Republicans Have Nothing To Lose, Everything to Gain by Rule Change.

When the Democrats decided to have it their own way, anyway, by filibustering judicial nominations in 2003. They broke with a 217 year old tradition. A tradition is just an unwritten rule. The only thing that enforces an unwritten rule is the respect both sides have for it. Either side has the ability to rewrite an unwritten rule by simply disregarding it. The Democrats chose to do this. They broke tradition. Once a Senate tradition has been broken, the only thing that can bring back the pre-existing Senatorial configuration is for the written rules to be changed to enforce a previously unwritten rule.

The Democrats made a stategic mistake by breaking tradition at a time when the other side possessed the ability to change the rules. Oh, that's right, they thought they were going to regain the Senate in 2004. Haha! Their only hope now is that the Republicans do not have the requisite backbone to change the rules.

I guarantee you one thing, as certain as the grass turns green in Spring, as soon as the Democrats regain the majority, they will change the rules, now that the tradition genie is out of the bottle.

So, Republicans, you have a lot to lose if you don't, and everything to gain if you do change the written rules and enforce the old reality.

Gowain

Democrat McDermott Loses Court Fight, Will Appeal

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last week handed Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) a key victory in his ongoing lawsuit against Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), making it more likely that McDermott will be forced to pay punitive damages and lawyer’s fees for leaking a taped conversation of GOP leaders way back in 1996.

... an October district court decision that ordered McDermott to pay Boehner $60,000 in damages, plus legal fees that could mount to more than $500,000, said Boehner’s lawyer, Mike Carvin.

Boehner could expect a final decision in a suit that he initiated against McDermott in March of 1998 by the end of this year, according to Carvin.

McDermott is also the subject of a separate and ongoing, investigation by the House Ethics Committee based on a complaint filed by Rep. David Hobson (R-Utah) last year on the leaked tape issue.

McDermott’s legal predicament stems from his leaking to several newspapers a transcript of an audiotape recorded by a Florida couple with eves-dropping equipment of a conference call of GOP leaders on how to handle issues surrounding then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).

Boehner sued McDermott for violating his privacy and McDermott has since admitted that he provided the tape to reporters.

McDermott, however, has consistently argued that the First Amendment protected his decision to share confidential material with the media.

LINK

Gowain

Democrat Jones Places 7th in Trip-Derby

Washington- Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones ranks seventh among U.S. representatives and senators in the number of trips taken since 2000 that were paid for by outside groups, according to a study of congressional travel compiled by PoliticalMoneyLine.

The Cleveland Democrat's 47 trips were the most any Ohio member of Congress took in that period. Private groups paid more than $75,000 for her to deliver speeches and learn about issues in destinations as exotic as Taiwan, Malaysia, Egypt and Antigua, and as familiar as Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dayton.

Members of Congress say such trips expose their legislative priorities to broad audiences and give valuable educational opportunities without billing taxpayers. But watchdog groups like the Congressional Accountability Project say privately funded trips let special interests buy influence with members of Congress.

"In general, these trips help provide members of Congress with a high-flying lifestyle that leaves the rest of America in the dust," said accountability project director Gary Ruskin, who said privately funded excursions should be banned.

Such trips are currently legal, though there are some restrictions.

LINK

Gowain

Lobbyist Paid for Democrat's 2001 Trip

Stephanie Tubbs Jones, an Ohio Democrat who sits on the House ethics committee, took a 2001 trip to Puerto Rico that was paid for by a registered lobbyist firm — an apparent violation of the chamber's ethics rules — according to documents that she filed with the House clerk.


A spokeswoman for Mrs. Jones disputed those records yesterday, saying "human error" led a staffer to list the name of D.C. lobbyist firm Smith, Dawson & Andrews as having paid the $3,366 tab for Mrs. Jones and her husband to travel to the Puerto Rican island of Vieques in the Caribbean.


Smith Dawson was put on the form in error," Jones spokeswoman Nicole Williams said. "The invitation came from Todo Puerto Rico con Vieques. They hired Smith Dawson to handle logistics for the trip." Miss Williams declined to provide The Washington Times with any evidence to support her assertion and refused to have either the lobbying firm or the group she says actually paid for the trip provide any documentation to prove her claim.


In addition to the travel disclosure form, which was filed two weeks after Mrs. Jones' return and bears her signature, the lobbyists also were listed as the trip's sponsor in the financial disclosure forms she signed and filed at the end of the year.

LINK

Gowain

Did Pelosi Staffers Violate Ethics Rules

Eddie Charmaine Manansala, Pelosi's special assistant on East Asian affairs, filed a disclosure form for the $9,087 trip a few hours after the newspaper's inquiry and sent a note to the ethics committee saying, "I did not know I was supposed to file these forms and I apologize for its lateness."

