Republicans for Impeachment? Well, Shut My Mouth…

My friend Falstaff, aka Ralph Lopez left me a notice over on the BuelaHuh? page which struck my attention in that he claims that there are actually Republicans wanting Congress to do their duty and impeach what are obviously crimes against humanity and our Constitution (not to forget our moral beliefs). He includes several action items that make sense (and I have actually done some of them already) and an invite to an upcoming hearing (I just hope they actually ‘hear’ something) on the subject.

What do you think? Are these truly Republicans, not reTHUGlicans? There is a difference, you know.

Hi Buelahman! here is our latest press release, big news breaking…

NATIONAL IMPEACHMENT NETWORK

Come to DC for this Historic Moment: “Hearing on the Imperial Presidency of George W. Bush”

Contact NIN DC action coordinator: cynthia_papermaster@yahoo.com if you’re coming from outside the DC area.

July 22-24 “Impeachment Lobbying Days”, House of Representatives

July 25

9 a.m. “Choose the Constitution” Press Conference & Rally

Rayburn Building, Independence Avenue

10 a.m. Hearing on the Imperial Presidency of George W. Bush

House Judiciary Committee, Rayburn Bldg, Rm. 2141

“Rumor has it there are two panels being planned for the hearing, one consisting of Kucinich and four other members of Congress (Jane Harman, Walter Jones, Brad Miller, and Maurice Hinchey), and the other consisting of five non-Congress Members (Elizabeth Holtzman, Bruce Fein, Frederick Schwartz, John Dean, and Bob Barr).” ADS

For information about the rally and hearing, as well as possible camping or housing arrangements (subject to occupancy) in D.C., check here: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/hearingday

The Office of the Judiciary is expected to post a video of the hearing on their website: http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/calendar.html

Actions to Take from Home

PLEASE take as many of these five actions as possible to:

· ensure that Judiciary Committee members attend the July 25 hearing

· urge the members to vote to hold impeachment hearings based on the evidence presented July 25

· insist on media coverage of the hearing

Huge thanks to Pat Thomas, Melbourne, Florida, for the following action list

If you feel that patriotism and concern for the world-at-large requires your vigilance and active participation as an American, join me in working every single day for the near future on the impeachment debate. This IS a small, small window open right now… Remember that power yields nothing without our demanding it!

1. Contact every member of the Judiciary and insist that they attend the hearing! The hearing is on a Friday and they usually don’t work on Fridays. http://judiciary.house.gov/about/members.html

Faxing is absolutely worth a try. If you wish to email them in one fell swoop, do so here: http://judiciary.house.gov/about/contact.html

If you wish to leave a comment on voicemail, the Democrats’ House Judiciary Office is Phone: 202-225-3951 and the Republicans’ is 202-225-6504. Don’t omit the Republicans, even if you contact them last. NINE House Republicans (contrary to the minority leadership’s strategy) voted to send Kucinich’s latest impeachment proposal, H.Res.1345–which stated that Bush had lied to Congress to get authorization for his invasion of Iraq–to the Judiciary Committee: Brady (TX), Gilchrest (MD), Walter Jones (NC), Manzullo (IL), Tim Murphy (PA), Ron Paul (TX), Reichert (WA), Christopher Shays (CT), and Mike Turner (OH)!

2. Call your Representative (congressional switchboard: 1-800-828-049 to urge him/her to call for FORMAL hearings in the Judiciary to follow the “preliminary” hearing of July 25 (preferably to *begin* prior to the commencement of the August recess 2 weeks after July 25). Ask him/her to sign Kucinich’s resolutions to impeach Bush (H.Res.1258 and H.Res.1345). (Thus far, Wexler [FL-19], Woolsey [CA-6], Barbara Lee [CA-9], Hinchey [NY-22], Baldwin [WI-02], Farr [CA-17], and Towns [NY-10] have co-sponsored H.Res.1258 and Wexler [FL-19] and Barbara Lee [CA-9] have co-sponsored H.Res.1345.)

