Raytown Progressive Action

Some sweet Fall Election numbers

2008-11-24T09:24:00.003-06:00

Well, we have some great numbers from Raytown after this November's election. All the raw precinct numbers are from the Jackson County Election Board. President-elect Obama won in every Brookings precinct except one, and in that single precinct (BR19) McCain only won by 5 votes. The total ended up Obama-Biden 6,996 to McCain-Palin 4,971, which makes it Obama over McCain by 2,025 votes. That sure looks like a mandate from the Raytown electorate.

In the state races, Nixon and Carnahan cleaned up in our town. Nixon handed Hulshof his walking papers 7,932 to 3,782. Carnahan walked away with her race, winning by over 4,400. Sam Page took Raytown by 2,430 votes, even though he lost the overall race.

Democratic candidates took Raytown in every race but the one for the 48th House, where the odious Will Kraus kept his seat away from Joe Volpe by 623 Raytown votes. Make no mistake, as much as we dislike the man, Kraus campaigns hard to get re-elected. He came very close to unemployment in 2006 (losing Raytown and KC to Chris Moreno but making it up in Lee's Summit for a 3% victory) but even in a Democratic year, 2008 was pretty much a cake-walk for him.

Kraus is an anomaly who has figured out how to get Democrats to vote for a right-wing Republican, but don't let anyone tell you that Raytown is not a Democratic town. Barack Obama beat John McCain here by more almost 17%. Every other Democrat but Volpe simply wiped out their opposition in the Brookings precincts.

We'll leave you with a final stat. If you add up all the votes (in contested races only--it's even worse for the GOP if you add in races like Victor Callahan's) Democrats received in Raytown (61,950) and all those for Republican candidates (37,454) that means the people of Raytown cast 24,496 more Democratic votes than Republican votes. In percentage terms, 62% of votes in contested races were cast for Democrats.

Wow. Just wow.

Push Poll From Will Kraus

2008-09-26T15:05:00.002-05:00

Willy Boy is at it again. Got a push poll call the other day, and when I asked who paid for it, the caller said it was paid for by the Kraus campaign. The poll asked the usual right-wing GOP questions, pushing the social issues buttons like gun-control and abortion. Yada yada yada. Go for it, Will. Voters are getting sick and tired of your GOP nonsense, when they have no health care and their mortgages are bigger that the worth of their homes.

Will Kraus, campaigning like it's 2004.

Mike Sharp seems to be doing the work

2008-09-26T14:51:00.003-05:00

As you know, we here at RPA were and still are fans of John Bullard, and had high hopes that he would be the new Jackson County Sheriff. But that was not to be. The wind against John set up by Sharp's money and the support from county Dem leaders, plus the usual behaviour of Freedom Inc. was too much to take down.

So now we have Mike Sharp as the Democratic candidate. While not totally sure about how he will perfom as Sheriff, we have been pleased to see that Sharp is working with Democratic candidates in Eastern Jack. We saw him at a Joe Volpe event in Lee's Summit, along with Minority Leader Paul LaVota and several other Democratic House candidates. We also saw him at a Raytown Democratic Association breakfast fundraiser.

It is hopeful to see someone who did not seem to us too be an active Democrat now out there using his obvious popularity in the Lee's Summit area to help Democratic candidates get elected.

Bob Gough steps in it

2008-08-19T12:46:00.003-05:00

For those of you who don't know him, Bob Gough is a Rush Limbaugh wanna-be who spends his pitiful little life poring over campaign finance reports and filing nuisance suits against Democrats with the Ethics Commission. So when the Democratic 47th and 48th Legislative Committees goofed and sent Jason Norbury and Joe Volpe a few extra beans, ol' Bob sends up a flare and screams and stamps his wittle footsie.

Well, it seems that Joe Volpe, running to take Will Kraus' seat away and do some serious work in Jeff City, is not going to take things lying down. He let's it be known that Bob Gough has been banned from the Lee's Summit paper for racist editorials. Here's the statement from the Volpe camp:

REPUBLICAN KRAUS CAMPAIGN AFFILIATED WITH RACIST AND EXTREMIST REMARKS

A recent review of published opinion pieces reveal that Bob Gough, the Deputy Treasurer to Republican State Rep. Will Kraus, is on the record using racial remarks that had him banned from a local newspaper.

Joe Volpe, Democratic candidate in the 48th district, released the following statement:

"In the 21st century it is a shame people like Bob Gough get published. Knowing how racially diverse our district is, Republican Will Kraus should be ashamed to have a campaign affiliated with such remarks.

"Either Republican Will Kraus removes Bob Gough from his campaign and apologizes to the voters of his district for being affiliated with Bob Gough, or he fully agrees with such racist and extremist statements? It's that simple.

Bob Gough writes op-ed piece in the Lee's Summit Post-Tribune titled "Darwin and Intelligent Design" in which he claims predominantly African-American schools are incapable of distinguishing between God and Snoop Dog saying "In the Kansas City School District; they are incapable of teaching the three R's. Or anything else. Don't expect them to teach Intelligent Design. If they did, the material would be patterned after the teachings of Louis "Calypso Louie" Farrakhan with a little Reverend Al Sharpton thrown in. Add Gangsta Rap hymns from the Snoop Dog songbook to round out the religious program"

Bob Gough writes op-ed piece in the Lee's Summit Post-Tribune using the tragedy of a family who's home was invaded, without their permission, to lead into an extremist claim that Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II was a "marxist" and the "reason high violence in Kansas City exists". He also claimed that the home invaders were from Kansas City, when a police investigation hadn't concluded those findings.

Known extremist Bob Gough is the Deputy Treasurer of "Citizens for Will Kraus".

Known extremist Bob Gough is a key funder of Citizens for Will Kraus:

January 2006 quarterly report, 48th Legislative Committee-Republican, Bob Gough, Treasurer gives Kraus $800.

March 2006, 48th Legislative Committee-Republican, gives Kraus $200

November 2006, 48th Legislative Committee-Republican, Bob Gough Treasurer gives Kraus $1,325

January 2008 quarterly report, 48th Legislative Committee-Republican, Bob Gough, Treasurer gives Kraus $1,600

Kato again: It's good to see a local Dem ready to step up and smack a putz like Gough across the chops. Folks like Gough and Kraus are part of the Rove wing of the GOP--which now only has the Rove wing--and their leadership has taken our country in the wrong direction for far too long.

So good going, Joe! And keep it up.

Mike Sharp admits to porn emails. UPDATED

2008-07-31T15:04:00.006-05:00

We have no problem with adults viewing legal erotic materials in the privacy of their home, but to be sending them around law enforcement offices like a snickering teen-age boy shows a striking lack of maturity. Mike Sharp has admitted to this kind of juvenile behavior. (Update: registration with the Star might now be required to see the article.)

Perhaps we should look to a person with better judgment to revive our struggling county Sheriff's department. Besides, as we noted below, Sharp is most likely a Republican anyway.

UPDATE: Saturday, the Kansas City Star, which endorsed Sharp last week, withdrew its endorsement and instead recommends John Bullard for Sheriff. We agree. Too bad the Star had to base their initial choice on their usual 'what-big-wigs-support-him' method, and not the obvious skills and experience Bullard has that Sharp does not. Might have saved the paper some embarrassment...

The only good Republican...

2008-07-29T13:39:00.002-05:00

...is an indicted Republican. Senator Ted Stevens, (R-Alaska,) is now a good Republican. As Crooks and Liars says, so dirty, even the Bush Administration had to indict him. Here's the poop...

Sharp is a Republican

2008-07-29T09:07:00.003-05:00

Have you noticed that Mike Sharp, candidate for Sheriff, almost never puts the word "Democrat" or the party graphic on his signs or billboards? You would think that would be a plus in a Democratic county, in a Democratic year.

Well, I think he got wise, because the new billboard at 75th and Wornall does mention the party. But mostly, in Eastern Jack, we see sights like this:

So it looks like Sharp is asking all his GOP buddies out in Lee's Summit to pull a Democratic ballot just to elect him Sheriff. It will be interesting to see how that works out for him with a nasty GOP gubenatorial primary...

