Gonzo is gone...zo.

It's true, at least according to the New York Times and an unnamed official.

At 10:30 am EST Soon to be former, may already be former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will be holding a press conference, briefing, statement making session, what ever to announce something that may be his resignation.

If he can remember where he needs to be and when he needs to be there.

No word yet on his plans after leaving the office of The Attorney General. However, given his track record this blogger isn't all together convinced that he will be able to recall that he quit when tomorrow rolls around.

What seems to be clear is that the Spin machine will be hard at work making this man the victim of that evil and wasteful democrat sponsored witch hunt. I really can't wait to hear Alberto Gonzales referred to as a diligent man of the people who worked tirelessly to insure not only our safety from the Crazy Brown Boogeymen, but also to keep our valued civil liberties in place. I cannot wait to hear how he read the constitution of The United States of America every night before bed and prayed to God to give him the strength to uphold it even in the face of Liberal Terrorist Appeasers. I will smile when I read on some blog that everything he has done has been in the best interest of America and that the Liberal hatred of all things Conservative was finally too much for this brave defender of our laws. I look forward to being demonized when I politely or maybe not so politely remind our apeshit crazy brethren and sister-en on the right that the Justice Department under Alberto Gonzales' leadership has been the most ineffective and openly partisan in my life time.

It will all be fun for me as I merrily hum to myself, "Another One Bites the Dust."

I think maybe tomorrow's show will be all about Gonzo, Gonzo Gonzo.

As always, thank you for reading.

Saint Lisa Litchfield

Lost in Bonkers.

There are some opinions, comments and actions that are simply too much for my "WTF?!" meter. There are some blog entries, or Op-Eds or commentaries that leave me wondering about or fearing for the future of this country.

Now, I should know better than to spend substantial time visiting our friends at World Net Daily. However, occasionally my inclination toward mental masochism gets the best of me and I must peruse the wisdom of our ape shit crazy brethren.

Today's gem of objectivity from the Right comes to us from Jill Stanek. She wrote a wonderfully illuminated Op-Ed entitled Liberal mysogynitis. First off, bravo for creating a new world there Jill! Yes, I see what you did there.

Apparently, in Jill World, Misogyny is the Liberal's new favorite word. We use it like most people use toilet paper. And we wield the power of this new word, our favorite word, like a weapon against the pure and virtuous Conservatives.

You know who else loves the word Misogyny? The French!

Now, I do have to chuckle because Jill's arsenal of outrage includes playing the role of the Spelling Police and it's quote worthy so below is an excerpt from her well written and well proofed opinion piece.

This count doesn't include various ways the potheads have misspelled it, including misoginy, mysogyny, missoginist, misogenist, mysogynic, misogenetic, or the French derivatives mysoginie and mysogyne, because the French love the word, too.

Last week, actor Matt Damon sent liberal bloggers into cut-and-paste ecstasy when invoking the work misogynist to address comparisons made betweens spies Bond and Bourne:

You do mean word, don't you dear?

Jill then moves forward with such a stunning leap of logic it almost makes the head spin...or implode.

Of course, according to liberals, the pro-life position is misogynistic. In fact, "Anti-choice is misogyny," said blogger anodyne (which means "analgesic").

If so, this is what it means to love women in the 21st century:

• Teaching girls from pre-adolescence they cannot rise above animals to control their sexual appetites.
• Pushing the perpetual ingestion of female steroids to avoid consequences of fulfilling that appetite, of which men have more dominant drives. These steroids are so powerful our filtration plants cannot eliminate them from liquid waste, and they are causing fish in our waterways to mutate.
• Pushing mega-doses of these steroids either in a pinch after unprotected sex (for which there are no long-term studies) or to stop natural, uniquely female bodily functions that indicate good health – either a menstrual period or pregnancy.
• Promoting abortion, of which way more than half being aborted are female, causing such a gender imbalance in Asian and Third World countries, where misogyny truly reigns, that a sex slave trade crisis has emerged.
• Disparaging any studies that whatsoever indicate there may be adverse physical or emotional consequences to aborting one's own offspring. Never mind studies, these scorned consequences are simply logical since abortion thwarts nature, maternal instinct and the uniquely female power to begat human life.
• Promoting human embryo dissection for experimentation, over half of which are female.
• Paying women for their eggs for human cloning experimentation, a horde of which can only be unnaturally matured and retrieved after several weeks of injections of drugs, hormones and steroids (for which there are no long-term studies) that include estrogen, progesterone, leuprolide acetate, follicle stimulating hormone, human menopausal gonadotropins and human chorionic gonadotropin, to name some.

