Does Clear Channel's Rush Limbaugh Have AIDS?

In his column, "From Bush to Rush: Which Lie Did I Tell?", political analyst Al Martin writes that "people have been commenting on the physical appearance of Rush Limbaugh. Here was a guy who was 100 pounds overweight all his life. Over the last 18 months, he has lost 200 pounds. And commentators are saying he looks just like an AIDS patient The amount of weight he's lost, the sunken in look. He's also mentioned he doesn't have any appetite, can't eat anything anymore and can't keep things down."

This blockbuster column published on Al Martin Raw: Political, Economic and Financial Intelligence (www.almartinraw.com) questions the many lies that Rush has told in his bid to remain as the top mouthpiece for the Bush Cabal in the media. "If he does have AIDS, it's highly unlikely that gay activists would embrace him," Martin continues. "But Clear Channel is definitely easing him out. You can tell that the process has begun because everybody on the right is singing his praises.

Those Nasty Liberals at CBS Have Really Done It This Time
Nancy is not Amused

CBS REAGAN: 'I AM THE ANTI-CHRIST'

One shock scene in the final production script for CBS's upcoming telefilm THE REAGANS captures the former president declaring he is the anti-Christ.

****The Script p. 209 During Iran-Contra Scandal --

REAGANS'S BREAKFAST ROOM -- WHITE HOUSE -- MORNING

Reagan and Nancy sit in front of their breakfast. They can't eat. Can't drink. They're numb.

REAGAN: It's Armageddon... that's what it is. Armageddon. The Leader from the West will be revealed as the anti-Christ, and then God will strike him down. That's me. I am the anti-Christ.

NANCY: No, Ronnie...

REAGAN (overriding): And the Lord will strike down all of civilization, in order to make way for the new order... a new Heaven and a new Earth...

Nancy reaches out, grabs his hand, strongly.

NANCY: Hold on. You've got to hold on, Ronnie.

Reagan's eyes are filling with tears. He can't help it. He's crumbling.

REAGAN: I saved 77 lives in 7 years, Nancy... But I couldn't save those people in Lebanon.

Nancy gets up, puts her arms around him. She rocks him slowly, silently, back and forth.

The video trailer shows clips drawn from the film and portrays President Reagan as an amiable dunce, manipulated by his scheming wife – a man who had little control over his presidency.

The film offers liberal Hollywood’s version of Reagan’s life from his days as an actor, when he met actress Nancy Davis, through his White House years. Among the "revelations" in the new movie:

Reagan was a second-rate actor who never had serious roles: Reagan complaining, “Glenn Ford gets Rita Hayworth and I get the chimp.”

Reagan depicted as not being interested in running for either governor or president and having to be pushed into doing so by his wife.

Richard Nixon telling Reagan to pick William J. Casey as CIA director and Alexander Haig as secretary of state. Upon learning that Reagan planned to nominate Haig, Mrs. Reagan is quoted as saying, “Don’t say I never warned you.”

Nancy Reagan demanding that her husband fire Al Haig: “Al Haig has got to go – get rid of Al Haig or you’ll never end the Cold War.” Reagan resisting and telling his wife, “Get off my goddamn back!”

Patti Reagan telling her mother that she’ll never have children because she is “not going to screw them up like you and Dad screwed me up.”

Nancy Reagan telling her daughter, “You hate everything your father stands for, but when you need his money, you always come back and ask him to rescue you.”

A merry Reagan with his wife, when he learns his son Ron Jr. married, saying, “At least we know he’s not gay.”

Nancy Reagan pleading with her husband to support giving condoms and needles to drug addicts to stop the spread of the AID epidemic.

Gorbachev pleading with a stubborn Reagan at their first summit to “stop this arms race” before it is too late.

A controlling Mrs. Reagan making clear to White House aides: “You don’t call the president to tell him something, you call me.”

A forgetful Reagan who can’t even recognize his national security adviser, Robert McFarlane: “What’s you name?” Reagan asks McFarlane. McFarlane responds, “I’m your national security adviser; perhaps you don’t remember me.”

Reagan blaming Oliver North for the Iran-Contra scandal: “Tell them to ask that lying son of a gun Oliver North.”

This doesn't sound like your BUSH the Hero of 9/11 movie

COULD IT BE "ANYBODY BUT BUSH" for the REPUBLICANS TOO?
Given the dismal failures of the current resident SouthKnoxBubba thinks "dubya" might not be the strongest Republican candidate for next year's selection:

Republican candidate roundup.

Everyone assumes George Bush will be the GOP candidate and is assured of reelection. I'm not so sure. The way things are going, he could be facing some tough challengers for the nomination. Here's a rundown of the potential Republican candidates for the 2004 presidential election:

It's a hoot go read it here

Arms And The Man keeps us up to date on Who's Making A Killing On Killing In Iraq
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Sick of Bush is sick of the lies, the soildiers who have died, the mothers who have cried and the money they have pried from everyone but the wealthy corporate well connected Republican interests in America. Please welcome Douglas and continue to be Sick of Bush.

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HALLIBURTON FOUND LIABLE FOR 70MILLION IN DAMAGES
Oil giant loses in court again - Houston man cheated by Halliburton

Jury Awards $70M Against Halliburton A jury has awarded $70 million to a Houston man who claimed that Halliburton and another oil company cheated him out of the chance to develop an oil field in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s. Scott Van Dyke and his company, Anglo Dutch Tenge, sued the Halliburton and Ramco Oil in 2000. A jury found in favor of Van Dyke's company on Friday.

Van Dyke's attorney John O'Quinn said his client was promised a concession for an oil field near the Caspian Sea when he met the Turkish president. Halliburton contacted him in 1997 and signed a confidentiality agreement not to disclose data that Van Dyke allowed the company to review, O'Quinn said. After opting not to invest, Halliburton located another company with ties to the Kazakhstan government and bought the field out from under Van Dyke, according to the lawsuit.

Yet another chink in the battered armor of Halliburton. Can't these guys do anything without cheating?

HALLIBURTON CHIEF ISSUES MARCHING ORDERS TO EMPLOYEES.

Employees of HALLIBURTON have been instructed by the CEO to write letters to newspaper editors and Congress in an effort to "restore fairness and accuracy" after revelations that the company was overcharging US Taxpayers by 217million dollars on gas delivery while feasting at the public trough.

The president of military contractor Halliburton has asked employees to join a "Defending Our Company" campaign by writing to newspapers and lawmakers to counter criticism of the firm's no-bid contract in Iraq. Dave Lesar said in the Oct. 17 memo that he is offended by "those who are distorting our efforts" to restore Iraq's oil industry and provide other services to the U.S. military there. He cautioned workers to "be positive,"

Lesar, who is president, CEO and chairman of the company, said, "Now I'm asking you to help by writing a letter to the editor of your newspaper." He listed "some facts that you can use to help deliver your letter." With a subject line of "Defending Our Company," Lesar also told workers "it would be helpful to write to your representatives in Washington, D.C., asking them to support fairness and accuracy."

Among Lesar's suggestions for the letters to newspapers:
1)"Halliburton makes our troops more comfortable in a difficult environment by bringing shelter, supplies, clean uniforms and mail from home."
2)"Halliburton is proud to offer its global resources at this critical time in the Middle East."
3)"Halliburton has successfully helped to restore needed services in Iraq that will help bring some sense of normalcy for those who have suffered losses."

The e-mail also included suggestions for making the letter effective, telling employees to "write from the heart and use your own words and, where possible, use first-hand stories." "It's OK to show your pride in your work and your co-workers, and to mention your own experience with Halliburton," Lesar said.

Nothing like a little pressure from the boss and a script to follow to get those employees to express their true feelings. Wonder what the odds on job security are for the authors of less than flattering letters. Heck Dave why don't you hire a few ghost writers to pen I love Halliburton letters and send them to every newspaper in the country? But that idea has been tried last week with the Army - oops too slow. WTF is it NOW has a nice companion story for this entry.

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blunted on reality has a great Ann Coulter Doll Post too.

CHENEY CAUGHT IN YET ANOTHER LIE - 18 to 87 million invested in the Vanguard Group
One of the 10 largest Shareholders in Halliburton - holdings worth 176 million dollars

Visit HELL FOR HALLIBURTON for a complete breakdown on HALLIBURTON FELONIES

Last week Bushist minions called on critics to issue a formal apology to the poor maligned unelected multimillionaire war profiteer (and former business partner of Saddam Hussein). It is ludicrous to assume the fact that Cheney's insured deferred earnings and any profits from 400,000 stock options going to charity clears the Veep from profiting on Halliburton's success. He still will own the stock options at the end of his term and any increase in their value accrues directly to him. But the sad incontrovertible fact is that Halliburton is using a back door to fill its former chief's coffers with millions in blood money pumped directly from the corpses of American soldiers and Iraqi civilians.

This profitable arrangement was found hiding in plain sight last week by investigator Maggie Burns of the Progressive Populist. While the media mandarins were gulping soap, Burns committed the increasingly rare act of journalism by checking out Cheney's financial disclosure forms. These show that Cheney has a minimum of $18 million invested in The Vanguard Group, a leading mutual fund. (Given the deliberately vague, vast ranges of the "disclosure" forms, this nest-egg could be as high as $87 million. We mere mortals are not meant to know).

Vanguard, as it happens, is the 10th-largest shareholder in -- oh, you guessed already! -- Halliburton. The fund owns 7.6 million shares in the firm, worth about $176 million. Thus any government contract that swells Halliburton's bottom line does indeed pour war profits straight into Cheney's bulging bank accounts. No amount of soap can wash away that fact. Meanwhile, five of the other top 10 shareholders in Halliburton have big bucks parked with our old friends The Carlyle Group, where George Bush Sr. hangs out his shingle as a pricey corporate shill (and former bin Laden business partner). So Bush family coffers are definitely not forgotten when Halliburton goes to war.

So it is undeniably true that money for HALLIBURTON is money for CHENEY - as if we did not know that already. When will the Senate IMPEACH this thief?

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo has two pieces of lowered pie from the "prosperity is just around the far distant almost visible corner squatters" at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

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Thank you Kynn for you link to our entry in the Ecosystem new blog showcase
Everybody should check it out.

IN THE PENNIES A GALLON DEPARTMENT:

"Halliburton said in response to the Congressional letter last week that it charges $1.59 to a gallon for its gasoline imports, which includes the 2 percent profit margin. In a fax, the Iraqi marketing organization's general manager, Mohammed al-Jibouri, said that gasoline from Turkey costs $347 a metric ton delivered to Baghdad, which he said translates to about 98 cents a gallon."

