iUSA

Well, if we see President Obama sporting a black turtleneck over the weekend, perhaps that will signal the Apple has purchased the U.S. Government.


 


U.S. balance now less than Apple cash

Steve Jobs is now more liquid than Uncle Sam


[snip]


As Republicans and Democrats continue to work towards a compromise to the country’s debt ceiling crisis, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday that Washington now has a total operating balance of only US$73.768-billion.


Meanwhile, Apple currently boasts a cash reserve of US$75.876-billion, as of its most recent quarterly earnings report at the end of June.

 


If that happens, I, suppose, we'll all be mandated to purchase iPhones (which will help streamline the iLocater program), and changes will include download apps for things like Social Security Checks, Food Stamps. and such.


And Jobs can scratch the plans for building his new spaceship office, as, no doubt, he'll move straight into the White House, incorporating the Apple logo into the Presidential Seal.


Welcome, to the good ol' iUSA!

DUH!

We haven't, until today, riffed at all on the faux Hatfield-McCoy battles of the Debt Ceiling debacle.


 


The Dems blew their chances for this to be a no-brainer last year, when they held all the cards.


The Party-of-Noicans want us all to fight over potato rations and dirty rain water, unless they get what they want, which is an end to Medicare and Social Security.


Lassie's friend, Little Timmy is warning the sky is falling.


Krugman is standing on a chair, screaming at the top of his lungs, but nobody in Congress or the White House is listening.





Mommy Moose is threatening The Crying Man, that she'll kick his ass (and knock out all his teeth for mumbling about it) if he caves to the Dems.


So, it took Matthew Yglesias, today, to give a proverbial "Head-Slap" to everybody 

Surveying the scene, perhaps everyone should take a deep breath and recall the traditional way the country has avoided default when the debt ceiling needs raising: Congress raises the debt ceiling.


It’s that simple. The same kind of “clean” debt ceiling increase that’s passed repeatedly over the past 100 years will allow the country to avoid default without tax increases, without defense cuts, and without slashing entitlement spending. Education will be spared. So will transportation, health care, farm subsidies, and everything else. The interest rates investors are charging the American government to buy our debt are extremely low right now. The world economy is suffering from an excessive demand for American debt, not by reluctance to lend. All we need to do to keep our finances flowing is to raise the statutory debt ceiling. At some point, things will change, and we may face a crisis that requires bipartisan dealmaking and “tough choices.” Right now, though, the only crisis we face is an entirely self-created one. House Republicans wanted to create a hostage situation to force President Obama to propose steep spending cuts. But when Obama came to the table with a proposal for steep cuts, it turned out that Republicans don’t actually want to sign a bipartisan deal. Which is fine. Don’t sign a deal! The absence of a deal in no way forces a crisis. Just raise the debt ceiling, fight the 2012 elections, and pick up the long-term budget issue then.


The world has plenty of problems on its plate right now. The long-term U.S. structural deficit isn’t one of them. The expiration of the Treasury Department’s borrowing authority is one. And the latter problem can be solved without addressing the former.

Naw, that's too easy ...


The new date now is August 2nd for the Economic Meteor to make it's fiery crash, which means we have nearly three-weeks for all this bullshit to continue, before, either Obama gives us more of that Hope & Change, and the Dems cave to the Party-of-Noicans, or, somebody pulls up Yglesias' post and the Lapdog media can go back to covering The Wasilla Whiz Kid (who, along with boasting she can kick anyone's ass in an election,  is aghast now over the price of Slim Jims).