6 months late!

Dim Democrat Fails to Report Trip

Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) even asked the ethics committee to investigate him after a reporter for the newspaper Roll Call pointed out that a travel disclosure form from 2001 listed the lobbying firm Rooney Group International as paying for a $1,782 trip to Boston, which would be a violation of House rules. LINK

With stupidos like this the Dems are going to end up hoist on their own petard.

Judicial Injudiciousness, Not a Problem

The present battle in the Senate and in the Media over the appointment of judges misses the point. While everyone is planning and plotting strategies to get the kind of judge they want into the Judiciary System for eventual appointment to the Supreme Court, no one is asking the question that should be asked, "Why should unelected people so important to a representative republic?"

The answer is, of course, they should not. One of the fundamental rights of any group of people is to choose the persons who have power over them. Judges not only enforce the law, they leave their thumbprint upon the law just as thoroughly as any legislator when they interpet it. The Founding Fathers understood this and constructed our government so that all persons in a position of power would have to answer, ultimately, to the voters. The method they prescribed to make judges answer to the voters was to give the Congress the right to make and dissolve lower courts, limit juridstiction of all courts, and make exceptions and regulations for all courts. This is fully laid out in Article III of the Constitution. In addition Congress was given the power of impeachment which applies to judges who do not follow the limits and regluations set for them by the Congress.

The Independent Judiciary is a myth. It serves, just like all other branches of government, at the behest and sufferance of the voters. The Congress of the United States, elected by the voters, is the eight hundred pound gorilla in this equation. Just because the Democrat and Republican Congress failed to exercise their rights for 60 years does not mean they have lost that right forever. The solution to the problem of judicial injudiciousness is for Congress to rein back over-reaching judges. They have the power, now they have to summon up the guts to use it. If they do not, they will be replaced.

Representative Pelosi Pressed for Details on Trip, Refuses...Testily

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi seems to have the same trips-paid-for-by-lobbyists problem that Tom Delay has been pounded on by the Democrats and MSM. Although Pelosi's paperwork shows that the Puerto Rico excursion was paid for by Todo Puerto Rico con Vieques, an interest group, Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones who was on the same trip, filed documents showing that Smith, Dawson & Andrews, lobbyists, paid for it.

When asked for documentation proving the interest group funded the junket, Pelosi deflected the question.

This story would not even be on anyone's radar if not for the Democrat's attempt, assisted by the Looney Left, to destroy Tom Delay. I predict that this particular tactic will come back to damage the Democrat's more than the Republicans.

Senator Clinton Must Come Clean About Her Involvement, Or Resign

Using the Left's newly created paradigm of "The fact that there is no evidence of your guilt does not prove you are innocent" I demand that Senator Hilary Clinton prove beyond any doubt that she is not up to her eyeballs in sleaze.

She cannot use the fact that there is no evidence that she knew what was going on right under her nose. Or the fact that there is no evidence that proves she colluded with these felons. One of whom is now in prison! No, she has to prove it. Or else, hand in her resignation

"JANUARY 7--The finance director for Hillary Clinton's 2000 U.S. Senate campaign was indicted today on federal charges of filing bogus financial reports with the Federal Election Commission.

According to the below indictment, David Rosen reported the false numbers in connection with a "Hollywood tribute" honoring Clinton. Investigators allege that a "wealthy individual" paid more than $1.1 million to underwrite the Clinton gala and that those payments were delivered through "several corporate entities controlled by him."

While that whopping sum should have been reported to the FEC as an "in-kind contribution," prosecutors charge that Rosen covered up the real source of the money, and even caused the creation of a fictitious $200,000 invoice to aid his scheme.

The August 2000 fundraiser was billed as a "Hollywood Tribute to William Jefferson Clinton," though the funds raised went to his wife's campaign kitty. The bash was held as the Brentwood estate of radio mogul Ken Roberts. While the so-called wealthy individual (referred to only as "C-1") is not named, he is clearly Peter Paul, an Internet entrepreneur who helped organize the bash.

Clinton is not mentioned by name in the indictment,instead referred to only as "Senator A." The fundraiser was largely orchestrated by Aaron Tonken, a notorious L.A. con man who last August was sentenced to five years in prison following a guilty plea to a pair of fraud counts.

The 39-year-old Tonken, who made his living defrauding donors and underwriters of charity events, now resides in the federal lockup in Taft, California, where he is scheduled to remain until April 2009."

I hope some of you are beginning to realize how ridiculous and unfair is to demand that Tom Delay "prove" his innocence? If so, I have made my point. But as long as there is an orchestrated effort to oust Tom Delay using allegations of groundless, non-existent transgressions, I will continue to point out the unfairness, and hypocracy of it all.

Therefore, Hilary must present her case for innocence. Now!


