J's Cafe Nette

Archive for the ‘Adult Temper Tantrums’ Category

A group of very liberal New Englanders and a group of very conservative Southerners are getting together to discuss secession from the Union.

In an unlikely marriage of desire to secede from the United States, two advocacy groups from opposite political traditions — New England and the South — are sitting down to talk.

Tired of foreign wars and what they consider right-wing courts, the Middlebury Institute wants liberal states like Vermont to be able to secede peacefully.

That sounds just fine to the League of the South, a conservative group that refuses to give up on Southern independence.

“We believe that an independent South, or Hawaii, Alaska, or Vermont would be better able to serve the interest of everybody, regardless of race or ethnicity,” said Michael Hill of Killen, Ala., president of the League of the South.

One of the liberal New Englanders claims there are secession movements in 25 states.

Surprisingly, the article informs us secession is not barred in the Constitution.

OK, that’s probably so, but didn’t a lot of men die to preserve the Union?

I guess these guys feel safe because they know no one in Washington or regular citizens would sign up to preserve the Union as they did 140+ years ago.

And when are these Southern people going to stop fighting the Civil War? Apologies to Southerners, as I mean only this group of Southerners and I live in the South.

Of course, I’m from New England, and it’s just as bad there. Mostly in Vermont, the state that likes to elect Socialist Bernie Sanders to national office.

Vermont and Rhode Island are the only two New England states I haven’t visited, and my husband claims he took me to Rhode Island a few years ago while we were in Connecticut. It was so small and such a short distance I guess I just didn’t realize it.

Anyway, I’ve had dealings with businesses in Vermont and have told them I hear it’s a beautiful state but I wouldn’t visit it until they got rid of Leahy and Sanders. That was before Sanders was a senator. And don’t forget how whacky Jim Jeffords was either.

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Congressman Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii is whining because Speaker Pelosi won’t release the funds to remodel the House gym.

It’s not quite up to his standards and the wives have a terrible hardship of having to walk across a parking lot to get there, and besides, the aides to the Congressmen have a better gym with flat screen TVs mounted on their ellipticals. Anyway, it’s only a measly 8 million bucks.

Speaker Pelosi is having none of it, but not for the right reasons. She’s concerned about how it will look to the electorate and how it will affect her majority. Nothing said about it being a waste of taxpayer money and these facilities are available anywhere if you pay the membership fee.

Abercrombie is touting his efforts to secure funding in the legislative branch spending bill to begin an estimated $8 million renovation of the House gym. The project is personally important to Abercrombie, who sets a yearly goal to bench-press 200 pounds more than his age, now 69.
Pelosi and other Democratic leaders are not eager for a multimillion-dollar renovation of the congressional members-only gym to be one of the first accomplishments of the Democratic majority. They worry that freshman Democrats could be attacked on the campaign trail next year for approving a fancy new gym for themselves after winning office.

Democratic leaders held a special meeting with Abercrombie earlier this year to tell him that now is not the time for a new House gym and also instructed him not to mention the issue to reporters, according to Democratic sources

But Abercrombie hasn’t stopped talking about it. He insists that the gym needs renovating and is pushing for federal money to finance a redesign.

Read the rest of this entry »

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The other day I wrote about some groups such as Moveon.org and Daily Kos organizing a boycott of Fox News Advertisers.

Today, I get the news that it goes deeper than at first thought.

Here’s a little bit of the story to show you some of the organizations in charge of this boycott:

Yesterday, I wrote about MoveOn.org, the Daily Kos and the Campaign for America’s Future joining forces to silence the conservative voices on FNC. I’ve now uncovered more information who’s all involved in this unholy alliance. First, I went to CAF’s About Us page. Here’s what it said:

Over 100 Prominent Americans, citizen activists and policy experts concerned about our country and our planet, joined together to launch and build the Campaign for America’s Future. We are challenging the big money corporate agenda by encouraging Americans to speak up, to discuss and debate a new vision of an economy and a future that works for all of us.