That's 61 cents a gallon more or 31% more from Halliburton and that is on 700 million dollars worth of gas or 217 million dollars ripped off by Halliburton. 217 BILLION IS A BUNCH OF PENNIES

RUSH IN FEMINAZI HELL? a description of the therapy Rush is facing.

Limbaugh has been on synthetic heroin for years, foaming at the mouth and railing against liberals, a detoxed Limbaugh might be defanged as well. (Makes you wonder what Ann Coulter is on, eh?) That’s not to mention that the treatment center that sources told the New York Post he’s entered is, for him, the belly of the beast.

The rehab facility he’s rumored to have checked into now for 30 days, Sierra Tucson is just outside of Tucson in the Sonora Desert, a setting with a "quiet beauty, inherent strength, and enduring ability to inspire,". For a guy who has railed against "anti-people New Age mystics," the "treatment modalities" at Sierra Tucson are certainly enough to make his hair stand on end. It’s also likely that Limbaugh is being treated alongside the very Hollywood types he has railed against for years.

"Sierra Tucson utilizes many different types of therapeutic modalities to access underlying issues from "psychodynamic role-playing and yoga" to "adventure therapy," "Climbing Wall," "the desert experience" and "equine-assisted therapy" (yes, bonding with horses), Limbaugh may just think he died and went to "feminazi" hell. The website depicts photos of people with a decidedly Berkeley look sitting around on the floor in what seem like consciousness-raising sessions.

"Self-discovery often crystallizes during an experience that requires physical and mental exertion in the face of a potentially fearful activity," the description for the Climbing Wall says. "With its height and verticality, the Climbing Wall serves as an important therapeutic metaphor." Yes, I’m sure some of you would pay to watch Limbaugh scale that wall. But me, I’d like to observe him during "creative expression therapy," which includes "art therapy, journaling, meditation" and "clap outs, historygrams, reading assignments" as well as…"sculpting." These techniques, the website explains, "deepen the journey to self-discovery."

But it’s the horse-bonding that really may change Rush’s life. "The process of working with the horse helps patients access their wounds, identify dysfunctional behaviors in relationships, recognize their effectiveness or ineffectiveness in setting appropriate boundaries, and identify deep-seated issues that may not have been brought to the surface with other therapeutic interventions. "Through the interaction between the horse and the patient, a trained therapist will ask questions based upon what is being revealed through the ‘relationship,’" the description notes. "Through a series of interactions, patients begin to understand destructive patterns of their behavior."

Then there is the Cognitive/Behavioral Therapy (CBT): "The major philosophical assumption of CBT," Sierra Tucson’s website explains, "is that by changing individuals’ thinking, their belief system, and, in turn, their behavior is changed."
Changing Rush Limbaugh’s belief system? Suddenly brainwashing seems refreshing.

Another of the therapies, "experiential therapy," the website notes, "was developed during the early 1970s," a decade that cannot be among Limbaugh’s favorites. "This type of therapy helps individuals experience the issues they are dealing with through acting them out, role-playing, guided imagery, projecting, and the use of props. By physically, emotionally, and mentally expressing one’s self, individuals are assisted in unlocking hidden issues and in working through them." Surely Limbaugh has lots of hidden issues to work through–oh, to be a fly on the wall during that therapy.

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RUSH OXY ADVERTISMENTS: see The People's Republic of Seabrook

WTF is it NOW? for Maru the crankpot virtue is its own drawback for Rightwing Scolds:
One pops pills. Another gambles. Another lets her mother die alone. Yet these are Bush's virtue-mongers

Ah, to be rich and famous. (the latest editorial on the Limbo Mumbo Jumbo) Just think: Without those qualities, we'd have no stories about a pill-popping talk-radio host.....

More On Rush: There was no mass conspiracy of liberal secret agents shoving pills down his throat. The butler didn't do it -- not to mention the maid. It was his own damn fault. Rush Limbaugh's a bona fide drug addict. Let the "excellence in rehab" begin! Limbaugh's admission of addiction to OxyContin explains it all: the intolerance, the hypocrisy, the outlandish, extreme right-wing views. Just as with those damn hippies a generation before him, it was drugs. Limbaugh went wacko on that hillbilly heroin. Can we get everyone together for a massive chorus of "Tsk, tsk"?

Many of my readers e-mailed to say they were pleased about the karmic justice served on Limbaugh. But, certainly, there were e-mails from the Dittoheads with no one to ditto. All they could do was try, helplessly, to defend their ditto master and ask me where my compassion was. I said it was in the same place it would be if Limbaugh were to comment on his own pitiful self. Limbaugh on Limbaugh would be merciless. He'd have some drug song like "White Rabbit" or "One Toke over the Line" playing in the background, and then he'd gleefully pass judgment with a single phrase: "Moral weakling." And then he'd go to commercials.

One man did offer this telling comment in Limbaugh's defense: "Rush makes more money than you and all his critics put together." That's a "neener-neener" schoolyard-level retort if I ever head one. But it made clear what Limbaugh had fostered all these years in our national discourse. To the Dittoheads, Limbaugh was the messenger of life's ultimate value. To be rich is everything. To not be rich is to be a loser.

On his Web site the other day, after figures were released showing poverty rates up and income levels down in the United States, Limbaugh ran a bit about how the poor weren't so poor after all, because they had air conditioning. If you have A/C, you aren't poor enough. In fact, you're just rich enough to get no sympathy from Limbaugh. That's the nasty beat Limbaugh dances to. He harvests all the heartless thoughts of a nation. He liberated intolerance in Middle America and put a fine point on it for the rich. He made it OK to kick the underdog. Limbaugh was the overdog.

Now, his network will try to keep the Limbaugh franchise alive during his rehab. (What is Limbaugh, after all, but a franchise?) To hold the audience on Monday, it featured guest Ann Coulter's deadly and yet commercial mix of blond intolerance. What a marvelous coincidence that one of the headlines of the day was the beatification of Mother Theresa. Now, there's a saint with values. She's the anti-Limbaugh. But I bet she doesn't get the headlines Maha Rushie got.

pReznit pull out all the stops - asks Mom and Dad to attack Democrats
Barbara Bush Calls Democrat Line-Up a 'Sorry Group' and labels her son the pReznit "a dirty dog"

This is the world according to Barbara Bush who described Democrats trying to unseat her son in the White House as a "sorry group" of politicians and called her son "that dirty dog". "So far, they are a pretty sorry group if you want to know my opinion," said Mrs. Bush in an interview aired on Monday by NBC's "Today" show.

Her husband also had some harsh words for the Democratic contenders whom he accused of using "vicious rhetoric." "The one who makes the most outrageous charges against the president gets his 20 seconds on the evening news. Hey I did not ride in here on a watermelon cart. I know how it works," said the former president in an obvious racial slur. Bush said his wife treated the president like any other member of the family, recently telling him after a run to get his feet off the table in their bedroom.

That does not make her a bitch does it?

Arab boycott lifts Halliburton from blacklist
ONE WAY TO KEEP THE USA FROM ATTACK IS TO LIFT A HALLIBURTON BOYCOTT - what kind of dealing went on here?

The Syrian-based Arab boycott of Israel office has taken US Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, Halliburton, off its blacklist. Is Syria paying Cheneyburton so the USA won't attack?

The Fort Wayne Indiana Journal Gazette has asked that readers reply to the following questions: to letters@jg.net - We should answer their request.
What's next for Rush?

Has Rush Limbaugh's admission of an addiction to prescription painkillers and acknowledgment of an investigation surrounding his drug use damaged his appeal? Or will his fans forgive and forget? At Issue wants your opinion.

Is Limbaugh's drug use hypocritical considering his views? Does his apparent lack of sympathy for people who fall in a number of categories make him a target of ridicule? Or has Limbaugh merely proved he is human and deserving of the same degree of empathy as anyone else with a medical problem?

If, as has been alleged, Limbaugh took prescription drugs without a proper doctor's authorization, is his drug use the same as if he had used cocaine or heroin? Or should misuse of pain medication fall into a different category? Will his alleged drug use bring even more attention to the widespread illegal misuse of Oxycontin, a very powerful pain medication that habitual drug users grind into power and inject with a needle ?

Do you think Limbaugh's experience in a rehab clinic will change his views? He has acknowledged being treated in such clinics before. If Limbaugh is successfully treated for addiction, should he face criminal charges if allegations he illegally misused drugs appear to be probably true?

If you are a Limbaugh fan, has his experience caused you to change your mind about how the system should handle drug addicts? Will you continue to listen to and support Limbaugh, or will the reports of his drug use cause you to turn him off? If you have disliked Limbaugh in the past, are you enjoying watching a man who has expressed animosity toward so many groups of people take legitimate criticism? Or do you think he is unfairly being attacked?

At Issue wants your opinions about Rush Limbaugh's misuse of prescription drugs. Send your replies to At Issue, The Journal Gazette, 600 W. Main St., Fort Wayne, IN., 46802, Box 88, or fax them to 260-461-8648. You can send them by e-mail to letters@jg.net. Please include your name, address, and daytime telephone number.

'It'll just help me focus' Recreational use of prescription drugs is widespread and dangerous

Rush Limbaugh's recent admission of an addiction to prescription drugs is only one of many examples in which celebrities have abused drugs that were initially meant to help them. This epidemic is not unique to the famous, however: it has existed at Tufts, as well as many other college campuses, for quite some time.

Limbaugh Lovers in Denial

Rushing to the defense of the life of the party By Kathleen Parker Oct 20, 2003

I'm not much of a "dittohead," but I do have a soft spot in my heart for Rush Limbaugh. When my father was lying nearly comatose in the intensive care unit the final two weeks of his life, he rallied only once -- to request a radio "so I can listen to my buddy Rush." Those were his last coherent words. Say what you will about Limbaugh, he brought life to the party. His admission now to drug "addiction" caused me to say to a friend, "I feel sorry for him." Why? "Because I feel sorry for anyone who suffers addiction."

If, in fact, he is an addict. The verdict is still out despite what the evidence suggests. Also, pain specialists are distressed that all the piling on following Limbaugh's admission of drug use may set pain management back 100 years. First, there's a difference between physical dependence on drugs and addiction. If you use legal medications as prescribed, you're unlikely to become addicted.