Let's hope we don't have to bring Joe Gideon out for a curtain call;


Bye Bye Life - "All That Jazz" 1979

Top Ten Cloves: Surprises On First Day of GOP Majority In Congress

News Item: In House, new Republican majority plans to act fast to undo Obama's agenda

10. Representative Steve King (R-IA) insists on having title of House Majority Idiot

9. Republicans hire Rulon Gardner to taunt out-going Democrats as "The Biggest Losers"

8. To save time, GOP Majority insists all floor speeches need to be a Twitter-like 140-characters, or less

7. First Bill - All members need to be as tanned as new Speaker of the House, John Boehner

6. New Majority Whip Eric Cantor challenges King as to being House Majority Idiot

5. Swearing in new members is delayed, as newly-elected Tea Party Congressmen show up with misspelled signs and shout down the speaker

4. New Speaker of House Ceremony delayed - Gavel keeps slipping out of Nancy Pelosi's hand due to it being soaking wet from John Boehner's crying

3. Michele Bachmann got so excited with having the Majority, she gets confused and starts investigating herself for Anti-American activities

2. Big confusion - Tea Party Members thought they were reading The Constitution, but, due to error, actually are reading leaked cables by WikiLeaks

1. LeBron James shows up, announces he's "Taking his talents to the Congress"

Bonus Links

Igor Volsky: Will Republicans Be Able To Defund Health Reform?

Jack Stuef: Michele Bachmann To Defeat Obama, Be First Female, Banshee President

Kathleen Hennessey and Tom Hamburger: Tea party' freshmen embrace status quo - After campaigning against D.C.'s ways, new Republican lawmakers quickly turn to lobbyists and fundraisers

Pat Garofalo: House GOP Repeatedly Promised $100 Billion In Spending Cuts That It Now Calls ‘Hypothetical’

An Eric Massa Cloud

Tickle Fights?... Favorite Song - In The Navy? ... "The sexual tension between Glenn Beck and Eric Massa is palpable"...Crossing The Line - Shellbacks and Pollywags ... Favorite TV Show - Bachelor Father? ... Groping Male Staffers... Cancer ... "You need any help with that, let me know" ...The Democratic Leadership Made Me Do It... Snorkling ... Do you know how awkward it is to have a political argument with a naked man?...

Oh, we could go on-and-on, piling on this riveting, public meltdown.

So, rather, we will turn it over to another - Barry Crimmins.

Crimmins' "Ticklish Times in NY-29" is hysterical, a complete rundown, but I can't say "soup-to-nuts" with this story, without breaking out in a huge grin;

That was Saturday night. On Sunday he went on his radio show and tried to explain himself. It got mighty weird. He told of how when men sleep in the same bed together they should sleep one man under a sheet, the other over it. This method helps avoid any accidental sexual contact. How about flipping a coin and the loser gets the floor, Eric? The Three Stooges were the last guys I can think of who could sleep in the same bed free of sexual overtones.

Then he told of how he ended up at a table with all 15 of the "bachelors" on his congressional staff at the end of a drunken wedding party. Massa, by the way, uses the word "bachelor" more often than a 50's movie about marriage-averse single men. Before long and due to his own loopy disclosures, it became obvious that he seeks the company of bachelors more often than say, Clifton Webb.

There's a lot more ...

Go read "Ticklish Times in NY-29"

For The Congress Today, A New Song - Bush's Place (Or C-Jam Blues)

We tried to help them, when they took over back in January, pumping them up with an anthem.

However, it appears that our Congress, and in particular, the Democratic Leadership, is tone-deaf.

We had to strongly urge Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to go table shopping... He had to attempt to wake them up from their nap... We came out and called like it was - Hypocrites, The Bunch of Them!

And yet, astoundingly, with a sitting president sitting down at Nixonian levels of popularity, the Congress, and, again as we pointed out, the Democrats, still are holding their regular meetings of The Blank Check Club.

Rather then make him sit there, in all his resplendent relevancy, they cave... They cower and shrink and cave.

The New York Times had an editorial about it today ...

We have to call on the First Lady of Jazz, Ms. Ella Fitzgerald, to take us out of the week

Snap your fingers and tap your toes (Well, musically, not that other way) to "Bush's Place (also known as C-Jam Blues - you decide what the "C" should be for).

Bush's Place

Baby! take me down to Bush’s Place,
Softest Congress in town is Bush’s Place
Love that crying sound in Bush’s Place.
Republican Minorities do their tricks in Bush’s Place,
Idaho Senators swing their dicks in Bush’s Place
Come on! Get your bills passed in Bush’s Place!