Kraus will lie to you.

2008-07-28T11:16:00.004-05:00

Will Kraus will do whatever it takes to escape the GOP brand this year. He will pull out labor endorsements, put fake Democrats on his mail pieces, and just flat-out lie about his "independence." It did not work in Raytown in '06, as the Moreno campaign convinced Raytowners of Kraus's deep Republican connections. Kraus lost the Raytown vote, and the Kansas City vote. Only the right-wing folks who came out in Lee's Summit to vote against the Stem Cell initiative kept Willy Boy in office.

Remember, KRAUS IS A REPUBLICAN, and HE WILL LIE TO YOU about it. Count on it.

Dobson is a hypocrite

2008-07-21T09:47:00.002-05:00

Today right-wing mulluh James Dobson, who a year ago said he could not vote for John McCain because of the flagrant infidelity he inflicted on his first wife (you know, the woman McCain dumped because she lost her hottness after a car wreck) has now changed his tune. In a half-hour screed against Barrak Obama, Dobson dropped the bomb that he could support McCain. This proves that Dobson and the folks at Focus on the Family are nothing more than a tax-exempt arm of the GOP political smear-machine.

Being a hyper-partisan Republican, Dobson has decided that who sits on the Supreme Court is more important than his own conviction or integrity. I guess McSame's screwing around does not have the importance to Dobson that it once did, so long as he gives the uber-Christians the judges they want.

Dobson is part of the old guard of evangelicalism that is thankfully being more and more marginalized by younger evangelicals. The day when no one in the Christian world cares what James Dobson says or thinks will be a great day for our nation, and for the faith.

This has a really nice ring to it

2008-07-18T08:49:00.003-05:00

There's a ballot measure to rename the San Fran waste water treatment plant after Dear Leader W. A little spiteful perhaps, but far more than the schmuck deserves. We think this measure will pass. Deservedly so.

The folks who put this together have a great sense of humor, AND they despise Republicants. We applaud.

Alabama AG has a hobby, it seems...

2008-07-14T11:39:00.002-05:00

Alabama's anti-gay and anti-sex-toys Attorney General, Troy King, is about to resign, it seems. No official reason given, but everyone in Alabama knows its because his wife had sad occasion to stumble upon him with another man in their marital bed.

We feel sad for his wife, but is not the hypocrisy beautiful? This bozo made a career of suckering the religious right, pandering to their every puritan desire, and here he is doing some other guy in his own bedroom.

And oh, yeah, I imagine he is going to lose his job as the chairman of John McCain's Alabama Leadership Team.

Yup, Global Warming not happening, it's all just in Gore's imagination, because liberals hate biddness...

2008-07-14T11:30:00.002-05:00

Tell that too the Russians up at the North Pole who have to get the hell out of dodge because the ice is getting too thin. AT THE NORTH POLE!!!!!!!

But no, Hannity and Limbaugh and all the other right-wing nozzles say that it's all a hoax by folks how hate your freedom, or something. I wonder how much loot those right wing mouth-breathers get from Big Oil to spout the corporate line...

Republicans, on their knees for corporate America and making you and your kids pay for it. Join me in despising them and voting them out of power.

Keep Listening to Rush , Hannity, and Big Oil....

2008-06-27T08:58:00.003-05:00

While the North Pole melts away. Check it out.

According to the scientists--we mean real scientists who do SCIENCE, not right-wing shills for Big Oil, for the first time in human history the North Pole might have no ice this summer. But I thought Fux News said that there's no such thing as global warming!

Our only hope is to spread the news that EVERYTHING Republicans touch turns to crap, and that they must be voted out of every office in the land. They are a party that lives on twisted fantasies of a right-wing utopia, and they are taking all of us down with them.

VOTE THEM OUT!

So here's why you should vote Republican

2008-06-12T16:39:00.001-05:00

Another Republican Pervert

2008-06-07T22:02:00.002-05:00

You know, when it comes to Obama, GOPers are so concerned about the people he associated with over the years. How about all the GOP big wheels in Missouri who associated themselves with Eric Feltner, Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder's chief of staff? Is that not light years worse than a shoot from the lip preacher? Oh, how could I forget, anything a Republican does is alright, because they are patriotic and we're not, or some idiotic GOP mantra. Well, this doofus has obviously never watched any of those "bust-a-pervert" shows on cable.

You can read the entire disgusting document here. Feltner, a pudgy, middle-aged suit judging by his photo, seemed to think himself the perfect candidate to show what he thought was a 13-year-old girl the ways of love, although love had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Your modern, family-friendly GOP. Bathroom stalls, little girls, and who knows what else. But gay folks marrying, no, THAT would be bad.

Please remember to join me in despising Republicans today. We have even more reason, thanks to this Feltner creep.

Game on, people

2008-06-06T08:51:00.005-05:00

Well, this seems to be the weekend when the top of the ticket gets sown up for Obama. As a great samurai warlaord once said, "After a battle, tighten your helmet cords." The Democratic Party has been through one great battle, and it has been good for us. This primary has enabled the Obama team to hone skills necessary like crisis control and media hit-back. We are reasonably certain that the Rove-style personal destruction and Swift Boat stuff will be responded to immediately this time around.

Candidates at every level should take a lesson: hit the GOPer running against you INSTANTLY with everything you've got at the first hint of Rovian slime. Call a press conference immediately and make the bastard pay for his lies. People do not vote for wimps. Always have a punch-back ready instantly for the lame "scary-liberal-will-raise-your-taxes-and-hand-your-
kids-to-the-terrorists-without-a-flag-pin" bullshit that Republicans inevitably trot out.

We like "corporate-whore-Republican-will-turn-all-of-rural-Missouri-into-a-
covered-hog-farm-and-pass-laws-allowing-the-
big-guys-to-fill-your-streams-with-pig shit" or "(GOPer's name)-voted-with-Blunt-every-day-of-the-week-and-took-a gazzillion-bucks-from-xyz-corporate-whore-lobbyists."

There are many others. Have fun creating your own. You just need to read the paper for the last few years to find material.

It's go time.

This is helpful how?

2008-05-29T08:44:00.003-05:00

Some Evangelical Marines seem to be taking it upon themselves to evangelize Iraqis with this coin bearing a Christian scripture verse. So imagine yourself as a regular Iraqi, at a US checkpoint. You go up to a burly, heavily armed Marine who checks your papers and does whatever he needs to make sure you're not a walking bomb, and after all this necessary inconvenience, he puts a funny-looking coin in front of your face. Well, you really need to get through the checkpoint to buy food or work at a job or something else important for your survival, so you don't want to get stuck. You take the coin. Oh, did I mention you are a devout Muslim?

We'd ike to ask the Evangelicals out there if they agree with this coercive form of proselytizing? Is this something Jesus would do? And politically it's really unhelpful, as it's pissing off the very people we need on our side to make Iraq a place we can leave someday.

As some of the comments show, this says to the typical Iraqi male: "You're weak, you can't even keep them from desecrating your religion." Just another thoughtless blunder brought to you by the theocrats that abound in the Bush junta.

What is it with right-wing whackos and assasination talk?

2008-05-27T14:27:00.002-05:00

One of the crazy ladies at Fox Noise, Liz Trotta, thought it was funny to suggest that someone "knock off" Osama bin Laden AND Barrak Obama. Watch the clip here. Despicable. She retracted it a day later, but probably only because it gave Keith Olberman a HUGE club to smack Fixed News with. You know that no matter WHAT she said in her retraction, this evil neo-con really means it in her heart. Maybe Bill O'Reilly can ask his "body-language" expert about this intellectual bimbo's comment. (Holding breath....Turning blue.....forget it.)

FOX News, the people who want to "knock off" anyone who disagrees with them.

We haven't said it lately, but it always bears repeating: Have we told you lately how much we despise Republicans?

It's been how long????