Kathleen is basically in denial here. Rush has admitted addiction and opiods like Hydrocodone - the active ingredient are well known for producing euphoria. Euphoria is the psychological component of addiction and Rush is undeniably in that category - any Oxycontin abuser is. Yes there is the physical dependence but it is the euphoria that keeps an addict addicted all of their lives.

CLEAR CHANNEL pressures stations that drop Limbaugh
WBAL flip-flops over Limbaugh
Station decides to use local hosts in his absence, then changes its mind
WPRO follows suit

Amid national chatter about conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh's addiction to prescription drugs, WBAL radio found itself at the center of an industry storm this week after it pulled his syndicated show from its usual time slot and then flip-flopped on that decision. Some listeners applauded the move, and many balked. WBAL's initial decision to pull the program and use local hosts - the first such move among 600 radio affiliates nationwide - raised alarms in an industry worried about financial fallout, a decline in ratings and the show's survival.

"Pre-flipflop, losing Baltimore's WBAL would clearly be a negative," said James Marsh, an analyst with SG Cowen in New York. "It just sends a bad signal. You just feel the momentum sliding. You don't want multiple stations dropping the show." One other station followed suit. Citadel Broadcasting's WPRO News Radio 630 in Providence, R.I., said yesterday afternoon that it would temporarily replace the Limbaugh show with another host. By 5 p.m., WPRO had reversed its decision.

California syndicator Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications Inc., said yesterday that it had negotiated intensively with both stations. Premiere said it has heard of no other stations dropping Limbaugh and that it has no intention of losing other affiliates even temporarily.

and this bit from Fox News: Hypocrisy: The Ultimate Cry for Help?

But even if he is a hypocrite, even if he continued to vilify druggies as he was descending into the same abyss that they so ignobly occupy, one is advised to take into account the words of the French essayist La Rochefoucauld, who said, “Hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue.” In other words, the hypocrite is not as duplicitous as he seems; he is, rather, one who bemoans his own shortcomings, albeit in a most indirect manner.

In Limbaugh’s case, by practicing hypocrisy himself, which is to say, by blasting drug addicts either on or off the air while simultaneously swallowing a virtual drug store every few days, he might have been blasting himself. He might have been punishing himself. He might have been trying to save himself. Hypocrisy might have been Rush Limbaugh’s cry for a virtue that, for reasons so far known only to him, he could not attain.

Executive Director of Citizens for Principled Conservatism Speaks Out
At last a Conservative article worth reading and repeating: Daniel Borchers blasts Scarborough, Neal Boortz, and Annthrax Coulter for hypocrisy in their praise and rationalization of Limbaugh while praising Cal Thomas, Ken Hamblin, and Steve Chapman for their Conservative consistency. Ain't it just grand to see the Conservatives sniping at each other instead of the Liberals?
Are Republicans Becoming the “Hypocrisy Party”
Exclusive commentary by Daniel Borchers Oct 16, 2003

Some conservatives have shed scruples and jettisoned principles to rush to Limbaugh’s defense. The wagons circling around one of our own only serve as targets for legitimate charges of hypocrisy and double-standards. Conservative credibility – already damaged by conservative support for liberal Arnold Schwarzenegger – can only further erode in the unscrupulous defense of admittedly illegal behavior by their premiere talk radio guru (“a great spokesman for conservatives” – Cal Thomas).

Ann Coulter, notorious for her condemnation of liberal compassion and liberal support for rehabilitation programs, was indignant and apoplectic that anyone could see anything wrong with Rush’s behavior. Strikingly, Coulter has a history of stentorian opposition to the legalization of marijuana and its use for medicinal (pain-killing) purposes.

Coulter’s final, strongest defense of Limbaugh was “Look, if my mother committed murder, I wouldn’t want her to go to jail. … I don’t want murder laws applied to my friends.” By Coulter’s logic and using her criteria no one would ever go to jail for anything! (A novel budget balancing concept.)

Conservatism Abandoned by “Conservatives” What a spectacle!

Rule of law, law-and-order, tough-on-drugs conservatives now plead for leniency – no, for pardon – for one of their own. They want to absolve Rush Limbaugh of any responsibility for behavior he himself assumes full responsibility for. The criteria is now identity, not behavior.

In defending Limbaugh – for purely partisan purposes (they even admit their partisanship) – they besmirch and belie the nobility, dignity and courage which their putative hero, Rush Limbaugh, exhibits.

These “conservatives” are no friends of Conservatism.

Lucas Doolin's Deer Camp has been added to the blogroll. Welcome Lucas
Matthew Langer at Untelevised a long time addition to the RL blogroll has an interesting concept about improving blog traffic and impact.

Drugs, lawsuits and meltdowns good for Franken

For his appearance on MPR's "Prairie Home Companion" on Saturday, Al Franken says he's working on a sketch called "Rush Limbaugh at a 12-Step Meeting." For professional satirist Franken, who's in town this week promoting his latest book, life doesn't get much better than it is right now. Every day seems to drop another supernaturally sweet dollop of nectar onto his tongue.

First, Bill O'Reilly melted down and demanded that Fox News sue Franken — for something, anything, no matter how absurd. That staggering miscalculation sent sales of Franken's latest book into the stratosphere. Then O'Reilly popped up again last week, fulminating about Franken and the lawsuit like a delusional paranoid on NPR's "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross.

And now Limbaugh, the thrice-married, childless avatar of family values has been outed for an addiction to OxyContin (aka Hillbilly Heroin), among a variety of other drugs, which he purchased by the thousands illegally, thereby pumping God-knows-how-much cash into south Florida's street crime culture. If you made this stuff up, you'd be accused of smoking crack.

Franken jokes and Buzzflash sneers as Limbaugh begins treatment.

This week the part-time comedian and full-time conservative basher Al Franken, in Washington to promote his new book, entertained fans at a local restaurant by imagining Rush Limbaugh undergoing drug rehabilitation. Franken performed "a great impression of Rush Limbaugh in a 12-step program," one admirer told the Washington Post. "He said, 'Rush is having problems with the step where you acknowledge a higher power. He's wondering if you can acknowledge yourself as a higher power.' It was hilarious."

A few weeks ago, when The National Enquirer published its expose of Limbaugh's drug use, Franken said that if the allegations were true, "I'm looking forward to the perp walk." "I'll be switching channels to get it from every angle," Franken told the New York Daily News. "My favorite part is when they push their heads to get them down into the car."

Comparing Limbaugh to Chruchill????

As we sifted through this week's mail, our curiosity got the better of us when we spotted a picture of Rush Limbaugh on an envelope of the sort we usually just drop in the trash. "Rush Limbaugh in Los Angeles! Special Invitation," the caption read.

It seems the Claremont Institute will be holding its annual Sir Winston Churchill Dinner next month, where it will honor Limbaugh with its "2003 Statesmanship Award." Yes, friends, we live in a culture where an ostensibly serious think tank could confuse Limbaugh's unabashedly partisan polemics with an above- the-fray pursuit of public welfare.

Maybe Rush will appear under indictment - we can only hope.

Congressman Waxman claims "Highway Robbery"

CheneyBurton just doesn't get it. Not only are they the recipients of favored insider status on no bid contracts, they have absolutely no shame when it comes to gouging American Taxpayers on the performance of those IDIQ (infinite delivery, infinite quantity) contracts. CheneyBurton is charging 4 times the estimated top price for transportation of gasoline from Kuwait into Iraq. When is America going to wake up and run Cheney and his fellow rip-off artists out of the country or into jail.

Dems seek to strip VP of $500K

Senate Democrats want to Vice President Dick Cheney of close to $500,000 in deferred compensation he is scheduled to receive from Halliburton, the energy company he once headed, and to divest himself of over 400,000 stock options he holds in the firm. The group, ed by Sens. Frank Lautenberg (N.J.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Russ Feingold (Wis.) and Joe Biden (Del.), the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, will try to amend the $87 billion reconstruction supplemental bill that is currently before the Senate.

Lautenberg is likely to file the amendment tomorrow. A Lautenberg aide projected that nearly the entire Democratic Caucus, with one or two possible exceptions, will support the effort to force Cheney to relinquish his financial stake in Halliburton. Cheney served as the energy giant’s CEO from 1995 to 2000. On the House side, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee, will send a letter to the Bush administration this week alerting it that Halliburton has manipulated the price of exported Iraqi oil, Democratic sources said.

CHENEYBURTON FACING MORE QUESTIONS FOR CONFLICT AND FRAUD

BUSH ON DRUGS AND TERROR: View the windows media file at the top of the list.
DEA Museum exhibit: Drug sales fund terrorists
An excellent Conservative Journal piece on the hipocrisy of the Drugs fund Terrorism campaign
Drugs fund Terror ad blowback.

Is Rush Limbaugh a racist homophobe because he had an affair with a man in college?

SAINT LOUIS MUSIC STORE OWNER CLAIMS AFFAIR WITH LIMBAUGH IN COLLEGE
This 42 year old claims that Rush's master plan was to "fool" the gullible people who listen to talk radio by making "outrageous claims". Rush believed that the more outrageous the claim the more likely certain people were to believe the claim and that became his mode of operation that led to his current success. Seems like Rush's medicated self-loathing is rooted in his life of lies and hate-mongering.

GOD'S OTHER SON IMUS IS KICKING RUSH

DON Imus showed Rush Limbaugh no mercy yesterday, even though Imus himself was off the air several times during the 1970s and '80s because of cocaine and alcohol addiction.

"Rush is a fat, pill-popping loser and an undisciplined slob who was turning his maid into a drug pusher, and she's the one who's gonna go to prison, and - as soon as he gets caught - he starts whining," Imus ranted yesterday on his WFAN wake-up show.

"He's going to rehab because he can't get any more pills and he's gonna go to prison," Imus said.

"Suck it up, fatso, and stop taking 100 pills a day or whatever . . . and employ some discipline in your life," Imus said, while offering Limbaugh some recovery advice.

Lilith Devlin: What is True Justice?
from Lilith of A Rational Animal if you only have time to read one thing today.

I purchased my first ever copy of The National Enquirer yesterday at the Kroger checkout. It is the only way I could get the information contained therein. Later I will be adding some of the choice quotes to this post. Please check back for more inside dirt on the World Champion Hypocrite Rush Limbaugh here at Rush Limbaughtomy

RUSH'S DIARY OF ADDICTION

-- The secret drug tapes
-- His other pill suppliers
-- Drug abuse suspected of causing his deafness

Desperate to feed a growing drug addiction, Rush Limbaugh left a slew of messages on his supplier's answering machine seeking the powerful painkillers he craved.

