And now, the rest of the program…

Click here to listen

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Mar 16, 10:39 AM in Podcast

Leftwing Nutjob Podcast #47

Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for March 12, 2006.

Continuing to redefine the notion that all political discourse in this country needs to originate from the Right, it’s a special edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast, for March 12, 2006.

Under the microscope. My exclusive interview with a Transportation Security Administration officer. From boots on the ground to safety in the air, this wide ranging interview covers a lot of ground from 9/11 to the Dubai port deal. And there’s even a few tips that can make your next airport security visit that much more enjoyable.

Direct link to the show.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Mar 12, 11:40 PM in Podcast

Leftwing Nutjob Podcast #46

Broadcasting from the suburbs of Metro Detroit, where a coney island isn’t a coney island unless they serve Kogel’s hotdogs, it’s the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for March 5, 2006.

Bush’s Blunder. He’s Back. Like a bad penny, radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr returns to the Iraqi stage and decides to try his hand at politics. And yes, he polling higher than the Smirking POTUS.

Department of Homeland Tyranny. Law and Order. The FBI tips the government’s hand on the capabilities of it’s domestic spy program. This lawsuit may blow the whole thing wide open.

Smirking POTUS. Candid camera. The Smirking POTUS is caught on tape being informed about the potential devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Spin all you want, Scotty, it’s all there for the world to see in living color.

All this and more on tonight’s Oscar night edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast, but first, this breaking news…

In a followup to a story we covered on our last podcast, the National Archives has directed the nation’s top intelligence agencies to stop its process of reclassifying previously unclassified documents until a full assessment of the material in question could be preformed. The nation’s chief archivist, Allen Weinstien, issued the moratorium until the audit could be performed to determine the true classification status of all the documents in question. A small victory, but a victory non the less.

And the Associated Press on Friday won the release of the names and nationalities of every detainee being held by the U.S. Military at the Guantanamo Bay. The Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the news agency was opposed by the Bush Administration, who maintained that making such information public violated the detainee’s privacy rights. But wait a minute. I thought the White House and the Justice Department both maintained that these evil doers didn’t have any rights, let alone the right to privacy. Isn’t that why they were being denied due process and access to their own legal counsel? Well, it seems that once again, the Smirking POTUS and his minions are bending the rules to suit their own ends. But then again, what else is new?

And now, the rest of the program…

Direct link to the program

Sources:
Archivist Urges U.S. to Reopen Classified Files – NYTimes.com
U.S. reveals names of detainees at Guantanamo – Chicago Sun Times

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Mar 6, 12:36 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode #45

Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for February 28, 2006.

Returning from some unexpected time off due to an acute case of cabin fever, it’s the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for February 28, 2006.

Cover-up. The CIA and other intelligence agencies want to put the genie back in bottle and reclassify some 55,000 unclassified documents. Somebody call Kinko’s, it’s going to be a long night.

Powder Keg. Iraqi’s cycle of violence shows no sign of abating as the country continues to teeter on the brink of civil war. Mr. President, dust off your state of the union address and re-read that part about Iraqi progress—the Sunnis and the Shiites must have missed it.

1984. Life imitates Art as signs of a fascist state begin to emerge in everyday America. If we ever needed a more engaged electorate, now is the time.

Silver lining. Senate Republican staffers reveal that things aren’t so hunky-dory with the White House over its domestic spy program. Could the re-emergence of principles before politics force the White House to answer for their high crimes and misdemeanors?

De-ported. The sale of 6 US ports to a Dubai company continues to steal news cycles away from the White House. I’m trying to feel sorry for them…honestly, I really am.

All this and more on this sparkly clean edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

Direct link to the show.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Mar 1, 12:04 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode #44

Leftwing Nutjob Podcast #44

Coming to you from the frozen tundra of lower Michigan, where it’s so cold, Republican bullshit freezes in midair! It’s the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for February 19, 2006.

Conspiracy. Swiftboated. Democrats turn on each other as Senior democratic senators kick Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett to the curb. What’s next, the ides of March?

Man Behind the Curtain. Lock-step lemmings. GOP senators fall in line behind the White House and agree to look the other way when it comes to Smirking POTUS’ illegal activities. Somebody might as well put a match to the Constitution and get it over with already

Rural Devout, USA. Dirty Politics. The GOP is asking for churches in North Carolina to provide them with the names and addresses of those who attend their houses of worship. Ladies and gentlemen, you just can’t make immorality like this up!

All this plus your comments on tonight’s below zero edition the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast…

Direct link to the show.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Feb 19, 05:49 PM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 43

Leftwing Nutjob Podcast #43

Trying to stay out of range of Vice President Dick Cheney’s $100,000 Italian-made Perazzi shotgun, it’s the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast, for February 14, 2006

Conspiracy. Playing politics. Democrats roll over and stand shoulder to shoulder with Republicans on this issue of domestic surveillance. If ever there was time for a viable third party to emerge, the time is now.

Man Behind the Curtain. Loose cannon. Vice President Dick Cheney’s hunting trip to the Lone Star state doesn’t go quite as planned. What really happened on that private Texas ranch?

The Smirking POTUS. Pioneering. A big money contributor to President Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign is indicted by state and federal prosecutors. Before Jack Abramoff, there was Tom Noe.

Conspiracy. Stacking the Deck. Further destabilization of the Middle East, courtesy of the Bush Administration, may be in the offing as Hamas becomes the target of a political embargo. There really isn’t any way this can end up in a positive way.

All this and more on tonight’s mid-week edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast…

Direct link to the show.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Feb 15, 01:27 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 42

Leftwing Nutjob Podcast #42
Helping to classify liberals with microphones as weapons of mass information, it’s the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for February 11, 2006.

Smirking POTUS – When a stranger calls. Jack Abramoff is starting to feel abandoned as the Smirking POTUS continues to insist that he doesn’t know the Sharp Dressed Man. What’s that they say about a lobbyist scorned?

Department of Homeland Tyranny – Alienation. The Bush Administration breaks its promise to the FISA court on domestic spying, earning the ire of presiding judge. They’re not exactly winning the hearts and minds of the judiciary, now are they?

Conspiracy – Spilling the beans. Pre-Iraq War intelligence was “cherry-picked” by the Bush Administration according to a retired top CIA official. Haven’t we heard this one before?

Man Behind the Curtain – Fingered. Scooter Libby sings like a canary and implicates his superiors in the Valerie Plame investigation. Someone needs to put the Bush administration on an impeachment watch.

Conspiracy – Unintelligent Design. A Bush lackey gets caught trying to push an creationist agenda at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Houston, we have a problem.

All this and more on tonight’s super-sized edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast…

Direct link to the show.

- posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Feb 12, 01:22 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 41

Episode 41 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast
Rural Devout, USA – Hijacked. Some in the GOP are becoming concerned about the religious right’s destructive influence on their party. Where were these guys 5 years ago?

Man Behind the Curtain – Deleted. Information that may be critical to the Valerie Plame investigation has conveniently vanished from the White House. Are these guys really this stupid?

Department of Homeland Tyranny – Profiled. A third individual was booted from the president’s state of the union address last week. Was race a factor?

Critical Feedback – Emails from listeners.

Direct link to the show.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Feb 7, 10:46 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 40

Episode 40 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Westboro Baptist on the march, big business has a heart, Bush Administration and Hamas, Cindy’s missed opportunity.

Direct link to the show.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Feb 2, 12:26 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 39

Episode 39 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Canada’s Right turn, Smirking POTUS wordsmithing, Democrats shut out, Army stretched too thin.

Direct link to the show.

SHOWNOTES/TRANSCRIPTS

LEFTWING NUTJOB PODCAST #39 FOR JANUARY 26, 2006

Introduction

Coming to you from just north of 8 mile in the Motor City, where Republican’s fear to tread, it’s the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast, for January 26, 2006.

Canadian Bacon. America’s neighbors to the north take a sharp right turn into uncharted political territory. Are Canadian citizens as Looney as their 1 dollar coin?

Framing the debate. The Smirking POTUS is trying every trick in the book to keep his crooked ass from being impeached for spying on america citizens. But is it working?

Behind closed doors. Congressional Republicans are keeping debate on their budget cutting plans to a minimum by barring Democrats from participating in the proceedings. We’ll have the sad reality.

Thin green line. A new Pentagon reports backs up John Murtha’s claims that the US Army is stretched too thin; but is anyone listening?

All this and more on tonight’s super-sized edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

Our Neighbors to the North

In tonight’s Our Neighbors to the North segment, we take a look at the results of Canada’s parliamentary election and what it may mean to that country’s progressive social programs.

In an election outcome that some are already comparing to the Democrat’s purge from Congress in 1994, Canadian Prime Minister-elect Stephen Harper and his Conservative party swept to victory in paramilitary elections this past Monday, putting an end to 18 years of Liberal Party rule.

While denied a majority by voters, the Conservative Party of Canada, with their 124 seats in parliament, will most certainly attempt to move the government and its policies to the right. And although there is cause for concern for the freedom loving citizens of Canada, I believe that the doom and gloom scenarios predicted by some observers concerned about the future of progressive social programs will probably not come to pass any time soon.

