The new desaparecidos

[Lindsey]

We have another group of "the disappeared" under this administration: disappeared information, that is, information that was once public and now no longer is. Here's the latest entry in that list (http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002290.php). (See the end of the linked message for a link to the complete list to date.)

Impeach them. Now.

--Lindsey

[Judy G. Russell]

We have another group of "the disappeared" under this administration: disappeared information, that is, information that was once public and now no longer is. Here's the latest entry in that list (http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002290.php). (See the end of the linked message for a link to the complete list to date.)

Impeach them. Now.Dear Lord... will January 20, 2009 ever get here????

[Lindsey]

Dear Lord... will January 20, 2009 ever get here????
Not soon enough!

--Lindsey

[Judy G. Russell]

Not soon enough!I'm afraid you're right... I'm not sure the damage done these past few years can ever be corrected.

[Lindsey]

I'm not sure the damage done these past few years can ever be corrected.
That's my fear, too. Things were pretty well on track for getting Social Security under control, and then wham! Bush blew the surplus and ran the deficit back up to record levels. And now we have that much less time left before the baby boomers begin to retire. Continued denial of the global warming problem may have pushed us past the tipping point. 2007 is predicted to be the warmest year on record. And we are approaching a much more dangerous nuclear situation than anything we faced during the Cold War, when people were building fallout shelters in their back yards.

Not to mention that we are now seen as the Evil Empire by much of the world. Heck, I confess that I have come to think of the US that way, too. I want my country back!

--Lindsey

[Judy G. Russell]

I want my country back!I wish I thought that was possible. I look at Dennis (6 next month) and Duncan (3) and wonder what life will be like for them when they are my age. Will there be anything left of the America I grew up so proud of?

[Lindsey]

I wish I thought that was possible. I look at Dennis (6 next month) and Duncan (3) and wonder what life will be like for them when they are my age. Will there be anything left of the America I grew up so proud of?
We'll just have to fight very hard to try to get it back. But I am much more optimistic than I was two years ago.

--Lindsey

[Judy G. Russell]

We'll just have to fight very hard to try to get it back. But I am much more optimistic than I was two years ago.I am too. I have the sense that 2008 is for us to lose, not for them to win.

[Lindsey]

I am too. I have the sense that 2008 is for us to lose, not for them to win.
I think the presidential election will be close, but I think Democratic prospects for increasing their majorities in Congress are very good.

--Lindsey

[Judy G. Russell]

I think the presidential election will be close, but I think Democratic prospects for increasing their majorities in Congress are very good.A lot will depend on whether the Democrats savage each other, rather than the opposition, en route to the presidential election.

[Lindsey]

A lot will depend on whether the Democrats savage each other, rather than the opposition, en route to the presidential election.
The Republican Party tends to go with an annointed leader. That's not the way the Democratic Party normally works.

Frankly, I don't like the way the primary system has evolved at all. It has become so horribly front-loaded that it only serves to reward the candidate with the early name recognition, good early press, and (most especially) the early advantage in fund-raising. It doesn't do a very good job of picking the best candidate.

--Lindsey

[Judy G. Russell]

The Republican Party tends to go with an annointed leader. That's not the way the Democratic Party normally works.This time, at least, neither party has an anointed leader. Both of them have slugfests waiting ahead, I suspect.

Frankly, I don't like the way the primary system has evolved at all. It has become so horribly front-loaded that it only serves to reward the candidate with the early name recognition, good early press, and (most especially) the early advantage in fund-raising. It doesn't do a very good job of picking the best candidate.I remember as a kid and as a teenager, watching all or part of the nominating conventions on TV -- and not knowing who would be nominated. These days, pffffffft. It's all decided shortly after Iowa.

[Lindsey]

This time, at least, neither party has an anointed leader. Both of them have slugfests waiting ahead, I suspect.
Yes, that's quite possible. It looked for a long time early on that McCain was going to be the annointed one for the Republicans, but he seems to be on the wrong side of the popular sentiment with his support for Bush's surge. And the other candidates, in both parties, are eager to wrap that lead weight around his neck. If McCain's out, the Republican contest should be very interesting. And none of the front runners, even with McCain in, are too very well liked by the conservative evangelicals in the Republican base.

I remember as a kid and as a teenager, watching all or part of the nominating conventions on TV -- and not knowing who would be nominated. These days, pffffffft. It's all decided shortly after Iowa.
Exactly. And I think that is a bad thing. The public doesn't get a chance to properly evaluate a candidate before the contest is all over but the shouting. And more often than not, it seems, you're left with two people that nobody much is terribly enthusiastic about. No wonder people don't bother going out to vote.