And The ENQUIRER has obtained copies of those answering machine recordings along with hundreds of e-mails he sent to his former housekeeper Wilma Cline, who's admitted to supplying him with drugs. Shock and Awe updated his time line and it is a vital piece of work

If Bill Clinton were an addict, here's how Rush might spin it This article is too true a parody of Limbaughtomization at work - read this one it's a hoot.

FROM NEWSWEEK

Rush Limbaugh's battle with prescription drugs was so private that even his wife may not have known, it was reported yesterday. Marta Fitzgerald may have been just as shocked as his 15 million fans to hear her hubby's on-air admission: "What's interesting is that he apparently hid the pills from his wife," an unidentified friend told Newsweek magazine.

"What did he tell his wife when he checked into the treatment center, unless these were 24- to 48- hour clinics to clean out your system? There's an awful lot of mystery about it," the friend said. "He's a very private man," said his friend, ex-federal drug czar Bill Bennett. "Rush takes his problems into himself." Sources have told The NYPost that Limbaugh may have checked himself into the upscale Sierra Tucson facility in Tucson, Ariz.

TBogg reminded us that: "In 1994 Rush married Marta Fitzgerald, a woman he met online (which explains so much). Again, we don't hear the pitter pat of little Limbaugh cloven hooves. " This by way of Lilith at A Rational Animal
Blah blah blah 3 quotes Munford on Limbaugh"The part about the pus being blue is patently false" the hunka hunka burnin' homophobia did not say. Catch the whole thing at Blah 3

Busted: vile, hypocritical gasbag and deluded dittomonkeys is the subject of WTF is it Now from the magnificent Maru the Crankpot today. Read it now.

Pen-Elayne on the Web has nice pictures of lib NY bloggers at a backyard picnic. It is always nice to put faces with names of oft read blogs. Thank you Pen-Elayne

This Indymedia article is quite complete

The Mahablog makes Condi into a block of sushi Rice in two posts today. Read them with 2 week old hamachi for an accurate taste of the pReznit's new, newer, newest PR campaign for his personal little vendetta against Saddam (is he caught yet after 7 months) Hussein.
You gotta love the H. L Mencken quote on Musings of a Philosophical Scrivner today:

The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naive and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair.
--H.L. Mencken

Although I disagree with his characterization of my friend Al (and I do call him Al) Gore; the Septic Tank may be on to something with his open letter to Al Gore

Hurricane Juan is the subject of Patrick Taylor at the Poison Kitchen in Halifax Nova Scotia. It is amazing how little we were aware of the true extent of the damage.
T Rex (Kenneth Quinnell) is a Margaret Cho fan and so is Howard Dean Major Barbara of Arms and the Man considers the difference in Russian and American corruption. Jeremy Puma of Fantastic Planet reports on two fantastic sightings

A TOUGH PROGNOSIS FOR TREATMENT AND RECOVERY FOR RUSH

A drug addict has a psychological craving as well, which returns even when the physical dependence is overcome. The best-known treatment center Hazelden claims that 53 percent of its patients stay clean for a year—in other words almost half its clients relapse within months. Nationwide, 12-step programs do poorly in treating painkiller abuse: relapse rates after a year approach 80 percent. Limbaugh has tried treatment twice before this.

There are many reports of Rush's ability to drive a golf ball 250 yards and participate in The Bob Hope Classic and the Pebble Beach Pro/Am despite his claim of abusing the medication because of his herniated disk. This seems to be a pattern leading back to his military deferment for an "Anal Cyst" that supports the notion that the Limbo Mumbo Jumbo will use any excuse to escape responsibility while holding everyone else to a higher standard.

Blue Streak posts about group blogs The tip is from Skippy the Bush Kangaroo

South KnoxBubba has a lively comments section on the Drug Rush

Kevin Hayden returns to blogging at The Reach Em High Cowboy Noose Network with this entry about electoral politics and his decision to leave the group blog that he started and made so successful.

Earl at Prometheus 6 covers a frightening incident that happened to a friend. This is a story you need to read. And P6 is a Titans Fan

The Hampster covers the new Newsweek Poll with some good news for Democrats

Susie Madrak of the Suburban Guerrilla watched Joe Klein take down Peggy Noonan. Go there for the blow by blow - links to the Daily Howler

The Democratic Veteran tells us that Guvnor Enrongroper has already started with the Enron Agenda

A SERMON FOR THE SUNDAY AFTER THE FALL OF RUSH LIMBAUGH
Thanks folks, for confirming my view of human nature. Next time I hear some liberal ranting about how hateful conservatives are, and how caring and compassionate liberals are, I can look back at this outpouring of loving compassion and remember that we are all, every one of us, assholes at heart. Petty vindictiveness will trump decency every time. Rich Hailey from Shots Across the Bow

There is nothing petty (insignificant or unimportant) in my vindictiveness Rich. My justifiable, tenable, and warranted - considered, vital, consequential, and decent rage against Rush Limbaugh is well deserved and serves me and others like me well. Everyone who is fair-minded, compassionate, and a lover of truth and decency should lift up their voices in a chorus to rejoice in the fall of Rush Limbaugh and whatever reduction in his ability to spew lies, hate, and discord occurs from this Divine blow to his authority and evil power.

Reaping what you sow is the subject of this very public lesson in the fruits of hypocrisy and divisiveness. Rush Limbaugh has been the archetypical icon of discord, deceit, and divisiveness all his career. He has sown hatred and fear, lies and mistrust by the acre. For the love of money and fame he has twisted his God given gift and talent into an instrument of pain and suffering for anyone who has had the temerity to disagree with him. Every day of his career has been an exercise in exploiting our tendencies toward rage and fear instead of reason and love. He has self-righteously proclaimed that his "talent on loan from God" is somehow Divinely inspired and he has turned that talent into a tool of the basest most ignoble traits of humanity. He is contemptible and he deserves our contempt.

Rush Limbaugh may well be the single most important element in the ascent to power of the current regime. His 20million listeners who have been abused and misled by his lies and deceit have tipped the balance of power to the hands of the present (mis)leadership. Today those among us who love all Americans and all peoples rejoice at the fall from grace and loss of authority and power of this voice of hatred and fear. We have been given a gift from a higher power which evidently wishes a return to true compassion and humility on the part of the World's most powerful and wealthy nation.

On this Sunday I thank that higher power for the assistance in bringing down this icon of hate and divisiveness, and for my part I urge those who love freedom and justice to raise their voices in praise of the power that has brought Limbaugh to his knees and silenced the most powerful voice of fear and deceit in the history of America. There is nothing petty in that Rich. There is true justice and vindication in this divine chance at a return to reason and compassion in the national debate.

The purpose of my blogging and my prayer has always been that Rush Limbaugh be silenced and brought low for the good of this nation and humanity. Today I rejoice because that prayer has been answered and faith has been restored. The mighty arrogant and wicked Rush Limbaugh has fallen. May a wiser more compassionate human being rise from the ashes of his self-immolulation. Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah

SOME CHOICE QUOTES

"Until I found out Limbaugh was an addict on Hillbilly Heroin, which means you can call him a junkie, I couldn't understand how he could keep repeating the same lies day after day. Suddenly, we find that it wasn't Rush the right-wing radical talking. That was just a junkie's babble you were hearing." Jimmy Breslin

"The problem with painkillers is they also work on existential pain, the kind that originates in the mind, such as might be experienced by a right-wing radio host who doesn't have Bill Clinton to torture anymore." Newsweek

"No matter how much Limbaugh frets about "the media," he IS the media. He wields more clout, makes more money and has a larger audience than a dozen Michael Moores. "I'll tell you everything you need to know. You never need read a newspaper again. I'll read them for you and tell you what to think." Limbaugh says. This was Bill Bennett squared, Newt Gingrich to the third power. There's nothing better than a hypocrite exposed!" Chicago Sun-Times

"Under new federal sentencing guidelines, possession of the amount of OxyContin that Limbaugh purportedly bought (through his housekeeper) could get him 10 years in a federal penitentiary. Florida laws are far less stringent -- unless prosecutors decide to go after him for related crimes, such as money laundering. In any case, he's in a lot of trouble
Conservatism is by its very nature an elitist philosophy. A thinking conservative would be bothered not in the least by the idea that it's fine for a cultured and civilized citizen to indulge in an activity that might cause chaos when indulged in by his inferiors The Oregonian

In his public radio rants, Chickenhawk-Dope Fiend Rush Limbaugh has shown little tolerance for drug users -- despite recent revelations that Limbaugh himself is addicted to Oxycontin,also called 'Hillbilly Heroin.' Using the canard of "family values" (not unlike his fellow faux-conservative pal, gambling addict and ex-drug czar William 'Bill' Bennett), Limbaugh subscribes to the "Do As I Say Not As I Do" School of Moral Theology. Other apologists like Dennis Prager continue to defend dope fiends -- as long as they profess to be either "Christian" or "conservative." Conspiracy Planet

BREAKING STORY: Valerie Plame is just one of two 'outed' NOC's and NOVAK knew
Robert Novak: December 3, 2001 Inside Report: Not Secret CIA

Exposure of CIA operative Johnny (Mike) Spann's identity as the first American killed in Afghanistan is viewed by surprised intelligence insiders as an effort by Director George Tenet to boost the embattled CIA's prestige.

The Cosmic Iguana has another CIA outing for us to consider:

The father of slain CIA officer Johnny "Mike" Spann said Thursday he believes an independent counsel should investigate allegations that someone in the Bush administration exposed a CIA officer's identity -- an act he called treasonous. Spann, the first American killed in Afghanistan, died in a prison uprising. His father, also named Johnny Spann, said he is still angry because he feels his son's identity and hometown were disclosed before his son's family could be adequately protected. see the links at the Cosmic Iguana.

UPDATE: The Cosmic Iguana has already updated this story with news that no less than Robert Novak himself took CIA Director Tenent to task over the posthumous "outing" of NOC Johnny 'Mike' Spann

FRIDAY FUN CLICK HEREEXTRA ON A BIG NEWS DAY: Schwartzengroper - Ken Lay Enron Meeting E-mails prove Ahnuld attended meeting "he does not remember". I know he is gonna wish he could forget saying that. From What Really Happened the best headline source on the web.

