Damox's Political Blog

Republicans Upset That Google Prevented The GOP's Corporate Friends From Gaining Airwave Monopoly

2008-04-16T16:14:00.000-07:00

Fred Upton, a Republican lawmaker from Michigan, is charging Google with manipulating a government auction for C-block airwaves that will force those airwaves to be open to any device, even though Google did not win the auction.

The rules set forth by the government were simple: if the bidding for the C-block airwaves surpassed $4.6 billion, the company that won the auction would have to open up those airwaves to all devices, rather than restricting them to devices using their service. Google bid $4.71 billion, triggering the open-access rule. Verizon Wireless won the auction with a final price of $4.74 billion.

Basically Upton is saying that Google bid just enough to trigger the rule, but had no intention of winning the auction. He said that by triggering the rule, Google discouraged other potential bidders, short-changing U.S. taxpayers. I believe that to be a fallacy, because the only way U.S. taxpayers are short-changed is if the bidding would have gone higher than the final price of $4.74 billion. That means the open access rule would have had to have been triggered in order for the government to have earned more money from the auction.

What Upton is really upset about is this auction did not go so well for his corporate fat-cat buddies at Verizon Wireless or the other telecoms that were contenders in the bidding. Even though Verizon won, they are not going to profit as much as they would have if Google had not been involved. That means fewer donations to Fred Upton political campaigns in the future.
Bloomberg.com: News

Spitzer Resigns, To Be Replaced by David Patterson

2008-03-12T16:37:00.000-07:00

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer announced his resignation today with his wife by his side. It was just two days ago that the media was informed of an investigation into Spitzer's involvement in a prostitution ring.

I supported the Spitzer campaign vigorously, and I'm disappointed with these recent revelations. It's not so much the lurid details of his affairs that angers me, but the recklessness he display while in such a powerful position. By getting involved with an illegal enterprise that has ties to the mob, Spitzer put himself at risk of being blackmailed, which in turn put the state of New York at risk. Resigning today was not only the best thing for Spitzer's family and the Democratic party, but also for the tens of millions of people in represents.

I'll admit that I know next to nothing about Lt. Governor David Patterson, who will be replacing Spitzer. He will be the first black governor of New York, and also the first blind governor of any state in the country. The buzz on him is good - apparently he's more liberal than Spitzer but has better working relationships with the Republicans in the state legislature.

Clinton Wins California - Moves Back Into Frontrunner Status

2008-02-05T21:24:00.000-08:00

Hillary Clinton is once again the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination after winning the California primary on Super Tuesday. Clinton also took New York, Massachusetts, and a handful of other states, with Barack Obama winning a greater number of smaller states with fewer outstanding delegates.

Super Tuesday did not bode well for the Democratic party. By stunning Obama in Massachusetts, thanks to a huge turnout from female voters, Clinton has shown that she can still win by dividing gender lines, a strategy that will not likely work in the general election. Clinton does not poll as well against John McCain, her likely opponent, as Obama does.

After today's primaries it's clear that the Democrats are once again trying to lose what should have been a softball presidential race.

Crying on Cue - Hillary Tries to Slow Down Obama Momentum

2008-02-04T19:51:00.000-08:00

Hillary Clinton discovered something about the American public last month when it appeared she would lose the New Hampshire primary: they respond to tears. Her miracle emergency comeback in that state left the media with egg on its face for having all but called the primary for Obama the day before. She did it by giving a tearful speech the night before.

Clinton is back at it again. With the Obama campaign train railroading the divisive senator, Clinton has once again resorted to crying on the day before Super Tuesday, when numerous primaries around the country will likely decide on who will be the Democratic nominee. Obama has surged in the past week, opening up a lead in the crucial state of California and extending his lead in several other states.

Will voters respond to Hillary's cry for pity? I doubt it this time. Cry me once, shame on me. Cry me twice, you don't cry again (how the hell does that saying go again, Mr. President?).

