Its my Right to be Left of the Center

A day after the news broke that Countrywide Mortgage was having a bit of “financial problems”..customers lined up by the hundreds to yank their money out of the banking end of the corporation.

Countrywide Financial tried to assuage the worry and fear that they were going under. They are the biggest mortgage company in the nation, but they also were loaning money to folks that could not afford the homes they were buying. From an LAT writeup:

The parent firm borrowed $11.5 billion Thursday by using up an existing line of credit from 40 banks, saying the money would help the lender meet its funding needs and continue to grow. But stock investors, apparently alarmed that the company felt compelled to use the credit line, sent Countrywide’s already battered stock down an additional 11%.

That doesn’t send a warm and fuzzy message to Wall St. does it? Nor does it send a good message to their customers..the LAST folks they need storming the doors to withdraw their hard-earned cash. Some branches actually ran out of cash and customers were forced to leave their names and get on a list to withdraw their funds.

But, if you listen to Wall St and those wonderful folks in high finance..the housing market problem is just a little blip on the screen..right pal..shades of the Great Depression to me. Countrywide was playing fast and loose with the loans it was making..like many of the Mortgage brokers..as witnessed by this tidbit from the LAT writeup:

Countrywide recently was funding about $40 billion a month in mortgages. Of those, about half qualified to be sold to Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae, and half were “nonconforming” loans the agencies don’t buy, including sub-prime mortgages to higher-risk borrowers as well as jumbo loans, which account for 43% of all mortgages issued in Southern California.–Sub-prime is code for a shaky loan evidently.

tags: Countrywide Financial, mortgage industry, housing market

EDIT: If you want to know how bad off Countrywide is..here is a comment from a fellow blogger that I want everyone to see from my comments section: “Countrywide has my mortgage and it has nearly doubled in amount since last year which is why I’m trying to sell my house. No, it’s not an ARM nor have I refinanced the loan or been late on any payments–in fact before it went up so drastically I was paying extra against the principle. They didn’t pay my escrowed insurance, either, which I had to pay out-of-pocket to be reimbursed in June. Have I seen the reimbursement yet? Ha ha, good one! There’s a website with hundreds of complaints about CW called “Countrywide Sucks” or something like that. A class action suit was mentioned on the site but I don’t think there is one, yet.”–Thats fucked up and I hope to God they all sue.

Per MSNBC: Jose Padilla was convicted of federal terrorism support charges Thursday after being held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant in a case that came to symbolize the Bush administration’s zeal to stop homegrown terror.

Padilla and co-defendants Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi face life in prison because they were convicted of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people overseas. All three were also convicted of two terrorism material support counts that carry potential 15-year sentences each.

The Jurist: A federal jury found Jose Padilla and his two co-defendants guilty Thursday on all charges against them. Padilla, Adham Amin Hassoun, and Kifah Wael Jayyousi were convicted of conspiracy to commit illegal violent acts outside the US, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, and providing material support to terrorists. They face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Padilla, a US citizen, was arrested in 2002 at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and subsequently detained as an “enemy combatant” at a Navy military brig in Charleston, South Carolina.

Initially accused of planning to set off a “dirty bomb” in the United States, Padilla went from enemy combatant to criminal defendant when he was finally charged with other offenses in November 2005. Padilla was transferred to civilian custody in January 2006 and has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Tags: Jose Padilla, Gitmo

It’s all over the internets, FNC (Fox News Corp) has been busted vandalizing Wikipedia. From TV Newser:

Ungerleider writes, “Bloggers Geeks Are Sexy compiled a list of Fox News’ extensive Wikipedia edits - which, among other things, posted false information about the ratings of Fox News shows, accused Keith Olbermann of making light of Peter Jennings’ death and deleted ratings info for MSNBC programs.”

Typical for Fox Noise..nothing but bs and bravado coming out of that place.. unfair and unbalanced? You betcha!

