VOCINO BLOG

Barack Is the Anti-Change Candidate...Hillary is the Future

2008-01-27T10:37:00.000-05:00

Barack Obama claims to be the candidate of change. Yes, as the first African American male to have a real shot at the presidency he is correct. Saying he is the harbinger of change because of policies he has advocated is not necessarily true. All three Democratic candidates are the harbingers of change in terms of policy. There is virtually no difference between Clinton, Obama, and Edwards. No matter which candidate wins the election, we will see dramatic changes in War policy, healthcare, etc….all those things which are important to Democrats.

The real change that can take place here is the election of a woman, Hillary Clinton. The male establishment have come together to oppose that…One only has to watch critically the various cable and network television programs each and everyday leading up to the most recent primary to see how Obama is privileged and Hillary because she is a woman, indeed a strong and forceful, highly intelligent woman, is attacked in ways that Obama and Edwards are not.

For example, Obama’s spouse and indeed Edwards’ spouse are highly outspoken about and critical of other candidates. Elizabeth Edwards has been made iconic because of her forceful support of her husband. All those talk shows, Tucker, Matthews, Blizter, that I’ve mentioned all praised Elizabeth Edwards. The same is true when Obama puts his wife in as a surrogate when he cannot be present. Let it be Bill in as a surrogate for his spouse, Hillary Clinton, and whamo, Hillary is attacked, denigrated, called anti-feminist, nasty, etc…by all the commentators, and mostly all men.

All those men in the Senate, where Hillary is uniformly praised as one of best, are now moving and mostly all to support Obama, the other electable male in the race. Even Ted Kennedy is said to be on the verge of endorsing Obama. Caroline Kennedy writes in today’s Times that Obama is “a president like my father” because Obama DOES excite people. He does give a great speech. He does give hope and mouths the need for change.

But Kennedy did give excitement and hope to many of us, but when it comes to experience and substance, Kennedy’s presidency does not come across well. It was Lyndon Johnson who brought us real change, and Lyndon was the Hillary of the 1960 campaign that saw style over substance win the democratic nomination.

Hillary Clinton is clearly the most qualified of the candidates. Yet, and I believe it because she is a woman, that the male establishment is coming together to block her earned nomination even if it means electing an African American candidate for the first time. The world won’t fall apart if Obama is elected, and under different circumstances I would vote for him in a snap, but not now. But, those men who are supporting Obama now, especially South Carolina, are men who block African Americans for centuries.

The woman happens to be the most qualified of the candidates, and the men don’t like that. Conservative men in South Carolina who for centuries debased and kept in slavery black men all voted for Obama rather than have a woman. South Carolina has a sizeable black population, and they rightly voted for Obama along with conservative white Christians who don’t like Hillary or the social agenda she represents.

No, Obama is not the candidate for change any more than John Kennedy was the candidate for change. He in fact is the anti-change candidate by blocking a breaking of the highest and strongest of the glass ceilings in America and especially in American political life: the block against women of all colors as equal when it comes to running for highest political office.

Hillary Clinton has earned the Democratic nomination for president. As attractive as Obama is as a candidate, and he is, there is no man on the current American political landscape who deserves the nomination of the Democratic party over Hillary Clinton.

As Bill Clinton said, he wants to vote for Obama for President some day, but right now, Hillary—a woman—is the more qualified candidate. She is the candidate who has earned this nomination even over Obama. We need to elect her.
ri politics democrats republicans civil liberties hillary obama john edwards gay rights 2008 elections bill+clinton

Joe Scarborough and the Racist Preacher

2008-01-19T08:45:00.000-05:00

Joe Scarborough has been painting Mike Huckabee as worthy of the Presidency. Mika makes it clear she has his reservations. Here's the guy Scarborough promotes:

Does Huckabee pray to Jesus with that mouth? So much for our Christ-invoking preacher. Now he's suggesting that civil rights advocates shove flag poles up their ass. Not a very nice, or mature, thing for any adult candidate to be saying, let alone the guy who says that God wants him to be president and that he's going to amend the Constitution to bring it in line with the Bible. I don't think the Bible says anything about shoving flag poles up your ass.Oh yeah, Huckabee's also hanging out with the same white supremacist that Trent Lott and far too many southern Republican racists hang out with.

[T]he former Arkansas governor told a Myrtle Beach crowd on January 17, referring to the Confederate flag. "If somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell them what to do with the pole. That's what we'd do."Making coded appeals to white racism is nothing new for Huckabee. Indeed, well before he was a nationally known political star, Huckabee nurtured a relationship with America's largest white supremacist group, the Council of Conservative Citizens.

The extent of Huckabee's interaction with the racist group is unclear, but this much is known: he accepted an invitation to speak at the group's annual conference in 1993 and ultimately delivered a videotaped address that was "extremely well received by the audience."Descended from the White Citizens Councils that battled integration in the Jim Crow South, including at Arkansas' Little Rock High School, the Council (or CofCC) has been designated a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center.In its "Statement of Principles," the CofCC declares, "We also oppose all efforts to mix the races of mankind, to promote non-white races over the European-American people through so-called "affirmative action" and similar measures, to destroy or denigrate the European-American heritage, including the heritage of the Southern people, and to force the integration of the races." (Thanks to AmericaBlog)
dan abrams willie geist tucker carlson mike huckabee msnbc jeff zucker nbc universal mika brzezinski david shuster joe scarborough elections+2008

PETER FENN, GOOD MAN, Chris Matthews, and Pat Buchanan

2008-01-05T10:36:00.000-05:00

Democratic strategist, Peter Fenn, appears regularly on the Tucker Carlson program, and becuase I don't watch Tucker very often now that Willie Geist is on Morning Joe, thank heavens he is also regularly on other MSNBC programs. He's bright, articulate, and easily out shines when Tucker and others like Scarborough, when they start throwing their bull spins around. Peter Fenn is solid. MSNBC is moving in the right direction giving him more airtime. I also like Pat Buchanan. We have MANY differences, but at times, Pat shines, too. I also like his defense of his Catholicism.

I also like Chris Matthews , the good Irish Catholic, and his defense of his Catholic cultural background. Matthews (like Russert, Jesuit trained) and I probably have been raised in the same way (me an Irish Catholic mother/Italian father). Mass regularly, Catholic schools, etc. and in the same time frame. It was a good upbringing Tim Russert can attest, too, lol. Matthews and I also have a De Lasalle Christian Brothers connection I think, but the Franciscans were my major influence.

I particularly like Matthews confronting those, especially So. Baptists, who see Catholicism as a cult. Go Chris.

pat buchanan catholicism willie geist tucker carlson peter fenn msnbc jeff zucker nbc universal mika brzezinski david shuster joe scarborough chris matthews christians dan abrams tim russert

WILLIE GEIST HAS BLOOMED!

2008-01-05T10:03:00.000-05:00

Missing Willie Geist here. I like the Morning Joe program. I've actually changed my habits. I now get up a little earlier at 5:30 a.m. just to make sure I am ready to watch the morning news. I used to be a Today Show regular. Now it's Morning Joe. I also like Mika Brzezinski. It's a good team her and Scarborough...always going after each other in one way or another. Little too high school at times, and that's Joe's fault.

Scarborough of course as we all know is a little on the light weight side, but he is a good balance to Mika and the more intelligent guests the program books.

And then there is the unsung David Shuster. He is pretty much a regular and he towers over Scarborough intellectually. Not hard to do. His analysis of political events is thorough and generally right on target.

But then there is Willie Geist. Nice as a balance to Mika and Joe. Quiet, reserved, rather like the referee. He obviously is better educated than Joe and probably Mika. He is measured in his responses and makes sure he knows what he is talking about....unlike Joe, lol. His grasp of popular culture and sports is encyclopedic. He's a man with soul and heart...it comes across easily on the tube....

And, of course, Willie is really easy on the eyes. So like Brady...Tom...that is . not in looks but in temperment. Good Catholic boys, raised by good parents, educated and trying to do their best at their chosen professions.

Scarborough comes across as backwoods Southern the minute you meet him and his politics reflect that regional view: fundamentalist, baptist, conservative, with a very narrow world view. He's probably gotten by on his attention-demanding, insecurities-infested personality for years...I bet he's fun at parties...he's just not good at analysis...

But, heck, I'm there for Willie...in fact, as i've written, i've changed my entire morning routine to make sure I get to see him. Can't wait for him to return....
dan abrams willie geist tucker carlson popular culture msnbc jeff zucker nbc universal mika brzezinski david shuster joe scarborough popular culture

DES MOINES REGISTER ENDORSES CLINTON!

2007-12-16T09:25:00.000-05:00

The Des Moines Iowa Register, while praising the other Democratic candidates in the state such as OBAMA AND EDWARDS, has made it clear that the woman we should elect as President of the U.S. is Hillary Clinton when they wrote "that Democratic challenger Barack Obama "inspired our imaginations. But it was Clinton who inspired our confidence."

Hillary is the candidate with the experience to carry out the job on day one....Hillary is the candidate that will do most for Rhode Island. I like Obama, I like Edwards, but at this time in our history a woman as president and a woman with all kinds of experience such as Hillary should be elected.

ri politics democrats republicans civil liberties bush hillary obama john edwards gay rights catholics christians

Catholics vs. GOP

2007-11-02T07:20:00.003-04:00

Catholics vs. GOP
Catholics United, which routinely criticizes Republicans, is running radio ads against 10 anti-abortion House members -- including five Catholics -- for voting against the expanded State Children's Health Insurance Program. ''That's not pro-life,'' the ad says. ''That's not pro-family. Tell Congressman (blank) to vote for health care for children.''

The five Catholics are Joseph Knollenberg and Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan; Steve Chabot of Ohio; Ginny Brown-Waite of Florida, and Gene Taylor of Mississippi (the only Democrat among the 10). Others targeted by Catholics United are Tim Walberg of Michigan (non-denominational Protestant); Michele Bachmann of Minnesota (Lutheran); Sam Graves of Missouri (Baptist); John Peterson of Pennsylvania (Methodist), and Thelma Drake of Virginia (United Church of Christ).
rep. steve costantino
whitehouse hillary edwards obama langevin patrick kennedy democrats republicans health care don carcieri rhode island politics reed catholics children

HEALTH CARE AND THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

2007-11-01T13:10:00.000-04:00

Everyone has probably read this NYTimes Editorial. Everyone knows that the insurance "industry" is doing in American health care and that it is time for the U.S. government to takeover health care and make it a right for all Americans just like socialized education k-12, fire depts., police depts., etc.

"The findings underscore the need to ensure that all Americans have quick access to a primary care doctor and the need for universal health coverage — so that all patients can afford the care they need. That’s what all of the presidential candidates should be talking about. "

Yeah, that's what all candidates should be talking about.....how the government can give us health care just like all those other countries in the world who give their citizens health care as a condition of their citizenship! Where is the crowd on this one?

STOP THE INSURANCE HEALTH CARE SCAMS!!! NOW!!!!
michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans free healthcare universal healthcare national health plan hillary bill 2008 elections obama john edwards

Obama Loses Votes BIG TIME

2007-10-29T07:40:00.001-04:00

That's it for me. No vote for Obama. He's still having this anti gay man leading his gospel campaign in South Carolina. He stands up for gays or we don't stand up for him.

Democratic Sen. Barack Obama kicked off a series of local outreach gospel concerts Friday in Charleston, South Carolina, that unexpectedly came back to bite his campaign. CNN
obama clinton south Carolina primary republicans democrats homophobia ri politics gay rights

ANTI WAR RALLIES ACROSS U.S.

2007-10-28T07:45:00.000-04:00

SAN FRANCISCO — Thousands of people called for a swift end to the war in Iraq as they marched through downtown on Saturday, chanting and carrying signs that read: "Wall Street Gets Rich, Iraqis and GIs Die" or "Drop Tuition Not Bombs."

The streets were filled with thousands as labor union members, anti-war activists, clergy and others rallied near City Hall before marching to Dolores Park.

As part of the demonstration, protesters fell on Market Street as part of a "die in" to commemorate the thousands of American soldiers and Iraqi citizens who have died since the conflict began in March 2003.

The protest was the largest in a series of war protests taking place in New York, Los Angeles and other U.S. cities, organizers said.

No official head count was available. Organizers of the event estimated about 30,000 people participated in San Francisco. It appeared that more than 10,000 people attended the march. More>>>>

For the Boston March news is given by the Boston Globe.

iraq ri politics democrats republicans ping civil liberties bush hillary obama john edwards anti+war+rally boston san+francisco

SLAMMING "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL"

2007-10-27T09:19:00.000-04:00

Great stuff from the Washington Post :

Don't Ask

The military cruises a gay Internet site for employees, albeit briefly.

Friday, October 26, 2007; Page A20

THE U.S. MILITARY has positions to fill. Thousands of them. And, like any enterprise seeking employees, it casts a wide net to find qualified people -- as long as they're not gay. So it was the height of irony that military want ads were placed on a gay professional networking Web site last week. In fact, the placement would have made perfect sense were it not for the wrongheaded "don't ask, don't tell" policy that bans gay people from serving openly in the military.

