Come Celebrate The Late State of the Union.

Oh, this is funny! Arianna is at her wicked best.

I'm up for a party on 1/31, are you?

Let's see, we have the economy growing fast enough to "employ every man and woman who seek(s) a job," freedom has marched all the hell the way around Iraq a couple times now, we've had the living BeJesus scared out of us any number of times in SOTU's since 2001, and we've been to Mars. What's it going to be this year?

Wait... We didn't get to Mars?

What about Bush's quote, "Much remains for us to explore and to learn?"

Well, There You Go.

As we used to say down on da sowt side. Take a look at this delicious little comment from the Soapblox.

If this is true, and someone wants to maintain the challenge to Zamora was not premeditated, then why did the objection take such a weird, circuitous route?

And if this is true, we have another Karl Rove. Pretending to be a Democrat.

If this is true, how high up the Laesch Ladder will this go? Can you say "tampering?"

Aw, Shucks.

Lookie! Somebody's stuck working on his extended holiday vacation.

Oh, sweet Jesus, I meant to say Christmas vacation.

One defibrillated heartbeat away from the Executive Branch. Two weeks away from a major stroke. No wonder he's being so quiet! Wonder if he's pounding down the sweets this week?

Oh, my.

(Hat tip to Karie)

Coach? Come on.

In high school, we would have called somebody dancing around this issue a "pussy."

That Hastert can't show the nuts to call Ney in and tell him he'd better damn well give up the chairmanship and lie down, is about all I need to confirm my suspicions that Hastert is either a big pussy, or that he's implicated in the Abramoff deals, as well.

Maybe it's both.

Making Me Sick.

I sure hope I don't have to spend the next couple of weeks ragging about dirty Democratic politics, but it's beginning to look pretty ugly and dirty this year.

Now it's looking like the name of the person who filed the objection to Zamora's petitions did not request the copies of them in the first place, that they were requested by someone else, possibly under an assumed or name that differs with voting records.

Here's the story on the rejected petitions in Kendall County. Once again, the Kendall County Record, Plano Record, Oswego Ledger-Sentinel is the only paper with the story. They do a pretty good job of it.

Over at the Soapblox, Clint Raulsten of John Laesch's campaign does a pretty good job of imitating the killer in a Columbo episode. "I didn't do it, but I have lots of details and theories, and we have the next steps planned."

There are a couple of remarkable things going on here. Feeley is the name of the man who objected to at least one of the petitions in Kendall. Bridget "Feeley," not Bridget "Stencel" is living at the address of the person who requested copies of Ruben Zamora's petitions for review. Mr. Stupec, who is listed as the person who filed the objection to the petitions, supposedly told the Laesch campaign after filing his objection he thinks a challenge in the primary would be a bad thing.

Bullshit.

I can already see a lot of people sitting this November out if this candyass stuff isn't sorted out right now.

Who's behind this? Or could it be these guys?

Gee. I just don't know.

Hard News To Swallow: More Petitions Challenged.

All challenged by a faction of "Progressives" in Kendall County. All the challenged petitions were candidates -- 11 in all -- for committeeman posts in precincts where the faction had its own candidates. I spoke with one of the people challenged, who said the notice of the hearing was delivered by a Kendall County Sheriff's deputy.

That's chickenshit, and the blame goes to the challengers, who chose to make themselves look like, well, assholes. Certified mail is also accepted.

What's more, people were given less than 48 hours notice in some cases, that they had to attend or forfeit their petition. Nearly all the petitions were forfeited because people didn't have adequate notice to attend and challenge their challengers, my source tells me.

In once case, a petitioner whose petition was cited for failure to include a disclosure form, was rebuffed by the chairman of the elections board after he claimed he was told at the time of filing that all of his papers were in order. That seems to be counter to Illinois Compiled Statutes.

Guess that's another way to keep the one-party rule in Kendall.

I should receive a fax of one of the official notices later today that might shed some light on all of this.

The story was in last week's Oswego Ledger-Sentinel, and will be posted today or tomorrow.

Here is more from the Ledger-Sentinel from the 2004 creation of the Progressive Council.

I don't know what you think, but I think this stinks. One of the petition challengers is a current officer of the regular Kendall County Democratic party. That's bullshit.

Zamora Petitions Challenged.

I've now heard several rumors about this challenge to Ruben Zamora, candidate for IL CD 14. None of my rumor-mongering friends avoid a connection to his primary opponent, John Laesch. And none are very damned happy about it, either.

I received this email from Ruben yesterday:

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Tommorrow we celebrate the birth of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He inspired me as a young man and still does today. I will forever be indebted to him and his legacy.

I hope you and your family take a moment to remember this great man.

Challenged!
Yes, I have been challenged. It did not come from Hastert's campaign... I have already been to Chicago twice and am expecting at least two more visits. I have retained the best lawyer and we will prevail. The challenge is premeditated, but I will not step aside, nor will I give up the fight.

I made a promise to the voters of this district and I intend to stay on the ballot and fulfill that promise, namely, to run an issues-oriented campaign. I have instructed my staff to stay on task and we will let the judicial system take care of the rest.
I am need of help, not only to help pay for my lawyer, but also to print campaign materials and run my "temporary" office.

I am planning to be in Chicago this week and will fill you in on the results. Despite rumors to the contrary, I and my campaign are up and running, and look forward to attending forums, debates, and other events in the district. If your group would like to meet me, please contact me ASAP because my schedule is filling up quickly.

Please be sure to attend:
1. Candidates Forum
January 16, 2006
7:00 - 9:00pm
Bartlett Community Center
701 South Bartlett Road - Bartlett

2. An Open Discussion with Senator Obama on his work in the U.S. Senate
Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2006 @ 10:30 a.m.
College of DuPage - McAninch Arts Center - mainstage
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137
Parking will be available in Lot O on College Road
(I may not be there)

3.Aurora Democratic Party, Monday January 23rd, 7:00 p.m. at the Mexican Driving School located at 73 S. LaSalle

4. Zamora "New Year Party" Fundraiser
January 28th, Sandwich, IL 6-9 PM
900 Church Street (Route 34)
???630-859-1030, 630-786-3037

I will update this update soon!
Continued thanks from my campaign to you.
Ruben

Doesn't look good to me. Zamora confirms the rumor that the challenge was planned. That's been consistent with what everyone has shared with me. Most believe that the challenge is not coming directly from Laesch, but at the direction of people who are working for him, in an effort to challenge party leaders throughout the district to escalate their rhetoric or step aside.

Laesch already comes off as kind of a smartass kid, so I'm not sure this is a good tactic.

If you can make one of the Zamora events, please do. It would be nice to hear from those who attend, either by email or in the comments. You can post anonymously, of course, if you like, although anonymous comments are probably not treated as seriously as those signed by the author.

When Is A Holiday No Holiday?

Ah, a nice relaxing weekend (sorry about the absence). Now back to work.

On the holiday.

I've always thought it was terrible that only small sections (mostly the financial sector) of the country give employees King's birthday off. What's the point of making it a Federal holiday? Remember the flap caused when the "folks" in Arizona wouldn't go along with it to even make it a Federal holiday?

Wish I was in the U.S. House. The people in charge there gave the good old boys another two weeks off this month, all in a failed attempt to keep an indicted Leader in the good old boys club.

Real Ethics Reform Under Hastert?

