Bush and Blair Vent Anger....

Bush Vents Fury...

When I go back to NZ, read NZ media and some of the MSM over here, or read forums like this one, there is usually just one side of the issues related to the States presented and discussed, and it is frequently the negative view of any particular issue.

Please…

The journalist I was referring to who was Novack. I thought that was clear from my previous posts but I should have made it explicit. He wrote the article that started the whole Plame thing, during an interview Armitage told him about Plame and he then called the CIA…

James,

You have not addressed the issue of the CIA confirming Plame's identiy to a journalist. It rather gets to the heart of the whole Plame circus; either she wasn't covert, or the CIA blew her cover.

If that journalist was Novak, I…

It can be read both inside and outside the USA :)

Yes, you are correct, the center of US politics and society is significantly more to the right than in many countries, or many other countries are more to the left than the US, depending on your perspective.

You are also correct; it is a little bit arrogant of you…

Re: your exerpt from Novak's latest article about Bush being isolated.

Both the House and Senate Repubs were extremely pissed at Bush for firing Rumsfeld the day after the election last year. Their view is that the 2006 mid terms wouldn't have gone so badly for them if Bush…

"Half of voting-age Americans say they would not vote for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) if she became the Democratic nominee for president in 2008, according to a Harris Interactive poll released Tuesday."

"Nearly half of the respondents said that they…

Oh no, I'm a thread killer.

....no, I think it was more my appalling refusal to check my posts using the very advisable preview tab, yet again:

strong insider links

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuEDwcfJPSk

being a phony bitch

I stopped reading right there.

As for Fox gunning for Obama, I haven't seen much if any negative press from anyone on Obama yet

you can seriously write that?

Americans have every right to know who Bill and Hill owe IOUs to, and what this money has been spent on

The IOUs that the current administration have incurred over the past decades make a lot…

I can't remember things being so highly excited this time last cycle, or is my memory just really bad?

I actually think the Labtest fiasco is something for which the authorities directly involved should take the rap. The alternative is a return to central control of the the whole system, which I suspect Tony Ryall doesn't really want ...

To which I'll add, it's an Auckland problem. Obviously the…

Hillary's polling is interesting. She's ahead in every age and gender group and has a considerable lead (22% over Obama)…

Yeah. It's no big deal that Obama polls lower than people like Clinton…

But don't underestimate the power of Bill campaigning for her.

They've been working on this for a long time, he's been based in Harlem for obvious reasons and she's been doing things like wooing southern white women. I think the choice of VP will be entirely pragmatic – if Obama…

Richard Armitage a "non Bush insider"? Are you sure that's what you meant to say?

Yep, Armitage was State Dept – part of the Powel camp, he wasn't
part of the Bush/Cheney faction. He just blabbed to the media about Plame probably to sound important, it wasn't anything orchestrated by…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwkbDubF2qM

Richard Armitage a "non Bush insider"? Are you sure that's what you meant to say?

There was more to Novak and swiftboating than you imply. From Wikipedia:

his son, Alex Novak, is the Director of Marketing for the Swift Boat Veterans' publisher, Regnery Publishing. At the time he said that he didn't "think it relevant." Two months later Salon.com reported that Regnery's owner is…

You wrote, "It would be a mistake to believe that just not having Bush will magically solve the serious issues out there."

Nice to see some recognition of this. It doesn't matter who would have been in the White House these last six years, we would have had some…

yes fair call Craig, that was childish and unnecessary of me.
I genuinely apologise for that.

Jonkey? Have you been learning to spell from the mouth-breathers on the far-right who habitually call the Prime Minister 'Klark' and her party 'Liarbore'?

Hey, I'll take that as a gracious admission you can't actually rebut anything I've said, so it's time to get down to not very punny…

Obama's crucial short coming is that of experience.

For US domestic politics I don't think this is true, he'd probably achieve as much as Clinton would. But I think that this is an issue when it comes to international politics, which is where most of the interest/concern is. And it…

Thus the call for investigation is aimed at proving or laying to rest those concerns.

