Arizona Gets Teh Big Ugly

Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona

 

 

 

 

 

It would appear the "illegal alien" hysteria that Republicans whipped up to scare all them scary brown people away from the polls is having dubious effects, at best. Raw Story tells us that the State of Arizona has already incurred costs of close to half a million dollars defending the deeply flawed legislation that is at the heart of this battle, SB 1070. 

Apparently, one of the effects has been to reveal Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's true nature. We don't often pick on people for their looks here at La Casa de Los Gatos. We much prefer picking on their character flaws. But every now and then one comes along that just leaves us flapdoodled.

I mean, lookit, this lady has money. She's not some poor slob who works two jobs fourteen hours a day to put food on the table. And she obviously spends a good bit of that money on her appearance. I mean, the dye job alone is keeping a good part of the chemical and fashion industries employed, heah!

So, what, Jan, did the plastic surgeon want to charge by the yard to get rid of those dreadful frown lines? Perhaps if you worked on your inside a bit, you know, took time to see the good and beautiful around you, those dreadful lines would fade. After all, wrinkles should, you know, convey character. And yours are not conveying anything nice about you at all.

She's not a nice person, Jan Brewer. She lies about all kinds of stuff, and most of what comes out of her mouth is hateful and false.

Looks like it's catching up with her, though. She's off her game, and as the cost of defending this ridiculous piece of legislation goes up, up, up, she's stumbling and stammering and falling apart. Couldn't happen to a more deserving person.

Stumble It!

Boycott Arizona!

ICHC

By now, the only people who haven't heard of SB 1070, Arizona's Immigration Bill, are the acephalous. Because, you know, this feckin' thing has been teh Talking Point of every rightwing nutjob windbag since the first of them crawled back into the slime from which the rest of us fled.

While we would never incinerate that you, dear visitor, might be one of the impaired, we will, nevertheless, post a link to that foul piece of legislation, just so you can cast your seasoned and cynical eyeball over it.

One of the major talking points bandied about by the aforementioned RWNJs (Right-Wing Nut Jobs, for those of you who were not paying attention) is that the Arizona legislation is Teh Good and Totally Not Stinky Because It's Exactly Teh Same as Teh Nanny-Nanny-Boo-Boo Federal Legislation, So Suck It Lib H8ers.

Yeah, right. Here for your perusal is the Federal legislation, also known as the Immigration and Nationality Act, Title 8 of the U.S.C.

While the Arizona law refers extensively to Federal law, it goes way beyond what Federal law envisioned as appropriate in criminalizing the presence of undocumented migrant workers.

And it is a great danger to the civil liberties of American citizens and especially to American taxpayers.

For example, Title II, Chapter 7, Article 8 G states:

G. A PERSON WHO IS A LEGAL RESIDENT OF THIS STATE MAY BRING AN ACTION
37 IN SUPERIOR COURT TO CHALLENGE ANY OFFICIAL OR AGENCY OF THIS STATE OR A
38 COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE THAT ADOPTS
39 OR IMPLEMENTS A POLICY OR PRACTICE THAT LIMITS OR RESTRICTS THE ENFORCEMENT
40 OF FEDERAL IMMIGRATION LAWS TO LESS THAN THE FULL EXTENT PERMITTED BY FEDERAL
41 LAW. IF THERE IS A JUDICIAL FINDING THAT AN ENTITY HAS VIOLATED THIS
42 SECTION, THE COURT SHALL ORDER THAT THE ENTITY PAY A CIVIL PENALTY OF NOT
43 LESS THAN ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS AND NOT MORE THAN FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR
44 EACH DAY THAT THE POLICY HAS REMAINED IN EFFECT AFTER THE FILING OF AN ACTION
45 PURSUANT TO THIS SUBSECTION.

Pardon the formattage, it's from a PDF and this is just what Blogger does to it.

What does this section do? It allows any fucking nutbag who is a citizen *or resident* of Arizona to sue any police officer and any police department if they think such officer/department is not enforcing this law stringently enough.

I don't recall Federal law containing any such provision. Note that since police departments are funded by taxpayers, it is the taxpayers who must pay all costs associated with such lawsuits. Now why would the legislators of Arizona want to screw the citizens because they get a woody from h8n' on "teh illegalz"?

And how many cities are so wealthy that they can afford to cough up between $1K and $5K per day, if successfully sued?

It also permits the same mentally deficient RWNJs to sue any city or other state-level entity that adopts a "sanctuary" policy. Which, frankly, sucks. But what the abovementioned language means for the law enforcement personnel who have to put it into practice in the streets is that if you call the cops because, oh, I dunno, you're being raped or murdered? And someone else calls reporting a suspected "illegal alien"? You're shit outa luck, because the PD won't get sued if it doesn't immediately show up to save your injured ass. It will fershure get sued if some litigious asshole made the "illegal alien" call and found out that the police failed to respond or did not respond swiftly enough.

Arizona, you sure you want this shitty law?

And that's just the peripheral stuff.

Here's the real reason why this law seriously sucks hind end:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

This, boyz'ngurlz, is the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. It is part of what is called The Bill of Rights.

For decades now, the courts have chipped away at various provisions of the Bill of Rights, but none so brutally and continually as the Fourth Amendment. See, the Fourth Amendment prevents the government from violating its citizens rights to a great degree. It says "... no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause, ..." et cetera. This means the cops can't haul your ass to jail for looking, or dressing, or even acting funny without swearing under oath that they have a good reason to believe that you're a dangerous criminal. They can't bust down your door, they can't enter your home, they can't stop you when you walk down the street, they can't do shit to you without that little piece of paper signed by a judge and sworn to under oath. So if the cops lie to get that little piece of paper, they're guilty of perjury and you have the right to sue their asses off.

However, this law amends Section 13-3883 of the Arizona Revised Statutes to permit the police to arrest without a warrant, not just for dangerous felonies and suspected terrorism, which we would probably all agree is justified by the demands of public safety, but also for mere misdemeanors. Under this law, the cops can come into your house and demand to see everyone's papers if there's too many people in your house, or you're violating some noise ordinance, or there's a car on blocks in your yard.

The po-pos can impound your vehicle if you give someone a ride without inquiring for evidence of their immigration status. Isn't that nice? Give your elderly neighbour a ride to church? Bam! Go to jail, do not collect, etc. Give your friend's kids a ride home from school? Tough shit for you if they were born someplace else and are "undocumented." Wifey in the car had a little nip of alcohol? If she's under 21, off you go to teh jailhouse. What's even worse, the law specifies that your insurance company has no duty to pay any charges that you might rack up during this period. What, not even while you're pleading your innocence and wrongful arrest through the courts? Nice.

This law also shifts the burden of proof regarding entrapment charges to the defendant. If the cops entrap you into doing something illegal (we all know the honourable po-pos would never do that, right?), this law says it is up to you the citizen to prove that they entrapped you. As a rule, the burden of proof has been on the prosecution because the Government has vast resources and power, compared to the average citizen. It is less costly for the Government to prove that it has clean hands than for you, joe citizen, to prove that it does not.

Nowhere in the Constitution or in Title 8 of the USC does it say that an American citizen must carry identification on their person at all times. But SB 1070, the Aryanzona law (as it's popularly known among the bright sparks of the InnerTubes) says that if the cops stop your ass for, I dunno, crossing against a light? Walking your dog off leash? Parking in the wrong zone? — they can ask you for ID, and if you don't have any, it's off to the hoosegow with you, buddy.