Since 1993, more than 11,000 people have been discharged from the services because of their homosexuality. Of those, 800 were in positions deemed "mission-critical" by the Pentagon. Those would be combat engineers, medical professionals and linguists (58 of whom spoke Arabic) -- the very people the Army, Navy and Air Force were looking for when their job postings showed up on GLEE.com, which stands for Gay, Lesbian & Everyone Else.

According to USA Today, which informed the Defense Department of its unusual advertising venue, the Navy is looking for Arabic translators and intelligence analysts, the Air Force is looking for social workers and nurses, and the Army and Army National Guard have infantry and artillery positions available. Mind you, the military didn't go to GLEE.com directly. The ad placements involved a mix-up with the military's private ad agency. And the listings were removed once the Pentagon was informed.

The whole sorry episode highlights the absurdity of the ban on openly gay people in the military. Israel, Australia, Britain and 21 other countries have no problem with gays and lesbians serving openly in their armed forces. With its military stretched to the breaking point, the United States should follow their wise lead. That it doesn't is as shortsighted as it is unjust.

michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans gay marriage catholics gay rights homophobia christians hillary bill don’t ask obama john edwards

WILLIE GEIST

2007-10-26T08:23:00.000-04:00

It has been sometime since I've posted about America's #1 TV personality, Willie Geist. I hope everyone has been watching him on Morning Joe starting at 6 a.m. EST. He's been a real addition to the program and with Mika makes it well worth watching. Willie sometimes plays straightman to Joe a little too often, but in the final analysis, his command as guru of pop culture has brought great insight into the society and culture we live in....thanks Willie...I think pop culture and the analysis of how it effects our country, indeed our world, is very important. Keep up the good work...BTW, your happy face is great to wake up to as night takes over morning......
joe scarborough geist msnbc nbc universal gay icon gay rights jeff zucker

OBAMA EMPOWERING THE ANTI GAY RIGHT!

2007-10-23T07:48:00.001-04:00

Obama brings an anti-gay advocate onto his official travelling tour in South Carolina to win votes. The bigot? Gospel Singer Donnie McClurkin.

"I strongly believe that African Americans and the LGBT community must stand together in the fight for equal rights. And so I strongly disagree with Reverend McClurkin’s views and will continue to fight for these rights as President of the United States to ensure that America is a country that spreads tolerance instead of division," the statement added.

That's nice, Senator. You strongly disagree with the bigot who thinks I need to be cured, and who has declared "war" on me and my people, but you're going to put the guy on stage with you anyway in order to make a few bucks. Nice.

I wonder what Obama would say if Hillary invited David Duke to speak at an event but then said, not to worry, she really loves black people - kisses!

If you're afraid to lead, Senator, then maybe you're not the leader we thought you were. America Blog for more....

gay rights south Carolina primary republicans democrats ri politics hillary edwards obama Donnie mcclurkin homophobia

OBAMA DUMPING GAY AMERICANS.

2007-10-21T09:45:00.000-04:00

Sadly, Obama has joined the anti-gay crowd in an attempt to win the South Carolina primary election. He's sold his soul.

From the NYT:
As religious conservatives gather in Washington this weekend for the "Values Voters Summit," Senator Barack Obama's campaign announced its latest effort to attract people of faith to the campaign: a gospel concert tour.

All three of the dates of the "Embrace the Change" tour are in South Carolina, where Mr. Obama is locked in battle with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton for black voters.

Gospel acts including Mary Mary, Donnie McClurkin and Hezekiah Walker, Byron Cage and the Mighty Clouds of Joy are scheduled to appear.

"This is another example of how Barack Obama is defying conventional wisdom about how politics is done and giving new meaning to meeting people at the grassroots level," Joshua DuBois, the campaign's religious affairs director, said in a release.

Yes, sucking up to anti-gay bigots and joining them on stage - no, giving them a stage - is certainly defying conventional wisdom as to how a Democrat becomes president. Oh, and McClurkin also believes that gays can, and need to, be "cured."

Washington Post:
Gospel singer Donnie McClurkin, who has detailed his struggle with gay tendencies and vowed to battle "the curse of homosexuality," said yesterday he'll perform as scheduled at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, despite controversy over his view that sexuality can be changed by religious intervention.

"I can't let off. I didn't call myself -- God called me to do what I do," McClurkin told The Post's Hamil R. Harris. The Grammy winner declared, "If this is a war, we are willing to fight. Not a war of violence, but a war of purpose." from AmericaBlog.

michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans gay marriage catholics gay rights homophobia christians hillary bill 2008 elections obama john edwards

Good God. Mukasey "OKs" torture too!

2007-10-19T10:56:00.000-04:00

Good God. The AG candidate, Michael Mukasey, says torture is ok. What ever happened to the belief that Americans don't do that kind of stuff....The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee clashed on Thursday with attorney general nominee Mukasey over what constitutes torture and whether the White House could be found in contempt of Congress.

Another Bush guy in favor of violating everything Americans hold dear about their country.

republicans democrats bush ri politics hillary edwards obama torture mukasey

Gays in the Vatican

2007-10-14T09:26:00.000-04:00

WE are active in the Church. There is HOPE!

Monsignor Suspended; Reported to Say His Gay Sex Isn’t Sin

The Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, told reporters that, while the case was under investigation, the monsignor was suspended from his job as a top official in the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy, which aims to ensure proper conduct by priests.

“The case is being handled with utmost reserve,” Father Lombardi said.

A private Italian television network broadcast a program this month in which some priests were interviewed about their homosexuality. Vatican teaching holds that homosexuality is a sin.

The men, including the monsignor who was suspended, were interviewed with their faces obscured and their voices altered so that they would not be recognized. But Vatican officials recognized the Vatican office in which the monsignor was interviewed, the newspaper La Repubblica reported on Saturday.

During the interview the monsignor said he “didn’t feel he was sinning” by having sex with gay men, La Repubblica reported.

The Vatican did not name the monsignor. NYTimes

michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans gay marriage catholics gay rights homophobia christians hillary bill 2008 elections obama john edwards

Youth Turned Off By Christianity

2007-10-13T07:47:00.000-04:00

Young people have graded Christianity, and so far, the report card doesn't look good.

Majorities of young people in America describe modern-day Christianity as judgmental, hypocritical and anti-gay. What's more, many Christians don't even want to call themselves "Christian" because of the baggage that accompanies the label.

A new book based on research by the California-based research firm the Barna Group found that church attitudes about people in general and gays in particular are driving a negative image of the Christian faith among people ages 16-29.
MORE>>>>
catholics rhode island politics democrats republicans christians Christian youth jesus tobin

41 million in U.S. can't afford basics

2007-10-11T08:45:00.000-04:00

This is what 8 years of Republican "leadership" has brought the American people:

About one in five working American families can't afford basic needs, and many scrape to get by on insufficient income and government aid, policy researchers conclude in a report (.pdf file) released today.

Many of these workers earn too much to qualify for "work supports" such as Medicaid and food stamps, while their employer-provided health insurance doesn't cover enough of their basic medical costs, according to the report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Center for Social Policy at the University of Massachusetts.

If this is America, THIS is disgusting.
poverty clinton don carcieri republicans democrats health care ri politics christians gay rights catholics education

RI Court to Hear Gay Divorce Case Today

2007-10-09T08:17:00.000-04:00

The state Supreme Court will hear arguments this morning in Rhode Island’s first same-sex divorce case.

Lawyers for Margaret R. Chambers and Cassandra B. Ormiston are scheduled to appear before the high court at 9:30 a.m.

The Supreme Court has denied motions from the attorney general and others to participate in today’s arguments, courts spokesman Craig N. Berke said Friday.

The court will hear only from Chambers’ lawyer, Louis M. Pulner, and Ormiston’s lawyer, Nancy Palmisciano, who agree on the basic issue before the court.

Berke has said it’s unusual — but not unheard of — for the court to allow friends of the court to participate in oral arguments. Providence Journal

We are all hoping the court does the right thing and recognizes gay marriage, too.

We know the legislature under William Murphy and Joe Montalbano will not do the right thing by our gay citizens, so we depend on the court on hope it continues to expand civil rights for gay people.

rep. steve costantino whitehouse hillary edwards obama langevin patrick kennedy democrats republicans gay divorce gay marriage rhode island politics reed murphy montalbano

BUSH: SHAMING US WITH CONTINUED TORTURE

2007-10-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

The Washington Post has a good editorial this a.m. that the Bush administration continues to defy congress, the laws, international treaties, etc. with a secret legal system created by his buddies such as AG Gonzalez that permitted and still permits torture tactics by such organizations as the CIA.

Now, Bush says that the permissions are in place, but we never torture. He's lying again and the Washington Post gives us the insights that tell us that.

I don't think I can wait until Jan. 9, 2009, to get back my country. Bush has shamed us at home, and abroad and it needs to come to an end. Can't Congress do SOMETHNG?
torture ri politics democrats republicans ping civil liberties bush hillary obama john edwards gay rights catholics christians

DOBSON AND OTHER QUACKS ON THE RIGHT

2007-10-06T09:59:00.000-04:00

On Thursday's Op/Ed page of The New York Times Dr. James Dobson relayed the minutes of a meeting of “pro-Family leaders” that took place in Salt Lake City the previous Saturday. Those assembled, according to Dobson, unanimously agreed that “if neither of the two major political parties nominates an individual who pledges himself or herself to the sanctity of human life, we will join others in voting for a minor-party candidate.”

I can't believe that people actually listen to this dolt, James Dobson.

Others have given some insightful peeks into Dobson and his looney movement, Focus on the Family.
james dobson rhode island politics democrats republicans gay marriage catholics gay rights homophobia christians hillary bill 2008 elections obama john edwards

Willie Geist: Setting My Clock

2007-10-03T16:39:00.000-04:00

I usually get up early in the morning. I like to be at work well before 7. I live just across the street from the campus, so it only takes me a few minutes to reach my desk. However with opportunity to see Willie Geist, everyday in the morning at 6 on Scarborough Country, I actually had to go out and buy an alarm clock so that I don't oversleep Willie.

He's really great at giving the news, commenting, even sometimes in opposition to Scarborough, is great. I love this guy.

I thought is was particularly 'cute' this a.m. when Willie and Mika firmly clutched hands in support of the NYYankees after the Red Sox supporter, Andy Card, noted how great the Sox are doing this year. Willie did not look happy. LOL....

MSNBC is catching on to the fact that Willie is a huge asset, and they are giving him the airtime he should have.

Congrats Will!
willie geist dan abrams joe scarborough popular culture msnbc jeff zucker nbc universal

Bu$h Screws Children out of Ideology

2007-10-03T10:33:00.001-04:00

President Bu$h because of ideology that is disfuntional has vetoed the expansion of State Childrens Health Insurance Program.

These people are soooooooooooooooo pro-life.....yah, right.

s-chip clinton bush republicans democrats children’s health care ri politics christians gay rights catholics

Bu$h Ignores Children's Health Plight

2007-10-01T07:45:00.001-04:00

"PRESIDENT BUSH appears determined to veto the $35 billion expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program that the House and Senate approved last week. Although there's scant hope of changing the president's mind, here's a fact-check of some of the administration's arguments against the measure." Washington Post

It is clear that Bu$h is more concerned with protecting the profits of his corporate buddies in the insurance industry than he is about protecting American children. He once wanted to bring them all under this umbrella for health care ... but millions will go without coverage...the Washington Post did a fact check on the President's reasons for his veto, and of course none of his positions are facts.
clinton children’s health care republicans democrats health care ri politics christians gay rights catholics bush

REPUBLICANS DUMP AFRICAN AMERICANS, AS USUAL

2007-09-28T09:27:00.000-04:00

The lesser-known Republican presidential candidates condemned their top rivals on Thursday for skipping a debate on minority issues and said their absence hurt the party's image and amplified racial divisions.

Mike Huckabee (R-ARK) stated:

"Frankly, I'm embarrassed. I'm embarrassed for our party and I'm embarrassed for those who did not come, because there's long been a divide in this country and it doesn't get better when we don't show up," former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said in the nationally televised debate.

Is anyone really surprised? Republicans have long pushed the agenda of the middle and upper class white man to the detriment of others especially African Americans.

michael vocino ri politics democrats republicans ping electoral college california hillary obama john edwards gay rights catholics christians

Paul Crowley, Champion of Education and Health Care

2007-09-25T08:39:00.000-04:00

It isn't often that the Boston Globe would give notice to the death of a RI state legislator. They did today for Paul Crowley who championed education and health care for RI's youngest:

Paul Crowley; championed education in R.I.

PROVIDENCE - Representative Paul Crowley, the longest-serving Democrat in the Rhode Island House, died of skin cancer yesterday at his home in Newport, a legislative spokesman said.

Representative Crowley, 57, who owned La Forge Casino Restaurant, was first elected to office in 1981 and served as deputy chairman of the House Finance Committee. Much of his legislative career was spent trying to improve Rhode Island's school districts.

He backed a law that created annual school evaluations, and he supported consolidating Rhode Island's school districts to save money. He also backed charter schools, pushed for increased vocational education, and wanted more predictable state funding for education.

Governor Don Carcieri ordered state flags lowered to half-staff in honor of Mr. Crowley.

"Paul Crowley was a legislator who served the public well, with a legendary work ethic and a decades-long commitment to improving education," Carcieri said in a written statement.
Representative Crowley mentored Patrick Kennedy when Kennedy won a seat in the Rhode Island House in 1988. Kennedy is now a congressman.

