Clipmarks | rmowery's Politics collection

George W. Bush is the syphilis president?

Sat, 03 Mar 2007 04:27:24 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Kurt Vonnegut's "Stardust Memory"

by Harvey Wasserman

On a cold, cloudy night, the lines threaded all the way around the Ohio State campus. News that Kurt Vonnegut was speaking at the Ohio Union prompted these “apathetic” heartland college students to start lining up in the early afternoon. About 2,000 got in to the Ohio Union. At least that many more were turned away. It was the biggest crowd for a speaker here since Michael Moore.

In an age dominated by hype and sex, neither Moore nor Vonnegut seems a likely candidate to rock a campus whose biggest news has been the men’s and women’s basketball teams’ joint assault on Big Ten championships.

But maybe there’s more going on here than Fox wants us to think.

“Well,” says Vonnegut, “I just want to say that George W. Bush is the syphilis president.”

“The only difference between Bush and Hitler,” Vonnegut adds, “is that Hitler was elected.”

Tags: vonnegut, bush, bush administration, hitler, politics

Bill and Belinda’s excellent adventure: Clintons new babe?

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 09:23:09 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.thefirstpost.co.uk

Bill and Belinda’s excellent adventure

But Clinton’s new, er, friendship isn’t helping his wife’s presidential aims, writes eric reguly

As potential girlfriends go, Belinda Stronach would rank as a true catch. She is single, youngish (she just turned 40), attractive, wealthy, impeccably well-connected and politically ambitious - glamorous in every respect. Two years ago, Time magazine listed her as one of the 100 most powerful people on the planet. The tabloids cut to the chase: they called her the "blonde bombshell" or "Bubba's blonde."

Bubba, of course, is Bill Clinton. He has been photographed with Stronach (right) several times. The sightings seem to be getting more frequent, leading to

Tags: belinda stronach, bill clinton, belinda, bubbas blonde, politics

Bob Woodward: State of Denial Video Clips

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 20:46:01 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: 60minutes.yahoo.com

Mike Wallace interviews Bob Woodward about his new book, "State Of Denial." The book reports the White House has not been honest about the Iraq war.

Bob Woodward: State of Denial

Sunday, October 1, 2006

Web Exclusive

Truth matters

Are attacks on U.S. forces increasing? » Watch Clip
View Video
41 vs. 43

Is the elder Bush tormented by the war in Iraq? » Watch Clip
View Video
Laura and Barney

The President’s determination to stay the course » Watch Clip
View Video
Keeping secrets

False claims of progress? » Watch Clip
View Video

Exclusive Video

Woodward at work

Getting the story: Exclusive excerpt of Bob Woodward's interview with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld >> Watch Clip

Players in the Iraq War

Surprise alliance » Watch Clip View Video
Replacing Rumsfeld » Watch Clip View Video

He's back » Watch Clip View Video
Sources and methods » Watch Clip View Video

Tags: bob woodward, denial, bush, iraq, war

The Cheney Presidency

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 05:18:02 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: www.boston.com

The Cheney presidency

By Robert Kuttner | August 26, 2006

GEORGE W. BUSH has been faulted in some quarters for taking an extended vacation while the Middle East festers. It doesn't much matter; the man running the country is Vice President Dick Cheney.

When historians look back on the multiple assaults on our constitutional system of government in this era, Cheney's unprecedented role will come in for overdue notice. Cheney's shotgun mishap, when he accidentally sprayed his host with birdshot, has gotten more media attention than has his control of the government.

Historically, the vice president's job was to ceremonially preside over the Senate, attend second-tier foreign funerals, and be prepared for the president to die. Students are taught that John Nance Garner, Franklin Roosevelt's first vice president, compared the job to a bucket of warm spit (and historians say spit was not the word the pungent Texan actually used).

Recent vice presidents Walter Mondale and Al Gore were given more authority than most, but there was no doubt that the president was in charge.

Cheney is in a class by himself. The administration's grand strategy and its implementation are the work of Cheney-- sometimes Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, sometimes Cheney and political director Karl Rove.

