Last Alito Today

Looking at some of Samuel Alito's other rulings, I'd have to think Mrs. Alito takes it in the ass quite often given his extreme aversion to vaginae.

More On Alito

Shake off your Fitzmas hangover, it's Boxing Day in America. Here is the skinny on Samuel Alito. Nick-named Scalito for his closeness in voting to Antonin Scalia, Alito is best known for being the only dissenting vote on the 3rd circuit in the Planned Parenthood v Casey case. This case had to do with spousal consultation before a woman could get a abortion. The Supreme Court went on to strike down the law 6 to 3.

On NPR this morning, an associate of Alito said that Alito respects precedents especially the intent of the precedent. For those of you that thinks Roe v Wade is safe because of that should note that the original intent of that case was to protect doctors that perform abortions, not the women seeking them. Alito will vote to overturn Roe.

This nomination is yet another example of President Bush yielding to radical right wing cultists.

This is a nomination we must fight to the end, but in the end I'm not sure this is a fight we can win. I hope I can count on my sisters that belong to NOW, Emily's List, etc. to screw Chafee's balls to the wall on this vote. If Chafee votes for this nomination, you had better unleash holy hell on him. We need to use this to target all pro-choice republicans who vote for this nomination.

Samuel Alito

Everybody is reporting at this early hour that the new Supreme Court nominee will be Samuel Alito.

Huh?

Cokie Roberts just said on this week that the current Plame scandal is exactly the reason we should repeal the 22nd amendment that limits the president to two terms. What the fuck is she talking about?

Local Hackery

I just saw Mike Pirik's ridiculous ad attacking Lori Tyack! on some tax issue. Hello, this is the race for local Municipal Court Clerk. Don't you hate it when your local muni court clerk raises your taxes? Or perhaps when your local dog catcher raises your taxes. Oh wait, neither of those positions have that kind of authority. Pirik looks simply stupid running on this issue.

Of course, with the scandal coming out of Pirik's office, it's kind of hard to run on your record.

If you're wandering about the explanation mark after Tyack!'s name, it is a subtle dig at her silly looking campaign shirts.

Bubbly Cracked

I'm enjoying the Fitzmas Champagne More later.

Flipping Scooter

It is pretty clear to me that Fitzgerald has indicted Scooter Libby in order to force a plea bargain for his testimony against an individual the indictment refers to as "Official A." From the indictment:

21. On or about July 10 or July 11, 2003, LIBBY spoke to a senior official in the White House (Official A) who advised LIBBY of a conversation Official A had earlier that week with columnist Robert Novak in which Wilson’s wife was discussed as a CIA employee involved in Wilson’s trip. LIBBY was advised by Official A that Novak would be writing a story about Wilson’s wife.

Who wants to bet that Official A is Karl Rove?

Libby Resigns

Scooter got creamed, then he got canned

Five Counts For Libby

The grand jury has indicted Scooter Libby on two counts of perjury, two counts of making false statements, and one count of obstruction of justice.

Fitzmas Goose

It looks like we will be carving the Fitmas Goose at noon with the silent knight giving a presser at two. It also looks like Fitmas is going to continue as a new grand jury will be convened to look into further charges.

Supply Siders Bemoan Supply Side Economics

Republicans in congress are up in arms over current oil prices. Dennis Hastert went as far as to threaten prosecution if it is found that any price gouging is taking place. From The Christian Science Monitor:

The soaring profits have already attracted the attention of many members of Congress. On Tuesday, House Speaker Dennis Hastert warned companies that any price gouging is "unacceptable, and any company who does it will be prosecuted." He urged the oil companies to explain to the American public what they are doing to bring down the cost of oil and natural gas. And he urged them to build new refineries and pipelines.

What are they doing to lower the cost of oil? What are you doing? You see, oil is a commodity. It is sold on the speculative market, therefore the buyer sets the price. It is a well oiled example of the supply side economics you champion every day. It is the way republicans think all business should be done. Yesterday, gold closed at $473.80 on the NY spot merc. I don't see you threatening jewelers for selling a commodity that's only intrinsic value is that it is shiny. What are you going to do now? Propose some sort of socialized form of oil sales? Impose some of those nasty government regulations you deplore?

If Hastert wants to place blame for high oil prices, perhaps he should look in the mirror. This republican led congress has failed miserably in pushing any meaningful alternative energy legislation leaving people with only a few petroleum based options for fuel. Hell, you even gave the oil companies billions in subsidies.

This is even the calm before the storm. Hastert's constituents might not be affected this winter, but his cold belt colleagues are likely to feel the voters wrath after this years heating bills come due.

When it comes to foresight in the republican party, the one-eyed man truly is king.

Merry Fitzmas

Vote Out The Clowns

Aren’t they rich, the GOP three?

Running our state into the ground,

With hardly a care.

Vote out the clowns!

It isn't bliss, we don’t approve?

The ones who keeps tearing Ohio down

That’s already been proved

There are the clowns!

Vote out the clowns!

We’ve seen enough revolving doors,

Finally knowing that all they want is what’s yours.

Ruining the state, without a care,

Controling the voting lines;

Few machines are there.

Are you tired of this farce?

The state government that is here,

I think that you want what I want,

I think it’s pretty clear

Vote out the clowns

There are the clowns

Vote out the clowns

What a surprise!

Who could foresee

You'd come to feel about them

What they feel about me?

Why only now when I see

How many of my friends have moved away?

Without a job

It’s hard to stay

Isn't it rich, isn't it queer

No bigoted amendment to use next year

And there are the clowns

Quick, vote out the clowns!

Get them out of here.

Microfinancing

I read a very interesting diary this morning over at Kos about microfinancing in third world countries. I have to admit, I've never heard of it before. Basically, you donate money to an NGO such as KIVA and they use that money to issue no interest business loans to people in the third world. You can donate as little as $25. You get your money back when the loan is fully repaid.

The UN General Assembly has designated 2005 The International Year Of Microcredit. Who knew?

Miers Withdraws

Much to my shock, shock I say, Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination for the Supreme Court. Actually I predicted this on Tuesday, so I'm really just tooting my own horn. I guess every asshole gets something right every once in a while.

I've yet to read her statement, but CNN is reporting that she says in it that her nomination had become a "burden for the White House." I have to say, any nomination is going to be a burden for the White House now. Of course the real burden for the White House is the 800 pound gorilla over on the ninth floor of 1400 New York Avenue that will start throwing tires tomorrow.