3. Send an “official” email to your Representative via Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s impeachment petition

http://impeachment.kucinich.us/petition/

4. Contact the mainstream media and demand that they start NOW to report on the impeachment issue and that they cover the July 25th hearing! Write a letter to your local newspaper. Email / call national media outlets. Here’s one list for contact info: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=111%20http://www.rense.com/mediacontact.htm

5. SPREAD THE WORD as much as you’re willing and humanly able to do… Make sure that at least your fellow Americans have heard about the July 25th hearing to discuss the actions of President George W. Bush; perhaps they’ll be interested in contacting their Congress person, etc. Talk with friends and neighbors. Email people you know. Share your opinion on internet blogs and websites that allow comments.

10:00 a.m. Room 2141, Rayburn Building, Washington DC

http://judiciary.house.gov/news/071708.html
———–
articles:

Executive Privilege, Why Aren’t They Hollering “Cover-up?”
http://www.opednews.com/articles/2/Executive-Privilege–Why-A-by-Ralph-Lopez-080718-195.html

Nine Republicans Break Party Ranks: Send Impeachment Article to Judiciary for Hearings
http://www.opednews.com/articles/24-Republicans-Vote-for-Im-by-Ralph-Lopez-080716-139.html

————

Conyers Announces Hearing on Imperial Presidency

Congressman John Conyers
For Immediate Release
July 17, 2008
Contact: Jonathan Godfrey (Conyers)
http://judiciary.house.gov/news/071708.html

(Washington)—Today House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. announced that, on July 25, the House Committee on the Judiciary will hold a hearing on the Imperial Presidency of George W. Bush and possible legal responses.

“Over the last seven plus years, there have been numerous credible allegations of serious misconduct by officials in the Bush Administration,” said Conyers. “At the same time, the administration has adopted what many would describe as a radical view of its own powers and authorities. As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I believe it is imperative that we pursue a comprehensive review commensurate to this constitutionally dangerous combination of circumstances. Next Friday’s hearings will be an important part of that ongoing effort.”

The Committee is expected to examine a range of legal and legislative responses to allegations of administration misconduct and their expansion of executive branch power.

Since the beginning of the 110th Congress, the Committee has conducted extensive oversight into allegations of misconduct by the administration, including: (1) improper politicization of the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorneys offices, including potential misuse of authority with regard to election and voting controversies; (2) misuse of executive branch authority and the adoption and implementation of the so-called unitary executive theory, including in the areas of presidential signing statements and regulatory authority; (3) misuse of investigatory and detention authority with regard to U.S. citizens and foreign nationals, including questions regarding the legality of the administration’s surveillance, detention, interrogation, and rendition programs; (4) manipulation of intelligence and misuse of war powers, including possible misrepresentations to Congress related thereto; (5) improper retaliation against administration critics, including disclosing information concerning CIA operative Valerie Plame, and obstruction of justice related thereto; and (6) misuse of authority in denying Congress and the American people the ability to oversee and scrutinize conduct within the administration, including through the use of various asserted privileges and immunities.

The July 25 hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in room 2141 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Additional information, including witness participation, will be announced next week.

##110-JUD-071708##

AT&T Owns the Democrats

So the Democratic National Convention has sponsors and guess who is providing the nice bags for all the bullshit trinkets that are given out? You guessed it. The same one that owns the Dems and has reason for paying them all off for their cover up of crimes they perpetrated with the most hated Republican president of all time.

Yes, people, this company owns the very ones you vote for and the hypocrisy in this bag is overwhelming to me. I suppose they will simply stuff them with $100 bills and hand them out in gratitude for the congressional complicity in the raping of America’s freedoms.

On another note, the convention is being held at the Pepsi Center. So who is advertising on the other side of the bag?

That is almost funny, if it wasn’t so infuriating.

h/t Glenn Greenwald

How To Handle A Rabidly Uninformed Bushie Tool On Iran

Of course, when it comes to Bushies, they are also found across the pond. George Galloway wiped up the congressional floor a few years ago (hardly even heard on the TV) and now lays out precisely what will happen if Iran is attacked on this video presented by BrassCheckTV this morning.

Richard Noggin Saturday: Stephen Payne and ‘Contacts’

h/t ThinkProgress.

Cutie-pie Dana Perino tells us there is ‘nothing to see here’. Just like every other activity this administration is involved with, it takes lawyers and law suits to get to the bottom of it (and is a good way to lie and deceive the American public with obfuscation).