Ghouliani Abandons Presidential Bid, Supports McCain

2008-01-29T21:38:00.000-08:00

Rudy Giuliani, the man who withheld funds from NY firefighters prior to 9/11 that would have been used to upgrade their radio communication system, who used NY policemen as escorts for his mistress, and who exploited the tragedy of 9/11 to support his political cause, has decided to bow out of the presidential race. He will back Senator John McCain, the friendliest of his rivals.

With McCain winning Florida and gaining Giuliani supporters (which consists of himself, his current wife, and an elderly Jewish couple living in Palm Beach), he's on the fast track for the GOP nomination, with strong support over Mitt Romney in most of the western states.

Kucinich Drops Out of Presidential Race

2008-01-24T16:05:00.000-08:00

Dennis Kucinich, the only presidential candidate who could stand by his voting record with 100% confidence, recognized that he was not getting through to primary voters and decided to drop out of the presidential race today. Kucinich voted against the war in Iraq, and is currently promoting the impeachment of President Bush.

Is Hillary Clinton Behind Bigoted Phone Calls?

2008-01-20T08:15:00.000-08:00

The Obama campaign has released a tape recording of a robocall that has been going out to Democrats in the state of Nevada that uses his rarely-used middle name "Hussein" a total of 4 times. The phone call goes out of its way to refer to Obama as "Barack Hussein Obama" repeatedly despite the fact that he never uses his full name himself.

These calls are clearly an attempt to scare people by associating Barack Obama with the executed former dictator of Iraq. There is no indication of where the phone call is coming from. I wonder why there is no law requiring disclosure of autocalls like there is for political TV ads. Perhaps because that would take all of Camp Clinton's dirty tricks away.

Here's a link to the phone call: Barack Hussein Obama
Robocall trashes "Barack Hussein Obama" - Ben Smith's Blog - Politico.com

Huckabee Reaches Out To White Supremacist Vote

2008-01-20T07:38:00.000-08:00

GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee has a slightly different strategy for winning votes from the southern states: attracting the white supremacist vote.

Huckabee, who once gave a speech to the Council of Conservative Citizens, a group that does not hide its hatred of minorities, has tried appealing to whites in South Carolina by defending their stance on the Confederate flag issue. In a recent speech in front of white evangelical Christians, he said that if anyone came into his state of Arkansas and told him what to do with the flag, he'd tell them what to do with the pole.

Former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan, now a top conservative pundit, once said that anyone involved with the Council of Conservative Citizens "does not deserve to be in a leadership position in America." Hmmm, I wonder if conservatives who have disavowed this group are prepared to bring the hammer down on Huckabee.
The Raw Story | Huckabee gave speech to white supremacists

Obama Blowout Predicted for NH; Romney Rallies to Pull Even with McCain

2008-01-07T20:36:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama is now expected to beat former New Hampshire primary favorite Hillary Clinton by a comfortable margin. Meanwhile, on the Republican side, Mitt Romney has quickly recovered from a terrible performance during Saturday night's debate, where he was a punching bag for all of the other viable candidates and even took some painful shots from some of the so-called fringe candidates. Romney rallied himself by beating his competitors on the immigration issue during Sunday night's debate of Fox News. Huckabee, on the other hand, is facing a possible freefall coming off his Iowa caucus victory. He looked about as bad as any presidential candidate in recent memory during Sunday's debate. He refused to answer questions on his record, preferring instead to rely on promises of doing a better job in the future. Good luck with that, Huck. Rudy Giuliani has no chance of winning New Hampshire and abandoned the state weeks ago to focus on the bigger states.
New Hampshire Predictions: Obama Blowout; Romney Rallying - HUMAN EVENTS

Rudy Giuliani's Disgusting New Ad

2008-01-03T15:59:00.000-08:00

Rudy Giuliani's fear-mongering campaign seems to be running strong. His latest advertisement reminds voters that the next crisis is "only a moment away."