Limbaugh: I'm Addicted to Painkillers
Conservative blowhard Rush Limbaugh, who has spent years campaigning vigorously against drug use, acknowledged Friday that he himself is addicted to painkillers, and that he would immediately check into a treatment center for 30 days to try to break the habit.
Fox Sports Yahoo News CBS News ABC NEWS
President Bush expressed support for Limbaugh, according to a senior administration source who spoke with the Drudge Report.

"Rush is a great American," who has championed the conservative movement for decades, Bush reportedly said. "I am confident he can overcome any obstacles he faces right now," the president added.

LIMBAUGH'S DRUG QUOTES:
"We're going to let you destroy your life. We're going to make it easy and then all of us who accept the responsibilities of life and don't destroy our lives on drugs, we'll pay for whatever messes you get into." Rush Limbaugh show, Dec. 9, 1993

" .... if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up. "What this says to me is that too many whites are getting away with drug use....The answer to this disparity is not to start letting people out of jail because we're not putting others in jail who are breaking the law. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river, too."-- Rush Limbaugh show, Oct. 5, 1995

LIMBAUGHS self-serving hypocritical comments:

"You know I have always tried to be honest with you and open about my life. (but I have been a lying untruthful POS instead) So I need to tell you today that part of what you have heard and read is correct. (it is actually much worse than you will hopefully ever know) I am addicted to prescription pain medication

Over the past several years I have tried to break my dependence on pain pills and, in fact, twice checked myself into medical facilities in an attempt to do so. Immediately following this broadcast, I am checking myself into a treatment center (to stave off confrontation with legal authorities and escape prosecution and jail that I have said all illegal drug users deserve)

I am not making any excuses. I am no role model. I refuse to let anyone think I am doing something great here, when there are people you never hear about, who face long odds and never resort to such escapes. (and what I am really doing is what my lawyer tells me will get me the best chance of avoiding prosecution)

At the present time, the authorities are conducting an investigation, and I have been asked to limit my public comments until this investigation is complete when I am free to speak about them." (without further fear of incriminating myself and going to jail)

Scoobie Davis logged an exclusive interview this AM that possibly provoked this decision by Limbaugh. Good work Scoobie.
Len over at Musings of a Philosophical Scrivner has an interesting interview with Molly Ivins about the "de eadukashun" pReznit when he was in Texas
JOIN THE LIVELY DISCUSSION AT SOUTHKNOXBUBBA'S COMMENTS

Cheney defends Administration Fearmongering and large amounts of money given to Halliburton to promote the Illusion of Security

Cardinal Richelieu Cheney said Friday that terrorist non-Christians are "doing everything they can" to get weapons of mass destruction to kill hundreds of thousands of Christians Americans "in a single day of horror" and that all suspected heretics should be reported and subjected to inquisition.

His appearance (striking resemblance?) before the conservative Heritage Foundation marked the latest in a series of speeches top administration officials are giving in hopes of instilling a growing fear in the hearts of Americans curbing the growing criticism over the U.S. handling of Iraq.

"Some claim we should not have acted because the threat from Saddam Hussein was not imminent," Cheney said. "non-Christian Terrorist enemies of the faith our country hope to strike us with the most lethal weapons known to man and it would be reckless in the extreme to rule out inquisition action and save our worries until the day they strike."

"If you give me six lines written
by the most honest man, I will find
something in them to hang him."
—Cardinal Richelieu Cheney

Richelieu adhered to the maxim that "the ends justify the means." Although he devoutly believed in the mission of the Roman Church, he sought to assign the church a more practical role. Richelieu argued that the state is above everything, and that religion is a mere instrument to promote the policies of the state.

The fabulous Suburban Guerrilla Susie Madrak has Margaret Cho ripping Ann Coulter. Annthrax lovers will love it.

Top Ten Items On Rush Limbaugh's To-Do List
From David Letterman via The Magnificent Madelaine Begun Kane

10. Apologize for racist remarks by explaining he was high on illegal painkillers

9. Pat down friends and family to see who's wearing a wire

8. Announce his candidacy for governor of California

7. End pill addiction -- get back to sandwich addiction

6. Search desperately for some way to blame the Clintons

5. Make moves on soon-to-be-single Halle Berry

4. Tell Donovan McNabb derogatory remarks were part of new season of "'d"

3. Brunch with Robert Downey Jr.

2. Dinner with Trent Lott

1. Check job listings for pompous blowhard

The Cosmic Iguana hits on potential Gropenator lawsuit number one - this one from the UK and Thars gold in them thar wars.Republic of Seabrook
Speedkill has moved to a very nice new address. Update and blogroll progressive bloggers.

IS CALIFORNIA LOST TO THE DEMOCRATS IN 2004?
WILL THE GROPENGUVNOR CARRY CALIFORNIA FOR BUSH?

There has been a steady moan and groan by Democrats aided by a hearty upbeat blast by Republican pundits and weblogs claiming that the Schwartzengroper victory spells DOOM & GLOOM for Democratic Presidential hopes in 2004.

Although only 4.5million Californians made the mistake of voting for pReznit Lies Like a Rug while 5.8million ply the Golden State freeways with "Don't Blame Me" stickers adorning their vehicles, popular sentiment seems to be that Democrats are now in big trouble in our most populous state.

HOGWASH:
Doesn't anybody look at the facts anymore before opening their overworked mouths and pens?
Just look at the record:

Kennedy 1960: Pat Brown (D) was Governor (Nixon won California)
Carter 1976: Jerry Brown (D) was Governor (Gerald Ford won California)
Ronald Reagan: 1980 1984 Jerry Brown (D) was governor (Reagan won CA.)
Bill Clinton: 1992, 1996 Pete Wilson (R) was Governor (Clinton won CA twice)
Bush 2000 Elected when Gray Davis (D) was Governor (Gore won California)

In 7 of the last 11 Presidential Elections the candidate elected President was the candidate of the party NOT holding the Governorship of California. In recent elections the record is even stronger where 4 times in 6 the Governor could not help the party candidate for President. In 2000 the Democrat Gore carried California despite the Governorship of the very unpopular Democrat Gray Davis.

So the odds favor the Democrat in California by a WIDE margin if Presidential elections hold true to form in California and in this particular case the incumbent pReznit logged 200,000 votes less than the Republicans of 2003 in the larger turnout of 2000. This is evidence of the lack of a palatable choice for Democrats in Tuesday's election since the choice was Davis (no on recall) or Bustamente (who failed to inspire Democrats).

Quit the whining and moaning Democrats and stop your gloating Republicans. pReznit Birdfood for Brains couldn't carry California with a billion dollar campaign fund. He's not even a 'bad' actor.

NBC's Tim Russert spoke about this result improving Brush for Brains chances and this article is typical of Republican comments:

Republicans in Washington and California were heartened that Ahnuld's victory will boost Bush's prospects for winning the nation's largest state next year. California will carry 55 electoral votes, the most of any state. One of the California Republicans said Schwarzenegger's campaign helped fuel a surge in GOP registrations this year, by about 130,000 voters, and dramatically drove up Republican fund raising in the state. "The Democrat party and the Democrat presidential candidates should take heed," said Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie.

Or this from supposed LIBERAL Dean Esmay

You can see the election numbers right here. Wow. Arnold did more than just win. He utterly crushed the opposition. Out of a field of well over 100 candidates, he got very nearly half of all votes, in an election with the highest turnout in California--maybe American--history. (ED note: Esmay is factually incorrect about both California turnout - since this election got 60% of registered voters as opposed to 71% in the 2000 Presidential Election - and some supposed American record.)

Republicans are smiling this morning to realize that the two Republicans in the race garnered 60% of the total vote. Democrats will suggest, with some justification, that part of that is simply the phenomenon of Arnold, but there is simply no doubting that this has huge repercussions for both parties in that state, and may play big in the Presidential race next year.

Schwartzengroper and McFlintlock combined for 4.7million votes total which is 200,000 more than Bush garnered in 2000 but it does not constitute some landslide for California Republicans since it doesn't come within a million votes of Al Gore's total in 2000.

Of course the Idiotarian Rotweiller takes it beyond the absurd:

At this time, we could run Mickey Mouse for Prez in '04 on the Republican ticket, and he'd win in a landslide. The Dimocrats have completely lost whatever tenuous grip on reality that they might have had left, and I'm laughing my butt off watching the meltdown. and This:

Historic? You can say that again!
Two Republican candidates taking about 60% of the votes in KALIFORNIA? That's like Bush winning a general election in *spit* france *spit*. (Ed. note: The expectoration is the Idiotarian's who spits on every FrancoAmerican and everyone of French extraction everywhere)

Once again with gusto: the 4.7million votes for Schwartzengroper and McFlintlock totaled a mere 200,000 more than voted for Brush for brains against Al Gore in 2000. Does anyone seriously think Gray Davis will be the Democratic Nominee for President or that pReznit Bring Em On would not be Terminated by the Gropenator in California? Discuss among yourselves

THE DAY AFTER THE CALIFORNIA DISASTER AROUND THE WEBLOGOSPHERE:
The Troglodytes that elected Schwartzengroper are the concern of Maru the Crankpot at WTF is it Now
Da Gropenguvnor is gonna need a lota luck sez Jack at The People's Republic of Seabrook
A Rational Animal has Herr Rumsfeld left out of the Loop
High on the list of Halliburton information sources: is Arms and the Man
NPR interviews AEI NeoCon by rantavation
Arnold's Ode is up at the The Incomparable Mad Kane
GOPZILLA is the subject over at the Democratic Underground
Ruminate This move by GWB "lowering expectations" in leaky DC.
It's pathetic over at SouthKnoxBubba

LIBERAL LINKS UPDATE on the Recall (mostly):
FantasticPlanet has a great link to the Gropenguvnor's Japanese TeeVee ads. (Quicktime movies) heheheheheh.
The Modulator links to some Recall Positives.
There are signs of the Apocalypse in California according to The Peoples Republic of Seabrook
SouthKnoxBubba has his own take on the new Super Hero of California, and
Kevin at Lean Left offers more notes on the Wierd Election in the Golden State.
The Democratic Veteran hopes that Gray Davis has a nice retirement, and the SteroidFuhrer has a wake-up call that the job involved more than just showing up...like he does for movies.
Go wish The Funny Farm a happy first birthday of blogging - you also get to see Tom via digital photography.