The reason? A better than expected showing by the Liberal party, though hurt by the scandals surrounding Prime Minister Paul Martin, kept the wolf at bay and will help moderate any extreme measures put forth by Harper and his minions as they struggle to form a coalition government amongst the other members of parliament

But for now, Stephen Harper, the man who stood before the House of Commons in March of 2003 and denounced his country’s failure to join both the US and Britain in their invasion into Iraq, will enjoy his victory; a victory that will undoubtedly be embraced by our own Smirking POTUS.

And only time will tell whether or not the decidedly more socially liberal Canadians will come to embrace this new conservative leadership that they have elected or whether or not it was just merely time for a change.

Smirking POTUS

In our Smirking POTUS segment this evening, the signal to noise ratio is increasing rapidly over the president’s wiretapping initiative.

It appears that the Bush Administration is once again cracking open Karl Rove’s playbook in a frantic attempt to recast the debate in the public forum over the Smirking POTUS’ NSA domestic spy program.

The White House is now choosing to use the moniker ‘terrorist surveillance program’ to describe the top secret initiative, in the hopes that it will somehow make the public more receptive to the thought of their electronic communications being intercepted and processed by Fort Meade.

All this comes on the heels of a week-long, full court press by the Bush Administration ahead of congressional hearings into the matter scheduled for Friday. Leading off the effort was The Smirking POTUS himself, George W Bush, who gave a speech yesterday at Kansas State University, a venue that the Houston Chronicle observes was the same lecture series in which President Nixon asked in 1970 for patience about the Vietnam War.

We can only hope that history will repeat itself.

Conspiracy

In tonight’s conspiracy segment, secret meetings and backdoor dealings apparently are all in a days work for the GOP

In yet another example of just how imperious and corrupt congressional Republicans have become, GOP House and Senate negotiators reversed a Senate bipartisan bill last month that would have cut Medicare payments to private HMOs by some $26 million dollars, choosing instead reduce those cuts to just 4 million at the behest of the health care insurance lobby.

The talks were held behind closed doors and without any input from Democrats; not for any procedural reasons but because they were simply banned from the participating.

The move is just the latest example of how the Republican party is conducting the people’s business in private, spending hard-earned tax payer dollars without any public or congressional oversight, and it’s not going unnoticed.

According to one prominent Republican health care lobbyist who wished to remain anonymous, “I have worked many [budget] bills, and this was the most closed that I’ve ever seen.”

Most of these changes happen in conference committee meetings, where members of both the House and the Senate meet to hammer out the differences between both chamber’s bills. But it’s at these same conferences where former lobbyists like Jack Abramoff choose to exert their powerful influence.

Some are now calling for these conferences to be held in a public forum, ostensibly to prevent the under-the-table deals that have become so common and to bring accountability back into government.

But until real lobbyist reform is passed with the kind of teeth that made Campaign Finance Reform work, these kinds of abuses will continue to occur ad naseum in every corner of Capital Hill.

At least until John Q. Public has had enough.

Department of Homeland Tyranny

In tonight’s Department of Homeland Tyranny segment, we find vindication for Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha’s views on the war in Iraq.

When Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha described the US Military as “broken” and “worn out” last November, he was called everything but a Christian man by the GOP attack machine, with his views labeled as cowardly and out of touch with the reality on the ground in Iraq. But now an independent report produced under contract by the Pentagon corroborates many of Representative Murtha’s statements, and paints quite a different picture of the Army’s current state of health than has been portrayed by the Bush Administration.

Retired Army officer Andrew Krepinevich, who authored the report, concluded that the current rate of deployment to the Iraq theater cannot be sustained long enough to defeat the insurgency, and may even end up breaking the back of America’s fighting force by sending recruitment and re-enlistment into a “catastrophic decline.”

Of course these conclusions are disputed by those wearing the rose-colored glasses over at the Pentagon, with the man whom the Smriking POTUS won’t let resign, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, taking the lead in defending the rigorous Iraq deployment cycles.

“This armed force is enormously capable,” Rumsfeld said, ”[this] force is not broken.”

But a lot of retired military personnel beg to differ with Rummy’s assessment, with former NATO commander and Army four-star general George Joulwan agreeing that “if we don’t change the way we’re doing business, [the Army is] in danger of being fractured and broken.”

Krepinevich, whose concern about the Army’s future capabilities is perhaps best illustrated by his selection of “The Thin Green Line” as the title for one of his chapters, points to slumping recruiting numbers and the Army’s decision to vastly increase their enlistment bonuses as prime examples of the difficulty the military is having in attracting inductees.

All this is at the very least having the effect of forcing the media to turn their singular, limited attention span back onto an issue that hasn’t fundamentally changed in well over two years. Maybe this time, the images of thousands of National Guard servicemen and women being redeployed to Iraq for the 2nd or 3rd time will stick in American public’s consciences and cause them to question their congressional representatives ahead of this November’s elections.

Well, I can always hope.

Conclusion

That’s all for tonight’s edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast. I want thank the listeners of this program for tuning in and making us one of the most popular independent political podcasts in the net. It’s both an honor and a privilege.

Remember, if you have comments or suggestions for the show, you can email us at leftwingnuyjob ‘at’ gmail.com or you can call our listener comment line at 313-406-7771.

So for now, this is your Leftwing Nutjob podcaster saying, goodbye and good day.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Jan 26, 11:50 PM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 38

Episode 38 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Hastert coming under scrutiny, contaminated Halliburton water.

Direct link to the show.

SHOWNOTES/TRANSCRIPTS

LEFTWING NUTJOB PODCAST #38 FOR JANUARY 24, 2006

Introduction

Body Slam. Former High School wrestling coach and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert may find himself in a headlock after questions over his relationalship with Jack Abramoff come to light. We’ll go to the mat.

Don’t drink the water. Halliburton provides bacteria laced drinking water to our troops in Iraq while raking in record profits. Shame, shame, shame.

All this on tonight’s edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

Man Behind the Curtain

In tonight’s Man Behind the Curtain Segment, we take a look at Dennis Hastert, whose nearly 7 year tenure as Speaker of the House may be coming to an end due to the long shadow of one sharp dressed man.

Since 1999, when the Republican Caucus had had enough of the bastard and kicked Newt Gingrich to the curb, J. Dennis Hastert has retained the post of Speaker of the House with nary a challenger.

But that may all soon change.

With Tom DeLay out of the way, some are now turning their focus to Hastert, the one man who made it possible for the ethically challenged Sugar Land Texan to get away with so much while on the Speaker’s watch in the House of Representatives. From him pushing for changes in House ethics guidelines, allowing for DeLay to remain in his position as Majority Leader, to his unwavering backing and support of DeLay until the bitter end, Hastert’s hands are definitely dirty, perhaps to the point that even an entire bar of Lava couldn’t get them clean.

The most egregious example of Mr. Hastert falling victim to the charms of the Sharp Dressed Man came back in 2003, when the Speaker, acting on behalf of one of Jack Abramoff’s tribal clients, attached his signature to a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, arguing against giving casino rights to a competing Indian tribe. The letter followed a fundraiser given for Hastert just days before at Abramoff’s downtown D.C. restaurant, Signatures.

And now some Republican staffers are coming forward and speaking off the record, taking issue with the Speaker’s missteps and arguing that his congenial manner and non-confrontational approach to leadership are the main reasons for allowing the House to sink into the ethical morass that it now finds itself in.

Perhaps tellingly, it’s only been recently that the Speaker has come out in support of sweeping lobbyist reform, well after the scope and magnitude of the Abramoff scandal had became apparent. Just last week, he persuaded Ohio Republican Bob Ney to temporarily step down from his chairmanship of the House Administration Committee in light of his ties to Abramoff, and has joined a bipartisan effort to tighten the rules on lobbyist access to lawmakers.

But I think that this all may be too little, too late for Speaker Hastert. If the GOP wants to repair its tarnished image with their constituents, it needs to be a thorough house cleaning and not just a spot here or there.

In fact, probably nothing short of an enema would suffice for this bunch.

Conspiracy

In tonight’s conspiracy segment, we take a look at Halliburton and what shameful deeds they’re trying to cover up this time.

When it comes to providing the very best for our troops in harms way, you really can’t do better than the Halliburton subsidiary of Kellogg, Brown and Root; or so the Pentagon and the Bush Administration would have you believe.

According to former employees of the company, KBR was repeatedly made aware of problems with their water treatment facility at Camp Junction City in Ramadi, Iraq; problems that those same employees say Halliburton chose to ignore.

Documents written in July of last year by William Granger, who was in charge of water quality for Halliburton in both Iraq and Kuwait, state that soldiers and civilians were exposed to a “level of contamination [that] was roughly 2x the normal contamination of untreated water from the Euphrates River.”

The problem was originally discovered in March of 2005 by Ben Carter, the water-treatment expert at Camp Junction City who informed Halliburton officials by email of the water potability issue.

“It is my opinion that the water source is without question contaminated with numerous micro-organisms, including Coliform bacteria. There is little doubt that raw sewage is routinely dumped upstream of intake much less than the required 2 mile distance. Therefore, it is my conclusion that chlorination of our water tanks while certainly beneficial is not sufficient protection from parasitic exposure.”