I'm glad that he's getting this message out, because I want everyone to stop and think about what kind of leader they want in the event of another crisis. Do you want a leader who refused to supply funding for fire department radios that work on the same frequency, causing mass confusion and likely many NYFD deaths on 9/11? Do you want a leader who placed a city's main crisis control center on a site where a terrorist attack had already occurred, despite the fact that the area remained a likely target and he had been warned by the federal government not to place a crisis control center there? These are the real achievements of Rudy Giuliani on 9/11. Ask the NYPD and the NYFD. With very few exceptions, they hate Rudy Giuliani, because they see him for what he really is: a snake in the grass who accepts accolades that should go to the true heroes and who will say anything to get elected.
YouTube - Rudy Giuliani TV Ad "Ready"

Republican Shill Spreads Supreme Court Justice Clinton Rumor

2008-01-03T09:37:00.000-08:00

Douglas Kmiec, a Pepperdine Law School professor and former Ronald Reagan and George Bush staff member, has been spreading a rumor throughout the mainstream media that if Hillary Clinton is elected president she will appoint her husband to any open Supreme Court position. Kmiec's boss is the Dean of Pepperdine Law School, a pudgy man who goes by the name Kenneth Starr. Yes, the same Ken Starr who tirelessly worked for years to bring down the Clinton presidency.

There are several things wrong with this Supreme Court Justice Clinton theory. First of all, Clinton would have to be confirmed by Congress. You can be sure that the GOP would launch a massive campaign attacking him. Let's not forget that Clinton was disbarred by the Supreme Court following the Starr investigation.

This story is nothing more than fear-mongering by a lifelong Republican hack. The GOP has already stacked the Supreme Court in its favor, which might just help them steal another election like they did in 2000.
CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time - Blogs from CNN.com

BREAKING: Mitt Romney Uses Offshore Tax Shelters

2008-01-01T15:14:00.000-08:00

The LA Times is reporting that they have uncovered some secrets about Mitt Romney's business dealings that he might not want the public to know, namely that he utilized "shell companies" based in the Cayman Islands to avoid paying taxes to the IRS. Apparently Mitt Romney thinks he can stand up for the common man while at the same time making them foot the bill to make up for the lost revenue from his taxes.

This is not the first time that Mitt Romney has shown how little he cares for the United States. Just days after voting to send more brave American troops into Iraq he suggested that his sons (all between 18 and 25 years of age) were doing their patriotic duty by not going to Iraq and that they were true patriots because they were going to help him get elected president. We can only presume that after becoming president Mitt Romney will send all of America's sons below the age of 35 to some third-world hellhole.
Island tax havens factor into Romney's business success - Los Angeles Times

Liberal Media Watchdog Proves Itself Idiotic

2007-11-22T11:02:00.000-08:00

Some schmuck from Newsbusters has written a rather amusing rant that appears to brag about catching the liberal media in a lie. The lie in question is NBC's David Gregory claiming on the air that VP aide Scooter Libby went to jail for obstructing an investigation.

The really funny thing about this "lie" is that Scooter Libby was convicted and sentenced to prison for obstructing an investigation. The ONLY reason he didn't go to prison was because President Bush decided to commute his sentence, an obvious political favor to a man who had committed the crime under the orders of the president.

Justin McCarthy, the brain-dead conservative who wrote the rant, thinks that the President helping his cronies commit crimes and get away with them is somehow better than if they actually have to serve their time like any other criminal. Thanks for the catch, Justin McCarthy. Without you around, the liberal media would get away with all sorts of semantic errors when reporting on President Bush's criminal misdeeds.
NBC's David Gregory Falsely States Libby 'Went to Jail' | NewsBusters.org

Greenspan Admits Iraq War Was About Oil

2007-09-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

Alan Greenspan has delivered a striking blow to the White House by making public his view that the Iraq War was started to secure oil supplies in the Middle East.

Greenspan, a Republican who for 18 years was the head of the Federal Reserve, will be releasing his memoirs tomorrow. In it, he is very critical of the economic policies of the current Bush administration and then delivers the commentary on the Iraq War that will send shock waves throughout the GOP.

It's odd that Greenspan was appointed by a Republican president, but it was his service under Bill Clinton that he will be best remembered-for, as he kept the economy under his reins and allowed for steady growth and a rather easy landing at the end of the dot-com boom instead of what could have been a devastating crash. He has been critical of the debt-and-spend methods that became the standard under Republican rule, deriding the practice as idiotic economic policy that will only result in disaster in the future.