Oh really? Liberals do all of this? We're mutating the fishes of the sea with our Birth Control pills? We actively promote abortion? And we're directly responsible for the gender imbalances in other countries? In fact, we're so nefarious in our evil liberal ways that we've caused a Sex Slave Trade Crisis? (Jill, it is a little unclear here where you stand on the Sex Slave Trade. From this reading it seems that you're feeling pity for the poor overstocked Slave Traders.)

So we disparage studies that illustrate the emotional impact of Abortion? Well hell, we're some evil heartless misogynists aren't we?

These allegations are quite stunning, and of course Jill backs up her assertions with hard evidence...

Actually, she doesn't. What she does is fling vile and inaccurate accusations against all liberals without being able or willing to support them with anything that remotely resembles a fact.

So in Jill world, where she is president for life of Bonkers, liberals are evil criminals advocating the wholesale slaughter of pre-born girl babies and that makes us the real misogynists.

Oh my liberal friends, it looks like we have a terminal case of mysogynitis.

Although in the grand scheme of things it a much better diagnosis than having a terminal case of Psycho Stupid. Sorry Jill.

As always my friends, thank you for reading.

Saint Lisa Litchfield

You have GOT to be KIDDING ME!

The following editorialized information comes from an AP article linked at Yahoo News. You can read the full article here.

Once again the White House claims it is above the law. The most recent outrage comes as the Justice Department declares that The White House Office of Administration is not subject to Freedom of Information requests. This stunning revelation comes as a response to a lawsuit attempting to force the Office of administration to reveal any pertinent information or what it may know with regard to missing White House emails.

The Justice Department is arguing that "the Office of Administration has no substantial authority independent of President Bush and therefore is not subject to the FOIA's disclosure requirements."

"In its filing in U.S. District Court, the Justice Department said, "to be sure, OA currently has regulations implementing FOIA and has not taken the position" previously that it is exempt from the Freedom Of Information Act. To justify a change, the court papers rely on a court ruling in the 1990s that the National Security Council was not subject to FOIA. Previously, the NSC had handled FOIA requests."

It is important to note that the Office of Administration had previously been complying with and processing FOIA requests. According to the AP article last year the Office of Information processed 65 FOIA requests. So this news that they are "not subject" to the law comes as an astonishing surprise to me and probably everyone who works in the Office of Administration as well.

Is there no instance where Bush and his boys won't claim to be above the law? Is there any law that they are capable of complying with? With all this secrecy and blatant circumvention of congressional and public oversight is it any wonder that most Americans can say that the Bush presidency is worse than the Nixon presidency without even batting an eye?

Furthermore, while it is true that Americans in general have remarkably short memories there are certain things that we do not, can not and flat out will not forget. For example, we DO remember Nixon and we DO think Bush is worse. We're not going to be forgetting these escapades and attempts by this Administration to create a Unitary Executive Branch in a New American Government. We will not forget that this administration and this party have gleefully, knowingly and willfully subverted the basic tenets that make up the foundation of this great nation.

Is anyone honestly surprised at this latest refusal by the Bush White House to comply with the law of the land? Is anyone honestly surprised that the Bush White House apparently "lost" 5,000,000 emails and now is telling the American people that it does not have to explain how that happened? Is anyone honestly surprised at the growing level of open disdain that this president and his administration not only have show for the people they serve and the constitution of this great country but also the very foundation of what America stands for?

I am not surprised, but I am outraged.

I will not forget and I will continue to blog about and discuss these travesties until November 2008 and beyond. We cannot let this happen to our nation and we must work to correct the abuses that have been allowed to happen regularly under this criminal administration.

I will not forget and to borrow a line from my friend Brian Wolf host of Shakedown Street, I am not letting this go.