America’s Future insists that the question of falling wages and rising insecurity be placed at the center of our national debate. We challenge those who suggest that nothing can be done and expose the conservative agenda that has made things worse. America’s Future works to revitalize a progressive agenda, and fights to make this economy work for working people once again. We engage citizens, activists and political leaders in a renewed debate about the kind of country, and the kind of world, we want to build for the generations yet to come.

When I read the line about CAF being a group of citizen activists and policy experts, red flags galore went off so I went to their advisors page. Here’s some of the people that serve as advisors to CAF:

Ann Beaudry, PFAW; Mary Frances Berry, US Commission on Civil Rights; Julian Bond, NAACP Board Chair; Hodding Carter; Betty Friedan; Tom Hayden, ex-husband of Jane Fonda, fmr. Gore Campaign manager; Denis Hayes, Earth Day founder; Jim Hightower, Hightower Radio; Patricia Ireland, fmr. Pres. NOW; Jesse L. Jackson, Rainbow Coalition; Gerald W. McEntee, AFSCME; Howard Metzenbaum, US Senator (retired); Robert Reich, Brandeis University, Former Secretary of Labor; Mark Ritchie, Inst for Agriculture and Trade Policy; John J. Sweeney, AFL-CIO; Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO.

Does that sound like a list of “citizen activists”? In my opinion, it sounds more like a group of paid lobbyists and Democratic strategists. That’s why I did more digging. In CAF’s FAQ page, someone asked if they could contribute to their organization. The unsurprising response was “Yes!” They then linked to a secure website to contribute online. After that, they listed this address for people wanting to simply send a check via snail mail:

Campaign for America’s Future
1825 K Street, NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20006

Please make your check out to “Campaign for America’s Future.”

I didn’t think that citizen activists maintained offices on K Street in Washington, DC. That’s because K Street is known for housing major lobbying firms. That’s why I’ve nicknamed K Street the Lobbyists’ Lair. I’ll stand by that nickname.

Read the rest of the story on Let Freedom Ring Blog. It will open your eyes to the concerted effort to shut down conservative free speech on our nation’s television airwaves.

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It’s time to show Moveon.org and DailyKos they are not the only players in politics.

I’ll be contacting advertisers and encouraging them to stay with Fox News.

This is censorship pure and simple. They are taking us down the road of Hugo Chavez, trying to shut down the media they don’t like.

As the guy in the movie said, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

Who’s with me?

NEW YORK (AP) – Liberal activists are stepping up their campaign against Fox News Channel by pressuring advertisers not to patronize the network.
MoveOn.org, the Campaign for America’s Future and liberal blogs like DailyKos.com are asking thousands of supporters to monitor who is advertising on the network. Once a database is gathered, an organized phone-calling campaign will begin, said Jim Gilliam, vice president of media strategy for Brave New Films, a company that has made anti-Fox videos.

The groups have successfully pressured Democratic presidential candidates not to appear at any debate sponsored by Fox, and are also trying to get Home Depot Inc. to stop advertising there.

At least 5,000 people nationwide have signed up to compile logs on who is running commercials on Fox, Gilliam said. The groups want to first concentrate on businesses running local ads, as opposed to national commercials.

“It’s a lot more effective for Sam’s Diner to get calls from 10 people in his town than going to the consumer complaint department of some pharmaceutical company,” Gilliam said.

Some of videos produced by Gilliam’s company compile statements made by Fox anchors and guests that the activists consider misleading, such as those that question global warming.

Story.

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I guess this Senate has been so busy passing real legislation they have the time to entertain censure motions and get into another filibuster.

WASHINGTON — Liberal Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold said Sunday he wants Congress to censure President Bush for his management of the Iraq war and his “assault” against the Constitution.

But Feingold’s own party leader in the Senate showed little interest in the idea. An attempt in 2006 by Feingold to censure Bush over the warrantless spying program attracted only three co-sponsors.

Feingold, a prominent war critic, said he soon plans to offer two censure resolutions — measures that would amount to a formal condemnation of the Republican president.

The first would seek to reprimand Bush for, as Feingold described it, getting the nation into war without adequate military preparation and for issuing misleading public statements. The resolution also would cite Vice President Dick Cheney and perhaps other administration officials.

