IMPEACH NOW!

Morning mist on a river

Spring has sprung!

After a couple of warm days in the high 70 to high 80 range, the crocuses are in full bloom, the forsythia and daffodils are popping and the skunk cabbage is pushing out of the ground.

Life is good.

Pelosi speaks, Lieberman persona non grata

U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman may call himself a Democrat, but anyone at the big shindig thrown Friday by the Connecticut Democrats who denied him their nomination last summer would be hard pressed to go along with the senator.

As hundreds took their seats at the 59th Annual Jefferson Jackson Bailey Dinner in Hartford - the state Democratic Party's largest fundraising event of the year which featured an address by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi - two giant video screens flashed candid pictures of prominent party leaders who hold federal, state, and municipal offices.

The pictorial roll call also featured shots of several Democratic candidates who lost their races in the last election, including Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont, who upset Lieberman in the party primary but lost the general election when the senator ran as an independent candidate.

There were, however, no pictures of the state's junior senator and former vice presidential candidate, a development one wag compared to his being "disappeared" from the likes of the annual Politburo photos published by the former Soviet Union.

Lieberman, who did not attend the fundraising dinner because of his customary observance of the Jewish Sabbath, also was notably absent from the long list of party leaders cited in Democratic State Chairman Nancy DiNardo's welcoming remarks.

That roster began with former Gov. William A. O'Neill, who also was not in attendance, ran through each of the state's constitutional officers, legislative leaders, and current and former members of Congress, and even included Lamont, whose mention was greeted with a standing ovation and loud cheers.

Meanwhile, Democrats who can usually be counted on to deliver pithy remarks on practically anything proved especially reluctant to make on-the-record comments about Lieberman.

There were, however, several private and consternation-laden conversations about how Lieberman, a fervent supporter of the war in Iraq, had just scolded Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid for saying that the war has been "lost."

One politician, a former state officeholder who has remained active in the campaigns of several Democrats, even volunteered that he had recently met with a "major fundraiser" for Lieberman who was angry that the senator had become more hawkish since their last meeting.
U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, who backed Lamont after he bested Lieberman in the primary, responded when asked about Lieberman's remarks that "the policy is a failed one," that there could be "no military solution to the civil war in Iraq," and that what was needed instead was "a surge in diplomacy."

He added that the American people were ahead of the country's politicians in their opposition to the war and that the troops deployed in Iraq "don't believe" the conflict is winnable.

Ah ha ha ha ha Lieberhousie : nobody loves you anymore!

*crossposted at The Fat Lady Sings

pResident Bush, Tear Down That Wall!!

U.S. walls off Baghdad neighborhood

By THOMAS WAGNER, AP

BAGHDAD - U.S. soldiers are building a three-mile wall to protect a Sunni Arab enclave surrounded by Shiite neighborhoods in a Baghdad area "trapped in a spiral of sectarian violence and retaliation," the military said.

When the wall is finished, the minority Sunni community of Azamiyah, on the eastern side of the Tigris River, will be gated, and traffic control points manned by Iraqi soldiers will be the only entries, the military said.

~ snip ~

It said the concrete wall, including barriers as tall as 12 feet, "is one of the centerpieces of a new strategy by coalition and Iraqi forces to break the cycle of sectarian violence" in Baghdad.

~ snip ~

As work continued Friday, the day of worship in mostly Muslim Iraq, several Sunnis living in Azamiyah welcomed the effort to improve their security, but said the wall was another sign of the deep hostility between Sunnis and Shiites.

"It is good from one hand to curb violence and have control of terrorists. But it's bad on the other hand to be separated from others. We should live in one area like brothers, not be separated from one another," said Bashar Abdul Latif, a 45-year-old teacher.

"I don't think this wall will solve the city's serious security problems," said Ahmed Abdul-Sattar, 35, a government worker. "It will only increase the separation between our people, which has been made so much worse by the war."

The first Administration to see the need to wall the United States off from our neighbors to the north and south, all the while pushing forward with a plan to build a huge superhighway straight from our Mexican border into the heart of the Midwest, is building a wall in Baghdad. Divide and conquer. Make darn sure that the Iraqi people have no shred of a chance to form a cohesive nation.

Funny, they didn't need any walls before we got there...

*read the whole article here

**Cross posted at The Fat Lady Sings

Ted Rall on Imus

Ted Rall, in his column "USE THE FIRST AMENDMENT--BUT NOT IN PUBLIC" this morning defends Imus' loyal audience's right to listen to him. Normally I pretty much agree with his point of view, but this time I think he's barking up the wrong tree.