2008-05-16T21:23:00.004-05:00

Since February? It's not like we've dropped out of politics. There have been meetings with candidates, phone-banking, organizing, and caucusing. Just not blogging. The guys at the KC Blue Blog are doing a great job researching the illegalities and idiocies of the GOP. The folks at the CCP are on the case. The Hip Suburban White Guy kicks the wingnuts in the teeth with awesome regularity, and every knocked out tooth is well deserved.

So we slacked a little. To be honest, primaries don't trip our trigger. They are only tangentially related to beating Republicans. But primary season, at least in the presidential race, is coming to a close, and our candidate can get down to some serious beating of the old man, who, as Keith Olberman alludes, "screams at clouds." (We love that, Keith!)

So here's the latest in a long line of despicable crap Repubs get away with. Hillbilly Huck was talking to the NRA and joked about a gun being pointed at Barak Obama. Here's the poop, and we do mean poop, from CNN:

During a speech before the National Rifle Association convention Friday afternoon in Louisville, Kentucky, former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee — who has endorsed presumptive GOP nominee John McCain — joked that an unexpected offstage noise was Democrat Barack Obama looking to avoid a gunman.

“That was Barack Obama, he just tripped off a chair, he’s getting ready to speak,” said the former Arkansas governor, to audience laughter. “Somebody aimed a gun at him and he dove for the floor."

As Hillbilly Huck took pains to remind us all during his doomed campaign, this guy claims to be a Christian minister. We can only quote scripture here: Jesus wept.

PS: This one's for Mike, who got us off our ass.

GOP'ers. What a bunch of petty losers.

2008-02-06T16:34:00.000-06:00

At the RNC headquarters, they fine you $10 for using "Barak" or "Hillary" when referring to the Democratic candidates. Not that I care what sort of sweat-shop conditions the evil orcs at the RNC slave away under in pursuit of their corporatist purposes, but this just shows how small, mean, and utterly useless to democracy the Republican party truly is.

How the Dems will beat John McCain

2008-02-06T11:04:00.000-06:00

It looks like, regardless of Limbaugh, Hannity, and the other riech-wing blowhards want, John McCain is going to be the Grand Oil Party's nomminee. Running against him will be Hill or Barak. I really don't care who wins, so long as it's not McCain.

Here's my advice for the Democratic nominee: Run McCain ragged. Set a pace that no 72-year old man can match. Make him spend more time in the air than on the stump. Think of anything that will force him to take long, exhausting road trips. McCain is a cranky old cuss at the best of times. A bleary, tired, ragged McCain is bound to give us some exploitable Macacca moments.

My preference for this strategy is Barak, because he's younger than Hillary. But I think Hillary still has the horsepower to get it done.

So there's some free campaign advice from RPA. We have the fresher legs. Let's use 'em.

Blunt Out!

2008-01-22T16:51:00.001-06:00

Young Master Blunt has decided to bow out of the Governor's race. It looks like Nixon beat him just by fighting early, by never giving up, by being ready to to stand up to GOP slime. Like most bullies, GOPers don't have the stomach for a real fight. They just slink away and look for easier pickings.

But this fight is not over. After the GOP primary, some other silk-suited Republican mobster will be propped up by the fat-cat lobbyists, and Jay will have a fight on his hands. So we have to keep working, talking, calling, knocking. We can never let up if we want to rid this state and country of Republican misgovernment.

Long Time No Post

2008-01-04T08:44:00.001-06:00

Well, we've taken a little breather from politics for a few weeks. With finals and Christmas and New Year's, it just did not seem the time for railing about Republican evil. To everything there is a season, and the season for beating the GOP into oblivion is definitely here. This blog now shifts into organization mode. We will be talking about ways YOU can work to put people into office who are not corporate robots or right-wing fundamentalists. We will not take sides in Democratic primary races, because ANY Dem is a better choice than ANY Republican. We just thank anyone on the Democratic side for stepping up. Every candidate we field is someone they have to put resources up against. (We do reserve the right to be skeptical about late-minute party switchers. The Paul Morrison debacle in Kansas is a good lesson about that.)

So as the season gets really rolling, look here for information about how you can get involved in the Raytown area for canvasses and other types of volunteering.

It's go time, folks.

Dick Cheney's Company (Haliburton) in action...

2007-12-10T13:58:00.001-06:00

A Houston woman has charged her employers, that is Haliburton, with gang raping her in the Green Zone in Iraq. According to an ABC news report here, the woman called her dad FROM THE SHIPPING CONTAINER THE COMPANY MEN HAD LOCKED HER IN after the brutal gang rape. Her dad called his congressman, Ted Poe (R), who got some embassy folks to rescue the woman from a shipping container. (Finally, a Republican who did something to actually help a person in need.)

The corporate goons will fight this with all they have. They will destroy this woman and her family for seeking justice. And Dick Cheney will probably help them.

This is going to air soon. I hope it hits big. I hope it's another slap in the face for the war-profiteering slime at Haliburton.

Blackwater has snipers.

2007-11-08T09:58:00.000-06:00

Silly me. I thought all Blackwater mercenaries did was protest our diplomats in the streets of Iraq. So why would they need snipers? And why did they kill some Iraqi's guarding a media outfit? And why is the State Department defending them yet again? You watch, pretty soon we'll have mercenaries fighting Iraqi soldiers, you know, the ones that "when they stand up , we'll stand down." Another Hearts and Minds triumph brought to you by the right-wing Christian mercenary army that is Blackwater.

Who will Bower put on the Board?

2007-11-07T12:41:00.000-06:00

Pat Rhele (I can never spell his name right) resigned yesterday, leaving an opening on the Board of Aldermen. So now Mayor Bower has a decision to make. Perhaps he might consider Diane Krizec, who lost to Pat by a scant 50 votes. We can hope. Diane is sharp, no-nonsense, and would be a boon to this town on the Board.

Mayor Bower is a decent guy, but I wonder if he has what it takes to wean himself from the Reaching For Tomorrow crowd that runs this town. Appointing Diane would show us more of what he's made of.

We'll see.

Corporations Lie -- Never forget that.

2007-11-07T12:33:00.000-06:00

The big energy players in Kansas are lying about Sebelius, linking her to Iran, Venezuela, and Russia in scurrilous newspaper ad. They say the decision to disallow two new coal plants in Western Kansas will force Kansans to by more energy from these bad men.

They lie. Big surprise. Kansas EXPORTS natural gas to other states, and the US does not even import natural gas from the three countries mentioned.

Hmmmm, let us all guess what party the coal companies sent their contributions to...

It's all about the Benjamins, people, for the modern GOOP (Grand Old Obscene Party.)

Recruiting down, way down.

2007-11-01T09:10:00.001-05:00

The Army has a really tough time getting kids and their parents to say "Yes" to recruiters. Check this out, and see that the struggle to get new soldiers is getting even harder. Americans support the troops, but they don't want their kids sent into a debacle. They are voting against this war every day by keeping their kids out of it.

War is the acid test of leadership, and George Bush has failed. His incompetence as Commander in Chief has him leading without followers. He has violated every tenet of Sun Tzu's Art of War. Our troops are a precious national asset, and he has squandered them. Most of the GOP candidates have promised to follow his calamitous course.

We can not afford another Republican administration.

Can't really blame them

2007-10-31T16:09:00.000-05:00

In it's ineffable wisdom, the State Department has decided to force diplomats to take posts in Baghdad and "Provincial Reconstruction Teams" around Iraq. Well, it looks like a few hundred of them are raising a stink. They raised a ruckus today at a meeting thsat I'm sure was designed to get them all trunk-to-tail on the idiocy that is the Iraq occupation.

No go. Look for a bunch of resignations if Condi pushes this.

Oh,great.

2007-10-30T09:24:00.000-05:00

The Mosul dam, built on gypsum, is a disaster waiting to happen. And the money we have poured in to keep it from flooding Mosul and Baghdad, well:

"Our focus is on whether the project that the Corps undertook got carried out and the answer to that question is no," said Stuart W. Bowen Jr., the special inspector general. "The expenditures of the money have yielded no benefit yet."

..."yielded no benefit..." Well big surprise there.