Exactly. Sidney Blumenthal puts it fairly well in The Guardian today. There is an aura out there, rightly or wrongly. that something is not quite right in this. If there is no fire under the…

On one hand we have the cries of a Democratic conspiracy

That confirmed Republican suspicions that Hayden is too…

Some of the attorneys were cut loose because they weren't prosecuting voter fraud and illegal immigration cases.

If I understand correctly, that goes to the very heart of the issue. Many people think that that is an ostensible, post-hoc reason only, and that there are some very odd and ugly…

Obama's crucial…

Unlike Kyle Matthews, apparently, I happen to think when you accept a ministerial warrant it doesn't mean you front up for the photo ops and patsy questions then duck for cover when there's legitimate questions to be answered.

He's a politician, and fairly experienced and good at it (relative to…

Somehow, I don't think you're going to put the words clear conflict of interest in a letter if you're engaged in blatant cronyism.

As far as I can tell, even…

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/04/11/LI2005041100587.html

"-- From the perspective of Democrats, no politician has been more right, more often,…

- too many people hate her and not enough people like her, no matter how much money she raises.

That's the line being taken by the more left-leaning activists in the Democrat party (and the Reps unsurprisingly) but that's just projection. They hate her. That's no indication of the electorate's…

If Obama is nominated then I think he will win no matter who he runs against

Danyl, why so confident about Obama? I'm not closely following the race (yet) and I can see Obama's obvious appeal but I'm not so sure that that will be sufficient? I'd have thought, after…

Danyl was right when he said:

It is controversial when you selectively fire a bunch of AG's who are either investigating members of your party or have refused White House requests to investigate democrats. It's really controversial when you defend your decision by claiming you sacked them for performance…

If Obama is nominated then I think he will win no matter who he runs against.…

What I'd really prefer is the damn Health Minister doing his job instead of playing hide and don't seek with the Opposition and media. Sorry for finding all the Parliamentary wankage tiresome, but there are people out there who need medical advice based on timely and accurate lab results.

Pete…

The contest is between Clinton and Obama which from a liberal perspective is something…

ever since I've been involved the National Party has a clear policy that it doesn't run or endorse local body tickets

with the fact that

Nick Albrecht, the C&R campaign manager, works in [Maurice] Williamson’s electorate office

i guess you have a…

".. The many e-mails that the administration has released for the most part suggest nothing nefarious in the dismissal process.

It would not be acceptable for Mr. Bush to fire the attorneys to short-circuit…

The attorneys do serve at the pleasure of the…

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/03/was_valerie_covert.html

While he was researching his original article that started the whole thing…

Plame's testimony on the covert nature of her job was buttressed by a statement that Waxman read at the hearing's opening which, he said, was approved by Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the CIA's director. The statement said that Plame…

And Gore did lose Florida by about 500 votes. After the election, a consortium of newspapaers including the NYT Miami Herald…

But Clinton's record is interesting. She scraped in in her first senatorial race...

55% over 43% isn't really scraped in.

Especially if the speculation, as I type, about Edwards withdrawing is correct, although that…

What evidence? FFS, I've lived the majority of my life in a city where the current mayor was once a National Party candidate for Ohariu-Belmont, and her deputy was a Labour Party candidate for Wellington Central. Somehow, I don't think they're spending a lot of time getting their marching…

I'm convinced that one of the reasons that we didn't have a better public debate before the [Iraq war] started is because **so many of…

Well, it's also going to be interesting to see if HIlary Clinton…

As I've said, the National Party doesn't formally run or endorse local body tickets and any National Party member who stands for a local body or a DHB doesn't…

I hope the Democrats don't let the Obama/Clinton rivalry get out of hand.

Before I developed an interest in US politics, I assumed that the unflattering media opinion of Al Gore had some basis in fact. By…

A more valid argument perhaps is that Ponsonby's residents are already among Auckland City's most privileged burghers and that perhaps the money might have been better spent in Avondale, Glen Innes, or Mt. Roskill.

Definitely a point I agree with! The…

well there must be some nats on here. indeed the Lord Jonkey moves in mysterious ways.