As always, thank you for reading,

Saint Lisa Litchfield

If ever I should be killed by a Horny Camel....

Please tell people that I was hit by a bus.

The last thing I want to see while surfing the internets from my suite at The Lake of Fire Resort and Casino is a story about what really happened.

This has to be one of the least dignified ways to die I've ever read about. So, please, I beg of you my beloved readers, listeners and friends, if you ever come across my corpse underneath a 330 pound camel...swear never to tell the truth about what really happened.

Thank you in advance for your small kindness at the time of my death.

Love and stuff,

Saint Lisa Litchfield

Rush Limbaugh: Biggest Idiot on the Planet.

We're all aware of the profound disconnect from reality that Conservative pundits, commentators and broadcasters suffer from, however, there are times when the sheer idiocy and logical dysfunction of Rush Limbaugh causes my jaw to hit the floor with a thud, the phrase "what the fuck?" to come out of my mouth in garbled incomprehension and the violent urge to throw things at my television, radio or computer screen washes over my psyche.

I don't, of course, throw things because replacing electronics is expensive and since I am one of those over-educated, elitist, under-employed liberal types, frequent replacement of my television set isn't in the budget. I digress, the point of this entry is the fact that the Pillsbury Dopeboy has struck again, this time psuedo-racist projective comparisons between NFL player, Donovan McNabb and Barack Obama.

A quote from Limbaugh on his 08-17-07 transcript, "You know what, folks? I think it's time for a new name for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, and until it changes, until the way he's being treated by the Drive-Bys changes, I'm going to start calling him "Barack O'McNabb." I'll tell you why. He's out there saying some of the most ridiculous things. McNabb doesn't say ridiculous things, don't misunderstand, but Obama is saying some of the most ridiculous, dangerous things. What he said about US troops bombing and killing civilians in Afghanistan, I really took him to task earlier this week over that, but nobody else is. He's got all kinds of statements out there that are really impolitic and irresponsible, and the Drive-Bys say, "Well, I'll tell you what he's trying to accomplish. He's trying to set himself apart from Mrs. Clinton." So there is such a desire in the Drive-Bys that Obama do well, like there is in the NFL for people like McNabb to do well, that we're going to call him "Barack O'McNabb."

Holy psycho drug addict, Batman!

But it gets better, not only does our dearly delusional Rush make asinine statements about Obama and by proxy McNabb, showing off his KKK leanings with pride, he also takes a remarkably bold and baseless potshot against Democrats in general with the following quote.

"So the Democrats have their Sunday morning debate, for which they have a large audience because Democrats usually on Sunday mornings are at home. The Republican debate Sunday morning, of course, nobody saw it because they're in church. Democrats don't believe in that, separation of church and state. If you have your political candidates on Sunday morning on TV, you can't go to church without it being a violation of the Constitution. "

Wow.

Seriously, how does he spew this excrement with a straight face? It's worse that there are Red Staters that actually buy in to this wholesale horse shit with a sage, yet sad little nod. Yup, those Godless Liberals are as dangerous to our constitution and way of life as the Crazy Brown Boogeymen.

Now let's get back to that Crazy, Inexperienced, Brown, Senatorial Boogeyman from Illinois who is uppity enough to think he could actually be president. More wisdom from Limbaugh, and by wisdom I mean racism.

"Back to Obama -- or O'McNabb, sorry, Barack O'McNabb -- "who accepts special interest money and played poker with lobbyist pals as an Illinois lawmaker, acknowledged Thursday that he swims in 'the same muddy water' that corrupts Washington, but he pledged to reform the system if elected president. Presidential rival Hillary Rodham Clinton 'doesn't recognize the problem,' Obama told The Associated Press. 'I have a bunch of friends who were state lobbyists. The fact of the matter is ... I played poker with them, so I don't think that lobbyists are evil,' said the first-term Illinois senator. 'I just think they've got an agenda and you got to be clear about that, and not pretend that they don't.'" So he's going to bring a new voice to Washington. I've never heard that position before, and then, in the New York Times. "Obama Takes Sharper Tone to the Trail" is the headline of the New York Times, and in this story it's really Michelle Obama who is going after Hillary on "truth" and the ability of Hillary to "run her own house."