I know we didn't build the damn thing in such a stupid way, but if it goes and kills a ton of civilians, the world will blame us. And I will blame Bush and the Republicans for the stupid, incompetent way they have bungled anything to do with the reconstruction of the country THEY invaded.

Republicans: deadly, stupid, and a danger to the entire planet.

Killer Immunity

2007-10-29T16:43:00.000-05:00

Yep. Blackwater mercenary thugs get immunity from the State Department after they slaughter 17 Iraqis who committed the sin of getting in their way. Way to win hearts and minds, Condi.

Have I told you lately how much I hate the evil Republican Party and all their minions?

Beautiful Idiot

2007-10-25T10:39:00.001-05:00

Okay, White House liar-for-George Dana Perino is a hottie. But she is either an idiot or has no moral compass. (Duh. She's a TerrerPublican. I vote for both.) She just said that there will be health benefits to the warming of our planet. I kid you not. Check it out here.

Still, if we're going to be lied to, let's at least have a pretty face do the dirty work. beats the hell out of Tony Snow. (Hmmm...Snow. Enjoy that while it lasts.)

A "Criminal Event"

2007-10-12T12:33:00.000-05:00

That's what a US military investigator calls the actions of Blackwater in the Nisoor Square Massacre. Here's the evidence, from the MSNBC website:

At least two cars, a black four-door taxi and a blue Volkswagen sedan, had their back windshields shot out, but their front windshields were intact, indicating they were shot while driving away from the square, according to the photos and soldiers. The Volkswagen, which crashed into a bus stand, had blood splattered on the inside of its front windshield and windows. One person was killed, soldiers said.
U.S. soldiers did not find any bullets that came from AK-47 assault rifles or BKC machine guns used by Iraqi policemen and soldiers. They found evidence of ammunition used in American-made weapons, including M4 rifle 5.56mm brass casings, M240B machine gun 7.62mm casings, M203 40mm grenade launcher casings, and stun-grenade dunnage, or packing.
A white sedan, carrying a doctor and her son, had not entered the Nisoor Square traffic circle, where the Blackwater vehicles had stopped, when it was fired upon, according to the aerial photos. News reports have said the guards shot at the car because they believed it approached them in a threatening manner.

By the time US troops arrived:

"[the square] was flooded with more than 50 Iraqi security force personnel, including top generals. The police were evacuating victims. By then, the smoke, which had risen from the burning white sedan, had vanished. Two charred bodies were still in the car.

"People were upset," recalled Sgt. Derrek Martin."

UPSET? I should think so. And it's even worse. Mercenary rampages like this feed into all the anti-US sentiment that Middle East terrorists feed on:

"It was absolutely tragic," said Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division and the Army's top commander for Baghdad. "In the aftermath of these, everybody looks and says, 'It's the Americans.' And that's us. It's horrible timing. It's yet another challenge, another setback," he said.

Mercenary troops killing people who ARE DOING EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO GET OUT OF THE WAY make the task of doing anything good in Iraq incalculably more difficult. If we don't slap Blackwater and its ilk down, Iraq is as good as lost.

So Blackwater can hold OUR OWN TROOPS AT GUINPOINT...

2007-10-12T10:24:00.000-05:00

...AND GET AWAY WITH IT?

What in the hell is wrong with this country? I hate to employ the overused comparison to Hitler and his boys, but this is nothing but brown-shirtism at its worst.

One Marine officer put it this way: "Their attitude was, 'We're f---ing security; we don't have to answer to anybody'."

And the Nazis thought the same damn thing.

This is getting downright scary, folks. We MUST get rid of the corrupt Republican leadership that allowed, and profited from this craziness, before we have to fight Blackwater over here. It seems our troops are already having to fight them over there.-

Aww, poor widdle GOPer congwessman has to work five whole days a week.

2007-10-10T08:57:00.000-05:00

My tiny fiddle is playing a sad song for this wanker.

Be careful out there

2007-10-10T08:53:00.000-05:00

Because there are some dangerous right-wing nuts around. This guy ran into one, but really it was almost the other way around.

Whatever will Mulla Dobson say about this?

2007-10-09T19:35:00.000-05:00

Two Iraqi Christian women were slain in their car by a private security firm Tuesday. Not Blackwater...this time. I wonder if the Christian right will make a peep about this one? How about it, big D?

Even the Iraqi PM calls Blackwater murderers

2007-10-08T11:56:00.000-05:00

Al-Malaki is gunning for the mercenaries now. Hearts and minds, people.

Oh, the metaphor!

2007-10-08T09:56:00.001-05:00

How fitting. The fire sprinklers at the new US Embassy in Iraq DON'T WORK. What a perfect physical analogy for the disaster that is George Bush's Iraq policy. We build this huge structure (ie: occupy the place) and when the place bursts into flames, our sprinkler pipes burst.

This is about competence, people. As in utter lack of. These people could f* up a wet dream. But I forget, right wing fundamentalists don't have wet dreams. Never mind.

Another Toe Tapping GOPer

2007-10-05T21:02:00.000-05:00

This is getting ridiculous. ANOTHER "family valuers" hypocrite. At least this one had the sense to drop out of the race.

Naomi Wolfe nails Blackwater

2007-10-05T17:52:00.000-05:00

This is what we're in for if we let them intimidate us. Remember that Blackwater is angling for domestic work. They've already been called in during Katrina. This is where the fascist GOP wants to take us.

Why soldiers fight

2007-10-04T16:09:00.000-05:00

This is the story of one man risking his life and performing a super-human feat for a comrade in arms. A Brit, by the way. Yep, one of those Brits about whom some White House stooge said:

“Operationally, British forces have performed poorly in Basra,” said the official. “Maybe it’s best that they leave...”

Tell that to the Colour Sergeant, stooge.

Nothing to see here....

2007-10-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

...except that the Arctic is melting even faster than we thought. But take comfort, little consumers. Exxon and Shell and Dick Cheney assure us that it's all in our scientists' little pin-heads. We must not say anything that interferes with the economic climate for big corporations. Nope, that must be sunny at all times.

More Blackwater

2007-10-01T18:04:00.000-05:00

Whoa, two posts in a day. That's because we are beginning to see more of the cost of hiring mercenaries to do our dirty work. The evidence is in, and Blackwater shoots first, checks the dead later. Kind of a "Let God sort 'em out" operation. Which makes sense for an outfit run by a right-wing theocrat.

Your modern republican party. Enjoy.

Go read Army Of Dude

2007-10-01T16:29:00.000-05:00

Long time no post. Same old stuff lately. GOP evil, Democrat wimpiness. Been real busy studying the Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe. SOMEDAY I'll get that degree.

But today I found a blog that YOU MUST READ about the Limbaugh "phony soldier" crap. This "phony" soldier eviscerates the mighty ass-sitter with pictures and words. If there is a phony, it's the big fat radio blowhard and his chickenhawk audience.

Please READ Army of Dude, and send the link out far and wide.

And remember, wherever there is injustice, greed, lies, and evil, there is usually a Republican at the root of it, gettin' rich.

US Mercenaries (oh of course we mean "contractors") gone wild.

2007-09-17T08:54:00.000-05:00

Here's a shock. When you hire mercenaries who have no stake in Iraq other than making huge gobs of tax-funded money, they really don't care who they kill. Just another reality of war that has been ignored for years by the Bushie dreamers.

The Iraqi "government" is making threats that they will kick the company involved (most likely Blackwater USA) out of the country. Yeah, that'll happen.

This is so sadly true:

2007-09-15T15:54:00.000-05:00

This is floating around in the email-verse. Don't know who wrote it. It's a tad long but it says a lot about the psychology of our tenure in Iraq:

Economics professors have a standard game they use to demonstrate how apparently rational decisions can create a disastrous result. They call it a "dollar auction." The rules are simple. The professor offers a dollar for sale to the highest bidder, with only one wrinkle: the second-highest bidder has to pay up on their losing bid as well. Several students almost always get sucked in. The first bids a penny, looking to make 99 cents. The second bids 2 cents, the third 3 cents, and so on, each feeling they have a chance at something good on the cheap. The early stages are fun, and the bidders wonder what possessed the professor to be willing to lose some money.