Tags: Wikipedia, Fox Noise busted, FNC

You got that right Dennis! Seems anything that supports the general population is considered liberal by the Republicans and the Republican-lite party..aka the DLC Democrats. Read the entire writeup of Kucinich’s weekend visit with ABC’s This Week here.

Tags: Kucinich, DLC

Bush did the same thing when he ran the state of Texas. He is set to ‘fast-track’ death row inmates, removing what has been due process for an inmate sentenced to death for a crime. As the IHT article points out:

The US Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales - Mr Bush’s top legal adviser during the spree of executions in Texas in the 1990s - is putting finishing touches to regulations, inspired by recent anti-terrorism legislation, that would allow states to turn to the Justice Department, instead of the federal courts, as a key arbiter in deciding whether prisoners live or die. The US is already among the top six countries worldwide in terms of the numbers of its own citizens that it puts to death. Fifty-two Americans were executed last year and thousands await their fate on death row.

Ah yes..our Decider-in-Chief will now decide who lives and who dies..how freaking ironic that Bush and his lap dog Abu Gonzales will have this power..power btw that the Democrats gave them.

Disgusting bit of record-setting by Georgie per the IHT article: President Bush has always been a death penalty enthusiast. The 152 prisoners he dispatched to their deaths in his eight years as governor of Texas set a high-water mark unmatched before or since.

I feel for the record, I should state that I have been a death penalty proponent until now. I felt comfortable that many of the checks and balances were in place to guarantee that an innocent individual was not put to death. With this new twist..I no longer feel the same.

Tags: death penalty, due process, Alberto Gonzales

From Jason Leopold and TruthOut come this story:

The Republican National Committee said it will not abide by a subpoena and turn over documents to a Congressional committee investigating the firings of at least eight US attorneys last year because the RNC is waiting to see if the White House will assert executive privilege over RNC documents at the center of the controversy, according to an outside law firm retained by the RNC.

The White House has asserted executive privilege to block senior administration officials from testifying before Congress about their involvement in the decision to fire the federal prosecutors. Moreover, the White House has cited executive privilege in declining to turn over specific documents to Congress that may shed further light on the circumstances behind the attorney firings. The US attorneys believe they were fired for partisan political reasons. In some instances, the US attorneys said they were pressured by Republican lawmakers and RNC operatives to file criminal charges against Democrats at the center of public corruption probes prior to last year’s midterm election as well as individual cases of voter fraud, which the attorneys said was based on weak evidence, in order to cast a dark cloud over Democratic incumbents and swing election results toward Republican challengers

Hell, isn’t everything Executive Privilege by now under King George? We need Congress to move their ass..but wait..they are on vacation..never mind.

The rancid bag of batshit…that is…Karl Rove. He led the charge that saw America becoming a warmongering, selfish, over-indulgent shell of it’s former self. We borrowed millions to wage holy wars for oil..and..lol..democracy. The laugh is pure irony at the thought of what Democracy has become with Karl Rove writing the scripts and talking points.

Rove didn’t make policy..he just spun it for BushCo. He was the fixer, he got the word out and tried to always put a decent spin on it..even if it meant saying the same damn things over and over and…over. He politicized Departments that had never experienced that level of party politics just to do their friggin jobs.

Now, he will write a book, become rich and speak to us only if we pay him to. Hopefully the final chapter will show that Rove failed and the Great Republican monarchy he tried so hard to help build…will crumble into a steaming pile of mierda in the next election cycle. Here is hoping America will make a left turn into the middle and walk away from the abyss that Rove helped create.

One can only hope this spin-meister won’t be able to spin the historical perspective of George Bush’s presidency.

Tags: Karl Rove, Turdblossum

The story broke not by a reporter, but the OpEd guy at the WSJ. Strange wouldn’t you say? This story also breaks on the heels of a nasty writeup by the Atlantic Monthly.

Personally, I don’t know if this is good news or bad news..but Rover is resigning effective end of August. WaPo as well as a zillion other sites have a piece up about it.