Any notion that real, meaningful ethics reform under Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert's so-called leadership must be considered as thin as the inside of one of Hastert's arteries.

David Dreier is going to be a good Team Player on this trick until enough members of the media are mouthing the words "Congressional Ethics Reform" in their stories. As with anything else with this crowd, they're hoping the more the words are spoken, the more the overwhelming majority of the Moron Contingent in our society will transform it, somehow, into truth.

If the Coach, anyone on his Team, or any of the Back-Benchers were serious about reform, it would have happened long ago.

As it is, McCain's own reform legislation became watered down to suit the interests of DeLay and his minions, Hastert included.

Accept none of the lies that are unfolding about Hastert taking hold of this debacle.

The anti-government zealots (Hastert included) have no control over this beast at this point. Their staffs are intentionally weak on policy matters so as to claim the need for lobbyists who can better explain issues that matter to you and me.

This Coach is about to enter his worst season in history, one that will tar his legacy and justly prevent his name from ever appearing with the name of truly great House Speakers who came before him.

Feel The Love.

I'm feeling pretty good today, having reached or neared two important milestones that keep me surging forward.

One big one is that I've cracked the top 10,000 blogs at the Truth Laid Bear, which makes me a proud Slimy Molusc in the ecosystem. Seems pretty insignificant (it is, I suppose, but I may be obsessive at times). 50 Miles Out started, of course, at somewhere around 40-something-thousand just a few months ago, so I'm actually quite full of pride to now be in the top quarter ranking.

Whatever that means. Honest to God, I don't know how they come up with the daily visits (?!) but 50 Miles Out also passed 7,000 visitors today by my Sitemeter counter, ramping up on the way to the first 10,000. I restrict viewing of that info, btw, because with so relatively few readers it does tend to show a bit too much information about visitors.

I honestly had no idea what to expect when I finally plunged into this. It's been a great release of many years of utter frustration at being manhandled by ignorant Cro-Magnons, Eminent Liars, and so forth.

I am very grateful for my regular readers and the many links I've been given by some other great bloggers here in the great Land of Lincoln. Thank you all so very much.

It's going to be an exciting and fun year for Liberalism and the great majority of us who live in the fullness of reality, so please keep coming back.

I also have a few more things coming right around the corner that should keep the makers of Nexium flush until well after the November elections.

Ticket Fixer, Speaker of the House.

Fixing a ticket is one thing. Government haters like Tom DeLay will tell you that candy-ass local politicians do it all the time.

Shielding someone with a problem from taking responsibility is another.

Further endangering the public -- when you hold a special role of protecting it -- is despicable.

Maybe that's not the case. Maybe all of this is just part of the status quo in Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert's America.

Robertson Apology Not a Surprise.

Newwww. Not at all. That's because he was being cut out of a $50 million deal to build a "Christian Heritage Theme Park" in Israel for those ugly comments about Ariel Sharon being "smote down" (or somesuch nonsense) because of God's anger at Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza.

What utter weird, nonsensical, fantastic, bullshit.

Actually, pretty much what we've expected from the loopy televangelist for many, many years now.

The "biblical heritage park," as I understand it, would be built on land that is thought to be the site near where Jesus Christ preached his gospel of love and salvation through forgiveness. It will include outdoor amphitheaters, a garden and nature park, a Holy Land exhibit, an auditorium and a media center.

I guess all Robertson's other financial dealings, the diamond mines and all, weren't enough.

Let's see... what was it that I remember from Bible school about Jesus and the money changers at the temple? Was it... ?

No. That's not it. Maybe more clues could be found here.

Separated At Birth?

Terry Jeffrey, noted "Conservative" Fathead and over-educated idiot, and Robert "Rusty" Stevens, better known as Larry Mondello for three seasons of "Leave it to Beaver," as well as his role as "Cletus" in the hilarious 1962 "My Three Sons" episode: "Bub Gets a Job."

You Decide.

Rice to Iran:

Let's get it on at the U.N.

Actually, I don't have a problem with that, except that crazy bastard Bolton will probably do his Condi Rice impression for the world. (Warning: watch your volume!)

In Other News...

The Federal Government is giving you your money back!

Then the IRS is sodomizing little people again instead of going after the large-scale tax schemers. Hundreds of thousands of refunds frozen -- Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson says two-thirds of those who complained were entitled to full refunds. Oops!

Note: I am not at all surprised.

Mileage ratings will now be more realistic

Well, more or less. Sort of. If you've car-shopped lately and then been disappointed by the mileage after the purchase, you're not alone. If you're buying a hybrid (which now I see is not that efficient in climates where temperatures reach extremes in either direction) the government estimate will now be at its absolute worst.

Note: When you check out Consumer Reports mileage estimates, look at what they got in their test. It's always shockingly different (lower, you think?) than the City/Hwy sticker. Believe those guys. I've never bought a car that got anything close to the median of City/Hwy. It's usually right around the City figure over the long-term.

Toyota is Kicking Detroit's Ass Again.

Ford is still on Mars.

The article lacks its print counterpart's accompanying photo of a Ford executive proudly standing in front of its new "Super Chief," a big fucking concept truck that's said to be the centerpiece of their plan to dominate market share. Brilliant.

Well, not really, but the car buffs are drooling over its interior. Which, you know, is the really important reason one buys a big God-Damned truck.

Oh, yes. There's this laughable bit:

Running on hydrogen, the supercharged V-10 engine provides up to 12 percent fuel economy improvement on an energy equivalent basis versus a non-supercharged gasoline V-10 – and nearly 500 miles per fill-up. In addition, when operating on hydrogen, the Tri-Flex V-10 generates 99 percent less CO2 emissions than when running on gasoline.

Note: I am not impressed by anthying increased by only 12 percent, unless it's my annual God-Damned salary. And CO2 emissions reductions? That's what you would expect from Hydrogen, stupids.

Boy, if we had some oversight in our government, and we really had the nerve to regulate the industry...

Who Is Meddling With Police Records?

When "J. Dennis" Hastert's youngest son was arrested in the Spring of 2001 and charged with DUI (among other charges), "The Coach" issued a statement that said the situation was "regrettable," but that Ethan still had his father's love and support.

As it should be. That is good fathering.

Recently, however, it has come to our attention that someone else close to the Speaker was involved in an accident and taken into custody, although not only was a statement not issued... the police report cannot be found published anywhere in the local media.

Now, that's curious. But is that all there is to it? Not at all.

A former local official tells me that while the words "strong smell of alcohol" appear on the report (either an incident report--which means nothing--or an official report which should have been available to the press with the rest of the blotter), no field test was done.

Now, that could be a mistake. Could be, except for the fact that someone put in a phone call to a close friend of the family who either advised the police or the family... or both. That would stand apart from police procedure, wouldn't it?

But who would that hurt, really. Come on! A victimless "crime?" Not exactly.

My source tells me that there was another vehicle involved, and at least one of the people in that vehicle was not at all happy about the situation. Which makes it all curiouser and curiouser... because no mention has been made in the local media.

Perhaps the young attorney (also close to the family -- how convenient!) who was dispatched to the police station on Christmas eve can shed some light on this.

A lot of conjecture, sure. But all of it is important, for it is not at all the incident that's important. There were plenty of other DUIs reported by Kendall County police around the holidays. This one was not. And it appears that only the person's name and the family's connections made the difference.

And like so many other cases you can think of, it isn't the crime or act that's important; it's the coverup.