"He really had this old Irish-Catholic sense of social justice to him," Kennedy said. "That made him a voice for the state's poorest children and their education. He would plow ahead through any bureaucracy and through any legislative process to fight for those kids."

Representative Crowley leaves his wife, Diana, a daughter, and two sons.

Unlike the current RI Gov. Carcieri, this politician worked for us and especially for our children.
michael vocino clinton paul crowley republicans democrats health care ri politics christians gay rights catholics education

Right Wing, Censorship, Colorado and FREE SPEECH

2007-09-24T08:48:00.001-04:00

Here's the silliness:
The Rocky Mountain Collegian, the student newspaper at Colorado State University, is facing scrutiny after an editorial Friday, which used two words, one of them starting with an F, to express the publication’s view of President Bush. The director of student media is planning an investigation of the decision-making process that went into the editorial, according to The Coloradoan.

Thousands of American adolescents are dead and more will die in Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi innocents are dead and Millions of Iraqi are have been forced to leave their country and are now refugees and you don't hear a peep about it from the Right Wing Wackos.

Have a student use a so-called "dirty" word and they start to cry. Such words upset them so much, death and dying are ok though.
press freedom clinton censorship republicans democrats dirty words ri politics christians gay rights catholics Colorado state

REPUBLICANS AND THE "BIG CON"

2007-09-23T08:08:00.000-04:00

‘The Big Con’

“American politics has been hijacked by a tiny coterie of right-wing economic extremists, some of them ideological zealots, others merely greedy, a few of them possibly insane.”

Now there is an analysis I can sign on to and readily so......;-) /read the book before homeland security siezes all of the copies.

michael vocino ri politics democrats republicans republican corruption hillary obama john edwards gay rights catholics christians

Geist in the Morning

2007-09-21T07:40:00.000-04:00

The "forces" for good over at MSNBC gave Willie Geist some good, hosting, airtime this a.m. For all of us Willie Geist fans....IT WAS GREAT... Willie has a calming presence that Joe doesn't. He gave us full information not his personal opinion as Joe tends to do too much. He works great with Mika, they also look good together, and Willie let her do her job without the sexist, macho, bullsh1t that Joe does a little too much of lately.

Willie is a great presence in the a.m. AND AS A HOST, NO ONE IS BETTER THAN WILLIE GEIST....
joe scarborough geist msnbc nbc universal tucker gay icon gay rights jeff zucker

Hillary's Health Care Plan Not Enough!

2007-09-18T09:00:00.001-04:00

The long-awaited healthcare proposal Hillary Clinton unveiled yesterday is the most high-profile sign of the consensus emerging among the leading Democratic presidential contenders about how to cover 47 million uninsured Americans.

Yes, it is a start but what people really want is a national health care system that doesn't take all their money and consumme all their thoughts, especially after they retire.

The time has come for the U.S. to see health care as a right. It should be a right of citizenship and should not be for profit. TAKE the PROFIT OUT of HEALTH CARE. We want a government supplied health system just as most of Europe and Canada has.

THE TIME IS NOW.
rep. steve costantino
whitehouse hillary edwards obama langevin patrick kennedy democrats republicans health care national health plan rhode island politics reed

BRADY, TERRIFIC ON FIELD AND OFF

2007-09-17T08:59:00.001-04:00

Tom Brady was Tom Terrific last night.

Not only the field, where he completed 25 of 31 passes for 279 yards and 3 touchdowns in the Patriots’ 38-14 rout of the defending AFC West champion Chargers, but also at the podium in his post-game press conference, where he defended his embattled coach.
“We’re all lucky to play for him, because he’s the best -- no question,” Brady said of Bill Belichick, who on Friday was fined $500,000 by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Providence Journal
tom brady patriots football gisele gay rights belichick

Condi in Relationship with Another Woman?

2007-09-15T09:08:00.000-04:00

Secretary of State Condi Rice and another woman, documentary filmmaker Randy Bean, own a house together in Palo Alto, California. The story was first reported by Michelangelo Signorile on his Sirius Satellite Network radio show. You can find more details here: Secretary of State co-owns home with female filmmaker. For more on this go to Mike Roger's BlogActive.

michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans gay marriage condi rice gay rights homophobia christians mike rogers

WASHINGTON POST EXPOSES BUSH'S LIES.

2007-09-14T19:25:00.000-04:00

"In his speech last night, President Bush made a case for progress in Iraq by citing facts and statistics that at times contradicted recent government reports or his own words.
For instance, Bush asserted that "Iraq's national leaders are getting some things done," such as "sharing oil revenues with the provinces" and allowing "former Baathists to rejoin Iraq's military or receive government pensions." WOW, the Washington Post makes his misstatements, exaggerations and huge mistakes quite clear.

democrats republicans iraq bush neo-cons surge ri politics

Petraeus All Wrong: Anbar Major Sheik Killed Today

2007-09-13T10:37:00.002-04:00

Gen. David Petraeus has been telling us that Anbar Province is the model for how things are getting better in Iraq. This is the horrific news from Anbar this A.m.:

The most prominent figure in a revolt of Sunni sheiks against al-Qaeda in Iraq was killed Thursday in an explosion near his home in Anbar province, Iraqi police and tribal leaders said.

Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha was leader of the Anbar Salvation Council, also known as the Anbar Awakening — an alliance of clans backing the Iraqi government and U.S. forces.

Abu Risha and two of his bodyguards were killed by a roadside bomb planted near the tribal leader's home in Ramadi, Anbar's provincial capital, said Col. Tareq Youssef, supervisor of Anbar police.

USA Today

whitehouse hillary edwards obama langevin patrick kennedy democrats republicans petraeus iraq rhode island politics reed tucker

2 Soldiers Who Wrote NYTimes OP-Ed Are Both Dead a Month later

2007-09-12T11:05:00.000-04:00

The words of Yance T. Gray and Omar Mora, have been killed in Iraq and just a month ago they published "The War as We Saw It." Their criticisms of the War speak for themselves:

To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched. As responsible infantrymen and noncommissioned officers with the 82nd Airborne Division soon heading back home, we are skeptical of recent press coverage portraying the conflict as increasingly manageable and feel it has neglected the mounting civil, political and social unrest we see every day ...The claim that we are increasingly in control of the battlefields in Iraq is an assessment arrived at through a flawed, American-centered framework. Yes, we are militarily superior, but our successes are offset by failures elsewhere ... In a lawless environment where men with guns rule the streets, engaging in the banalities of life has become a death-defying act

...As committed soldiers, we will see this mission through.There are no words.

They will never return home. They gave their life bravely for a war that they themselves knew to be wrong and yet they wanted "to do" right. The wrote to us about what was right...let's hope we listen....

rep. steve costantino whitehousehillary edwards obama langevin patrick kennedy democrats republicans iraq yance gray rhode island politics reed omar mora end the war chris matthews

WILLIE GEIST AMONG THE MISSING

2007-09-12T07:22:00.000-04:00

Willie Geist, the mainstay of the Tucker Carlson Show on MSNBC (the only reason some of us watch!) is among the missing. Not on Tucker, not on Joe Scarborough in the morning. Inquiring Minds want to know, "Where is the Hotttttt Willie Geist?"

For those of us Willie addicted...no pun...you can see him on his blog, Zeitgeist.

Tell me you don't just love this face. He's adorable....but he does need to learn the Dick Cavett trick of putting makeup on his hands as well as his face. Notice the contrast in the film!

Cuter than cute, whiter than white, that's Willie! Hmmmmm.

joe scarborough geist msnbc nbc universal tucker gay icon gay rights jeff zucker

Al Qaeda: Who's Running the Show? al Zawahiri!

2007-09-09T08:52:00.000-04:00

The Weekly Standard reports "...al Qaeda is bent on transferring the jihadist battlefield to Europe, which is the nearest and most vulnerable theater of opportunity...."

Madrid, London, Germany, have all seen attacks or attempted attacks. Maybe the author is correct. Al Qaeda is not winning converts in Iraq, so why not move to a distant enemy?

That also seems to be the philosophy of the real no. 1 leader of world-wide al Qaeda, al Zawahiri.

democrats republicans iraq al zawahiri bin laden iraq ri politics

TOM BRADY. MAN WITH THE NUMBERS, THE SKILLS

2007-09-08T08:32:00.000-04:00

Tom Brady will serve as an offensive captain for the sixth straight season, having first been elected in 2002. The two-time Super Bowl MVP enters the 2007 season with a record of 82-26 (.759) as a starting quarterback in regular season and playoff games, the best record of any NFL quarterback in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) with at least 40 starts.

And tomorrow is the start of the regular season: NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (0-0) at NEW YORK JETS (0-0)Sunday, September 9, 2007Giants Stadium (80,062) -- 1:00 p.m. EDT. We get to watch this beauty of a man seen in the photo....dreamland....get the game report.

new england patriots football tom brady catholics gay rights nfl jets gay icons gay,straights, together

NATIONAL GAY POLITICIANS: LOOK TO RHODE ISLAND

2007-09-05T08:49:00.002-04:00

As the nation is convulsed repeatedly over the awareness that there are many gay politicians in the U.S. Senate and the House, not to mention the entire federal government, closeted gay politicians might want to look to RI where there are at least two models for how to comeout as gay and still serve in an elected and powerful position.

RI's Gay Politicians: Men Who Lead the Way

"How to come out as a gay politician" is the title of one of Sheila Lennon's Subterranean Homepage News entries. It is a brief, yet well-done, account of two of RI's best political leaders both of whom just happen to be gay. One is House Majority Leader Gordon Fox (in photo) and the other is Providence Mayor David Cicilline. There are great political futures in store for both of them.

Men of courage and men of integrity, I hope our great state benefits from their leadership for many years to come. In fact, Cicilline is running for Governor. I don't know of any other Democratic cadidates at this point, nor any Republican challengers, but as things stand now and as I look across the political horizons, I can't imagine anyone matching Cicilline's qualifications for office based on his proven, and good, leadership of the capital city over these past few years.

I would hope also that other RI politicians would look at Fox and Cicilline and see that these impeccable RI citizens, men who work diligently for the common good, are citizens just like anyone else and that they and other gay RIslanders deserve equal rights, especially the right to choose a partner and get married even if that partner is of the same sex.
michael vocino providence, ri gay marriage republicans democrats homophobia ri politics Gordon fox gay rights catholics david cicilline rhode island politics

Lindsey Graham; Mitch McConnell GAY?

2007-09-03T18:36:00.000-04:00

Well, we all know there is absolutely nothing wrong with being gay and in the closet so it would be ok to speculate on news that is all over the internet: Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina; Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Congressman David Drier of California are being rumored about heavily as being gay. They all happen to be anti-gay, pro traditional family Republicans. Here's one writer on the three:

Michelangelo Signorile, author, radio personality and famous gay activist writes on his blog today that there are many more gay senators and congressmen in the Republican ranks in congress. He names three he has "heard" about...all three are anti-gay rights:

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) -- Republican Minority Leader in the Senate.

Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-South Carolina)

Congressman David Drier (R-California)

Read what Signorile says here.

michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans gay republicans catholics gay rights homophobia christians Lindsey graham mitch mcconnell 2008 elections david drier

DAVID VITTER AND REPUBLICAN SEX SCANDALS

2007-09-02T08:19:00.000-04:00

If the Larry Craig case has taught us anything it is that we should start being more suspicious when politicians and religious figures self-righteously denounce the sex lives of others.

Clearly those who self-righteously denounce other people for how they express their sexualtiy are usually the ones who have dirtly little and not so little secrets themselves. Look at this recent list of politicians and religious people who have publicly ranted in gay/same sex relations/adultery. They were the leaders in demonizing sexual difference and yet they were the ones engaging in such "sinful" behavior. Now, I don't think the behavior was sinful and these men obviously didn't either:

David Vitter, one of the most arduous spokespeople against people who expressed their sexuality differently than he said they should. He has since admitted sexual misconduct, the violation of his marriage vows, the sensibilities of the "family values" crowd and yet, unlike Larry Craig, he was not forced out of the Senate? Why not. He committed the same sin as Craig. Why haven't the Republicans kicked him out?

Mark Foley: he sought sex with House pages at the same time he was writing and pushing laws that persecuted gay people.

Tom DeLay and Newt Gingrich: Both carrying on affairs at the very time they were attacking Bill Clinton for doing the same thing. Both also were corrupt when it came to money and influence.

Glenn Murphy: sexually assaulted another man while he was asleep, the chair of the Young Republicans National Federation and the Clark County, Indiana, GOP chair, Glenn Murphy, has stepped down from his position.

Ted Haggard: leader of the National Association of Evangelicals from 2003 until November 2006. He has admitted gay sex with a prostitute on a regular basis as well as drug abuse.

Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Baker are the evangelical sexual forerunners of Haggard. They both were caught multiple times in illicit sexual affairs. Swaggart with female prostitutes and Baker with both men and women.

Jeff Gannon: a gay prostitute and reporter for GOPUSA.

Ken Mehlman: Champion of family values, longtime chair of the Republican party and outed as gay all over the news and blogs.

Jim West: Spokane Mayor. Had a sexual affair with an 18 year old male he gave a city job to him. Pushed anti gay laws as a Washington legislator.