Tags: dick cheney, bush administration, vice-president, us government

Hillary Clinton: 'It's the American dream, stupid'

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 04:02:10 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: It seems this is an error:

"A lot of Americans can't work any harder, borrow any more or save any less," she said in unveiling the group's "A

I think it should be "borrow any less or save any more"

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Senator evokes husband's winning 1992 slogan

Hillary Clinton: 'It's the American dream, stupid'

DENVER, Colorado (Reuters) -- New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a possible White House contender in 2008, said Monday the Bush administration had hurt working Americans, and Democrats must offer new ideas to strengthen the middle class.

"Americans are earning less while the costs of a middle-class life have soared," Clinton told the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, a group that aided her husband Bill Clinton's rise to the presidency in 1992 but has clashed in recent years with the party's more liberal wing.

"A lot of Americans can't work any harder, borrow any more or save any less," she said in unveiling the group's "American Dream Initiative." The package contains proposals to make college and home ownership more affordable, help small businesses, improve retirement savings and expand health insurance coverage.

Monday, July 24, 2006; Posted: 9:21 p.m. EDT (01:21 GMT)

Tags: hillary clinton, american dream, politics, government, middle class, poor

Quitting politics via text message

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 15:38:56 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: news.com.com

Quitting politics via text message

Published: June 26, 2006, 5:46 AM PDT

When Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta resigned from his East Timor government posts, he did so via a mobile-phone text message. Ramos-Horta told a news briefing that he had sent an SMS (Short Message Service) message to Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, announcing his intention to quit on Sunday, and received a reply in the same format from the premier. "I explained myself in a subsequent text message," he said.

The country has been embroiled for months in a political crisis, and text messaging has emerged as the fastest and most reliable means of communication. Thousands of protesters clamoring for Alkatiri's resignation have been mobilizing themselves via SMS, and news of him stepping down on Monday spread rapidly through text messages.

Tags: east timor, politics, resignation, text message, text message resignation

Congress Moves Forward On Putting Online Poker Players In Jail

Thu, 04 May 2006 14:28:53 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: techdirt.com

Congress Moves Forward On Putting Online Poker Players In Jail

from the no-bluff dept

Those students who are upsetting professors by playing online poker while in class may have a bigger problem to deal with: five years hard time. We've mentioned this before, but many Americans who play online poker insist that the only ones at legal risk are the operators of online poker sites. The current law is ambiguous on this (and ambiguous on whether or not poker is considered "gambling"), but the Justice Department has made statements claiming that players of online poker and similar online games involving better could be committing crimes. To help clarify this, some Congressman have put forth legislation that makes these things illegal (subject to five years in jail). The bill in question has now been approved by a Congressional subcommittee. Similar bills have been put forth before and failed to get anywhere, and this one has a very long way to go before it becomes a law... but you have to wonder about any piece of legislation that would turn so many people into criminals overnight. Meanwhile, financial institutions are opposing the bill, noting that it would require them to get involved in trying to stop customers from gambling online -- an enforcement job they don't want. However, those same financial institutions are probably happy to note that the bill carves out an exemption for buying and selling stocks online -- which some people (often reasonably) do view as a form of gambling.

Tags: online poker, gambling, congress, laws, economics, politics

Iraqi leaders discuss unity government

Sun, 26 Feb 2006 05:33:31 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: How can they think that a "curfew" would be obey by anyone but the innocent. Outlaws will not abode by any rules.....

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Iraqi leaders discuss unity government

25 people killed in violence; Bush calls sectarian leaders

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- In a dramatic show of solidarity amid fears of escalating violence, Iraq's leaders from virtually all political factions met Saturday to discuss the formation of a national unity government.

The meeting included representatives of the Iraqi Accord Front, which had announced a boycott of national unity talks following violent reprisals against Sunnis.

Tags: iraq, curfew, death, war, violence, sectarian

Bolton Blasts U.N. 'Sex and Corruption'

Sun, 26 Feb 2006 05:25:25 GMT

clipped by: rmowery
clipper's remarks: Will the UN go bye-bye too>

Clip Source: wireservice.wired.com

Bolton Blasts U.N. 'Sex and Corruption'

NEW YORK (AP) -- The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Saturday that the world body is hobbled "by bad management, by sex and corruption" and a lack of confidence in its ability to carry out missions.