Don't take my word for it. Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, AZ, has done this several times. In his opinion, it's totally cool to throw all the brown people in jail and release the US citizens later. Does this sound like the Fourth Amendment is being respected and obeyed at all in Aryanzona?

And when did AZ flatfoots become experts in determining the ethnicity of a brown person, let alone their possible immigration status? Because, you know, stuff like this happens all the time.

By now you're probably sick of hearing about this. I'm certainly sick of writing about it. In honour of the humongous fucking headache this issue has given me, I'd like to leave you with this very enjoyable video clip.



And for the last word, we turn to the Native inhabitants of this land:



We'll be blogging on this issue regularly. Stay tuned.

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Politics: Freedom of Speech Is Important

... ONLY if we're the ones practicing it.

Photo from Rick Kaempfer's fine blog

Is anybody surprised? Teabaggers are only pro-free speech when it's their free speech at stake.

Your free speech? Hey, fuck you very much. And fuck your free speech too. In fact, if we don't like what you're saying, we reserve the right to call your employer and make such a fuss that they fire you.

The Huffington Post is reporting that firing was the fate of the unfortunate D.C. Douglas, an actor who does voice-overs for Geico. Well, did. Thanks to his call to the FreeDUMBWorks astroturf pseudo-TP (that's Tea Party for those who had their minds someplace grubbier), Mr. Douglas has been fired by Geico.

Well, Geico, you could — and should — have handled this much better. I know I won't be doing business with you ever again if I can avoid it.

If you feel the same way about this ridiculous foofaraw, please feel free to call Freedom works (yeah, right, for whom?) toll-free at 1.888.564.6273.



Update: Mr. Douglas is requesting that people do NOT contact Geico, with whom he says he has an amicable relationship. Therefore, I am removing the contact information for them. Even if I still think they could have handled this better.

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Politics: The Constitution

ICHC

Until recently, we at La Casa de Los Gatos were of the opinion that only the Idiot Son, our Chimperor from 2001 through 2008, had the temerity to refer to the document on which this nation was founded as "a goddamn piece of paper."

But thanks to literacy and the joy of reading, we find that Georgie Porgie was not the first, probably will not be the last, and is almost certainly not the only one among us who has equated this noble document with bumwad.

Which is why we should fund education, and resist the dumbing-down of the nation to which the oligarchs and corporatists among us seem committed.

Here, for your enjoyment, or at least edification, a quote:

"[...] if it is a question of the safety of the country ... the Constitution is just a scrap of paper to me."

*attributed to Asst. Sec. of War James McCloy, as quoted in Lest We Forget: The Japanese and America's Wartime Mistake, Joyce E. Williams and Alice M. Coleman

The issue in question? The forced internment of Japanese (Issei) and Japanese-American (Nisei) civilians in specially built concentration camps, in blatant disregard of Constitutional protections. Since the vast majority of those interned were guilty of nothing more than being of a different race than the majority of Americans at the time, the manifest injustice of their imprisonment required a contempt for the founding document of this country that is still difficult to believe.

Of course, one has to ask oneself exactly what people mean by "the country." Throughout history, a "country" has been variously defined as that geographical location that has been successfully held by one or more strong men (rarely, women), usually related. More recently, countries have been political entities, comprising people of different ethnicities who make common cause for their mutual protection and success. This particular country can be said to comprise those who regard this particular Constitution as a contract between themselves and their fellow citizens. That being the case, treating the Constitution as "a goddamned piece of paper" bears all the logic and clarity of thought of the statement "We had to destroy the village in order to save it."

This type of information — the knowledge that the people who have power over us believe that we have no rights whatsoever — needs to be disseminated far and wide. People need to know that those who climb the ladders of power see the powerless as disposable stepping-stones to that power.

Today, we have a President who believes in listening to his fellow-citizens. This man was democratically elected in free and fair elections by nearly two-thirds of his countrymen. We also have a proportion of certifiable loons talking about bloody and violent revolution to wrest power away from our elected leader. Although they are in the minority they want to violently overcome the will of the majority.

While we agree with Jefferson that the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants, we don't appreciate idiots like William Kostric conflating the fairly elected and chosen President of two-thirds of his nation with tyrants like, say, Dim Son. Where was this self-proclaimed "hero" and "patriot" as Bush and his cohorts systemically looted the nation and broke its infrastructure? Cowering under his bed? Peeing his pants for fear of the pigment-endowed and hirsute perpetrators of Terra?

Mr. Kostric, since you're fond of quotations, consider these, if you will:

"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."
-- Samuel Johnson (Boswell's Life of Johnson)

When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.
-- Jonathan Swift

*Note: James McCloy testified in 1981 before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians that he did not make this statement.

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The Police State

Jesus fucking J.H. Christ and his Black brother Harry. Is this what it's come to? Body-slamming frail, elderly grannies with dementia in the interests of "protecting and serving?"

Who the fuck, just who the fuck are the cops "protecting" when they slam this poor old lady to the ground and leave her bleeding? Like being old and disoriented isn't bad enough?



I thought the last time the cops engaged in a little granny-bashing was, truly, the last time I'd hear about this. But these motherfuckers — hey, that lady cop has got to outweigh the victim by a good 100 lb., at least.

Your friendly local Cat has had to disarm knife-wielding persons before. It happens sometimes in the course of an argument that an overly-excited person picks up something that they think will help them, um, forcefully drive their point, as it were, home. If you're younger and stronger than the other person, you can get the weapon away from them pretty easily. You do risk getting cut, of course, and you might lose a little blood. But, you know, if you're, like, arguing with grandma, it's no big deal to step behind the old lady, grab her wrist, and twist it till she drops the knife. Unless she has a black belt in some martial art, she's not gonna be able to fight back.

So why these fucking proto-fascists felt the need to body-slam Grammy is completely fucking beyond me, OK?

Here's the facts of the case, as reported by Raw Story:

• The lady in this disgusting video evidence of police brutality is one Virginia Dodson of Whitehall, Ohio;
  
  
• Ms. Dodson is 84 years old and suffers from Alzheimer's Disease;
  
  
• Her daughter, who is her primary caregiver, was running an errand at the local Mall*Wart, and took Mom with her (probably because there is no alternate caregiver, or one wasn't available right then);
  
  
• Understandably, the daughter didn't want to take her into the store, so left her buckled into her seat in the car;
  
  
• At some point, poor disoriented Ms. Dodson lost track of why exactly she was all alone in a car, strapped into her seat, and panicked. She cut the strap with a steak knife she found in the car and exited the car, knife in hand, calling her daughter's name.
  
  
• Thanks to the police, she now has stitches closing the wound in the back of her head, and possibly a broken hand.

Now, some people are all, incensed, screaming, hey, the cops had to take her down 'cause, you know, she had a knife and she threatened some kid, and like that.

OK, you dumb motherfuckers, you wanna live in a police state, move to fucking Afghanistan or where-the-fuck-ever. And ask yourself how you'd feel if that was your Grandma the cops were bashing around. Or you, your very own precious self, some 40 or 60 years from now when you can no longer remember your name or how to wipe your own fucking ass. And don't forget to meditate on the fact that any kid that can't outrun an 84-year-old frail elderly woman who walks with a cane is gonna get Darwinized sooner or later.

Other people are claiming Ms. Dodson's daughter is responsible for this unholy mess because she "neglected" her mom. You lot, form a line to the right. The trucks will be coming any minute now to schlep you off to the local senior home or nursing home or any other place with a high proportion of physically and/or mentally disabled people. You're sentenced to do caretaker duty for them until you figure out just how difficult it is to look after someone with that particular combination of disabilities.

What does this story teach us, boyz'ngirlz?