It will be interesting to see who the new nominee will be. I gonna guess Janice Brown.

Indictments

Raw Story is reporting that Patrick Fitzgerald has asked the grand jury to indict Karl Rove on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, and Scooter Libby for the two previous charges plus outing a covert operative. The story goes on to say two others that do not work in the White House also face indictments. They report the grand jury has not yet decided whether or not to indict.

I wonder how they are getting this information. It's not like you run in and out of a grand jury or make cell phone calls from inside. One of the lawyers inside must be using a blackberry from inside the courtroom.

It's going to be tough to sleep tonight waiting for all of those Fitzmas goodies in the morning.

UPDATE: Damn, the grand jury adjourned for the day. Doesn't meet again until Friday. God damn Fritzmas, it's always a day away.

Thats A Spicy Meatball

The Italian publication La Repubblica has blown the lid off of the Niger forged documents scandal. Yesterday, in part two of a series, the paper laid the claim the the documents were stove piped to the White House Office of Special Planning for the Iraq war during a meeting between Steven Hadley and Nicolo Pollari, the head of the Italian intelligence service SISMI.

Today the paper writes that the infamous aluminum tubes supposedly to be used to centrifuge uranium were in fact a component of the Italian 81mm Medusa missile system. That means the Italians had to know exactly what they were, they probably sold them to Iraq.

Pollari has asked the parliamentary commission overseeing secret services to interview him in light of these allegations. The Italian government has issued a denial over the Niger documents today.

New Poll

As I've said before, I don't put much faith in generic party ID polls like the one CNN put out tonight, but the poll that shows Bush losing to a generic Democrat 55% to 39% is fairly significant. This is only going to get worse. I'd like to know what percentage of that 39% that would vote for Bush has completely no clue about the impending indictments in the White House.

We often forget that politics plays absolutely no part in many Americans lives, but when you mention criminal behavior and politics and it gets into the average Americans psyche these numbers will plunge. I think the low thirties is probably the floor though.

Fitzmas

From Steve Clemmons:

Indictments Coming Tomorrow; Targets Received Letters Today
An uber-insider source has just reported the following to TWN:
1. 1-5 indictments are being issued. The source feels that it will be towards the higher end.
2. The targets of indictment have already received their letters.
3. The indictments will be sealed indictments and "filed" tomorrow.
4. A press conference is being scheduled for Thursday

So, I guess tomorrow is Fitzmas eve, and then Thursday, it's Fitzmas bitches!

Why Miers Is Toast

Once Fitzmas comes, I think that will be that for Harriet Miers. Bush will have to withdraw the nomination. These two paragraphs from The New York Daily News lay out the reason:

Behind the scenes, however, Team Bush was finalizing its campaign to discredit and undermine special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's conclusions, sources told the Daily News.

The White House strategy is counting on major help from GOP allies and neocon commentators who turned on Bush for naming Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court and are now looking for redemption with a miffed President.

If the White House thinks neocon commentators are going to go along with them for free, I think they are sorely mistaken. White House indictments give these commentators the leverage they need to sink the Miers nomination. A lot of loyalties are going to be strained over this, but I expect Bush's loyalty to himself will trump any loyalty to Miers.

Miers will probably withdraw herself taking the bullet for Bush.

Rosa Parks

Obviously, the big news story of the day is the passing of Rosa Parks last night in her Detroit home. The Washington Post has a pretty nice rundown on her life.

Dick Cheney

As we all prepare for Fitzmas this week in our own special way, the New York Times announces that Scooter Libby learned of Valerie Plame's identity from Dick Cheney. This contradicts earlier testimony given by Libby.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Fitzmas. Could today actually be Fitzmas eve?

DUI

If you're a regular reader here, you have probably heard the Frankie Coleman, the wife of gubernatorial candidate Michael Coleman, got a DUI last night. She hit a parked truck and then failed both a field sobriety test and a breathalyzer test. I don't want to trivialize drinking and driving, but this isn't a big deal. Public figures get them all the time, and as the wife of the current mayor she is a public figure.

Hell, a US congressman got one a couple of weeks ago, and the top two office holders in this country have three between them. That being said, I'm sure she will be meted out the appropriate punishment and move on with her life. To her credit, she didn't pull any "do you know who I am" crap. She fully cooperated with police.

Overall, this will end up being a non-story with voters when they go to the polls.

Let Me Eat Cake

Yesterday, Marty Bahamonde testified before the Senate committee investigating FEMA's failures in the Katrina catastrophe. It was not pretty. Bahamonde was FEMA's man on the ground in New Orleans. His description of Mike Brown's performance pretty much guarantees that Brown will be hauled back before the Senate for crucifixion. Take a look at this E-mail exchange.

From Bahamonde to Brown

Sir, I know that you know the situation is past critical . Here some things you might not know. Hotels are kicking people out, thousands gathering in t h e streets with no food or water. Hundreds still being rescued from homes. The dying patients at the DMAT tent being medevac. Estimates are many will die within hours. Evacuation in process. Plans developing for dome evacuation but hotel situation adding to problem. We are out of food and running out of water at the dome, plans in works to address the critical need. FEMA staff is OK and holding own. DMAT staff working in deplorable conditions. The sooner we can get the medical patients out, the sooner we can get them out.
Phone connectivity impossible
More later

The response from Brown's office

Please schedule Joe Scarborough this evening for 9pmCST period. Spoke with his producer
and told him to call you. Mr. Brown wants to do this one.

Also, it is very important that time is allowed for Mr. Brown to eat dinner. Given that Baton Rouge is back to normal, restaurants are getting busy. He needs much more that 20 or 30 minutes. We now have traffic to encounter to get to and from a location of his choice, followed by wait service from the restaurant staff, eating, etc.
Thank you.

That E-mail prompted two responses. First from Cindy Taylor

Let me preface by saying I know he needs downtime, but ummm... how much time do each of you need for dinner, including travel time to the restaurants of your choice?

Where the fuck was a guy at the Superdome going to find a restaurant of his choice?

The second response to Brown's E-mail is what pornographers call the money shot. From Marty Bahamonde to Brown's office.

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!! NO won't go any further, too easy of a target. Just tell her that I just ate an MRE and crapped in the hallway of the Superdome along with 30,000 other close friends so I understand her concern about busy restaurants. Maybe tonight I will have time to move the pebbles on the parking garage floor so they don't stab me i n the back while I try to sleep, but instead I will hope her wait at Ruth Christ is short. But I know she is stressed so I won't make a big deal about it and you shouldn't either.