--Lindsey

[Judy G. Russell]

Yes, that's quite possible. It looked for a long time early on that McCain was going to be the annointed one for the Republicans, but he seems to be on the wrong side of the popular sentiment with his support for Bush's surge. And the other candidates, in both parties, are eager to wrap that lead weight around his neck. If McCain's out, the Republican contest should be very interesting. And none of the front runners, even with McCain in, are too very well liked by the conservative evangelicals in the Republican base.Looks like the right-wing may push that guy from Kansas, Sam Brownback. And he is scary:

Brownback defines himself as a social conservative, joining staunch Senate conservatives such as Rick Santorum, and Tom Coburn on issues of social legislation. He cites former Senator Jesse Helms as a model. He favors teaching intelligent design alongside evolution, is strongly pro-life, having referred to the amount of abortions in the United States since Roe v. Wade as "a holocaust" He opposes legalized abortion even in cases of rape and incest: "Rape and incest are horrible crimes, but why punish the innocent child?" Brownback was a co-sponsor of the Constitution Restoration Act, which would have sharply limited the power of federal courts to rule on church/state issues. The legislation had little chance of passing, but it served to rally support from religious conservatives. Brownback told "Rolling Stone" that he chairs the Senate Values Action Team, an off-the-record weekly meeting of representatives from religious conservative organizations founded by former Representative Tom DeLay.

With the departure from the Senate of Rick Santorum, Brownback is the leading opponent of what he has termed the "homosexual agenda," same-sex marriage and other legislation favored by gay rights organizations. He is in favor of an amendment to the Constitution banning not just same-sex marriage but civil unions. Brownback told "Rolling Stone" that Sweden was an example of how gay rights could hurt a nation.ULP! Talk about going from the frying pan into the fire!

[Lindsey]

Looks like the right-wing may push that guy from Kansas, Sam Brownback.
And even Brownback is not behind Bush's "surge" strategy. But Brownback is pushing yesterday's agenda. I can't see that going far in 2008.

Brownback told "Rolling Stone" that Sweden was an example of how gay rights could hurt a nation.
I'd love to know just what he had in mind. Meanwhile, the US is an example of how Christian fundamentalism can hurt a nation...

I heard last night that former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore has thrown his hat in the ring, too. Geez, just when I was breathing a sigh of relief that Allen had been knocked out of the race. :mad: But I can't see Gilmore exciting much of a national audience. And it's not like he has a particularly impressive record as governor to run on.

Gilmore won the Virginia governorship in 1997 after achieving a reputation for law-and-order toughness as the state's attorney general and by promising to end the state's hated annual tax on cars. During his one term, he waged a bitter fight to save his tax cuts despite worsening economic times. Virginia governors are barred from serving consecutive terms.

His never-give-up style attracted the attention of President Bush, who made him chairman of the Republican National Committee for a year in January 2001. Before the Sept. 11 attacks, Gilmore chaired a national commission on terrorism, warning that the nation was not ready for attacks.

But Gilmore's tenure in the RNC was rocky as he feuded with some of Bush's top advisers. And Democrats and some Republicans blamed his tax cut fervor for the state's financial difficulties in the years after he left office.
And we still have the "car tax," too. In fact, it's worse now because it's a lot more complicated than it used to be.

--Lindsey

[Judy G. Russell]

The plethora of candidates who have announced on the GOP side encourages me to think that -- if the Democrats run the risk of savaging the party with internecine warfare leading up to the selection of a candidate for President -- the Republicans are in exactly the same condition.

[Lindsey]

The plethora of candidates who have announced on the GOP side encourages me to think that -- if the Democrats run the risk of savaging the party with internecine warfare leading up to the selection of a candidate for President -- the Republicans are in exactly the same condition.
And I think they have already begun, if the treatment of Mitt Romney by Republican conservatives is any indication. The depressing thing is: I don't see anyone in either party that I'm particularly excited about.

--Lindsey

[Lindsey]

We have another group of "the disappeared" under this administration: disappeared information, that is, information that was once public and now no longer is.
The latest installment in the catalog of suppressed information:

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002323.php

--Lindsey

[Judy G. Russell]

The latest installment in the catalog of suppressed information:

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002323.php
Can we say "Congressional subpoena," boys and girls?

[Judy G. Russell]

And I think they have already begun, if the treatment of Mitt Romney by Republican conservatives is any indication.Exactly and imagine what they'll do to Rudi "pro-choice and otherwise moderate" Giuliani...

The depressing thing is: I don't see anyone in either party that I'm particularly excited about.Agreed, but I keep hoping...