Catholic Priest Sex Scandals: The John Jay Report, commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, found accusations against 4,392 priests in the USA, equalling about 4% of all U.S. priests. Figures supplied by the Catholic League, and the U. S. Department of Education suggest that the abuse figures in the Catholic Church are similar to abuse in other institutions such as education.

Boy Scout Sex Scandals: previously private records show the Boy Scouts have ejected at least 5100 adult leaders nationwide for sexual abuse of boys since 1946.

All of the above push "family values" and call for a morality that demonizes gay sex. Again, we should start being more suspicious when politicians and religious figures self-righteously denounce the sex lives of others.

BTW, David Vitter admitted to commiting crimes of sexual misbehavior. He should be asked to leave the senate and NOW. Just like Larry Craig. Where are the Republicans on this....the party of "family values!" HA

michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans david vitter catholics gay rights homophobia christians larry craig republican sex scandals

Jeremy Bloom Cut by Philly Eagles

2007-09-01T19:43:00.000-04:00

I was very sad to read this news: The two-time Olympic skier was among 22 players cut by the Philadelphia Eagles to reach the 53-man roster limit on Saturday. A fifth-round draft pick in 2006, Bloom never played a down in the regular season.

I wish him the best of luck in his future. I hope he moves on to modelling. Look at that body. He's a natural.

michael vocino Philadelphia eagles Jeremy bloom gay rights hot men

VOTE REPUBLICAN????? not with Vitter still there

2007-08-31T08:18:00.000-04:00

Are you kidding? With the way they have been treating one of their own in Larry Craig the party has proved itself hypocritical, unchrist-like, mean-spirited, just plain nasty.

From the NYTimes today:

Underlying the hurry to disown the senator, of course, is the party’s brutal agenda of trumpeting the gay-marriage issue. To the extent Senator Craig, a stalwart in the family values caucus, might morph into a blatant hypocrite before the voters’ eyes, he reflects on the party’s record in demonizing homosexuality. The rush to cast him out betrays the party’s intolerance, which is on display for the public in all of its ugliness. But it also betrays their political uneasiness as the next election approaches. more>>>>

And why aren't they throwing David Vitter, Ted Stevens or others under the bus? Why Craig? If Craig needs to go, so does Vitter!
david vitter clinton larry craig republicans democrats homophobia ri politics christians gay rights catholics 2008 elections

Chris Matthews and Tucker: Desperate for Gay Sex!

2007-08-29T20:07:00.000-04:00

Why isn't David Vitter, the Senator from Louisiana who admitted to breaking his marriage vows, soliciting sex in Washington and new orleans on numerous occasions, also being asked to resign like Craig has been?

As usual, gay sex carries a heavier societal punishment THAN does heterosexual sex "misdeeds."

Now, I'm not defending Larry Craig, and I am not so upset at his having public sex, but rather that he worked so diligently, so hard to keep gay people as second and third class citizens. He has demonized gay people from day one in office and everyone knew he was gay since at least 1982 and even earlier.

Those run-ins with the law coincided with the time frame of his marriage. He was probably psychically forced into that marriage to again "hide" his real proclivities.

Larry Craig was socialized at a time when being gay and admitting to it meant certain death to any aspirations you might have for your life. And public office....totally out of reach to openly gay people (and still is in most parts of the USA) until recently.

Society and especially religious strictures forced Larry Craig into that bathroom in Minneapolis. It was a desperate act. Any gay man who wanted to express his sexuality at the time of Craig's socialization was forced to troll bathrooms, public parks, highway rest stops for sex, because even if there were gay clubs at the time, they were constantly in danger of being raided by the police---and were as Stonewall attests.

Of course, gay people weren't the only ones using public places like parks and drive-ins, and rest stops for sex. Every high school heterosexual knew and most used such places for public sex and on a regular basis AND still do.

No outrage over that, it was the norm for society. Kids borrowing the family car and going to public places to smooch and have sex.

The outrage was only for those seeking gay sex, not heterosexual sex.

So, just as those hetero high schoolers sought sexual relations in public places, and still do, so do gay people. Larry Craig, in my view committed no high offense for the public sex.

ALL OF YOU WHO HAD SEX IN THE BACKSEAT OF A CAR KNOW THAT FOR SURE! or in the balcony of a movie theater, at the high school prom in the park, at the local lover's lane or at the beach under the blankets..all of you, and that's probably 99% of us can't scream at Larry Craig for public sex....you did it and your kids still do.

His crime from my perspective is that he demonized the very sex practices that he was forced to practice in the face of the pressures put on him--anyone--who does not practice sex as society SAYS people should or as Churches hypocritically demand.

But remember Craig was probably forced into his marriage to hide his true orientation and then for decades sought human contact of the kind his nature required by doing it furtively in public places. Larry Craig was and is a victim, but that didn't and doesn't give him the right to victimize and demonize gay people as he did for entire public career. I am happy to see him go, but I wanted to point out the hypocrisy of the judgments given to Vitter and his sexual "crimes" vs. those of Larry Craig.
michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans gay marriage catholics gay rights homophobia christians hillary larry craig david vitter obama john edwards chris matthews media matters tucker willie geist norm coleman nancy pelosi harry+reid mitch mcconnell

Missing Willie Geist Here

2007-08-29T12:43:00.000-04:00

I need my Willie Geist fix. The master reporter of pop culture usually seen on the Tucker Carlson show hasn't been around for the last few days, and WE miss him. I still and probably never will understand why this guy doesn't have his own show.
michael vocino
dan abrams willie geist tucker carlson popular culture msnbc jeff zucker nbc universal

NATIONAL HEALTH CARE IS A RIGHT OF CITIZENSHIP

2007-08-29T09:06:00.000-04:00

Health care has become the number one issue after the unconscionable war in Iraq. It's time to do something about it and I don't mean continuing insurance scams and giving it to all Americans.

I mean we need a government sponsored national health care plan that is a right of citizenship as it is in most industrialized nations.

It's time has come....we need it now!

Today's NYTimes has these sobering statistics:

The number of uninsured Americans has been rising inexorably over the past six years as soaring health care costs have driven up premiums, employers have scaled back or eliminated health benefits and hard-pressed families have found themselves unable to purchase insurance at a reasonable price. Last year, the number of uninsured Americans increased by a daunting 2.2 million, from 44.8 million in 2005 to 47.0 million in 2006. That scotched any hope that the faltering economic recovery would help alleviate the problem.

The main reason for the upsurge in uninsured Americans is that employment-based coverage continued to deteriorate.
rep. steve costantino
whitehouse hillary edwards obama langevin patrick kennedy democrats republicans health care national health plan rhode island politics reed democrats republicans

The Latest Not So Proud GAY REPUBLICAN

2007-08-28T09:34:00.000-04:00

GREAT stuff all over the net on the hypocrisy of U.S. Sen Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and how he has been putting obstacles in the way of gay rights for years. Here's just one note on Craig:

from Proud Of Who We Are...
"Larry Craig should stand up and be honest with the citizens of Idaho about who he is," said Rogers, the country's top gay activist blogger. "Tonight is a historic opportunity for Senator Craig to run for re-election as a proud gay American. What a great turning point for one of the most conservative states in the country to be represented by an openly gay Senator."
"Senator Craig's situation is exacerbated by the fact that he has a voting record that is counter to the interest of lesbian and gay Americans. All too often, closeted men like Senator Craig use their voting record to hide their truth from the American people. With this news now out in the open, I call upon Senator Craig to reevaluate his votes on issues like the Federal Marriage Amendment, Don't Ask Don't Tell, and the Defense of Marriage Act.
"The Minnesota arrest is not a one-time occurrence," Rogers added. "Last October, I reported on three other encounters that Senator Craig had with men – including one in a bathroom in Washington's Union Station. What's troubling about this is Larry Craig's hypocrisy: he repeatedly votes against the gay community during his day job, while engaging in same-sex encounters as extra curricular activity. Now is a good time for Larry Craig to join millions of other Americans and be proud of who he is.Read the entire statement here

michael vocino clinton gay marriage republicans democrats homophobia ri politics christians gay rights catholics larry craig idaho republican sex scandals

HEALTH CARE: SENATORS, READ KRUGMAN!

2007-08-27T07:55:00.000-04:00

Krugman is ON TARGET WITH THIS ONE, except substitue universal health insurance for all with government supplied health care for all as a right of citizenship.....WE WANT A NATIONAL HEALTH PLAN, GOVT. SUPPLIED, AND NOT INSURANCE

"The truth is that there’s no difference in principle between saying that every American child is entitled to an education and saying that every American child is entitled to adequate health care. It’s just a matter of historical accident that we think of access to free K-12 education as a basic right, but consider having the government pay children’s medical bills “welfare,“ with all the negative connotations that go with that term."

"And conservative opposition to giving every child in this country access to health care is, in a fundamental sense, un-American."

rep. steve costantino
whitehouse hillary edwards obama langevin patrick kennedy democrats republicans health care national health plan rhode island politics reed democrats republicans

IRAQ AND AMERICAN FILMMAKERS

2007-08-26T09:05:00.000-04:00

Two movies about the Iraq war and its impact on Americans back home are among 22 competition entries at the Venice Film Festival this year, lending political weight to a cinema showcase laden with Hollywood productions.

Paul Haggis' "In the Valley of Elah," starring Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon, is the eagerly anticipated film based on the real-life murder of a young soldier who returned to the United States from Iraq.

It is up against Brian De Palma's "Redacted," which tells the story of a U.S. army unit that persecutes an Iraqi family and also examines the way media cover the conflict.

Venice film festival rhode island politics democrats republicans film catholics gay rights iraq christians hillary filmmakers 2008 elections obama john edwards

Vick’s Crime Doesn’t Rival Human Tragedy

2007-08-25T07:33:00.000-04:00

Michael Vick deserves everything he gets over the dog fighting scandal he was deeply involved with according to documents he filed with the courts, however, the Providence Journal's Jim Donaldson makes a great point in a column this a.m. in which he states, "...I wish people would get as angry, as emotionally involved, as upset about cruelty to humans as they do over cruelty to animals."

This commentary is well worth the read.

michael vocino football dogfighting michael vick Atlanta falcons nfl catholics christians

ROMNEY FOR GAY RIGHTS! YEAH!!!

2007-08-24T10:24:00.000-04:00

Mitt Romney is falling badly in polls of people who will definitely vote against him according to Rasmussen. Mitt once supported gay rights when he thought it would help him win an election, but he has no principles, so now he is against gay rights. He flip-flops when it is convenient or means a better chance at winning an election. He comes from the Cheney and Bush school of morality. Sad, huh? Now, it becomes so clear why people shouldn't and don't trust him. Boston Globe
gay rights mitt romney republicans democrats iowa ri politics hillary edwards obama mittie rudy

WILLE GEIST HAS ANOTHER FAN, ONE OF MILLIONS

2007-08-22T19:51:00.000-04:00

We have another Willie Geist fan in Mark Finkelstein, and he is a rightwinger.

"Willie Geist's genius as an observer of the political and pop-cultural scenes has been his ability to stay largely above the fray."

So Big Willie has admirers like Mark on the Right and Me on the left! Willie, the good all around guy. Doing a good job in the morning Willie. You did look a little white and tired this a.m. but once you dump Tucker that dead space in the late afternoon will be off your back. LOL...

BTW, who is this Joe Scarborough you are working with in the morning? Gotta go, time for Olbermann ;-)
michael vocino
mark finkelstein willie geist tucker carlson popular culture msnbc jeff zucker nbc universal joe scarborough

MORE REPUBLICAN SLEAZY ELECTORAL TACTICS

2007-08-22T10:50:00.000-04:00

These guys, the Republicans, know that they can't win elections unless they cheat. The vast majority of Americans are Democratic or Independent and know now with all the Republican scandals about money, sex, and lying about Iraq that they can't be trusted with the future of our children or anything else for that matter. Look at this last attempt at circumventing the system so their candidate might steal the next presidential election, too:

Stacking the Electoral Deck

The Electoral College should be abolished, but there is a right way to do it and a wrong way. A prominent Republican lawyer in California is doing it the wrong way, promoting a sneaky initiative that, in the name of Electoral College reform, would rig elections in a way that would make it difficult for a Democrat to be elected president, no matter how the popular vote comes out. If the initiative passes, it would do serious damage to American democracy.

California currently gives all 55 of its electoral votes — the biggest electoral college prize in the nation — to the candidate who wins the statewide popular vote. Virtually all states use this winner-take-all method. The California initiative, which could go to a vote in June, would instead give the 2008 presidential candidates one electoral vote for every Congressional district that they win, with an additional two electoral votes going to whoever got the most votes statewide. (Democrats appear to have backed off from plans to try just as anti-democratic a trick in North Carolina, which is good.)

michael vocino ri politics democrats republicans ping electoral college california hillary obama john edwards gay rights catholics christians

WE WANT A NATIONAL HEALTH PLAN. "NO!" TO UNIVERSAL, INSURANCE-SCAM, PLANS.

2007-08-21T11:32:00.001-04:00

Another unconscionable move by the Republican Party to make sure that children don't get the health care they need. The only way to stop this kind of mean-spirited, pro-insurance scam scandal is to institute a National Health Plan. We must do that for all our citizens, and we must do it NOW. What we don't want is another universal health plan that is based on these insurance scams that once you buy, they tell you "no" to every request for health care.
The Presidential candidates MUST understand that. No INSURANCE PLANS, we want a fully paid, government sponsored NATIONAL HEALTH PLAN AND WE WANT IT NOW.

