in the United States," he said.
NewsMax - Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has a ready answer for the nation's woes: statistics.
Iraq-stat. Border-stat. Energy-stat. In numerous campaign appearances and debates, the word "stat" - short for statistics - has become a catchword for the former New York mayor, who argues that his use of statistics to fight urban crime can help solve national problems such as illegal immigration and port security.
Crime dropped by half while Giuliani was mayor of New York in the 1990s, a fact he attributes to a system of mapping crime patterns and making police commanders responsible for reducing crime.
Called Compstat - short for computerized statistics - the program was copied throughout the New York government and by several other cities.
"You get what you measure," Giuliani said Tuesday in Bedford, N.H. "If you don't have measurement standards, government is out of control. I imposed these measurement standards on 23, 24, 25 city agencies. In almost every case, it meant major change in their ability to deliver performance."
If elected president, Giuliani wants a similar system for Washington, with "Border-stat" to stop illegal immigration and "Terror-stat" for homeland security. Details are thin on how such programs would work, but Giuliani said a "Border-stat" program, for example, might analyze where people illegally cross the border and deploy border patrol agents to react.
An "Iraq-stat" program might look at how many children are going to school, how many factories are open and people going back to work, so that U.S. authorities could respond accordingly.
Some experts caution that a numbers-driven program can't fix all the nation's ills and that Washington has programs to hold agencies and departments accountable.
In New York, experts agree that the Compstat program helped curb crime, although they disagree over how much credit Compstat deserves.
"I'm not sold," said Andrew Karmen, sociology professor at City University of New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Other factors contributed to the decline such as an improved economy, an influx of immigrants who were generally law-abiding, and more criminals serving jail time. Karmen also cited open admissions at New York City's public colleges, which provided an education to more young people.
The state and city also sent resources and money to the department before Giuliani took office.
But Karmen acknowledged that Giuliani has never claimed Compstat deserves all the credit.
"He always argued for smarter and tougher policing," Karmen said, mentioning the New York Police Department's zero tolerance approach, arresting people even for misdemeanors such as turnstile jumping. Those small-time arrests sometimes helped police track criminals responsible for murder and other major crimes.
Credit for the drop in crime has historically gone to Giuliani as well as his former police commissioner, William J. Bratton. The two clashed and Bratton was ousted after receiving national attention for the city's turnaround.
Giuliani and Bratton, now chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, have reconciled, and Giuliani has been mentioning Bratton in speeches. At a speech last week in Washington, Giuliani told how Bratton's deputy, Jack Maple, came up with the idea by collecting crime statistics by precinct, writing the numbers on napkins and spreading them out on bar tables.
Eventually, the system evolved into a sophisticated, up-to-the-minute database of crime by area, and local commanders had to justify their crime rates at regular meetings.
Talking about crime plays to Giuliani's strengths, said Tony Fabrizio, a Republican pollster.
"Republicans are known for their tough, take-no-prisoners attitude in combatting crime, and Giuliani has that image and has that record, to a large degree," Fabrizio said. But, he said, Giuliani could weaken his image with the bureaucratic-sounding "Iraq-stat" and "Border-stat."
"People aren't going to spend a lot of time focusing on what the details of the plan are or how he did it," Fabrizio said. "They know Rudy Giuliani drove down crime in New York City. If accountability is the theme, they should call it that. Taking too bureaucratic an approach actually dilutes his strength."
Giuliani says he talks about Compstat because people like to hear about "doing the impossible."
"If you think it's impossible to control the borders, if you think it's impossible to make sure America is secure from terrorism - people thought it was just as impossible to dramatically reduce welfare in New York City in 1992 and 1993," he said.
"We used a Jobstat program and we reduced welfare by 640,000 people. That is larger than most cities in the United States," he said.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Rudy Giuliani: 'I Love Doing The Impossible'
Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday offered a dozen proposals for reform on issues from energy to education, echoing standard political promises and providing few specifics.
The former New York City mayor vowed to cut taxes, impose accountability on Washington and lead the country to energy independence - basic tenets cited by Republican and Democratic candidates.
"We're going to lay out a mission of reform and change. We're going to lay out a mission of overcoming new challenges. We're going to lay out a mission of doing what other people think is impossible," Giuliani told about 150 people in a sweltering town hall. "I love that. I love doing what other people think is impossible."