Get this quote: "Even Michelle Obama presented a contrast here on Thursday as she introduced her husband in an open-air barn at the Cass County fairgrounds. She told a crowd..." (laughing) It's a joke what these people have to go through to be president. Go to (laughing) an open-air barn? What good is an open-air barn anyway? What would you put in an open-air barn? Anyway... "She told a crowd of more than 200 people that family values and trust were important in the next presidential candidate. 'Our view is that if you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House,' Mrs. Obama said." She's referring to Mrs. Clinton. "Later, she added: 'This election is about truth and authenticity. There is nothing more important than your word. Truth does matter,'" and she's being lauded for this! She's being lauded for this attack on Mrs. Clinton. She's being lauded for her little tirade the other day on how everybody is just encumbered with fear. Imagine if Karl Rove had said this. The Drive-Bys would have gone berserk. "

First, how is having friends that are lobbyists and then playing poker with your friends who happen to be lobbyists even remotely hypocritical to Obama's pledge not to take money from lobbyists, whether or not they happen to be his personal friends? Is the right so desperately afraid of the success this uppity "Magic Negro" that they have to create hypocrisy where none exists?

These guys are spending so much time trying to invalidate Senator Obama's candidacy, so much time harping on his inexperience, so much time misrepresenting his statements and positions on the issues that a sane, logical person can only conclude that Barack Obama scares the ever loving shit out of them.

Why?

Well, first of all because an Obama presidency might just do exactly what they fear the most and that is to unite this country against the politics of fear. Secondly, because an Obama presidency might reshape this country's foreign policy and take it from cowboy justice to inclusive diplomatic alternatives to war. And finally because Obama himself is the last thing this crazies on the right want a liberal to be and that is moderate. The fact that Obama is also decisive and freely expresses his opinions isn't doing him any favors with the right either.

So while Rush spews his dishonest, twisted rhetoric to his loyal audience of 25 percenters, he continues to look like a complete and unapologetic imbecile to the rest of the world and Obama comes out of the fracas looking better all the time.

So maybe I should be thanking Rush Limbaugh for giving my candidate the airtime but I won't. The positive light that shines on Obama, shines on him in spite of what the smear merchant infotainers are saying about him. Indeed, Obama shines all on his lonesome and all Limbaugh and his ilk are achieving is giving this potential president good press via the law of unintended consequences.

As always, thanks for reading.

Saint Lisa Litchfield

Why Jon Stewart is better than everyone on the planet...

This is why. Not only does he ask really good questions of Stephen Hayes, but he also answers John Gibson's (and Angry Rich's) despicable attack on his patriotism with class. Simply put Jon Stewart rocks hard.

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Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day.

Every once and so often I stumble across something that makes me want to whip out my credit card and go to town. Usually it's in response to seeing an absolutely fabulous pair of shoes, or finding a new awesome fragrance, or a great sale on clothes at some outlet. So you can imagine my suprise and to an extent my chagrin to find myself drooling over, nay, lusting over Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Cleaning Products.

CLEANING PRODUCTS??!?!?!?!???

It has taken me a little while to come to terms with this sudden bout of acute domesticity. I'm not exactly the Patron Saint of Better Homes and Gardens here, so these feelings about Mrs. Meyer's products confuse me, scare me and I have a damn near irresistible urge to seek professional help.

Any one know the number for Merry Maids?

Why am I suddenly having these difficult to control impulses to purchase Mrs. Meyer's products and actively search my home for things to clean? Because they work.

A friend recommended this website to me when I was trying to find reasonably priced green cleaning products (Not as easy as it sounds people). I'm a natural skeptic about the ability of natural cleaning products to naturally clean but I was running low on window cleaner so I decided I would give Mrs. Meyer's Window Spray a try.

I did, it worked, smells yummy (I highly recommend the Lemon Verbena flavor) and a little goes a long way. So at $4.99 for a 20oz bottle it seems pricey, (compared to Windex at an average retail of $3.99 for a 26oz bottle) however, on top of needing less of the product to achieve the same results, the product itself is a ammonia free, the packaging in recyclable and Mrs. Meyer's company is dedicated eco and animal friendly to me it is worth paying the $1.00 more for this product. I cannot wait to try the other cleaning and laundry products. If they all work as well as the window spray did my house will never be dusty with dirty windows again.