Hastert's Rules Committee: Soviets.

Someone may want to maybe... open a history book (too bad there aren't any former history teachers in the House) and look at the symbol most prominently featured on the House Rules Committee's site.

Maybe it was intentional, considering the clamp Hastert's minions have on our Democracy.

Jesus! One would think a handsome, swishy and stylish guy like David Dreier would know better.

Maybe they ought to think again before they post the symbol of the Soviet military on their web pages.

Just What The Hell Is This?

I snapped this (no pun intended) from a Flash thing at whitehouse.gov.

Maybe my mind was on something else, but doesn't this look like the President is sitting approximately where the anus would be on this gargantuan spread eagle? Take a look at the original, perhaps.

You'll also be treated to the return of the Presidential Smirk in at least one of the staged photos with seniors (check out the upper right rail).

Paul Bremer Memoir on Fresh Air.

Take a listen.

If Paul "Jerry" Bremer (who was also "Doin' a Heck of a Job" at one point) was a GOP Congressman, I would have to create a class lower than "Waterboy" just for him.

Calling him "wishy-washy" would be a huge compliment. Listen to how he explains the missing $9 Billion (That's BILLION WITH A B... AND THAT'S YOUR MONEY). It's at 33:55 if you can't stand to listen to the whole thing.

Incredible. He doesn't know if it "went missing."

He doesn't know. Says we "may not have had proper accounting for it."

I guess that means we just fucking lost it, then. Well, in that case, that's OK.

Now, if I were starting a government, say, well, here or abroad, I think I would want to have a strong kind of... let's call it a legislative body, with a strong leader who could demand inquiries of such things on behalf of the people.

Would we call that a Democracy?

Hastert's Fragile House of Cards.

Tumbling now, in a news story near you.

From an editorial in the venerable Louisville Courier-Journal: Good Riddance.

Lyn Sweet had an interesting piece in the Sun-Times yesterday, making the remark that all the reform squabbling has been hard on Hastert.

To which I say, "Good!"

And now, from the pale, congenitally insane point of view: It's CBS News's fault.

The House GOP Hierarchy.

Obviously, you got yer "Coach."

Then, you have all yer Team Players. Those would be all the Gingrich-baptized bomb-throwers who've invaded legitimate public service and turned government against itself. The Hannity clones and the like who have fatted the Limbaugh-O'Reilly-Wall Street Journal Lie Machine. Those people.

It's a lot to keep up, so far. Still with me? Did that make sense?

The Team Players would be anyone who works for the Gingrich-DeLay-Hastert vision. Think J.D. Hayworth. LINK WARNING: HAYWORTH'S VOICE WILL BE EMITTED FROM YOUR COMPUTER.

Then you have your Back-Benchers. Like Little Snowflake. His hometown was named after his great-great grandfather (whose name was Benjamin Snowflake, I believe). How quaint.

That's not so bad. My own ancestors were also hard-working founders of their communities. But as you go through Snowflake's bio, you see he's never worked a day in his life. He is a child of privilege seeking power to pass on more privilege and power to the next Snowflake generation. He was still in his twenties when he was named Executive Director of the Goldwater Institute, for Christ's sake.

The Back-Bencher is just a Team Player in disguise. He wants the Republican vision of wealth and power, but he's willing to disguise it to get to the power position, where he'll someday be annointed Team Player. He's willing to carry the water, but don't confuse him with the Water Boys.

There were once plenty of Good Guys in the House GOP. But now the Good Guys have been turned into the Water Boys. Think Chris Shays. I really like Chris Shays; don't get me wrong. You can tell he's a model public servant by his home page. It's all about the constituent meetings. Right up front.

But he's been reduced from a position where he could actually do some good, to having to be a pain-in-the-ass for the Leadership (mainly), and used as an occasional Water Boy when he's told to do his duty for the Party.

So there you have it. Yer Coach; Yer Team; Yer Back-Benchers and Yer Water Boys.

That's the cartoonish House GOP Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert has created.

This is Just SO Adorable.

They talk like sailors! With their little white, starched hats and their short bellbottoms!

"Stay the course!" is a naval term, you know. Ronald Reagan made it popular, so it's natural that Republicans use it whenever possible. Reagan at least had a boat and enjoyed sailing, though. King George I was a Navy Ace, so it was natural that he'd use the term. But little George went AWOL... from the Texas Air National Guard. Guardsmen normally make fun of sailor talk.

So it's pretty funny (adorable, as I said) that little Jeff Snowflake is saying House Republicans "...need a new course."

I said the other day that these guys are doomed to fail. It's not going to change. Not with back-benchers like Snowflake trying to take over. Republicans will take years to reform their party.

By the way, read Little Snowflake's bio. It's just adorable!

It's also why I refer to him as a back-bencher.

I'll give you a better breakdown of the GOP (as it exists today) in a while.

How Can Anyone Believe Denny Hastert?

Reform must be an important issue for J. Dennis, because the staff used the word five times in four itty-bitty, short little paragraphs.

Wonder what reforms he's talking about?

Probably more great ideas, like having the ethics committee approve trips beforehand.

Nice try.

Monitor Reporter Abducted in Iraq.

Good God.

Jill Carroll, a brilliant young writer for the Christian Science Monitor has been reporting from Iraq since 2003.

She was abducted Saturday.

Hastert Attempting to Rig Leadership Vote.

This is as clear as can be. John Boehner is the choice of moderates? Don't count on it.

Boehner got his start with the Gingrich Gang in the early 90s. It's highly likely that Hastert encouraged him to run -- as a Moderate -- to split the vote. With the party split, it could signal Blunt's election to Leader. Enough Moderate Republicans would vote for Boehner, but it's likely more would prefer someone else.

As far as Boehner's credibility as a "clean" candidate for the job is concerned, let's not forget his ethics problems, dating back to his handing out tobacco lobby checks on the floor of the House while it was in session.

And then there's the Abramoff connection to his own PAC.

Blunt is Hastert's choice, to be sure. But the election of either Blunt or Boehner as Majority Leader means nothing will change.

Nothing.

Sick Dick.

It was nice to see CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta correct statements made about the Vice-Monster's trip to the hospital in the middle of the night.

The Cheney Monster's spokespeople had issued a statement in which his EKG was referred to as "normal" (which is a lie) and that the Vice-Monster had driven himself to the hospital. Right.

Dr. Gupta politely pointed out that Cheney's EKG "is unchanged," that he wears a pacemaker (let's stop calling it a portable defibrillator) because of his abnormal EKG. Also, Gupta mentioned that Cheney was likely driven to the hospital by his driver, and did not call for an ambulance.

See? These guys just can't stop lying to you.

The condition he went to the hospital is normally referred to as "congestive heart failure" (see "Heart Failure").

In addition to eating live babies and causing misery to those around him, Cheney smoked cigarettes until his first heart attack at age 37, in 1978.

US Auto Industry Execs: Dumb-fuck Central.

And what is it with these guys??!

I'd like to see at least the same efforts put into fuel efficiency and transformation of the industry to focus on easing the demand on oil.

Please.

Instead, what we get is an industry that spends millions to lobby Washington to keep CAFE standards miserably low.

Regulation, boy... I dunno.

Sadly, It's Another Very Bad Weekend.

The Pentagon has announced the loss of a Blackhawk carrying 12. Presumably, they were all our personnel.