Although he said priorities could shift within his 12 commitments, Giuliani said remaining on offense in the war on terror would be first on the list.
"This, whether we like it or not, is going to be our challenge for this generation," said the former mayor who was in charge on Sept. 11. "You face bullies and tyrants and terrorists with strength, not weakness."
Giuliani said such a step would require increasing the size and support of the military and improving foreign and domestic intelligence. He also said he would create a new organization in which military personnel would work with civilians on stabilization and reconstruction projects.
Giuliani promised to travel the country this summer to elaborate on his agenda. In offering few specifics, he said he wanted to start with a framework. Details will come later, he said, adding that he welcomes suggestions from the public.
"They're in the concept form," he said. "We don't expect people are going to absorb this - they shouldn't - but we have a long time to talk about it."
Giuliani also promised to end illegal immigration, restore fiscal discipline in Washington and give citizens more control over - and access to - health care. He also pledged to reform the legal system and ensure that communities are prepared for terrorist attacks and natural disasters.
Two promises involve giving consumers more control - over health care and education. Giuliani repeated his call for $15,000 tax exemptions that would allow people to buy their own health insurance, which he said would spur insurers to compete to develop higher quality, more affordable plans. He backed providing vouchers for education, a notion popular among some Republicans but one that has stirred controversy.
Giuliani stands out among Republican candidates for his support of abortion rights.
He promised to "protect the quality of life" for children by increasing adoptions and decreasing abortions.
He took a swipe at Democrats, arguing that they are living in the past.
"A lot of what the Democrats are doing is like looking in the rearview mirror. They want to take the country back to where it was in the 1990s," he said.
Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday offered a dozen proposals for reform on issues from energy to education, echoing standard political promises and providing few specifics.
The former New York City mayor vowed to cut taxes, impose accountability on Washington and lead the country to energy independence - basic tenets cited by Republican and Democratic candidates.
"We're going to lay out a mission of reform and change. We're going to lay out a mission of overcoming new challenges. We're going to lay out a mission of doing what other people think is impossible," Giuliani told about 150 people in a sweltering town hall. "I love that. I love doing what other people think is impossible."
Although he said priorities could shift within his 12 commitments, Giuliani said remaining on offense in the war on terror would be first on the list.
"This, whether we like it or not, is going to be our challenge for this generation," said the former mayor who was in charge on Sept. 11. "You face bullies and tyrants and terrorists with strength, not weakness."
Giuliani said such a step would require increasing the size and support of the military and improving foreign and domestic intelligence. He also said he would create a new organization in which military personnel would work with civilians on stabilization and reconstruction projects.
Giuliani promised to travel the country this summer to elaborate on his agenda. In offering few specifics, he said he wanted to start with a framework. Details will come later, he said, adding that he welcomes suggestions from the public.
"They're in the concept form," he said. "We don't expect people are going to absorb this - they shouldn't - but we have a long time to talk about it."
Giuliani also promised to end illegal immigration, restore fiscal discipline in Washington and give citizens more control over - and access to - health care. He also pledged to reform the legal system and ensure that communities are prepared for terrorist attacks and natural disasters.
Two promises involve giving consumers more control - over health care and education. Giuliani repeated his call for $15,000 tax exemptions that would allow people to buy their own health insurance, which he said would spur insurers to compete to develop higher quality, more affordable plans. He backed providing vouchers for education, a notion popular among some Republicans but one that has stirred controversy.
Giuliani stands out among Republican candidates for his support of abortion rights.
He promised to "protect the quality of life" for children by increasing adoptions and decreasing abortions.
He took a swipe at Democrats, arguing that they are living in the past.
"A lot of what the Democrats are doing is like looking in the rearview mirror. They want to take the country back to where it was in the 1990s," he said.
Monday, June 11, 2007
InfoUSA's Gupta Defends Pelosi Hire
NewsMax - Embattled businessman Vinod Gupta has responded to NewsMax’s revelation that he hired House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s son Paul as a $180,000-a-year senior vice president – even though he has no experience in Gupta’s company’s main business activities.
"Just because he’s Nancy Pelosi’s son and we’ve hired him, I don’t see why he should be news,” Gupta told The Sunday Times in London.
"He has a master’s degree in business and he is a very bright young man.”
NewsMax has earlier chronicled the controversy swirling around Gupta, whose Nebraska-based company InfoUSA sells lists of sales leads, market research and e-mail marketing services.