You find yourself a threat, and when you want to met,
you look around and yell, “Terrorist!”
They fill your bill chock full of amnesty and shrink up
You’re jetting along with your Condi
It’s late second term, but baby, it’s still early!
If you’ve never been to Bush’s Place,
Take your bills into Bush’s Place
You'll get what you want in Bush’s Place

Bonus Links

Listen To A Clip of Ella Fitzgerald, with Duke Ellington, Sing "Duke's Place"

Senator Chris Dodd: The Military Commissions Act. Warrantless wiretapping. Shredding of Habeas Corpus. Torture. Extraordinary Rendition. Secret Prisons. No more.

Glenn Greenwald: AT&T, other telecoms, buy victory in lawsuits

Digby: Five Card Dud

Garlictorial: The Blank Check Club

"Come visit me sometime, my boy; Even you will take off your hat when you see how respected I am there. Only the day before yesterday, they wanted to make me their legislature - the whole legislature. I don't know what they mean by that, but it must be the greatest honor the can bestow ..."

Howard (The Old Man) from ''Treasure of the Sierra Madre'

I don't think that B. Traven, when he wrote this passage, or John Huston, when he filmed this scene, had our 43rd President in mind, but they could have been visionary ... Bush & Co. might as well be "the whole legislature" (though, to be fair, Dick Cheney will have his own "whole other legislature" and not be part of the Bush & Co's. "whole legislature").

It certainly appeared that the Bush Grindhouse barked "Badges? What Badges? ... We don't have to show you no stinkin' badges" and the Democrats in Congress cowered and ran for cover.

The problem stems well beyond, and isn't solely pinned to, just the Democrats

What is, perhaps, the most astounding, and deeply troubling aspect of having both the Senate and the House voting approval of The Commander Guy's dream FISA Law, is that this Congress hasn't had the courage, the sense of purpose, to hold this administration to scrutiny and accountability - criminally so, possibly - to the repeated abuses and felony violations of the original FISA rules, and, not to mention, the Constitution.

This may be akin to a bank robber having the police take his car to the car wash, before letting him hightail it on his getaway.

The Republicans, between their fear mongering, the sky-is-exploding, and their blind loyalty to their failure of a party leader, are like the frog sitting in that pot of water, croaking happily away, before it's too late, the 2008 elections representing the boiling death slowing engulfing them.

We gave them a song last evening and now, it appears, we missed the bigger picture.

They don't have a Democrat Caucus ... What they do have is "The Blank Check Club".

And there were two, at least, of the 16 Democrats, who are writing those blank checks and who voted for the bill, that have some "splaining" to do.

Senator Jim Web (D-VA), the hard core Navy man, who dusted off the Macaca Guy and just a short few weeks ago, stuck Senator Lindsay Graham's head on a pole during an exchange on 'Meet The Press', over Graham's fantasy-based assessments of Iraq, and using "our troops" as political pawns (a subject today by Frank Rich, in his column "Patriots Who Love the Troops to Death").

And there's the pragmatic, 'Can-Do" Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO), who said she “I’m not thrilled,” to etch her vote in the Hall of Shame.

“There are some changes we need to make to make sure that American citizens are protected. But it’s a lot better than a lot of things that have been forced down this Congress’ throat right before recesses that trampled on American’s liberties.”

You're from the "Show Me" state, McCaskill, not the "It's A Lot Better Than" state.

Things that have been forced down our throats.

How's about the Democrats, such as Webb and McCaskill, elected in the 2006 wave of "things are going to be different" and promising to stand up to the Bush Grindhouse.

And what about the Democratic Leadership?

Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. She must be out measuring the length of hoses, before she starts "draining the GOP Swamp", with her co-hort, Harry Reid, seemingly, more occupied with auditioning for the role of the Captain of the Titanic.

Reid must sure like the taste of shit, because that's what Bush & Co. keep feeding him and he's only been too happy to gobble it up.

There are some that are saying today that we shouldn't worry about this FISA vote, that it's only temporary, it's only for six-months.

Yeah, right.

They have the blinders on again.

For an administration that has so thoroughly trampled the Constitution, broken so many laws and lied us into an invasion and occupation of a sovereign nation - and then double-downed to lie some more, and "surge" more troops into the conflict, that they are worried about things being "temporary" or Sunset Clauses?