• One, somebody is putting something truly sinister in the drinking water in Ohio. Either that or the whole fucking state is in the nth degree of crayzee natural-born fucking fascist loons. Maybe we should send all the other loonies there and build high concrete walls around the state. Eh?
  
  
• Two, Our care of the elderly, especially the elderly with mental disabilities, is fucking appalling. Why is Ms. Dodson's daughter forced to schlep Mom around and lock her in a car while she does the grocery shopping? Why don't we have daycare for the elderly and mentally disabled?
  
  
• Three, The police forces in this country desperately need new, better policy positions. One of the first things I'd like to see is the removal of those glorified cattle prods known as Tasers.
  
  And yes, I'm well aware of the fact that most cops lose their lives when intervening in domestic violence situations.

Is respect for the human rights enshrined in the Constitution too much to ask of our police? Because if it is, we need to scrap the existing police force and recreate it from the ground up.

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Politics: Right-wing Terrorists

OMG WTF, where do they FIND these guys? Raw Story is reporting that one Wayne Simmons, a "pro-assassination CIA analyst," (fortunately now retired from the CIA) called Dick "Dick" Cheney:

“one of the most honorable men on the planet”

who would never break the law.

Are you fucking kidding me? Dick "Satan-spawn" Cheney, who has repeatedly lied to Congress, the President of the United States (his boss), and probably deity itself at this point? What the fuckin' fuck does this guy mean by honorable? A lying chickenshit chickenhawk who had "other priorities" keeping him out of the Vietnam War (five, count 'em, FIVE fucking deferments), but had no problem sending soldiers to die in a pre-emptive war in Iraq? The son-of-a-syphilitic-turtle dropped out of college as soon as he had spawned the sprog required to keep him from shedding his precious blood in foreign wars, but had no shame — none — about sending other people's sons and daughters to get killed, maimed, and permanently injured.



This is "honorable?" What dicionary is this motherfucker using?

FTA:

A story in the New York Times this past weekend, corroborated by the Washington Times on Monday, said that Cheney was aware of a secret CIA program that had been kept hidden from Congress for more than six years, and was part of the decision process to keep it from Congress — something that, if true, would be a violation of federal law.

Simmons told Fox News, “For anyone to think that Vice-President Dick Cheney would do anything illegal is nothing more than political grandstanding.”

You know, here Dick is openly and blatantly busted for violating federal law, i.e., committing a crime. And this brain-infected moron actually has the chutzpah to sit in front of a mike and say that the founding member of the Chickenhawk Brigade would never do anything illegal? Bud, is the sky blue on your planet, or is it some other colour?

Oh, wait, look, the scumsucking puke had this to write in a letter to the NYT:

“Suggesting that we intentionally misled the American people for partisan political purposes or some quid pro quo personal gain is an unconscionable attack on our honor and long service to this nation, [...].”

This, of course, was in response to an article in said paper that had exposed the fact that certain elements of the government and its agencies had "intentionally misled the American people for partisan political purposes or some quid pro quo personal gain."

I wonder if Simmons EVER served in the military? Or is he a member of the 82nd Chairborne? It seems one of the biggest problems with the military-industrial complex that Eisenhower warned against is the fact that so many "military analysts" and theoreticians never actually had to serve on the ground.

Perhaps that's why they misunderstand the meaning of common terms such as "honourable" and "illegal." Perhaps that's why they have lied and continue to lie to us about virtually everything.

I'm about to embark on some serious reading about the Vietnam War. The only way to stop war is to understand it — its roots, its beginnings, its place in the history of our individual and collective lives. We must stop people like this from poisoning the well of common discourse. If this country is to be saved intact with its honourable Constitutional roots, we must all work together, Republicans and Democrats, Liberals and Libertarians.

We cannot pretend that a government that is supposed to be "of, by, and for the people" is best served by those who would lie to us and kill our children. There is no honour in lying a trusting people into giving up their children's lives and saddling their grandchildren with debt just so that some very nasty, creepy old men can live with riches beyond what they can ever use.

Image from the Houston Press

While KBR — remember KBR? An "offshoot" of Halliburton, the company that Dick "Dick" Cheney helmed, and ran into the ground fiscally until he rescued it with no-bid contracts after finding himself the best possible candidate for VP? — was electrocuting the military in Iraq with substandard facilities and poisoning them with substandard food and water, it was using our tax dollars to buy — and throw away — people, as well as machinery, in the great swindle that we've been taught to call "Operation Enduring Freedom," or, more accurately, "This fucking hideous unprovoked war in Iraq."

That last link is to a Rolling Stone story about an ex-military man who went to Iraq as a civilian contractor and got seriously fucked up, so if you have a sensitive stomach, you might not care to read it. Alternatively, if you're, like, contemplating eating or anything like that, don't click any of the links about the poisoned food and water. I think I just gave up eating permanently. Jesus, what vomitous little shitbags like Dick Cheney and Wayne Simmons have done, and are doing to the military is enough to make you puke blood.

Those of you who are into that kind of thing might wish to let Faux Noise know that you don't approve of Mr. Simmons' somewhat cavalier interpretations of polysyllabi like "honour" and "illegal," and such. It appears words of one syllable are more his speed. Mr. Simmons also believes in assassinating foreign leaders. Something tells me the Founding Fathers would have happily given him a trial for such undemocratic beliefs, which would have surely led to a justified firsthand experience of execution, since they did not believe in assassination. What a walking enema!!

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You have to catch Democracy Now today

I'm tired after a long day here at the 'puter but I just read the transcript of James Bamford on Democracy Now today and it is a must listen to, view, or read.

The warrantless spying on Americans continues unabated. And its worse than that. It is being handled by two companies in Israel including one where the CEO is on the run and a fugitive from the US hiding out somewhere in Africa. And all our communications are entrusted to these foreign companies who also do business with other countries. This is insane. Oh my, my head is going to explode. Read it and weep.

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2008 Elections: Who ARE These People, Anyway?

Longtime friend Bob (who would henceforth like to be known as Boob, and no, we don't plan to ask why) sent the following tirade, as is his wont:

Do you know of a way to find the names of the actors who starred in the latest McCain/Pig rally? I mean the rally where the guy in his 50s stood up and hollered about Obama and Pelosi and "why are they ahead in the polls?" or something like that. Great job portraying an angry mensch.

My understanding is that the Secret Service travels with the nominees; candidates mixing with an actual angry crowd would not be tolerated. Der Secret Service obersturmbannfuhrer would demand, "Why did you allow the candidate to get within reach of people shouting in hate?"

Also, who's the black man who plaintively begged McCain to stop ACORN from voting fraud? He looked so sincere. Only the perfect camera angle on him betrayed that it was a setup.

Obama's campaign should stage a few events like this, and hire these two guys.

Hmmm. The man has an excellent point. (No, not the one on his head. That's just for show.) The SS (how appropriate) is surely not permitting angry loons into crowds as small as the ones Mc Cain't draws. Apart from which, having some paid actor launch into a tirade on camera serves a useful function. It scares the holy crap out of those of us who are afraid the country's gone to the dogs. Fnords! They're all around us!

Doesn't the sight of such loons on camera contribute to the general depression and misery that people are drowning in, that makes us all jumpy, robs our sleep, keeps us tense on a low level so that we're all taking more painkillers or psychoactive meds or drinking more booze or snapping at our loved ones? Did Robert Anton Wilson's grand loony conspiracy theories have any basis in fact? Are we all going nuts?