In addition, five others were reported killed in various incidents this weekend.

Only a Matter of Time.

Yes, it's only a matter of time before a number of things begin to come unhinged for Hastert and his bully buddies.

You had to know this was only a moment away, too.

Yum.

Conason

Once again, it just doesn't get any better than Joe Conason.

If you didn't know, joeconason.com has been up for some weeks now. Go there and read!

If you don't have a subscription to salon.com, get it now!

And if you're not reading Conason on a regular basis, you are missing out on writing from one of the best commentators and investigative journalists of our time.

Bush: Erratic, Crazy, Proud.

Would you put this photo up on the web as part of your PR?

I don't think so.

Hastert: 108,000 Jobs=Roaring Economy.

What the fuck is with this guy?

I used to think Ron Bonjean wrote all this nonsense. Now I think Denny Hastert is as blind and stupid as he seems.

108,000 new jobs in a month is nothing more or less than anemic.

He's Doin' a Heck of a Job!

I Guess That's What You Call Pathological Liars.

Even now, DeLay himself and Hastert's Bonjean can't stop lying.

"During my time in Congress, I have always acted in an ethical manner within the rules of our body and the laws of our land. I am fully confident time will bear this out," DeLay wrote.

And then there's Bonjean, the former braintrust that bungled Lott's Leadership position with the way the Strom Thurmond comments were handled:

His spokesman, Ron Bonjean, said the petition drive "is consistent with the speaker's announcement ... that House Republicans would revisit this matter at the beginning of this year."

So that's why Denny postponed the opening session until the end of the month?

I'll Tell You What...

If I had an attorney in my family to bail me out, I'd be out whooping it up tonight.

Better yet, if I had a politically connected former government official watching my back all the time, I wouldn't worry about my family and friends being out there breaking the law or getting into various situations, either.

Man, oh, man.

Ah... The Smacking Sound of Republicans Eating Their Own.

Ronald Raygun is spinning like a trout lure.

Now, what did I tell you all the other day?

Enjoy!

President Rudy?

Right.

Just keep repeating this, sports fans.

Justice To Indict Half-Dozen Congressmen,Half-Dozen Or More Cong. Staff In Abramoff Scandal.

Perhaps more Executive Branch officials will be indicted, as well. In all, 60 will be investigated. All by the end of 2006.

So says former House Counsel, Stan Brand, predicting the scope of damage, on yesterday's Diane Rehm Show.

If you're not listening the Diane Rehm's show on 89.5 WNIJ (Northern Public Radio in DeKalb reaches quite far, I've found), you're missing some really great quality radio programming and stimulating discussion.

Why does 91.5 WBEZ hate the Diane Rehm Show?

OK. That went too far.

Freak Show.

People actually watch this.

You know, tune in to John Gibson and follow what he has to say.

What a country.

Hastert's Mighty Press Operation Silent.

I'd be quiet, too, if I didn't want people to notice things like this.

Chickenshits.

Wow. $70,000.

Golly. Goodness!

You could do an awful lot with $70,000. That's a lot of drink money.

That's a lot of bail money!

You could pay for a lot of fundraiser dinners with that!

You could probably pay for three letters to a Cabinet member with that.

Whew! Denny Hastert Takes a Dump.

This would be funny if it weren't so pathetic.

Really, boys. Just giving the money away and then saying, "Well, it was all legally donated to us," is just too fucking pathetic.

It's almost as bad as the old, "Some Democrats took money from him, too," defense.

I have not heard a single rebuke of super scum bastard Abramoff since all this blew up in GOP faces.

Come to think of it, though, why would Denny Hastert issue a rebuke of Jack "MoFo" Abramoff when he's about to start singing?

Hmmmm. There's a tasty new year party treat.

Horrible!

The news as I awoke this a.m. to rush off to the airport (to wait... and use the free wireless) was just horrible.

How could the message get so screwed up? How could anyone let such a horrible build-up go on for 3 hours?

Abramoff Deal Will Be Very Bad Deal For Denny.

Oh, yeah. Anyone out there thinking that Hastert won't be hurt because of his squeaky clean image should think again.

The image is clean because the details have been kept from you.

Illinoisans: Think "Paul Powell."

While I doubt there are shoeboxes full of cash to be found at the Plano estate, you're going to start seeing two things while Hastert's Do-Nothing (Good) Congress is out on "DeLayed" holiday this month.

First, you're going to start seeing rats who are not tainted by Abramoff getting together and talking about how to take their party back. That's bad for Hastert, who would undoubtedly be jettisoned in the maelstrom. I don't think those efforts will succeed, though.

Second, you and I have just started the first year of the worst years of Denny Hastert's political life. A good deal of his dirty back-stabbing political deals are going to start unraveling out of the grips of his handlers.

Watch, learn, enjoy!

Blogger Explosion.

Sorry for (obviously) being away from the throttle of this thing for too long not to notice the structure has become completely corrupted or something.

My lovely stock template is back, but I don't have the mental faculties to remake all the links tonight. I've been drinking, and on east coast time, since Sunday.

See you all tomorrow, and will write again soon...

Oh, yes. You all should be reading more on the story I've been alluding to. Very soon, I understand.

Twelve Alive!

CNN is now breaking the story that 12 miners have been found alive!

I am ecstatic, having known a number of fellows who've worked in the mines over the years. Have been watching this rather closely from the road.

Coal mining, if you didn't know, or just didn't believe it, is probably about the worst job you could imagine. I realize that almost half our electricity comes from coal, but sending men underground to work in the cold, in a shaft that could collapse or emit toxic levels of invisible gases... well, it's just dreadful to think about the risks.

Let's see if there's some more coverage of the company that owns this mine to see what standard operating procedures are, and how this happened.

Flaky Blogger.

What else is new. I've been down for quite some time. Sorry about the gap...

Is It Legal To Conceal Open Records?

That's a good question. The answer, according to the Illinois Attorney General's office, is "NO."

And why is this important? It seems there's been some hanky-panky with a routine situation right in Kendall County over the holidays. And the hanky-panky is a cover-up. In classic fashion, the incident is not the issue; it's the cover-up.

Sources tell me that an incident was not reported recently -- not because the local media withheld the story -- but because the incident is being kept under wraps.

And who is behind it? I won't give it up, but the last name begins with Hastert. At least two others with ties to the Speaker are also allegedly implicated in the scheme.

By the way, I hope everyone took my advice yesterday.

Happy New Year!

Ah... Time for a Drink.

Well, God Damn It. It's 5 o'clock somewhere, so let's get going. We're kicking off 2006 -- the year Democrats finally free our Democracy held-hostage -- in grand style!

The drinking theme is important two ways today. I'll share some thoughts with you on the subject later. Think unreported news item of the holiday past.

In the spirit of the holiday, however, I offer this suggestion for the rest of December 31.

These are absolutely lovely at any hour.

Please stay at home if you start drinking at noon (I will, because I am).

Please do not drink and drive.

Willy Nilly

I've seen posts from Willy Nilly in various places, but just added the "World of Willy Nilly" to my list of Illinois blogs.

I keep holding out hope for Peoria Pundit, Bill Dennis -- a fine journalist and a true idealist (we certainly need more of those) -- but Willy's sentiments on the LaHood gang more closely resemble mine.

Good stuff, Willy. Drop me an email sometime.

Are My Adoring Readers Still Out There?

I'm ready for my close-up...