Lisa as a Domestic Goddess is a frightening thought, isn't it?

Dirty Pool by the RNC.

From TPMmuckraker.com.

"What 83 year-old William Sidwell of Queen City, Missouri found in his mailbox last week scared him. It was a letter from the Republican National Committee, but it seemed to bear grave news: "Our records show that you registered as a member of our Party in Schuyler County, MO," the letter said. "But a recent audit of your Party affiliation turned up some irregularities."

Audit? Irregularities? Was he in trouble? Were they threatening him? Sidwell went immediately to his ask his son, Dennis, a licensed public accountant, for advice. You can see the letter, and the accompanying "Voter Registration Verification and Audit Form," right here. Particularly puzzling to the both of them, Dennis told me, is that his father is a life-long Democrat."

Do the clicky, look at this fundraising letter from the RNC and come back. Go ahead, I'll wait. If you need a moment to recover from the profound shock and disappointment you must be feeling, I completely understand. I sat here with my jaw agape for a few moments myself after reading both the article and the letter sent out by the RNC.

One of the things that jumped right out at me was the Dues Payment.

"And despite several requests, you have never made a dues payment to the Republican National Committee (not even a partial payment)."

I'm going to make some assumptions based on the information that we have from TPMmuckraker. First, these seems to be a letter targeted at elderly registered Democrats. Second, the language of the letter is severe enough that Mr. Sidwell and other's like him would be led to believe that they were in some kind of trouble, or owed money to the person writing the letter. If Mr. Sidwell had not thought to ask his son he likely would have contacted the RNC through one of the avenues listed at the bottom of the first page of the letter to find out how much he owed. Keep in mind this man is in his eighties and the RNC seems to be counting on some age related confusion to garner a few extra bucks.

Now I could be wrong. The RNC could have sent this letter of intimidation out to every registered democrat they could find hoping to capitalize on the overall gut reaction before thoughtful reaction that the majority of Americans are prone to. The bottom line is that this letter is a predatory solicitation from people who neither support nor belong to their cause.

I can promise you that if the DNC had sent out this letter the Republicans would be screaming to the high heavens about how dirty and underhanded the Democratic fundraising efforts are. Just take a look at what John Gibson and Angry Rich over at Fox News Channel had to say about John Edwards "A man who whored his wife's cancer as a fundraising gimmick." I wonder what these paragons of ethical fundraising would have to say about this predatory letter being utilized by their very own GOP?

What the hell is wrong with these people? How is a letter built upon a foundation of carefully hedged fallacies and certain outright lies supposed to reflect well upon the Republican Party? How is this representative of the party of family values?

It isn't. It's just more of the same ugly, un-Christlike, hypocritical behavior.

They should be ashamed, and if you're a member of the GOP, you should be ashamed for them and calling or writing them to protest these disgraceful, deceitful and underhanded tactics. If you're party is that desperate for funds, perhaps it is time to pack it in before an angry populace runs you out of town.

As always, thank you for reading.

Lisa Litchfield

Hotter than...

It seems that it is so hot in Texas right now that Playgrounds are spontaneously combusting, at least according to an article in the Houston Chronicle.

Mulch at an Arlington playground spontaneously combusted in the Texas heat and it is possible that fires at other playgrounds may have been caused by the same phenomena.

When the Cattle start to explode, it may be time to move. Any suggestions as to where my next residence should be?

Hastert to Retire. Cue 'Another One Bites the Dust'.

You know folks, at this rate by November of '08 there will be Mitt Romney, Rudy Guiliani and some dude named Earl left to represent the Republican party.

One has to wonder why, with all the success the Republican's have enjoyed on a number of issues such as the War on Terror, National Security, the Economy, Gay Discrimination and Civil Liberties, so many Republican's are packing it in?

Could it be that reality is finally catching up with them? Could it be they know something that we don't? Perhaps, when congress reconvenes after their vacation, more examples of the Republican's "love of country" will be revealed and these yahoo's want to get out of Dodge while the getting is good?