A shareholder lawsuit alleges that Gupta is appropriating company funds for personal use and his political pet projects. He has had InfoUSA pay Bill Clinton $2.1 million in "consulting fees” since he left the White House, with another $1.2 million promised.
The lawsuit also states that InfoUSA spent more than $900,000 to provide corporate jet flights for both Bill and Hillary Clinton. The Clintons vacationed at Gupta’s home in Hawaii – next door to actor Pierce Brosnan’s home – and flew to Acapulco on a corporate jet. Gupta has helped raise considerable sums for Hillary’s campaigns – most recently serving as vice chairman of a fundraiser in New York – and once spent the night as a favored guest in the White House’s Lincoln bedroom.
Gupta also played golf with Bill Clinton in Scotland, and the former president introduced him to British Prime Minister Tony Blair at a London reception.
"Tony Blair is a great communicator,” Gupta told the Times. He’s like Bill Clinton Junior.”
Gupta continues to defend his dealings with Bill Clinton, telling the Times that Clinton’s name and contacts were worth "over $40 million.”
He said: "We’ve met chief executive, billionaires, government people – it helps us to make connections and do deals.
"If you’re negotiating with a company, it helps if Bill Clinton says, ‘Oh, Vin, he’s a good guy.’”
As for his stay in the Lincoln Bedroom in the 1990s, Gupta said: "To be frank, it was not all it was cracked up to be. I felt I was in prison. It wasn’t a very homely atmosphere.”
Gupta is also under fire on another front. As NewsMax reported earlier, InfoUSA repeatedly rented marketing databases to unscrupulous persons who used the information to defraud the unsuspecting elderly, investigators found.
Said Gupta: "We have 4 million customers and we didn’t realize the lists were being misused.”
NewsMax - Embattled businessman Vinod Gupta has responded to NewsMax’s revelation that he hired House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s son Paul as a $180,000-a-year senior vice president – even though he has no experience in Gupta’s company’s main business activities.
"Just because he’s Nancy Pelosi’s son and we’ve hired him, I don’t see why he should be news,” Gupta told The Sunday Times in London.
"He has a master’s degree in business and he is a very bright young man.”
NewsMax has earlier chronicled the controversy swirling around Gupta, whose Nebraska-based company InfoUSA sells lists of sales leads, market research and e-mail marketing services.
A shareholder lawsuit alleges that Gupta is appropriating company funds for personal use and his political pet projects. He has had InfoUSA pay Bill Clinton $2.1 million in "consulting fees” since he left the White House, with another $1.2 million promised.
The lawsuit also states that InfoUSA spent more than $900,000 to provide corporate jet flights for both Bill and Hillary Clinton. The Clintons vacationed at Gupta’s home in Hawaii – next door to actor Pierce Brosnan’s home – and flew to Acapulco on a corporate jet. Gupta has helped raise considerable sums for Hillary’s campaigns – most recently serving as vice chairman of a fundraiser in New York – and once spent the night as a favored guest in the White House’s Lincoln bedroom.
Gupta also played golf with Bill Clinton in Scotland, and the former president introduced him to British Prime Minister Tony Blair at a London reception.
"Tony Blair is a great communicator,” Gupta told the Times. He’s like Bill Clinton Junior.”
Gupta continues to defend his dealings with Bill Clinton, telling the Times that Clinton’s name and contacts were worth "over $40 million.”
He said: "We’ve met chief executive, billionaires, government people – it helps us to make connections and do deals.
"If you’re negotiating with a company, it helps if Bill Clinton says, ‘Oh, Vin, he’s a good guy.’”
As for his stay in the Lincoln Bedroom in the 1990s, Gupta said: "To be frank, it was not all it was cracked up to be. I felt I was in prison. It wasn’t a very homely atmosphere.”
Gupta is also under fire on another front. As NewsMax reported earlier, InfoUSA repeatedly rented marketing databases to unscrupulous persons who used the information to defraud the unsuspecting elderly, investigators found.
Said Gupta: "We have 4 million customers and we didn’t realize the lists were being misused.”
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Fla. Evangelist Backs Attack on Romney
A Florida televangelist dismissed criticism that he is illegally mixing religion and politics by telling followers that a vote for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who is Mormon, "is a vote for Satan."