Likely, as soon as Congress returns from their capitulation-soaked vacation, the Bush Grindhouse will be amping up the rhetoric to make this new FISA law permanent.

They'll be booming of "al Qaeda everywhere" and pointedly warning, "your child" and "your family" may be the next terrorist target, trotting out new plots and new twists that puts a jihadists on your doorstep, and the Democrats will, if recent history tells us anything, fall into line and slurp it up like Happy Soup.

Or, just as likely, The Decider Guy will continue to govern as he has, virtually the entire time of his stolen presidency - via Signing Statement.

And he does this because Congress hasn't stood up and exercised it's Constitutional authority.

They fume and posture over it, but they haven't called him on it.

They haven't censured him on it.

And they haven't impeached him on it.

You seem confused about Impeachment, Madam Speaker.

Otherwise, you wouldn't have said “If I were not the speaker and I were not in Congress, I would probably be advocating for impeachment.”

Gee, what a major drag for us ... Too bad we don't have a private citizen who is in Congress and is Speaker of the House ..

Why bother coming back from vacation?

Perhaps, while you're back in district on your vacation, you'll sigh and moan, handing out some commemorative pens that you used signing those Blank Checks, falsely promising again how you're going to stop the war, how you're going to keep the Bush Grindhouse in-check.

But we know now.

The Bush Grindhouse has the Patriot Act, the new, harsh Executive Order, the Crony General running the Injustice Department, Cheney and his branch of government, and of course, the new and improved, bullet-proof FISA Law.

With his adroit use of the Signing Statement, No. 43 has got "the whole legislature" and that is the embarrassing and dubious honor you, the 110th Congress, have bestowed on the American people.

Bonus Links

Larisa Alexandrovna: An Open Letter: No more power to the Executive Ms. Pelosi. No More!

Larisa Alexandrovna: It's official, we are police state...

Meteor Blades/Daily Kos: Enough Already with the Pathetic Excuses

Video - Keith Olbermann and Jonathan Turley: Just how broad are the spying powers of the administration in the proposed terror bill and what should we be concerned about?

The Country's Brain Trust? ... Or, The Three Amigos? ... You Decide!

Top Ten Cloves: Other Conditions President Bush Has To Allow Rove and Meirs To Testify Before Congress

News Item: Indications of Obfuscation

10. Let's make it "Rock, Paper, Scissors", but I gotta warn ya, Harriet, there, has some serious puños de la piedra

9. Don't even bother trying to ask Rove about "The Math", he won't answer any of those questions

8. For every day you don't accept my terms, we'll send you another 3,000 pages

7. It will have to be like Jeopardy - You guys give the answers and then Karl and Harriet will have to answer in the form of question or be penalized

6. We won't give you Rove, or Miers, but we will let you question Lynne Cheney ... She'll have a few things to say to ya, all right

5. Questioning must be outsourced to Halliburton

4. Tony Snow will have to be in the room, when you question Rove and Miers, and, the first question you ask that makes Snow bang his head on the podium, we're outta there!

3. Leahy again ... Get Dick down here and have him deal with Leahy ... Like he did before

2. To be fair and balanced, will let Fox News host the questioning

1. Sticking to "no oath, no transcript" but will allow Congress to use pantomimes to record questioning


Leahy again ... Get Dick down here and have him deal with Leahy ... Like he did before

Developing Story! Tancredo: Shut Down Super Bowl; Says Two Black Coaches "Amounts To Segregation"

Appeals To NFL Commissioner To Make Big Game "Color-Blind"; Biden Weighs In, Backs Coaches

Pregame preparations for Super Bowl XLI came to a screeching halt today, after Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) threatened to seek a court injunction to ban the big game.

Tancredo is upset that, for the first time in its' history, the Super Bowl will be coached by two African-Americans.

On Sunday, in Miami, the Indianapolis Colts will face the Chicago Bears for the NFL Championship, led by Tony Dungy of the Colts and Lovie Smith with the Bears.

"It is utterly hypocritical for the NFL to extol the virtues of a color-blind league while officially sanctioning coaches that are based solely on race," said Tancredo.