So, in the middle of the largest natural disaster in the history of the United States the man in charge of relief took the time to go to dinner at a sit down restaurant. I want to know where Brown ate, what he ate, and how long was he at the restaurant. Has Brown ever heard of takeout?

I have to admit, Bahamonde was a hell of a lot more cordial than I would have been in his last E-mail.

Note: I cleaned up the spelling errors in the E-mails.

Scrub-A-Dub-Dub

For your daily dose of Bob Ney bashing read this editorial in today's Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Red Rover, Red Rover, Bend Grover Over

The Carpetbagger Report gives us another example of the coming conservative crack-up. The fundies are furious at Grover Norquist for giving a speech at the "Grand Ol' Party," a fundraiser for the Dallas chapter of the Log Cabin republicans.

Logic would tell you that the Log Cabin republicans would be treated like gods in the party. After all, they are victims of bigotry and being an actual victim in the party that plays the role of victim at every turn should elevate you to hero status. Obviously this is not true.
From the Carpetbagger Report:

The Texas Eagle Forum called Norquist's presence at the gay Republican group's fundraiser "traitorous," adding, "If he was a serious economic conservative, Grover Norquist would not have accepted the invitation or the honorarium for speaking at a fund-raiser for a group bent on the destruction of traditional families."

The American Family Association of Michigan more or less accused Norquist of political treason, saying that it would urge its supporters "to withhold their future support until Grover 'takes the pledge' to no longer give aid and comfort to homosexual activist groups intent on undermining traditional marriage and the family."

Look, Grover Norquist would speak at an Osama bin Laden pep rally as long as the check cleared. What did the fundies expect? Let me let any fundies that are reading this in on Washington's dirty little secret. You guys are considered to be backwoods snake-handling goat fuckers by the pro-business part of the republican party. As with the recent Supreme Court nominations, you get the table scraps the dog wouldn't eat.

No Tickey For Ricky

Rick Santorum has been thrown over the boat by the fund raising wing of the republican party. He's behind in the polls, and lets face it, he's on his way out the door. From Radar:

“This is how the Republicans operate,” sighs a veteran GOP campaign manager close to Santorum. “Even if you agree with their agenda, they’ll abandon you if you’re behind in the polls and move on to the next-most important race.”

Increasingly dubious about Santorum’s chances, Capitol Hill sources report GOP powerbrokers have refocused their attentions—and dollars—on Doug Forrester, a little-known party hack who’s currently embroiled in a dead heat race with multi-millionaire Democrat Jon Corzine for New Jersey’s governorship.

“The party is pouring millions of dollars in PAC money into Forrester’s coffers, but most of that money was previously earmarked for Rick,” reports a well-placed Republican senate staffer. “It’s disgusting. Rick used to be Bush’s biggest booster on issues like stem-cell research, Social Security, and the Iraq war. Now the White House won’t even take his phone calls.” [emphasis mine]

The Senate will be a much better place without Santorum in it. Hell, anyplace is a better place without little Ricky around. The guy is bat-shit crazy. He once took a dead fetus home for his children to meet before they buried it.

It's also good to see that the republicans are wasting their money on Doug Forrester. I don't care what the polls say now, Corzine will win the New Jersey governorship by eight to ten points. New Jersey polls always seem to tighten in October before succumbing to sweet blueness.

Found via Atrios

Trashing The Times

I always find it humorous when one major newspaper trashes another one as Tina Brown does to the New York Times in today's Washington Post. After all, isn't that my job? Stay off my turf, bitch.

Anyway, the one thing that strikes me in her column are these two sentences:

All the angst goes back to Jayson Blair. The fabrication debacle two years ago prompted the Times to sign on to the new censorious self-examining culture, in which journalistic institutions strive to be as transparent as religious and governmental ones (yeah, right).

My God, could that have only been two years ago? As news cycles turn over at an ever increasing pace, we seem much, much further from that story than two years. If you would have asked me prior to reading Brown's piece today, I would have guessed the Blair fiasco happened seven or eight years ago.

Ha Ha

Think Progress brings us this funny screenshot from the Today Show as Katie Couric interviews Bill O'Reilly.

Indictments

Larry Johnson reports the Patrick Fitzgerald is considering as many as 22 indictments in the Plame investigation. He further reports that the known targets are Stephen Hadley, Karl Rove, Lewis Libby, Dick Cheney, and Mary Matalin.

I find it very funny that others in the blogosphere are now calling the day indictments come down Fitzmas.

Fascinating

This morning on CNN I caught the initial phase of Saddam Hussein's trial. The trial was repeatedly described by CNN's on air personalities as fascinating. I'd have to say from my viewing it was about as fascinating as watching a foreign language film that intertwines the two stories of watching paint drying and grass growing. Yawn.

Dick Cheney

I have been fairly skeptical about the reports claiming Dick Cheney is a target of the Fitzgerald probe, but this article from the New York Daily News gives me hope. From NYDN:

Cheney's name has come up amid indications Fitzgerald may be edging closer to a blockbuster conspiracy charge - with help from a secret snitch.

"They have got a senior cooperating witness - someone who is giving them all of that," a source who has been questioned in the leak probe told the Daily News yesterday.

If Fitzgerald does indeed have a "senior cooperating witness," the whole house of cards is coming down. What is it with guys named Dick and deep throats?

UPDATE: Raw Story is now reporting that the "senior cooperating witness" is John Hanna, and that Hanna flipped in recent weeks when threatened with immediate indictment.

Wilma

Here is your daily Wilma update. The storm is expected to curve north coming around the back end of a high pressure, then shoot north until it gets sheared off by the jet stream which is running through the gulf right now. It will accelerate rapidly and shoot across southern Florida.

Candidates

Jesus, I know the winds of change are blowing, but I haven't seen any gale warnings yet. The Dispatch reports that Eric Fingerhut is pondering a 2006 run for governor in Ohio. Joe Hallet puts it best in the title of this Capital Notes clip: "Also-ran Fingerhut ponders also running for governor." Do yourself a favor Eric, don't embarrass yourself.

In other central Ohio political news, Mary Jo Kilroy will announce that she will challenge Deborah Pryce for Ohio's 15th Congressional District. That is certainly the biggest name Pryce has ever had to face since her initial election to Congress. Kilroy can run safe so this is a very good development for the Democratic party.