A Late added note: Mitch Berg of A Shot in the Dark - a Conservative Republican Bush supporter has the temerity to label the Limbaughtomy's author as "barely literate". To that I offer this retort: This is an interesting shot in the dark considering the source. Given Mitch Berg's reference (the post below), I am left to ponder his evaluation of his idol - Brush for Brains. Does he consider the pReznit semiliterate, subliterate, or functionally illiterate? Thanks for the link and the laugh Mitch.

GROPENATOR ELECTED GOVERNOR

Out of the frying pan and into the fire: Grey Davis was by all accounts a miserable governor, but the major problems in the State of California were not his doing. Enron was more responsible for the problems than Davis, but the people of California were fooled by Dan Issa, Bill Simon, Pete Wilson, and the remainder of the Republican corporate machine into the belief that their candidate for Governor would be the 'answer' to the problems caused by Enron.

The disconnect between reality and imagination in California is apparent in the election of Governor Gropenator. Style won over substance - myth trumped truth - money & corporatism brought the people of the State of California under the governorship of a figurehead who will be run and operated by the very interests who were the source of their discontent.
It is a black day for California.

MOTHER JONES has an interesting take on why the Schwartzengroper wasn't the Toast of the Tabloids over the typical tabloid fodder of celebrities and sexual misconduct.

The fact is, stories like the one published by the LA Times are built on difficult, tedious, time-intensive work. And the media practices which usually apply in reporting on Arnold the celebrity simply don't apply when reporting on Arnold the candidate. What's more, Arnold has managed to keep a tight muzzle on the usual bane of celebrities, the lowest-common-denominator media of the tabloids.

Last year, America's leading tabloid publisher, American Media, purchased Muscle and Fitness, Shape and Men's Fitness magazines for $350 million from Arnold's business partner, Joe Weider. The company also owns the National Enquirer and Star tabloids -- and both have remained squeaky clean when it comes to Arnold. Instead of sicing its scandal-hounds on the misogyny angle, the company produced a 120-page glossy one-off titled "Arnold, the American Dream."

So, how does the willing silence of the checkout-aisle rags influence what the Times and other mainstream papers choose to publish? Ann Louise Bardach, writing in the Times, explains the unlikely connection:


"One of the less ennobling secrets of the mainstream media in recent years is its reliance on the tabloid press to launder seedy but irresistible stories about celebrities and politicians. Once the story is baptized in the tabloids, it's not long before it's fodder for TV talking heads and late-night comics. Then, more often than not, it's regarded as fair game for the elite media." But isn't there a difference between "seedy but irresistible stories" and illegal behavior? And, while newsrooms might have been hampered somewhat by the tabloid silence, shouldn't political pundits have been more aggressive on the matter? Katha Pollitt, writing in The New York Times, certainly thinks so.


"Why is it so hard for commentators to come right out and say: here is a man who seems to have a long history of contempt for women, who uses his celebrity to get away with sexual humiliation -- why does he belong in public life? Would that sound too square, too P.C., too, um, feminist? From the newsstand crammed with leering lad magazines like Maxim to all-male, all-the-time talk radio to the self-congratulatory misogyny of 'The Man Show,' aggressive male chauvinism is back in style, and Mr. Schwarzenegger is its standard-bearer."

LIBERAL LINK-A-THON: moving progressive blogs up through the blogosphere Half the Sins of Mankind -- Sadly No ! -- rantavation -- The Mad Prophet Blog -- Mouse Musings -- A Rational Animal -- The Funny Farm -- Arms and the Man -- The Modulator -- WTF is it Now -- Out toLunch -- Nitpicker -- To the Barricades -- Folkbum’s Rambles and Rants please consider these fine progressive bloggers for your blogrolls and links.

Movie stuntwoman says Schwarzenegger groped her twice in three years

NUMBER 16 for Governor Gropenator

Beverly Hills, California _ A movie stuntwoman has accused Arnold Schwarzengegger of groping her on two occasions while she was working in his films.

Rhonda Miller claims that in 1991, during the filming of "Terminator Two," the actor held her down, pulled up her shirt and fondled her. She says he also took a Polaroid picture of her breasts. She says she told him he was disgusting. Miller says three years later, during the filming of "True Lies," Schwarzenegger pulled her down on his lap and fondled her breasts. She says she hit him in the head.

Miller, the 16th woman to make such accusations against Schwarzenegger, says she considered filing a lawsuit, but was afraid to. She met reporters in the office of activist attorney Gloria Allred in Beverly Hills.

What's the big Rush? Mike Lupica rushes in

And finally, there is the damage control Limbaugh has tried to do, puffing himself up, as always. He did it for the show, he says. No, he didn't. He did it because he couldn't take the heat. If that doesn't make him a hypocrite, it at least makes him a phony. Now Limbaugh wants his radio audience to believe that one of the reasons he is taking this kind of heat is because he is the big, brave truth-teller who stood up to the media. It is as much a lie here as anything else.

Limbaugh? He wants to be the rough, tough, truth-telling conscience of America. But the very first time he gets hit, he quits on his stool. Even some of the Democrats he hates so much can take a punch better than that.

An interesting debate on Equal Time in the TENNESSEAN No need to wonder which side the Limbaughtomy is on.

Davis wants criminal investigation Gropinator falling in overnight polls

Gov. Gray Davis, spending the final days of the recall campaign surrounded by women and prominent Democrats, suggested Saturday that actor Arnold Schwarzenegger committed a crime of sexual battery and should be investigated by law enforcement. The governor's comments were a significant escalation of his rhetoric against his chief Republican rival in Tuesday's recall campaign. "Some of those events are clearly a crime," Davis told an audience of mostly women. "Electing a governor who might have committed a crime is obviously going to distract the state from the work it has to do." Assemblywoman Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, called Schwarzenegger Governor"gropinator."

Feinstein also offered her strongest comments to date against Schwarzenegger, questioning why any "decent American" would ever say they admired Hitler. She said the women who have accused Schwarzenegger said he did things that "really denigrate and deprecate women." She asked women to think twice before voting for the recall. "Do we really want this man to be governor of our state?" Feinstein asked. "Do we really want him to be the role model for our children?"

Democrats say their polling is showing the race tightening in the final days. Overnight polling by the state Democratic Party pegged support for the recall at 48 percent to 47 percent -- a dead heat -- while Davis' pollster Paul Maslin showed the recall with a minuscule edge, 50 percent to 48 percent, Maslin and Davis campaign officials said.

RUSH SPORTSWRAP: ESPN. CBS, and FOX analysts express anger, regret over Limbaugh's comments

Countdown host Chris Berman and studio analysts, Tom Jackson and Steve Young all three came up strong yesterday in criticizing Limbaugh for insensitive racial remarks and for his factual inaccuracy. "It was not our decision to have Rush Limbaugh on this show," Jackson said, almost moved to tears. "His comments made us uncomfortable. Rush Limbaugh is known for the divisive nature of his rhetoric." Jackson added that Limbaugh was "brought in to talk football, and he broke that trust." "Rush told us the social commentary for which he is so well known would not cross over to our show," Jackson said, "The fact that Donovan McNabb's skin color was brought up at all was wrong."

Berman said the comments made him angry. "I'm angry for all the hurt ... more for you, the viewers ... African- American, all Americans," Berman said, almost verbally running off the rails. "I've never looked at Donovan McNabb as a black quarterback - ever." Young pointed out that Limbaugh's mistake was that he "refused to recognize that in the last 20 years the quarterback position has become blind to color."

The Limbaugh flap also came up on the pregame shows on Fox and CBS. Fox cohost James Brown said:"In my 18 years covering the NFL, I have not seen any of my media colleagues coddling McNabb or any other black quarterback. Just ask Kordell Stewart. That's the way it's supposed to be." Fox analyst Howie Long said. "Statements like Rush's are at best ignorant and at worst racist."

CBS analyst Boomer Esiason said: "Well, [Limbaugh] really did cross the line. What was so shocking to me is that he actually was so poor from the get-go over there at ESPN. But the fact of the matter is that I believe in freedom of speech, and sometimes that leads to freedom of stupidity, and I think that's what we have here, because none of his opinions are supported by any facts whatsoever."

Something for a Sunday Morning

Psalm 2003: A Psalm of Bush

With Bush as our shepherd, we shall know want.
He makes us lie down on park benches,
He leads us beside the still factories,
He restores our rage
He guides us in the paths of unemployment for the wealthy's sake.
He claims that we walk in the valley of the shadow of terrorist
and we should fear the evil Muslims
Our soldiers die because he lied

His tax cuts for the rich and deficit spending
discomfort us.
He anoints us with never-ending debt,
Our cups will soon be empty.
Surely poverty and hard living will follow us,
all the days of his pResidency
And our jobless children shall pay for his mistakes forever.

Not to be Out-Rushed: Robertson out on a Limb-augh

TV preacher Pat Robertson pulled a Rush Limbaugh move yesterday when he tried to defend the embattled right-winger -and wound up insulting actor Morgan Freeman. Robertson said Limbaugh should not be criticized for saying that black Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb benefits from "social concern." Freeman - who is black - also got a slide from the media, Robertson said.

"He started off playing a chauffeur in 'Driving Miss Daisy,' and then they elevated him to head of the CIA and then they elevated him to President and in his last role they made him God," Robertson said on the "700 Club." "I just wonder, isn't Rush Limbaugh right to question the fact, is he that good an actor or not?"

SERIAL SCHWARTZENGROPER !!!
Says Schwartzengroper, "Whea ders Smoke ders Fiah"
RL says Schwartzengroper is "Up in Smoke" in the "Backdraft" of a "Towering Inferno"

4 More Women Go Public Against Schwarzenegger

In all, 15 women have now accused the Republican candidate for governor of grabbing or groping them. On the campaign trail Saturday, Schwarzenegger denounced as a "puke campaign" news reports that he has behaved abusively toward women.

The latest DRUG RUSH tidbits:

UPDATE: Freakin Freepers in a Frenzy Their tongues are beating their little brains out.

Louis Beshara and wife Gloria Rodriguez, are said to have illegally sold hundreds of thousands of prescription painkillers from their Palm Beach-area pharmacy. According to a Palm Beach County sheriff's search-warrant affidavit, Beshara provided a powerful and addictive painkiller to dealers who then resold the pills to users. Limbaugh scored some of Beshara's pills through his former maid Wilma Cline.

Limbaugh has hired famed Miami defense lawyer Roy Black, said Florida TV station WPTV. Black's clients have included sportscaster Marv Albert, and William Kennedy Smith.