I think he plans to go to work on Fred Thompson’s campaign..just a hunch. Congress still needs to charge him with Contempt of Congress. This smarmy sumbitch needs to be held accountable. A quote from Rover on the subject:

“There’s always something that can keep you here,” Rove said, “and as much as I’d like to be here, I’ve got to do this for the sake of my family.”

His family?? I thought the man was raised by wolves? Of course he says he doesn’t PLAN to work on any Presidential Campaign..but we know how folks change their minds. He has a son in college, so if the draft is created..he won’t be serving either…just like his Daddy.

He also stated in the WaPo article he wants to teach someday..what..Dirty Tricks 101??? Or how about Destroying the Constitution, advanced studies??

Will BushCo be able to function without its brain?

We shall wait and see my dear reader..

EDIT: Campaign For America’s Future has a good piece up by Rick Perlstein about what Rover might actually be pulling.

Tags: Bushs Brain, Rove

The police at the Italian airport were looking for drugs. What they found was incredibly more important to the state of the world, the Middle East specifically. From AP:

Their discovery led anti-Mafia investigators down a monthslong trail of telephone and e-mail intercepts, into the midst of a huge black-market transaction, as Iraqi and Italian partners haggled over shipping more than 100,000 Russian-made automatic weapons into the bloodbath of Iraq.

Damn..everyone’s getting in the armament ‘bidness’ don’t ya know? Where are the Chinese guns shipping in from? Afterall..War is Good Bidness! Why shouldn’t everyone make a buck?

With friends like the Russians..you don’t need enemies..snark button on there folks It’s getting uglier and uglier ain’t it? Place your bets..

Tags: Russian arms in Iraq, Whos arming the terrorists

Its a valid question after reading today’s LAT article entitled: Gay and Lesbian voting power. The answer seems simple enough; “We have far more at stake than the average voter, and we’re therefore far more engaged in the political process.”-says Tom Roth, President of Community Marketing.

But I challenge that response. The Hetero voters have much at stake as well. Jobs, corporate welfare, loss of our civil rights and the ever-popular War on Terror which could draft their sons and daughters. We could be looking at a draft if the Iraq Government doesn’t straighten up and get their shit together soon my dear reader. It’s not a question of ‘if’ to me..it’s ‘when’ will they institute the draft. Some numbers from two different polling outfits in the LAT writeup for your perusal:

A recent study by San Francisco-based Community Marketing Inc. found an eye-popping 92.5% of gay men report they voted in the 2004 presidential race, and almost 84% said they cast ballots in the 2006 midterm election. Among lesbians, the results were almost as impressive; nearly 91% in 2004 and 78% in 2006. By comparison, the Washington-based Committee for the Study of the American Electorate puts the turnout for all Americans eligible to vote at about 61% in 2004 and roughly 40% in 2006.

I think the GLBT folks are smarter than most hetero’s. They know they must elect politicians that will work for them and their rights..otherwise we could be back in the dark ages with regard to laws being passed that outlaw certain things..like sex between two consenting adults of the same sex for instance. Hetero’s still have their fucking heads in the sand when it comes to voting for their elected reps. They really do..how else to you explain more people staying home than getting off their fat asses and taking 5 minutes to vote? Or in Cali..we can simply MAIL in our vote..that takes real effort now doesn’t it?

Why don’t hetero’s vote? Why do they think the status quo is o-fucking-k? Only 20-something-percent say they like the job BushCo is doing..wtf is up with the other 60% that didn’t vote in November of last year? Did they think the 40% of us that voted would do right by them? Why are American’s in general and the hetero’s specifically SO FUCKING LAZY?