Redflex

The Columbus City Council voted 6-1 yesterday to hire Redflex Traffic Systems to install cameras at 17 intersections to catch motorists that run red lights. Redflex claims the city could net as much as $4.5 million a year in extra revenue.

Let's take a look at that number. At $95 a ticket, that comes out to 47,368 tickets paid to the city of Columbus. That puts RedFlex into the greater than 2,000 tickets per month pay threshold meaning their cut is fifty percent. That means for Columbus to reap $4.5 million, the system will have to write 94,736 tickets at just 17 intersections. That sounds like a hell of a lot of tickets in intersections that will be clearly marked as having cameras. This seems to be an unsustainable number.

One thing not mentioned in this article is whether or not these citations will be sent to the BMV causing points to be added to your license when you may or may not have been driving your car. The article does say you can challenge the citation.

Bob Ney

The Washington Post has a pretty good rundown on the investigation of the Bob Ney - Jack Abramoff relationship and three of the scandals Ney is now embroiled in due to that relationship. All three are pretty much straight pay for play scenarios. They are the SunCruz gambling boat scandal, the Foxcom cell tower scandal, and the Tigua Indian casino scandal. Check the timeline here.

The story does not mention Ney's meeting with three time felon Nigel Winfield the same day he "won" $34,000 at a private London casino, but someone at Congressional Quarterly hit this site looking for information on Winfield the other day so maybe something is moving on that emerging Ney scandal.

Crap

If Hollywood wants to stop slumping tickets sales, perhaps they should stop green lighting crap like this. From MSNBC.com:

Sylvester Stallone is signing on to reprise his role as boxer Rocky Balboa in the sixth installment of the long-running film series, which he wrote and will direct.

The film, titled “Rocky Balboa,” will be co-produced and co-financed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Columbia Pictures and Revolution Studios and will be distributed by Columbia Pictures.

There hasn't been a Rocky movie for fifteen years. No way this does more than $25 million.

Wilma

It looks like another hurricane is going to get loose in the Gulf of Mexico next weekend. The water temperatures are still in the mid-eighties so if Wilma does make it into the gulf expect it to strengthen to at least a category three hurricane before weakening prior to making landfall. Wilma is the last English named strom of the year. (X,Y,and Z aren't used) If another tropical storm forms we will go to the Greek alphabet with the first storm being Alpha.

The New York Times

As I flipped through the 5 AM cable news networks this morning I was a bit puzzled. There was a lot of chatter about Judith Miller's column in yesterday's Times. Huh? I read yesterday's Times (Actual ink and paper version, I know, that's so nineties) and there certainly wasn't any Judith Miller column in the paper I read.

The Media Mob over at the New York Observer has the answer. Miller was too late in turning in her first person account to the paper to make the noon Saturday deadline for the Bulldog Edition which is the nationally distributed edition.

The Sunday Times did have this humorous Op-Ed contributed by Geoff Porter about frivolous fatwas. I'm pretty sure someone got pranked here but I'm not sure who. I seriously doubt this fatwa about the rules of soccer was ever issued. It's pretty clear this is a joke. Here is some of the funnier rules from the NYT:

1. Play soccer without four lines because this is a fabrication of the heretics' international rules that stipulate using them and delineating them before playing.

2. International terminology that heretics and polytheists use, like "foul," "penalty," "corner," "goal," "out" and others, should be abandoned and not said. Whoever says them should be punished, reprimanded and ejected from the game. He should be publicly told, "You have imitated the heretics and polytheists and this is forbidden."

4. Do not follow the heretics, the Jews, the Christians and especially evil America regarding the number of players. Do not play with 11 people. Instead, add to this number or decrease it.

6. Do not play in two halves. Rather play in one half or three halves in order to completely differentiate yourselves from the heretics, the polytheists, the corrupted and the disobedient.

9. If neither of you beats the other, or "wins" as it is called, and neither puts the leather between the posts, do not add extra time or penalties until someone wins. No, instead leave the field, because winning with overtime and penalty kicks is the pinnacle of imitating heretics and international rules.

13. You should spit in the face of whoever puts the ball between the posts or uprights and then runs in order to get his friends to follow him and hug him like players in America or France do, and you should punish and reprimand him, for what is the relationship between celebrating, hugging and kissing and the sports that you are practicing?

The others are funny as well. I don't understand why the NYT ran this in the Op-Ed section.

Personal News and Notes

Because you undoubtedly have an insatiable thirst for knowledge about my personal life, I'll tell about a couple of happenings from over the weekend.

First, a gripe. Hey City of Columbus, does virtually every marathon / fun run / benefit walk have to encircle the block on which I live? Yesterday, it was the Columbus Marathon. God knows the Short North Hurray For Everything Club was out in full force cheering on the contestants loudly as I was trying to sleep off a late night. They were also blaring band marches over a stereo.

One other interesting thing happened over the weekend. I met another blogger in actual face space. It was simply by chance, we happened to be at the same bar at the same time. You may wonder where in the great big world the man that runs The Ohio Progressive Blog Network lives. It's about ten doors down the hallway from me. Funny.

Strickland Hires Blogger

Ted Strickland has hired prominent blogger Jesse Taylor of Pandagon fame as the campaign's Director of Online Communications effective today.

Phlip's Rants will be on vacation until Monday, October 17. I realize I don't post that much on the weekend anyway, so you're not missing much. Go read a book, or enjoy this test pattern.

Jerry Kilgore

Jerry Kilgore is currently running a series of ads in the Virginia gubernatorial race attacking Tim Kaine's stance on the death penalty. They feature Stanley Rosenbluth, whose son and daughter-in-law Richard and Rebecca Rosenbluth, were murdered by Mark Sheppard, and Kelly Timbrook, whose husband Ricky was murdered by Edward Bell. Both ads show the bereaved sitting against a black backdrop talking about their lost loved ones saying they don't trust Tim Keane on the death penalty before the end of the ad where Kilgore sidles into the screen with a rather creepy looking shot that only shows one half of his face lit.

I think Kilgore in this situation is playing on white southern fear of black men. Sheppard and Bell were both black, although they're not shown in the ads. However, I would guess that these were high profile enough cases though that people remember them. Why else would you use them?

What the ads basically say are, "Hey whitey, Jerry Kilgore will protect you from darkie, even if you're a junkie," which the Rosenbluth's were.