Mr Carter later resigned from Halliburton after the company refused to inform neither the military or those affected of his findings, even after many cases of stomach cramps and diarrhea were observed by other company employees. He also stated that after he made company officials at the base aware of the problem, he was told that it was none of his concern and that he should “keep [his] mouth shut.”

Of course Halliburton officials are quick to produce their own evidence of water samples taken during that time that show no water-quality issues at all. And according to military spokesman Major Tim Keefe of the US Marine Corps, “the allegations appear not to have merit.”

Interestingly enough, a Halliburton memo dated July 15 of last year indicates that the company was indeed aware of the problem and was taking steps to ramp up their PR machine if the word ever got out to the media. It obviously never did, or at least not until Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan decided to hold hearings on his own about the allegations after the Republican chairman refused to do so.

So not only do our brave men and women of the United States Military have to face the dangers of IEDs and roadside bombs without proper armament and protection, but that also have to consume bacteria contaminated water while doing so.

And they’ve got the nerve to accuse someone like John Murtha of not being a patriot.

Conclusion

That’s all for this edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast. As always, thank you dear listeners for tuning in and staying subscribed. And don’t be stingy; tell you friends and family about us. There’s more than enough love to go around.

As always, you can email the show at leftwingnutjob ‘at’ gmail.com or call our listener comment line and leave a voicemail at 313.406.7771.

So for now, this is your Leftwing Nutjob Podcaster saying, goodbye and good day.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Jan 24, 10:41 AM in Podcast Politics

Podcast Episode 37

Episode 37 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Ralph Reed and Jack Abramoff sitting in a tree, domestic spying defense, Muslim outrage against Jill Carroll’s abduction.

Direct link to the show.

SHOWNOTES/TRANSCRIPTS

LEFTWING NUTJOB PODCAST #37 FOR JANUARY 19, 2006

Introduction

Fall from grace. Ralph Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition, is finding that his close ties to Jack Abramoff are not exactly helping his chancing of being elected the next lieutenant governor of Georgia. Will the Right Hand of God be given the smack down?

On the defensive. Is the Bush Administration’s full court press in defense of it’s domestic spy program indicative of a high pucker factor within the White House over the scandal? We’ll administer a proctology exam.

Taking a stand. Islamic groups from across the nation speak out against freelance journalist Jill Carroll’s abduction in Iraq, much to the chagrin of those conservatives who love to bash the Muslims community. I’ll have commentary.

All this and more on tonight’s extra savory edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

Rural Devout, USA

Once again, another sanctimonious SOB is revealed for the piece of shit that they really are, in Rural Devout, USA.

One of the reasons that I associate so closely with the Liberal/Progressive moment is that I cannot abide hypocrisy. Not that it doesn’t exist on the Left, but it’s not nearly as prevalent as it is on the Right, or more specifically, the Religious Right.

Take for instance that holier-than-thou Bible-thumper Ralph Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition, who is currently a candidate for lieutenant governor of the State of Georgia.

It seems that since the late 1990’s, when he was espousing the virtues of being a God-fearing Christian, rallying the GOP faithful against the godless Liberals alongside other such luminaries like Bill Bennett and Newt Gingrich, he was working side-by-side with none other than the Sharp Dressed Man himself, Jack Abramoff.

Numerous email exchanges between Mr. Reed and Mr. Abramoff have been revealed over the past several months during the course of the investigation into the former über lobbyist’s activities. The correspondences contain everything from requests for invoices for lobbying services rendered by Reed and his firm, to his requests for extensive corporate contacts from Abramoff. They say the Lord’s work is never done, and this POS was definitely keeping busy.

Of course, true to form for anyone even having been remotely associated with Mr. Abramoff, Mr. Reed has denied knowledge of any wrongdoing, even though the two have been close friends for close to 25 years. But having a not-too-Christian side of himself revealed in the press, “The Right Hand of God,” as TIME magazine referred to him in 1995, is now finding the constituents of the Peach State increasingly non-receptive to campaign for public office.

Ain’t payback a bitch?

Smirking POTUS

In tonight’s Smirking POTUS segment, we take a look at the possible reason for all of those late night deliveries of Malox and Pepto Bismol to the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

This past Tuesday the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights filed separate lawsuits against the National Security Agency for their part in the Smirking POTUS’ dastardly plot to illegally spy on American citizens.

The ACLU filed their 60-page complaint just down the street from me in United States District Court Eastern District of Michigan, and names as defendants the NSA itself as well as its current director, Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander. Elsewhere, the CCR filed their lawsuit in the Southern District of New York and states that its actions are on behalf of “clients who fit the criteria described by the attorney general for targeting” under the president’s secret program.

The White House has responded to the lawsuits via their talking action figure and White House spokesman Scott McClellan, who told the press corp that the actions of both the ACLU and the CCR were “frivolous lawsuits [and] do nothing to help enhance civil liberties or protect the American people.” Attorney General and Bush crony Alberto Gonzales, making the rounds on all of the talking heads earlier in the week, defended the program as legal and absolutely vital to the security of the United States.

But this Nutlob thinks that the degree with which the Bush Administration has pulled out all the stops in attempting to defend this program in the court of public opinion is directly proportional to the degree of doubt that they have over the legality of their own actions, no matter what any White House counsel, or the Attorney General, state publicly.

For example, the president himself was the first to acknowledge the program’s existence, doing so in front of a national audience in lieu of his “Weekly Radio Address” back in December, which I believe was an attempt to quash criticism early on by playing the oft-used 9/11 card. Obviously, it didn’t work.

What has followed since then has been a parade of Administration heavyweights from Vice-President Dick Cheney right on down, appearing on every single news program under the sun, defending this slimy practice by using their once tried and true method of intimidating the press and scaring the public with fear of the unknown, all the while couching their argument within the moniker of “national security.” It must be to their absolute horror that this tactic is no longer working and the country has wised up to their ways.

But the irony of this whole sad affair is that the more effort the White House puts into defending this program, the more it stays on the front pages of the nation’s newspaper and squarely in front of John Q. Public, who is becoming increasingly skeptical of an administration whose president’s credibility is already on shaking ground.

So keep it coming Mr. Bush, we’re not buying it anymore.

Critical Feedback

In tonight’s critical feedback segment, I offer my commentary on the reaction of America’s Muslim community to the kidnapping in Iraq of Jill Carroll.

It might be hard for some people to admit that not all Muslims are hell-bent on our destruction (E.g. Shelley the Republican), so whenever I get the chance to poke holes in their zealotry, I do so with a bit of glee.

In an article from today’s Detroit Free Press, the Metro Detroit Muslim community, as well as other Islamic organizations across the nation, are strongly speaking out against the abduction of 28-year old freelance journalist Jill Carroll in Iraq, and they’re not pulling any punches.

Rejecting any association with those who purport to uphold the tenants of the Muslim religion, Imad Hamad, head of the Michigan branch of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, stated that if the kidnappers make good on their threats to kill Ms. Caroll, then her death would be “against all humanitarian standards and is indeed against the values and principles of the Islamic faith.”

Meanwhile, The Islamic Shura Council of Michigan, based in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills, also denounced the kidnapping, saying that it would do nothing to advance the Iraqi cause and issued a statement the read, in part, ”...we stand by her family and pray for her safe return to them.”

But the outrage is not just limited to official Muslim organizations or umbrella groups; even everyday citizens of Arab decent in Metro Detroit area are expressing their angry and disgust against Ms. Caroll’s abduction:

“It’s un-Islamic and inhumane,” said Bilal Dabaja, a 20-year-old Dearborn resident. “When I saw the picture on TV, I was horrified.”

Afthal Alshami, 45, a Dearborn engineer, added, “as an Iraqi American, I feel really terrible over what happened.”

Now I don’t know about you, but these don’t sound like the words of an immigrant community detached from world affairs and unwilling to voice their disgust against those who perpetrate crimes against humanity in the name of Islam. Quite the contrary.

But then again, I’m just a Leftwing Nutjob.

Conclusion

That’s all for this edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast. We thank you for listening and encourage you to tell your friends about. There’s more than enough love to go around.

Remember, you can send feedback to the show at leftwingnutjob ‘at’ gmail.com or you can leave us a voicemail on our listener comment line at 313-406-7771. Democrat or Republican, Liberal or Conservative, we’d love to hear from all of you.

So for now, this is your Leftwing Nutjob podcaster saying, goodbye and good day.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Jan 20, 12:27 PM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 36

Episode 36 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Trip to Texas, Alito testimony observations, Commentary on SCOTUS and Roe v. Wade.

Direct link to the show.

SHOWNOTES/TRANSCRIPT

LEFTWING NUTJOB PODCAST #36 FOR JANUARY 17, 2006

Introduction

Returning home after nearly a week on the road, it’s the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for January 17, 2006.

Road Trip. Having made my way across the country from the Motorcity to San Antonio, Texas, I pontificate on the sites, tastes and smells that I experienced while on my 3 day journey.

CrAP. Samuel Alito’s unwillingness to answer even the simplest of questions should give pause to any Senator considering voting for his nomination to the US Supreme Court. I’ll have some comments.