Don't know about you out there, but we at La Casa de Los Gatos have been tense and stressed out since the McNasty campaign took its nasty turn. The financial news is doing zilch to help our mood. So? What do you think? Paid actors?

In the event, Barack don't need no paid actors. The Republicans are running away from McNasty and Cruella as fast as they can.

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The Police State: Defined

ICHC

We here at La Casa de Los Gatos have blogged repeatedly and at length upon the police state that has come into public (and unabashed) existence ever since one Gee Dumbya and his evil cohort Dick "Satan's Spuzzer" Cheney got their hands on this once-great nation.


Today, we have both heartening and disheartening news to impart to our friends and visitors. Times like these you don't know whether to laugh, cry, or take an increased dose of your psychoactive fucking meds, right, SGTG? The heartening news is that one Sheriff Thomas J. Dart of Cook County, Illinois, has decided he's had enough of using the state's power to forcibly evict people from their homes. Yup. He's not gonna do it no more. Says Sheriff Dart:

"These poor people are seeing everything they own put out on the street. ... They've paid their bills, paid them on time. Here we are with a battering ram at the front door going to throw them out. It's gotten insane," he said.[...]

"These mortgage companies ... don't care who's in the building," Dart said Wednesday. "They simply want their money and don't care who gets hurt along the way.

"On top of it all, they want taxpayers to fund their investigative work for them. We're not going to do their jobs for them anymore. We're just not going to evict innocent tenants. It stops today."

Dart said he wants the courts or the state Legislature to establish protections for those most harmed by the mortgage crisis.

[...]

"When you're blindly sending me out to houses where I'm coming across innocent tenant after innocent tenant, I can't keep doing this and have a good conscience about it."

Wow. This is a human being, peoples. We have often wondered how cops can do their job, because a lot of it seems to involve protecting the person or property of the rich and brutalizing the poor and defenseless. Whether it's wearing a tee-shirt at the mall to which the hired dogs of the mall owners object, or making a joke that security guards at a hospital don't think is funny, we, the common people, are constantly in danger of having our ass busted because we said or did something someone rich or powerful didn't particularly care for.

Sometimes we follow every fucking rule in the book, and we still get our ass busted. They kick us out of our homes. They take away our kids. They beat us up and throw us in jail because we exercise our constitutional right peaceably to assemble as set forth in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights guaranteed in the Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances".

They make being homeless an offense with their loitering laws. They arrest us for being the wrong color, or driving the wrong car, or dressing in a way of which they don't approve.

Then along comes someone like Sheriff Dart and says, "I'm a man with a conscience and it goes against my understanding of wrong and right to kick people out of their homes when they have done nothing wrong." And you wonder, what kind of world would we have if every cop and security guard and enforcer consulted their conscience before tasering a teenager with a broken back nineteen times; or shooting an innocent woman to death before her children; or breaking down the door of an elderly, blind, diabetic cancer survivor.

And you wonder, whose side are we on, really? Who's on our side? Who's on which side? Because the Illinois Bankers' Association responded to Sheriff Dart's statements thus:

The Illinois Bankers Association opposed the plan, saying that Dart "was elected to uphold the law and to fulfill the legal duties of his office, which include serving eviction notices."

The association said Dart could be found in contempt of court for ignoring court eviction orders.

"The reality is that by ignoring the law and his legal responsibilities, he is carrying out 'vigilantism' at the highest level of an elected official," it said. "The Illinois banking industry is working hard to help troubled homeowners in many ways, but Sheriff Dart's declaration of 'martial law' should not be tolerated

Martial law? The man whose conscience won't abide kicking tenants who are not guilty of any wrongdoing out of their homes is accused of imposing martial law? Of vigilantism?

Personally, we would rather see Sheriff Dart expend his (and his staff's) energies and monies apprehending murderers, thieves, rapists, burglars, child abusers, batterers, and disturbers of the peace. You bankers got everyone into this mess. You've already taken $700 BILLION of our dollars to help you out. Quit whining, as Phil Gramm, your good friend (and John McCain's) and deregulator of the banking industry stated recently. You're not fooling us with your gabble about trying to "help troubled homeowners in many ways." We know only too well that your "help" mostly consists of "helping" yourself to their assets and those of other taxpayers in general.

Video footage of Sheriff Dart giving Illinois bankers what-for available here.

The bankers are not on our side. John McCain't, who is good friends with many many bankers and lobbyists calling for further deregulation of the financial industry, is not on our side. John McCain't is, however, on the same side of these issues, apparently, as the White House, which today issued this unbelievably heartless statement. From the article:

During today’s press briefing, White House press secretary Dana Perino suggested the Bush administration would oppose any effort to extend jobless benefits — a stance the White House has taken before. She explained their position by saying, “we want people to be able to return to the workplace as soon as possible.” The suggestion was that extending benefits somehow prevents people from returning to work.

She concluded by saying that “the best way to help” the economy and unemployed people is for unemployed people to simply “get back to work.”

Where's OUR fucking bailout, George? You think it's so easy to "get a job" and "go back to work"? Not after you exported all our jobs, you fucking prick. Why didn't you tell your Wall Street friends that? They got $700 BILLION and we get the bum's rush. And our children's children will be paying for all those manicures and pedicures AIG executives were getting EVEN WHILE THEY WERE NEGOTIATING THEIR SHARE OF THE BAILOUT!!!



If you don't vote for Obama/Biden after reading this, it is your bounden duty to hie thee to the nearest area inhabited by large, hungry, dangerous animals (for example, sharks, lions, or tigers). Take no weapons nor any protective gear. Strip naked at the site and give the animal of your choice a passionate kiss. Hopefully we'll see no more of you in this life. With any luck, in the next you will reincarnate as a small, nasty-looking arthropodic life-form which will be instantly killed and eaten repeatedly until you have worked off all your truly crappy karma.

Stumble It!

Assault on Free Speech, Part I

I read an article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel (Santa Cruz, granola capital of the world, home of mellowness) about how public school teachers were forbidden to wear their Obama buttons in school. Even scarier, they were not allowed to comment for the article, which begins with this:

Teachers at Soquel High School have agreed not to wear "Educators for Obama" buttons in the classroom after a parent complained that educators were attempting to politically influence his daughter and other students.

John Hadley, an importer of South African goods, called the school to complain Friday after his 16-year daughter Teegan returned home and reported that she had seen several teachers wearing the buttons.

Hadley said his family supports Sen. Barack Obama's rival, Sen. John McCain, but that he is opposed to teachers wearing political paraphernalia regardless of its nature.

Censorship is alive and well in the public schools. Usually, it's the students who are told they can't wear t-shirts supporting causes. Now, a school district is telling its teachers not to wear their Obama buttons. What is everybody scared of? Where are the kittens supposed to learn to discuss and respect differing opinions if the schools are giving them the message that ideas are toxic?

No wonder adults have no credibililty with kids. When you tell them not to have unprotected sex or take drugs, will they see that as a well-reasoned position, or yet another example of adult timidity? I know what I thought when I was a kitten and Mama told me not to jump the fence. Mama thought the same thing about adults back when she was a kitten, and so did Daddy. Kids shouldn't be sheltered, especially in high school. It doesn't work, and they just develop contempt for you. Not sheltering kids is different from forcing them to conform to your political views, though you must enforce standards of civilized behavior in classroom discussion.

The McCain kid in the article who complained about the Obama teachers said, "they shouldn't be stating their opinion in front of students who can't even vote." Shouldn't someone tell the kid that you can discuss things, like drinking or going to war, that you're not old enough to do? And why shouldn't the student also state her opinion? I know kids form cliques and pressure one another to conform, ostracizing racial, religious or political minorities. It is worthwhile to face this behavior head on by discussing divisive topics in the classroom under the guidance of teachers, rather than pretending it doesn't exist. Nor is there any benefit to sanitizing the teachers into insipidity, so that they appear to have no involvement in, and no authority on, real life.

