Where’s the Outrage?

I’ve taped a small picture of the late Russian President Boris Yeltsin next to my computer. I’ve done so as a reminder that even the most flawed human beings can accomplish some good things.

After Yeltsin’s death last month, I read how Yeltsin cried after visiting a Houston supermarket. He was shocked at the food Americans could purchase in comparison to the then Soviet Union. Yet Yeltsin is the same person who later became enamored with the perks of his office and rode around in big cars and lived in a huge lavish house.

Yeltsin is an outsized example of what most of us are to a varying degree—Imperfect individuals with many decent impulses.

Tags: Other Political Thoughts by Texas Liberal
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Al Sharpton has an interesting Black figure. He has supported the Black cause and at times seems to be out to promote Al Sharpton. So, the other day, he was debating believe in God with Christopher Hitchens who does not believe in God. His new book is God is not Great: How God poisons everything.

Here’s what Sharpton said, “As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don’t worry about that; that’s a temporary situation.” The Romney camp responded with the vigor that one would expect from a Republican. Sharpton tried to explain himself, “What I said was that we would defeat him, meaning as a Republican. A Mormon, by definition, believes in God. They don’t believe in God the way I do, but by definition, they believe in God.”

Is Sharpton a bad guy? Is he the same as Imus? Sharpton like Imus has a history of running his mouth. He says too much to make his point. He goes out on a limb. I don’t know. Below is the video. You decide.

 

 Sharpton Romney [2:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Party Politics, Religion by ecthompson
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You can take this for what it is worth but NBC reported yesterday that 11 GOP congressmen meet with Bush and told him that there needs to be change in Iraq.  Well, look at the video and you make your own decision.

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From WaPo:

House Republican moderates, in a remarkably blunt White House meeting, warned President Bush this week that his pursuit of the war in Iraq is risking the future of the Republican Party and that he cannot count on GOP support for many more months.

The meeting, which ran for an hour and a half Tuesday afternoon, was disclosed by participants yesterday as the House prepared to vote this evening on a spending bill that could cut funding for the Iraq war as early as July. GOP moderates told Bush they would stay united against the latest effort by House Democrats to end U.S. involvement in the war. Even Senate Democrats called the House measure unrealistic.  (more…)

 

 Nightly News - Bush losing GOP support [2:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Bush Administration, Iraq, War on Terror by ecthompson
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10 months before the 8 US attorneys were fired, there was a US Attorney in Kansas City who was handed his walking papers. Performance. Well, may not performance. Sound familiar?!?!?

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo has been way out in front on this story. He followed it from the Randy Cunningham story (remember the disgraced representative Randy Cunningham? Well, Carol Lam was the prosecutor. When she was given her walking papers, Josh thought that something smelled funny.)

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From TMP Muckraker:

Eleven months before seven US Attorneys were fired on December 7th, 2006, former Kansas City US Attorney Todd Graves received a call from an official at the Executive Office for the U.S. Attorney telling him he was fired. Graves announced his resignation less than two months later on March 10.

Justice Department officials would later tell Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) that Graves had been dismissed for “performance” issues, according to Wednesday article in the Kansas City Star. But that’s not what Graves was told at the time. According to a source with detailed knowledge of the conversation, Graves was told that his removal was not based on his performance as a prosecutor, but that it was simply time to let someone else have a chance at the job. (more…)
 

Tags: US Attorneys by ecthompson
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Why? Do they not know what to do? Do that not hear American news? If they don’t watch TV or listen to the world news or read newspapers, don’t they take Bush’s calls. Bush has said on a number of occasions that he talks to the Iraq leadership all of the time. So, why is Cheney over there? To put them in a headlock?

From WaPo:

Vice President Cheney flew to Baghdad on Wednesday to urge top Iraqi officials to move as quickly as possible toward a political reconciliation between Sunni and Shiite factions, whose bitter divisions underlie much of the country’s violence.

Cheney, in an unannounced visit to the well-guarded Green Zone, met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani and other leading Iraqi government and military officials. (more…)

 

 Cheney in Iraq [3:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Bush Administration, Iraq by ecthompson
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I start off with the a musical tribute to Virginia Tech.  We spend most of this show on Alberto Gonzales.  His behavior and his answers deserves closer inspection.  I asked Bill Scher from Liberal Oasis to join me and we discuss Alberto.  How did these US attorneys get on the hit list?  I personally feel that these attorneys were placed on the hit list because they were not partisan hacks.  That’s the problem.  We also discuss the Supreme Court Decision to ban partial birth abortions.  Conservatives have been working for over 30 years to get in this position.  They have been writing and forming societies to discuss conservative philosophy.  Now, they have a Supreme Court where 4 or 5 judges support and believe in this philosophy.

Remember I’m on iTunes and several other podcasting services.

 

 The Errington Thompson Show 4-21-07 [51:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Domestic Issues, Podcasts, US Attorneys by ecthompson
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