FROM THE WASHINGTON POST:

New administrative hurdles, which state health officials were told about late last week, are aimed at preventing parents with private insurance for their children from availing of the government-subsidized State Children's Health Insurance Program. But Democrats and children's advocates said that the announcement will jeopardize coverage for children whose parents work at jobs that do not provide employer-paid insurance.

rep. steve costantino whitehouse hillary edwards obama langevin rhode island democrats republicans health care national health plan rhode island politics reed patrick kennedy

Frank Rick: Rove and the Republican Future

2007-08-20T09:09:00.002-04:00

Frank Rich of the NYTimes (sundays) is one special writer. He has written the required column on Karl Rove. He puts Rove and the future of the republican party after his failures into perfect perspective:

Last weekend's Iowa straw poll was a more somber but equally anachronistic spectacle. Again, it's a young conservative commentator, Ryan Sager, writing in The New York Sun, who put it best: "The face of the Republican Party in Iowa is the face of a losing party, full of hatred toward immigrants, lust for government subsidies, and the demand that any Republican seeking the office of the presidency acknowledge that he's little more than Jesus Christ's running mate."
That face, at once contemptuous and greedy and self-righteous, is Karl Rove's face. Unless someone in his party rolls out a revolutionary new product, it is indelible enough to serve as the Republican brand for a generation.

rich clinton college republicans republicans democrats homophobia ri politics christians gay rights catholics rove

KARL ROVE MISUSES GOVERNMENT ASSETS, LIES AND CHEATS

2007-08-19T10:30:00.000-04:00

Rove is all over the television this morning. I just saw him on Meet the Press, interupting at every moment, lying, cheating and generally being his ole self as David Gregory let him ramble on about how the whole world thought Saddam had WMDs, not just George Bush. lol. Everyone of our major allies, including the Vatican made it clear that was not the case and we should enter the war. And that is just one example of how he spun his web of lies. The guy is a loser, and how the Republican party stands today as a party of losers, as the USA stands a world-class loser because of Rove and the Iraq War, and now the Washington Post has this story on the frontpage today about how Rove MISused government assets, cheating Bush into a second term:

How Rove Yoked Federal Assets for Political Gain
Bush adviser enlisted political appointees at every level of government to promote president and establish Republican electoral dominance.

The fact is, Karl Rove was a failure when he had to play by constitutional rules. He was only successful, and then only marginally, when he could lie, cheat and deceive.

He bashed gays all the way to the White House, and now he is bashing immigrants to this country. This man is all about discrimination, hate, and lying. He is the definition of what it means to be UnAmerican and negative.

michael vocino ri politics democrats republicans ping karl rove bush hillary obama john edwards gay rights catholics christians

KARL ROVE AND THE UNDERMINING OF AMERICAN VALUES

2007-08-19T09:46:00.000-04:00

DailyKos writes a beautiful portrait of how Karl Rove has spent his career undermining American values of fairness, transparency in government, equality of opportunity, and bipartisanship as foundational to American democracy. Written by Will Hunter, it is the best encapsulation of this second rate American and supreme political manipulator, Karl Rove.

Karl Rove was not a "great political mind". His sole contribution to the nation was getting the worst president in history elected on a campaign of unabashed bullcrap, then proceeding to help guide that president into foreign and domestic policy failures at every opportunity. If that's what passes for Republican brilliance, then it explains... well, pretty much everything, actually. Point taken.

Rove's oft-touted "genius" is nothing more than single-minded amorality. In campaigns and in the administration, he was and is unapologetically amoral in service to his own cause or that of his client: his "genius" is that he has consistently been willing to go farther, be meaner, and invent more astonishing lies than would be done by anyone in politics with a thin remaining threads of a conscience. From smearing John McCain's children with race-baiting taunts to attacking the careers and wives of critics to helping corrupt the most basic and foundational premises of the the United States Department of Justice, nothing has ever been considered "out of bounds". If a malevolent action is not taken -- such as ratcheting up the already venomous Republican rhetoric against immigrants -- it is done only in service to calculated poll numbers, never as a nod to basic morality or patriotism or human decency.

Under Rove, White House policies have revolved around manufacturing false frames for the press, and punishing reporters who stray too far from those frames. Terrorism, war, social security, the economy, government oversight: the defining characteristic of each administration campaign was an almost (but not quite) comical divorce of the asserted statements and the actual facts. Rove's "genius" was that he could plan and launch a campaign announcing that the sky was green, and the mechanisms of the entire executive branch, from press flunkies to cabinet secretaries to low-level political appointees, would spring into action as coordinated effort to assert the fiction as fact. Government reports would be rewritten to reflect the assertion, and government scientists and experts who objected could either pipe down or get out. Faxes would go out to the media, and Fox News would start calling the sky green. Fred Barnes would pen columns devoted to its brilliant emerald hue. Rush Limbaugh would assert it as transparently obvious, and rail against the seventy percent of America that dared look out their window. The President would travel from town to town, meeting with hand-chosen groups of Americans willing to sign statements that they did, in fact, believe in the new Healthy Green Skies initiative. And if you, American citizen, were left out of the fun, who the hell cares? You are not part of the fifty-one percent of Americans that matter in the complex spreadsheet that masqueraded as the only consistent White House apparatus of national policy, these last six years. Half the country matters: the other half is obstacle.

Rove's "genius" has been that he has, in campaigns and government, been entirely unencumbered by morality or shame. Rove's "genius" has been a complete inability to even distinguish between campaigning and government. Rove's only contribution to politics has been to bemusedly mock the very notion of a government existing to serve the people, instead harnessing it at every opportunity to act in mere service of politics for politics' sake. He at no point has shown interest in guiding his president in service to his nation: his strategies of constant national division, most often appearing as meanspirited campaigns of prejudice and fearmongering, were constant reminders that this White House had absolutely no intention of governing all the people, and the politicization of even the most essential tasks of government made sure that they did not do so even as accident.

A great political mind? Hardly...

michael vocino ri politics democrats republicans ping karl rove bush hillary obama john edwards gay rights catholics christians

CULTURAL SUICIDE

2007-08-18T18:37:00.000-04:00

I'm probably going to catch "hell" for this, but I agree with this critic about how some Western societies are "committing suicide." I like the influx of muslim immigrants and I welcome them. They in turn should accept our understanding of human rights and civil liberties even if different from the notions of human freedom they left behind in their home cultures.

How Societies Commit Suicide

Scots and Italians surrender to Islam.

In an effort to ensure that no Muslim doctors ever again try to bomb Glasgow Airport, bureaucrats at Glasgow’s public hospitals have decreed that henceforth no staff may eat lunch at their desks or in their offices during the holy month of Ramadan, so that fasting Muslims shall not be offended by the sight or smell of their food. Vending machines will also disappear from the premises during that period.

Apparently the bureaucrats believe that the would-be bombers were demanding sandwich-free offices in Glasgow hospitals during Ramadan. This kind of absurdity is what happens when the highly contestable doctrine of multiculturalism becomes a career opportunity for the semi-educated and otherwise unemployable products of a grossly and unnecessarily swollen university system.

Meanwhile, the highest court in Italy was confirming an appeals court’s acquittal of the father and brother of a Muslim girl, whom they beat and locked up for becoming too Westernized—that is to say, for having a Western friend. The court ruled that, though they had undoubtedly beaten her and locked her up, this was not because of any culpable ill-feeling toward her. It was, rather, because of “her lifestyle, which did not conform to their culture.”

The sound of a civilization committing suicide can be heard in these stories; for civilizations collapse not because the barbarians are so strong, but because they themselves are so morally enfeebled.

michael vocino ri politics democrats republicans muslims cultural suicide mitt romney hillary obama john edwards gay rights catholics christians

MAN THROWS WIFE OFF BALCONY: NO HEALTH CARE

2007-08-18T09:44:00.000-04:00

from Left Coaster
Over the last few days the Fed has dumped billions of dollars into the banking system in order to bail out the gready investors chasing yield. They build a house of cards, it collapses and they get bailed out. I wonder what lesson they learned.

Maybe the government should have given this guy $800 a week to take care of his terminally ill wife.

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) -- A man threw his seriously ill wife four stories to her death because he could no longer afford to pay for her medical care, prosecutors said in charging him with second-degree murder. ....... In the probable cause statement filed with the charges, police said Reimer was desperate because he could not pay the bills for his wife's treatment for neurological problems and uterine cancer. ............ According to Jackson County Probate Court records, Criste Reimer had been in ill health for several years. Her weight had fallen to 75 pounds and she was partly blind.

According to the court records, she had no health insurance to pay for medical bills that ranged from $700 to $800 per week

TIME FOR A NATIONAL HEALTH PLAN!!!!
michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans free healthcare universal healthcare national health plan hillary bill reimer obama john edwards

ANTI-GAY? Federal Appeals Court Nominee

2007-08-18T09:28:00.000-04:00

Opponents of appeals court nominee Leslie H. Southwick are concerned he may not be qualified and just may be anti-gay. Opponents of the nomination are also concerned about his view of worker rights and race. Looks that way to me too and frankly I'd rather err on the side of gay rights than not. Appointing Southwick could be problematic for gay rights cases within his jurisdiction if he is approved by the Senate. Let's find another appointee without these blotches on her record.
michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans gay marriage catholics gay rights southwick christians hillary federal judiciaryl 2008 elections obama john edwards

RI: Carcieri, Women, and Gays

2007-08-17T17:26:00.000-04:00

Gov. Carcieri is screwing up again. What else is new?

The major story this a.m. is the continued degradation of support for DCYF and the families and children it should be assisting in their struggles to climb out of abject poverty among other problems. His administration has been disaster for poor and middle class families. His priority are his rich buddies, like his giving a huge tax cut for the 500 richest of Rhode Islanders.

He's also screwed up in his brief against gay divorce. The brief attacks women for seeking a no-fault divorce and then education and employment designed to support their single parent families. The Projo tells us their is now a duelling of competing briefs being sent to the courts.

On the one side are those who do not want women to get out of dysfunctional marriages (the Bishop's and the Governor's position) and also don't want gay marriage/divorce in Rhode Island (also the Bishop's and the Governor's position.)

The opposing briefs supporting women and gay rights are women's, human rights, and civil liberties groups throughout the state.

Let's hope the rights of women and gays are upheld by the courts. History is progressive and tho we may have temporary setbacks, stopping rights for women and gays will happen. It's just a matter of time and the victory of right over wrong, and it will happen.

The RI Attorney General, Patrick Lynch, has taken a common sense approach in his brief to the court.
michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans gay marriage catholics gay rights homophobia christians hillary carcieri 2008 elections obama john edwards

IRAN: CHENEY WANTS WAR

2007-08-15T17:18:00.000-04:00

OMG, this presidency is setting up another war....this time with Iran. The Bush Administration and specifically V.P. Cheney has been wrong about everything Iraq. Everything he predicted from WMD to the bull that they would treat us a liberators and we'd be out of there in weeks was bull and lies of the first order to get us into Iraq. Now, the EVIL PRINCE wants us to go to war with Iran.

"The Bush administration is moving toward blacklisting Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a "terrorist" organization, subjecting at least part of the entity to financial sanctions in a new move against the Islamic republic, a U.S. official said Tuesday."

9 out of 10 brigades are tied down in Iraq and will be for years, and this clown, and the real foreign policy president, the Strangelove of our time, Dick Cheney wants to see us at war with Iran. Stop Iran War.com
michael vocino ri politics democrats republicans iran iraq bush hillary obama john edwards cheney catholics christians

THE ROVE PRESIDENCY and the TRIADE OF EVIL

2007-08-14T08:41:00.000-04:00

It was clear from the start that Karl Rove was good at using tactics of dubious ethics to win elections. Win elections, though, he did.

He "swiftboated" Ann Richards, the Governor of Texas, when George W. Bush faced her in his first election win. He did the same thing to John Kerry. Did him in with lies and innuendo. On the domestic policy side, Rove was the president. George W. was nothing more than a figure head. Cheney, of course was and is the real president when it comes to foreign policy. The three, this triade of evil, Bush, Cheney, Rove, have destroyed the Republican Party, the nation, and the chances for a world moving toward peace quickly after the fall of the USSR.

Rove failed at everything he did politically after getting Bush elected: the realignment of the Republican party; privatizing social security, immigration reform, and most importantly establishing a government that brought the Democrats and the Republicans together for the good of the country. He destroyed the Attorney General and his office's credibilty.

Basically, Karl Rove was failure and as a result, Bush, and the nation suffered immeasurably and negatively.

I think John Edwards said it best, "Good bye and good riddance."

That is just about everyone's sentiment including those of his biggest backers on the right. They also knew that Karl Rove was a failure and a huge liability.
michael vocino rove republicans democrats cheney ri politics hillary edwards obama bush triade of evil

MITT IN IOWA: A HOLLOW VICTORY FOR A HOLLOW CANDIDATE

2007-08-12T08:08:00.000-04:00

After busing in voters en masse and paying their registration fee of $35.00, and giving them a great barbeque, Mitt Romney assured that he would win the Republican straw poll here decisively last night, delivering 31.5 percent of votes cast and solidifying his position as the man to beat in Iowa, the state that holds the critical first-in-the- nation caucuses.