Gowain

Proving a Negative, Tom Delay's Task, Set by the Left

The following conversation took place on a discussion board. I have edited it for consistency and changed one name to protect the stupid. It began as my response to a Tom Delay story. But developed into what I think is the core fallacy of the argument against Delay: The demand that he present positive proof of his innocence. In other words that he prove a negative.

Gowain....More BS from the Left. Look at the people the story is based on. A turncoat conservative, a Left leaning Republican, another Republican who has been quoted out of context, and un-named sources. Mustn't forget those un-named sources. A lot of noise, not a shred of proof.

LeftiePoster....Where is your proof that the story is wrong????? I am waiting for you to prove it wrong.

Gowain....The proof, or rather the lack of proof, is in the story. No specifics, un-named sources. Etc.

LeftiePoster.....Still no proof offered by you. I am waiting for you to prove DeLay innocent. Give me proof.

Gowain....The proof of innocence is that no one has offered up proof of guilt.

LeftiePoster.....You still haven't offered any proof on this issue. I am still waiting.

Gowain....You are ignoring the proof.

If I alleged that you are a child molester. How would you go about proving your innocence? You have had contact with children, haven't you? How are we to know that you did not molest one of them when no one was looking?

The only thing you could do is point out that there is no proof of your guilt, that no child has ever accused you of molesting him, and that you have never been charged or convicted of pedophilia.

If I refused to accept this and demanded that you provide some positive proof of your innocence, what could you do? NOTHING!

It is called proving a negative and cannot be done.

LeftiePoster.....I am still waiting

Gowain....Again, if I alleged that you are a child molester. How would you go about proving your innocence?

The only thing you could do is point out that there is no proof of your guilt, that no child has ever accused you of molesting him, and that you have never been charged or convicted of pedophilia.

If I refused to accept this and demanded that you provide some positive proof of your innocence, what could you do? NOTHING!

LeftiePoster.....I am still waiting for you to post your proof.

Gowain....Prove you are not a child molester.

LeftiePoster.....Your gall is only surpassed by your stupidity.

Gowain....Still no positive response to my Child Molester allegation huh? Come on, LP, as an exercise in evidence, come up with proof that you are not a pedophile.

LeftiePoster will never be able to prove that he is not a child molester, just as Tom Delay will never be able to prove he did nothing wrong. Not as long as both are faced with the insurmountable task of positively proving something when the only evidence they can point to is the lack, no the non-existence, of evidence proving they committed a crime. This is why the burden of proof always falls on the accuser.

Proof, Proof, Ya Gotta Have Proof!

I challenge anyone to cite proof from any source that Tom Delay has committed a crime. Despite all the noise coming out of the Main Stream Media about the "transgressions" of Tom Delay, they have cited abolutely NO proof of wrong-doing. Bupkas, zip, zero, nada, not-a-flicker.

Makes me want to shout "Where's the beef?" Or in this case, the "Where's the TOFU!"

Gowain

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Fined $21,000 by FEC

"Pelosi PAC fined $21,000 by federal elections officials

WASHINGTON (AP) — A fund-raising committee run by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was fined $21,000 for improperly accepting donations over federal limits, according to records and interviews.

The political action committee, Team Majority, was one of two PACs Pelosi used to fund candidates during the 2002 campaign. She stopped raising and donating money through the committee more than a year ago, after complaints that she was improperly using the multiple PACs to exceed limits.

The fine, which was paid in October 2003, was reported in Team Majority's year-end campaign finance records, released this month. The case is still open and the Federal Election Commission declined comment, but Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said that the fine was connected to donations made to more than two dozen candidates from both of Pelosi's so-called leadership PACs — Team Majority and PAC to the Future — that together exceeded federal limits.

"We checked with the FEC, we thought this was OK, when we found out it wasn't we did everything aboveboard and we've been complying with them," Daly said.

Daly said Pelosi, a San Francisco Democrat and leading advocate of campaign finance reform, would dissolve Team Majority after the FEC case was concluded. Two Democrats — Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen and Julie Thomas, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Iowa — have been fined $2,500 each in connection with donations received from the committee. The agency was still negotiating with a third congressional committee before closing the case, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Federal law dictates that if multiple PACs are under the control of the same person, they're considered affiliated and must adhere to limits as if they were one. Federal law limits PAC contributions to candidates to $5,000 per election. Donors to PACs can give $5,000 annually.

In the 2002 election cycle, Pelosi gave more than two dozen candidates the $5,000 maximum contribution from Team Majority as well as PAC to the Future, which is her main leadership PAC — thereby exceeding contribution limits.