So I might be a card-carrying Hastert-Hater, but I still honor Christmas, for Christ's sake.

I'm baaaaaaaack. I'm black. And I'm still pissed at this government masked as a democracy that we have running things.

More on the way.

Holy Cow.

Is Barron's calling for the impeachment of the president?

You take a week or two off during the hallowed holidays, and look what happens, for Christ's sake?!

Willful disregard of a law is potentially an impeachable offense.

Big Trouble for Big Jim.

Until today's Trib, I was pretty sure that only Mike Miner and I were the ones who saw this coming.

No one on that board should be able to claim ignorance of what was going on.

I think that's what that little fiduciary responsibility thing is all about.

I could be wrong.

Hastert: Torture, Secret Search/Seizure Good! (Grunt!)

Unbelievable.

This is a man who has no shame.

Who has the audacity to claim that as the Speaker, he holds to the time-honored position of not voting on measures in the House.

Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert hides behind a thin veil of gentlemanly comportment.

My Dad had a name for you.

The Death of Freedom.

House passes extension of so-called "Patriot Act" provisions.

Denny Hastert (Heart)s Illegal Search and Seizure.

Solemn Strikes the Funeral Chime,
Notes of our Departing Time,
As we journey here below
Through a pilgrimage of woe.

Denny Hastert: Accountable To No One.

Period. Got that, fella?

That's what you get when you call and ask the staff how much he paid for his 192-acre estate, if it was a lump sum cash payment, if the mortgage on the house was taken during the closing or after. Maybe to provide some cover for a guy who pretends he just fell off the cabbage truck, and who paid millions in cash for an estate, eh?

Maybe it was for a loan to a family member, hmm?

In any case, ask Hastert's multimillion dollar press organization a tough question and you get a shove back.

That's all Heavy D and the boyz give the NPAT survey, too.

Because it's none of your business.

Here's a Blog Topic for Denny Hastert.

Let's talk about torture, shall we?

It's a nice holiday topic that we can all appreciate right about now. I don't see that Hastert has mumbled anything original (or substantive) on the topic. Anywhere.

Let's not hype it up with Fristy talk about "taking out your family" (and by that, I do not mean out for fried chicken).

You can justify anything with that kind of rhetoric. After all, our Moon demonstrates a threat of falling from the sky and crashing into the earth, yet we don't advocate unloading the world's nuclear arsenal in an attempt to blow it out of the night sky.

So let's see some folksy talk on the DennyBlog about this purported "torture ban compromise" between McCain and Hadley.

Why won't Denny Hastert tell us what he thinks about torture?

Zippy the Pinhead at the Mall.

Hastert joins the Commerce Secretary for a "shopping trip" to tell everyone how great the economy is doing.

Because we need to keep hearing it. Over and over again. So we'll believe it.

Keep saying it. It becomes true!

Notice in the article, where Hastert and Gutierrez speak of their mutual support of the protracted, painful plan of re-inventing the American economy of the late-19th Century on the backs of lower-wage labor and the poor while lowering taxes for the wealthy, The Speaker mentions buying treats for the Dogs. Nothing for Mrs. H.

Maybe he's already gotten her presents from foreign nationals this year. Or maybe he got her something with the cash he took from them.

Remember 12-12.

Forget 9-11. 12-12 was possibly the worst day in American history.

Stop Living In Your 12-11 Mindset™.

We're Living in a 12-13 World®.

Because 12-12 Changed Everything™.

How very sad, but true.

Via the lovely and talented Carolyn Kay at makethemaccountable.com.

That's Not Funny, That's Sick.

As funny as Karl Rove Condoms seems, it's kind of gross to think of that image, or its association with sex... or touching it with my body parts...

Oh, my God.

One thing for sure: No Hastert Condoms or Sensenbrenner Condoms on the market.

Speaking of Bad...

My memory fails me. I'm positive that I saw polls a week or two ago that showed Odd Rod leading any GOP challenger. Haven't seen anything like that since when I've gone to document it.

What are you seeing, and what are your thoughts on a Blagojevich-Topinka race for ILGOV?

No Clemency for Tookie.

Anybody surprised? Not me. Schwarzenegger is racking up a number of really bad, politically-motivated decisions.

Good argument for the "Life/Hard Labor" sentences taking the place of the death penalty, no?

DOD Ships Dead Home as Commercial Cargo.

CNN just reported a heartbreaking story about how the military is shipping the cardboard caskets containing the remains of fallen U.S. soldiers in the cargo holds of commercial airliners.

Not military transport. Not military Honor Guards meeting the remains to honor war heroes.

Baggage handlers handle the cardboard boxes along with the other freight that's shipped in the hold.

They ride home with luggage. No flags.

Apparently, like hiring a company to serve (spoiled, in many cases) meals, it's more "cost-effective" this way.

Why doesn't Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert get on the phone, with all his "power and might" and give the DOD Hell about this?

Is it because he didn't serve, and got an interesting deferment to stay out of VietNam?

Is it because he wasn't aware of the horrible treatment our soldiers and their families are given in such circumstances?

Is it because he doesn't give a single God-Damn about it?

The Phoney "War on Christmas."

Sam Seder is eating alive Bob Knight of the American Family Somethingorother Institute on CNN.

What a ridiculous waste of time that could be spent covering actual news.

DennyBlog Fever: Catch It!

The latest installment to the Official Blog of the Worst House Speaker in U.S. History.

"It's Just a God-Damned Piece of Paper..."

More evidence that President George W. Bush is drinking again.

“I don’t give a goddamn,” Bush retorted. “I’m the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way.”

“Mr. President,” one aide in the meeting said. “There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution.”

“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,” Bush screamed back. “It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!”

Shocking.

Monkeys May Fly Out Butt, Rumsfeld Says.

Give me a fucking break. OK?

Do you need a fucking chronological list of the times this asshole has made this statement to see that it's all bullshit?

I actually prefer Midway Airport...

I like Midway better than O'Hare. Always have.

They have a better on-time percentage there, and basically, SWA is the best airline in the industry, as far as I'm concerned.

Who needs First Class? Just get me there. Alive. On time.

Southwest Airlines has a great record for doing that thousands of times each week with its customers.

One can only imagine what the people in the car at Central Avenue were thinking when the plane went through the fence.

I've driven there hundreds of times, I'm sure.

Oh. My. God.

I passed up this very flight to get home earlier today.

Sweet Jesus.

I (heart) Nancy Pelosi.

For using the privilege of her position to craft the "Hi-Ho, FUCK YOU, Denny Resolution."

Righteous, babe.

Josh Marshall says it looks like another raucous night in the House. I say watch for J. Dennis Hastert and his goons to write up a statement in which he shakes his fat little finger at Pelosi and cries foul again.

Nice coaching job, Denny.

Officials Say Air Marshals Did Right Thing

MIAMI (AP) - The White House said Thursday that two federal air marshals appeared to have acted properly when they shot and killed an agitated passenger who claimed to have a bomb in his backpack.

Well, no shit?

This is another diversionary tactic from the White House. It's like a Senate testimony by Rice, Rumsfeld, Tommy Thompson, or any of the other misanthropes who have learned to answer the question, "How long have you been taking bribes, M. Secretary?" with "Well, let me first say thank you to the Senator from Glibdom, who so graciously, yet arrogantly and forthrightly and heroically... blah, blah, blah..."