The former Massachusetts governor was the only major candidate who participated in the straw poll and greatly outspent his competitors, but last night Romney cast it as a clear victory.
Finishing second with 18.1 percent of the vote was former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, whose candidacy might be reinvigorated by his showing. Last night, he said he was ecstatic.
"For us to do this, spending a dime for every $100 bill the others spent, is an amazing victory," he said.

HIS BIG WALLET EARNED HIM A VICTORY, BUT IS A BIG WALLET THE ONLY QUALIFICATION WE WANT OR DO WE WANT SOMEONE WITH PRINCIPLES? Read about Romney, he has no principles....it is a HOLLOW VICTORY, MITT...kind of like you, a hollow candidate.
michael vocino ri politics democrats republicans flip floppers mormons mitt romney hillary obama john edwards gay rights catholics christians

ANOTHER YOUNG REPUBLICAN SEX SCANDAL

2007-08-08T08:10:00.000-04:00

Glenn Murphy the new head of the Young Republicans got caught giving an unsolicited blowjob to another young man. The story is everywhere.

Who cares if this guy likes to perform fellatio on other consenting adults? No one. BUT if you do it while the guy is asleep, or if you work for laws and regulations which prevent others from acting lawfully on their sexuality, or as with Murphy, you do both, then you deserve to be publicly arressted. This is the Towleroad version:

The Young Republican National Federation acted quickly to scrub any mention of their recently elected leader Glenn Murphy from their websites, according to DailyKos, after several Indiana websites broke the news that Murphy, a "rising star" in the Indiana GOP and the leader of the Clark County Republicans, had stepped down after police charged him with "Criminal Deviate Conduct", a class B felony, for sexually assaulting another man following a Young Republicans party.

From the police report:
"In a shocking police report filed by the Clark Co. Sheriff's office, Murphy is accused of sexually assaulting another man on Saturday, July 28, 2007, while he lay sleeping in his bed. The alleged assault of the 22-year-old man took place in the Jeffersonville, Indiana home of his sister following a Young Republican party in which both Murphy and the 22-year-old man had been in attendance. The victim's sister had urged both men to spend the night at her home because of the amount of alcohol the two had consumed during the party. The victim awoke in the morning to find Murphy performing oral sex on him according to the report. When the victim asked Murphy what he was doing, he responded: "He was holding his dick with one hand and sucking my dick with his mouth." The victim then pushed Murphy away, gathered his personal belongings and left. Murphy was later confronted with the charges by the victim's sister according to the report. The sister says Murphy admitted to her that he performed the sex act on her brother."
young republicans clinton college republicans republicans democrats homophobia ri politics christians gay rights catholics afa

The DEMOCRATIC DEBATES ON MSNBC--SO REFRESHING!

2007-08-07T20:46:00.000-04:00

Wow! The Democratic Candidates Night at the AFL-CIO Convention on MSNBC tonight was just great. It was so good to see candidates who actually spoke to the needs of the larger American groupings of the middle and lower classes instead of the rich and corporate classes as did the Republicans. The need for Social Security protection, the protection of company pensions from coporate greed, and most of all the need for a Universal Government sponsored health care plan were the shining moments for the Democratic agenda. And of course there was none of the nonsense about how things were turning around in Iraq as we saw with the Republican Debates last week.

In one way of the other, all the Democrats called for an end the war and start of troop withdrawal.

One of the most moving moments was when a gentleman came to the mike, filled with emotions, and explained how his retirement was destroyed by coporate greed that saw the severe reduction of his pension and his loss of health care for his wife.

He asked "What is wrong with America?" Unlike the Republican candidates --all of them-- who want to continue the insurance scams, and the protection of the obscene profits of pharmaceutical corporations, all the Democratic candidates have promised health care for everyone. NICE. I was impressed with all of them on this issue. It's always been Hillary's issue. Kucinich was great on health care as was, as always Edwards and Obama. Even Joe Biden and Chris Dodd and Richardson, our next Vice President spoke of the need.

Hillary clearly won the debate. She gets better and better. Anyone of the other candidates would be better than any of the Republicans running for president, but Hillary is still my candidate. With a Democratic president there will be health care for all.
michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans free healthcare universal healthcare democratic debate hillary msnbc 2008 elections obama john edwards

HEALTH CARE, "WHAT ABOUT THE USA?"

2007-08-04T22:37:00.000-04:00

The Washington Post has a great article on healthcare. A working class woman confronts Romney over how much she needs to pay for insurance and wants to know why the government can’t give working people a national health plan that is free as a right of citizenship. She has two sick children and has to pay insurance premiums of $1000/month with high co-pays. Biden had no answer for her either.

michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans free healthcare universal healthcare national health plan hillary bill 2008 elections obama john edwards

BUSH IN MINNESOTA AS NEW ORLEANS STILL SUFFERS

2007-08-04T10:50:00.000-04:00

President Bush is in Minnesota after the tragedy that underscored how the U.S. infrastructure has had no attention over the last decade of his presidency.

The President and his wife are in Minnesota to give hope to the people there, always a good photo op. Let's hope that he does more for the people of Minnesota than he did for New Orleans which is still suffering as is the coastal area of Mississippi.

The president is all talk and no action. After Katrina: "We'll do whatever it takes," he said of helping rebuild New Orleans and helping the hundreds of thousands who lost their homes and work. He essentially has still done NOTHING of substance.

Help the Minnesotans, but do it better than you did in Louisiana...and go back to Louisiana.
michael vocino ri politics democrats republicans bush bridge collapse new orleans katrina obama john edwards hillary mississippi infrastructure

Democrats Deliver on Ethics Reform--As Promised!

2007-08-03T11:03:00.001-04:00

The Senate voted Thursday to make lawmakers disclose more about their efforts to fund pet projects and raise money from lobbyists, a move some called the biggest advance in congressional ethics in decades.

Democrats hailed the 83-14 vote as proof they are fulfilling their 2006 campaign promise to crack down on lobbying abuses that have sent some lawmakers and a prominent lobbyist to prison.

Even the majority of Republicans voted for the bill which many public interest groups have called "outstanding."

The Democrats came through stunningly on their campaign promise to pass an ethics reform bill! But, believe it or not, Bush doesn't like it...threatens a veto. Again his partisanship, party before country.
michael vocino ethics reform republicans democrats public ethics ri politics hillary edwards obama 2008 elections

ERIC EGLAND, CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS, Conservative Christianist

2007-08-01T17:42:00.000-04:00

The Republicans are fielding candidates for congress that are defending the President in his deceitful use of Executive Privilege...this particular candidate, Eric Egland, a former officer and Air Force Academy graduate, who is not only promoting the Iraqi war disaster and the coverups that the Bush administration perpetrate that HURT our soldiers and their families as the mother of Pat Tillman tells us, but he's also running as a "moral" man who has a family (what does having a family have to do with being a good politician? It's nice but not a requirement for office!~) He also mentions that he's a member of Grace Bible Church of Roseville that believes in an "elect." Oh, oh, when you believe there is an "elect" you believe there are some people better than others. That in my view is totally unAmerican. This fellow is not a Christian, he's a Christianist. Now, I believe in Jesus but this is not my Jesus.

Just what we need another rightwing, Christianist, militarist in Congress who says he will give "ethical leadership." Yeah, that's what Bush said, "I will restore honor to the White House." LOL.

Watch out for the guy with the I am better than thou attitude....They are usually the ones who do us most harm: Bush, Ted Haggard, Tom Delay, Jimmy Swaggart, etc, etc, etc. Let's hope that Eric Egland here does not get elected. He does not mention the poor, the lower middle and middle classes. When he starts mentioning a National Health Plan for everyone, then you know he is a good man. Until then don't listen to this clown or anyone else like him: Ultraconservative, Christianist (my Jesus not yours) and militaristic.

michael vocino democrats republicans eric egland California politics catholics christians

Gonzales is Smarter Than All of Us.

2007-07-31T08:53:00.000-04:00

Wow! Pick up any newspaper, turn on any tv or radio and the news is all about Alberto Gonzales.

This guy is absolutely brilliant. His performance is almost academy award quality.

Now, if you are President Bush and the major issue you are concerned with is the Iraq War and "winning" it by your methods, what or who stands in the way beside the "enemy"?

A fully engaged Democrat Congress that wants us out of Iraq ASAP is Bush's biggest obstacle to getting Iraq "his way."

So how do you divert Congress' attention? You put on a show, and Alberto Gonzales is the main attraction and he's turning out to be just great. He has all those big name Democrats and Republicans believing his act, too. Harvard law education and this guy is so stupid. One of the country's best law firms, and this Gonzales can't remember what he had for lunch today. Imagine! LOL...

Bush must be having a field day with this one....laughing his ass off at the notion that Gonzales has the Congress tied in a knot, and totally pre-occupied.

The more time they spend reviling this one smart lawyer, Gonzales, the less time they have to interfere with Iraqi policy.

"Brilliant, Al. Keep it up for as long as you can, amigo," George said to his close friend for years, Al Gonzales.
michael vocino alberto gonzales republicans democrats bush ri politics hillary edwards obama Sheldon whitehouse tucker

NYTimes Says It All: IMPEACH GONZALES

2007-07-30T08:20:00.003-04:00

NYTIMES: Impeach Gonzales!

President Bush often insists he has to be the decider - ignoring Congress
and the public when it comes to the tough matters on war, terrorism and
torture, even deciding whether an ordinary man in Florida should be allowed
to let his wife die with dignity. Apparently that burden does not apply to
the functioning of one of the most vital government agencies, the Justice
Department.

Americans have been waiting months for Mr. Bush to fire Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales, who long ago proved that he was incompetent and more
recently has proved that he can't tell the truth....

Democratic lawmakers are asking for a special prosecutor to look into Mr.
Gonzales's words and deeds. Solicitor General Paul Clement has a last chance
to show that the Justice Department is still minimally functional by
fulfilling that request.

If that does not happen, Congress should impeach Mr. Gonzales.

michael vocino alberto gonzales republicans democrats justice department ri politics hillary edwards obama

No Health Care for Children: Bush Wants to Veto

2007-07-29T09:08:00.000-04:00

As other people are screaming that the U.S. should offer a free, national health plan for everyone, the Resident of the White House is threatening what little we do for health care now for children, the most fragile among our citizens.

As a Washington Post op.ed. piece said this a.m., the president's callous veto will serve as a "a surrogate for the larger philosophical debate on the role of government in health care."

Yes. It's time for a free, national health care plan for everyone. Health care is a right in most of the civilized world but not in the U.S. It's time to do that!

The Post has also reported today that the Bush government blocked the publication of global health report because it did not agree with the Bush policy position. Policy over truth....typical Bush.
michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans free healthcare universal healthcare national health plan hillary bill 2008 elections obama john edwards

U.S. Health Care in Trouble, Europe has the Solution

2007-07-27T07:47:00.001-04:00

I'm not particularly a fan of The New Republic, but I did read an excellent article in the most recent issue aksing whether or not European Universal and Free health care is better than here in the U.S. The article is well worth reading and frankly if you are about to retire or are retired, maybe you might want to consider going back to one of those progressive countries in Europe your grandparents came from originally. The U.S. does not offer health care to everyone and what they do offer may now be substandard...
michael vocino
whitehouse
langevin
ri politics
democrats
republicans
healthcare
national health plan
hillary
reed
democrats
republicans

Tucker Carlson is SNARKY for sure!

2007-07-23T18:27:00.000-04:00

Katrina Vanden Heuvel was on Tucker's show today to support Russ Feingold's suggestion that Congress should censure Bush and Cheney. She says, and rightly so, that we are in constitutional crisis. Tucker of course began the interview by asking if she were "drunk" when she came up with this idea. He then ended the interview by suggesting that Vanden Heuvel was drunk.

Vanden Heuvel, when Carlson would let her talk, not only held her own, she actually nailed Tucker perfectly! I've been looking for a word that encapsulates Tucker, this second rate news analyst (who uses the same juvenile, nasty tactics that the swiftboaters from the immature rightwing, the College Republicans use and when called on such tactics, he like them says "Oh, come on I'm just being funny") and Vanden Heuvel found that word: "snarkiness."

Vanden Heuvel called Carlson on his "snarkiness." Perfect. She nailed him perfectly!

Snarkiness:

--Rudely sarcastic or disrespectful; snide.
--Irritable or short-tempered; irascible.

Now, that fully describes Carlson: snarky.

He never has substance to his retorts. She says, "the country is in a constitutional crisis," Tucker says, you're drunk.

So typical. No substance for retort? Carlson insults. No substance for retort? Carlson degrades and worse, he sometimes stretches the truth and spins it to unrecognizablity so that it is actually a lie.

If you are interested in the thoughtful (so unlike Carlson) article on how censure should be a step taken by the Congress and what Vanden Heuvel has to say about it, go to the Nation.

Cheney and Bush should be censured. They should be censured for the lying about the Iraq War, for cutting our civil liberties, etc. and the list goes on. Russ Feingold is RIGHT, Congress should listen to him.

Congrats, Katrina, you nailed Carlson perfectly!