He did win the popular vote, and it's still a matter of conjecture as to who really won Florida

yeah I reckon. Remeber the Diebold fiasco, the…

what Steve Curtis said

This thread has split into two discussions, one from an aside I made earlier. RB will probably want us back on topic so I'll just finish with this thought (continuing the discussion on reserves) ...

Can anyone explain (in plain english) why we have to acccept…

I see that if you go to 'Select an MP', dear Dr Don is still at the top.

Heh, within hours the site has been amended. Wonders never cease.

In the case of Ponsonby the primary beneficiaries in the short term will be established local residents,…

He's also a much more appealing figure today than he was then.

Probably, but he's picked his battle and I don't think he can turn his global warming groove into a winning campaign for the nomination.

The Obama/Clinton debate aside, I really think 08 will be driven by the Republican…

If Banks was around it would be for pitstops for the V8's.

In the meantime Council's income from the lease helps off-set the purchase price – I can't recall how by much, but it's a pretty significant amount.

Er ... I think you mean an INsignificant amount. Which is why they're hanging on til 2009 (which almost gives the council enough time…

Like Hillary, Gore is not a natural politician, he has zero charisma and a political tin ear, and he not only has a…

http://www.national.org.nz/

i see that if you go to 'Select an MP', dear Dr Don is still at the top. so much for quarantining him off…

Ain't that the truth! Now I hear on the radio that National's Paul Hutchinson recommended Tony Bierre to Wayne Brown in the first place.

To be fair, I think it was also Hutchison who realised what was going on, after Bierre contacted him for support, and blew the whistle.

But,…

All we need now for pure spectator enjoyment is for Gore to jump into the race. The Clintons and Gores hate each other so much, it would be quite a sight to see their respective camps going at each other.

I'm really hoping Gore comes in. I think he'd win…

...the sender has given their name and sources for the claims they make ie they're not hiding who they are...

Sorry, Not Important (I'm sure you actually are), but who cares if they're not hiding who they are – of course they're not – they want votes!

But they only…

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17720439/site/newsweek/

It reminds people of the worst aspects of the brutal "big brother" Clinton political machine, and highlights Hillary’s utter lack of…

There is little to suggest that "Spending for Africa" is a phenomenon that is limited to the Left

Don't get me wrong – I'm an equal opportunity whiner! You should have heard me bitch about all the money Banksie & C&R spent on the viaduct. $40 million on Maritime Square alone, largely…

Ain't that the truth! Now I hear on the radio that National's Paul Hutchinson recommended Tony Bierre to Wayne Brown in the first place.

I also suggest…

I was one of the "anyone but Banks" brigade too. Told all my friends to vote him and his ilk out. But then got the shock of my life when The Left took control. Guess I was the dumbRs too. Why do I…

http://dogbitingmen.blogspot.com/2004_10_01_dogbitingmen_archive.html

"Citizens and Ratepayers Now, an amalgam of ACT- and…

Always seems like a dishonest rouse to me. Very much in a similar vein to all those false front "independent research" organisations supported by the same tired old…

He see this is the start of a new people-taking-back-politics-from-the-system movement. I tend to think these sort sof ads just preach to the converted even if they are amusing. But this guy wasn't trying to be funny, he…

or a Godwin's Law clause to Godwin's Law

So you've got a viral video by an anonymous Democrat made into news by a longtime conservative hitman on the internet.

There's a more prosaic and less conspiratorial explanation than Greg Sargent's – the story took two weeks to gain momentum, to move from internet fringes to the mainstream. It…

"...you can fix the fiscal mismanagement, the broken promises, the ethics issues, and the poor direction of Auckland City by... voting for [National/ACT Party allied] Citizens and Ratepayers Now."

I presume by 'fix', they mean, 'make permanent'.

Someone's gone to a bit of trouble to 3D render an iPod on the hammer thrower in the Clinton ad. That wasn't in the original. Cool.

Actually, its' based on the version of the ad shown at Macworld Expo in 2004 – for which Apple itself added the iPod.