Exodus

In the first polling of families displaced by hurricane Katrina, 39% of respondents report that they will not return to New Orleans. That represents a total of 50,000 households moving from New Orleans to other parts of the country.

This will in effect be the largest migration of African-Americans since the Civil War. I'll examine this in more depth at a later date.

Staged Teleconference

It is now apparent that George Bush's teleconference with troops in Tikrit was highly scripted. I finally saw it last light. If that was scripted, I would hate to see how poorly it would of went without scripting.

These thing are difficult to pull off, even with scripting, but yesterday's was pathetic. Bush really didn't seem to get the fact that there is a delay when beaming TV half way around the world.

There were also technical difficulties. If you didn't see it, you can catch the audio here. It's good for a laugh.

Sour Grapes

Much has been made today in the blogosphere about Richard Cohen's Op-Ed in today's Washington Post. Cohen thinks the Plame investigation should end and Patrick Fitzgerald should go back to Chicago.

I honestly think this is just an example of sour grapes. There are plenty of journalists out there getting the story on the Plame investigation and Cohen isn't one of them. Consider this snippet:

I have no idea what Fitzgerald will do. My own diligent efforts to find out anything have come to naught. Fitzgerald's non-speaking spokesman would not even tell me if his boss is authorized to issue a report, [emphasis Cohen's]

What's the matter Richard? Did you let your kewl kidz membership expire? I think what peeves Cohen the most is being left out of the biggest story in town.

2%

In a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll a full 2% of African-Americans give George Bush a positive job approval rating. Jesus, that's Hitler bad. I wonder how many times they had to call Alan Keyes' house to get an approval rating that high.

Coming Apart

In the mid-nineties the conservatives thought they had found the perfect man. A charismatic, highly electable dullard that they could shape into their vision of America. A man truly made of clay that they could mold into whatever shape they needed.

The elections of 2000 and 2004 transformed their fantasy into reality. They now had complete control of the government and their agendas would now be fulfilled. The only problem is that the competing factions within the conservative movement have different, and often competing agendas.

Here lies their problem. Clay, and more importantly reality, lacks the elasticity to promote fully each of the member partner's agenda. Luckily for us on the left side of the aisle each member partner is also a card carrying member of the take my ball and go home club. The slightest snub is considered an open handed slap in the face to these people. The coalition is surprising frail when in power.

Each member partner is also prone to believe that their agenda is infallible if properly implemented. Since this is impossible to do, the clay man gets ripped apart at the seems, and the players point at the seven torn pieces of clay laying on the floor and place the blame on that drawn and seventh-ed clay man. That is where we are at today. What they don't understand is that even if the clay is gray, it's not the proper matter needed to run a country.

It's call the conservative crackup. Howard Fineman has a pretty good summary of the players in this crackup and their grievances in this MSNBC article. I'm especially amused at the ever incorrect neocons attempt at playing the blame game. From MSNBC.com:

President George W. Bush may have no military exit strategy for Iraq, but the “neocons” who convinced him to go to war there have developed one of their own — a political one: Blame the Administration.

Their neo-Wilsonian theory is correct, they insist, but the execution was botched by a Bush team that has turned out to be incompetent, crony-filled, corrupt, unimaginative and weak over a wide range of issues.

Simply delicious.

Strange

I know people in Idaho are a bit different, but this search is fairly strange. Someone at the Clearwater Valley Hospital in Orofino found this site with the search words "robert mclaughlin cnn naked."

First of all, Eww. Secondly, we don't peddle that kind of smut here. We peddle a completely different kind of smut.

Calm Before The Storm

I've been posting less frequently lately as I am preparing for the shitstorm that is about to be unleashed in the Plame investigation. Indictments should be out by this time next week, and I'm looking for at least indictments against Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, the investigation has supposedly widened to include the White House Iraq Group.

Because Everyday Should Start Off With A Laugh

Well, I know what my nephew is getting for Christmas this year. This Amazon.com review sums up the fact that Playmobil has a pretty good sense of humor:

Interesting to note that customers who view this item ultimately buy the following Playmobil items:

11% - getaway car
7% - tanker truck
2% - bank counter

Children aren't only the future...they're the future of imaginative terrorist plots!

Seriously, though, this toy provides a great way to educate kids about air travel before a big trip. Playmobil's toys hold up well and keep the little ones entertained, so no gripes. One little oddity to point out is that the xray monitor displaying the bag contents shows what appears to be a fire extinguisher, a duck and several brown poo-shaped objects. The kids don't seem to notice, so, hey, whatever floats your boat when you're on the road, right?

Seriously, doesn't your child need to jackboot up his or her Playmobil town?

Found via Atrios

Hardee Har Har-riet

As if the Harriet Miers nomination wasn't a joke already, The New York Times dug up some e-mails from Miers to Bush in the nineties. Here are some excepts:

"You are the best governor ever - deserving of great respect," Harriet E. Miers wrote to George W. Bush days after his 51st birthday in July 1997. She also found him "cool," said he and his wife, Laura, were "the greatest!" and told him: "Keep up the great work. Texas is blessed."

(snip)

The notes to Mr. Bush date from at least March 1995, around the time he named her to the lottery commission, the files show. On March 25, on the letterhead of her Dallas law firm, Locke Purnell Rain Harrell, Ms. Miers wrote to thank him "for taking the time to visit in the office and on the plane back - cool!"

(snip)

In October 1997, Ms. Miers sent Mr. Bush a flowery greeting card in thanks for a letter that he had written on her behalf. In it, she said of his daughters: "Hopefully Jenna and Barbara recognize that their parents are 'cool' - as do the rest of us."

Sounds like a thirteen year old girl with a star crush. It looks like whoever is witing the Harriet Miers blog has truly captured her writing style. This nomination doesn't deserve mockery, it demands it. This woman is clearly a dope, and the fact that James Dobson is assured about her shows that he puts his Christofascist agenda before that of our country.

Oh well, we will find out soon enough if Miers being best friends 4 ever with Bush will be enough to seat her on the bench. For Miers and Bush that would be 2 good 2 be true.

David Sirota Is Wrong

In a recent piece in the American Prospect David Sirota writes that Paul Hackett should back out of the Ohio Senate race and either keep his powder dry or run again against Jean Schmidt. I respect David Sirota a lot, but he is wrong about both of these assertions.