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate St. Petersburg-based evangelist Bill Keller, who has used his online columns and late night TV show to assert that Romney is not a Christian because he belongs to the Mormon church.
The group says Keller's anti-Romney rants violate federal tax law, and it wants the IRS to look into revoking the tax-exempt status of his nonprofit ministry. The law prohibits tax-exempt organizations from endorsing or opposing candidates.
Keller, who regularly refers to the Mormon church as a cult, was unmoved by the complaint.
"I have never told anybody who to vote for or who not to vote for — ever," Keller said. "I have every right to speak on matters of life and culture, including political issues, and to educate people on the spiritual implications of those issues."
Keller writes a daily devotional published on his Web site and e-mailed to more than 2 million subscribers. His live, call-in program is televised weeknights at 1 a.m. in the Tampa market.
"Having Romney as president is no different than having a Muslim or Scientologist as president," Keller wrote in a recent column. "I'll stay home and not vote before I will vote for Satan, since if you vote for Romney you are voting for Satan!"
The Romney campaign declined to comment.
A Florida televangelist dismissed criticism that he is illegally mixing religion and politics by telling followers that a vote for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who is Mormon, "is a vote for Satan."
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate St. Petersburg-based evangelist Bill Keller, who has used his online columns and late night TV show to assert that Romney is not a Christian because he belongs to the Mormon church.
The group says Keller's anti-Romney rants violate federal tax law, and it wants the IRS to look into revoking the tax-exempt status of his nonprofit ministry. The law prohibits tax-exempt organizations from endorsing or opposing candidates.
Keller, who regularly refers to the Mormon church as a cult, was unmoved by the complaint.
"I have never told anybody who to vote for or who not to vote for — ever," Keller said. "I have every right to speak on matters of life and culture, including political issues, and to educate people on the spiritual implications of those issues."
Keller writes a daily devotional published on his Web site and e-mailed to more than 2 million subscribers. His live, call-in program is televised weeknights at 1 a.m. in the Tampa market.
"Having Romney as president is no different than having a Muslim or Scientologist as president," Keller wrote in a recent column. "I'll stay home and not vote before I will vote for Satan, since if you vote for Romney you are voting for Satan!"
The Romney campaign declined to comment.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Iran Threatens Regional War
Iran is planning to unleash a missile attack against its Gulf neighbors, triggering a Middle East war — if the U.S. attacks its nuclear facilities, according to a report in Sunday’s Times of London.
An Iranian official reportedly familiar with the plan said it would be launched within an hour of any U.S. attack.
"The U.S. will be as surprised with Iranian military capabilities as the Israelis were with Hezbollah in last summer’s war in Lebanon,” he said.
Admiral Ali Shamkhani, head of Iran’s Center for Strategic Studies, a think tank made up of former Foreign, Defense and Interior ministers that advises the supreme leader, told the U.S.-based "Defense News” that the barrage of missiles would be launched not only at U.S. military bases in the region but also at strategic targets such as oil refineries and power stations.
The senior defense adviser to leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei further warned that Gulf states cooperating with the U.S. would be targeted first.
According to the Times report, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman all host key U.S. bases, and British forces are also stationed in all three countries. Furthermore, any Iranian offensive would most likely involve other Gulf Cooperation Council states — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait.
Shamkhani accused the Gulf states of "helping the U.S. establish legitimacy for its anticipated aggression against Iran,” the Times reported.
The attacks on Arab states would be in addition to airstrikes on Israel, an old threat which was repeated.
An Iranian foreign ministry official said, "The objective would be to overwhelm U.S. missile defense systems with dozens and maybe hundreds of missiles fired simultaneously at specific targets.”
Meanwhile, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said recently it was too late to stop Iran’s nuclear program, warning the U.S. "not to play with the lion’s tail.”
Iran is planning to unleash a missile attack against its Gulf neighbors, triggering a Middle East war — if the U.S. attacks its nuclear facilities, according to a report in Sunday’s Times of London.
An Iranian official reportedly familiar with the plan said it would be launched within an hour of any U.S. attack.
"The U.S. will be as surprised with Iranian military capabilities as the Israelis were with Hezbollah in last summer’s war in Lebanon,” he said.
Admiral Ali Shamkhani, head of Iran’s Center for Strategic Studies, a think tank made up of former Foreign, Defense and Interior ministers that advises the supreme leader, told the U.S.-based "Defense News” that the barrage of missiles would be launched not only at U.S. military bases in the region but also at strategic targets such as oil refineries and power stations.