Team Majority gave back more than $100,000 that was collected in excess of limits, records show. But it also collected more than $140,000 that Daly said was within the proper limits. That money was spent last year to support Pelosi's fund-raising activities — including money for salaries, legal fees and phone services, and $2,176 to entertain donors at a box at the Simon and Garfunkel Concert at the MCI Center in December, records show."

Let watch and see if this story gets amplified and repeated over and over like the hit pieces on Tom Delay.

Warning: Don't hold your breath.

Gowain

More Than 3 Million Paid to Congressional Family Members in Last Election Cycle

How come stories like this are coming out now? Why were they not developed at the same time the Tom Delay story was being put together? Could it be that the reporters did not give a damn about fairness? Balance? Could they possibly have an agenda?

WASHINGTON — At least 39 members of Congress have engaged in the controversial practice of paying their spouses, children or other relatives out of campaign funds, or have hired companies in which a family member had a financial interest, records and interviews show.

House campaign funds have paid more than $3 million to lawmakers' relatives over the last two election cycles, records show....

Many lawmakers who have hired relatives say their motivation is confidence, not profit.

"I need a campaign manager I can trust," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), whose wife, Rhonda, is now paid $40,000 a year to run his campaign. Over the last four years, she has received $114,894, records show.

DeLay, a Texas Republican, has defended the payments to his wife, Christine, and his daughter, Danielle DeLay Ferro, saying his family members provided valuable service to his campaign. They received $473,801 over the last two election cycles, records show....

The Times developed a list of names of relatives and businesses owned by relatives on campaign payrolls from interviews, news accounts and personal financial disclosure reports. Campaign reports do not have to disclose whether recipients of funds are related to a candidate, so The Times' list is most likely incomplete.

...The Times' analysis of two election cycles... The campaign fund of Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) paid $251,853 to her husband's firm, according to the candidate's campaign filings. She was followed by Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-North Hollywood), $205,500; Rep. Bob Filner (D-San Diego), $154,504; and Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), $152,362.

Altogether, at least 10 lawmakers in the 53-member California House delegation have hired family members, according to records and interviews.

Rep. Pete Stark (D-Hayward) paid his wife, Deborah, $119,000 from his campaign fund over the last four years to serve as his campaign manager, records show. In the last election, she earned $2,400 a month as campaign manager and was awarded a $2,400 bonus.

"It's just a matter of paying her for the professional job she was doing," Stark said.

In addition, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) paid her son, a lawyer, $130,000 over four years to run her political action committee, according to her campaign filings....

FEC regulations permit salary payments to family members for "bona fide, campaign-related services," according to a 2001 advisory opinion issued to Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.). Jackson had asked the commission whether he could hire his wife, Sandi, as a paid campaign consultant.

"Any salary in excess of fair market value of the services provided is personal use," the opinion said, noting that it was illegal for candidates to use campaign funds for personal use....

Rep. Ralph M. Hall (R-Texas)[a Democrat flopper], whose political committee paid his daughter-in-law Jody $123,761 for the last two campaigns, said, "I don't see anything wrong with it if she's doing real work for real pay."

Gowain

Barbara Boxer Funnels Money to Son, Media Fails to Notice

"In 2003, Barbara Boxer directed $15,000 from her political-action committee, “PAC For a Change,” to a consulting firm run by her son. The year before, she funneled $115,000 to the same firm."

Lets watch and see if this story gets the same attention as the ones about Tom Delay

Gowain

Newt,We Hardly Knew Ye!

Newt Gingrich has always been my hero. The man who ran the corrupt Jim Wright out of Washington, who created the Contract With America, who was the elected official most responsible for the Rupublicans taking the House of Representatives in 1994.

Yep, I have always admired Newt. I knew he was human though. I mean, it was not like he was getting a lot of love and affection for his huge contribution to the Conservative Movement. He had been pounded in the Main Stream Media ever since he triumphed over Jim Wright, with hardly anyone coming to his defense. When he resigned his position as Speaker to be with his true love and make much more money, I could see how a man could decide to chuck it all, and I made allowances for his feet of clay.

That is until today when I saw him criticize Tom Delay. When I first heard about it, I could not believe it. Then I found the video clip on the Internet. Sure enough he had said exactly what the media quoted him as saying.

He said Delay was the one who had to prove his innocence. Then he pooh-poohed the "vast Left wing conpiracy" as if there was not a concerted, orchestrated effort to run Tom Delay out of Washington.

I ask you, Newt, just how does one go about proving that something does not exist except by pointing out that that it does not exist? Tom Delay has pointed out several times that he did nothing wrong, that there is no proof, to no avail. What more can he do?

Not one of the hundreds of negative stories, and opinion pieces, written about him has been able to come up with a single action that was criminal, or even unethical. Yes, he was "admonished" for somehow allowing people to lie to him.

