Who: MLWers/Kossacks/BooTribbers/Street Prophets/Political Cortexians desirous of the company of kindred spirits and willing to find their way to Sherman Oaks, California.

What: PARTY: My Left Wingers, Kossacks, etc. in Southern California, general vicinity of the Valley/Hollywood/Spitting Distance Thereof...

Where: Chez MSOC

When: Saturday, January 28th, Noon... ish

How: Email eugene for directions and contact numbers.

Why: Because eugene is visiting our fair environs and when someone comes to town we have a motherfucking party, that's why.

Your charming host will be along shortly in the comments.  

According to Evan Thomas' Newsweek report this is what happened:

A debate over "federalizing" the National Guard had been rattling in Washington for the previous three days. Normally, the Guard is under the control of the state governor, but the Feds can take over--if the governor asks them to. Nagin suggested that Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, the Pentagon's on-scene commander, be put in charge. According to Senator Vitter, Bush turned to Governor Blanco and said, "Well, what do you think of that, Governor?" Blanco told Bush, "I'd rather talk to you about that privately." To which Nagin responded, "Well, why don't you do that now?"

See more of the quote after the break:

again.

I wanted to update on this, if it hasn't been, these forgotten ones in New Orleans, the one's that have gone to an official shelter site and have not been given food nor water, until finally this evening some shows up, they are the last of the people who went where the government told them too and finally got something to drink and eat, tonight, nearly 5 days from the storm.  

But, they just want the hell out of there and they aren't getting the buses.  When they do get there to bring food, the MSNBC reporter asks, "Why so long?"  And the guy answers with a bristle, "How long have you been out here?"  To which I think the reporter says, "longer than you..."  

(originally titled mundanely, "I love this community".) I've been wanting to share my own feelings about the state I love, Louisiana.  Well, the culture and people.  Not everything.  Thinking maybe I could impart why the drowning of this culture rich, historic city, is so wrenching.

Yes, besides the obvious, the torture he approved and defended.  He'll go one better, or worse, up to and including defending the very immoderate Priscilla Owens, whom he disagreed with while on the court in Texas,  all in service to George W. Bush.
Gonzales Defends Priscilla Owens

I don't think Alberto Gonzales' record as judge in Texas tells what we need to know about whether him potentially being a Supreme Court justice is enough.  Rather what he will defend tells us everything that we should fear about whether we would get justice or injustice from the rulings of "Supreme Court Justice Alberto R. Gonzales."

It's not a matter of being so blinded by gruesome approval of torture that you wouldn't sacrifice that for the betterment of all with a "moderate" on the court, although, that's a good enough reason to oppose him to me.

You can't do all three and even get your most ardent supporters to applause.  Well, I'm not really talking about those in the audience at Ft. Bragg being coaxed into applauding.  I'm talking about people like McCain and Warner.  Anybody seeing them on CNN would know just what a flop this speech was.  Flop in the sense that it did not serve it's purpose of reassuring a restless country or a battered country or the world that watches.

More after the flip

And other cow pods.

And what to do when it's one of our own that got it all over his/her shoe.

I want to refer everybody to a refresher course on debate tactics. Lean Left, Annoying Debate Tactics

Reminders about the strawmen, the "la la la, I can't hear" you tactics.  Mowing people down, outshouting them is only statisfying to me  when it's filled with our own righteous, "How Dare You?" collective, unified outrage.  We do need to hear each other though.  

More after the flip

Well, that's the dumb argument from Will the poll guy at CNN.  Yeah, he's perfectly stupid, has a gift for stating the obvious, so much so that little kids could summarize his little tidbits of political expertise, but I think I heard the dumbest conclusion so far.

Woman, Pie Fightin', and what Dean said....

I see a parallel somewhere in all of these things.  I'll meander here and try to string it all together.

First, of all, I'd like to thank Miss Devore again for her tribute to the "Dkos Ladies of the Canyon".
It was a great thread of woman recognizing each other.  It also gave a lot of us a chance to see that some of those non-gender specific screennames are women!

More after the break

over the state of the union, the state of the opposition...Well, mostly Harry.

More in extended.

to that keeps giving...

I didn't believe I could bear to come here today.
I knew I couldn't watch the news.  I certainly knew I couldn't bear to watch Kerry's concession speech.  I didn't want to cry.  I didn't want that too to be a part of their victory. I have only read part of it, couldn't finish reading it, still can't watch it.

We really can't mix up the perfect one, so let's not even try.

It wasn't "flip flop" it wasn't "too liberal" it wasn't "nobody likes him" it wasn't his being a senator or his senate record, it wasn't the swiftboat liars.

We all know what it was now and no Democrat could have won.  Not one that I could support anyway....

So we shouldn't place too much credence in whether or not luck is on anyone's side.  But, you know, a lot of people noticed what a lucky guy Bill Clinton was.  Luck just followed him around and beamed sunshine on his face and people sensed that his good luck would be our good luck, too.  Kerry seems to have some of it, too, though not so much as Clinton.

But who's got the bad luck?  George W. Bush.  

More in exteneded:

from the evening news.

How do we explain this to the children?!

Used to be all we had to explain was "oral sex" and a "semen stained dress" between consenting adults and blessedly there were no pictures.  And there was no end to the lementing from the "decent folk" that they were being forced to have to talk about this.  

Now, what?  How do you explain this demented behavior?

"Well, Jill, we went there to free a country and things have gone the way of Jack, tumling down the hill.  

Little Lynndie was in the wrong place at the wrong time, sorta the way her friend Little Red Riding Hood once was, when the big bad Wolfawitz and his friend little pig number three, aka Dickie Cheney, who huffed and puffed and blew the old guards in the jail down then installed new guards who kept telling Wolfy he had big teeth, and beady eyes, and big hands, my they were big, to which Wolfie kept saying, 'The better to torture prisioners with,....or least get someone else to do it since he was busy looking for a vase for that one flower somebody gave him.

Meanwhile, Little Bo Peep, otherwise known as the other George, not the Georgie Porgie who kissed the girls, the one that kept losing his sheep and never could account for anything.

Condiocks will save them all, though, surely.  Stealing soup isn't so bad as stealing dignity or autonomy, but she'll tell them that the president feels really really bad about it all, 'Here, shake my hand at let's get back to liberating this place from the tyrants.'"