Just Rewards. My essay on why the country needs to have Alito confirmed and Roe v. Wade overturned in order to get their heads out of their collective asses.

All this and more on this extended edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

Road Trip

Seeing the country through the windshield of a 2001 Saturn SL2 Twin Cam, your humble host, me, the Leftwing Nutjob, sums up the events of the 1500 mile journey.

Before I begin, some people have written me about the reason for my crusade to the Lone Star State, and here it is.

Some months ago, in order to pay off her college loans, my sister-in-law joined the US Army. After completing her basic training, her AIT orders sent her to San Antonio, where she and my brother will be living for at least the next 6 months. Some time after, while dealing with the logistics of the move, I volunteered to help drive one of their vehicles to Texas. And so, here I am.

Beginning in Clio, Michigan, where my brother and his new bride used to reside, we began the trip on Tuesday morning, making our way across the state into Indiana and Illinois, through the Windy City, and south onto I-57. Along the way, I encountered a couple of caravans of house trailers and mobile homes, all marked with the words: FEMA EMERGENCY HOUSING. It made me feel good to know that there was at least some relief effort on the way to people of the gulf states region.

All this was witnessed in advance of the Smirking POTUS’ cursory visit to the hurricane damaged region on Wednesday, bringing with him more promises of federal relief and housing while touring the area from the safety and security of his Marine One helicopter.

We continued on through Illinois and into Missouri, driving along the Mississippi river, eventually arriving in Arkansas. At this point I found myself remarking that so far, the scenery didn’t look much different from that of northern Michigan. In fact, the only thing that beguiled the illusion was the interstate signs and the somewhat lacking capabilities of the highway rest areas.

We arrived in Texarcanna and crossed the Texas state line Wednesday night, grabbing a hotel on the outskirts of Dallas before retiring for the evening. The following morning we made a pilgrimage to a place that anyone interested at all in presidential history should make at least once in their lifetime: Dealey Plaza.

For listeners of this podcast, you’ll recall that I’ve used clips from Oliver Stone’s conspiracy masterpiece, JFK, from time to time. So for me, someone who loves a great conspiracy, visiting the place where it all happened was very overwhelming.

What first struck me about Dealey Plaza was how small the entire area really is and as one of the local conspiracy theorists said to me while I was standing there taking it all in, “you could literally throw a rock and hit anyone in Dealey Plaza.”

The site is exactly as it was back in November of 1963, with only the height of the trees and shrubs changing the look of the landscape. You are free to roam where ever you want, from behind the fence near the rail yard to the cement pedestal upon which Abraham Zapruder stood with his Bell and Howell movie camera and filmed the footage that launched a million conspiracy theories.

The plaza is easy to find and parking is very numerous behind the former Texas Book Depository, which, aside from the 6th and 7th floors, now houses government offices. Which brings me to my only complaint about my visit; the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealy Plaza.

The $10 entrance fee is a little steep, but I figured that since I was here, I might as take a look out the same window that Lee Harvey Oswald purportedly took his 3 shots. But guess what, you can’t do that- they have the entire 12 by 12 foot area around the window enclosed in Plexiglas, albeit with boxes stacked around the area conforming the how the location looked some 42 years ago. You are therefore reduced to observing the plaza some 2 windows down from the real deal. Very disappointing. Also, you are not allowed to take photos within the museum, so forget about taking that snapshot from the “The God Spot”, it just ain’t possible.

Some interesting artifacts within the museum is a hat wore by one of the Dallas police officers while he was escorting Oswald out of the Dallas Country Jail and into the parking garage when he was fatally shot by Jack Ruby, as well as the camera that captured the moment for all time. But all in all, I’m not quite sure that it was worth the $10 admission fee given the restrictions that you are not aware of prior to purchasing your ticket. However, there is more than enough to see while roaming about this historic site.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, and I only heard the phrase “Goddamn fucking hippie” just once, though I’m not sure that it was directed at me. I must’ve stood out in the crowd wearing short sleeve shirts and no cowboy hat in the middle of a Texas winter, but I nevertheless found the people friendly and the food delicious. So all in all the trip was very enjoyable and I may grace the Lone Star State with my presence sometime in the near future.

SCOTUS Watch

In tonight’s SCOTUS Watch segment, I give you my take on the Samuel Alito hearings after listening to nearly all 18 hours of testimony on my Sirius satellite radio while en route to Texas.

Last week, Judge Samuel Alito came before the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer questions and provide testimony in the first step towards being confirmed by the Senate as the 110 Supreme Court justice. And after nearly 3 full days of testimony, heated exchanges, and even a few crocodile tears, I believe it is safe to say that the 18 Senators on the committee didn’t learn anything new about the Smirking POTUS’ high court nominee.

Artfully dodging any hot button questions with rehearsed retorts and feigned bemusement, the obviously well-coached Alito faced nothing short of an affectionate stroking from the Republicans members of the Judiciary Committee. Heaping praise upon the nominee while exposing sweet nothings into his ears, the best the GOP could muster in the form of legitimate questions came from Chairman Arlen Specter, who promised tough questions about abortion for the nominee some weeks ago, tempered his examination to a nothing short of a decidedly polite exchange.

This, of course, left the Democrats to play the bad cop to the Republicans good cop, as anything in contrast to the GOP member’s kid glove handling of the nominee appeared gruff and disrespectful, which I’m sure was their intention all along, right on down to the tears on Mrs. Alito’s face that rolled down her cheek on cue, right before a national televised audience.

Alito demonstrated an uncanny ability to recall legal precedent and case law, sometimes in almost minute detail, but found himself stumped when unable to provide any real details as to why he listed his membership so prominently in a racist, anti-womens right’s organization, the Concerned Alumni of Princeton, on a 1985 Justice Department job application, offering simply that he could not recall any information as to when he joined or if he ever took part in any of their activities.

And therein my friends, lies the rub. If a man of Mr. Alito’s obviously superior intellect and remarkable ability for recalling information could not remember his involvement in CAP, then a prudent person must conclude that he is choosing not to remember, or, to put it bluntly, he’s lying. And that, my fellow listeners, is all I need to know to make up my mind about Justice Samuel Alito.

Critical Feedback

In tonight’s critical feedback segment, I offer my own critical commentary on what it may finally take to get this country of ours to realize the consequences of their re-election of the Smirking POTUS.

Whether it was the Swiftboat attack ads, John Kerry’s inability to connect with the electorate, or just fear of the unknown, the results of a second George W Bush term are now beginning to bear fruit, with the almost certain confirmation of Samuel Alito and the Supreme Court’s inevitable shift to the Right.

Some of my contemporaries believe that the public at large cannot be blamed for voting for a second Bush term, arguing that they were duped by an efficient, well financed disinformation machine that played the 9/11 card so often, that the electorate were merely bowing to primal fear in the voting. I call bullshit.

I believe that the American public is smarter than that, with that opinion being borne out by recent polls that find that a majority of the country believes that the President has gone too far and that he exaggerated the the facts about Iraq before taking us into war. But I also believe that the American public also has that attention span of 4 year old toddler and that you should never underestimate their ability to forgive and forget a politician’s missteps (Just look at the reelection of Detroit’s Kwame Kilpatirck for examples of that), but I also believe that they bear responsibility, as does everyone, for thiner actions. And now that Alito is almost certainly assured a spot on the court, we are already starting to see polls that the “public” is concerned about the overturning of Roe v Wade. We’ll John Q. Public, your concern is too little, too late.

I think that perhaps that best thing to happen for the progressive liberal movement is to have Roe V Wade overturned. Yes. You heard me correctly, and here’s why.

First, I believe that it would have the effect of shocking the country into action, having finally come to the realization that they have ceded their government to a decidedly small grouped of religious extremists who have been putting their wackjob religious principles before the common good for far too long. I believe these epiphany would then result in a massive purge of elected office holders with a resulting influx of more mainstream members from both parties, sending the far right wing to the GOP into exile for perhaps decades to come.

Second, with Roe v Wade overturned, it would fall to the states to adopt Abortion law, taking the issue out of national debate and thereby removing the largest plank out of the GOP’s platform. They would have to run on other less polarizing issues, exposing them for the one trick pony party that they really are.

Third, it would return the Democrats to the mantle of the people’s party, with the liberals being able to honestly claim that they are the ones most concerned with privacy issues, women’s rights, and the rule of law as all of the out of the mainstream policies and their consequences of the Republican party’s actions over the past 8 years coming into sharp relief

Now, I’m not going to claim sole ownership of all of these predictions; some if not all have been floating around for quite some time now, and you may be interested in knowing that some are even held by quite a few Republican members of Congress. Unfortunately for the GOP, these rank and file members are quashed in their own respective caucuses, where the top down, iron fisted, one party, one message mantra is keeping these more moderate members from having a voice in party policy. It’s too bad, really. They’re going to go down with ship like the rest of the Republican Party, unless they grow a pair a big enough to cross the aisle and come on over into the light. Boys and girls of the GOP, the door is always open.

Closing

That’s all for this extended edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast. Thanks for staying subscribed to this source of goodness and remember that you can always contact the show via email at leftwingnutjob@gmail.com. Or you can call our listener comment line at 313-406-7771. So for now, this is your Leftwing Nutjob Podcaster saying, goodbye and good day.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Jan 16, 07:32 PM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 35

Episode 34 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: DeLay steps aside, House GOP members’ free-for-all, AFA attacks the peacock network, Pat Robertson is insane, Rev Marcus Williams commentary.