And congrats to Carlson who also admitted on the show today that "I am a rightwing crazy!" The first time I ever heard him speak truth.

michael vocino ri politics democrats republicans katrina iraq censure hillary obama john edwards iraq tucker willie msnbc jeff zucker nbc universal

Bush's Failure and His Successor

2007-07-22T08:20:00.000-04:00

In this morning's Boston Globe, there is an excellent editorial that makes it clear that the world after the diasterous presidency of George W. Bush will need a lot of attention by his successor and a return to the traditional internationalist perspective usual in American foreign policy for every American president except Bush who started his run for the presidency with a modest foreign policy perspective:

In practice, that attitude has resulted in one calamity after another: the breakout of Iranian influence, unnecessary tensions with Russia, Bush's refusal to demand a quick halt to last summer's war between Israel and Hezbollah, US disavowal of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the Kyoto protocol, and six years of declining to stem the tide of extremism by actively seeking to broker a peace accord between Israelis and Palestinians.
Clearly Iraq is Bush's greatest failure. Whether the many-sided conflicts raging there are the inevitable consequence of the US invasion or whether they stem from incoherent post-invasion policies, the result is the same: Sunni Arabs and Shi'ites are slaughtering each other. Al Qaeda in Iraq, an affiliate of Osama bin Laden's gang, is sending suicide bombers to blow up mosques and markets, police stations, and US vehicles. With jihadist partners, the group has declared an Islamic State of Iraq in the west of the country. Disparate Shi'ite militias, each with its own source of Iranian backing, are killing Sunnis and Americans and fighting each other for local dominance. Continued...

Will we ever recover?
michael vocino ri politics democrats republicans middle east feb 5 primary iraq hillary obama john edwards iran

Willie Geist: Finally a Good Photo!

2007-07-20T11:26:00.000-04:00

FINALLY! A good photo of Willie Geist! Thought I would share the pulchritude with everyone! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh....

michael vocino geist msnbc nbc universal tucker gay icon men women love jeff zucker

Iran: Bush Prepares for War

2007-07-20T07:59:00.001-04:00

If this information were coming from a leftist source, it could be dismissed. This a conservative, Reagan Republican and it is scary:

Unless Congress immediately impeaches Bush and Cheney, a year from now the US could be a dictatorial police state at war with Iran.
Bush has put in place all the necessary measures for dictatorship in the form of “executive orders” that are triggered whenever Bush declares a national emergency. Recent statements by Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff, former Republican senator Rick Santorum and others suggest that Americans might expect a series of staged, or false flag, “terrorist” events in the near future.
Many attentive people believe that the reason the Bush administration will not bow to expert advice and public opinion and begin withdrawing US troops from Iraq is that the administration intends to rescue its unpopular position with false flag operations that can be used to expand the war to Iran. [full text]

Thanks to Kiersten Marek for leading me to this information.

chael vocino iran republicans democrats iraq ri politics hillary edwards obama civil liberties bush tucker

The Market Knows Hillary Will Be Good for the Economy!

2007-07-19T18:32:00.000-04:00

Wow! The Dow is over 14,000, a record breaker. I believe the market is growing on the belief that we are about to end the Bush disaster and that Hillary Clinton will be elected president.

The idea of a Clinton in the White House again, makes those with money invested feel really good. Remember those wonderful Clinton economically booming years? The Market wise men know the possibility of Clinton coming back will be good for them! That means they want to get into the market now, before the real boom starts!

Hillary will also do something about getting us free universal health care too.
michael vocino ri politics democrats republicans stock market feb 5 primary dow hillary obama john edwards health care

Retirement or Tuition for the Kids?

2007-07-18T08:29:00.001-04:00

How disgusting is this? Americans are torn between the need to save for their children's college education and retirement savings.

Add on to that the worry over how to pay the outrageous health care insurance rates after you are dropped from company plans upon retirement. In virtually every other Western, industrialized democracy such things as health care, higher education and pensions are secured for everyone by the state. Not in this country. Here, profit is king and people are making unconscionable profits on health care, pensions, and higher education costs.

All we do is worry about money, and all we will have time for in retirement is to worry about "will the money last?" and how to fill out the forms of convoluted private health care plans. Nice, the way America treats it's young in search of an education, the elderly in search of some peace from bureaucracy, and everyone when it comes to health care.

Americans are split on whether they need to focus more on saving for college or for retirement. A new survey of adults responsible for a child’s education found that 43 percent believe college savings are more important and 43 percent believe retirement savings are more important. Forty percent said that they did not have enough information to save for college costs. The survey was sponsored by Country Insurance and Financial Services.

quote from Inside Higher Education Online.

michael vocino retirement republicans democrats tuition ri politics hillary edwards obama insurance scams health care

Willie Geist Blog!

2007-07-16T21:57:00.000-04:00

Yeah, Willie Geist has a blog, Zeitgeist. I can't believe it took me so long to find out about it, and finally visit, but I did and found it to be fun.....Not like watching Willie live, or even on tape, but it is Willie! Yeah!!!
michael vocino dan abrams willie geist tucker carlson popular culture msnbc jeff zucker nbc universal zeitgeist willie geist blog

Versace -- Ten Years After the Tragedy

2007-07-16T11:03:00.001-04:00

Today is the tenth anniversay of the murder of Gianni Versace by Andrew Cunanan on the front steps of Versace's Miami palace. The Miami Herald has a good retropsective story and CNN Interactive has also covered the "anniversary" and has a more detailed profile of the great designer.

As I look at the old photos of Versace, he looks so Southern Italian. We could easily pass for relatives. My family from Puglia, his from Reggio Calabria. He would easily fit looks-wise in my family's hometown.

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KRISTOL DEFENDS BUSH, BUT MOSTLY HIMSELF

2007-07-15T08:21:00.000-04:00

As one of the people who dragged us into the unconscionable war in Iraq, Bill Kristol has an op-ed piece this morning in the Washington Post that says Bush and his presidency will be seen as a success. It is a clear defense of the Presidency that has threatened most thoroughly our civil liberties (torture, habeus corpus, judicially unapproved spying on americans, etc.) but more importantly it is a defense of Bill Kristol and the other neo-cons who along with Cheney (our foreign policy president) for total failure, for deception, for lying when it comes to the War in Iraq. The full article is here.

michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans bush iraq kristol neo-cons

Tucker, Sex Scandals, and Why and When Politicians' Sex Lives SHOULD be Public

2007-07-12T08:46:00.000-04:00

A Republican Senator from Florida's state legislature has been arrested for soliciting sex from a male police officer. He has sponsored innumerable anti-consenting-adult-sex legislation because he says he is a good Christian. Joe.My.God has the full story from the Miami press with lots of added value.

Now, this guy's sex life is his own business. If he wants to give oral sex to men, even though married with children, that is his business and his family's business. BUT when you spend your political career attacking the sex lives of American citizens who have recreational sex outside of traditional marriage, then you are making YOUR sex life fair for public discussion, too.

You can't be hypocritical and not expect people to point out that you say one thing for political reasons and then do exactly the opposite when you search for guys to give blow jobs to in some park at night.

This one of many Republicans pushing family values and yet seeking men to blow in private also has a marriage contract with a woman. The fact that he violates what Republicans call that "sacred contract" makes Florida Sen. Bob Allen (R-Merritt Island) totally unethical as well as hypocritical.

Tucker Carlson who trashes the relationship between Hillary and Bill constantly based on Bill's sex outside of marriage, has the nerve to say that we shouldn't be exposing this kind of hypocritical behavior in our politicians in a public fight that Tucker instigated (and lost, by the way) with a guest who helped to expose Senator Vitter's unethical and hypocritical political behavior.

When a politician sponsors or supports laws that criticize other people's sex lives, indeed, wants to make them illegal, that politician, if he is violating the principles of the laws he is sponsoring or supporting, makes his private sex life fair game.

If you don't want other people to talk about your private sex life in public then don't talk about other people's sex life in public or try to prevent them from expressing their sexuality as they see fit. Dummy Carlson doesn't see that simple "fair political fight" principle.

Bob Allen: enjoy your private sex life, but don't try to legislate morality when it comes to mine, OK?

Or, we expose your unethical and hypocritical political behavior when you continually sponsor anti-consenting-adult-sex legislation mostly aimed at gay people, the right to love whom they wish, and their right to marry.

michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans gay marriage catholics gay rights homophobia christians hillary bill 2008 elections obama john edwards vitter bob allen legislating morality tucker geist msnbc Washington post

AFA: Only Christians Give Prayers in Senate

2007-07-11T08:28:00.000-04:00

Oh my god(s), The American Family Association sent out the following piece of hate when it heard that a Hindu will open a US Senate Session with a prayer. THEY dont like that, as with so many other things that they disagree with, they see it as the falling of our culture ...:

July 10, 2007

Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire email list of family and friends.
Hindu to open Senate with prayer
Send an email to your senator now, expressing your disappointment in the Senate decision to invite a Hindu to open the session with prayer.
Please read this news report from OneNewsNow.com.
On Thursday, a Hindu chaplain from Reno, Nevada, by the name of Rajan Zed is scheduled to deliver the opening prayer in the U.S. Senate. Zed tells the Las Vegas Sun that in his prayer he will likely include references to ancient Hindu scriptures, including Rig Veda, Upanishards, and Bhagavard-Gita.
Historians believe it will be the first Hindu prayer ever read at the Senate since it was formed in 1789.WallBuilders president David Barton is questioning why the U.S. government is seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god. Barton points out that since Hindus worship multiple gods, the prayer will be completely outside the American paradigm, flying in the face of the American motto "One Nation Under God."
TAKE ACTION – Call your Senators at 202-224-3121
"In Hindu, you have not one God, but many, many, many, many, many gods," the Christian historian explains. "And certainly that was never in the minds of those who did the Constitution, did the Declaration [of Independence] when they talked about Creator -- that's not one that fits here because we don't know which creator we're talking about within the Hindu religion.
"TAKE ACTION – Click here to send your E-mail today!
Barton says given the fact that Hindus are a tiny constituency of the American public, he questions the motivation of Senate leaders. "This is not a religion that has produced great things in the world," he observes. "You look at India, you look at Nepal -- there's persecution going in both of those countries that is gendered by the religious belief that is present there, and Hindu dominates in both of those countries."
And while Barton acknowledges there is not constitutional problem with a Hindu prayer in the Senate, he wonders about the political side of it. "One definitely wonders about the pragmatic side of it," he says.
"What is the message, and why is the message needed? And will it actually communicate anything other than engender with folks like me a lot of questions?
"Barton says he knows of at least seven cases where Christians have lost their bid to express their own faith in a public prayer.
Zed is reportedly the first Hindu to deliver opening prayers in an American state legislature, having done so in both the Nevada State Assembly and Nevada State Senate earlier this year. He has stated that Thursday's prayer will be "universal in approach," despite being drawn from Hindu religious texts.
Take Action
Send an email to your senator now, expressing your disappointment in the Senate decision to invite a Hindu to open the session with prayer.

The American Family Association based in Tupelo, Mississippi, wants to extend to the country, the same fundamentalist christianist philosophy that brought us so much hate towards people of color back in the pre-civil rights era. Don't let them. Always confront them with what it means to be a good American....rights and freedoms for all!
michael vocino ri politics democrats republicans hindi afa hate groups hillary obama john edwards gay rights catholics christians

FREE HEALTHCARE NOW! DUMP THE PROFITEERS!

2007-07-10T18:24:00.000-04:00

The Washington Post printed an article by two members of the health insurance industry. They claim that they can reform the system if we all understand that they are in it for profit and sometimes (like almost always) they need to say "no." LOL

They also point out that the population with babyboomers, is getting older and they will need more in access to health care. The insurance bullshitters say they can't cover it all unless the pool of those who are younger buy into the health care insurance providers' plans and insure them more profits. They say that their profit margin is not large enough! LOL...

Here is the full article of these two men who want health care tied to profit even after the next election. They are running scared, and so should the presidential candidates.

We want the health insurance scams ended. NOW. We want a free health care system that provides services to all citizens.

Americans don't want a health insurance industry deciding on health care for citizens. We want FREE, UNIVERSAL Health Care for every one. It is a basic right for those citizens of most Western Democracies, where health stats out rank our own.

We want a system like the Canadian system, or the British system or the French system. We are tired of seeing people denied health care by insurance agents who are solely in it for profit.

We don't mind paying taxes when those taxes provide us with our rights, rights like access to free, universal health care.

It is time. NOT for insurance, for FREE healthcare paid by our taxes. Imagine if we can pay for a War like Iraq, what we could do for providing health care and free for everyone. If France can do it, why can't we? If Britain can do it, why can't we?

Maybe if we stop paying corporate officers millions of dollars, 25 million to over 50 million each Christmas as a "bonus," maybe we could tax those corporations a little more, and put that money towards a FREE health care system.

michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans free healthcare universal healthcare national health plan hillary bill 2008 elections obama john edwards

SOMEONE SCREWED TUCKER CARLSON; WHERE'S WILLIE?

2007-07-10T14:30:00.000-04:00

I don't know who assigns programming time-slots for MSNBC, but by assigning Tucker Carlson to the 6-7pm period, someone screwed Tucker. Who is watching anything other than the local news at 6pm and then followed by the national network news --for me with Katie on CBS--during that time slot, at least on the east coast?