John Bolton also criticized the U.N.'s budget, noting that two-thirds of members pay only 20 percent of the cost.

"We find an organization that is deeply troubled by bad management, by sex and corruption and by a growing lack of confidence in its ability to carry out missions that are given to them," Bolton told an audience at a Columbia Law School symposium held by the Federalist Society, a conservative law organization.

Bolton, a longtime critic of the U.N., has been leading U.S. efforts to reform the United Nations after the oil-for-food scandal and sex scandals involving U.N. peacekeepers.

The oil-for-food program, established in 1996 with Iraq's economy crippled by sanctions, allowed Saddam Hussein to sell oil in exchange for humanitarian goods meant for his people.

An inquiry by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker found that Saddam sold oil to foreign countries in hopes of getting their support for lifting U.N. sanctions, and enriched himself by $1.8 billion through a kickback scheme. Companies and politicians essentially paid him for the right to do business, circumventing the U.N. program.

Tags: un, nations, corruption, bolton, bush

FBI seeks source of poison at U of Texas dormitory

Sun, 26 Feb 2006 04:03:58 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: today.reuters.com

FBI seeks source of poison at U of Texas dormitory

Sat Feb 25, 2006 9:41 PM ET

HOUSTON (Reuters) - An FBI-led task force is trying find out how the deadly poison ricin wound up in a roll of coins used by a student in a University of Texas dormitory, officials said on Saturday.

The chunky white powder was found on Thursday night when the student, doing her laundry in coin-operated washing machines, spilled the coins out of a paper tube onto her dorm room desk, said Theresa Spalding, medical director of health services at the university in Austin, Texas.

Ricin is not deadly on contact with the skin and must be eaten, inhaled or injected to cause harm, Spalding said.

Tags: fbi, texas, ricin, dorms, coins

Elizabeth Vargas to Go One-on-One With Bush

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 18:10:03 GMT

clipped by: rmowery

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

Feb. 24, 2006 — "World News Tonight" anchorwoman Elizabeth Vargas will sit down for an exclusive interview with President Bush, who is at a critical moment in his second term. The interview will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at the White House.

The president has been under increasing scrutiny lately, facing criticism from Democrats and Republicans over everything from the purchase of U.S. ports by an Arab company to the war in Iraq and the legal problems surrounding Vice President Dick Cheney's office.

The interview by Vargas, who has been on the job as co-anchor of "World News Tonight" since Jan. 3, will take place on the eve of Bush's trip to India and Pakistan.

The interview will cover a wide range of topics including that trip, the six-month anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and the war in Iraq. It will air on "World News Tonight" and "Nightline" on Tuesday, Feb. 28, and then on "Good Morning America" on Wednesday, March 1.

Tags: bush, vargass, interview, government

Clipmarks | rmowery's Politics collection

George W. Bush is the syphilis president?

Bill and Belinda’s excellent adventure: Clintons new babe?

Bill and Belinda’s excellent adventure

But Clinton’s new, er, friendship isn’t helping his wife’s presidential aims, writes eric reguly

Bob Woodward: State of Denial Video Clips

Bob Woodward: State of Denial

Web Exclusive

Truth matters

41 vs. 43

Laura and Barney

Keeping secrets

Exclusive Video

Woodward at work

Players in the Iraq War

The Cheney Presidency

The Cheney presidency

Hillary Clinton: 'It's the American dream, stupid'

Senator evokes husband's winning 1992 slogan

Hillary Clinton: 'It's the American dream, stupid'

Quitting politics via text message

Quitting politics via text message

Congress Moves Forward On Putting Online Poker Players In Jail

Congress Moves Forward On Putting Online Poker Players In Jail

from the no-bluff dept

Iraqi leaders discuss unity government

Iraqi leaders discuss unity government

25 people killed in violence; Bush calls sectarian leaders

Bolton Blasts U.N. 'Sex and Corruption'

Bolton Blasts U.N. 'Sex and Corruption'

FBI seeks source of poison at U of Texas dormitory

Elizabeth Vargas to Go One-on-One With Bush