The senior defense adviser to leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei further warned that Gulf states cooperating with the U.S. would be targeted first.
According to the Times report, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman all host key U.S. bases, and British forces are also stationed in all three countries. Furthermore, any Iranian offensive would most likely involve other Gulf Cooperation Council states — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait.
Shamkhani accused the Gulf states of "helping the U.S. establish legitimacy for its anticipated aggression against Iran,” the Times reported.
The attacks on Arab states would be in addition to airstrikes on Israel, an old threat which was repeated.
An Iranian foreign ministry official said, "The objective would be to overwhelm U.S. missile defense systems with dozens and maybe hundreds of missiles fired simultaneously at specific targets.”
Meanwhile, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said recently it was too late to stop Iran’s nuclear program, warning the U.S. "not to play with the lion’s tail.”
Friday, June 8, 2007
Lieberman Endorses Military Strikes Against Iran
Sen. Joe Lieberman on Sunday advocated the use of military action against Iran to halt what he said was that nation's training and support of terrorists against U.S. troops in Iraq.
"I think we've got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq," he said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
"And to me, that would include a strike into -- over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people coming back into Iraq to kill our soldiers," he said.
Lieberman, I-Conn., said he supports U.S. talks with Iran, but negotiations would not alone be sufficient if Iranian backing of terrorism continues. U.S. and Iranian diplomats met on May 28 to discuss security in Iraq. It was the first formal, scheduled meeting between since the United States broke diplomatic relations with Iran following the Nov. 4, 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Teheran.
"What we did was present them with evidence that we have, that I've seen, that I believe is incontrovertible that the Iranians are training and equipping Iraqi extremists to come in, into Iraq, and they're killing American soldiers and Iraqis," Lieberman said.
Lieberman also said talks might not be enough to force Iran to halt its nuclear program.
"But if there's any hope of the Iranians living according to the international rule of law and stopping, for instance, their nuclear weapons development, we can't just talk to them. If they don't play by the rules, we've got to use our force and to me that would include taking military action to stop them from doing what they're doing."
Asked if he would support ground combat forces or air strikes, Lieberman said: "I'd leave that to the generals in charge. I think you could probably do a lot of it from the air, but they can't believe that they have immunity for training and equipping people to come in and kill Americans."
He said he is "not talking about a massive ground invasion of Iran."
A spokesman for Lieberman could not be reached for comment Sunday morning.
Lieberman was elected last November to a fourth term as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to an anti-war challenger whose campaign tapped strong opposition among Connecticut Democrats to his support of President Bush's war policy in Iraq.
Sen. Joe Lieberman on Sunday advocated the use of military action against Iran to halt what he said was that nation's training and support of terrorists against U.S. troops in Iraq.
"I think we've got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq," he said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
"And to me, that would include a strike into -- over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people coming back into Iraq to kill our soldiers," he said.
Lieberman, I-Conn., said he supports U.S. talks with Iran, but negotiations would not alone be sufficient if Iranian backing of terrorism continues. U.S. and Iranian diplomats met on May 28 to discuss security in Iraq. It was the first formal, scheduled meeting between since the United States broke diplomatic relations with Iran following the Nov. 4, 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Teheran.
"What we did was present them with evidence that we have, that I've seen, that I believe is incontrovertible that the Iranians are training and equipping Iraqi extremists to come in, into Iraq, and they're killing American soldiers and Iraqis," Lieberman said.
Lieberman also said talks might not be enough to force Iran to halt its nuclear program.
"But if there's any hope of the Iranians living according to the international rule of law and stopping, for instance, their nuclear weapons development, we can't just talk to them. If they don't play by the rules, we've got to use our force and to me that would include taking military action to stop them from doing what they're doing."
Asked if he would support ground combat forces or air strikes, Lieberman said: "I'd leave that to the generals in charge. I think you could probably do a lot of it from the air, but they can't believe that they have immunity for training and equipping people to come in and kill Americans."
He said he is "not talking about a massive ground invasion of Iran."
A spokesman for Lieberman could not be reached for comment Sunday morning.
Lieberman was elected last November to a fourth term as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to an anti-war challenger whose campaign tapped strong opposition among Connecticut Democrats to his support of President Bush's war policy in Iraq.