Dig this quote from the article:

If teachers had been wearing buttons supporting McCain, [the student] said she would still think it was wrong but acknowledged, 'I probably wouldn't have told my dad about it.'

That child sure learned a lesson in democracy — shut down those who do not agree with you. She could have learned to discuss her opinions without losing her temper, but that apparently was not an option.

I feel strongly that kids are not being prepared for adult life in school, and the culture has changed such that the preparation they get at home is spotty. They may become adults not knowing how to intelligently eat, handle finances, have love affairs, live a clean and well-ordered life. We clearly see — after the last 8 years — that America is not turning out voters educated in democracy. Wasn't that of of the original rationales for a public school system — to educate voters? Where did that idea go?

Stumble It!

2008 Elections: Register to Vote!

Over on Digg, commenter Bitfreak posts voter registration deadlines for the states.

If you haven't registered yet, please check your date here and register to vote well in advance. Remember that Republicans have openly declared that they will contest votes so be sure to register in enough time to fight any possible disenfranchisement. Ask your family and friends (regardless of political affiliation) if they have also registered. Persuade them to register, offer them rides if needed, do whatever it takes. This election will decide your fate, the fate of your children and grandchildren, and, most important — the fate of the nation.

State Voter Registration Deadline

Alabama Fri, Oct. 24
Alaska Sun, Oct. 5 (postmark by, Oct. 4)
Arizona Mon, Oct. 6
Arkansas Mon, Oct. 6
California Mon, Oct. 20
Colorado Mon, Oct. 6
Connecticut Tues, Oct. 21
Delaware Sat, Oct. 11
District of Columbia Mon, Oct. 6
Florida Mon, Oct. 6
Georgia Mon, Oct. 6
Hawaii Mon, Oct. 6
Idaho Register at Polls
Illinois Tues, Oct. 7
Indiana Mon, Oct. 6
Iowa Fri, Oct. 24
Kansas Mon, Oct. 20
Kentucky Mon, Oct. 6
Louisiana Mon, Oct. 6
Maine Tue, Oct. 21
Maryland Tue, Oct. 14
Massachusetts Wed, Oct. 15
Michigan Mon, Oct. 6
Minnesota Same Day Registration at polling place
Mississippi Mon, Oct. 6
Missouri Wed, Oct. 8
Montana Mon, Oct. 6 (or same day at elections office)
Nebraska Fri, Oct. 24 (mail, Oct. 17)
Nevada Tue, Oct. 14
New Hampshire Same Day
New Jersey Tues, Oct. 14
New Mexico Tues, Oct. 7
New York Fri, Oct. 10
North Carolina Fri, Oct. 10
North Dakota
Ohio Mon, Oct. 6
Oklahoma Fri, Oct. 10
Oregon Tue, Oct. 14
Pennsylvania Mon, Oct. 6
Rhode Island Sat, Oct. 4
South Carolina Sat, Oct. 4
South Dakota Mon, Oct. 20
Tennessee Mon, Oct. 6
Texas Mon, Oct. 6
Utah Oct. 6 or in person Tue, Oct. 28
Vermont Wed, Oct. 29
Virginia Mon, Oct. 6
Washington Mon, Oct. 4 ( Oct. 20 in person)
West Virginia Wed, Oct. 15
Wisconsin Wed, Oct. 15 (or Election Day at polling place)
Wyoming Can register at polls

Vote as if your life depended on it — because it does!

Stumble It!

2008 Elections: A Summary of Facts, Part I

Eww, don't touch me, old dude!

We all know this is a very important election. So important that the handwringing has already begun and Concern Trolls (people who pretend they're very concerned about a candidate's chances while simultaneously sliming said candidate and severely depressing said candidate's supporters*) are surfacing like turds in the sewage reclamation plant.

If you're an Obama supporter, there is plenty of evidence out there that you should calm down. The polls go up, the polls go down, your head goes round and round. Here, for example, is a wonderful piece by Seth Colter Walls, Political Reporter for The Huffington Post, explaining how pollsters weight their polls — and, incidentally, explaining why you should not trust polls!

But the Republican candidates — Sarah Palin and John McCain — appear to giving so many people the heebie jeebies that we're obliged to do a little rooting around here and find out exactly what gives.

Do you want to see that face for the next four years?

Here, in brief, is what John McCain says about his platform:

• You say you have "A pro-growth, pro-jobs strategy to get our economy back on track."
  
  Well, everybody wants one of those. How'd'you plan to deliver one, John? Especially after telling us “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should,” [...].
  
  Dude, it's 2008. There's a little over three months left to the year. This is not the time to be tellin' us you don't have a plan and you'll need some on-the-job training, because, um, you know, you shoulda got that training back in 2000 when you were running FOR THE EXACT SAME JOB, YOU FUCKING DOOFUS. You've had eight years to fix this gap in your knowledge. Surely you were contemplating a second run for the Presidency. So what the fuck were you doing the past eight years, porking lobbyists, or lobbying for pork?
  
  Based on the insults you're hurling at Democrats, it's kinda hard to believe you'll be able to scare up a "bi-partisan" National Commission on Workplace Flexibility and Choice. How long will they take to give you a "recommendation"? Because, y'know, that 9/11 Commission took a fucking long time to tell us anything. Just sayin'.
  
  Oh, and giving people comp time instead of overtime money is not really helpful when real wages have been stagnant for a decade. We don't all have $100 million in the bank and seven houses, yaknow. Finally, we're proud of you for supporting all that cool legislation to help families and all, but, um, 1993 was, like FIFTEEN YEARS ago? Y'know, 20th Century, vs. 21st? Things have changed a bit?
  
  
• You say "Bringing costs under control is the only way to stop the erosion of affordable health insurance, save Medicare and Medicaid, protect private health benefits for retirees, and allow our companies to effectively compete around the world."
  
  By giving us $5,000 per family (regardless of economic circumstances) for health insurance? Put down the crack pipe, dude. We pay double that for two adults with no degenerative diseases and few drug copays. That doesn't include vision or dental, which we pay separately. Besides, without jobs and unemployment hovering over 6 per cent and the current economic collapse, how the fuck are we supposed to pay for this insurance?
  
  Are you seriously going to hand every American family, rich and poor, $5K out of the treasury? Cause you might run out of paper to print that money, yaknow. You say: "When families are informed about medical choices, they are more capable of making their own decisions and often decide against unnecessary options." You mean when you tell them here's your $5K and you can't afford surgery for your kid's cleft palate on that, they'll forgo the surgery, right? Will Cindy's charity step up to the plate? I hear they do lots of cleft palate surgeries in other countries.
  
  Oh, btw, John? Your statement "John McCain will promote the rapid deployment of 21st century information systems and technology to improve patient safety, enhance quality and lower costs"? Doesn't sound too good considering how much of our medical information processing has been outsourced and leaked to identity theft rings.
  
  
• You say you "believe[s] that the highest priority for any President is protecting the lives of American citizens, defending their personal freedom, and securing our land and resources.
  
  Does that mean you'll be revoking the Patriot Act in accordance with the Fourth Amendment's guarantee of our right to be secure in our "persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures"? Will you force the telcos to obey the law and cease their unconstitutional spying on Americans?
  
  Will you restore the people's right "peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances" according to the First Amendment to the Constitution? Or was the attack on the protestors and the press at the RNC just a taste of things to come?
  