How many contacts does Stephen Payne actually have in high-falutin’ politics? Let us count the ways:

No, rednecks. Of course there is no concern about this guy that ‘might’ have met the president over the years. Nothing to be concerned with here, is there?

Well, maybe there is something to be concerned about and it cost him his job (altho this is more likely to be CYA of the Bush Admin).

Now which district is it that needs a corrupt US Attorney? (Last video h/t goes to wehadrons)

FISA Law: No Public Value

B’Man: I pointed out earlier that these Dems were complicit and following the money was the best course of action. However, Glenn Greenwald also notes that their complicity stems from even deeper motives (actually knowing about the illegal activity and NOT saying anything to begin with).

Just the type of thing a bank robber or any criminal would like to achieve: change the law after the crime… to FIT the crime. Both THUGS and Dems are a part of this coverup.

I think they’re simply waiting to see if the public’s interest will wane and we’ll see that tomorrow, because this bill has, quite literally, no public value for citizens or civil liberties. It is reverse engineering, though the type of thing that the Bush administration is famous for, and now the Democrats are doing — that is to change the law to conform to past conduct.

It’s what any criminal would love to do. You rob a bank, go to the legislature, and change the law to say that robbing banks is lawful. . . .

This is a very frightening bill. What people have to understand is that FISA itself is controversial. This court issued tens of thousands of warrants granted applications for surveillance without turning down any. Only recently did they turn down two. . . . What you’re seeing in this bill is an evisceration of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. It is something that allows the president and the government to go in to law-abiding homes on their word alone, their suspicion alone, and to engage in warrantless surveillance. That’s what the framers that drafted the Fourth Amendment wanted to prevent. . . .

Well, there’s no question in my mind that there is an obvious level of collusion here. We now know that Democratic leadership knew about the illegal surveillance program almost from its inception. Even when they were campaigning about fighting for civil liberties, they were aware of an unlawful surveillance program as well as a torture program. And ever since that came out, the Democrats have been silently trying to kill any effort to hold anyone accountable because that list could very well include some of their own members.

And, I’m afraid this is Washington politics at the worst. And, so, I think that what you’re seeing with this bill is not just caving in to a very powerful lobby, but also caving in to sort of the worst motivations on Capitol Hill since 9/11. You know, the administration was very adept at bringing in Democrats at a time when they knew they couldn’t refuse, to make them buy in to this program, and now that investment is bearing fruit.So, of course key Congressional Democrats who were made aware of these illegal torture and surveillance programs are going to protect the Bush administration and other lawbreakers. If you were Jay Rockfeller or Nancy Pelosi, would you want there to be investigations and prosecutions for torture programs that, to one degree or another, you knew about? If you were Jane Harman, wouldn’t you be extremely eager to put a stop to judicial proceedings that were likely to result in a finding that surveillance programs that you knew about, approved of, and helped to conceal were illegal and unconstitutional?

When President Bush and Vice President Cheney celebrated the signing of the new FISA bill at the White House along with Jay Rockefeller, Steny Hoyer and Jane Harman (see the wonderful photos here), they weren’t just celebrating with the political officials who helped protect them from consequences for illegal acts. They were celebrating with those who were participants in those acts, and who were therefore just as eager for immunity and an end to judicial proceedings as Bush officials themselves.

Everybody trying to kill everybody!Just another day on earth.

I am confident that at any given time, in any given country– someone is attempting to assassinate someone. This whole thing brings to mine the Spy vs. Spy in the old Mad Magazines.

 

http://www.680news.com/news/local/article.jsp?content=20080718_064837_3876

Police thwart plot to assassinate

President Bush in Israel

 

Friday, July 18, 2008 - 06:48 AM
By: 680News staff

Jerusalem - Security officials have foiled an alleged plot to assassinate U.S. president George W. Bush.

Six young men were taken into custody and held as suspects by police for the time being.

Four Palestinians and two Arab Israelis have allegedly contacted Al-Qaeda through the Internet to discuss the best way to kill the U.S. president during one of his two visits to Israel earlier this year.

One of the men had taken cell phone pictures of the helipad where Bush was to land, but their plot never got off the ground.