Newt, you of all people know how the Left Wing attack machine works. You were a victim of it! For you to say and do the things you have said and done today bespeaks an ego that places your own notoriety above party and country. For the fleeting fame of being on TV, CBS of all places, you sold your dignity and integrity. You have set the Conservative movement back years for the paltry sum of 30 seconds TV time, and a swipe at a very effective Conservative. Was it jealousy? Good grief!

I weep for you, Buddy. And I can never forgive you.

Gowain

Doctor Who Diagnosed Schiavo Was "105%" Sure But Got It Wrong For Other Patient

Here is something for all you Pull-The-Tube absolutists to think about. Remember, Terri Schiavo had not had tests, MRI, PET, CAT-scan, ANYTHING! since 1992.

(CNSNews.com) -- A neurologist hired by Michael Schiavo to confirm that his wife Terri was in a persistent vegetative state said he was "105 percent sure" of that diagnosis, but Dr. Ronald Cranford expressed similar certainty about a patient he examined in 1980 who later regained both consciousness and the ability to communicate.
...
Cranford expressed similar certainty about another patient he declared to be in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) in 1980, former Minneapolis Police Sgt. David Mack.

''Sergeant Mack will never regain cognitive, sapient functioning,'' Cranford said six months after Mack was shot..on Dec. 13, 1979. ''He will never be aware of his condition nor resume any degree of meaningful voluntary conscious interaction with his family or friends.''

Based on Cranford's unequivocal diagnosis of Mack, the officer's relatives removed him from a respirator in August 1980 ...

But Mack did not die.

On Oct. 22, 1981, 18 months after Cranford declared Mack's case hopeless, doctors at the advanced care facility where Mack was being treated noticed that he was awake. The Associated Press described Mack's recovery.

"A policeman considered 'vegetative' after being shot in the head in 1979 has come out of his coma and, although doctors caution he may never recover fully, he is spelling out some of his desires: 'TALK. WALK. SKI. DOG,'" ...

Cranford insisted at the time that his initial diagnosis was correct.
...
In an interview last week with Cybercast News Service, Cranford acknowledged a "mistake," but maintained that his original assessment of Mack was accurate.

"At the time I said that, he was in a vegetative state," Cranford said. "But, I did make that misstatement about Sgt. Mack and I was wrong and I did make a mistake in that case."

Cranford argued that Mack's case is different from Terri Schiavo's because a CAT scan of Mack's brain showed no atrophy, while Schiavo's CAT scan showed severe deterioration.
...
Cranford also told reporters in 1991 that he wanted to be known as "Doctor Humane Death." He has since publicly claimed to have facilitated the deaths of between 25 and 50 disabled patients by removing the feeding tubes that provided their nutrition and hydration.
...
Cybercast News Service found more than two dozen cases where published news reports document patients diagnosed as being in a persistent or permanent vegetative state, or coma "waking up," including:

--Recovery after three years - Marcello Manunza suffered a brain injury during a car crash in November 1987. In July 1990, relatives noticed that he was following them around the room with his eyes and appeared to be trying to read encouraging signs that had been placed in his nursing home room. Within days he was able to eat, control the movement of his limbs and speak;

--Recovery after seven years - Hawaii resident Peter Sana lapsed into a coma after contracting meningitis, an inflammation of the membrane that encloses the brain and spinal cord. He was in a Honolulu nursing home in September 2001 when he began responding to commands from nurses. Sana's father visited him every day during the seven years. His caregivers credit visits by family members with giving Sana the will to wake up;

--Recovery after eight years - The first thing Conley Holbrook said after rousing from a PVS in 1991 was "Momma." He then identified the two men who had beaten him unconscious with a log on Nov. 27, 1982. Holbrook awoke while he was hospitalized for pneumonia; and

-- Recovery after 18 years - In 1983, Patti White Bull of South Dakota was diagnosed as being in a coma or PVS due to complications from a Caesarean section. Two months later, her husband and other family members removed her from life support. On Christmas Day 1999, White Bull woke up and asked to see her children. A day later, she was walking around her nursing home room with assistance.

A 1996 study published in the British Medical Journal found that 43 percent of patients in the United Kingdom thought to be in a PVS had been misdiagnosed. Of the 40 patients whose cases were reviewed, 17 were later found to be "alert, aware and often able to express a simple wish."

A 1993 study of 49 patients found that 18 of them, or 37 percent, "were diagnosed inaccurately.
...
Stevens said this is all the evidence that should be needed to call for a higher standard when it comes to diagnosing a patient as being in a persistent or permanent vegetative state.
...
"Your intent is not to remove a burdensome therapy," Stevens concluded. "Your intent is to remove a burdensome patient."

Or in Michael Schiavo's case, using the patient to hurt those who he despised.