Direct link to the show.

Shownotes / Transcript

LEFTWING NUTJOB PODCAST #35 FOR JANUARY 8, 2006

Introduction

TOM DELAY News Conference Audio

Trying very hard to be a professional podcaster and not laugh out loud, it’s the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for January 8, 2006.

Stepping down. Tom DeLay pulls the plug on his plans to regain his former glory as the House Majority Leader. My fellow Liberals, let’s party like it’s 1999.

Line in the sand. Sides are being chosen as the battle to replace The Hammer in Congress gets under way in earnest. We’ll take a look at the possible contestants.

What would Jesus do? Just when you thought it was safe to call yourself a Christian again, Rural Devout, USA rears it’s ugly, intolerant head. We’ll have a report.

And this plus Special Guest commentary from the Reverend Marcus Williams of the New Evangelical Church and Banquet Hall on tonight’s edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

Man Behind the Curtain

In tonight’s man behind the curtain segment, we rejoice at former used car salesman Tom DeLay’s decision to cede any further hold on his former position as House Majority Leader.

You can’t say that you didn’t see this coming from a mile away: Tom DeLay, surrounded by a legion of Republican saps who apparently still believe that this snake oil salesman is innocent, announced his decision yesterday in his home town of Sugar Land, Texas.

In a written statement to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, Mr DeLay said: “I am writing to inform you of my decision to permanently step aside as majority leader, and of my belief that the best interests of the conference would be served by the election of a new leader as soon as possible.”

Just this past Thursday, The National Review, that bastion of Conservative hyperbole and neo-con nonsense, had thrown down the gauntlet to Mr. DeLay and asked him to step aside. In an editorial, the NR thanked the former used car salesman for his hard work over the years but cited his close association with disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff as the deal breaker for them being unable to support his return to the leadership position.

But what this podcaster found most telling while reading the editorial was the strong undercurrent of fear that ran throughout the entire treatise. In several places, the editorial warns the Right against being too complacent and that those who ignore the possible impact of the unfolding scandal do so “at their [own] peril.” The piece also quotes a top Republican strategist who opined “there are two types of House Republicans: Those who are in trouble, and those who don’t know it yet.”

Wednesday afternoon it was reported that Mr. Abramoff stated that he has information that could implicate some 60 members of Congress in questionable activities, and according to FEC records, the Sharp Dressed Man had not given any money to Democrat since 1998, choosing instead to focus his lobbying activities solely on the GOP membership.

Some people are now saying that the eventual fallout from Mr. Abramhoff’s testimony and the subsequent investigation, could rival the end result of Rubbergate, the 1993 House of Representatives banking scandal.

But Tom DeLay is still not out, though. He said today that he fully intends to aggressively run to retain his 22nd Congressional district seat this fall, an election outcome that may be in doubt for The Hammer, as more and more details about his close relationship with the already disgraced Abrahoff’s become more widely known.

But whatever the outcome, it sure looks as though the GOP is in a tailspin. All that remains to be seen is whether or not the Democrats can capitalize.

Conspiracy

We’re filing the following story under conspiracy, because we’re sure that alot of backstabbing and double crossing is in the offing as House Republicans choose their next Majority leader.

Long before former used car salesman Tom DeLay made this announcement yesterday afternoon, acting house majority leader Roy Blunt, who has been performing double duty as Majority Whip, was quietly solidifying his base for a run at the position should The Hammer have to step down. Now Blunt will make those former private ovations public in seeking the office that he has held since DeLay stepped down in late September.

But sources say that John Boehner, the Ohio Republican who chairs the House Education and Workforce committee, will challenge Blunt for the position of Majority Leader. Other names that have been discussed as well include Mike Pence from Indiana and California House Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis, to name a few.

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, who himself may also be challenged for his position, has said that a new leader will be chosen the week of January 30, leaving the House GOP essentially rudderless for the next few weeks, time enough for Democrats to further chip away at their once indomitable foe.

Rural Devout, USA

In a segment we haven’t reported on recently, we find that the wackjob Evangelical Christian Right is still alive and well in Rural Devout, USA.

A pair of NBC network affiliates have pulled out of carrying the peacock network’s new prime-time offering “Daniel,” a series about an all-too-human Episcopalian minister, due to concerns about it’s portrayal of Christianity.

Not surprisingly, this unholy crusade is being led by the religious wackjobs over at the American Family Association, who have launched a campaign targeting the program by urging network affiliates and advertisers not to support the series.

The two affiliates, who are both owed by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, are KARK-TV in Little Rock, Arkansas, and WTWO-TV in Terre Haute, Indiana. Both will pre-empt the program’s network premiere tomorrow night, with WTVO choosing to air, in its stead, the 1998 motion picture “Simon Birch,” a overtly religious film that apparently meets the AFA’s narrow definition of wholesome, family entertainment.

I just love the how the AFA and their Rural Devout, USA minions bristle at anything religious that doesn’t fix neatly into their halcyon vision of born-again Christian perfection, choosing instead to ignore the reality of the modern world. But perhaps that’s why the were all so united in electing our Smirking POTUS in 2000 and 2004; he operates exactly just like they do.

In a related development, with Ariel Sharon still clinging to life in Israel after a massive stroke, Pat Robertson, former Republican presidential candidate and host of the 700 Club, stated on his television program last Wednesday that God may have struck down the prime minister for ceding His land to the Palestinians last year when Israel pulled out of Gaza.

“He was dividing God’s land, and I would say, ‘Woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the [European Union], the United Nations or the United States of America. God says, ‘This land belongs to me, and you’d better leave it alone,’”

Folks, you just can’t make this stuff up!

But we here at the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast consider ourselves to be fair and balanced. So instead of taking the next 3 or 4 minutes making pithy comments and disparaging remarks about Mr. Roberson’s mental health and the religious right in general, I decided to take a ride down the Eminem Hwy and seek out the counsel of one Rev Marcus Williams, who tends his flock at the New Evangelical Church and Banquet Hall on 8 Mile Road in Detroit. I asked the reverend whether or not I was wrong to lump all evangelicals together and what his thoughts were on Ariel Sharon’s stroke. So now, here is the Reverend, in his own words.

Rev. Marcus Williams Commentary

Thank you Reverend for doing more that I could’ve possibly done to help make my point about the Religious Right. The Rev would also like to me to remind the listeners of the Leftwing Nutjog Podcast that The New Evangelical Church and Banquet Hall has bingo every Wednesday night beginning at 6:30PM and 50/50 following Sunday morning services. He hopes to see you there.

Closing

That’s all for this edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast. Thanks for staying subscribed to this liberal source of goodness and if you like what you hear, consider voting for use over at podcast alley. We really would appreciate it.

And one program note. The Leftwing Nutjob Podcast will be on the road next week as I make my way across this great country of ours, eventually ending up in the mother of all Red States, yep, you guessed it, Texas. So look for special reports of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast all next week as I take this source of liberal goodness right into the belly of the beast.

Remember, you can always contact the show by email at leftwingnutjob ‘at’ gmail.com or by calling our new listener comment line at 1-313-406-7771. We’re always eager to heard your comments and suggestion about the podcast.

So until next time this is your Leftwing Nutjob Podcaster saying, goodbye and good day.

Sources:

Washington Post

CNN.com

Comment [1] - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Jan 8, 04:42 PM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 34

Episode 34 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Abramoff’s pleas, Polosi’s letter, Skilling’s stock sale.

Direct link to the show.

SHOWNOTES/TRANSCRIPT

LEFTWING NUTJOB PODCAST #34 FOR JANUARY 4, 2006

Introduction

Pursuing a scorched earth policy against the Republican disinformation machine, it’s the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for January 4, 2006.

Copping a plea. Former uber lobbyist Jack Abramoff rolls over and agrees to cooperate with prosecutors in an effort to avoid becoming a permanent prison house bitch. We’ve got a report.

Letter of concern. House minority leader Nancy Pelosi answers critics by releasing her correspondence with the NSA over it’s secret spy program. Sorry to burst your bubble, ditto-heads.

Red handed. Enron’s former CEO has his testimony before the SEC about a $14 million dollar stock sale come back to bite him in the ass. We’ll mock somesympathy.

And this plus a nifty new service for our listeners on tonight’s edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

Corruption

We’re searched all around for a theme to introduce our new corruption , something that will undoubtedly become a staple over the next few months, and here it is:

So for tonight’s inaugural corruption segment, we take a look at someone who middle name may just be “corruption” – and no, I’m not talking about Tom DeLay.

Jack Abramoff, über lobbyist and the Justice Department’s new best friend, avoided the maximum 30 years in prison by pleading guilty yesterday afternoon to three felony charges as part of a plea bargain, setting the stage for testimony that could very well alter the political landscape in Washington, D.C.

Abramoff answered to charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion before U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle, citing a “multitude of mistakes” that led him to this point and expressing “sorrow and profound regret” at this actions.