The second measure would seek to censure Bush for what the Democrat called a continuous assault against the rule of law through such efforts as the warrantless surveillance program against suspected terrorists, Feingold said. It would also ask for a reprimand of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and maybe others.

Complete story here.

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Your taxpayer dollars hard at work.

The NYT The Caucus column has a headline that perfectly describes the Senate in this session of Congress:

The peas, carrots and kernels of corn weren’t flying in the Senate chamber, but that’s only because dinner is served elsewhere — otherwise democracy descended into a near-food fight as a Republican effort to block a vote on a higher education bill turned into a fusillade of politically charged amendments to the bill with no other purpose than to insult and infuriate the other side of the aisle.

Then, Mr. Salazar rose to speak: “It is regrettable that we work here, regrettable that we work here on the future of our country for our children…

I agree with you wholeheartedly, Sen. Salazar. It is regrettable that you all work there.

Meanwhile, the senators milled about like guests at a cocktail party with no drinks.

Did the Senate run out of Juicy-Juice and sippy cups?

For a good Friday morning laugh, follow the link in the above paragraph.

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Bush are certain to have a lot of restless nights in the very near future because Cindy Sheehan has declared she will run against Pelosi if Pelosi doesn’t agree to impeachment proceedings against President Bush by July 23.

Now there’s a woman who knows how to use a quick timetable.

Sheehan said she will run against the San Francisco Democrat in 2008 as an independent if Pelosi does not seek by July 23 to impeach Bush. That’s when Sheehan and her supporters are to arrive in Washington, D.C., after a 13-day caravan and walking tour starting next week from the group’s war protest site near Bush’s Crawford ranch.

“Democrats and Americans feel betrayed by the Democratic leadership,” Sheehan told The Associated Press. “We hired them to bring an end to the war. I’m not too far from San Francisco, so it wouldn’t be too big of a move for me. I would give her a run for her money.”

Democrats and Americans? Democrats aren’t Americans? Who knew?

Guss and Ayschlay, you’d better check to be sure you’re Americans. You might be aliens. @-)

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One reason so many companies go out of business these days is that they are not offering a product the people want, or they are not offering a quality product the people want.

Conservative talk radio has been a staple for many years now and now we are hearing from various Democratic senators that we should return to the fairness doctrine because the liberal side of the spectrum is not being heard.

How many liberal talk radio shows have started only to fail for lack of listeners?

Do you think radio stations, except for Air America, are in the business to lose money? Of course not, so they have conservative talk radio and it’s popular with listeners. Even some liberals listen and get through to voice their opposing opinions. Imagine that!

When I used to listen to Rush Limbaugh while waiting to pick up my granddaughter at school (a long wait) he would always put the dissenters at the head of the line and was always polite with them. Generally they were polite with him also, so why the cry now for the fairness doctrine?

Listen to John Kerry talk about the fairness doctrine:

Give us a product we want and we’ll buy it.

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Why this case was ever heard at all is beyond me, but a man who had attained the position of a judge sued a Korean couple and their son who own a dry cleaners because they lost his pants and he wanted to wear those pants to court the day he was sworn in as a judge.

He sued them originally for $67 million even though the pants were found and he refused to take them. He subsequently lowered his asking price to $54 million.

Well today the judge who matters, the one hearing the case, ruled against the plaintiff and ordered him to pay court costs for the defendents.

I hope that includes lawyer’s fees, as this man has been on a vendetta that has nearly bankrupted the couple and their son.

A judge ruled Monday in favor of a dry cleaner that was sued for $54 million over a missing pair of pants.

The owners of Custom Cleaners did not violate the city’s Consumer Protection Act by failing to live up to Roy L. Pearson’s expectations of the “Satisfaction Guaranteed” sign that was once placed in the store window, District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff ruled.

Bartnoff ordered Pearson to pay the court costs of defendants Soo Chung, Jin Nam Chung and Ki Y. Chung.