The problem surfaces when the bidders get up close to a dollar. After 99 cents the last vestige of profitability disappears, but the bidding continues between the two highest players. They now realize that they stand to lose no matter what, but that they can still buffer their losses by winning the dollar. They just have to outlast the other player. Following this strategy, the two hapless students usually run the bid up several dollars, turning the apparent shot at easy money into a ghastly battle of spiraling disaster.

Theoretically, there is no stable outcome once the dynamic gets going. The only clear limit is the exhaustion of one of the player's total funds. In the classroom, the auction generally ends with the grudging decision of one player to "irrationally" accept the larger loss and get out of the terrible spiral. Economists call the dollar auction pattern an irrational escalation of commitment.

We might also call it the war in Iraq.

We will probably hit the "exhaustion of...total funds" in blood, treasure and the patience of the American people in the next year o r so. But if the GOP wins in 08, exhaustion won't matter, only disaster.

As usual, FOX sucks

2007-09-14T19:52:00.000-05:00

Guess which broadcast network refused to air the Democratic response to W's blah-blah-blah last night? Can they be more blatant?

A new Crusader state in the MIddle East

2007-09-14T18:57:00.000-05:00

So last night W. said that we will have a long-term pact of some sort with the government in Iraq. Here's what that means, in non-Texan: The US will take over whatever government is there, and pretty much run the show that the Iraqi's can't (yeah, that'll work.) At least 130,000 of our troops will stay in Iraq, pretty much forever.

I cannot but be reminded of the doomed kingdoms that Europeans set up after 1099 in the Holy Land. The Kingdoms were run by nobles who eventually assimilated to the Islamic world, basically because the West bailed on them. Even so, the Islamic world, starting with Saladin and finishing up with the Mamluks, encapsulated and eventually smothered the Latin lands.

Like a Crusader King, Bush is intent on creating a doomed Western state in a region that will not tolerate it. The Islamic world, for all its volitility, is patient. Far more patient than we are.

Bush has made a thousand-year-old mistake. He's about to make it even worse.

Your Modern Republican Party: GOP Activist get five years for sexual assault

2007-09-14T13:29:00.000-05:00

Remember the name Erin Flory. This guy is a sleaze and a pathetic wimp. And oh yeah, the long-time leader of the Michigan Federation of Young Republicans. Read the whole article (even if you have to give them your zip and age to read page 2) and prepare to be outraged. This big he-man cried like a baby in front of the judge at his sentencing, whining that his son needed his father. The boy is better off without this a-hole, that's for sure. First he "assaults" a totally drunk young woman, then slimes her in the state GOP. Nice. (The state dropped the rape charge in the plea deal. You know what that means...)

Chivalry, thy name is Republican. Here's hoping that five years in the big house opens this guys eyes to what sexual assault is really all about.

BTW, I wonder how many other cases like this there are? Just like Larry Craig and the other closeted GOPers, you gotta know there are probably more like this. Even locally, there are some rumors...

HITYLHMIDTRP?

And The right-wing nutjobs say that dissent is unpatriotic!

2007-09-12T09:54:00.000-05:00

Well eat this , you sanctimonious, cowardly, stay-at-home armchair generals: two of the eleven brave soldiers who wrote an article dissenting from our Iraq policy have JUST DIED SERVING THEIR COUNTRY IN IRAQ!

They understood duty, but they also understood their right to dissent, and that they fight to protect OUR right to dissent.

So Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh, sign up or shut up! The deaths of these two fine soldiers is the final straw. The coffins of these heroes rest on the doorstep of the Republican Party. Their lunacy, incompetence, fear-mongering and right-wing utopianism make a mockery of our soldiers' sacrifice.

I try not to give in to hate. Today's news makes it almost impossible, really.

Please join me in making the Republican party a figment of the past, a fading nightmare, in 2008. It is the only hope our nation has.

HITYLHMIDTRP?

Dark Future

2007-09-07T15:21:00.001-05:00

Well, I've been having some dark premonitions, given what is out there on the wires. The Neocon spin amchine is whirring away on Iraq, and I think the fear-conditioning that the right-wing has put over on the Dems is going to do the trick again. The Bush Report (NOT the "Petreus Report". The good General will be telling Congress exactly what Bush wants him to.) is due Monday. It will be a total whitewash, but it will drive policy and we will keep troop levels high in Iraq until the middle of next year. Then the gopers will get scared and try and get W to bring some more guys home.

Now, you know I am susceptible to the argument that it is our moral duty to fix Iraq to the extent that we can, but at the same time, we can NEVER forget who caused this horrible nightmare: REPUBLICANS! We must make them pay for their folly with powerlessness for the next several generations. And after they do regain power, we must knock them down again. The world cannot survive their zenophobia, greed, incompetence, and mendacity.

Back to the premonitions: After Bush gets the spineless Congress to give him another gazillion bucks for Iraq, he WILL bomb Iran. That will happen before he leaves office, perhaps even early next year.

I have learned that we can often over-estimate the power of nations we invade or bomb, only to be reminded of the invincible power and incredible skill of our conventional armed forces. Where we have problems is in asymetrical war. Iran may be smart enough to be planning for asymmetry from the get-go. They may be preparing a huge PR campaign to make the most of 'co-lateral damage' ie: dead women and children. They may have cells in place in Lebanon and Syria to inititate all sorts of horror. They may clog the Straits of Hormuz. They may do everything they can to turn an attack on them into a region-wide firestorm. And if they are not working with Bin Laden now, they certainly will be after we bomb them.

Mark my words. Bush will bomb Iran. Then the real darkness will come.

Senator Craig: Ho Hum....

2007-08-29T16:28:00.000-05:00

...just another Family-values hypocrite. Republican, of course.

It does speed up the summer news slump... Bush's bombing of Iran will be the big news in the next month or two, but until then, we get GOP right-wingers cruising for man-on-man action in bathroom stalls.

It is fun to watch the far-riech squirm, though...

Men of Narrow Hearts

2007-08-26T20:14:00.000-05:00

Dame Veronica Wedgwood, one of the last cenury's premier narrative hstorians, had this to say at the end of the foreword to her classic The Thirty Years War:

"The dismal course of the conflict, dragging on from one decade to the next and from one deadlock to the next, seems to me an object lesson on the dangers and disasters which can arise when men of narrow hearts and little minds are in high places."

Amen , Dame Wedgwood. Best description of W and the boys that I have read in a long time.

HITYLHMIDTRP?

Reality Cometh

2007-08-24T12:02:00.000-05:00

General Pace lives in the real world of low recruitment, 15-month deployments, equipment shortages, and soldier's coffins. He knows that no nation whose people are unwilling to follow its leaders to war can prosecute an endless occupation. He knows that the time is coming where W will have the keys taken from him by the Republicans in Congress.

Reality grinds on like a tank, and it is certain that it is rolling over Bush, Cheney and the NeoCons.

The Far Right is after your contraceptives

2007-08-24T10:56:00.000-05:00

Dailykos has the goods on the right-wing drive to stamp out birth control. This is just another face of the christian-reich's anti-freedom agenda. And the GOP prez candidates are completely on-board. Like the peace of mind your birth-control provides? Then never, ever vote Republican.

HITYLHMIDTRP?

FOX debate cancelled

2007-08-23T18:11:00.000-05:00

FOX has no business hosting a Democratic debate. This is a slap at their claim of legitimacy as a "fair and balanced" news outlet. Let them remain a GOP echo chamber.

The Missouri Dept of Health Hires Right Wing Legal outfit.

2007-08-23T17:50:00.000-05:00

KCBlue has a great expose on the MO Dept of Health hiring the christian-right "Alliance Defense Fund" to fight an abortion lawsuit brought against the state by Planned Parenthood and others. Read KCBlue for the details. Summary: In order to attack Jay Nixon, the right-wing-whako head of the department says she's "fired" Nixon from the case.

Hey, any lawyers out there, isn't defending the state in legal cases one of the AG's constitutional duties?