Gowain

New York Times, Others Scheme to Oust Tom Delay

Robert Novak has a story on the efforts of the MSM to remove Tom Delay from Congress

Notice that NOBODY says that Tom Delay ever did anything illegal. Just trying to create smoke, and eventually fire, from non-flammable tinder. If they convince enough people that there actually is smoke, they won't have to produce the fire.

"WASHINGTON -- On March 24, former Congressman Bob Livingston was sent an e-mail by a New York Times editorial page staffer suggesting he write an op-ed essay. ... In a subsequent conversation, it was made clear the Times wanted the prominent Republican to say DeLay should step aside for the good of the party.

...this remarkable case of that august newspaper fishing for an op-ed piece makes it appear part of a calculated campaign to bring down the single most powerful Republican in Congress. The Democratic establishment and left-wing activists have targeted DeLay as the way to end a decade of Republican control of the House.

...The assault on DeLay did not begin until he redistricted Texas congressional seats, which changed the 2004 election from a net loss to a net gain for House Republicans.

At least 18 news organizations now have assigned reporters to cover DeLay, but the quest by The New York Times for a prominent Republican to suggest his resignation may cross a line....

New York Times editorial page staffer Tobin Harshaw sent the March 24 e-mail to Livingston...

...Harshaw's e-mail suggested Livingston might want to write "a short op-ed on DeLay's political future." Terrell said he telephoned Harshaw, saying his boss would "write a favorable piece," then asked: "Is that really what you're seeking or is that what you would print?"

It clearly was not. While Harshaw asserted "we would welcome any thoughts" by Livingston, Terrell quoted him as saying "we are seeking those who would go on the record or state for the good of the party he [DeLay] should step aside."

...Would this editorial start a chain reaction of Republican House members abandoning DeLay, much as Democrats turned against Speaker Jim Wright in 1989? Those defections doomed Wright, whose fall was followed in five years by the Republican capture of the House. Since Bob Livingston would not get the ball rolling, the campaign to get DeLay still needs a major anti-DeLay Republican to go public."

Novak's Article

Gowain

Do Not Allow Her to Perform Oral Sex On You

She may get another craving for "bite size chunks"

ALAMOSA, Colorado -- A woman accused of killing and cannibalizing her boyfriend will be allowed to leave a state mental hospital as long as she continues to take her medication and undergoes therapy, a judge ruled. Psychiatrists at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo had recommended the release of Jane Lynn Woodry, 51, who changed her name from Carolyn Gloria Blanton in 1999. Prosecutors opposed the request.

After reviewing two outside evaluations, District Judge Pattie Swift on Friday agreed to release Woodry under certain conditions.

Woodry had been held at the hospital since her 1994 arrest for the murder of her boyfriend, Peter Michael Greene, 51, whose mutilated body was found at his home near Alamosa. He had been shot several times.

During a February 1995 hearing in which she pleaded innocent by reason of insanity, investigators testified that they found "bite-sized chunks of human flesh" in a cooking pot at Woodry's home.

Gowain

It Is Time for You To Die, Grandma

The Terri Schiavo case has set the stage for things like this.

Granddaughter yanks grandma's feeding tube
81-year-old neither terminally ill, comatose, nor in vegetative state

April 7, 2005

...an 81-year-old widow, denied nourishment and fluids for nearly two weeks, is clinging to life in a hospice in LaGrange, Ga., while her immediate family fights desperately to save her life before she dies of starvation and dehydration.

Mae Magouirk was neither terminally ill, comatose nor in a "vegetative state," when Hospice-LaGrange accepted her as a patient about two weeks ago upon the request of her granddaughter, Beth Gaddy, 36, an elementary school teacher.

Also upon Gaddy's request and without prior legal authority, since March 28 Hospice-LaGrange has denied Magouirk normal nourishment or fluids via a feeding tube through her nose or fluids via an IV. She has been kept sedated with morphine and ativan, a powerful tranquillizer.
...
The dehydration is being done in defiance of Magouirk's specific wishes, which she set down in a "living will," and without agreement of her closest living next-of-kin, two siblings and a nephew: A. Byron McLeod, 64, of Anniston, Ga.; Ruth Mullinax, 74, of Birmingham, Ala.; and Ruth Mullinax's son, Ken Mullinax.

Magouirk's husband and only child, a son, are both deceased.

In her living will, Magouirk stated that fluids and nourishment were to be withheld only if she were either comatose or "vegetative," and she is neither. Nor is she terminally ill, which is generally a requirement for admission to a hospice.

...

Claiming that she held Magouirk's power of attorney, Gaddy had her transferred to Hospice-LaGrange, a 16-bed unit owned by the same family that owns the hospital. Once at the hospice, Gaddy stated that she did not want her grandmother fed or given water.