As always, I will stay glued to the information sources while munching on some popcorn and having a beer as this era of Republican, PNAC policy continues to crash and burn.

Cheers.

Lisa Litchfield

Farwell to the Blossom, Olbermann Style.

Keith Olbermann says goodbye to the Turdblossom. It brings a tear to the eye I tell ya, a tear.

Oh wait, nevermind, it was just an eyelash.

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Cry Freedom Does Karl!

Not like that, get your minds out of the bad place!

Tonight at 7PM Central time Cry Freedom, part of The Free World Radio Network, was going to devote the entire hour to Whine and Cheese, however, given Monday's announcement by the White Whale himself Karl Rove that he would be resigning on August 31st, 2007 I've decided our hour together would be better spent discussing our favorite Turdblossom.

Three cheers for massively ugly run on sentences!

Please join me tonight at 7PM Central time for a very special edition of Moby Dick...erm Cry Freedom on The Free World Radio Network, hosted by BlogTalkRadio.

Holy Crap Guys...

MONDAY AUGUST 13, 2007

Okay, so it's been about a month since I've put anything on this blog and I keep saying that I'll be better about that...*looks sheepish* heh, um...sorry?

Now though I really have to stay on the ball. My friends at The Free World Radio Network have been busy over the course of the last month. Hans Meyer, host of Situation Awareness, has designed an awesome home page for our rag tag band of Internet Personalities. So since we're becoming legit, I should pull my weight and actually update my blog more often.

The Free World Radio Network has launched a new show, on August 11th at 11am EST the first installment of The Free World Pub went live and in color( well colorful) on The Free World Radio Network. The Reverend Damien Darko, Hans Meyer, Brian Wolf, Michael Siliman and myself gathered in a virtual darkened pub and discussed Women in Political Blogging, Religion, Materialism among other things for 60 minutes of insight and laughter. If you missed us this week, I recommend tuning in next week and listening to us live. You can also check out the archive of last weeks show by visiting www.freeworldradionetwork.net clicking on programs, scroll down to The Free World Pub and click on the link to the show page on Blog Talk Radio.

On Sunday, Brian Wolf discussed Reverend Fred Phelps on Shakedown Street and will be doing part 2 this Sunday, August 19 at 4PM Pacific where he may have participation from Fred Phelps Jr. I'll keep you posted as this develops.

I'll be resuming my broadcasts of Cry Freedom beginning tomorrow, August 14th at 7PM Central Time with a segment about Whine and Cheese. Conservative pundits and bloggers whining about the hate from the left and then gleefully cutting the cheese all over the same people they accuse of being hateful freedom bashing facists seem a bit hypocritical to you? Yeah it does to me too, so I'll be spending an hour telling you all about it.

Now that the shameless self whoring is out of the way it's time for some shameless opining.

It is hard to know where to begin with the continuing Republican disconnect with reality. I'm also none too happy with certain Democratic Congresspeople right now.

I think I'll tackle Congress and the Protect America Act today.

I was understanding when this fucked up nation remained pretty fucked up seven months after the dems took over with a very slim majority. We in the reality based community understood that there was only so much that could be accomplished with a narrow majority and a President who was hell bent on vetoing just about everything that challenged his very limited vision of the nation and yes, the world. We understood that the bitter, obstructionist Republicans led by Senator Trent Lott in the Senate would and have obstructed as much meaningful legislation as possible in order to perpetuate the myth that this was a do nothing democrat controlled congress.

I'm going to start talking about the updated Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and I'm not upset with some Democrats for the reasons you probably think.

Surveillance serves a purpose, no one can reasonably argue that it doesn't and no one can reasonably argue that FISA didn't need to be updated to include the leaps forward in technology and communication that have occurred since 1978. Reasonable people do not have a problem with this portion of the bill.

What I fail to understand is why any Democrat would vote in favor of giving a pass to acts committed by this Administration in the form of illegal, warrentless wiretapping by now saying that it is okay with their vote. I also fail to understand why any democrat would give broad and unconstrained decision making power as to what would constitute an appropriate use of the provision that allows for warrentless monitoring of communications to and from American Citizens.