A lot of A-list Democratic politicians in Ohio have spent the better part of a decade keeping their powder dry and what has that gotten us? Twelve years of oligarchic republican rule. Our congressmen and women spent most of those years protecting their little fiefdoms, Sherrod Brown included. By sitting in the most Democratic districts and never moving up to challenge in statewide elections, they have ruined our ability to build a bench of quality candidates. I been yelling the past few cycles to either step up or step aside. Hackett has stepped up and has momentum. You don't shut that down, you strike when the iron is hot.

As for Sirota's dream ticket of Brown for Senate and Hackett for Congress, forget about it. It was an extraordinary effort for Hackett to get close to Schmidt in a special election. I had said prior to the election that if turnout went over 23% Hackett would lose. It would be a suicide mission for Hackett to run against even a lousy candidate like Schmidt in that district in an on year general election, and would thus knock the bloom off of the rose.

Hackett's only other real options are to move to another statewide race like AG, Secretary of State, or Auditor. These are bureaucratic jobs though and I don't see Hackett as a bureaucratic kind of guy even though he would be a fifty-fifty shot to take any of those three.

Hackett does need to run statewide in this cycle if he chooses to run in the future, and he may not choose to do so, to build name ID. I think that even if he were to lose to Brown in a Senate primary, it would be a better thing for his career than the other options.

I don't know if Hackett can beat Brown, and it would be a shame to have Brown out of politics given the money he raises for other Democratic candidates, but I think a Senate primary is the best thing for Hackett and the Ohio Democratic party.

Bankruptcies

This map from The New York Times Week In Review shows that only eight counties in Ohio have shown less than a 35% increase in bankruptcies since George Bush took office in 2001. Those eight counties are Lawrence, Gallia, Vinton, Adams, Hamilton, Seneca, Wayne, and Carroll.

A new bankruptcy law takes place October 17th. It will make it harder for consumers to retain asset protection when filing bankruptcy. Here in Ohio this will be especially hard felt as the homestead exception here is only $5,000. That means that if you have to declare bankruptcy under the new law there is a better chance you're going to lose your house and be left with only $5,000 to your name.

This will be the straw that finally breaks the housing markets back in Ohio which already leads the nation in foreclosures.

For the record, the Ohio Congressmen that voted for the new bankruptcy bill are John Boehner, Steve Chabot, David Hobson, Steve LaTourette, Bob Ney, Michael Oxley, Deborah Price, Ralph Rugala, Rob Portman, Ted Strickland, Pat Tiberi, and Michael Turner. All republicans save Strickland. Both republican Senators also voted for this bill.

That looks like a hole to exploit for the Coleman campaign. Combine it with a pledge to try to raise the homestead exemption could be a powerful one two primary punch.

The Christian Coalition

Remember these guys? Their creditors do. The Christian Coalition has fallen on hard times. From the Virginian Pilot:

The group’s annual revenue has shrunk to one- twentieth of what it was a decade ago – from a peak of $26 million in 1996 to $1.3 million in 2004 – and it has left a trail of unpaid bills from Texas to Virginia. Among the creditors who have sued the coalition for nonpayment are landlords, direct-mail companies, lawyers and at least one former employee seeking back pay.

It has even come to this: The company that moved the group out of its Washington headquarters in 2002 went to small-claims court Friday in Henrico County trying to collect $1,890 that remains unpaid on its three-year-old bill.

It is the latest in at least a dozen judicial collection actions brought against the coalition since 2001. The amounts sought by creditors total hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Couldn't happen to a bigger bunch of assholes. I think I'm going to explode from the schadenfreude if the current winds of change keep blowing in this country.

Gubernatorial Race

First, as commenter MB pointed out, Brian Flannery is already the third man in the Ohio gubernatorial race. I had heard about him running before, but actually thought it was a joke. The rumor I was referring to was about a fourth person (hint) entering the race. I haven't been able to nail that down yet.

Certainly the anemic performances by both Strickland and Coleman in yesterday's dispatch poll will further fuel rumors and give other a reason to rethink running for governor. 55% remain undecided in a primary that is only seven months away. Although this poll didn't show it, name ID is killing both candidates right now.

By the way, tomorrow is the final day to register to vote in the November 8th general election. So, if you need to register or update your registration, due it today or tomorrow and remember to vote yes on state issues 2 through 5 on election day.

Rumors

I heard a very interesting rumor last night that a third Democrat is poised to enter the 2006 Ohio gubanatorial race. Hope to verify this weekend.

Spam

I got tired of deleting the spam so I turned on the word verfication for comments. As always comments are welcome.

One, Two, Hullabaloo

I watched some of president Bush's speech yesterday with a bit of puzzlement. With the fool's folly in Iraq somewhat on the back-burner of the media stove these days, why trumpet your forgotten failures to the American media. I think I've found the answer.

Two days ago the government found a specific terrorist treat to our nation's subways. So, immediately the threat level was raised, right? Nope. First we needed a one two PR punch. Yesterday, president Bush gives a speech about how crucial Iraq is to the war on terror. Then, late last night the Pentagon claims it has intercepted a letter from Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's right hand man, to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi bitching about al-Zarqawi's tactics in Iraq, lamenting the fact that they are losing in Afghanistan, and are you ready for this, asking al-Zarqawi if he can spare some cash. Then today, terror threat revealed.

I have to doubt the authenticity of the terrorist letter. It has the air of propaganda to it. Even if it is, al-Zarqawi isn't going to be sending any money. Al-Qaeda isn't a kick-up organization like the mob where when you make a big score you pay fealty to the bosses. It's very kick down with payments meted out to the underlings on an as needed basis.

Due to the fact that the federal government is running around in the directions you would expect of the headless chicken George Bush has turned it into I find the threat to be somewhat credible. I'm not saying that an attack is imminent, but I do have an uneasy feeling.

So, what will happen? There are four possibilities.

A. The threat is credible and will be carried out.
B. The threat is credible and will be stopped.
C. The threat is not credible, but we will round up some guys with Arab sounding names and proclaim a victory in the War on Terror. Suspects will be sent to Gitmo never to be heard from again.
D. Nothing.

B and D are the good outcome with A and C both coming with their own problems.

This is what happens when one set of religious ideologues rebel against another set of religious ideologues who are imposing policy in the first mentioned set of religious ideologues' land.

God, what is it good for?

Recommended Reading

Go read this blog, it's pretty funny.