“Your honor, words will not be able to ever express how sorry I am for this, and I have profound regret and sorrow for the multitude of mistakes and harm I have caused. All of my remaining days, I will feel tremendous sadness and regret for my conduct and for what I have done. I only hope that I can merit forgiveness from the Almighty and from those I have wronged or caused to suffer. I will work hard to earn that redemption.”

The plea deal that Mr. Abramoff worked out with prosecutors includes cooperating with the Internal Revenue Service, agreeing to pay the IRS some $1.72 million in penalties, as well as paying some $26.7 million in restitution. And with the former lobbyist’s cooperation a big part of his agreement with federal prosecutors, the attention now turns to whom the next recipient of a federal indictment will be, with some placing their bets on Ohio Republican Representative Bob Nay.

In a related development, late yesterday, Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle filed a request for access to files related to Mr. Abramoff’s indictment in connection with his ongoing prosecution of former House majority leader Tom DeLay. And with 35 years of history between the two, it doesn’t take a genius to conclude that where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

Ahead Jack Abramoff’s appearance in a Miami court room this morning, where he pled guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck, the ripple effect from his plea bargain with the Justice Department has already begun to yield some fruit.

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert has become the latest member of Congress to attempt to distance himself from the former Republican wunderkind by donating to charity some $70,000 dollars that he received in campaign contributions via clients of Mr. Abramoff. In a statement delivered by the Speaker’s spokesman Ron Bonjean, Mr. Haster believed that “while these contributions were legal, it is appropriate to donate the money to charity.”

Dennis Hastert’s repurposing of Abramoff-tainted funds follows similar actions by other Washington lawmakers, including Montana Republican Senator Conrad Burns, who has pledged to return $150,000, and North Dakota Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan, who has stated that he would give back $67,000 that he received from Indian tribes that Mr. Abramoff’s firm represented.

Texas Republican Tom DeLay, my favorite whipping-boy of the moment, has already directed his political action committee, Americans for a Republican Majority, to return $5,000 that it received from Abramoff; a drop in the bucket for the former House Majority Leader.

Too bad he couldn’t have used it to help finance his defense fund.

Later this afternoon, President Bush’s re-election campaign has announced that it will be donating $6000 in campaign contributions that it says is received in connection with Jack Abramoff. The former lobbyist achieved the title of “Pioneer” during the Smirking POTUS’ 2004 presidential campaign by raising over $100,000.

So where’s the other $94,000, Mr. President?

Corruption

We’re filing the following story under corruption this evening, because, not only do we like the new theme and wanted to use it again, but because, like John Kerry said, this bunch is some of the most corrupt group of individuals that we’re ever seen.

Responding to a request from California Democratic Representative Nancy Pelosi, the NSA released a redacted copy of her letter to Lieutenant General Michael Hayden, who was at that time the Director of the National Security Agency. Ms. Pelosi composed the letter some four years ago following a appearance by Mr. Hayden before the House Intelligence Committee when she was serving as the ranking Democrat.

The letter goes a long way toward answering critics who have been attacking those who have been voicing concerns about the Smirking POTUS’ secret program, arguing that Congress knew all along what was going on and never voiced any concerns about it until it became a political issue. But Ms. Pelosi’s correspondence to Mr. Hayden does, in fact, reveal that the House Minority Leader did indeed have concerns and voiced them quite succinctly and directly to the NSA.

“I am concerned whether, and to what extent, the National Security Agency has received specific presidential authorization for the operations you are conducting.”

Mr. Hayden’s response to the Minority Leader was also released as well yesterday. However, the content of the Director’s letter had been redacted to the point of it not containing any useful information.

So take that, you Bush apologists. Your boy is going down.

Conspiracy

In tonight’s conspiracy segment, we take a look at new developments in the upcoming trial of Enron’s dynamic duo.

Former Enron Chief Executive Officer Jeff Skilling may be finding himself in even more hot water over a possible false statement that he made to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC deposed Mr. Skilling shortly after the energy giant filed for bankruptcy in December of 2001 and in the course of the deposition, he was asked about the circumstances surrounding his sale of 500,000 shares of Enron stock on September 17, 2001. Mr. Skilling stated to officials that the sole reason for his divestment was concern over the possible effects that the recent 9/11 attacks would have on the company’s bottom line.

Now prosecutors are arguing that the real reason that Mr. Skilling sold his shares was due to insider information, especially in light of new evidence they’ve obtained that shows he attempted to divest himself of some 200,000 shares just 5 days earlier on September 6, 2001. That trade was attempted through Charles Schwab but was cancelled due to the fact that the brokerage firm did not know that he was no longer an officer with the company. Mr. Skilling left Enron in August of that year.

The prosecution’s motion was filed yesterday in a Houston federal court and states, in part:

“Skilling’s attempt to deceive the SEC about the reason for his sale in sworn testimony gives rise to an inference that material nonpublic information was a factor in his decision to sell in September 2001.”

Mr. Skilling’s attorney has cried foul, maintaining that his client’s testimony that was included in yesterday’s motion was taken out of context. But no matter how you slice it, when Jeff Skilling and his former boss Ken “Kenny-Boy” Lay face twelve angry men later this month, no amount of finger pointing or word-smithing, in my opinion, are going to keep these two from doing hard time in the big house. And that, my friends, will be justice served.

Conclusion

That’s all for this evening’s edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast. And I would like to call your attention to our new listener feedback line. Just call 313-406-7771 and leave me a voice mail with comments or suggestions about the show or about anything else you want to get off your chest. Also, be sure to leave your first name and where you’re from then stay tuned—you may just find your call featured on an upcoming nutjob podcast. So be a part of the show and call 313-406-7771.

And as always, you can email me at leftwingnutjob ‘at’ gmail.com. Also, if you enjoy the show, consider voting for us on PodcastAlley. We really would appreciate it.

So for now, this is your leftwing nutjob podcaster saying, goodbye and good day.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Jan 5, 12:14 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 33

Episode 33 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Rummy’s Xmas gift, Abramhoff rolls over, Kenny-Boy gets his day in court, more on Bush’s spy program.

Direct link to the show.

SHOWNOTES/TRANSCRIPTS

LEFTWING NUTJOB PODCAST #33 FOR JANUARY 1, 2006.

Introduction

Beginning another year of pissing off the Republican Party, it’s the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for January 1, 2006.

Cronyism. The Smirking POTUS gives Rummy a chicken hawk’s wet dream for Christmas. We’ll play Scrooge.

End Game. Former Capital Hill lobbyist Jack Abramhoff may be close to coming clean to the Feds about his dirty deeds. We’ll take a look.

Kenny-Boy. Enron is back in the headlines as the former energy giant’s chairman gets set to face 12 angry men. Where can I volunteer for jury duty?

Broken Record. President Bush maintains that his authorization for the NSA to conduct domestic spy operations is on firm legal ground. We’ll have skepticism.

All this and more on this New Year’s edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

Smirking POTUS

In tonight’s Smirking POTUS segment, we take a look at more questionable behavior from President George W. Bush.

If anyone needed another reason to conclude that Donald Rumsfeld and the Bush Administration value personal loyalty and political cronyism over honor, duty, and service to country, one need not look any further that a clandestine directive that the Smirking POTUS issued last week.

The new executive order, signed on December 22, 2005, reorganizes the emergency line of succession within the Pentagon in event of a disaster, elevating three close confidants of the Defense Secretary to positions higher than those of the Secretary of the Army, Navy, or Air Force.

Traditionally, the Secretary of the Army has held the 3rd position behind the Deputy Secretary of Defense. That position will now be occupied by the undersecretary for intelligence, with the policy undersecretary and the undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics rounding out the top five.

All of the aforementioned positions are currently occupied by strong loyalists to Donald Rumsfeld as well as his wackjob policies.

The reorganization ensures a continence of Bush Administration policy at the Pentagon in the event of an emergency, effectively relegating years of military experience to the sidelines in favor of more yes men and continued Chicken Hawk gullibility, immaturity, and bullheadedness.

And isn’t that how we wound up in Iraq in the first place?

Man Behind the Curtain

In our Man Behind the Curtain segment this evening, we take a look at how far a once prominent Washington lobbyist has fallen and who he may be taking with him.

The Associated Press is quoting undisclosed sources that über lobbyist Jack Abramhoff is apparently close to signing a plea agreement in which he would most likely name names and make the lives of a lot of powerful Congressmen up on the Hill very uncomfortable in the near future.

Abramhoff, along with his partner Adam Kidan, have been under indictment for conspiracy and fraud since August of 2005, with charges including fabricating a false $23 million wire transfer, unethical influence of Congress, and the defrauding of American Indian tribes out of millions of dollars.

Mr. Kidan has already made a deal with prosecutors, agreeing to testify about what he knows back in December. And now with Abramhoff’s help, we’ll might soon be able to follow the money right on up to Tom DeLay’s doorstep.

Conspiracy

We’re filing the following story under a conspiracy heading this evening, because how else can you account for how long it has taken to bring Ken Lay to justice?

The former Enron chairman will begin facing the music later this month as his trial is set to now begin on January 30 after Richard Causey, Enron’s former chief accounting officer, copped plea last week, agreeing to testify against Kenny Boy as well as Jeffrey Skilling, the company’s former chief executive.