If you are reading my commentary here in the year 2015, I hope you realize now how devastating debt-and-spend policy can be. You're probably living in a United States that is now longer the world's superpower. This change was probably brought about not by a weak military, as Republicans warned people it would be, but rather by a weak dollar. It's funny that Republicans of all people forgot that the almighty dollar rules all, even the gun.
Alan Greenspan claims Iraq war was really for oil - Times Online

Latest Bin Laden Video Is A Fake

2007-09-09T15:01:00.000-07:00

The most recent videotape of Osama Bin Laden is not current, according to experts. The video is a rambling rant against America and lasts over 20 minutes, but none of the material mentioning current events is actually shown in the video. There are two long "freezes" in the video that last over 10 minutes in total, and all of the current events mentioned are during those freezes.

The only conclusion that one can come to when watching the new OBL "flick" is that it is a mix of an old video with old and new audio dubbed over it. Is this the product of some fringe extremist group who wants us to believe that they have power, or is it the product of the United States intelligence community, which knows support for the War on Terror would diminish if it was found out that OBL died years ago?
Booman Tribune ~ A Progressive Community

Fox News Gets Caught Editing Wikipedia Articles To Smear Rivals

2007-08-14T16:23:00.000-07:00

Fox News might be in big trouble with the net community after a comprehensive investigation by some net sleuths found Fox News offices making changes to Wikipedia articles to smear rivals. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that is written and edited by its users.

Fox News offices have a range of IP addresses that can easily be discovered by any first year computer science major. One address within that range is 12.167.224.228, and it was left in the logs of one Wikipedia entry about a legal case between Al Franken and Fox News host Bill O'Reilly.

Some other Wikipedia articles were also changed by Fox News to either make themselves look good or to make rivals look bad. Brit Hume, Shepard Smith, and Greta Van Susteren all benefited from Fox's spin treatment, while Keith Olbermann, Al Franken, and CNN all felt the channels wrath.

I suggest all webmasters block entry to their websites from any computer with an IP address within the Fox News offices range. Instructions for this type of thing can be found with a quick Google search. Let's start treating Fox News like the net parasites they are.
Fox News Changes Wikipedia To Smear Rivals; Comprehensive List of Changes | [Geeks Are Sexy] Technology News

BP Factory Faces Pressure From Media, Environmentalists

2007-07-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

A new BP factory in Whiting, Indiana is drawing the ire of environmentalists and the media alike. A recent Chicago Tribune article attacked the opening of the new plant, citing a number of reasons why it is bad for the environment. There's a lot more to this story than the Tribune was willing to report.

These new energy plants are a tough issue for any community. People do not want these in their backyard, yet Americans use more energy per capita than any other country in the world. That energy needs to come from somewhere, and it can't always be "somebody else's backyard."

It should not be news to any American that this country is striving harder than ever to become energy independent. We've learned the hard way that relying on unfriendly countries to supply us with energy for the long-term is a very poor strategy.

The new BP plant received permission from the EPA and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. I know that fails to impress environmentalists, who tend to distrust any government agency headed by politicians. I don't blame them, but it's important to look at all the facts in this case.

Although this plant will be dumping ammonia and sludge into Lake Michigan, the oil refined there will offset oil that would have been refined somewhere else if this plant did not exist. It also should be noted that the amounts of those chemicals are within the legal limits and experts agree that they are low enough to avoid damaging the environment or harming people. For people who live next to the new BP plant, that's bad news. For others who do not live near the plant -- such as myself -- it's a good thing. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Don't get too angry at me, I've got a landfill at the end of my road.

About 80 new jobs will be created by this BP site. That's good for the local community, which will help offset some of the damage. In addition, this refinery will be the first new one in the United States in almost 30 years. Did you wonder what was causing gas prices to soar this summer, despite a lack of any noticeable turmoil in the countries that supply our oil? It was a lack of refining capacity in the United States. Many refineries have even been shut down so they can be repaired, leading to even less supply. This new plant will feature technology not available in the older refineries, which will mean fewer problems and better reliability in the future.