Tancredo made his threats, to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, after reports the Congressman said were made to him, that freshman Rep. Stephen Cohen (D-TN ) could not join the coaching staffs of either Super Bowl team because he is white.

It's not clear if Tancredo is taking this action separately from his call last week, to abolish the Black and Hispanic Caucuses in Congress due to membership in the groups is based on race.

Cohen issued a statement, echoing one made by the National Review, saying "Tom Tancredo is an idiot."

Cohen states he has not applied for an NFL coaching job with Indianapolis or Chicago "or any other team."

"I plan on, like thousands of my constituents, of watching the game on television with family and friends."

Tancredo, in has call to abolish the Black and Hispanic Caucuses, cited a report that Cohen had applied for membership in the Black Caucus and was denied based on that he is white.

Senator Joe Biden (D-MD), who announced his intentions of running for president yesterday, came to the defense of Dungy and Smith, saying the first mainstream African American [coaches] who are articulate and bright and clean and nice-looking guys. I mean, that's a storybook, man."

Controversy is no stranger to Congressman Tancredo, who, in the past, has called for the United States to merge with Mexico and Canada, and for the bombing of Mecca. Rolling Stone Magazine has voted Tancredo one of the top Worst Congressmen.

Tancredo, a fierce advocate of stricter immigration laws, says that he "is angry."

The Colorado Congressman states he's asked the officials in Miami, officials in Florida, and even has been asked the White House, for some emergency funding and action to erect 7-miles of the 700-mile fence he's called for at the border, outside the Super Bowl.

"They'll be pouring into the Super Bowl," lamented Tancredo, "denying good, hard-working American citizens the chance to take a seat at the biggest game of the year."

Tancredo, when reached by The Garlic, would not confirm that he plans on halting the Super Bowl, however, he indicated that he has made arrangements for the Arizona Minutemen sit in lawn chairs outside of Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, and monitor the fans attending the Super Bowel for any illegal immigrants.













"It is utterly hypocritical for the NFL to extol the virtues of a color-blind league while officially sanctioning coaches that are based solely on race," said Tancredo.

New Bush Spying Expanding!

Nod To FISA May Signal Surge In Wiretaps, Experts Say

Bush Turns To Marx Brothers Policy Once Again; Signs Point To Coordinating Mail Reading and Eavesdropping

In a stunning reversal, not unlike one we've seen before, President Bush has abandoned his illegal domestic spying, known by the adminstration as the Terrorist Surveillence Program, and will concede oversight of his wiretapping by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

Some close to the White House say this is a "clear signal" that Bush is planning a "surge of wiretaps" to coordinate with his new Iraq policy.

The abrupt change by the White House also points towards the continuation of the President's "Hello, I Must Be Going" policy.

Back in October, the President shifted from his Keystone Cops method of operations and into the Marx Brothers, when he, and members of his administration denied ever stating "Stay The Course" or that it was the operational policy of the White House.

Surge In Iraq Needs Counterbalance With Surge In Wiretaps

"It's about time he put some lead in his pencil," bellowed Hugh P. Varicator, a consultant with the conservative hawkish think tank, “Cry Wolf”, that is said to be closely affiliated with The Project for the New American Century (PNAC), and, some say, may be an adjunct to the White House Iraq Group, or WHIG.

"We need to get those telephones calls over there, before we have to get them here, added Varicator.

"It makes sense," said Holly Martins, Publisher of Axis of Evil Illustrated, a quarterly publication, that is rumored to be a house magazine for the Project for The New American Century

"No doubt that the surge in Iraq will, inevitablly, lead to more telephone calls," offered Martins. "If he surges in Iraq, he has to balance it out on this end with the surge on the wiretapping. I don't see what all the fuss is about, he's already been doing it for nearly five-years and we haven't had a another, single attack within our borders. I say "Go for it, Mr. President, we're right behind you."

On Wednesday, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales sent a letter to the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, indicating a reversal in White House policy, saying that the warrantless surveillance program run by the National Security Agency would now follow the law set forth by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA.