Pearson pinned all his hopes of winning this case on the fact the business had a sign stating “satisfaction guaranteed.” It did not state unconditional satisfaction guaranteed and certainly met the requirement when they produced Pearson’s pants along with various offers to settle the suit.

I hope he gets disciplined for filing a frivolous lawsuit that was even asking for money for a rental car to take his cleaning to another cleaner.

He represented himself in court. I think it was Abraham Lincoln who said, “A man who represents himself in court has a fool for a client.”

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With the self-proclaimed base of the Republican party going bananas over illegal immigration and promising to not vote for someone who is not 100% as far right as they are on every issue, we now have the same thing happening to the self-proclaimed base of the Democratic party.

The bitter battle between the Democratic Congress and President Bush over Iraq war funding may be over for now, but another fight has erupted between Democrats and members of the antiwar base who say they were betrayed by their party.

Democratic leaders told their rank-and-file supporters Friday they had no choice but to give up efforts to tie a troop-withdrawal deadline to an emergency appropriations bill. Mr. Bush on Friday signed the bill that pays for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan until the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30.

Many antiwar activists and bloggers condemned the Democrats’ retreat and said their patience with party leadership was wearing thin.

“Today America watched a Democratic Party kick them square in the teeth — all in order to continue the most unpopular war in a generation,” Democratic campaign strategist David Sirota wrote Friday on the left-wing Huffington Post Web site. “We gave them our heart; they gave President Bush a blank check.

“That will make May 24, 2007, a dark day … when Democrats in Washington not only continued the war they promised to end, but happily went on record declaring that they believe in their hearts that government’s role is to ignore the will of the American people,” Mr. Sirota wrote.

The Daily Kos, one of the largest antiwar Web sites, also expressed disappointment and anger that leaders such as Democratic Sen. James H. Webb Jr. of Virginia voted to approve funding for the war. But it took some solace in Mr. Webb’s statement that he “will not relent from my continuing efforts to bring this occupation to an end.”

“They let us down this time. But the opportunities for them to make amends still exist,” Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, founder of the Daily Kos, wrote the day after the vote. “If Democrats take advantage of them, as they promise they will, then all might be forgiven. They can prove to us that they in fact know what they are doing, and that they, in fact, do plan on honoring their most sacred promise to the 2006 electorate.

“And if they don’t? Well, no one, not even the most rabid partisans, have an endless supply of patience,” Mr. Zuniga warned.

As I’ve said before, the problem with the extreme wings of both parties is their candidates have to be as pure as the driven snow when it comes to their issues. No compromise; no reality; just temper tantrums to get what they want.

So, with the election about 17 months away, what will these purists do if they don’t get their way? Besides suck their thumbs and sulk?

They can’t vote for anyone in good conscience because no one measures up, so do they stay home to punish the party?

Maybe that’s not such a bad idea because then we could elect someone who is reasonable and not ready to fall off a cliff on the right or the left.

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I wonder how he’s managed to not have a stroke if this is the type of “commenting” he does.

Thanks to Outside the Beltway for the video.

Special Hat Tip to Sister Toldjah <):)

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I don’t watch “The View” but I read there was a catfight between sweet Rosie O’Donnell and Elizabeth Hasselbeck. See it for yourself:

This is the video that started it all:

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It looks as though the Democrats are finally going to vote on a supplemental war funding bill that does not include time lines.

WASHINGTON (AP) – In grudging concessions to President Bush, Democrats intend to draft an Iraq war-funding bill without a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops and shorn of billions of dollars in spending on domestic programs, officials said Monday.

The legislation would include the first federal minimum wage increase in more than a decade, a top priority for the Democrats who took control of Congress in January, the officials added.

While details remain subject to change, the measure is designed to close the books by Friday on a bruising veto fight between Bush and the Democratic-controlled Congress over the war. It would provide funds for military operations in Iraq through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

Democrats in both houses are expected to seek other opportunities later this year to challenge Bush’s handling of the unpopular conflict.

Democratic officials stressed the legislation was subject to change. They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss provisions before a planned presentation to members of the party’s rank and file later in the day.