 

 Les dessous de l’information

mondiale-Downside World News

 

 

Russian Agents Foiled plot by CIA/MI6 to

Assassinate Putin..The payback is in pipes!

March 16th, 2008

Breaking: Russian Agents Foiled plot by CIA/MI6 to Assassinate Putin..The payback is in pipes!

 

 

Moscow AP
March 16, 2008

 

RUSSIA’S secret service foiled an assassination attempt on President Vladimir Putin in Red Square on March 2, the day of the presidential election, the Tvoi Den daily reported yesterday. The newspaper did not cite any sources, but gave a detailed account about the arrest of a Tajik national with a sniper rifle in a raid on a rented apartment near Red Square just hours before Mr Putin was due to give a speech there. The Federal Security Service could not immediately comment on the report. Tvoi Den, a popular daily, often prints exclusive reports on Russian politics, citing unnamed officials. An informant told FSB officials a few days before the election that Mr Putin’s assassination was being planned and that an apartment had been rented on the other side of the river from the Kremlin for the purpose, Tvoi Den said. Security officers raided the apartment at 8pm Moscow time on March 2 and detained a 24-year-old Tajik national with a “whole arsenal of firearms” including a sniper rifle and a Kalashnikov assault rifle, the paper continued. About three hours later, Mr Putin and his ally Dmitry Medvedev, who won the March 2 election by a landslide, walked out of the Kremlin onto Red Square and gave victory speeches at a concert there to thousands of screaming fans. FSB chief Nikolai Patrushev gave a briefing last week where he said that Russian security services had foiled “terrorist attacks” during the election campaign and on election day but did not provide further details. TNK-BP raid proved connection between CIA/MI6 and two brit-educated Russian traitors with American citizenship. The payback is in pipes!

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/russian-agents-foiled-plot-to-assassinate-putin-report/2008/03/15/1205472170874.html

 http://www.newsweek.com/id/57577/page/2

Olmert escapes terror attack in Jericho

Gunmen attempted to hit prime

minister’s convoy as it made its way

from Jerusalem to West Bank city for

meeting with Palestinian President

Abbas in August, Shin Bet chief tells

cabinet ministers. PA arrests three

suspects following incident, but later

releases them. Olmert: Assassination

attempt shall not be ignored. Fayyad:

We’ll draw all the possible lessons

from the incident

 

Ronny Sofer Jerusalem News 7-16-2008

A group of gunmen affiliated with Fatah attempted to hit Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s convoy as it made its way from Jerusalem to Jericho for a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on August 6, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin told the cabinet ministers Sunday morning.  Israel learned of the plan from intelligence information received several days before the visit. The attack was eventually thwarted by the Shin Bet and the Palestinian Intelligence Service headed by Tawfik Tirawi. Following the incident, the Palestinians arrested three suspects, who were later released, according to Israeli officials. Two other cell members are being held in Israel.  On Sunday, Israel filed an official complaint with the Palestinian Authority following the suspects’ release.  Israeli security sources expressed their anger over the release, which took place “after these terrorists’ involvement in the foiled attack was made clear.”  Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad confirmed Sunday afternoon that the PA arrested a number of suspects after receiving intelligence information from Israel, but that they were released due to lack of evidence. “We are studying the incident and plan to do our best to restore the order in the region,” Fayyad said at the start of a meeting with Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik at Jerusalem’s King David Hotel. “We will draw all the possible lessons so that a similar incident does not repeat itself in the future.” The meeting between Fayyad and Itzik was originally scheduled to take place in Jericho. Itzik explained why she decided to go ahead with the meeting after consulting the Shin Bet.  There are elements who are trying to sabotage the diplomatic process. This is not something new. We believe that the Palestinian prime minister and Abu-Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) and the group of moderates in the PA wish to advance a process with the State of Israel. Therefore, despite the severe incident we were informed about this morning, we shall go ahead with our meeting.” The Knesset speaker added that “the prime minister himself decided to continue with the talks. We must not halt the talks due to the incident, although I view it as extremely severe, and I imagine that the State of Israel will demand an explanation.”  Olmert’s visit to Jericho on August 6 marked the first official visit in seven years by an Israeli prime minister to the Palestinian Authority. “I feel great discomfort over the Palestinian pattern of behavior in this case,” Prime Minister Olmert said Sunday before leaving on an official visit to Europe. “We shall not ignore this. The inappropriate way in which the suspects were handled is part of a pattern which must change.”  The prime minister made it clear, however, that he was determined to continue the negotiations with the Palestinians and had no intention of cancelling his participation in the Annapolis peace conference.  Shortly after the initial report on the foiled attack, Ynet learned that the plot to assassinate Olmert was originally planned for June 6, when the prime minister was first scheduled to meet with the Palestinian president in the PA territories.  The cell included five members who were involved in terror attacks and previous failed attacks in the West Bank. The information was disclosed to the PA, which arrested three of the cell members. The other two were detained by the IDF and the Shin Bet. Israeli officials claimed Sunday that the PA released the three suspects, whom Israel claims are members of the Palestinian security organizations, on September 26. The three, Ynet was told, admitted to the plot before they were released.