Lay’s trial, which has been bumped back in order for the defense to get a handle on the new Causey development, was originally scheduled to start on January 17. Lay’s attorney Mike Ramsey, according to sources, is currently working his ass off to prepare a motion arguing that it will be virtually impossible for his client to be afforded his constitutional right to a fair trial, due to the fact that his name, as well as that of his former company Enron, are now synonymous with corporate corruption.

Well, that’s not our fault, now is it?

Department of Homeland Tyranny

In tonight’s Department of Homeland Tyranny segment, we take a look new developments in the President’s ongoing program of spying on American citizens.

The Smirking POTUS yesterday, while once again using the US Military as a photo-op for this failed Iraq policy, again took the time to defend his secret program of monitoring international phone calls by the NSA without court order.

Responding to a reporter’s question yesterday after visiting wounded troops at an Army hospital in San Antonio, the president said “If somebody from al Qaeda is calling you, we’d like to know why.”

The Smirking POTUS went on to defend his authorization of the program by saying that American lives have been saved and that the monitoring of calls was “very limited.”

Earlier in the week it was reported that the Justice Department has officially opened an investigation into determining just who it was that tipped off the media to the clandestine program in the first place, something that the Bush Administration has equated to nothing less than an treasonist act.

But what this podcaster would like to know is why it took only 3 weeks for Bush Administration buddy Alberto Gonzales to get this investigative ball rolling when it took nearly for the Justice Department to look into the Valerie Plamme affair, especially if you believe the Administration’s hyperbole about the seriousness of the charges. But then again, I thin k we may all know the answer to that one.

Conclusion

That’s all for this edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast. And now that it’s the beginning of not only another year but also another month, we would appreciate it if you would cast a vote for us over at PodcastAlley. And thanks for staying subscribed to this source of progressive goodness in a churning sea of right-wing spin.

So for now, this is your Leftwing Nuthjob Podcaster saying, goodbye and good day.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Jan 2, 01:09 PM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 32

Episode 32 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Right wing crowing, Muslims monitored for radiation, EU arrest warrants for CIA, listener comments.

Direct link to the show.

Shownotes/Transcripts

The LEFTWING NUTJOB Podcast for December 27, 2005.

Introduction

Returning from a long winter’s nap, it’s the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for December 27, 2005.

Little Red Book. The right-wing bloggers have a field day with false allegations of DHS watch-lists and resurgent McCarthyism. We’ll hit back.

Duck and Cover. The FBI may be conducting radiation testing in your neighborhood. They are in mine.

From Italy with Love. In a followup to a story that we reported on earlier in the month, EU arrest warrants have been issued for 22 CIA agents. We’ll attempt rendition of the facts.

All this plus your comments on this edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

Department of Homeland Tyranny

In our Department of Homeland Tyranny segment this evening, we take a look at an attempt by the GOP faithful to get a little payback.

Things must be getting pretty bad for the Right. I mean, it must be tough for them to watch their Smirking POTUS paint himself into a political corner by alienating long-standing allies, lying about rendition and torture, and then having to come clean about illegal wire taps. So I guess it could be expected for the GOP devout to fall all over themselves with reckless abandon to point out “our” (read:LIBERAL) error when it was reported yesterday that the UMass-Dartmouth student, whose tales of DHS watch-lists and undercover agents had the Internets ablaze over the holiday weekend, admitted to making the whole thing up.

The student, who has yet to be identified, came clean to his instructor Brian Glyn Williams, the same instructor to whom he originally imparted his sordid account. Mr Williams became suspicious of his student when certain aspects of his story couldn’t be corroborated; specifically, proof that an interlibrary loan request had even been made in the first place.

So it was with unmitigated glee that certain right-leaning blogs attacked their fellow bloggers from across the aisle, including the LeftwingNutjob.com, stopping just short of insinuating a vast left-wing conspiracy was responsible for the tale. And, true to form for the slack-jawed mouth breathers, they choose to leave out an important aspect of the story, one that would poke holes in their circle-jerk theory—that it was, in fact, a pragmatic, liberal college professor who, in his own words, was “seeking the truth,” and was ultimately responsible for uncovering the falsehood.

Yes, my fellow progressives, we should allow the conservatives their moment of triumph against the evil forces of the Liberal Media, whom they believe is hell bent on their President’s utter destruction; allow them a minuscule moment of respite in the spirit of the holiday season, for what lies before them in 2006 will most certainly be much worse then they can possibly imagine at this point in time.

Happy New Year and good luck, my conservative friends. You’re going to need it.

Conspiracy

We’re filing the following story in our conspiracy file this evening because they’re really isn’t anywhere else to put it, especially since we’ve already had a department of homeland tyranny segment, but I digress…

It was reported by CNN last week that the FBI has been actively monitoring radiation levels at over 100 “predominantly Muslim-related sites” in and around the Washington, D.C. area, as well as in other major cities. The tests are being conducted without court order because the Bureau doesn’t believe it needs one due to the fact that the tests are being conducted on public property like parking lots.

Quick to distance themselves from insinuating that the Muslim faith is the only criterion for the surveillance, the head of the FBI Washington field office, Mike Mason, said that “there is no nuclear- or radiation-monitoring program targeting mosques or other places of gathering by Muslim or any other particular group of citizens.”

In addition to the nation’s capital, other cities around the country that have had similar tests conducted include Chicago, Illinois; Las Vegas, Nevada; Seattle, Washington; New York City, New York; and the home of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast, Detroit, Michigan.

Man Behind the Curtain

In our Man Behind the Curtain segment this evening, we take a look at new developments in the illegal abduction of an Italian terrorism suspect by the Central Intelligence Agency.

European arrest warrants, valid in all 25 EU member countries, have been issued for 22 purported CIA operatives in connection with the abduction and extraordinary rendition of cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr.

You may recall this story of international intrigue and idiocy when the Washington Post reported earlier this month “that CIA operatives may have abducted a man under surveillance by Italian officials in Milan and spirited him away to an Egyptian prison. Then, to cover up the deed, those same US agents then informed the Italian national anti-terrorism police and told them that their missing suspect had fled to the Balkins.”

The official request for extradition of the suspects from the United States is being held up, however, by an Italian Justice Minister, who is requesting more court documentation before deciding whether or not to deliver the petition to Washington.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, seemingly more concerned about keeping the Bush Administration happy than with his country’s own people or their sovereignty, has weighed in on the matter by stating that, “I don’t think there is any basis in the case.”

That rhetoric has heated up the debate within the country, with investigators pointing fingers at other government officials, accusing them of complicity with illegal CIA activity. But whatever the outcome, the case is sure to keep the issue of extraordinary rendition, and the CIA’s use of it, in the spotlight for quite some time.

Critical Feedback

In our Critical Feedback Segment this evening, I respond to a letter from a Mr. Jose Alvarez from the great state of Maine.

Mr. Alvarez writes, Dear Mr. Nutjob, where the hell are you? It’s been nearly a week since your last podcast. I’m jonesing here, throw a brother a line, will you?

Happy Holidays,

Jose Alvarez
Derry, Maine.

Well Mr. Alvarez, I apologize for my long absence, but I was celebrating the Christmas Holiday with friends and family, secure in the notion that the world would go one without me. But as with all of us who are afflicted with news addiction, Headline News or the Washington Post was never far away. And with the new year right around the corner, I have quite a few things in store for both the listeners of the podcast and the readers of the blog. So stay tuned, dear listeners, 2006 is going to be the year of the Leftwing Nutjob.

And that brings to a close this edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast. As always, you can send comments or suggestions to me at leftwingnutjob ‘at’ gmail.com, or you can visit the blog at leftwingnutjob,com. And if I don’t get a chance before the new year, I would like to wish all of my dedicate listeners a very happy new year and thank you for staying subscribed.

So for now this is your leftwing nutjob podcaster saying, goodbye and good day.

Comment [1] - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Dec 28, 12:19 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 31

Episode 31 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Bush caves on torture, Novak calls the President out, Patriot Act turned down, NSA monitoring US citizens.

Direct link to the show.

Shownotes/Transcripts

LEFTWING NUTJOB PODCAST #31 FOR DECEMBER 18, 2005

Introduction

Broadcasting from the the frozen tundra of Michigan, where the air temperature is consistent with the average IQ of a typical GOP supporter, its a Smirking POTUS special edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for December 18, 2005.

Strong-armed. Senator John McCain gets the Smirking POTUS to blink first as President Bush agrees to a total ban on the use of torture by US personnel. Joseph Mengela, I mean Vice President Dick Cheney is unavailable for comment.

Fed up. Syndicated colunist and White House shill Bob Novak suggests that President Bush knows who the Valerie Plame leaker is. Is Booby going senile or has the pressure finally gotten to him?

Common sense. The US Senate votes down renewal of the USA Patriot Act over growing concerns about possible abuses of civil liberties. We’ll take a look.

Spy Game. President Bush authorizes the NSA to break the law and piss on the Constitution by illegally spying on US citizens. Will the GOP have yet another indictment to wring its hands over?

All this and more on tonight’s edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

Smirking POTUS I

In our first Smirking POTUS segment this evening, we take a look at the victory that Senator John McCain secured over his former rival presidential candidate, the Smirking POTUS.