The White House indicated that they are not retreating from their position that President Bush has full authority to order warrentless wiretapping, but rather new rules have made it easierm and quicker, to work within the framework of FISA.

Faced with a Democratic-controlled Congress exercising oversight, and with lawsuits pending over the warrentless wiretapping, President Bush is also not conceding ground on his hold of broad, extraordinary Executive Power, having last weeked, along with Vice President Dick Cheney, said that Congress could not stop him from sending the 20,000+ surge troops to Iraq.

A Bigger Plan In The Pipeline?

Other sources have told The Garlic that the White House's sudden shift to allow the secret surveillience court oversight on their wiretapping goes towards a larger plan coming from President Bush and his recent strategy sessions.

"He set himself up to read the mail," says Dix Whitcomb, editor of the newsletter "Our Laws Are Different", "so this must be a part of that plan."

Earlier this month, through the use of his controversial use of Signing Statements, President Bush added the statement to a postal bill that the Bush Adminstration "shall construe" a section of that law to allow the opening of sealed mail to protect life, guard against hazardous materials or conduct "physical searches specifically authorized by law for foreign intelligence collection."

'It could be," added Whitcomb, "that the wiretaps gave them intelligence that there was something in the mail. Now it's a matter of coordinating the wiretaps with the mail, get a fuller picture on whoever it is they are targeting."

Yesterday, in a grilling before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales made no reference of tying the opening of mail with the wiretaps

Main Street Quiet, Fears Getting Trapped By NSA

Public reaction to the move by the White House suddenly going to the FISA Court has been muted.

In an overnight survey, The Garlic found that over 77% of those polled say they have shied away from calling or emailing friends and family to discuss the news, out of fear that they may be monitored by the NSA.

"I insisted my friend," said one participant, "to meet me for coffee - and I didn’t say where, she knew - and we talked about it whispers and hushed voices."

"I started writing an email," said another, "but I deleted it before I sent it, I didn’t want to take any chances."

When asked what message the President was sending to the American people, with his policies of eavesdropping and opening others' mail, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow sighed;

"Well, let me -- because I'm constantly being asked, what message does the President get. It's probably worth asking, what message does Congress intend to give, and who does it think the audience is? Is the audience merely the President? Is it the voting American public? Or in an age of instant communication, is it also al Qaeda? Is it Iraq? Is it players in Iraq? Is it U.S. troops? Is it people in the Gulf who want to understand whether the United States is, in fact, a partner upon whom they can depend for security even in trying times?"

Top Ten Cloves: What It Will Take For President Bush To Brief Congress On New Wiretap Plans

News Item: Spy Court's Orders Stir Debate on Hill; Some Want Documents Made Public

10. Hilary vs. Obama... Steel-Cage Match, on the floor of the Senate

9. Getting Charlie Rangel to give Dick Cheney his Congressional office back

8. Just as soon as he gets SMU to agree to have his Presidential Library

7. Shortly after he digs up enough dirt on everyone in Congress via the illegal wiretaps

6. When Paris Hilton wins a Grammy

5. The day after Osama bin Laden is arrested

4. Too Late - Already put it in a Signing Statement that he doesn’t have to tell anyone

3. Pledge from everyone in Congress that they won't call him "stupid" anymore

2. Waiting until Pat Robertson hears back from God again

1. He's going to do what Carly Simon did... There'll be an auction and whoever puts in the most money, he'll whisper it in their ear

Garlic Special - New Congress Theme Song: Across The 110th Congress

The Dittoheads and Freak Show have to be really stewing this evening.

In their, and our, lifetime, we have a DEMOCRATIC WOMAN SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE!

And the bonus of this truly historic day, is that Speaker Pelosi is merely an impeachment and heart attack away from crashing down another marble ceiling.

So, for such a festive day, the new Democratic Majority-led 110^th Congress needs a soundtrack.

And The Garlic has one for them. A little retooling of some Bobby Womack funk.

Across The 110th Congress

We had to push, we had to strive,
Doing whatever we had to do to survive.
We’re not saying that all is right,
Trying to break out of the GOP swamp was a day to day fight.