The Blacklist epitomized the McCarthy era of the late 1940s and 1950s. Actors, directors, screenwriters, and other Hollywood professionals were refused employment by the major studios due to their alleged left-wing sympathies, real or imagined. There was government pressure, but never government censorship. It was purely economic.


Sorry, Mr Rall, this time it doesn't hold up. McCarthy went after people with little or no evidence, and with the weight of the United States Government behind him.

Imus said what he did on We The People's airwaves, and what he said was inarguably misogynistic and racist. With the rising tide of rape worldwide, respect for women should be one of the foremost memes to be fostered. Our media is long overdue for an injection of respect and civility. Imus was the first, and I hope he's not the last. It's time to tell the racist, misogynist bigots on the airwaves to cease and desist.

You can read the whole column here

Flood Update

The ride home last night was hairy. We made three approaches to a certain area, and were turned back. Two washed out roads, and a tree down over powerlines. The last way to get into the area was thankfully clear, and we ended up happily ever after...

Carpool approach # 1 : washed out.

Carpool approach #2 : Washed out

The geese seemed to be having a great time!

Flood

I was driving to work today after listening to it storm all night, and came up to where the road was under water. Now, I know all that stuff about not driving thru swamped places, esp if the water is running across the road. Luckily, there was a car not to far ahead of me who witnessed a car not to far ahead of them cross the water safely, and they went safely, so I followed. Not too bad. I stopped to take a pic, and the car behind ME turned back.

the pre-flood view is here

Pet Diaries Revealed

*Recieved in an email, no attribution*


Excerpts from a Dog's Diary:

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!


Excerpts from a Cat's Diary


Day 983 of my captivity. My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Bastards! There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return.

He is obviously retarded.

The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now...

Republicans Speak

" Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration."

~Abraham Lincoln, the first President of the United States to use the power of the federal government in support of striking workers.

hattip: Thom Hartmen, Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class - And what we can do about it.

The Iraqis Could Make Us Leave.

After watching their demonstration of a few days ago, I came to the conclusion that they could actually make us leave. If a majority of Iraqis simply took to the streets every day, peacefully and with serious intent, holding up signs saying "Yankee go home", it would take only a matter of weeks, surely not months, until we would be forced by internal and world opinion to withdraw.

Think about it: Ghandi did it to the biggest and most thorough empire the world has seen, the Iraqis could do it to us easily.

"Successful movements are built on passion, they aren't built on guilt," he said, predicting that environmentalism was reaching a "tipping point" where it will move into the mainstream.

Political penguins

"Your political base will melt away as surely as the polar ice caps," he said. "... You will become a political penguin on a smaller and smaller ice floe that is drifting out to sea. Goodbye, my little friend! That's what's going to happen."

Good on you, Governator!

Schwarzenegger didn't mention that before signing the state's landmark bill he sought to weaken it in favor of business interests and threatened a veto if Democrats didn't cede to his requests. He says those changes were merely a difference of opinion with legislative Democrats over how the goals could be achieved.

Uhhh, yeah right!

click here to read the whole article.

Blogging on the Fly

I couldn't resist this idyllic spot.

Promise of summer's long days and warm weather. Another month and we'll be warming, snow and rain for tomorrow.

Our CT Naqtional Guard is coming home!

Snow on the Pumpkin

When I went out to the car this morning, I found it with a little fresh snow and ice on it.

Hubby opened up the pond this weekend, and the goldfish that we started in there as 10 cent feeders are now as big as bass! Fat and sassy this year, even coming off their long fast.

The scattered flakes were still floating down as I drove to work.

UPDATE: Holy Moley, it's almost 4 pm, and it's snowing again!! Big thick flakes, falling faster and faster. So far, no sticking. Whew.

"I do fully understand the anguish people go through about this war," Bush said about adviser Matthew Dowd, who has deserted him. "It's not just Matthew. There's a lot of our citizens who are concerned about this war. But I also hope that people will take a sober look at the consequences of failure in Iraq. My main job is to protect the people, and I firmly believe that if we were to leave before the job is done, the enemy would follow us here."

Sir, I sincerely wish you had thought about that BEFORE you bullied your way in there, over the objections and against the advice of your betters.

And, if your "main job is to protect the people" then instead of sitting on your thumbs there in the White House, maybe you could look into the many and varied ways our nation is now vulnerable, and do something constructive about that.

[Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot. It's Bushco I'm talking to.]

Cancel that last - please continue sitting on your thumbs, sir.

(we don't need any more messes!!!)

A Stream in the Woods

My ride home takes me past this stream. The other day it was so warm and sunny for a change, I stopped and took some pics.

It will be a few more weeks before the skunk cabbage is up and the threat of snow is over. Right now, all that's green is the moss and evergreens.

I just love the sight and sound of rushing water.

* click on the pic for a larger view.