Deception and lies worked so well for Bush/Cheney and the neocons the first time around that surprise, surprise - they've rolled out the same smoke and mirrors show again, with the same actors, and once again insult Americans and the world with the assumption that they are so stupid they'll fall for it one more time.

The only thing worse than being suckered is staying suckered while knowing you had been, and letting yourself be suckered by the same thing from the same people, again.

If they sucker once it's their fault, but if they sucker you twice....?

Link

   Why Cheney is now impeachable:

    If these reports are accurate, Cheney has asserted a legal theory that, if accepted, would put him beyond legal control. Congress can't control him (he's partly in the Executive), the President can't control him (he's partly in the Legislative), and the courts won't control him (see the Supreme Court case over his records of meeting with oil executives.) In other words, there is no remedy for his wrongful political actions.

    Now I'm confident that he's wrong about his theory. But that almost doesn't matter. Even if he's right, we have the right to demand of our Vice Presidents that they don't exercise this enormous power.

    [...]

    What Cheney has done here is to force members of Congress to decide whether they are men and women or mice. Hearings won't take long; the facts are not in dispute. Cheney's lawyers should be able to make their case before both the House Judiciary Committee and the Senate; 363 tons of Constitutional Law experts and former Vice Presidents (another moment in the sun for Walter Mondale! And would Dan Quayle like some revenge? And hello, Al Gore!) will rebut the argument until everyone can see how disgusting and wrong it is. And it doesn't matter if Cheney abandons the argument now; if he acted on it for five years, that's the only "high crime or misdemeanor" we need. If he is not impeached and removed, he could reassert this right again later. There's only one way to stop him and discredit his offensive theory. Remove him.

The sons of the prophet are noble and bold,
and quite unaccustomed to fear.
But the bravest by far in the ranks of the Shah
was Abdul Abulbul Amir

That dream, along with a host of other nightmares, has plagued me since my return from Iraq in the summer of 2004. Though the man in this particular nightmare has no face, I know who he is. I assisted in his interrogation at a detention facility in Fallujah. I was one of two civilian interrogators assigned to the division interrogation facility (DIF) of the 82nd Airborne Division. The man, whose name I've long since forgotten, was a suspected associate of Khamis Sirhan al-Muhammad, the Baath Party leader in Anbar province who had been captured two months earlier.

The lead interrogator at the DIF had given me specific instructions: I was to deprive the detainee of sleep during my 12-hour shift by opening his cell every hour, forcing him to stand in a corner and stripping him of his clothes. Three years later the tables have turned. It is rare that I sleep through the night without a visit from this man. His memory harasses me as I once harassed him.

Despite my best efforts, I cannot ignore the mistakes I made at the interrogation facility in Fallujah. I failed to disobey a meritless order, I failed to protect a prisoner in my custody, and I failed to uphold the standards of human decency. Instead, I intimidated, degraded and humiliated a man who could not defend himself. I compromised my values. I will never forgive myself.

Incredible. Political art at its very best.

If we accept that paying the higher wages won't force many businesses into unprofitability, that means some money is currently taxed as corporate profits, and will instead be taxed as personal income.  Businesses tend to pay higher tax rates than minmimum and near-minimum wage earners do.  So tax revenue will go down.

A couple, making $5.15 an hour, makes $21424 per year.  The first $15100 is taxed at 10% and the rest at 15%, so they pay about $2459 in federal income tax.

If they instead make $7.25 an hour, they make $30160, still in the 15% bracket.  So they'll pay $3769.  In other words, the got $9736 more income, and paid $1310 more in taxes, compared to the $5.15 wage.

Barely profitable businesses pay 15%, so the tax amount would be the same in this example.  But at just $50000 of profits per year, the business tax rate jumps to 25%.  Giant businesses pay 35-38%.

If the hypothetical couple's employers are in the 25% bracket, the $9736 would-be wages are currently providing $2434 of taxes to the federal government.  That's almost twice what the feds will get under the increased minimum wage laws.

So, in the spirit of "pay as you go", should the Dems cut spending to compensate for the loss of $1124 in tax revenue?

What: Teenagers taking risque photos of themselves are prosecuted for violating child pornography laws.

 When: Florida state appeals court rules on January 19.

 Outcome: A 2-1 majority upholds conviction on grounds the girl produced a photograph featuring the sexual conduct of a child.

I was hired by the Edwards campaign for the skills and talents I bring to the table, and my willingness to work hard for what's right. [...] Regardless, it was creating a situation where I felt that every time I coughed, I was risking the Edwards campaign. No matter what you think about the campaign, I signed on to be a supporter and a tireless employee for them, and if I can't do the job I was hired to do because Bill Donohue doesn't have anything better to do with his time than harass me, then I won't do it. I resigned my position today and they accepted.

There is good news. The main good news is that I don't have a conflict of interest issue anymore that was preventing me from defending myself against these baseless accusations. So it's on.