It's clear that independence from oil altogether is the best long-term plan for this country, but in the meantime we need to do more to become independent of foreign oil. There will be a high price to pay if we do not find a solution for our oil problem, and we don't have time to wait for hydrogen or solar cars.

Bush Criminalizes Antiwar Movement, Will The Media Confront Him?

2007-07-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

President Bush signed an order this week that essentially criminalizes the antiwar movement. The order gives the president the authority to seize assets of persons who are involved in activities which undermine the war effort.

The language in this order is so broad that the president could use it to invade homes of people who have held up signs saying "Out of Iraq." The most anti-democracy president in our history now believes he has the power to turn those who oppose him into criminals.

The mainstream media is not confronting this issue, and there are few reasons why. First of all, they need to grease many wheels to get those press passes and exclusive access. The president has made it clear that he will punish members of the press who ask the wrong questions, and reward those who throw him softballs. The corporations that run the big media companies also have a vested interest in staying on the president's good side. They can attack him with their talking head pundits, but they MUST NOT attack him directly. That's why the tough questions have not been asked of this president. That, and they probably think he's not smart enough to answer them.

Remember this slogan for today: When Clinton lied, nobody died.
Bush Executive Order: Criminalizing t... - ! * POLITICS * ! - tribe.net

McCain Campaign On Last Legs

2007-07-10T18:58:00.000-07:00

John McCain will not be the next president of the United States. Although he is still in the race, no front-runner is in such a dire situation as McCain. The campaign is running out of money, and some key architects of that campaign are being jettisoned.

Terry Nelson's campaign manager resigned today, along with chief strategist John Weaver. Both seemed to know what the rest of us already know and McCain should know soon: he can't win.

Sure, Clinton only had 2% in the polls at this point in 1991. Jimmy Carter was hovering around the same territory in 1975. This is different: McCain is losing momentum, not gaining it. The grassroots voters are going for Ron Paul, or Mike Gravel, or Barack Obama. Nobody is left for McCain, because he won't let go of the Iraq War. He made a mistake in letting the president send troops, and he's making a bigger mistake by not acknowledging that.
McCain Suffers Key Staff Shake-Ups

Alleged DC Madam To Release Client List On Her Website

2007-07-09T19:40:00.000-07:00

The infamous DC Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, will be releasing the client list from here Washington D.C. escort service on her website. Some big names expected to be on the list include Dick Cheney, who was apparently a client before he became the Vice President.
Alleged DC Madam To To Release Client List On Website - Media on The Huffington Post

Obama Campaign Raises Record $32.5 Million In Two Months

2007-07-01T15:24:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama's presidential campaign seems to be gaining momentum every day, and he's now raised more money than any other Democratic candidate. Hillary Clinton raised about $27.5 million in the past two months, while Obama raised $32.5 million.

It's clear that the American people are sick of "good ol' boy" politics. Hillary Clinton, despite being the strongest female presidential candidate in history, is part of that same good ol' boy club as her husband and several other prominent candidates.

Obama is a first-term senator who has come out of nowhere to become a major contender in the political scene. He's a young, fresh face that seems to be more in tune with the feelings of Americans on such major issues as the war in Iraq. He voted against it, and continues to argue for withdrawal. Clinton refuses to recognize how big a mistake she made when she voted for the war, and says withdrawal will only hurt us further. We'll see what Americans want very soon.
Barack Obama Raises Record $32.5 Million

Bloomberg Can No Longer Stand The Embarassment Of Being Republican

2007-06-19T18:59:00.000-07:00

The Republican party is in shambles, and today they lost another one of their most prominent leaders. Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire mayor of New York City, has decided to switch his party affiliate to independent.