Democrats in Congress have insisted for months they would not give Bush a blank check for his war policies, and officials said the legislation is expected to include political and military goals for the Iraqi government to meet toward establishment of a more democratic society.

Failure to make progress toward the goals could cost the Iraqis some of the reconstruction aid the United States has promised, although it was not clear whether Democrats intended to give Bush power to order the aid to be spent regardless of progress.

Several officials said it was possible that Democrats would attempt to draft a second bill, to include much of the domestic spending that Bush and congressional Republicans have said they oppose.

Either way, Democratic leaders have said they hope to clear a war spending bill through both houses of Congress and send it to Bush’s desk by week’s end. They added the intention was to avoid a veto.

See? I’ll bet that didn’t hurt a bit, except for some pride.

The Captain is also talking about this development.

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Not every illegal immigrant is Mexican. I know that probably surprises a lot of people—NOT! But a lot of people feel they are all Mexicans.

Many people from the poor countries in Central America sneak into the United States via Mexico, but they are not Mexicans.

The proposed immigration reform bill goes to the Senate floor for debate today, and you’d think the sky had fallen and it’s already passed in its virgin form.

We have squawkers on the right and I’m sure squawkers on the left. I read last night that Lindsey Graham was booed in SC at the Republican convention because he endorses the proposed immigration bill.

I would have booed him too because he is not the senator I thought I elected, but maybe this will be his wake-up call to serve those who elected him and stop being Arizona’s third senator.

A very reasonable question was posed on a Conservative site. Something to the effect of imagining you are an employer or farmer and think of the problems you face, then imagine you are Congress and what would you do to solve the problem to the good of everyone.

Here’s one answer that stood out to me as being so rigid there is no room for movement, and of course the president has caused the Republican Party to self-destruct all on his own:

We can’t send them all back. Given
We can’t pay for medical/social security for them. Given
Those in jail – need to be deported. Given
Employers need to be penalized for under the table employment – or should have the option of not paying benefits/social security/workman’s compensation – and pay citizens a flat fee just like they do illegals. Fix that one way or the other. Given.
No More. Shut down the border. Shut it down. Now.
No more spanglish options. English only. It’s my taxes that provide translations – I would rather used that money to send them home or build a fence.
Those who are here illegally must register, find a sponsor (one of those employers paying them for a job “Americans won’t do” – if this is true – then it shouldn’t be too hard.) and provide proof of gainful employment in order to stay. Their American citizenship status and that of their children cannot be achieved until after those who entered the country legally.

Anyone who migrates here must be in line for citizenship. No more “make the money here and send it home”. We are Mexico’s largest source of income. If they come here, they must register, get a job, and get in line for citizenship. If not- they should be stopped at the border.

Any Mexican who breaks the law here goes to jail in Mexico – or we take all of our convicted prisoners and turn them loose in Guadelahara with forged Mexican passports, train tickets to Mexico City, and 1000 pesos.

Make it a misdemeanor to shoot someone illegally entering this country. [A misdemeanor to possibly kill someone? A baby? A child? ED]

…. there’s more….

Make all the Senators who crafted this bill live in LA county for six months.

Someone needs to tell GWB that we would like to retain one branch of government… as much as he is trying to make it the last time a republican is trusted with the White House ever – we really would like to put another republican in there in 08 and he needs to work with us not against us. And then someone please ask republicans in the Senate if the NYT will ever generate votes for them. If any answer yes – deport them to Mexico.

… more later.

More later. I guess this person hasn’t vented enough. Since we are all armchair Congresscritters and presidents we talk a good game, but when it comes down to it how realistic is it to think you can get it all at one time?

Some of it sounds reasonable, but even though the New York Times is no friend of the Republicans, why say if you are endorsed by them to deport you? You can’t deport someone who has been born in this country. That statement doesn’t even make sense, but then we are on an issue that has everyone angry, and the fact the illegals marched with Mexican flags last year demanding “their” country back doesn’t help things.

Secure the borders first makes sense and I think that’s what the bill states.

Before we all get upset because our ice cream fell on the ground let’s wait for it to fall on the ground and act like adults on this issue.

I know the writers on this blog will.

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