Rush who has allegedly long battled an addiction to OxyContin, purchased the drug illegally, and twice battled his habit in rehab. Limbaugh told his listeners in 1995: "If people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up."

The hiring of top gun Black means Rush has no intention of following his own prescription for illegal drug users.

The BEST of BLOGS is up at OPEN SOURCE POLITICS along with more great reading. GO THERE NOW.

For the best article yet on the Rush to Judgment of Donovan McNabb read Ralph Wiley. Of special interest to Tennessee Fans is the discussion of Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy.

IS THIS FUNNY OR FRIGHTENING? We report You decide:

Administration begins Homeland Security investigation into possible ties between Wilson and Al Qaeda

The Bush administration today announced the department of Homeland Security would begin an immediate investigation into those promoting the so called "Wilson Affair" after recieving credible evidence Wilson was most likely an Al Qaeda plant plotting to overthrow freedom and the american way of life. Officials wouldnt comment on specific information leading to the investigation other than to say "It is obvious anyone who would attack the US government so openly is very likely to have ties to Al Qaeda and possibly Saddam himself". When asked what evidence initiated the investigation spokesmen for Rumsfeld stated they could not disclose the specifics due to national security concerns.

Comment of the day:

Last spring, driving with my Dad, who likes the limbo-man, I actually heard Rush say something agreeable! I almost ran off the road when he said something like "The thing is with liberals is that they take too much time looking at all sides of an issue." Right you are, Rush - proud to be among those who don't rush to judgement with their knee-jerk, shoot-from-the-hip conservative sound bites.

President Bush expressed support yesterday for Limbaugh, according to a senior administration source who spoke with the Drudge Report.

"Rush is a great American," who has championed the conservative movement for decades, Bush reportedly said. "I am confident he can overcome any obstacles he faces right now," the president added.

Great New Stories of the RUSH DRUG RUSH
This just keeps getting better and better: What goes around comes...............

He Could Alway's Say It Was the Drug's

Among the most explosive of Cline's charges is that she scored 4,350 pills for him in a 47-day period. If true, it would make Rush one of the great unregistered pharmacies of the Republican Party.

Limbaugh Probed Over Drugs: TC Palm Beach

Authorities confirm that an investigation into illegally purchased prescription drugs involves the convervative commentator.

Limbaugh Unapologetic; Drug Investigation Looms KCRA Sacremento

In the meantime, law enforcement sources say it's unclear if he will face any charges stemming from an investigation of illegal prescription painkillers. Florida authorities have confirmed that Limbaugh is being investigated for illegally buying prescription drugs.

The Daily News, without identifying its source, reported Thursday that Limbaugh was being investigated by the Palm Beach County state attorney's office. The newspaper said it had independently confirmed the allegations, first reported by the National Enquirer. CNN reported Thursday that sources close to the investigation that it did not identify said Limbaugh had turned up as a buyer of powerful painkillers but that he was not the target of the investigation.

Report: Limbaugh Faces Probe Over Prescription Drugs

One day after he resigned as a football commentator for making comments many saw as racist, radio host Rush Limbaugh was embroiled in a new controversy, this time over a report that he regularly used painkillers bought illegally Miami lawyer Ed Shohat, representing former housekeeper Wilma Cline, issued a brief statement on Thursday saying his client stood by what she told the National Enquirer.

Rush Limbaugh in pill probe

The moralizing motormouth was turned in by his former housekeeper - who says she was Limbaugh's pill supplier for four years. Wilma Cline, 42, says Limbaugh was hooked on the potent prescription drugs OxyContin, Lorcet and hydrocodone - and went through detox twice. "There were times when I worried," Cline told the National Enquirer, which broke the story in an edition being published today. "All these pills are enough to kill an elephant - never mind a man." The Daily News independently confirmed that Limbaugh is under investigation.
Cline told the Enquirer she went to prosecutors with information about Limbaugh and others after four years of drug deals that included clandestine handoffs in a Denny's parking lot. She said she wore a wire during her last two deliveries to the conservative commentator and gave the tapes to authorities. She also gave the Enquirer a ledger documenting how many pills she claimed to have bought for him - 4,350 in one 47-day period - and E-mails she claimed Limbaugh sent her.

In one missive, Limbaugh pushed Cline to get more "little blues" - code for OxyContin, the powerful narcotic nicknamed hillbilly heroin, she said. "You know how this stuff works ... the more you get used to, the more it takes," the May 2002 E-mail reads. "But I will try and cut down to help out." It started after her husband, David, hurt himself in a fall, and Limbaugh asked how he was.

"He asked me casually, 'Is he getting any pain medication?' I said, 'Yes - he's had surgery, and the doctor gave him hydro-codone 750,'" Cline said. "To my astonishment, he said, 'Can you spare a couple of them?'" Cline said she gave Limbaugh 10 pills the next day and agreed to give him 30 of her husband's pills each month. When the doctor stopped renewing the prescription in early 1999, Limbaugh allegedly went ballistic.

"His tone was nasty and bullying. He said, 'I don't care how or what you do, but you'd better - better! - get me some more,'" Cline said. The housekeeper said she found a new supplier and arranged to hide Limbaugh's stashes under his mattress so his wife, Marta, wouldn't find them.

Cline said she continued to make deliveries to Limbaugh even after she quit as his housekeeper in July 2001 - but he became increasingly paranoid, even patting her down for recording devices, she said. In June 2002, Limbaugh told her he was going to New York for detox a second time.

"I went to talk to him, and he cried a little bit," she said. "He told me that if it ever got out, he would be ruined." She claimed that a lawyer for Limbaugh gave her a payoff - $80,000 he owed her, plus another $120,000 - and asked her to destroy the computer that contained the E-mail records. Soon after, Cline and her husband retained Shohat and contacted prosecutors.

The drugs Rush Limbaugh is accused of abusing are legal only with a doctor's prescription. All are habit-forming.
Hydrocodone
Anti-cough agent and painkiller similar to morphine. Side effects include anxiety, poor mental performance, emotional dependence, drowsiness, mood changes, difficulty breathing and itchiness.
Lorcet
Brand name for the combination of Tylenol and hydrocodone, prescribed for moderate to severe pain. Side effects include dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, decreased appetite, dizziness, tiredness, muscle twitches, sweating and itching.
OxyContin
Potent time-release medication for relief of moderate to severe pain, known as hillbilly heroin because of black-market popularity in some rural areas. Side effects include drowsiness, dizziness, sweating, muscle twitches and decreased sex drive. A large dose can be fatal. Good Picture Here Shock and Awe has a must read timeline on Rush's hearing loss. It fits perfectly with the allegations of his house keeper. Great work Shock and Awe.

One more reason not to vote for the Schwarzengroper from Mark A. R. Kleiman

Schwarzenegger "LIFELONG SERIAL HARASSER"

California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger responded today to allegations by six women that he groped them inappropriately over the last three decades by acknowledging that he had "behaved badly" in the past and saying he was "deeply sorry."

"And so what I want to say to you is that, yes, I have behaved badly sometimes," the actor said in front of supporters in San Diego. "Yes, it is true, that I was on rowdy movie sets and I have done things that were not right which I thought then was playful, but now I recognize that I have offended people. And those people that I have offended, I want to say to them, 'I am deeply sorry about that and I apologize, because this is not what I'm trying to do.' "

GOP operative K. B. Forbes called it "unprecedented" for a candidate to admit to sexual harassment allegations and noted that former Oregon Sen. Bob Packwood was forced to leave the U.S. Senate over similar charges. "This may be a fatal blow to the Schwarzenegger campaign," said Forbes, a former aide to onetime gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon Jr. "Not only is this about women, it's about decent Californians who expect some kind of leadership -- not only moral leadership, but just basic decency.…You're not going to get redemption with a simple apology."

Conservative activist Steve Frank added that he was horrified by the report and Schwarzenegger's subsequent admission of improper behavior, and fears it may sour the public on the entire election. "He may have brought down the whole recall," said Frank, who has not endorsed a candidate in the election. "He announced that he was a lifelong serial harasser. The conservatives didn't like Bill Clinton for doing this, and we would be hypocrites to approve of Schwarzenegger doing this."

In Los Angeles, CodePink, a nonpartisan women's peace organization, called for Schwarzenegger to withdraw from the race. "We believe Arnold can be stopped and we believe that women are going to stop him," organizer Karen Pomer said this afternoon. "I was physically ill when I read the [L.A. Times] article today, and believe me, I've read a lot of stuff about Arnold." "I don't care if you're a Democrat, Republican or Green -- this is beyond any partisan politics," she said, adding that the allegations would amount to sexual battery under state law. "Anyone else would have been in jail."

And in Sacramento, state Democratic Party spokesman Bob Mulholland said today's events should give voters "pause" before voting for the actor. "You've got to be outraged when Schwarzenegger says, well, it was on movie lots. Guess what? Movie lots are not sovereign nations," Mulholland said.

Women Say Schwarzenegger Groped, Humiliated Them

Six women who came into contact with Arnold Schwarzenegger on movie sets, in studio offices and in other settings over the last three decades say he touched them in a sexual manner without their consent. In interviews with The Times, three of the women described their surprise and discomfort when Schwarzenegger grabbed their breasts. A fourth said he reached under her skirt and gripped her buttocks. A fifth woman said Schwarzenegger groped her and tried to remove her bathing suit in a hotel elevator. A sixth said Schwarzenegger pulled her onto his lap and asked whether a certain sexual act had ever been performed on her.

According to the women's accounts, one of the incidents occurred in the 1970s, two in the 1980s, two in the 1990s and one in 2000. "Did he rape me? No," said one woman, who described a 1980 encounter in which she said Schwarzenegger touched her breast. "Did he humiliate me? You bet he did."

LIMBAUGH RESIGNS
Limbaugh issued a statement late Wednesday night in which he wrote:

"My comments this past Sunday were directed at the media and were not racially motivated. I offered an opinion. This opinion has caused discomfort to the crew, which I regret."I love NFL Sunday Countdown and do not want to be a distraction to the great work done by all who work on it. Therefore, I have decided to resign. I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of the show and wish all the best to those who make it happen."

George Bodenheimer, President, ESPN and ABC Sports, issued the following response:

"We accept his resignation and regret the circumstances surrounding this. We believe that he took the appropriate action to resolve this matter expeditiously."