Oh, how silly of me: Republicans make a daily habit of pissing on state and national Constitutions.

HITYLHMIDTRP? (For brevity, just pronounce it hit-ee-lim-eye-dee-trip.)

If you prefer the entire thing: HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY HOW MUCH I DESPISE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY?

Kinky Fundamentalists

2007-08-22T15:53:00.000-05:00

Salon has this interesting piece today. If the Christian Right is nothing else, it is is DEFINITELY authoritarian, even in the bedroom. That's why we now have CDD, or "Christian Domestic Discipline." My wife's a deeply sincere Christian, and I can just imagine the doghouse I'd be sleeping in if I tried to assert a right to spank her. Makes me laugh just thinking about it.

More craziness from the right-wing. It would be funny if it weren't so sad.

Long Time No Post

2007-08-21T15:45:00.000-05:00

Vacation is over, back to work, school, blogging.

So while we were out, Turdblossom dove off the sinking Bush ship. Tony Snow is leaving next. It's gotta be getting lonley in the West Wing.

HITYLHMIDTRP? (Have I told you lately how much I despise the Republican Party?)

Blunt would lose big...

2007-07-30T15:13:00.000-05:00

If the election were held today.

The triumph of ignorance

2007-07-24T22:19:00.000-05:00

Found this gem of a comment on OneNewsNow.org, the "news" site for the American Family Association. That would be one of the nuttiest right-wing outfits in the country. The subject is, what else, Harry Potter:

"I think it is a sin to even publish such books or even movies like Harry Potter series for our children . it is one true way for the Devil to reach our children who need to learn the Bible and it's true meanings of God's word . I say horray for Walmart in carrying more Biblical books and games and stories related to God's Word . More stores should follow with Wal-mart's Ideas and they could become successful to. Also be non union run to say the least .Shirley"

I especially love the hit against labor unions. This is your average evangelical mind at "work."

US Ambassador terrified he will lose helpful Iraqis

2007-07-23T10:02:00.000-05:00

He's asked that we give Iraqi's who help us (translators, etc) immigrant visas so they can get the hell out of dodge. If we do not, Ambassodor Crocker knows that the folks we have helping us will see the writing on the wall--you know, the writing that says we will leave Iraq in the next year, no matter what Bush and the generals say.

Money quote: "Our (Iraqi staff members) work under extremely difficult conditions, and are targets for violence including murder and kidnapping," Mr Crocker wrote Under-Secretary of State Henrietta Fore. "Unless they know that there is some hope of an (immigrant visa) in the future, many will continue to seek asylum, leaving our mission lacking in one of our most valuable assets."

Yep, the surge is working, dissent only helps our enemy, yada yada, and the people we need on the ground in Iraq know that their only hope is to leave their country and join the other FOUR MILLION displaced Iraqis. (Read the entire article for a numbers breakdown.

And by the way, have I told you lately that I utterly despise the Republican party, and the neo-cons they rode in on?

Bush gets colonoscopy tomorrow

2007-07-20T12:21:00.000-05:00

"Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be around here someplace."

Finally, someone is going to take a look at Bush's brain. Oh, and Cheney is going to be president while Bush is under.

We now live in a de facto dictatorship

2007-07-20T10:23:00.000-05:00

On July 17, King George granted unto himself dictatorial powers. When you parse out the legalese, it comes down to this: If His Majesty W decidess that you are pissing him off by dissenting against his Iraq nightmare, he can KILL YOU FINANCIALLY. Read it here.

Thom Hartman interviewed a former Reagan admin official who says that we are headed for a police state. Listen to that scary interview here.

Paul Craig Roberts thinks that the GOPers are praying for another 9/11, so they can shut down all dissent and usurp more powers.

Have I told you lately how much I despise the Republican party?

Impeach Matt Blunt

2007-07-19T16:15:00.000-05:00

Like his co-partisan, George Bush, Master Blunt uses state resources for political gain. The KC Star shows how the Taum Sauk disaster was used by Blunt to attack Attorney General Jay Nixon, and the tool of choice were State Troopers.

Have I told you lately just how much I despise Republicans, at every level?

Pretty Boy Romney

2007-07-19T15:14:00.000-05:00

Mitt Romney was all over the Edward's $400 dollar haircut thing. Funny thing, he failed to mention the almost $2k he spent on MAKEUP SESSIONS! What's more metrosexual, fancy hair styles, or MAKEUP? This is the depths to which the GOP takes politics. Instead of rational policy debates, they get the ol' spin machine cranked up on utter nonsense.

Have I told you lately just how much I despise the modern Republican party?

College Republicans: Chickenhawks

2007-07-18T13:21:00.000-05:00

You must see this by Max Blumenthal. He infiltrates the College Republicans convention in DC. Hypocrisy begins so early these days....

GOP and The NAACP Convention

2007-07-13T15:06:00.000-05:00

This picture says it all. Only one Repub candidate bothered to show up at the NAACP's GOP Candidate Forum yesterday. A priceless display of the lack of respect the GOPers have for African-American voters.

Home Grown Terrorists

2007-07-12T15:42:00.000-05:00

Texas style. These are terrorists of the riech-wing Christian version, trying to blow up a church, of all things. Luckily, like the London and GLasgow doctor/bombers, they were foiled. The authorities are calling these punks "domestic terrorists." Onward Christian Soldiers indeed...

Another of McCain's Boys in trouble...

2007-07-12T09:39:00.000-05:00

The sexual hypocrisy of the GOP continues. This Florida state legislator and muckitty-muck in McCain's "campaign" was caught trolling for sex in a men's room. Oh yeah, the guy is also a big "family values" dude. Uh oh...

Another Sign of Climate Change

2007-07-11T08:48:00.001-05:00

The riech-wing likes to mock folks who worry about climate change. Go on, mock away. But these guys think that something is happening that will doom their industry. Love the sound of summer? The thock of a wood bat smacking a baseball out of the park. Get to Kaufman soon, because it may be all aluminum in the nnot too distant future. You see, we may be losing the best trees for baseball bats. Read it.

Kraus Sighting

2007-07-05T08:25:00.000-05:00

Here at RP we do our best to give you ALL the facts as we know them, honestly, but with an up-front liberal bias. So it must be reported that the Rep 48 car was spotted this morning in front of the Kraus house. Perhaps someone read yesterday's post and told Will that folks were beginning to talk...

What's up with Kraus?

2007-07-03T09:09:00.000-05:00

In the things that make you go hmmmm? category:

I live in Will Kraus's neighborhood. Every morning on the way to work I look down his street to see what the Wilster is up to. His house in only one away from the corner, so it's easy to see. But for the last few weeks the (foreign) car with the Rep 48 plate has been AWOL. At first I thought the Willy Boy was just at the two-week drill the Guard folks (bless them) do. But after a few more weeks I got to wondering. And then a friend reported a Will sighting. The Toyota was busted with the hood up on Noland Road, and Will standing out in front of it. So Will is in town.

Now, I know the Kraus house is occupied, because the other morning I saw Mrs. Kraus loading the younguns' into the family van, which is almost always parked in the driveway.

So here's what we wonder: Is Kraus living someplace other than home? If so, why? We know that Mr. Family Values is in a wonderfully successful Christian marriage, all his campaign lit told us so. So what's going on?

Just wondering....

Scooter Libby pool

2007-07-03T08:45:00.000-05:00

Well, Bush waited a little longer than I thought. But I had no doubt that the weasel prez would practice AWWRM (Amnesty for Wealthy White Republican Males) before Libby saw the inside of a cell. The Bush Junta rules, and rapes Lady Justice for fun.

This is how the Republic of Rome became the Roman Empire: incremental abandonment of the principal of constrained rulership. If we don't slap it down hard in '08, the Republic is in danger.

Oh, and have I told you recently how much I despise the modern GOP?

Blunt is Scum

2007-06-27T10:01:00.000-05:00

Like a guy in quicksand grasping at any weed he can to keep his head up, Young Master Blunt decided to pin Attorney Genreal Jay Nixon with the unsolved case of a missing Belton teen. KCBlue has the details and the appropriate disgust for our little boy governor's latest political defecation.