Livni: Assassination attempt extremely severe

 ”We view the assassination attempt as extremely severe,” Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said during Sunday’s cabinet meeting. “We have made this clear both to (US Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice and to the Palestinians.” Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter was not surprised by the incident.  “The plot to assassinate the prime minister is a classic example of the Palestinian Authority’s ’so-called’ policy of fighting terror. The Palestinians arrested Fatah members who were questioned and admitted that they had planned to target the Israeli prime minister, but released them anyway,” he said.  Shas officials praised the Shin Bet for thwarting the attack. “We have received more proof that the Annapolis conference should be turned into an economic meeting. With such a temporary feeling of security we cannot advance on the diplomatic channel,” they said. “A thousand workplaces are worth more than a thousand guns. Workplaces will create security, compared to guns which will stress the lack of security.” Right-wing politicians said that “the moderate leader” Abbas revealed his true colors. The Yesha Council responded, “The release of Fatah terrorist who attempted to assassinate the prime minister from the Palestinian prison, shortly after their arrest, proves that Abu-Mazen (Abbas) is implementing the ‘revolving door’ policy in the PA, which leads to arrest of murderers and terrorists for several days, followed by their release and return to terrorism. “It has once again been proven that Abu-Mazen is Abu-bluff. Letting him control the Judea and Samaria hills is like handing over the territory to Hamas. This will blow up in our faces.”

Palestinian official rejects claims

“We view with severity the fact that the Palestinian Authority released the cell members it had arrested,” a source in the Prime Minister’s Office said Sunday morning. A Palestinian security source told Ynet that as far as he knew, the plot did not develop into a real assassination attempt. “These were at the most talks by an activist or a group of activists,” he said. The same source noted that the territory was under full Israeli security control, and therefore the Israelis did not need the Palestinians in order to arrest the cell members. The Israelis detain people in Jericho almost every week, the source added. The incident did not disrupt the Olmert-Abbas summit in Jericho, as well as the meeting which followed.  Although the incident was kept a secret until now, it appears to have prevented additional visits to Jericho by Israeli officials. Israel’s claims that the PA released the terrorists involved in the assassination attempt may now harm the relationship between the two sides ahead of the US-sponsored Mideast peace conference. Members of Shas and right-wing parties called on Olmert to reconsider taking part in the Annapolis conference following the incident. Ali Waked, Amnon Meranda, Attila Somfalvi, Efrat Weiss and Neta Sela contributed to this report

Bush: Total Failure

I’m not Pelosi fan and I personally believe she is but a shade better than Bush. But I commend her for calling out the idiot-in-chief who is so full of hypocritical bullshit only a fool Bushie Tool would disagree with her.

h/t C&L

Freaky Sex Friday: A Song For The Ladies

And Dawg says white men can’t rap…

Show Me Your Genitals

by Jon Lajoie

American Jewish Attitudes Towards Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

From Alternet, Attackerman (Spencer Ackerman) posts the findings of a J-Street poll with results that fly in the face of the neocon AIPAC agenda. This proves one crystal clear point: the AIPAC lobby and the neocon leadership of America (and Israel) are at odds with most Jews.