Now, I'll miss old Tucker, I've grown fond of him and his strange analytical skills and those political predictions of his which almost always turn out wrong. He does have a strong libertarian side that am attracted to, though. But most times he just really pisses me off......

But the real problem is that with Tucker, unfortunately, what happens to him happens to Willie Geist. Willie is the REAL PROBLEM for those of us who watch Tucker only for a glimpse of the Great Willie.

Look at Willie's deconstruction of popular culture. No one does it better, and by this analysis, we actually get a firmer, clearer understanding of how our government, our society, works.

Take the (oh, god,) Paris Hilton situation. Sure it was on the surface incredibly boring, but if you stuck with Willie on this, and the ins and outs of her situation, you begin to understand how justice in America really works. We saw the privileging of Paris in the system because of her celebrity. We saw that at times that same celebrity worked against her. We also saw how the competiveness and "who has the power?" played out with no real concern for the defendent but rather for the advantaging of the political power of either the sheriff's office or the judge in the case. Now, if it works this way in the Paris case, we also know that works that way for the every day defendents. The usual defendents --we know clearly now because of the deconstruction of the Paris Hilton disaster by Willie--face a penal and judiciary system that is arbitrary and capricious.

So, because I want that daily glimpse inside what is really happening in this culture, this country and can only find that in an analysis of popular culture like the much too short piece Willie Geist gives us at the end of the Tucker show, I now turn from the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, which I would never miss, DURING THE LAST SEGMENT to the also get my Willie Geist fix.

I can't believe no one hasn't picked up Willie Geist to give him more air time. He's physically attractive, love that left-sided-smile, he's funny, and he's insightful. He's wholesome. He's the kind of guy, if he weren't married, you'd want your daughter to marry. He's real...CBS, ABC, pick this guy up...MSNBC doesn't know what to do with the talent of Willie Geist.

michael vocino dan abrams willie geist tucker carlson popular culture msnbc jeff zucker nbc universal Katie couric

ANOTHER DIRTY REPUBLICAN SEX SCANDAL

2007-07-10T10:00:00.000-04:00

Another Republican has admitted sexual misbehavior. Senator David Vitter of Louisiana. He had a press conference where he admitted calling the Washington D.C. Madam (photo to the left) for sexual favors. Now, I think this is a personal matter, between the Senator and his wife and his constituents.

What ticks me off is that it is always the guys who are putting down everyone else for what they say is immoral behavior -- like gay marriage --who are the ones committing adultery themselves. Senator Vitter claims to stand for conservative, traditional values. He states that constantly on his blog, and in his record. He is always hypocritically screaming that claim. In his personal life, however, as he admits, he does differently. He calls escort services for sexual services.

Hypocrites. It's always those who scream the most about traditional values, like Vitter, like DeLay and like Newt Gingrich, both of whom where having illicit affairs with secretaries when they were calling for the impeachment of President Clinton for alledgedly doing the same thing, like Mark Foley who was "diddling" with the young House pages, these moral hypocritical "warriors" are the guys who are doing exactly what they claim is immoral.

Private sexual activity between consenting adults is no one's business, UNLESS you are hypocritically criticizing personal sexual activity that you yourself are engaging in!!!! Vitter has to go.

So, when you see some politician screaming about the "sanctity of marriage" or protecting the western world against progress on gay rights, please understand that those are the people who are screwing around on their wives or are themselves "ON THE DOWN LOW."
michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans gay marriage catholics gay rights homophobia christians hillary bill vitter obama john edwards gingrich delay mark foley

IRAQ: WITHDRAW NOW SAYS EVERYONE!

2007-07-09T08:24:00.000-04:00

It is clear from reports appearing all over the U.S. press, that even the Bush people are beginning to understand and push for a withdrawal from the disaster called "Iraq." From the start, the former Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, and the intelligence services, according to George Tenent, tried to convince Bush and the neo-Cons that going into Iraq would be a losing foreign policy initiative. No one listened to the informed voices but instead listened to Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Libby, et al, the most uninformed, and unexperienced group of foreign policy analysts ever to command White House attention.

The Republicans were wrong about Vietnam, Southeast Asia and that turned out to be a disaster that saw us ignominiously leaving the country from the roof of our embassy. The Republicans are also wrong about Iraq, a fact that was noted by so many people right from the start, but they wouldn't listen, talked lies and deception (which they continue) and tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives including thousands of young American men and women...and needlessly.

The War has destabilzed the entire Middle East, just as Vietnam destablized Southeast Asia. The Bush policy has degraded American influence in virtually every area of the world except maybe Albania.

And now they want a GRADUAL withdrawal, they are wrong again. We should be getting out of Iraq ASAP. The Gradual approach is nothing more than a stalling tactic that will leave the problems to the next President, and will give Bush the position of saying, "Hey if they had continued my policies we would not have lost the Middle East initiatives."

Bull. OUT NOW. Make Bush eat his own disasters, save Iraqi and American lives, and begin a diplomatic effort to restabilize the region as it was before we deposed Saddam for our own selfish reasons.
michael vocino ri politics democrats republicans iraq feb 5 primary withdrawal hillary obama john edwards middle east bush

Bush is a Coward, says Frank Rich

2007-07-08T08:13:00.000-04:00

Frank Rich is really hot today. His take on Bush's Libby Amnesty is just exquisite...

THERE was never any question that President Bush would grant amnesty to Scooter Libby, the man who knows too much about the lies told to sell the war in Iraq. The only questions were when, and how, Mr. Bush would buy Mr. Libby’s silence. Now we have the answers, and they’re at least as incriminating as the act itself. They reveal the continued ferocity of a White House cover-up and expose the true character of a commander in chief whose tough-guy shtick can no longer camouflage his fundamental cowardice.

michael vocino ri politics democrats republicans frank rich bush scooter hillary obama john edwards

Fred Thompson Is Gay Says Andrew Sullivan!

2007-07-07T19:39:00.000-04:00

Washington seems to be abuzz with news that Fred Thompson is gay or has had a few gay experiences, at least that is what some conservative commentators like Andrew Sullivan is saying. Can it be true, is it possible that the Republicans will nominate a gay man for president, is it possible we might actually get our first out gay president? The Christianists must be beside themselves!

Here's what Andrew says:

Republicans and Morality by Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic 28 Jun 2007 12:50 pm
“Outside the extremist, activist base, regular GOP voters turn out to be relatively tolerant when it comes to sexual minorities and private sex lives. They're not well represented by their party leaders, as far as policy is concerned. This is good news for Fred Thompson. The man has had a colorful and wide-ranging sex life, as I'm sure we will soon find out.”

michael vocino ri politics democrats republicans freddie feb 5 primary mitt romney hillary obama john edwards gay rights catholics christians

WILLIE IN THE MORNING!

2007-07-06T07:16:00.000-04:00

"Willie in the Morning" is what the show should be called, as Willie Geist filled in for Joe Scarborough this a.m. on Morning Joe and asked what the program should be named.

Willie was great! I liked the sentence uttered by the man, "Sometimes you need to listen to people who know more than you," as he deftly put down John Ridley's nonsense about "global warming is not real."

Willie is a born host! Give Him His Own Program, one focussing on the popular culture and/or sports intersecting with news.....watch the ratings numbers just EXPLODE...... It's in Willie's blood and popular culture and his commentaries reflect more about what is REALLY going on in the world than the news items. Just ask any postmodernist ...it's all about what is happening in the popular culture, and Willie knows that!

And Willie, "merely Willie Geist?"....come on guy! YOU ARE THE MAN....... fresh, balanced, intelligent and READY FOR A MORE CREATIVE OUTLET!!!!!!!
michael vocino
dan abrams willie geist tucker carlson scarborough msnbc jeff zucker nbc universal

LA TIMES: Libby Sentence "NOT EXCESSIVE"

2007-07-04T19:43:00.000-04:00

This from Editor and Publisher today: "Records cited by the paper "show that the Justice Department under the Bush administration frequently has sought sentences that are as long, or longer, in cases similar to Libby's. Three-fourths of the 198 defendants sentenced in federal court last year for obstruction of justice — one of four crimes Libby was found guilty of in March — got some prison time. According to federal data, the average sentence defendants received for that charge alone was 70 months. "

"Just last week, the Supreme Court upheld a 33-month prison sentence for a decorated Army veteran who was convicted of lying to a federal agent about buying a machine gun. The veteran had a record of public service — fighting in Vietnam and the Gulf War — and no criminal record. But Justice Department lawyers argued his prison term should stand because it fit within the federal sentencing guidelines." MORE>>>>>>

I guess the LA Times doesn't understand that when you are white, male, republican, rich, and support the unconscionable War in Iraq, the rules are different.
michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans scooter iraq cheney bush christians hillary bill 2008 elections obama john edwards

Without France There would be No Fourth of July!

2007-07-04T09:01:00.000-04:00

Without France there would be no 4th of July: (from AmericaBlog):

There is a wonderful book available locally (and also online) called Paris: Birthplace of the USA which details American history in Paris. Despite what some like to think, France has been a good friend to the US. After all, it was Beaumarchais who was the financier of the American Revolution.

It was Lafayette who came to America as a young officer to help the cause. And of course, the most critical naval battle in the war of independence, the Battle of the Chesapeake, was led by French Admiral de Grasse. That naval battle prevented the British navy from supplying Cornwallis with troops and supplies, forcing him to surrender at Yorktown.

Besides the extensive French links to America, many famous Americans who helped form the country lived in Paris such as Franklin, Jefferson, John Paul Jones and Thomas Paine. Recently I stumbled upon a plaque marking the location where Thomas Paine lived, just steps from the Odeon Theater and the Luxembourg Gardens. Besides writing in favor of the American Revolution, Paine was very anti-slavery and even fought with Washington over his ownership of slaves.

Even today, the issue of Washington and slavery is in the news.Paine was later invited to France during their revolution and participated in the National Convention before being sentenced to die for voting against the execution of King Louis XVI.

Robespierre's terror claimed many who did not agree with his policies. Luck would have it that he managed to survive (he was held in the prison at the Senate, a stones throw from his house) but he later left France after concluding that Napoleon was leading France towards a dictatorship. Paine eventually moved back to the US where he died in 1809.

michael vocino rhode island politics democrats republicans American revolution 4th of July tom paine french French revolution hillary bill 2008 elections obama john edwards http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping

Supreme Court a HUGE Disappointment to Washington Post

2007-07-03T19:24:00.000-04:00

The Washington Post which is surprisingly conservative in its editorials has this to say today in an editorial bemoaning the fact that it promoted the confirmation of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito. (The full editorial is here.)

The term was disappointing, as well, because it demonstrated the apparent futility of the chief justice's hope of achieving more consensus and even unanimity. If anything, this court seemed more fractured than ever. A high percentage of its rulings, about one-third of the cases, were decided by 5 to 4 votes, mostly split along familiar ideological lines. Tempers can be expected to fray at the end of a court term when hard cases are decided, but the angry, even intemperate, language in some of the final rulings was remarkable. Justice Antonin Scalia was scathing in his disdain for the chief justice's "faux judicial modesty" -- for, in Justice Scalia's view, overruling decisions without admitting as much -- while the liberal bloc was so infuriated with some rulings that each justice took the unusual step of reading dissents from the bench. "It is not often in the law that so few have so quickly changed so much," Justice Stephen G. Breyer said in announcing his dissent in the school desegregation case.
Most disappointing are several actions by the new justices that seem inconsistent with what we, in supporting their confirmation, had hoped would be a respect for precedent and a modest conception of the judicial role. One glaring example came in the partial-birth abortion case, in which the new conservative majority essentially overruled a decision of seven years earlier and for the first time allowed an abortion restriction with no exception for maternal health. Another was the school case, in which -- so much for judicial modesty -- the court reached out to take a pair of cases and then limited how local school systems could try to maintain integrated schools. The court junked a 96-year-old antitrust precedent and dramatically curtailed a three-year-old campaign finance ruling. These were not the decisions of a restrained court committed to cautious, incremental change.

michael vocino ri politics democrats republicans supreme court roberts scalia Stephen bryer kennedy alito

Where Is Bin Laden? Stop the Terror

2007-07-03T08:31:00.000-04:00

ABC news is reporting that there is a secret document that says "the terrorists" will make this a spectacular summer for explosions, etc in Europe and the U.S. What does one do when you hear this? What do you do when you are threatened with this government leaked stuff. Believe it? In any case, it is just another diversion from the War in Iraq. If we weren't required by Bush's failures to be there in the first place, we could be spending all our resources on finding Bin Laden and ending the so-called "war on terror."

michael vocino clinton terror plots republicans democrats bush ri politics osama bin laden iraq

LIBBY DOESN'T GO TO JAIL; POT SMOKERS DO

2007-07-02T19:27:00.000-04:00

Why does the compassionate president commute the sentence of a man who threatens our national security and yet he does nothing about all those individuals in prison for YEARS for smoking, not even selling, a little marijuana? It's all about class and race. Look at the figures of those in prison and why: the poor and people of color.

Scooter of course is one of them: a white, rich, heterosexual, male. They don't go to jail, just ask Martha S.

Disgusting and shameful. Almost as disgusting and shameful that Libby is the fall guy for the Prince of Darkness when it comes to ethics, morals, and national security, and undermining democratic American principles: Dick Cheney.
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