"Grandmama is old and I think it is time she went home to Jesus," Gaddy told Magouirk's brother and nephew, McLeod and Ken Mullinax. "She has glaucoma and now this heart problem, and who would want to live with disabilities like these?"
...

Gaddy, however, was not dissuaded. When Ken Mullinax and McLeod showed up at the hospice the following day, April 1, to meet with Todd and arrange emergency air transport for Magouirk's transfer to the University of Alabama-Birmingham Medical Center, Hospice-LaGrange stalled them while Gaddy went before Troup County, Ga., Probate Court Judge Donald W. Boyd and obtained an emergency guardianship over her grandmother.
...

So, when are you going to wake up and realize that the Culture of Death now has its foot in the door? And if you don't take action, the "right to die" will become the "obligation to die" whenever those who have control over you decide it is time for you to go. Whether you want to or not.

www.worldnetdaily.com

Gowain

Man Arrested, Handcuffed for Using $2 Bills

Looks like this fellow may have a basis for suing the pants off Best Buy and Baltimore County, Maryland.

A man trying to pay a fee using $2 bills was arrested, handcuffed and taken to jail after clerks at a Best Buy store questioned the currency's legitimacy and called police.
...

After Best Buy personnel reportedly told Bolesta he would not be charged for the installation of a stereo in his son's car, he received a call from the store saying it was in fact charging him the fee. As a means of protest, Bolesta decided to pay the $114 bill using 57 crisp, new $2 bills.
...

"She looked at the $2 bills and told me, 'I don't have to take these if I don't want to.' I said, 'If you don't, I'm leaving. I've tried to pay my bill twice. You don't want these bills, you can sue me.' So she took the money – like she's doing me a favor."

Bolesta says the cashier marked each bill with a pen. Other store employees began to gather, a few of them asking, "Are these real?"

"Of course they are," Bolesta said. "They're legal tender."

According to the Sun report, the police arrest report noted one employee noticed some smearing of ink on the bills. That's when the cops were called. One officer reportedly noticed the bills ran in sequential order.
...

Bolesta was taken to the lockup, where he sat handcuffed to a pole and in leg irons while the Secret Service was called.
...

Secret Service agent Leigh Turner eventually arrived and declared the bills legitimate, adding, according to the police report, "Sometimes ink on money can smear."

Commenting on the incident, Baltimore County police spokesman Bill Toohey told the Sun: "It's a sign that we're all a little nervous in the post-9/11 world."

www.worldnetdaily.com

Gowain

Valerie Has Plamed Out

The Valerie Plame covert-operative-who-has-been-outed-by-nefarious
-Republicans story was BIIGGG NEEWWWS! back in the day.

I said then that that no crime had been committed. But the-vast-left-wing-conspiracy machine convinced most of the country that "Karl Rove should be frog marched out of the Whitehouse, in handcuffs" etc.,etc. This is eeerily similar to the present Tom Delay smoke/mirrors tar/feathers exercise.

"The special prosecutor investigating whether Bush administration officials illegally revealed the identity of a covert CIA operative says he finished his investigation months ago, except for questioning two reporters who have refused to testify."

...

"That special prosecutor's characterization of his efforts led to indignation among press advocates who learned of the filing yesterday. They said it bolsters their suspicion that Fitzgerald has put two journalists in jeopardy of incarceration though he may not have sufficient evidence to indict someone for the felony he was appointed to investigate."

Oh, the irony! Seein' as how it was the reporters who beat the drum for a special investigation in the first place.

Anyway, it turns out I was right. There WAS no crime committed. I am waiting for an apology from all you Lefties who made hay back then..........but, of course, I will not hold my breath.

www.washingtonpost.com

Gowain

Leftist American Loon Kills Cop

I guess throwing a pie isn't the worst thing the Left can dish out.

How very, very disgusting!

"At 1:27 a.m. on Nov. 19, 2002, Officer David Mobilio of the Red Bluff Police Department... As he stood beside the car, the 31-year-old husband and father of a toddler was shot three times, twice in the back and once in the head, at very close range...

Beside Mobilio's dead body, someone left a handmade flag with a picture of a snake's head and the words "Don't Tread on Us."

...No station attendant on duty. No witnesses. It was a killing that might have never been solved.

That is, until a confession appeared on the Internet...

It began: "Hello Everyone, my name's Andy. I killed a Police Officer in Red Bluff, California in a motion to bring attention to, and halt, the police-state tactics that have come to be used throughout our country. Now I'm coming forward, to explain that this killing was also an action against corporate irresponsibility."

The tract -- which managed to mingle an almost chirpy tone with leftist cant -- was signed by "Andrew McCrae," later found to be an alias for Andrew Mickel, a student at a liberal arts college..."