In the house of representatives, there were 41 Democrats that did just this.

1. Jason Altmire
2. John Barlow
3. Melissa Bean
4. Dan Boren
5. Leonard Boswell
6. Allen Boyd
7. Christopher Carney
8. Ben Chandler
9. Jim Cooper
10. Jim Costa
11. Bud Cramer
12. Henry Cueller
13. Lincoln Davis
14. Artur Davis
15. Joe Donnelley
16. Chet Edwards
17. Brad Ellsworth
18. Bob Etheridge
19. Bart Gordon
20. Brian Higgens
21. Baron Hill
22. Nicholas Lampson
23. Daniel Lipinski
24. Jim Marshall
25. Jim Matheson
26. Mike McIntyre
27. Charles Melancon
28. Henry Mitchell
29. Collin Peterson
30. Earl Pomeroy
31. Ciro Rodriguez
32. Mike Ross
33. John Salazar
34. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin
35. Heather Shular
    
36. Vic Snyder
37. Zachary Space
38. John Tanner
39. Gene Taylor
40. Timothy Walz
41. Charles Wilson

In the Senate there were 16 Democrats that voted in favor of this bill.

1. Evan Byah
2. Thomas Carper
3. Bob Casey
4. Kent Conrad
5. Diane Feinstein
6. Daniel Inoyue
7. Amy Klobuchar
8. Mary Landrieu
9. Blanche Lincoln
10. Claire McCaskill
11. Barbara Mikulski
12. Bill Nelson
13. Ben Nelson
14. Mark Pryor
15. Kenneth Salazar
16. Jim Webb

I did a little experiment with this bill. I did not pay attention to the vote. I did not know who voted how until after it had all been said and done, and before I looked it up I wandered around Blogworld listening to what our dear friends on the right had to say.

"Dems Cave" was the predominate sentiment in various forms around blog world and even to an extent in the MSM and Fox News.

And people wonder why Liberals and Progressives lay claim to the reality based community?

However, what I found distressing is that many of my fellow Liberals and Progressives were falling into the same trap and placing blame at the feet of the wrong people. So, above, I've listed the people who deserve to be blamed. There are 57 Democrats that deserve our anger, the rest of them voted the right way on this bill. The large majority of Democrats in Congress DO care about America and the freedom of her people and voted that way on August 3rd.

This is what happens when you have a very slim majority. This is why sometimes the wrong things get through and why the right things languish in congress. You can't realistically blame Speaker Pelosi or Majority Leader Reid for these things because their power is limited. There is only so much they can do.

It is also vitally important to remember that the Democrats that are voting in the best interest of America need our support. They need us to tell the truth and counter the spin being thrown out by the corporate and conservative machine. They need us to remind people who they are and how they are voting. They need our voices of support.

They also need us to remain calm and call for patience, they need us to remind people that with a slim majority the changes will take time and that unfortunately some changes will not happen unless we get more Democrats in office. These people do not want business as usual, they want change but in order to effect those changes they must not only have the tools but also the power to make better things happen for America.

Am I saying not to be angry? No, you should be angry, especially when a Democrat casts a vote that is clearly against the best interests of our great nation. What I am asking is that you do not lump all your Democratic representatives in with the few who are content with business as usual. What I am asking is that you do not sabotage the potential for change that having Democrats in Congress allows us by propagating dishonest talking points and continuing to allow the conservative loyalists to dominate the dialogue. Do not engage the the act of painting all Democrats with one brush as your conservative counterparts do. YOU are better than that. WE are better than that. Stick to the truth and keep us moving forward.

As always, thank you for reading.

Lisa Litchfield

Zombies ate my links.

That's about the long and the short of it. I will endeavor to get them back up and running sometime today or tomorrow. I'll also be catching up on all the happenings in the US and the world from the last month in an epic post about...

Condiments!

Just kidding, mostly.

Seriously, much has happened and I'll be writing about most of it, paying special attention to the updating of the FISA and what it actually means to you and me.

And because no blog post would be complete without it, we'll be ranting and frothing about Gonzo-gate and the three ring circus we like to call the Bush Administration. Check back later today or tomorrow to read all about it.

Lisa Litchfield