Halloween Special

Fright by Mark Fiore

No Retroactive Immunity!

Tell Harry Reid: No Immunity for Lawbreaking Companies:

Dear Senator Reid,

Senator Chris Dodd recently announced his intention to place a 'hold' on any bill coming before the Senate that includes provisions for so-called 'amnesty' for large companies involved in illegally spying on Americans, and to filibuster any such bill if necessary. We are writing to ask you use your position as Majority Leader to honor this hold and join Sen. Dodd's leadership efforts to stop legislation that would allow these companies to escape liability.

For decades, it has been against the law in the United States for companies to give data about their customers, or access to their customers' conversations, to the Government without a warrant. But it now appears that for the last five years-at least-AT&T, Verizon, and numerous other politically connected corporations have repeatedly broken the law, turning over to the Bush adminis- tration unfettered access to the telephone calls, Internet activities, and calling records of millions and millions of Americans.
...
The rule of law is the basic guarantee in our society that all Americans are treated equally. Amnesty for big business is an assault on that principle. To grant retroactive amnesty would be to announce that our wealthiest corporations are free to break the laws we pass, and amnesty would be yet another huge step in eroding our core political principles.

Read the entire letter.

Sign on to this letter and tell Harry Reid: No Immunity for Lawbreaking Companies!

Larry Craig to Play Dumbledore

Dood Abides (aka Dudehisattva) reports, Larry Craig to Play Dumbledore in Final Two Harry Potter Movies:

BOISE, ID (DMZ) - DMZ insiders have learned that Idaho Senator Larry Craig will be announcing that he is giving up his fight to restore his reputation in the U.S. Senate, and instead has signed a contract to star in the role of Albus Dumbledore in the final two Harry Potter films. A spokesperson for Michael Gambon , the popular British actor who has portrayed Dumbledore in the past two films stated that Gambon has elected to pursue other projects. The spokesperson refused to comment if Gambon's decision had been related to author JK Rowling's recent revelation of Dumbledore's homosexuality.

This gives an entirely new meaning to fighting a troll in the bathroom stalls:

Today is Blog Action Day

What would happen if every blog published posts discussing the same issue, on the same day?
One issue. One day. Thousands of voices.

NYT: Stephen Colbert Replaces Maureen Dowd

In todays New York Times, "mock columnist" Maureen Dowd turned her column over to Stephen Colbert. The NYT should consider making it a permanent replacement.

A Mock Columnist, Amok (from Dowd's intro):

I called Colbert with a dare: if he thought it was so easy to be a Times Op-Ed pundit, he should try it. He came right over. In a moment of weakness, I had staged a coup d’moi. I just hope he leaves at some point. He’s typing and drinking and threatening to “shave Paul Krugman with a broken bottle.”

Some highlights from Colbert's I Am an Op-Ed Columnist (And So Can You!):

Surprised to see my byline here, aren’t you? I would be too, if I read The New York Times. But I don’t. So I’ll just have to take your word that this was published. Frankly, I prefer emoticons to the written word, and if you disagree :(
...
Bad things are happening in countries you shouldn’t have to think about. It’s all George Bush’s fault, the vice president is Satan, and God is gay.

There. Now I’ve written Frank Rich’s column too.

On presidential candidates Clinton and Giuliani:

For instance, Hillary Clinton. I can’t remember if I’m supposed to be scared of her so Democrats will think they should nominate her when she’s actually easy to beat, or if I’m supposed to be scared of her because she’s legitimately scary.

Or Rudy Giuliani. I can’t remember if I’m supposed to support him because he’s the one who can beat Hillary if she gets nominated, or if I’m supposed to support him because he’s legitimately scary.

On Al Gore:

Well, suddenly an option is looming on the horizon. And I don’t mean Al Gore (though he’s a world-class loomer). First of all, I don’t think Nobel Prizes should go to people I was seated next to at the Emmys. Second, winning the Nobel Prize does not automatically qualify you to be commander in chief. I think George Bush has proved definitively that to be president, you don’t need to care about science, literature or peace.

On faith, gender, race and the elderly:

Look at the moral guidance I offer. On faith: “After Jesus was born, the Old Testament basically became a way for Bible publishers to keep their word count up.” On gender: “The sooner we accept the basic differences between men and women, the sooner we can stop arguing about it and start having sex.” On race: “While skin and race are often synonymous, skin cleansing is good, race cleansing is bad.” On the elderly: “They look like lizards.”

Go read the whole thing!

Al Gore: Nobel Peace Laureate

The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Albert Arnold (Al) Gore Jr.

"for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change"

Run, Al, Run!

The GOP Presidential Competition To Be Worse Than Bush Continues

Rudy McRomson (Giuliani, McCain, Romney and Thompson) fully supports Bush's veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (via NYT):

The four leading Republican presidential candidates have aligned themselves with President Bush’s veto on Wednesday of an expanded health insurance program for children, once again testing the political risk of appearing in lock step with a president who has low approval ratings and some critics of the veto within their party.

It is yet another issue — like the Iraq war, North Korea’s nuclear program and the management of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina — where the Republican contenders are treading delicately as they gauge how to position themselves with an unpopular president on contentious issues. While all four are defending the veto, some in full-throated language, the candidates are at the same time forgoing praise of Mr. Bush’s judgment on the issue or of his leadership in general.