Have I told you lately how much I despise the GOP? Stuff like this is one reason why.

Libby Pardon Pool

2007-06-14T11:03:00.000-05:00

So I was wrong on my pardon date, June 13. Sentencing hearing going on today. Libby's high-powered lawyers trying to discredit Fitzgerald to get their boy off.

The Jackhammer Analogy

2007-06-13T08:57:00.000-05:00

Back in the day, I made my living working for small contractors. (Sadly, I was non-union labor, politically unaware of how important organized labor is to the middle class.) Anyway, I had the opportunity, on occasion, to run a jackhammer.

Besides being fun, the jackhammer is the perfect analogy for winning in politics. Here's how it goes:

When you start on a big piece of concrete, the hammer-tip bounces around and maybe makes a little dust. You think, "Damn, this hammer sucks." But you keep the tip in the same place, shaking and straining to guide the heavy machine. There's noise and dust and uncertainty. But soon you have a divot in the concrete. You keep at it. A hairline crack radiates from the divot. The crack widens, and another forms. You keep the hammer going. The crack gets HUGE and all of a sudden the hammer sinks a few inches and the crack goes all the way through and a big chunk of concrete falls away and you have won.

We are the jackhammer that is pounding away at the concrete of the GOP establishment. There are some cracks emerging on immigration, Iraq, the economy, climate change, religion...

Running a political jackhammer can be a lot of fun. You just have to keep at it until you win.

Taking on the Creationists

2007-06-11T14:32:00.000-05:00

We need a Museum of Evolution. Most secular natural history museums present their exhibits with an evolutinary background, but there is not, so far as we know, a specialized museum with the sole purpose of presenting the evidences for modern theory to the public in a straightforward, popular manner.

There must be rich folks out there who could bankroll a state-of-the-art tourist destination that will be fun, but also defend the enlightenment, which is under threat from the knowledge-dousers of fundamentalism, Christian and Islamic. (It is interesting that the only place in the world with as strong a creationist movement as we have is Turkey.)

If nothing else, a fund-raising virtual museum might be a good place to start. We had better not cede these folks the ground, or knowledge and science is in peril.

Another reason FOX Noise Sucks

2007-06-11T14:00:00.000-05:00

Only 6% of their time reporting on Iraq, if you call rah-rah Ollie North pontificating reporting. Way to go, Brit Hume!

As usual, the Creationists fail to do their research.

2007-06-11T10:30:00.000-05:00

The new Creationist museum in Kentucky is a $27 million monument to right-wing agitprop. If you have followed ex-patriot Australian Ken Hamm over the years, you can only be impressed by his single-minded focus on a completely refuted idea: that the Universe is less than 10,000 years old.

So it must have been a bummer for Ken to learn that the actor hired to play Adam in one of his museum's videos is full of highly original sin. Yep, the guy owns the web establishment "Bedroom Acrobat." Wonder what that's about....

The museum is a compendium of utter creationist bull. Aside from the downright lies about the known age of the earth, there is the pure insanity that carnivores did not exist before the "Fall." We should call it the Flintstones Museum, as dinos and man cavort happily with one another. (Didn't these people see 'Jurassic Park?')

Several life-size dioramas show totally buff models of Adam and Eve, but evidently they WERE ashamed of their nakedness, because Eve's hair is always covering her upper works and both of their lower bodies are concealed by ferns or water.

And oh, yeah, Adam and Eve are Caucasian. Imagine our surprise.

With this museum, the creationists have pitched out human reason, which, for all its flaws, errors, and hubris, is responsible for modern medicine, communications, space science, and on and on. The religious crazies (as opposed to millions of sensible, rational believers) contribute nothing to society but conflict, dogma, and often, violence. They pitch reason on the trash heap in favor of complete certainty in a bronze-age cosmology that has been shown false by a mountain chain of hard evidence compiled for over two hundred years.

And they foist this stuff on kids. American kids who will grow up competing against people educated in reality, who will understand the geology required to find mineral resources, or use new discoveries in physics and engineering, or understand the universe around them as it really is.

But then, it's so much easier to let Ken Hamm think for you.

Turkey ratchets up the war machine

2007-06-06T12:46:00.000-05:00

The Turkish Army made an incursion into Iraqi territory today. The combination of Turkish political season and Kurdish provocation may mean that today is only the beginning of a flare- up in the north.

What are the odds that Bush and Condi are anywhere near up to dousing this ember?

Not good. Chickens, home, roost. And we have Foghorn Leghorn as Commander in Chief.

Libby Pardon Pool

2007-06-06T09:19:00.000-05:00

We should have a virtual guessing pool on the date that Bush pardons Scooter. Our guess: June 13. We should know if the judge (eminently sensible man) allows Scooter to dwell among the non-convicted during appeal by then. If justice prevails and Scooter is ordered to the slammer, then Bush does what Bill Kristol of FOX Noise and the American Spectator tells him (as he did with Iraq,) and pop goes the pardon.

FOX News: All African-Americans look alike to them

2007-06-05T09:15:00.000-05:00

FOX reported on the indicment of Democratic Congressman Jefferson (who should be run out of DC as quick as legally possible, in our opinion) but used footage of Congressman John Conyers, who has nothing to do with Jefferson's problems.

So, either FOX, like the administration it distributes propaganda for, is utterly incompetent, or they wanted to smear a Democratic Congressman they don't like. We think it's both. Check out some commentary the video here from Josh Marshall's Talking Points.

FOX "News." Another reason the GOP has no support in the African American community.

Local Architecture Firm in Hot Water

2007-06-01T10:11:00.000-05:00

Looks like Dan at GoneMild really had a hand in exposing a big ooops by a local architect outfit. Berger Devine Yaeger took on the job of designing our 100 acre Bagdhad Versailles--of course we mean Embassy. Now BDY is in trouble with the State Department for putting the project plans on their website. Hey, giving the islamofascists an overhead operations map of the compound sounded like a good PR move...

Bush Boots his Base

2007-06-01T09:05:00.000-05:00

Peggy Noonan says so. We honestly don't know what to think of the immigration bill. It's a monster, size-wise. But we know what the loony-right thinks, and now Bush is calling them un-American. He's been calling us that for six years. Nice to see the attack-spittle aimed at the other side for once....

Angus McBride' s passing

2007-05-31T09:18:00.000-05:00

For those of you with an interest in military history, you may be aware of the renowned illustrator Angus McBride. His recreations of all periods of human military experience brought the past to life like no other artist. Much of the historical authenticity in today's movies can be attributed in part to his lively, incredibly detailed work for the Osprey book series.

If you are not familiar with McBride's work, go here to see a few of his pieces and read about a treasure in the world of military history.

McBride also did a great deal of work set in Tolkein's MIddle Earth. Check out some of his fantasy work here. (Scroll down a bit to the thumnails.)

If you have a child who thinks history is boring, show him or her some of Angus's work. It might just spark something in them like it does in us.

Bush's September Gambit

2007-05-29T15:46:00.000-05:00

It's all about September now. Now matter what General Petreus says about the situation in Iraq, King George will claim victory and send in more troops. He will claim that we just need to "seal the deal" or "lock it down" or some other meaningless phrase.

And then, the GOPers who are up for election in '08 will freak. Iraq is the millstone around their collective electoral neck. They will react in one of two ways: either they will back W to the hilt and go on a full-on demonization campaign of any opposition to the Iraq quagmire, or they will abandon the Prez. Given the personal courage of most politicians, we predict abandonment.

No matter what choice they make, we think that the President will, if he has not done so by September, begin an air war against Iran. He will say it is for the safety of the world, but the real consideration is, as it was from the start with Iraq, domestic US politics.

An air war with Iran, as disastrous as it might be for US diplomacy, oil prices, and our already-abysmal world-cred, will provide the emotional leverage the GOP needs to bring the center-right and some independents back to the pro-war fold. If such an attack does bring about asymmetric counter-attacks from Iran, as it almost certainly will, the administration will use these events to say, "See, we were right to attack them!" And any US protest based on the logical merits of the new war will be labeled defeatism, treason, the usual Fox "News" litany of jingoistic drivel.