Enough. And enough with the stupid fucking questions from the press on the White House beat.

Let's get a couple of things straight, right now. First of all, Scott McClellan was the picture of so-called "PC" in making this incredible understatement. He chose his words very carefully, which considering how much he normally distorts reality in his "gaggles," isn't really saying too much. And if this isn't like running out the clock at a basketball game where your opponent is kicking your ever-loving ass in the 4th period, I don't know what it. Enough.

Second, I'm a bit concerned with the press referring to this poor, lost soul as "Roberto Baltazar" for some time before the correct name was used. That really says a lot about our media when they fuck up foreign names.

Finally, I travel quite a lot, and if what I heard today is true (and I flew on a day trip, btw, in and out of O'Hare today) I'm very happy to know the Air Marshalls were on the job and did what they did.

HRC's world:
Plane is full of people (could be in the air, could be on the ground).
Person runs up and down the aisle with hand in bag, claiming to have bomb.
Person is shot to death when refusing to take hand out of bag and lie down, as demanded repeatedly by Air Marshalls.
Person (insane, or not, medicated or not) is shot (to death or not) in an attempt to avert disaster.

Thank you, Air Marshalls.

Now, let's get back to the real news, like the story about Denny Hastert's Congress fucking the middle class a little bit closer into oblivion today.

Hosea 8:7

"For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up."

Don't mean to get all Bibled up on you all. Just the same, these God-damned liars will pay for this tax cut.

Denny Hastert's America

Cunningham's booty takes the perp walk.

Nice video. Via Talking Points Memo.

What a Difference a Day Makes.

Or the hair dye. Or something.

Is anyone deluded enought to think this woman is really going to be our next governor?

Before... After.

Or somesuch. Spooky.

Chicago Life.

If you don't get the Sunday NYT, there is a very nice piece on Bobby Kennedy, Jr. -- the cover story -- in the accompanying Chicago Life magazine.

The Sunday NYT package, btw, with the addition of Chicago Life, the bimonthly mag, has such depth, such great photography, is so packed full of Chicago advertising, it's no wonder the Chicago Tribune is laying people off again.

The loss of the storied City News is just a damned shame, especially since it's another example of a company that can't seem to manage well, then expects the employees to pay the price.

Denny's Long Christmas Vacation.

Wouldn't be great if you had a job where you only had to go to the office eight or so months out of the year?

Now, don't start a bitch about teachers. I'm talking about J. Dennis Hastert's latest under-handed move to bail out his mentor, Tom DeLay.

ThinkProgress reports today that Hastert and his goons have decided to open the first session of 2006 on January 31 to give DeLay a chance to move his case through the courts and possibly still be re-elected Majority Leader.

As we used to say when the opposing team ran out the clock in the last five minutes, that's a hell of a way to win a ballgame, coach.

Tell Hastert's lackeys that you won't allow him to shut down the nation's business for a month while there's work to be done. Unless Fristy follows Hastert, the Senate will be in session for two weeks before the House is back to work.

Give them a call right now.

I Have Made The Grade.

Karie over at K3 made a note of my modesty when I boasted of being listed as an "Essential Blog" (now a "Blog you should know") at The Inside Dope.

Just tonight I see that I've finally made it.

I am now listed in the blog roll of Rich Miller's CapitolFax blog.

Wow. I can die in my sleep. Happy.

Wow.

Hastert's Political Tree.

J. Dennis Hastert can even politicize a God-damned tree, it seems.

I missed this TOTN piece last week while on the road, but it explains that it was, in fact, the Architect of the Capitol who changed the name of the Capitol Christmas Tree to a "Holiday Tree." Because he's Jewish.

By leaving it open to conjecture, you see, Hastert and his press aides at the Washington Times made readers struggle to make the connection between, oh, let's see... the 1990s and the party in power at the time, and... oh... CLINTON DID IT!

They're so crafty! Crafty, but dirty. And just in time for the Holiday season.

But wait just a minute, there. You could make a lot of this. Is Hastert thumbing his nose at Jews? They killed Jesus, didn't they? Ouch!

One could righteously demand that the number of pillars supporting the face of the Capitol be changed to five, to represent the Five Pillars of Islam. Perhaps we should light a National Menorah in front of the Capitol Reflecting Pool.

Diwali is already past, but its celebration, along with its symbolism, may cause quite a stir in D.C., Heavy D. Not among Hindus, however.

What about an annual National Memorial to the Native Americans? Oh, please! Who am I kidding?!

Not that we would all appreciate a Christmas tree that's planted on the Capitol grounds and living and growing. Oh, no. We wouldn't want to be tree huggers, now would we?

No, sir. J. Dennis Hastert can make even a Christmas tree into an ugly political symbol for the party he represents.

Like I Said This Morning...

Apple, NBC make iPod deal.

Just a few years ago, Apple's market capital was only about $6 billion, the laughingstock of the technology sector.

Michael Dell said they should give the stockholders their money back and call it a day.

Steve Jobs has ripened Apple into a $62.4 billion company, as of close of the market today.

Dell, on the other hand, innovates nothing and is worth $74.5 billion.

Hark! The Speaker Mumbles!

Hastert releases a statement on the resignation of Duke Cunningham, who tearfully resigned in disgrace more than a week ago, after pleading guilty to taking more than $2.4 million in bribes from Defense contractors, charges which are part of an ongoing investigation.

“Congressman Duke Cunningham’s letter of resignation will be formally submitted to the House of Representatives when it convenes today. Congressman Cunningham is a war hero whose service to defending America had built a deep respect for him on Capitol Hill. However, the public trust he has built through his military and congressional career has been violated. The behavior by Congressman Cunningham is unacceptable. No one is above the law. He will find that his actions will have serious consequences.”

Of course, when you're the Master of the Obvious, as J. Dennis is, you can get away with something like this. It just gets lost in the blur of excrement that is released in fits and starts from your multi-million-dollar "press operation."
That's all there is, by the way, if you're too sick of Heavy D's prosaic words to follow the link. That's really it! And it's amazingly a lot like the talking points the president carefully repeated last Wednesday in his only public remarks about Cunningham:

"The idea of a congressman taking money is outrageous," the president said. "And Congressman Cunningham is going to realize that he has broken the law and is going to pay a serious price, which he should."

A couple things sort of jump out of the screen at you.

First, it's another monolithic blunder, courtesy of Hilary Swank, er Ken Mehlman, who proves again that the only thing he's really good at (I hear, anyway) is faxing shit out to people in massive doses. The fact that Cunningham was not counseled by Republican leaders to resign his seat before entering his guilty plea and breaking down on-camera is a mark that will be on J. Dennis Hastert and his cronies forever. And they have no way to come out a week later and claim they were involved in his plea. None at all.

Second thing is Hastert found it more compelling to have the "press operation" paint a bull's eye on Howard Dean today before releasing the Cunningham statement.

Once again, if you didn't think that J. Dennis Hastert was the ugly political animal he has revealed in all of these shenannigans, you simply were not paying attention. With J. Dennis, it's all about politics all the time. And time is just about up. Voters in IL CD-14 will not let down the 20-year veteran of phoney, ugly political gaming (a longtime advocate of term limits prior to 1998), but voters across the country have his number.

The Next Big Media Failure.

Last night, as blogspot was in its final throes, I was polishing off a masterpiece on what I see as the dawning of the next great misstep by the media/technology synthesis project. When blogspot finally died, so did my piece.