Bloomberg's views on many key issues no longer align with those of the Republican party platform. In addition, the Republicans who were in power for the past 6 years have looted the treasury, desecrated the military, and awarded sleazy corporations huge contracts to provide lackluster goods and services. Bloomberg helped rebuild NYC after the tyrannical reign of Rudy Giuliani, who is running for president on the platform that he was mayor of NYC on 9/11. That's really all he's got.
Mayor Bloomberg Quits the G.O.P. - The Caucus - Politics - New York Times Blog

Bush Aides' Misuse of E-Mail Detailed by House Committee

2007-06-19T04:32:00.000-07:00

Where did all the emails go? If you work in the White House, they were probably deleted. 51 of 58 White House aides have claimed that their official emails have gone missing or were "accidentally" deleted. That's not only news, it's a crime under the 30-year-old law that requires official correspondence from the White House to be saved indefinitely.

White House officials were found to be using non-official email addresses, such as those supplied by the Republican National Committee, for official business. That may or may not be a crime, but either way they were required to save all of those emails if they contained any work-related information. They did not. In fact, it seems that as investigators have asked for those emails in recent months while gathering information about the Alberto Gonzales scandal the emails were purposely deleted. Hmmm, I wonder why they would do that.

The White House will play dumb on this matter. They'll make themselves out to be a group of mid-westerners ignorant of the tech world. Emails, are those the letters I send through the TV machine? It will work, because the White House's base is people who are just as ignorant of technology.

The point I'm trying to get across is that the White House has once again blatantly broken the law, and they will once again get away with it. Their supporters are blind evangelicals who want nothing less than for our president to provoke a war throughout the Middle East. They will get their way, because they reproduce faster than the "intellectuals," which is a word they use to attack people who use their brains. This is the disgusting side of democracy. And here you thought all presidential candidates were the same. How many of you wish you could go back to the year 2000 and do more to change what happened in that election? Where's Doc Brown when we need him?
Bush Aides' Misuse of E-Mail Detailed by House Committee - washingtonpost.com

Obama Apologizes For 'Dumb' Memo

2007-06-18T19:18:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama made a blunder last week when he decided to follow the lead of conservative hack reporter Matt Drudge and criticize the Clintons for their recently-released financial information. Drudge seemed shocked that the former president earned $10 million last year. He shouldn't be, Clinton makes up to six figures for a single speaking engagement. Call it one of the perks for being an ex-two term president.

Like any wealthy family, the Clintons are invested in a variety of companies. Some companies do bad things. Some companies do "un-American" things, like moving jobs to India. It's unwise for a politician to criticize another's stake in such companies, as they are really hard to avoid. Companies are after profit, and profit and "the American way" do not always go hand-in-hand. The companies that move jobs to India eventually win out over the company that pays an American union worker $60 an hour.

Matt Drudge is an idiot and a sensationalist. He publishes news that he knows very little about with sources that are often dubious. Just last week, he left a story that was debunked before it hit his front page up there for over 12 hours. That's not journalism. That's cheap tabloid trickery. Let's hope all candidates, both Democrat and Republican, learn an easy lesson and avoid following Matt Drudge.
Obama Calls Clinton Memo 'Dumb Mistake'

Blackwater Suing Families of Fallujah Victims

2007-06-09T08:24:00.000-07:00

The Daily Kos has once again picked up an important story that the mainstream media has chose to ignore. Blackwater USA, the private army being paid billions of dollars to participate in the Iraq war with little oversight from the government, is suing the families of deceased American contractors (essentially private soldiers). Why would they do such a horrible thing? Because those families demanded answers about the circumstances surrounding their loved ones' deaths.

Blackwater USA has hired some of the most powerful scumbag lawyers in the country to attack these grieving families, including Kenneth Starr. The families have turned to the grassroots media, such as this site, to publicize what is happening to them. The government is not on their side, because it has too much invested in Blackwater USA, including many former top-level employees.

Write your congressman and tell him or her that we need legislation that will stomp Blackwater USA and companies like it out of existence. The only reason these companies exist is because they require none of the official acts of war or other "technicalities" that the public military requires. Their soldiers are paid salaries many times higher than a soldier in the US Army or Marines, and they get body armor that will actually protect them from enemy fire. Remember, they are hired by the US government, so those are US tax dollars being spent to circumvent our military system.
Daily Kos: Updated: Blackwater Suing Families of Fallujah Victims