  
• You say you have "fought to honor our national commitment to our veterans who have given their careers and livelihoods to ensuring our freedom," you say.
  
  Why, then, did you vote against the Webb amendment to give troops more rest time between deployments? Why, in July 2007, did you vote against troop drawdown in Iraq? Why, in March 2007, did you not even bother to show up to vote on troop drawdown? Why, in February, did you fail to show up to vote against condemning the "surge"?
  
  Why did you vote against increasing the VA's health care facilities budget? Why did you repeatedly vote against increasing the VA's budget for outpatient care and treatment?
  
  Why, in February 2006, did you vote against closing the corporate tax loophole and awarding any monies thereby earned to the VA to provide treatment for injured veterans? You did the same thing in March 2004, preferring your corporate cronies to the veterans who have loyally served their nation.
  
  So when you say you have fought to honor these brave men and women, who were you fighting? Did you not know that injured veterans were lying neglected at Walter Reed?
  
  You're drawing 100 per cent disability pay, Senator. Nearly $60,000 a year. With a yearly income of around $6 million, why are you taking that pension, when you don't need it? You have seven houses, Senator. You spend $520 on a pair of shoes.
  
  Did you know that thousands of veterans have been denied disability benefits, Senator?
  
  Even without your wife's $100 million fortune, you're not poor, Senator. You earn $169,300 annually as a Senator. Add your tax-exempt disability pay and your Social Security income ($1,930/mo=$23,960/pa) and your book royalties of $176,508. That's a lot of money, Senator. $369,768 in taxable income and approximately $60,000 in non-taxable income. Your lifetime health care is provided by us, the taxpayers. You don't have to pay a cent for it. You don't pay a cent for housing, either, or for your children's food, clothing, health care, housing, transportation, education, and other incidental expenses.
  
  So why are you taking disability money and social security money when the median household income is $50,000 a year, Senator? If you're 100% disabled, you shouldn't be running for office. And if you're not, you shouldn't be taking the money.
  
  
• You say you have "a broad and cohesive vision for the future of American innovation."
  
  Really? Your "broad and cohesive vision" — that of a man who still does not know how to log on to a computer or access the Internet, who doesn't know the difference between Google and the World-Wide Web, appears to consist of fiscal incentives combined with low taxes and deregulation to stimulate innovation.
  
  Have you talked to Phil Gramm or Alan Greenspan lately? Because that approach was tried with the financials markets, and do you know where that got us? Oh wait, we forgot, your friend Phil Gramm is one of those rich scoundrels who helped respected Swiss bank UBS lose 70 per cent of its value since he signed on; he and his wife Wendy are deeply involved with deregulating the energy markets, the Enron scandal, and deregulation of the EPA. Plus, richie rich Phil thinks the recession is "mental" and Americans are a "nation of whiners" because they can't all land jobs as VP of UBS, helping wealthy Americans evade taxes.

So much for Part I. We're too exhausted to continue tonight. Tomorrow, same channel, please. We will present Part II. And we plan to investigate Mooseburger Mamma, too.

Meanwhile, for your delectation:

Stumble It!

Politics: The Police State

And you don't even have to be a police to enforce it. Of course, AssPress describes this as a story about a woman wearing a tee shirt that "promotes lesbianism." Lots of people we know would really like to find out how to "promote lesbianism." We ourselves believe that some are born lesbian, some achieve lesbianism, but nobody has lesbianism thrust upon them.In the event, Page Q is reporting that some woman goes to a Federal building to pick up a social security card for her son and a petty little tinpot tyrant employee of DHS (that's the Department of Homeland Security to youse) decides that her tee shirt is "inappropriate" and boots her out.

What did her tee shirt say, you might ask? Simply this: lesbian.com.

Now, the Supreme Court has held that tee shirt slogans represent a form of free speech entitled to the protections of the Constitution:

In Tinker v. Des Moines, the Court recognized the right of public school students to wear black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War. [...] Other examples of protected symbolic speech include works of art, T-shirt slogans, political buttons, music lyrics and theatrical performances.

You know what that means, you DHS employees and contractors? It means that, even if she wore a tee that said "Dip me in honey and throw me to the lesbians," y'all are shit outa luck trying to boot her off federal property. Like any other citizen, she has the Constitutional right to free speech.

Damn, what's happened to this country, land of the free and home of the brave?

Stumble It!

Politics: Daily Show

This is why Jon Stewart still totally rocks our world:




While the worthless talking heads of the media continue to writhe and spasm and orgasm live about everything being bad for Obama, while they continue to ignore John McCain's obvious mental impairment, ignorance, and bad temper, while they continue to print negative news about Obama (75 per cent of Obama's coverage is negative), what's really happening to this country continues to be buried under sound bites and flimflammery bullshit.

Yes, they're hurting America. If you're watching or reading any of these pathetic shills, remember that they are no longer the Fourth Estate that the Founding Fathers mandated in the Constitution. They have long since given up the role of giving the citizens information. Now, they serve as the myrmidons of the mighty — pages filled with ads exhorting the American "consumer," no longer a citizen but a passive vehicle for their bottom-line profits, to consume. Pages filled with the windbaggery of the David Brookses and David Broders, V.D. (how apt!) Hansons and Peggy Noonans.

More of us should take responsibility for this great democracy. One thing you can do: write to these fine representatives of the defunct Fourth Estate and let them know what you think about their shilling swill instead of news. From a DailyKos diary comes this information:

viewerservices@msnbc.com
letters@msnbc.com
race08@msnbc.com
countdown@msnbc.com
kolbermann@msnbc.com
hardball@msnbc.com Chris Matthews
MSNBC, Joe Scarborough, joe@msnbc.com
editor@AllPolitics.com CNN All Politics
public.information@cnn.com CNN Viewer Comments
CNN Viewer Comment Line 404-827-1500
nightly@nbc.com Nightly News
Today@NBC.com
Chuck Todd- Political Director at NBC chuck.todd@nbcuni.com
Steve Capus, President NBC NEWS - steve.capus@nbc.com
mcarlson3@bloomberg.net Margaret Carlson
atc@npr.org NPR "All things Considered"
comments@foxnews.com

Let them know what you think of their coverage. This democracy is only as strong as each of its citizens. If you don't want your rights and your money and your freedom and your life taken away by the minions of the rich and greedy who have been bleeding the country dry for the past eight years, now's the time to make your voice heard. It may not do any good, but, as Jon said, at least you can sleep at night, knowing that you did something.

And don't forget your local fishwrap, either. Your local paper or TV station may be breathlessly echoing Ron Fournier (AP's acting Washington bureau chief), who interviewed for a job in McCain's campaign and basically serves as McCain's mole embedded in the press. He never has a single positive thing to say about Democrats, but can't find enough praise for Oldy McMoldy. Is it in the interests of unbiased journalism that AP allows him to cover the election? Shouldn't he be forced to remove himself, and work some other beat instead? One where he won't get or lose a future job based on how much toadying he does?

Given that AP's services are used by almost all the media, Fournier's lickspittling is doubly insidious. Between Nedra Pickler and Ron Fournier, AP is proving itself utterly objectionable, rather than objective as a news organization ought to be.

Incidentally, if you use Google or Yahoo to catch up with the news, you can specify that you don't want any AP feeds. GrannyDoc over at DailyKos will tell you how. AP will only respond if we put the hurt on them. Otherwise, they will continue to shovel down our throats whatever they think we'll swallow.

Stumble It!