Yesterday, as CNN announced its newest pay-per-view service, CNN(Pipeline), it occurred to me this was simply brilliant. More, faster, better! Content! Timeliness!

As a heavy media user on my mobile phone during travel, I am sick and tired of the lag time in the media in getting the feeds to these services. I pay a hefty fee for that every month, after all.

I was right! It's brilliant! Except for one thing: It's none of that.

Which makes Pipeline the next media failure in progress. Hints to CNN: I'm not going to pay your corporate parent, Time-Warner, another nickel for content that I already pay for on my TV. Not for something like news. Another thing you guys don't get is that just as the meaty content must transform, so must the sweets that fatten your middles. More on that in the jump.

Like NBC and CBS, which are tip-toeing around iTunes by wrapping themselves up in some different, higher priced scheme with the satellite and cable providers ($2.99 a download?) It's not too late for these guys to cover their recent misstep, so you see, hope springs eternal, even in the technology age.

The first thing the greedy media doesn't get is price point. Just as Steve Jobs told recording industry execs recently when they announced they were nearing the time for a price increase for downloads: 99 cents is where it's at.

The flip-side of that, of course, is wondering what Edgar Bronfman is going to look like with 100 million iPods shoved up his loathsome, spotty behind.

The iPod Family is a complete commentary on where media and technology need to come together. Small, medium, large. All sexy. All with a specific purpose.

News: We hunger for more, not less. Stop shortening the stories, and maybe we'll tune back in to the network. Really. Give us the meat. Give us an hour network news broadcast. Give us the little shorty clips for the iPod. Where Pipeline fails is in its belief that these things can be "rented" for $3 a month or at the great price of $25 a year.

Fuck you, CNN. And while we're at it, here's a big old Fuck You for MSNBC for being awful at what you do, too. And for never living up to the promise of transforming the mediascape. A bit.

We already pay our service providers big money to bring you into our homes. Don't even think about charging us again. You're not that good.

And stop running stories that ask what's wrong with our kids these days. You know what the problem is. Your corporate parents should be ashamed.

Entertainment: Give us something good. Something that's occasionally good will suffice at this point. How I long for black and white re-runs on cable of some of the filmed soundstage productions that trumpeted television's beginnings.

Here's the short and sweet on television entertainment.

One: There's only so many shows that can make us laugh hard enough to keep tuning in for the 10 years you want to run these shows and wring the life out of the stars in exchange for the bazillions you'll pay them to keep the warm gravy flowing. Enough! Jim Belushi is pretty funny. Not every week.

Two: Stop hiring cute little vixens who make men pant and masturbate in the car on the way to work. As a woman, I would want to see Britney Spears's little boobies bounce or Janet Jackson's nipple ring about as much as I would want to see a lion eating Brian Williams. Well, bad analogy, maybe. That could actually be pretty good.

And I don't want kids to see any of that. Tell me to change the channel or turn it off? Oh, how original. The age of increasing shocking and sexier television has got to plateau at some point. After all, I love sex. But how many fucking orgasms does it take in one night before I just drop dead? And who's happy then?

Stop creating a problem, then wringing your hands over it, or saying that that's what we want. Collectively, we're sick of it.

Advertising: This is the biggie. Millions are reaped by leasing channels overnight to infomercial peddlers. And that's OK. Want to fund some of this stuff we want for free? Make the ads shorter. Nano, baby.

The future of broadcast advertising will herald an age where the 30-second spot seems like an infomercial. Yes, sometimes I skip the beginning of the radio show because the news plays for five minutes, but stop with the 3-6 minute commercial breaks. We want to love sponsors again. The way we'll do that is when we hear that they're paying good money to have a couple or no commercial breaks during the airing of a great story. Think "Saving Private Ryan."

Five-second sponsor ads can be very creative, and could start a revolution in broadcast advertising everyone would welcome.

The Hastert Link to Cunningham Bribes

Here's the first solid link that's likely to suck The Speaker closer to the Cunningham case's "Co-Conspirator No.1."

Showing His Colors Again.

Why is Denny Hastert saying nothing in response to the 9/11 Commission's Report Card? Hit a nerve, Heavy D?

I love this part:

"This week, Congress will vote to extend tax relief that creates jobs. If tax relief is allowed to expire, a family of four making $60,000 today will see its Federal income taxes eventually go up by more than 50 percent. Hiking taxes on America's families and small businesses would destroy jobs. The worst thing that we can do at this time of the year is play Scrooge and hike taxes on American families like some Democrats are suggesting."

The first statement is an outright lie.

The second sentence is a mischaracterization (typical Hastert-speak, when he's not saying a lot without saying anything at all).

The last sentence would be true if it were, well, reality.

No Democrat is suggesting increasing taxes on "American families."

No Democrat is suggesting that taxes should increase on any family of four earning $60,000.

What Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert says elsewhere in the prepared statement is that Congress is prepared to make permanent the tax cuts for the rich that justify the means for an ugly Fristy-Hastert pact to slash meaningful social programs.

And all before Christmas.

Scrooge.

Hastert Silent.

In the wake of a polite, but overdue, ass-whipping by the 9/11 Commission Chairmen, Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert is silent.

As usual.

The silence is quite telling. This is no leader, a man who (either) ignores (or is left speechless by) such criticism over our national security.

The Way Out of Iraq.

Joe Conason on what seems to be the only reasonable way out of the disaster Congress and George W. Bush have given us.

Sweet Home Chicago.

Well, Sweet Coooooold Home Chicago, I hear. And, of course, I've got a ways to drive once I land there later. Fifty miles out of the Loop, really. That's the place I love.

It's been right around freezing here at night, but 50s-60s throughout the day all week, so I'll miss the weather here.

I've been in Sin City all week, so apologies to the regulars who have been emailing and checking in frequently. Thanks so much, by the way. I'm about to duck into a plane for the flight home, but I've got plenty to bring you later and then over the weekend.

That is, if I haven't killed too many brain cells this week.

Hastert's Oversight: A Case Study.

The current closed-door session in the Senate is over a perfect example of the kind of oversight Denny Hastert and his minions in the House have given us.

The Pentagon is paying Ahmad Chalabi's newspaper to write anonymous "news stories" favorable to the U.S. point of view.

Nice Coaching job, Denny.

More here, here and here.

Denny Hastert's America

Wages still aren't keeping pace with inflation; workers working fewer hours; Fed rate increases almost assured.

Yeah, looks like the economy is "roaring," alright. Roaring if you're Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert, living on a wooded estate with a guaranteed pension of over $250,000 a year.

Hastert: A Master of the Obvious

Wow. This is really deep stuff. Once again, Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert releases a statement to react to someone else's statement. (That's leadership, you know)

How much courage and brains do you need to muster to roll out this kind of crap:

“We must never forget the contributions of Rosa Parks. She sparked a new racial consciousness in America and led this nation away from its segregationist history. Today, we commit Rosa Parks and her historic contributions to our country’s eternal memory by making it law that her statue will be placed in the heart of our country.”

Once again, Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert employs just enough effort to get one statement out in the press today, then goes back to the donut trough.

Some "Coach." Yesterday it was a proclamation on the "Christmas tree." Today, it's paying homage to a hero of our time and trying to trump the hero in the process.

Exclusive: Hastert Gets Cold Shoulder.

At Home.