Gowain

Moneybags Soros Funds Tom Delay Critics

It turns out that Democrat Moneybags George Soros is behind most of the attack stories about Tom Delay. A story in "The Hill", a Washington newspaper, details the efforts of these critics to smear Delay, and through association, all Republicans.

When you read, or hear, about Tom Delay and what a scum-bag he is, consider the source.

"The research shows that members of these groups’ boards have contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates and political organizations and several of their staff members have previously worked for Democrats. The groups have also accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Open Society Institute, an organization founded by Soros, who spent millions trying to defeat President Bush in last year’s election."

"Over a five-day span, ending last Thursday, TV and radio stations and print publications from around the country featured at least 290 stories either about a controversial junket he took to Scotland in 2000, his response to criticism about the propriety of that trip or his offer to discuss the matter with the House ethics committee, according to a survey. The articles by The Associated Press, Reuters, Knight Ridder and The Washington Post were picked up by news outlets around the country."

READ THE WHOLE STORY

Gowain

Reagan and Pope John Allied to Protect Poland from USSR

Just another brick in the monument that will eventually be built to honor Ronald Reagan.

After forming a close alliance with Pope John Paul II, Ronald Reagan was prepared to go to war with Russia to stop a planned invasion of Poland...

Judge William P. Clark, President Reagan's National Security Adviser (1982-1983), revealed just how close the world came to the brink of war and possible Armageddon in the early 1980s. ...

The Russians had become unnerved by the discontent brewing in Poland, a nation that had remained a Soviet satellite since Russia "liberated" her from Nazi occupation after World War II.

As early as 1981, the Reagan administration had warned both Moscow and the Polish government against taking action against Poland's growing Solidarity movement.

When the Russians appeared to be on the brink of an invasion - similar to ones they had launched to crush freedom movements in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968, President Reagan's White House made clear the U.S. would not be acquiescent again....

"We in the Reagan administration were prepared to recommend the use of force if necessary to stop such an invasion."...

Richard Allen, Reagan's first National Security advisor [was quoted as declaring] ‘This was one of the great secret alliances of all time.'"

Judge William P. Clark, Reagan's national security adviser, said that the alliance between the two men emanated from a shared common view on the nature of the Evil Empire.

"The pope and the president shared the view that each had been given a spiritual mission - a special role in the divine plan of life," Clark told NewsMax. "The two men shared the belief that atheistic Communism lived a lie that, when fully understood, must ultimately fail."

Both also shared the remarkable experience of almost dying at the hand of an assassin - and miraculously surviving the ordeal....

In the end, however, Soviet domination of Poland and Eastern Europe ended, along with the Soviet Union itself, without a shot being fired, thanks to the alliance between Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II - an alliance formed between two men who understood the evil nature of communism and knew how to bring it down.

89 Allegations Against Shiavo Sealed

I wonder if we will ever know the whole story? Not if Judge Greer has anything to say about it!

"Florida's Department of Children and Families had received nearly 90 allegations that Michael Schiavo had abused his wife in recent years - but a Florida judge ruled yesterday that DCF summaries of those allegations must remain secret.

The St. Petersburg Times and the Tampa Tribune had filed suit for the release of the abuse summaries, which covered 89 reports - the Times said Friday.

But state Judge George Greer ruled Friday the records belong to DCF, and although Terri Schiavo's husband can have access to the abuse files, the records cannot be made public, The Associated Press reported.

During a hearing Thursday, just hours after Terri Schiavo died, DCF attorney Jennifer Lima-Smith asked Greer to keep its records sealed, saying, "It's time to end this case."

Just a few weeks ago, however, the agency was pressing for a full-blown abuse probe.

In the petition filed with Greer's court in early March, the DCF asked him not to remove Schiavo's feeding tube until the agency could investigate 34 pages of materials documenting allegations of abuse, the Orlando Sentinel reported at the time.

The DCF petition said the materials were sent to its abuse hotline on Feb. 18 and Feb. 21, and by law, the agency had to conduct an investigation. "The allegations in the abuse reports go to the heart of whether abuse, neglect and/or exploitation has been perpetrated by the guardian [Michael Schiavo]," the DCF's 10-page petition said, according to the Sentinel. The allegations were based partly on bone scans showing Terri Schiavo suffered fractures, as well as statements she made to family and friends that she was unhappy in her marriage, the AP reported Friday.

Responding to allegations of abuse in 1992, Michael Schiavo told the Tampa Tribune: "I've never, ever struck a woman, especially my wife. I was raised better than that." He called the abuse allegations "utterly ridiculous," suggesting instead that Terri's injuries may have been caused during physical therapy sessions."

Newsmax.com, 4-2-2005

THE NEWSMAX VERSION

Gowain

64 Days Ago, John Kerry Promised to Sign Form 180...

As of this morning, he still has not signed it.

Terri Schiavo, In memorium