Coleman Brings In The A Team

Michael Coleman has brought in an A list political consulting team. I'll now bore you with their credentials.

Craig T. Smith, vice president of Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, will serve as campaign general consultant. Smith has served in many capacities during his 25-year political career including as campaign manager for Gore 2000, Deputy White House Political Director for President Clinton, field director for Clinton/Gore and most recently as Campaign Director for Lieberman for President. Smith received his undergraduate and law degree from the University of Arkansas.

Celinda Lake, will serve as the campaign pollster. Lake, president of Lake, Snell, Perry & Mermin Associates, was named by Working Women magazine as "arguable the most influential woman in her field." Lake has assisted numerous candidates including U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski, Mary Landrieu and Debbie Stabenow. She has consulted Governors Janet Napolitano of Arizonan and Bob Wise of West Virginia and has provided cutting edge research to the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Governor's Association and America Coming Together as well as many others. She received her undergraduate degree from Smith College and a master's degree in political science and survey research from the University of Michigan.

Marius Penczner, will serve as media consultant. Campaigns & Elections magazine named Penczner as one of its Movers and Shakers and he produced campaign adverting for John Edwards primary election campaign. Penczer has been producing campaign advertising since 1981 and his clients included Gore 2000 campaign and Clinton/Gore 1996. His private firm clients include The Discovery Channel, Microsoft and Pizza Hut.

Dannette (Danni) Palmore, will serve as political consultant. Palmore has 25 years experience in local, state and national politics and is the former legislative and community liaison to Coleman when he was President of Columbus City Council. Palmore has served as National Deputy Director of Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign, assisted John Glenn's U.S. Senate campaign and Lee Fisher's gubernatorial campaign.

That's a pretty impressive crew who will bring in coast to coast money. These are the people you get when you're running in the most important race in the country, and the Ohio gubanatorial race certainly is that

Number One

Missed this yesterday. The Columbus Public Library has been named the number one large city public library in the nation by American Libraries magazine. I bet that's a page turner. Anyway, stop reading this shit and go read a book.

Sherrod's In

Josh Marshall is reporting that Sherrod Brown is back in the race for Mike Dewine's Senate seat. For what it's worth, I hope Hackett mops the floor up with him. Probably doesn't matter, he'll change his mind three or four more times anyway.

Stripes

At least John Roberts decided not to keep those ridiculous stripes on the Chief Justices robe that were put on by William Rehnquist in 1995.

The Conservatives Real Problem With Harriet Miers

The Miers nomination presents a real problem for conservatives. It's not abortion like most believe. It's about the storyline. The Miers nomination destroys the narrative of the American way of life as described by conservative ideology. The narrative goes something along these lines. Anyone in America can achieve anything they want with just a little hard work no matter what their capabilities are regardless of race, gender, etc.

This is the reason many wanted Judge Janis R Brown nominated. Her story of growing up as an African American in segregated Alabama as the daughter of sharecroppers then working her way through law school and into the judiciary. It works. It's the American dream. The Roberts nomination added to this narrative as well. He was a very qualified judge and the conservatives could boast Roberts was the best man for the job and in America the job always goes to the most qualified. It is this narrative that the republicans use to cut social subsidies and generally try to tear down the New Deal.

George Bush severs the head off of this narrative with the Miers nomination and proudly holds it aloft for all to see. Bush passed over several qualified candidates to pick a crony mostly because it was the easy thing to do. All of the "hard work" talk we hear from Bush was simply brushed aside to promote a friend over judges that have actually done hard work to get where they are in life. The Miers nomination exposes the fact that it is a "who you know, who you blow" world.

Because All Your Vaginas Are Belong To Us

Disclaimer: I'm not making this up and this is not satire.

The Indiana legislature, long fed up with the South's dominance in the field of stupid hillbilly fuckwitism, has proposed legislation regarding reproductive rights. If passed, the new law will make it criminal for an unmarried woman to become pregnant "by means other than sexual intercourse." The law further states that married couples who want to have a child by means of invitrofetilization or other methods must first obtain from a court a "gestational certificate."

I don't think I have ever seen a greater intrusion into the rights of private citizens and particularly women's rights than this proposed law. Any law that mandates that for single women, and for that matter, lesbian couples to get pregnant they have to be ham slammed by a cock is not only morally reprehensible, but is also clearly unconstitutional. If enacted, this law will obviously be struck down by the courts, but it will take time. I wonder if the Indiana legislature would be kind enough to slip in a provision calling for mandatory oral for men from bordering states.

Curveball

I've recently been sent the letter the RNC sent out after the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. Here is the key paragraph:

President Bush selected Ms. Miers after embarking on a thorough and deliberate thought process. This confirmation however promises to be much more contentious than the confirmation of Judge John Roberts. Before Ms. Miers was even announced many Democrat groups said they would oppose her. They have no interest in giving Ms. Miers a fair hearing or vote. They are promising to throw every punch, make every accusation and pressure every Senator to oppose this nominee no matter what her qualifications may be. We have to be prepared to counter their actions and that is why Harriet Miers needs your help.

Pretty generic. In fact, the whole letter is pretty generic. That leads me to believe that the letter was written in advance without knowledge of who the nominee would be. The RNC was expecting someone else. The right wing of the republican party are extremely pissed about this nomination because they wanted a fight. Bush didn't give them that. He threw them a curveball. Was the decision to nominate Miers a so tightly kept secret that not even the RNC was let in on it? It looks that way.

The only other possibility is that this letter was sent out to feed the less in touch right wingers red meat that doesn't actually exist. I would guess your average recipient of this e-mail doesn't know justice A from justice B. You tell them the Democrats are out to get her and they believe it whether it materializes or not. I doubt this is the case though due to the amount of backround chatter coming out of Senate and even White House staffers. If the insiders are pissed, then Bush really stepped out of the circle to make this pick.

The far right is even talking filibuster, but that isn't going to happen. They are about to get a first hand taste of the main tenet of the Bush administration. It's not conservatism, it's not theocracism, it's fuckuism.

Paul Hackett For Senate!

Paul Hackett's spokesman David Woodruff confirmed to the Columbus Dispatch last night that Hackett will challenge Mike Dewine for his US Senate seat. Hackett created a lot of buzz with his narrow loss to Jean Schmidt in one of the reddest districts in the state of Ohio. His energetic campaign team fully embraced the netroots, who in turn, full invested time and money in Hackett. He had over 800 volunteers on the ground for the special election in August.