That's right. Insiders tell me that Mrs. Speaker has had it with the "one year" job J. Dennis told her he was committed to in 1998. One year was followed by one more year...

Then one more year. Then another.

Finally, Jean Hastert has made her agenda her own when J. Dennis comes home for the weekend. When he's home, she's busy.

"It's gotten so bad," one tells me, "that I doubt they even (brush elbows) anymore."

NYT (Heart)s Hastert's Flip Flop.

And Media Matters called them on it.

Hastert Polishes Up His Ugly Side.

Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert fires a hand grenade at Nancy Pelosi, and dusts off the old "flip flop" line for old time's sake.

Of course, every statement and characterization in the last paragraph is either a lie or a distortion.

At least he didn't "hail" the Bush speech, which was a real sucker.

Why does Denny "J. Dennis" Hastert have to lie so much to prop up this president and his war?

Ignoring the Truth About Our Economy.

While J. Dennis Hastert's mouthpieces are busily weaving and concocting another set of sophomoric countdowns for the Speaker's website, here is some good information to look over on what's really going on with the jobs numbers.

This is a timely read, since we're about to get snookered into another "hailing" of wonderful jobs number for November. Economists are predicting (guessing) that Friday's jobs numbers will reveal that a whopping 200,000 jobs were created in November.

Even if it's true, as Sperling points out, we're a long way from scratch under these nimrods.

Another note: look at the details. Where the jobs are created (like in our exploding government payrolls) and the quality of jobs, matters more than the actual numbers at this point.

Onward! Into 1990's wages!

Bush-Hastert's Broken Record.

How many fucking times do we have to listen to the same speech? Over and over again, we are told about a "major new strategy," or a "major speech on the war on terra," and then the president is given free live coverage for the length of his campaign stop.

What is new? I keep waiting for the feed from speaker.house.gov to ring up the alarms that Hastert is "hailing" something else now... Remember how he "hailed" those "impressive" job figures in October (...that were 100,000 short of scratch)? And never mind that less than half of those jobs don't suck.

Great quote just came over the wire from Bush's speech:

``They're helping to turn the tide in the struggle in freedom's
favor,'' the president said.

What about "tightenin' the net?"

"We got a shdradigee fer victeree."

Right.

Hastert Speaks Out About Cunningham.

***EXCLUSIVE *** BREAKING ***
Here is the sound file of Hastert's comments today regarding the resignation of Randy Cunningham (R-Shame) (QuickTime required).

For the Speaker of the House to act as though he's, uh, "out of the loop" and say nothing about this, actually says a lot about what's going on in Washington today.

Cunningham was, after all, hand-picked by J. Dennis Hastert for a spot on the Permanent Select Committe on Intelligence.

You'd think Hastert would want to explain why he replaced seniority and experience with cronyism as the qualification for committee appointments.

Instead of explaining his boss's apparent disappearance at a critical time, Ron Bonjean today used his latest tool, "The Speaker's Journal," to post a link to the Washington Times story about Hastert's request to the President to change the name of the White House "Holiday Tree" back to the more familiar "Christmas Tree."

Incredible. But then again, Bonjean is the guy who served Trent Lott so well after the former Senate Majority Leader's comments supporting Strom Thurmond "back in the old days."

Cashing in on Iraq.

Parade magazine has the reputation of being the Paul Harvey section of the Sunday newspaper across the country.

Just the same, I give them credit for writing about Bush Administration veterans who are cashing in on their Iraq experience. While the full article (link) goes up December 5 (they apparently pub these a week after print), they have posted a chart with military pay.

Contrast the info in the chart with these tidbits offered in the brief article:
Disgraced former Pentagon official Paul Wolfowitz is now president of the World Bank, at a (tax-free) annual salary of $300,000, and receives other super perks (such as a mortgage allowance), presumably based on his Bush administration experience.
Disgraced former CIA Director George Tenet collected $4 million on a book deal he negotiated.
Gen. Tommy Franks (USA, Ret.) negotiated a $5 million fee for his memoirs.
"Jerry" Bremer receives $40,000 per speaking engagement (don't forget he resigned and left the country moments after the breathless "Iraq is Sovereign" note Condi passed to GW Bush).

Nothing is said or done about these things on Capitol Hill.

Nothing.

But in July, J. Dennis Hastert couldn't wait to unveil his great idea to have the House Ethics Committee pre-approve all Congressional travel in a feeble attempt to mute the public outcry over his boss's (and perhaps his own) despicable behavior.

Remember when that was going to be a "top priority?"

Fortunately (because it was another hare-brained Hastert scheme) it went nowhere.

Americans: Hastert Worse Than Gingrich.

This is no surprise.

During the mid-term election cycle, when Gingrich's number was nearly up, only 24% of those polled said they would vote for someone who supported his position.

Today, Denny Hastert has a whopping 22% of the American public on his side.

Sixty-Eight Percent of those polled this month said the country has "pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track."

Keep plugging away, Coach! There's a pony down in that pile of manure somewhere!

Hastert Was Against Murtha Before He Was For Him.

Flippity, flip, flip... Flop.

I have been saying since before I met him that Denny Hastert is a lying, double-dealing backstabbing SOB who lies out of both sides of his mouth.

I'll take the opportunity some other time to pick apart all the lies and distortions in these posts "from Denny."

The question is, why is Denny Hastert such a flip-flopper?

And what kind of political favor was called in that Denny Hastert had to hire a horrible "spokesman" like Ron Bonjean?

I mean, Sweet Jesus driving a gravy train...

Zamora Needs Your Help

While I'm not advocating for either Democratic candidate in the IL CD14 race at this point, I believe everyone who has spent the time to put their political position to paper and has the "fire in the belly" to serve the public -- not the easiest job in the world -- should at least have a chance to have their name on the primary ballot.

I've received this email from Ruben Zamora over the holiday weekend:

With a little under 3 weeks left to get petition
signatures, I am pushing to get my 2,000 signatures!

I still need help. I will be going out the
23rd(today-10 am-4pm (Aurora area),
25th-4:30 am (Galena Blvd. Walmart, Aurora),
26th and 27th-10 am-6 pm (Aurora area,)
and of course the next two weeks in Elgin, Dekalb, and
others (early am-train stations, afternoon-homes.)
I am having a fundraiser on Dec. 17th (stay tuned).
If you can help, even for just a few hours, or if I
can mail you a petition, please contact me.
xxx-xxx-xxxx (cell)
xxx-xxx-xxxx (home, leave message)
Thank you.
Ruben K. Zamora

Of course, you can also contact the campaign directly at the website.

Hastert Sinks to New Low.

I think this may even be lower than Newtie's public ratings.

Couldn't be happening to a nicer guy.

Link from Ruben Zamora. Thanks, Ruben.

PS: If anyone would like to work for Ruben on the press/communications side, he sure could use it. His campaign has all the looks of a one-man operation right now. This should not be happening in the district that includes Chicago's largest suburb.

Is Denny Hastert Done?

You have likely heard that Denny Hastert is either thinking about, or is definitely, retiring from his seat in 2008. That unfounded (if you ask one of his staffers) rumor has persisted since GW Bush's re-election last November.

But insiders have told me that there is a serious question about his ability to serve beyond his present term. And that serious question is now being asked by Mrs. Hastert, who has no interest in seeing her husband tarred by the ongoing litany of scandals that continue to erupt among his GOP allies.

Watch this space for more.