there is one other thing everybody in Chicago is saying...

I'm sick of hearing about this s***.

one of the sadder parts to the Blago business is...

...the Illinois state legislature was getting ready to vote on a bill giving civil union rights to same-sex partners. Blago was a supporter and said he would sign the bill if it came to his desk. his sister-in-law, Debbie Mell, was just elected to the Illinois House of Representatives as openly lesbian/gay, ironically to Blago's own old state seat in the House.

now, that's all on hold. [i'm sure Peter LaBarbera is down on his knees thanking his god for that right now.] it may not even be possible for the new legislature taking office in January to deal with it.

with the pressing matter of this folly and the dire straits of the state budget, it's going to be tabled. it was the closest to passage from years past. Chicago and most of Illinois is quite accepting of LGBTQ citizens. there are detractors, like LaBarbera, but most go with a live and let live outlook.

torture: it's not that we "done" it; it's that we got caught"...

Fox analyst: Americans not above torture, and shouldn't be

Americans aren't above resorting to torture to gain intelligence from suspected terrorists -- and it would be a mistake if they were, according to Fox News military analyst Col. David Hunt....

"There are instances where it works. I've had it done to me in training," said Hunt. "It's torture. It is an extremely dangerous thing. Your system shuts down."

So, it's okay, if it works. Even the CIA whistleblower John C. Kiriakou says so:

...former CIA officer who participated in the capture and questioning of the first al-Qaeda terrorist suspect to be waterboarded said yesterday that the harsh technique provided an intelligence breakthrough that “probably saved lives,” but that he now regards the tactic as torture.

BUT, Col. Hunt had something really important to say to FOX -

Earlier in the segment, the colonel described the CIA's elimination of the interrogation tapes as a a mistake.

"Stupid. Idiotic," he said of the decision. "How about number one, we don't tape stuff? I thought we learned that lesson a long time ago. I think its a reaction to Abu Ghraib, but it's wrong, they shouldn't have done it."

what's wrong? the torture or the taping or the destruction of it?

new Republican theme song...

well, actually, it's not another one but one of the same ones. it's just a matter of semanitics...

Wonkette is reporting a very graphic detail of someone who remembers having, ummm, relations with Mr. Craig. Well, here's how Wonkette puts it:

EXCLUSIVE: "I Had Sex with Larry Craig!"

it's pretty graphic, actually yucky, so if you are feint of heart or at work, don't read the article or wait until you get home.

can't wait until this gets wider coverage. Matt Lauer is may feel violated after his interview with Craig and Suzanne.

fun with Larry Craig...

the media is having a ball with Sen. Craig's failure at getting his guilty plea reversed and then declaring that he is going to stay in the Senate to clear his name. Here's one example below. [You can click on the headline to read the story connected.]

Craig flushes plan to quit Senate, Chicago Sun-Times

and now this spoof of, well watch it. You'll see...



Even Keith Olbermann showed this on Countdown tonight.

sometimes, i think that Keith should have a subtitle to his show. something like Meltdown...

what d'ya think?

Really!?! Senator Craig...

From Saturday Night Live



no comment is necessary after watching the sketch.

really...

how stupid are these people?

...and how stupid am i for asking such a silly question?

Another GOP toilet-tapping incident is reported in the Times-Picayune.

DiFatta twice detained in lewd conduct in restrooms

The report states that DiFatta watched a man use the bathroom while peering through a hole in a bathroom stall. The man held DiFatta until police arrived, at which time he was issued the misdemeanor summons and ordered to appear in court.

First, in the bathroom again - ick!, second, more interference of privacy, third...

oh, hell. what third?

I'm going to repeat this one more time. When I was teaching, the kids would call each other ignorant. I told them that there was nothing wrong with being ignorant. It only meant that you didn't know something and you could find it out by asking questions, reading books, etc.

Stupid, on the other hand, was knowing better and doing something wrong anyway.

When a fourth grader asked what an idiot was, we came up with this definition:

An idiot is someone who is too stupid to know that they're ignorant.

So, I correct myself. These people are not stupid - They are idiots!

Senator Craig's new logo...

no, wait...

it's the Republican Party's logo for the 2008 Convention in Minneapolis.


and the joke is... all over the internet... wide stance, isn't it?

and why is the elephant's tail in his/her you know what?

just asking...


[i know. you all think i'm going to hell for this as well as some other things i've written, but i have a get out of hell card. i walked through the Jubilee Door at the Vatican in 1975. it's only opened every 25 or 50 years and any one who makes the pilgramage has all sins forgiven through a plenary indulgence. so, according to the myth, i'm safe.]

Larry Craig needs ENDA...

I was right. What about you? Of course, there really would not have been one odds-maker in Las Vegas that would have taken the bet. It was a sure thing, if there ever was one.

The first statement out of Craig's office:

Update: Craig says he's staying in Senate

"I am extremely disappointed with the ruling issued today. I am innocent of the charges against me. I continue to work with my legal team to explore my additional legal options," Craig said in a statement released by his office. "I will continue to serve Idaho in the United States Senate, and there are several reasons for that. As I continued to work for Idaho over the past three weeks here in the Senate, I have seen that it is possible for me to work here effectively.

and now...

to the Senate Ethics Committee...

Craig may loose enough with the committee's investigation that he will need the protection of ENDA - Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Oh, wait. He voted against it last week! Sorry.

he's SOL...

and there is still that little thing referred to in the initial arrest report about interference of privacy. You know - peeking [trolling] through the crack in the bathroom stall door to see what the officer was doing, ummm, looked like, ummm, was interested, ummm.... The Ethics Committee indicated that it would have a look-see at that part even if the prosecutor in Minnesota did a plea bargain for the lesser charge.

            

troll?                                       troll?

         


i certainly hope that Mr. Craig appreciates his homosexual rights now...

do you think that Sen. Craig, instead of smiling at us is --



just asking...

just as it depended on what the meaning of "is" is...

to Sen. Craig it seems his resignation depends on what the intent of "intent" is...

Craig's phone message:

"Yes, Billy, this is Larry Craig calling, you can reach me on my cell. Arlen Specter is now willing to come out in my defense arguing that all he know that I've been railroaded and all that. Having all that we've reshaped my statement to say it is my intent [emphasis added as per voice inflection] to resign on September 30. I think it is very important for you to make as bold a statement as you are comfortable with this afternoon. I hope you could make it in front of the cameras. I think it would ride the story that I am willing to fight that I have quality people out there fighting in my defense and that this thing could take a new turn or a new shape, it has that potential. Anyway give me a buzz, or give Mike a buzz on that, we are headed to my press conference now. Thank you, bye."

hmmmmmmm...