Wednesday, October 8, 2008


The Nightowl Newswrap

Joe Lieberman is angst-ridden Lieberman is afraid that as President Barack Obama won't bomb Iran. He wants the United States to have a president that other countries fear.

We're all terrorists now, apparently The Maryland state police added the names of 53 non-violent activists, most of whom oppose the death penalty and/or the war in Iraq, on a terrorist list and added their names and personal information to federal and state databases that track terrorism suspects. The chief of the department has acknowledged the overreach and is sending letters to the victims inviting them to review their files before they are purged from the database. "The names don't belong in there," he told the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. "It's as simple as that."

"My fellow...prisoners?" Campaigning today in Pennsylvania, John McCain addressed the crowd as "my fellow prisoners." Is he losing whats left of his mind, or is he just so used to working in the "POW" stuff that he hates to talk about that he inserted it at an inopportune time?

Did John's vote similarly affect her? Cindy "fake bitch" McCain, addressing a McCain campaign event today attacked Barack Obama for his 2007 vote against funding the war in Iraq because the legislation didn't have a timeline for withdrawal. "The day that Senator Obama cast a vote not to fund my son when he was serving sent a cold chill through my body, let me tell you," she said. Li'l prollem there, tho, Cindy Lou - John voted against a supplemental that same year, because he could not bear to accept a supplemental that did contain a timeline.



Did David Brooks just jump off the tire swing? In an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic today, David Brooks decried the "anti-intellectualism" of Sarah Palin and referred to her as a "fatal cancer to the Republican party."

Conservative ideologues get bent out of shape over the damnedest things Mark Steyn doesn't like the way Obama pronounces Pakistan - i.e. correctly. He finds it annoying. He didn't say whether he is similarly annoyed when General Petraeus pronounces it correctly, but he does find Palin's exaggerated pronunciation of Eye-rack quite fetching.

Does it or does it not? The Supreme Court appeared conflicted Wednesday as it juggled national security and environmental concerns in a case over whether the U.S. Navy is doing enough to protect whales from underwater sonar tests it conducts. At issue is the power of the president to issue executive waivers allowing such tests, and whether federal judges can issue preliminary injunctions blocking them.

This is probably one of those "wasteful" earmarks Senator McCain keeps railing against: It wasn't all that long ago that if you told U.S. troops to meditate, you ran the risk of being called a kook -- or worse, a hippie. Today, it's becoming increasingly-common advice, for soldiers and marines looking to deal with battlefield stress, and prep for war. At Camp Lejeune, "Warrior Mind Training," supposedly based on ancient samurai techniques, are being offered to marines with mental health issues.

And if he broke the rules, remove his ass: Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott may have more to worry about than just the court of public opinion. Federal investigators are now looking into whether Scott broke the law by campaigning for John McCain. Officials with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel say they have received so many phone calls from the public that they launched an investigation into Sheriff Scott on Tuesday. The question is - did he use his position as sheriff to influence an election? If so, he could be in violation of a federal election law called the Hatch Act. Damned wingnuts and their Hatch Act violations...pisses me off.

Election called in Ukraine--keep an eye on this one. The winner gets to deal with a more aggressive Russia: President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine has dissolved parliament weeks after the collapse of the country's ruling pro-Western coalition. Mr Yushchenko, who is visiting Italy, announced Ukraine's third general election in less than three years on television, in a pre-recorded speech. He accused Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko of wrecking the government through her "thirst for power."


"Get a job, Hippie!" Dana Peroxide Perino told the White House press pool today that the bu$h administration would likely oppose any effort by congress to extend jobless benefits, saying that “the best way to help” the economy and unemployed people is for unemployed people to simply “get back to work.” Just like that! Pay no attention to the fact that the economy has hemorrhaged jobs every single month so far this year.

Sensing a pattern? Yet another band has told the McCain campaign to cease and desist using a song at their rallies. This time it is the Foo Fighters, and the song is My Hero.