While Hackett sits quite a few seats closer to the aisle than I do, I think he is an excellent candidate to run statewide in Ohio. Recent poll results also show that as well, with one recent Zogby poll giving Hackett an eight point lead over Dewine 44-36. I think Dewine is toast.

Hackett's announcement is obviously timed due to the recent Sherrod Brown rumors.

Note to Sherrod Brown: Today is the day you can officially take your toe out of the water and slink back to Washington. Don't muddy this race up.

Harriet Miers

I heard about this yesterday, but the Today show is terrible about transcripts so I couldn't confirm this until now. David Gregory said yesterday while speaking with Tim Russert that Bush admired Miers' athleticism. That seems like excellent rationale for desk work.

There is one thing we do know about Miers. There is no way in hell that she could have thought she could ride that one trick pony all the way to the Supreme Court when she first went to work for Bush a dozen years ago.

Tom Delay: Version 3.0

A third indictment has been issued against Tom Delay. It seems to match the first one so I'm not sure what the deal is on that. The penalty for the money laundering charge is five to life so he's looking at some real time. This grand jury issued both indictments in one day so the evidence must be pretty strong.

Has Delay surrendered his passport yet?

Tom Delay: Version 2.0

Another Texas grand jury has just indicted Tom Delay on money laundering charges. This grand jury began its term today.

Delay responded with the typical partisanship this, partisanship that. What is it with republicans resorting to partisanship when they fuck up? Yea, that's it. Ronnie Earle: Partisan Prosecutor. Paul Krugman: Partisan Columnist. Gus Boulis: Partisan Bullet Catcher.

You may have seen that Delay's attorney filed a motion to dismiss on the conspiracy charge based on a technicality. University of Texas law professor George Dix doesn't think it will fly. From the Austin Statesman:

George Dix, a professor at the University of Texas law school who is an expert in criminal law and procedure, said he doesn't believe changes made to the Texas election code by the 2003 legislature have any effect on the conspiracy charge.

The penal code's conspiracy charge allows for the charge if the defendants allegedly conspired to commit any felony, including an election code felony.

Just because the election code was "silent" on the penal code provision until 2003, it doesn't mean it wasn't a valid charge before 2003, Dix said.

"To me it just says, 'We really mean what we said implicitly before,' " Dix said.

Delay is trying to use this technicality to prove a witch hunt is on. Don't buy it. The judge that has to rule on this is on vacation and every other state judge refused to hear the case. They will wait on the assigned judge to come back. That tells us that the other judges don't want to piss off a powerful man.

Sherrod Brown

Guess who is sticking their toe back in the water for the US Senate race here in Ohio. Yep, It's Sherrod Brown. From the new WAPO blog:

And, I am hearing that Ohio Rep. Sherrod Brown, who was Senate Democrats' first choice to challenge Mike DeWine, is reconsidering the race after saying no a few months ago.

I'll keep this short and sweet. Sherrod, you'd better not muck this race up again without getting your fucking hair wet this time.

Thinking Outside The Box

I realize that sometimes you have to consider options that seem strange at first, but ultimately push innovation to the next level. That being said, this ABC News story is quite possibly the dumbest idea that I have ever seen formulated. Go read it, I'm not even going to begin to go into the plethora of reasons it won't work.

Harriet Miers

President Bush has nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. Not really sure what to think here. What I've heard about Miers is that she is probably about as close to my views as I can expect from a republican president. I don't really follow judicial nominees that closely.

What I do know is that at first glance this appears to be a bad move politically. Bush's base is currently freaking out on the conservative websites and that's all he really has left for support, plus the fact that she has never been a judge before will cause the general public to cry cronyism. They are probably right about the cronyism part, but supposedly Miers was on a list of suitable candidates given to the president by Senate Dems.

If her views are as I have heard this could be very strange confirmation hearings.

Reign Of Terror

Well, our reign of terror in the Urban Croquet tournament has come to an end. We were defeated in the final by Here For Beer. Kudos to them.

While I was away I missed this gem from George Stephanopoulis:

Definitely a political problem but I wonder, George Will, do you think it’s a manageable one for the White House especially if we don’t know whether Fitzgerald is going to write a report or have indictments but if he is able to show as a source close to this told me this week, that President Bush and Vice President Cheney were actually involved in some of these discussions.

Wow! Bush? Cheney? Haven't heard that before, always suspected it, but figured they would be better insulated.

Urban Croquet

Today is the day my team defends its title in the Urban Croquet Tournament. The tournament is a fundrasier for the Doo Dah Parade. In typical Doo Dah fashion I only found out the time and location of the tournament a couple of hours ago.

If we win it will, it will be the third consecutive win for our team, Croq Au Vin, although my roomate has barred the hideous trophy from ever re-entering our apartment. I can't say I blame her, it is really ugly.

The event is at noon in Goodale Park, so if you're in the neighborhood, stop by. There is a link on the Doo Dah site so that you can see pictures of us winning last year, but of course, in typical Doo Dah Fashion the link doesn't work.

Coding

The Washington Post has an odd article today about coding. Russia is trying to handle its massive alcohol problem with coding. Russia has 50,000 deaths a year from alcohol poisoning alone. Doctors give alcoholics placebos or fool them somehow into believing that if they take even a single drink, they will die is how the process of coding works. I find it completely bizarre that in 2005 this still works. But, then again, after five years of George Bush I find it hard to believe some people still consider themselves republicans.

Check out the strange techniques that they use on these people:

Nemtsov said he used to tell his patients that he could manipulate nerve points in their mouths that would lead them to become very ill if they drank. He said he gave them a liquid local anesthetic to swill and then placed electrodes with a very mild current in their mouths to create the belief that he was permanently removing their ability to consume alcohol safely. "I was an actor much more than a doctor," Nemtsov said. "I had a wonderful effect on them. It's a form of psychotherapy, quick, indirect psychotherapy."

Other doctors place astronaut-style helmets on their patients and tell them they are manipulating their brains. And some say they are administering potentially fatal drugs, which are in fact placebos, to convince patients that their bodies contain a substance that will be fatal if mixed with alcohol.

"It's a technological secret we're not supposed to disclose," said Alexei Magalif, a Moscow psychiatrist, when asked what drugs are administered to patients. "I can only say all these cocktails are a form of psychotherapy." He said the method is not used at the private clinic where he now works.

Weird.