Poll on American Jewish Attitudes Finds They’re Liberal, Hate Bush and Want Israel-Palestine Deal

J Street, The pro-peace/pro-Israel/pro-Palestine Jewish lobby just released a monster of a poll on American Jewish political attitudes. The takeaway: we’re liberal as hell; we hate Bush; we know Bush has been a disaster for Israel; we’ll support any peace deal the Israelis make; and the only thing we’re uncomfortable with to that end is giving East Jerusalem back to the Palestinians.

Let’s go down the line. Seventy-four percent of us view Bush unfavorably and 83 percent of us disapprove of his job performance. While 76 percent of the country as a whole says the U.S. is on the wrong track, an astonishing 90 percent of American Jews say the same. Only 21 percent of us approve of the Iraq war and only 29 percent think Bush is good for Israel, and those are clearly the shmucks that kissed ass in Hebrew school and snitched when the rest of us used the synagogue phone booth and cloakroom to make out or get high.

When asked if the U.S. should or shouldn’t actively broker Mideast peace, it broke down 55 percent for U.S. involvement and 30 percent against. J Street, the menschen, took that a step further and examined support for the hard choices peace requires. “Even if it meant the United States publicly stating its disagreements with both the Israelis and the Arabs?” Yes — 75 percent; no — 25 percent. “Even if it meant the United States exerting pressure on both Israelis and Arabs to make the compromises necessary for peace?” Yes — 70 percent; no — 30 percent.

In terms of negotiating positions for an Arab-Israeli settlement, 59 percent agree that Israel will need to “withdraw from most of the West Bank and dismantle many of the Israeli settlements.” Another 58 percent agree that for full peace with Syria — and an abandonment of their support for Hamas and Hezbollah — Israel should get out of the Golan. Only 44 percent, though, endorse the statement that Palestinian East Jerusalem should be part of the state of Palestine. And while that’s the only non-majority position among American Jews for what can fairly be called the dovish line, 44 percent is still a substantial amount of support.

J Street’s poll supports its contention that the attitudes of most of us are far, far out of whack with what this country’s self-appointed Jewish leaders — the Joe Liebermans, the AIPACs, the Sheldon Adelsons, the Commentary magazines — say we’re about and what we’re actually about.

WTF Thursday: Urine A Whole Lotta Trouble Now

Jonathon Turley posted this today. Truly, WTF is wrong with people?

Urine a Lot of Trouble, Mr. Patton: Ohio Man Arrested for Collecting Boys’ Urine for Personal Consumption

If you ever wondered why we needed a catch-all criminal mischief provision, Allan Patton, 56, has the answer. Patton shut-off the urinals at the Hilliard West Municipal Pool in Ohio and inserted cups so that he could drink the urine of boys. He suffers from what is known as urophilia - which either means being really really crazy or having a sexual fetish involving urine — or both. The case, however, does present a novel issue of the appropriate criminal charge.

Patton is on home confinement pending trial. Previously, Patton was escorted out of the restrooms at Dublin’s Sports Ohio, where he was lurking.

The key to charge here would be tampering with the urinals, presumably. The interesting aspect of the crime is that urine is discarded and, therefore, trash and valueless. The Supreme Court in cases like Greenwood held that owners have no expectation of privacy in their trash. My guess is that he also did not cause damage to the urinals by merely shutting them off. That leaves trespass and criminal mischief. The problem with the latter charge is precisely its advantage — it is very ambiguous so that it can be used in a wide range of cases.

He is a registered sex offender so he can likely be charged for simply violating court orders on staying away from areas frequented by children. This is not some harmless guy with a disgusting fetish. He previously was sentenced for assaulting boys.

For the full story, click here.

MPP-TV Profiles in Marijuana Reform with Jim Hightower

From Alternet:

Jim Hightower on Pot — Sharing His Thoughts on Pot, That Is

Marijuana Policy Project

Watch the Marijuana Policy Project’s Profiles in Marijuana Reform interview with author and national radio commentator, Jim Hightower in the video to the right. This is a project of MPP.tv.

Here’s more from the MPP; its quick FAQ –
Marijuana: Myths vs. Reality

Myth: There is no scientific evidence proving marijuana’s therapeutic qualities.

Reality: In a White House-commissioned 1999 report, the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine declared that “nausea, appetite loss, pain, and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting and all can be mitigated by marijuana.”