Politics: So Much For

Our "shared Judaeo-Christian values." The WaPoo is reporting that the FBI investigation of Army Engineer David Tenenbaum was racially (religiously?) motivated.

Photo courtesy of Patricia Beck, Detroit Free Press

In other words, Tenenbaum was targeted because he is a practising Jew. Of course, it took the Pentagon 11 long years to exonerate the man. Eleven years of living under suspicion with the FBI tailing you, the press reporting it, and the nutbags crawling out of the woodwork to threaten your, and your family's, lives.

Does the right hand know in whose pants the left hand is rummaging? Half our congresscritters are owned body and soul by the rabid Likudnik hawks of AIPAC; yet our military and our intelligence agencies, while failing to unearth the recipients of AIPAC largesse, are running around harrassing ye regular olde citizenry.

Joe LIEberwhore is pole-dancing to AIPAC's tune, putting Israeli hawks' interests before those of his constituents' and being invited to speak at the Republican convention. Mr. Tenenbaum, a man with little power or influence and no lobbyist money connections, is followed, threatened, searched, harassed, and spied upon. The effrontery of the officials conducting the surveillance of Mr. Tenenbaum is shocking:

The examiner also threatened him, Tenenbaum said. " 'I want you to confess,' he was yelling at me," he recalled. "I've done other Jews before and gotten them to confess, and I'll get you, too."

What the fuck is this, the Third Reich reborn? Where do these people get off with comments like this?


Somebody needs a few whups upside the head with La Casa de Los Gatos' trademarked Golden Bat o'Clue. So hawkish AIPAC Jews with money get their ass kissed by all and sundry and religious practising ordinary Jews with no money or power get the third degree? Muslims who happen to be members of the Saudi Royal Family get their money laundered by the current Idiot-in-Chief's uncle, but Muslims who happen to be powerless ordinary guys get dragged into the White House interrogation chamber for roughing up and questioning because they're using an iPod?

Mr. Tenenbaum better get a nice long letter of apology from the fucking schmucks who have made his life a hell. And we the people need to crack down on these various "authorities" who are making all our lives hell, shooting our dogs and our wives, tasing our children and our friends, and sending our neigbours and our relatives to die in pointless foreign wars.

Stumble It!

2008 Elections: John McCain's Terrible

horrible, really really bad, like, stinking week. Truly, it stunketh. And let La Casa de Los Gatos assure you, we here thoroughly enjoyed it. Or, in LOLcat:


This may be the game-changer that puts Oldy McMoldy right out of the running.

What brought this on, you ask? Why, Oldy McMoldy himself, with his patented Gaffe-a-Minit conversational brilliance! Alas, how his handlers must rue the day this idiot learned to talk. First it was the comment about how you had to earn $5 million a year to be considered "rich." How out of touch is that? Given how all our jobs are flowing overseas faster than lava from a volcano, most of us would consider ourselves very very lucky indeed to make anything over $50,000 a year. Of course, Johnny Mac himself has a rich, rich, rich sugar-mommy with $100 million to her name. This is how you live when you have $100 million to play with.

Then it was "Open mouth, change feet" with that comment to Politico that he didn't know how many homes he owns. Duuuude! The housing market has crashed big-time, we're in the middle of a recession, and you don't know how many houses you and sugar-mommy own? You think working-class and middle-class Americans who are watching their friends and neighbours lose their jobs to other countries and their homes to foreclosure are going to like hearing that?

Oh, wait, your economic adviser Phil Gramm and you think that we're all imagining this recession, and our economic woes are all in our heads, don't you? Guess you can believe that when you own seven houses and pay a quarter of a million dollars a year in salaries for the help! And look at these houses!

One of the many McCain houses, with a theater room and a seven car garage with a four bedroom guest apartment, for total living area of roughly 14,000 square feet with 13 bedrooms and 15 bathrooms, is back on the market this month, with an asking price of $12 million.

Tip o' the topper to the lovely laydees at Women for John McCain.

And then the candidate tried fitting both feet in his mouth, just to see if he could:

McCain’s campaign responded by raising Obama’s ties to Tony Rezko, a former Obama fundraiser who was convicted this year on corruption charges unrelated to the senator. Obama and his wife bought their $1.65 million home in 2005 after getting advice from Rezko.

Senator, a word of advice: Don't make these types of accusations. Because Senator Obama may have bought his house for less than the seller's original price, but the seller has officially confirmed that the Senator's price was the highest offer he received. The money came from Senator Obama's royalty earnings (a mere $4 million, which doesn't qualify him as "rich" in your book) from the sale of two of his books. And Tony Rezko was tried in a court of law which failed to find any link or even a hint of wrongdoing by Senator Obama in the purchase of his home.

Whereas you, Senator McCain, committed actual crimes in the Keating Savings & Loan Scandal, as did your wife. Your wife also stole prescription drugs from a charity that she set up and fraudulently filled prescriptions in the names of her staff for her drug addiction. Her wealth and social position ensured that she didn't even get a slap on the wrist for her crimes, just as they ensured that you escaped the consequences of shilling for Keating who stole the life savings of so many elderly people. Thanks to you, Senator McCain, the taxpayers had to cough up $3.4 BILLION dollars to cover the losses brought about by your friend Keating. Meanwhile, your wife bought a property from Keating for chump change and sold it later for $15 million. Nice work. If you can get it.

What exactly did Senator Obama do? Nothing illegal, criminal, immoral, or unethical. The total extent of his wrongdoing was having a friendship with a guy who gave him some real estate advice and was later found to have committed fraud and money-laundering. If having friends who do bad stuff were a crime, the entire Bush clan would have been in jail for years, based on their grandfather's illegal and treasonous dealings with the Nazis; G.H.W.'s funding of drug runners and the Iran-Contra affair; Uncle Jonathan's involvement in money-laundering for the Saudis (including the Saudi princess who partially funded the 9/11 terrorists); Neil Bush's involvement in the Savings and Loan scandal which his daddy papered over by charging the taxpayers $126 billion to cover up the crimes of his son; and the like. We don't even need to discuss the flouting of international law, human rights, war crimes, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and the blatant crapping all over the U.S. Constitution and its guarantees of free speech, civil rights, and open government.

And of course, both you and CindyLou would be in Club Fed. Between the drug-stealing and the bookkeeping for Keating (how convenient that she could never find the receipts and checks related to the Keating debacle), your wife has a nice little rap sheet. Or would, if she weren't filthy rich.

Of course he hasn't learned his lesson. The Vicki Iseman business was more notable for the lobbyists he surrounds himself with and their disproportionate and improper influence on him than for any hint of romance with yet another anorexic bottle blonde.

Here's Johnny, once again proving that he has no idea what regular people's lives are like these days. Watch him offer people $50 an hour to pick lettuce:



Commenter hnsez sez:

McCain must wipe his nose with $50 bills. Most of the rest of us would work our asses off for that much money! Hell that's more than a tank of gas! I'm starting to think McMoneyBags is even more out of touch with the general public and the economy than George H.W. Bush was! SIGN ME UP!

Then, of course, there's the always delightful Eugene Robinson's take on McCain that sums up much of the unease the denizens of La Casa de Los Gatos experience with this guy. We liked him better when we didn't know him as well.

In further news that might be making McPain unhappy, the Whores Street Journal is reporting that things are not looking good for McCaincient over in Nevada. We hadn't anticipated the candidacy of Bob Barr, who is likely to beat McCaincient like the old man's hired help beats the rugs.

Stumble It!

Politics: Keith Kicks Ass

Ever since our media turned into a ragtag bunch of lickspittles who edit press releases then regurgitate them down the beaks of an apathetic public, we have despaired over the fate of the nation.