On the Iranian side, the leading clerics will use the coming attack to shore up their own weakening base. They know that we cannot invade Iran in our current state. Far from initiating regime change, the upcoming air war on Iran will only make the progressive element in that country more vulnerable to conservative attack. So long as the US is hyper-aggressive, the mullahs keep power and the Iranian Revolution continues.

We feel that this scenario is a near certainty. Our president is a life-long bully, and unfortunately, he has the US armed forces at his disposal to exercise some very strange demons. As we saw last week, the US Congress, while stronger, is still not willing to stand up to the frat-boy-leader. His use of the Troops trump card is still effective, even if morally reprehensible.

Hold on folks. The next few months are going to get (even more) bumpy.

Will Kraus almost kills Missouri Medicaid

2007-05-21T15:25:00.001-05:00

The Missouri House is full of brain-dead right wingers, but Will Kraus is one of the biggest rock-heads to ever grace the State house. Playing to the "we hate the poor" crowd, he got an amendment passed that would have forced medicaid recipients to be drug tested. As if folks at that end of the income scale don't already have enough hoops to jump through to get help.

Then the legal beagles find out that the law would violate federal law and threaten the entire 4.3 billion dollar program. Will's weak defense was that he has to take a drug test when he goes to drill in the Guard. Well, yeah, Will, as you told us over and over in your racist, homophobic campaign literature, you fly multi-million dollar, TAX-PAYER-funded helicopters. The average medicaid patient does not.

Republican kooks like Will Kraus have no business running programs that help people, because Republicans don't care about anyone who does not live in a cookie-cutter suburb and go to a Protestant mega-church. Let's work to put Will Kraus back on the private job market in 2008.

Congratulations RDA!

2007-05-20T09:29:00.000-05:00

At last night's Truman Days banquet, the annual gathering and fund-raiser for the Jackson County Democratic Committee, the Raytown Democratic Association was presented with the Harry S. Truman Democratic Organization Achievement Award.

For the last few years, the RDA has worked hard at every level to elect solid progressives to office. Let's hope that this recognition from the Jackson County Democratic Committee spurs them on to even greater efforts in 2008!

If you are interested in helping them out, go here to get their information.

The Pitch tells us about ourselves

2007-05-17T16:49:00.000-05:00

This week's pitch questions the wisdom of the whole Wal-Mart will save Raytown fantasy. Read it here.

Falwell died today.

2007-05-15T12:59:00.000-05:00

My mother always taught me that if you can't say anything nice...well, you know the rest.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far way....

2007-05-08T10:29:00.000-05:00

...a massive star exploded. We just spotted the light from this supernova. The star was 240 million light years away. You don't have to be a scientist to understand the inescapable fact that the light from this event took 240 million years to reach our detectors.

The universe is vast, fascinating, and about 14 billion years old. Earth is 4 to 5 billion years old. Life on our planet is about a billion years old. All these cosmological facts are supported by the compilation of thousands of corroborating bits of data.

Comments, young-earth creationists? Push the cosmology of a bunch of bronze-age agrarian goat-ropers all you want, but the facts of the universe are spread out before us. Denying them will only make your movement look dumber and dumber as knowledge accumulates.

Kansas has a great governor.

2007-05-07T20:02:00.000-05:00

Missouri, not so much. Governor Sebelius calmly, rationally, sensibly tied the lack of Guard troops and equipment required to deal with the tornado tradgedy directly to the failed Iraq policy of George Bush.

Can you imagine our own Master Blunt being so forthright in the same circumstance?

Kansas is hurting right now, but at least they have a governor who's up to the task.

Paris is a long way from Raytown

2007-05-06T18:41:00.000-05:00

But you watch the GOP go into swoons for the the new French President. A triumph for Mom, soccer and baguettes, and all that. I can just hear Friedman now. But you can bet there will be no French troops in Iraq anytime soon. And Sarkozy's first speech called on the US to take the lead on fighting global climate change.

But it's a good thing we don't call 'em Freedom Fries anymore, eh George?

Well, look at the other schools that are "gun-free."

2007-05-04T14:59:00.000-05:00

If you listened to the right-wingers simplistic solution to the V-tech killings, you would think that any right-thinking, red-blooded American institution of higher learning would be crawling with legal concealed-carriers. Especially those patriotic, 2nd amendment-loving evangelical colleges. Wrong.

Pat Robertson's Regent U.? Nope.

Jerry Falwell's Liberty U.? Negatory.

They may say and do a lot of stupid stuff, but when it comes to their own schools, they know that an armed campus is a dangerous campus.

Dailykos is on this. Time: 3:00 pm Central. How long until the policy pages are pulled down, ya think. Click on 'em fast, people. I say they'll will be gone by tonight.

Concern Troll Flip

2007-05-01T14:30:00.000-05:00

There is an interesting tactic on the right, where a GOPer gets on a blog or a pundit show and patronizingly says that he's worried for the Democrats because of what so-and-so the nutty left-winger just said. David Broder is an example. The term for those folks has come to be "concern troll." They really couldn't care less about the Democratic party, they just want the cover of their "concern" in the cause of civil debate, yada yada....

So let's flip that on them. The subject could be...oh, say, climate change. Here's how you do it:

You know, (GOPer's first name here), I am really concerned for you guys on the Republican side. I mean, what if you're wrong about global warming? What if the scientists are right? And what if they've been holding back, and in a few years things are really bad? I mean, you guys have been so certain that things are fine, but if it all goes south, whose the electorate going to take it out on? It won't be Democrats. I really worry that you guys are so hard-line on this, and if you're wrong, it could kill your party. That's what I worry about....

See, concern trolling is easy. Try it out at your local right-wing blog today.

Voting for the man.

2007-04-30T09:06:00.000-05:00

So I've been using this venue to vent for a while now. Can you blame me? The hypocrisy, incompetence, and venality of the GOP is almost beyond comprehension.

I have not been keeping up too well on Jeff City, but you can and should go to Fired Up Missouri for that. They do a terrific job of exposing the sewer that is the GOP side of the General Assembly.

So, summer is coming up and it's time to get partisan for '08. I am so sick of the well-meaning voter who says "I vote for the person, not the party." Well, that high-minded but bogus attitude is what got us in the mess we're in. You can vote for the most moderate GOPer in the world, and guess what? He or she will still caucus with the GOP, and contribute to the bad guys getting the committee chairs and setting the agenda, locally, state-wide, and nationally.

So if you hear someone say they "vote for the man," gently remind them that even though GOP candidate 'X' might be a wonderful guy or gal, the folks he or she is beholden to are the same bozos who kill Medicare, women's rights, college loan programs, organized labor, child care, clean streams, national parks, privacy, choice, public education, and more. Remind them that "voting for the man" got us the Iraq occupation, added disaster in New Orleans, and the loss of our international stature.

It's basic civics. In a two-party system, it's all or nothing along party lines. In Missouri, that means Matt Blunt and his swift-boat contributors run the show. In DC, Bush and his corporate cronies run the nation and to a great extent, the world.

All because American voters mistakenly think it's noble to vote without consideration of party. Really, these days, that's a luxury the nation and the world can no longer afford.

Such exquisite hypocrisy.

2007-04-27T21:51:00.000-05:00

So this GOPer named Tobias is a big wig in the State Department. Deputy Secretary of State, as a matter of fact. And before that he was W's AIDS czar. Yep, he was a big proponent of abstinence and faithfulness over condoms to combat AIDS.

And oh yeah, and he has just resigned because he was a customer of that madam who's squawking in DC.

This should make for a fun weekend.

Satan and immigration

2007-04-27T11:42:00.000-05:00

The right-wing media loves to highlight some way-far-left kook as if to say, "See, all liberals are like this guy." What if I said, "See, all conservatives are like this guy"? And the Utah Republicans are actually going to discuss this craziness.