Myth: Marijuana’s potential health benefits are insignificant compared to the damage caused by smoking the drug.

Reality: Marijuana need not be administered by smoking: It can be taken in food, tea, or through a smokeless vaporizer. Furthermore, a 2006 study by a leading pulmonologist, Dr. Donald Tashkin, found that even regular and heavy smoking of marijuana does not lead to lung cancer.

Myth: Allowing the medical use of marijuana will send the wrong message to children and lead to more youths using the drug.

Reality: In the 10 medical marijuana states that have before-and-after data, studies have unanimously shown that not only has youth use of marijuana not gone up overall, it actually has declined since medical marijuana became legal.

Myth: Marijuana is a gateway drug to harder substances, and therefore medical marijuana use will lead to dangerous drug use.

Reality: In science, the distinction between cause and correlation is a crucial one. A White House-commissioned study by the Institute of Medicine found that marijuana “does not appear to be a gateway drug to the extent that it is the cause or even that it is the most significant predictor of serious drug abuse; that is, care must be taken not to attribute cause to association.” Moreover, claims about marijuana being a gateway make no sense in the context of medical marijuana: Patients often use marijuana instead of highly addictive prescription medicines like morphine and Oxycontin. Medical marijuana is a safe alternative for patients whose other options are not as reliable or effective.

Myth: Supporting medical marijuana is politically risky.

Reality: Across the country and with increasing frequency, public opinion polls show that support for medical marijuana is popular and steadily rising — and cuts across demographic and party lines. A 2004 AARP poll showed that 72% of seniors support medical marijuana, and a 2005 Gallup poll found that 78% of Americans support “making marijuana legally available for doctors to prescribe in order to reduce pain and suffering.” Compassion and relief from suffering are nonpartisan issues that all legislators can — and should — support.

Hysterical Raisins

Nonnie at Hysterical Raisins does some really funny work. The Grievance Project had a h/t for her and now I subscribe.

Oh, kids! Didya see it? Of course, I am talking about The New Yorker magazine cover! From ABC News:

The sophisticates at The New Yorker have come up with a cover that is sure to get the magazine a lot of attention. Negative attention. From their friends.

An illustration by Barry Blitt depicts Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and his wife Michelle in the Oval Office, revealing their “true” selves: Michelle is in full revolutionary garb, an enormous afro making her look like a millennial Angela Davis, holding an automatic weapon and wearing military pants.

In the cartoon Michelle is giving dap, or fist-bumping, with her husband who is wearing a turban and is dressed in garb perhaps more appropriate for a madrassa in Lahore than the Oval Office.

A painting of Osama bin Laden hangs above the fireplace, where the American flag is being burned.

Well, you know me, kids! I am always here to help out! I don’t want the people at The New Yorker working too hard. In the spirit of fairness, I thought Captain Underpants and his botoxed recipe stealing Stepford lovely wife, Cindy Lou, should have a super-cool cover, too, so I created one! Hey, The New Yorker! You have my permission to use this one….

George Bush’s March Down Insanity

Gotta travel today so posting from me will be limited. But I thought I would at least share this video of Scott from BrassCheckTV (they done gone and sent me another good one). He explains that a war with Iran will be far different than a war with Iraq. He lays it out quite simply, if we bomb Iran, we WILL use nukes and it will fail. And IF we bomb Iran, we need to choose which city we want gone, for they will not stop until NY, Seattle, Chicago, whatever is bombed and gone.

What An Attack On Iran Will Look Like

Consequences

Bush continues to push for an attack on Iran.

He is goaded by the Israeli War Lobby, the “religious” right, and other assorted domestic fascists and lunatics.

Iran is not Iraq.

Iran is a bigger country, a better armed country and a much more socially cohesive country than Iraq ever was - or could be.

Iran is PERSIA, a society with thousands of years behind it. Iraq was a glued together set of random kingdoms.

Iran is a country that has the ability to fight back and fight back massively.

As in Iraq, the weapons of mass destruction claim is a total fraud - and yet to war we go.

McCain is all for it. He can’t wait. Obama is being artfully vague about his intentions.

And then there’s Bush and Cheney. They still have nearly six months left to put the final bullet in the back of America’s head before they go.

Eight years ago, who could have ever imagined this insanity?