Must say Keith Olbermann is a welcome change.



He's right. It's time to impeach. Especially now, since Cheney's fingerprints are all over this manufactured "war" in Georgia. Georgia attacks and kills Russian peacekeepers and bombs South Ossetia which voted for independence over a decade ago in a vote with 95 per cent turnout and 99 per cent in favour of separatism, monitored by UN personnel. Georgia carries out an attempted ethnic cleansing of the tiny Ossetian minority, half of whom have already fled to Russia as refugees. And Saakashvili has the gall to ask the US to intervene on his behalf.

And who the hell created an interrogation room in the White House? This must be investigated.

Stumble It!

The Police State: Rally

Post-rally post here. Pre-rally post here.

The city of Berwyn Heights is holding a rally in support of its Mayor, Cheye Calvo, who was recently subjected to the power of the police state in its rawest and most brutal form when a SWAT team kicked in the door to his house, shot his two black Labs to death, and handcuffed the Mayor (in his underwear) and his aged mother-in-law and interrogated them without benefit of counsel or even clothing (the Mayor's, anyway), for several hours. From the WahPoo:

A rally in support of Calvo and in memory of his dogs has been scheduled for tomorrow evening at a ball field in the town. Berwyn Heights Police Chief Patrick Murphy said his eight-person department has been besieged by phone calls from as far away as Louisiana from people who mistakenly believe his officers were involved.

Murphy said he is angry that, instead, his officers were not informed ahead of time of that the county planned a major operation inside the town limits, especially in light of a 2006 incident in which then-Prince George's Police Chief Melvin C. High expressed formal "regret" that Berwyn Heights police were not told of threats made to an abortion clinic.

"I believe there is absolutely no credible reason why notification to my police department should not have been made," Murphy said. He said he is confident his officers could have entered Calvo's house without violence.

Cpl. Clinton Copeland, a spokesman for the Prince George's police department, said officers had a "no-knock" warrant, which allowed them to enter the house without alerting Calvo. Such warrants are issued when police fear they might face armed suspects. He said they notified Murphy immediately after entering the house.

La Casa de Los Gatos extends its condolences to the Mayor on the loss of his dogs. Labs are just too sweet for us to resist. Not the brightest bulbs in the chandelier, but good, sweet doggies.

The Calvo/Tomsic doggies

We sure hope the Mayor sues the asses off the Prince George's County police and the Sherriff's office. Those thugs blatantly violated the Constitution, and, as one of the WahPoo's commenters pointed out, that's just a piece of paper unless its provisions are enforced.

Please consider schlepping over to Berwyn Heights to demonstrate your support for Mayor Cheye Calvo's constitutional rights, if you live out that way.

Just remember, the police are supposed to "protect and serve" the citizenry. Not kick their doors in or shoot them or their children or dogs on mere suspicion. The Constitution's Fourth Amendment requires "probable cause":

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The police clearly had no reason to suspect Mayor Calvo, his wife (an employee of the State of Maryland) or his mother-in-law would be armed and dangerous, which might have justified the probable cause requirement of the Fourth Amendment. A little research — a friendly conversation with the Berwyn Heights police, for example — would have told them that the couple lived a quiet low-key sort of life and were respected professionals of standing in the community, not drug dealers and scofflaws.

Mind you, the Constitution was created to protect everyone, not just quiet, low-key middle-class white professionals. So the cops don't get a pass for the shooting of Tarika Wilson, either.

Calvo says police did not show him a copy of the warrant, and the press has not been able to obtain a copy:

Mayor Calvo has not been arrested, and neither has his wife or mother-in-law. But, police say anyone living in the house is a person of interest in their investigation. Calvo says he was never shown a search warrant during Tuesday night's raid, and FOX 5 was unable to obtain a copy from circuit court.

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The Police State: More Misbehaviour

Cheye Calvo and Trinity Tomsic walk their dogs Payton and Chase

More information available here and here.

Those sworn to protect and serve have increasingly been doing the exact opposite, of late. These days we seem to be suffering from a surfeit of stories of bad behaviour by these so-called "public servants." They're beating up and jailing innocent citizens, subjecting them to strip searches and repeated taserings leading to death, kicking in their front doors, shooting them, and generally acting like the worst thugs of the third reich. But today's outrage is really beyond the pale.

The county police of Prince George's County in Maryland, working with the Sherriff's Office SWAT team, kicked in the door of the Berwyn Heights Mayor's home and shot his two black Labs to death — one, in the back, as it tried to run away. What, exactly, was the Mayor's offense?

Apparently, the police, posing as deliverymen, delivered a parcel that contained 32 lbs. of marijuana to the house, and the mayor took it inside. The county police and the Sherriff's office didn't bother to inform the police of Berwyn Heights that they were on a pet-killing spree. What the hell is wrong with these people? Oh, yeah. Their president is a lawbreaking thug. So why the hell should they abide by the law when their own leader (probably the chimp they voted for) can't be bothered to do the same?

Of course, what this means is the cops can deliver a parcel of marijuana to anyone's door and if you take it in, they can kick your door in, and handcuff you and your elderly mother-in-law for hours while they interrogate you. Really, Mayor Calvo, you should be grateful they didn't waterboard you.

So who is this Mayor Cheye Calvo? Commenter Pete over at Raw Story unearthed this information about the Mayor:

Cheye Calvo
National Conference of State Legislatures

Cheye (pronounced "shi") Calvo directs the National Conference of State Legislatures' (NCSL) transportation and financial services committees and represents state legislatures in our federal system of government on banking, insurance, securities and transportation issues. Cheye played a leading role in efforts to create state-friendly federal driver's license standards as part of the intelligence reform in December 2004 and more recently in opposing the driver's license provisions of the REAL ID Act. Cheye has spoken, testified and written extensively on a wide range of public policy matters, and has co-authored and co-edited studies on human genetics policy, genetic privacy, and auto insurance ratemaking. He also serves as the part-time, elected mayor of the Town of Berwyn Heights, Maryland.

Calvo, 37, has been mayor of the 3,000-person town near College Park since 2004. His wife is a finance officer for the state, he said. He works part time as the mayor and serves as director of expansion for the SEED Foundation, a well-known national nonprofit group that runs urban public boarding schools.

Sounds reeeeal threatening, people. Of course, those of us who are working-class, or poor, or dark of skin have had stuff like this happen to them pretty routinely. But, goodness me, when a middle-class white working couple like the Calvos have it happen to them ... isn't it time to, um, do something?

To their credit, the Berwyn Heights police department had a reaction pretty similar to ours:

Berwyn Heights Police Chief Patrick Murphy said county police and the Sheriff's Office had not notified his department of the raid. He said town police could have conducted the search without a SWAT team.

"You can't tell me the chief of police of a municipality wouldn't have been able to knock on the door of the mayor of that municipality, gain his confidence and enter the residence," Murphy said. "It would not have been a necessity to shoot and kill this man's dogs."

Common law holds that a person's home is their castle — that every person has the same right to freedom under their own roof, whether rented or purchased, as a king or queen has in theirs. And the Constitution is explicit regarding search and seizure:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Do you see anything in there about kicking down doors and shooting people's pets? The fucking police fucking SWAT team is scared of black Labs? A turtle could outwit a Lab, and there isn't a dog like it for sheer friendliness and sweetness of disposition. And why would you shoot a dog that is running away from you?

Want an action item? Call the PGCP Chief, Melvin High, at 301-772-4740 to let him know what you think of his high-handed tactics.

Melvin High! What a name.

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