Been down so long, getting up didn't cross our mind,
We knew there was a better way of life that we were just trying to find.
You don't know what you'll do until you're put under pressure,
Across the 110th Congress is a hell of a tester.

Across the 110th Congress,
RNC trying to catch a woman speaker they think is weak
Across the 110th Congress,
Lobbyists want the junkets to go free.
Across the 110th Congress,
Still putting on all that Red State Heat.
Across the 110th Congress,
We’ll find it all with Oversight when we meet

I got one more thing I'd like to y'all about right now.
Hey Bush, there's a better way out.
Debts that choke, Signing Statements you stroke, man you're copping out.
Take my advice, it's either live or die.
You've got to be honest, if you want the troops to survive.

The party on the other side of the aisle,
Would catch hell without a GOP swamp around.
In every city you find the same thing going down,
K Street is the capital, even without DeLay the top clown

Across the 110th Congress,
RNC trying to catch a woman speaker they think is weak
Across the 110th Congress,
Lobbyists want the junkets to go free.
Across the 110th Congress,
Still putting on all that Red State Heat.
Across the 110th Congress,
We’ll find it all with Oversight when we meet

A woman speaker finally on the beat, ouh baby
Across the 110th Congress,
You can find it all the first 100 Hours.
Yes you can, oh

Look around you, just wait and see,
Look around you, we got what it takes to be.

Links

Listen To Bobby Womack and Peace

Across 110th Street

Madam Speaker!

Chopped Garlic ... Oh, The Irony

Nothing like a good rivalry to get the blood stirred up.

The Congressman-Elect Keith Ellison (D-MN) versus Congressman Virgil Goode (R-VA) took a deliciously ironic turn, as Ellison will use the Koran, formerly owned by, none other than, Thomas Jefferson, according to the Washington Post’s Reliable Sources column today, for his ceremonial swearing-in tomorrow.

You may recall, last month, Ellison drew the ire of Goode, after indicating he was selecting the Koran as his book of choice to pledge the ceremonial Oath of Office. Ellison is the nation’s first person of Muslim faith to be elected to Congress.

Goode, from the state that gave us Thomas Jefferson, along with the word “Macaca”, after criticizing Ellison, also stood by his criticism, despite calls from colleagues to back off.

With this kind of sparring going on - before the session starts - perhaps Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) can rethink her position and allow C-SPAN to place more cameras in the House. Either that, or open it up to Pay-Per-View.

Links

But It's Thomas Jefferson's Koran!

Top Ten Cloves: How Rep. Virgil Goode Believes His Letter and Comments Against Rep Ellison and Muslims Are In The Christmas Spirit

Rep. Goode is from the state that gave us Thomas Jefferson, along with the word “Macaca”.

Top Ten Cloves: How Rep. Virgil Goode Believes His Letter and Comments Against Rep Ellison and Muslims Are In The Christmas Spirit

News Item: Lawmaker Stands Firm on Quran Criticism

10. Since Ellison has already been elected, doesn’t think he’ll have to ask new Congress for a fence or wall to be built around Minnesota

9. Nothing wrong, now that there’s a Muslim in Congress, to reinforce the walls of his office and suggests other members do likewise if they want to enjoy future Christmas Holidays

8. Didn’t call or refer to him as a “Macaca”

7. As soon as he’s finished with Ted Haggard, would like to see Rep. Ellison sit down with James Dobson for some "Spiritual Restoration"

6. Denies that he said he wants, after a vote in Congress that Rep. Ellison walk around with purple dye on his finger

5. Hasn’t asked Rep. Ellison to prove he’s a good American by going out, as President Bush advocated, shopping

4. Sending new letter ... Instead of causing trouble, would like to see Rep. Ellison take his six imam constituents to the airport and sing Christmas carols

3. Wouldn’t think of defacing, in any way, the Koran Ellison will use for his swearing-in ceremony

2. Hasn’t called for any Danish cartoonist to draw anything that would insult Ellison

1. Willing to go up to Minnesota with Rep. Ellison, drop in the snow and see who makes “Snow Angels” or who makes “Snow Allahs”

Didn’t call or refer to him as a “Macaca”