I have voted in every, single, friggin election since I was old enough to vote..without giving my age..thats a LOT of voting booths for moi…dozens and dozens of them. What will it take for American’s to get out and vote? I don’t think you want to hear what it will take, but I will tell you anyway from my pov…

Tags: heteros dont vote , Gay voting power

Alternet has a great read up this morning. Its entitled: “How the Democrats blew it in only Eight Months”. The author points out how the Democratically-controlled Congress now has a lower opinion rating than the worst times for the Republicans last year:

Thanks to the Dems’ inaction on Iraq and compliance with Bush on the FISA bill, the Democratic-controlled Congress now has a “confidence” rating of 14 percent, the lowest since Gallup started asking the question in 1973 and five points lower than Republicans scored last year.

Ain’t that some news? Sure is..but the real question is..will Pelosi and Reid pay attention? Will these asshats actually turn the ship around and start paying attention to what the majority of American’s want? I will leave you with the last paragraph of the article which asks a very important question:

A war people hate, Gitmo, Bush’s police-state executive orders of July 17 — the Democrats have signed the White House dance card on all of them. And guess what? Just as their poll numbers are going down, Bush’s are going up, by five points in Gallup from early July. People are beginning to think the surge is working, courtesy of the New York Times. So are we better or worse off since the Democrats won back Congress?

This YouTube video suggests it has always been in the backs of the little minds running BushCo. SuzieQ blogged about this yesterday. Video courtesy of American’s Against Escalation in Iraq.

Washington—Friday Lt. Gen. Lute, the President’s new war adviser - commonly referred to as the war czar, announced that he is considering reinstating a military draft in an interview with NPR.

Lute’s draft talk came on the heels of General Petraeus’ recent statements that we should stay in Iraq for another 9 or 10 years.

With opposition to the war in Iraq soaring across the nation, Americans Against Escalation in Iraq’s new TV ad ‘Draft’ reveals how the Bush Administration is completely out of touch with the American people.

The Partisan Reflections on “Pissant Provocateurs Award”. Thanks to Tom Cat@Politics Plus for honoring us with this unusual but very deserving award. It seems to have originated from the Divided We Stand, United We Fall blog site. The award is inspired by this definition: Pissant - Little person blog with big attitude.

I do have just a TAD of TUDE my dear reader.

Therefore I have linked back to site that gave me the award and following the requirement to pass it on to five deserving “little people” blogs. Little people are, in reality, We Da People:

Angry Dakota Democrat

Update America.com

Dave Away from Home

Republispin

Big Ass Belle

I heart all these bloggers!

Tags: Pissant Provocateur Award

Slate has a good read up this morning by Tim Grieve. Its called: Accountability? Libby?Gonzales? Let me tell you about 9/11. Mr. Grieve delves into the Asshat-in-Chief’s press conference yesterday and the responses to some of the questions he ducked. The question regarding accountability was one the Jerkwad-in-Chief took pains to spin, in his best Roveian spin:

“Lewis Libby was held accountable, Bush said. “He was declared guilty by a jury. He paid a high price for it. Al Gonzales — implicit in your question is that Al Gonzales did something wrong. I haven’t seen Congress say he’s done anything wrong. As a matter of fact, I believe we’re watching a political exercise. I mean, this is a man who has testified. He sent thousands of, you know, papers up there. There’s no proof of wrong. Why would I hold somebody accountable who’s done nothing wrong? “Frankly, I think that’s a typical Washington, D.C., assumption — not to be accusatory. I know that you’re a kind, open-minded fellow, but you suggested holding the attorney general accountable for something he did wrong. And, as a matter of fact, I hope Congress would become more prone to delivering pieces of legislation that matter as opposed to being the investigative body.” The reporter tried again. “Given the decision to commute the sentence of Libby, given the performance of Iraqi leaders, is it fair for people to ask questions about your commitment to accountability?”

Isn’t that special my dear reader? I think not..I think we are doomed with this jackass at the helm. Someone send him a bag of Pretzels and a fifth of Jack Daniels please!

*Artwork by The Worried Shrimp..check him out he’s fabulous!

Tags: Bush, Accountability