The National Association of Black Journalists also called for ESPN to "separate itself" from Limbaugh. "ESPN's credibility as a journalism entity is at stake," NABJ president Herbert Lowe said in a news release. "It needs to send a clear signal that the subjects of race and equal opportunity are taken seriously at its news outlets."

Limbaugh turned down requests to appear on SportsCenter on Wednesday. But earlier in the day on his syndicated radio talk show, he refused to back down. "All this has become the tempest that it is because I must have been right about something," Limbaugh said. "If I wasn't right, there wouldn't be this cacophony of outrage that has sprung up in the sports writer community."

Wednesday night, ESPN issued a statement that, in part, read, "We have communicated to Mr. Limbaugh that his comments were insensitive and inappropriate." Limbaugh's resignation was officially announced just before midnight ET.

Brian Arner at the new RESONANCE site is hosting the RTB Volunteer Tailgate Party - check it out.

Will he go the way of Snyder and Campanis, or at the very least is there a chance that Rush has offended enough Pennsylvania football fans to cost him any political influence he may have had?

I TOLD YOU SO and I don't hate to say it:
LIMBO MUMBO JUMBO PLAYS THE RACE CARD

UPDATE: Wesley Clark and Howard Dean call for Limbaugh to be fired
Clark, Dean Urge Rush Limbaugh's Firing
Two Democratic presidential candidates urged ESPN to fire conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh on Wednesday for saying the media wanted Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb to succeed because he is black.

Wesley Clark, a retired Army general who entered the race Sept. 17, called the remarks ``hateful and ignorant speech.'' Front-running candidate Howard Dean, a former Vermont governor, followed up with his own assessment - ``absurd and offensive.''

In the letter to ESPN, Clark said, "There can be no excuse for such statements. Mr. Limbaugh has the right to say whatever he wants, but ABC and ESPN have no obligation to sponsor such hateful and ignorant speech. Mr. Limbaugh should be fired immediately."

Later, Dean said in a statement, "There is no legitimate place in sports broadcasting for voices that seek to discredit the achievement of athletes on the basis of race."


Democratic candidate Clark urges ABC to fire Limbaugh over McNabb remark San Francisco Cronicle
ABC NEWS Arkansas affiliate and ABC NEWS National and the Denver Post: Fire builds under Limbaugh for McNabb comment

LATE UPDATE:More voices join the outraged FIRE LIMBAUGH chorus including 24 members of Congress and these choice entries:

For that, I can't decide whether to call Limbaugh a fool.
We knew Rush Limbaugh would open his mouth and spew stupidities sometime.
It's sad when the league won't admonish a TV commentator, perhaps fearful of angering the cash cow networks that pay the bills.
Limbaugh's comments critical of McNabb ignite national debate

S.1125 LEGISLATION WILL BENEFIT CHENEY PERSONALLY

Cheney said Sunday on NBC's ``Meet the Press'' that since becoming vice president, ``I've severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interest. I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had, now, for over three years.''

Democrats pointed out that Cheney receives deferred compensation from Halliburton under an arrangement he made in 1998, and also retains stock options. He has pledged to give after-tax proceeds of the stock options to charity

Prior to the asbestos claim problem Halliburton stock had a value of $45.00. The asbestos claim problem caused the stock to plummet to a low of $8.50. If the S. 1125 legislation passes ending Halliburton's asbestos problem there is every reason to believe that the stock will rebound to at least pre-asbestos claim value nearly doubling the value of Cheney's stock options. That is a clear financial benefit to Cheney who retains ownership while pledging the after tax dividend proceeds to charity.

Sens. to Propose Bill on Iraq Contracts

Two senators proposed Friday that an $87 billion spending bill for Iraq should require competition in most cases for lucrative reconstruction work. The proposal could curtail future controversies over a lack of competition, an issue that has enveloped Vice President Dick Cheney's former company.

Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said their amendment would require that funds would be spent on fully competitive contracts, unless the awarding agency notified Congress and explained - in the official Federal Register - why full competition was rejected. The amendment would do little to stop the controversy over Halliburton, run by Cheney before he became the vice presidential candidate in the year 2000.

The company's KBR subsidiary has received noncompetitive work worth $1.2 billion so far to restore Iraq's oil industry. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has increased KBR's work several times by adding to its oil mission

Iraq Deals Not Helping Halliburton Stock

Halliburton Co.'s business may be booming in Iraq thanks to reconstruction efforts, but the small profit margins there and lingering asbestos liabilities are a drag on the stock, analysts said. So far, the Houston company -- once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney -- has won $1.7 billion in Iraq-related contracts.

Halliburton's KBR engineering and construction division has been awarded a $705 million contract for oil field infrastructure repairs. It has also been awarded a Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) contract, estimated at over $900 million, to build base camps and provide logistical services like delivering mail and providing hot meals.

"The dollar values are huge," said Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat who has reviewed the breakdown of the LOGCAP contract. But while the KBR unit is expected to win millions of dollars more in additional contracts, the stock has not outperformed the broader market. The shares, which surged in May after President Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq and said reconstruction of the nation was under way, are down nearly 4 percent since mid-June. The S&P 500 index is up slightly over the same period.

"While the dollar amount of the contracts is large, historically the profits off of them have been very small," said Jim Carroll, portfolio manager of the Loomis Sayles Value Fund which owns shares of Halliburton. "I don't know what the situation is in this particular contract, but I think investors have a fair amount of skepticism about hundreds of millions of dollars in profits."

ASBESTOS UNCERTAINTY

At the same time, Halliburton's asbestos liabilities have weighed down the stock.
The second-largest oilfield services company, behind Schlumberger Ltd. , agreed late last year to a $4 billion cash-and-stock deal to settle 200,000 asbestos lawsuits. But since then, Halliburton has asked for and received extensions and last month said it needed even more time to document claims and file prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy plans for its DII Industries LLC unit and KBR.

The latest postponement came as the U.S. Congress debates a plan that would limit the impact of asbestos litigation on companies and would reduce Halliburton's asbestos costs by an estimated $3.5 billion. Wicklund said uncertainty is the top issue for the stock. "You don't know how much it's going to cost them, how much insurance is going to pay them back, when they're going to get it done," he said. "And until they get it done, there's the question if they'll get it done."

MORE BENEFICIAL LEGISLATION FOR HALLIBURTON
S.1125 SAVES COMPANY 3 BILLION DOLLARS
Follow if you will this twisted tale of special legislative relief tailored it would seem for the benefit of one specific company. A company already under fire for unsevered ties to the Vice President and preferential treatment in no-bid contracts in IRAQ.

Where does the Government of the United States end and the Corporation known as Halliburton begin? Corporations have always exerted great financial influence in Washington in the form of contributions to candidates and corporate interest lobbys have supported legislation that benefits their membership. But the current legislation known as S.1125 smacks of something quite different. It seems to be specifically beneficial to one particular corporation: HALLIBURTON.

First take a look at S.1125.IS (you must type S.1125.IS in the Bill Number Window)

Under Section 403 at the end of the bill you will find the following language:
SEC. 403. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS AND EXISTING CLAIMS.

(a) EFFECT ON FEDERAL AND STATE LAW- The provisions of this Act shall supersede any and all Federal and State laws insofar as they may relate to any asbestos claim filed under this Act.

(b) SUPERSEDING PROVISIONS-

(1) IN GENERAL- Any agreement, understanding, or undertaking by any person or affiliated group assigned to Tiers II through VI with respect to the treatment of any asbestos claim filed before the date of enactment of this Act that requires future performance by any party shall be superseded in its entirety by this Act.

(2) NO FORCE OR EFFECT- Any such agreement, understanding, or undertaking by any such person or affiliated group shall be of no force or effect, and no person shall have any rights or claims with respect to any of the foregoing.

(c) EXCLUSIVE REMEDY- The remedies provided under this Act shall be the exclusive remedy for any asbestos claim under any Federal or State law.

This means that this Senator Rick Santorum sponsored legislation will RETROACTIVELY superseed all settlements previously made between Halliburton and the 200,000 claimants Halliburton has agreed to compensate with an amount between 2.775 and 4 Billion Dollars:

Halliburton Reaches Agreement To Achieve Global Settlement of Asbestos Claims
Plan covers all present and future asbestos claims, fully and permanently resolving all personal injury asbestos liability.
Plan provides that Halliburton will retain 100% ownership of DII, KBR and all other subsidiaries.
Plan preserves rights of customers, employees, vendors and financial creditors -existing contracts and obligations will be honored and creditors will be paid in full under terms of their agreements.
Up to $2.775 billion in cash, 59.5 million Halliburton shares and notes with a net present value expected to be less than $100 million. (present value of Halliburton shares is $24.03 Sept. 29, 2003 market open)

If the S.1125 passes as is Halliburton's obligation to pay this 4 Billion dollars would disappear. Instead the corporation would be bound by the provisions of S.1125. Here is what Halliburton had to say about that:

Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall said if the legislation passes before the company's settlement is finalized, Halliburton's asbestos claims would move to the national fund. The company says it doesn't know if it would save money that way.

"Halliburton doesn't know if it would save money that way" like we don't know if the Pope is a Catholic. Under this legislation the top contributors to the fund or Tier 1 contributors are bound to pay a percentage based on 2002 "Earnings" as reported to the SEC. Under Section 203 subsection (b) Corporations are to pay 1.5005 percent of the debtor's 2002 revenues in years 1 through 5 and declinging percentages of that amount for the next 27 years. It does not matter if the "settlement is finalized" or not. The legislation superseeds any financial settlement.

So let's take a look at Halliburtons 2002 Revenues to see what the 1.5005 percent will be:
Revenues in 2002 reported at 12,572Billion of mainly taxpayer dollars so 1.5005% is $188,642,860 for the first 5 years or $943,241,300 which is substantially less than the 2.775 Billion in cash and 59.5 million shares (value 1,431,570,000) proposed under the settlement agreement. After the first 5 years the yearly obligation drops to 169million a year for 3 years with declining amounts for the years that follow. So Halliburton is looking at at least a 3 Billion dollar advantage through this legislation over the next 5 years and to top it off Halliburton is substantially insured so effectively the company may pay nothing after collecting the insurance. At 1.5% and falling for 27 years the "loss" will be made up in insurance and 1.5% price increases. Just think how the 51 Republican Senators who have indicated approval of the legislation are salivating at the prospect of a major contributor having billions of extra dollars to spread around in campaign contributions.

Get the backup history here