Arizona Senator John McCain, who never backed down, never gave in, and never accepted anything less than complete victory, got what he wanted yesterday: President Bush’s agreement to completely ban the use of torture by U.S. personnel.

The concession ends months of foot dragging by the White House, who argued for exceptions to any potential bans for CIA agents and other intelligence personnel, maintaining that any restrictions could endanger the safety of America citizens (like a worn out record-over and over and over again). But cracks in the Administration’s position began to show last week, when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, while on a visit to Europe, attempted to clarify the US government’s beleaguered position on torture to her already suspicious european hosts. When her comments were well received, they were viewed as a shift in policy by the White House, which, in turn, only intensified international calls for President Bush to come out publicly in support of the ban.

And with Wednesday’s 308-122 vote by the House of Representatives, which included language that recommended to include McCain’s torture ban proposal in a defense spending bill, the White House really had no where to go but to completely concede the issue, especially with public support clearly behind the measure.

The compromise by the Smirking POTUS and his administration was no doubt a bitter pill to swallow, having brought out some big GOP guns to lobby so strongly against the McCain initiative. And even though some Republicans are threatening to block the measure, like California Congressman Duncan Hunter, citing concerns about how the nation’s intelligence gathering ability will be affected, it appears to be, in the words of Senator McCain, “a done deal.”

Poor President Bush. It’s been a tough couple of weeks and it sure doesn’t like things are not going to be getting any better soon. Maybe Laura should lock the liqueur cabinet…

Smirking POTUS II

In our second Smirking POTUS segment, we examine the possible role that President Bush may himself be playing in the ongoing Valerie Plame investigation.

Syndicated columnist and White House shill Bob Novak may be growing irritated with the ongoing Valerie Plame investigation, especially since many point to the pressures of being at the center of the maelstrom the probable reason why he blew a gasket on Crossfire some months back. During a question and answer session this past Tuesday evening, following a speech given to the John Locke Foundation, a (what else) conservative think tank, Mr. Novak was asked about the case and his sources. In response to the question, the columnist stated that he was confident that the president knew where the leak came from and would be “amazed” if he didn’t know. Mr. Novak when on to suggest that the American people should “bug the president as to whether he should reveal who the source is.”

The comments were printed the next day in the Raleigh, North Carolina newspaper, News & Observer, and drew a quick response from Democrats, specifically from New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, who called on the Smirking POTUS to come clean. In letter to the president, Senator Schumer wrote:

“You are in a position to clear this matter up quickly [Mr. President]. Unlike Mr. Novak, who can claim an interest in maintaining the confidentiality of his sources, there is no similar privilege arguably preventing you from sharing this information. You have repeatedly suggested that you would like to get to the bottom of this affair, [and] at one point, in 2004, you suggested that anyone who was involved in leaking the name of the covert CIA operative would be fired.”

President Bush, who maintains that any and all discussions on the matter be deferred in lieu of the on-going investigation, has yet to respond to the Senator. But the comments made by Mr. Novak raise an interesting question: if, as the columnist maintains, that his sources for his July 2003 column were senior White House officials, and are known to the president, could the Smirking POTUS be charged with obstructing justice by withholding this information?

I’m sure a conviction on that charge would most certainly meet the criteria of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” the prerequisite for impeachment of the President of the United States of America.

In a related development, it was reported late Friday that Robert Novak will leave CNN at the end of the year, ending a 25 year career at the cable news network giant as an on-camera commentator. Fox News Network, the bastion of (un)truth and conservative bias, will give the old crankshaft a job starting in January, 2006. Novak’s contract expired with CNN on December 31. 2005.

“For many reasons, I thought it was a good time to terminate, and they thought it was a good place,’’ Novak said. ``I don’t want to work that much anymore.’‘

I guess the suits at CNN are trying to bring respectability and decency back to the network. Who woulda thunk it?

Smirking POTUS III

In our third Smirking POTUS segment in tonight’s incredible extravaganza, we examine the Senate’s recently rediscovered sense of honor and duty as the body votes down renewal of the USA Patriot Act.

In a stunning blow to the Smirking POTUS and his buddy Alberto Gonzales, Bill Frist and his gaggle of goose-stepping goons in the Senate couldn’t muster enough votes today in the US Senate to pass an extension to the USA Patriot Act.

Under the threat of a filibuster from Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold and Idaho Republican Larry Craig, the measure went down in flames to the tune of 52-47, 8 votes shy of a filibuster-overriding 60 votes, amidst growing opposition to the bill.

Critics of the legislation, who have argued in the past that it is invites abuse of civil liberties without any judicial oversight, got a boast to their cause over the past few days as word broke about the DoD anti Iraq war watch list and the president’s secret authorization for domestic surveillance by the NSA.

Now it becomes a war of egos as the Congressional Republican leadership of Speaker Hastert and Senator Frist have already stated that they will not accept an extension to the existing Patriot Act, something that the more moderate members in both parties are calling for in order to help reach a compromise on the more contentious issues of the bill.

And as it stands now, the existing USA Patriot Act is set to expire at midnight on December 31, 2005, an occurrence that would make it a very happy New Year indeed.

Smirking POTUS IV

In our final Smirking POTUS segment this evening, we take a look at the bombshell that was dropped in the White House this past Friday and the reaction to it by the Smirking POTUS.

Just in time to add more fuel to the fire about whether or not to renew the USA Patriot Act, the New York Times reported this past Friday, that back in 2002, the Smirking POTUS authorized, by secret presidential order, the super-secret NSA to spy on America citizens. The act apparently gives the National Security Agency, whose historical and legal mission has been the surveillance of other nations under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, has now turned it’s intelligence infrastructure inward, collecting information about individuals via email, telephone conversations, and fax transmissions.

Officials speaking on the condition of anonymity say that the NSA has only eavesdropped on those people who the agency believes to have connections to al-Queda or may be involved in potential terrorism activities. But that broad definition, combined with an NBC News report from earlier this week that uncovered a secret DoD database of citizen anti-war groups, have given some members of the US Senate pause in their efforts to reach a compromise on the renewal of the Patriot Act.

The publication of the article by the New York Times comes amid reports that the paper sat in the story for over a year at the behest of the Bush Administration, who felt that the exposure of the operation would do great harm to the safety of the country. But there may also be another reason. According to Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies at George Washington University, the secret presidential order may amount to the Smirking POTUS authorizing criminal activity. Well, what do you know about that?

But whatever the outcome, these revelations of civil rights abuses can leave no doubt that the concerns of civil-liberties groups like the ACLU, who have warned that these types of abuses might happen, have now been vindicated. And at the end of the day, is anyone really surprised?

In a followup to this story, the Smirking POTUS this morning used his weekly radio address to come clean to the American people about authorizing the NSA to conduct covert surveillance operations upon US citizens. The revelation comes just over a day after the New York Times reported the secret presidential order, which President Bush first issued just weeks after the 9/11 attacks.

Renewed every 45 days, Mr. Bush maintains that the secret operation is vital to the keeping the nation safe and chastised those news agencies who reported the finding.

“The existence of this secret program was revealed in media reports after being improperly provided to news organizations. As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have, and the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk.”

The president went on to add that “revealing this information is illegal.”

Oh, really, Mr. President? So by brushing aside questions about the legality of your own actions, having us take you at your word that what you did was within your “constitutional authority,” you now invoke the threat of prosecution against those who revealed your possible illegal activities in the first place?

Tricky Dick ain’t got nothing on you, sir.

Conclusion

That’s all for this edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podast. Help spread the word of this source of goodness by telling your friends about us or by casting a vote for us a Podcast Alley. We’d also like to say hello to our new listeners over at the Podcast Pickle and thank you for subscribing to the show.

As always, you can reach us by email at leftwingnutjob@gmail.com or by visiting the blog and submitting a question or comment at leftwingnutjob.com.

So for now, this is your Leftwing Nutjob Podcaster saying, goodbye and good day.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Dec 18, 11:27 PM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 30

Episode 30 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: EU investigates CIA, new Tom DeLay wrinkle, US networks accused of helping al-Jazeera.

Direct link to the show.

SHOWNOTES/TRANSCRIPT

LEFTWING NUTJOB PODCAST #30 FOR DECEMBER 14,2005

Introduction

Proudly listed in secret government watch lists since September 2005, it’s the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for December 14, 2005.

Red-handed. The EU believes that it has evidence to back claims of alleged secret CIA kidnappings of European citizens without due process. The KGB is unavailable for comment.

Connecting the dots. Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle subpoenas new evidence in connection with the money laundering charges that have been brought against Tom DeLay. We’ll have laughter and analysis.

Boob tube. A former ABC News producer accuses television news networks of collusion with an arab news agency. It’s not the story the story you think it is.

All this and more on tonight’s action packed edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

Breaking news

We start off tonight’s podcast with breaking news. The House of Representatives passes renewal of the Patriot Act enough thought the Senate’s own Patriot, Senator Russ Fingold, promises a filibuster.

NBC News is reporting tonight the discovery of a secret Department of Defense document, hundreds of pages long, that lists both individual citizens and groups that the DoD considers to be threats to the military. We’ll keep an eye on this developing story.

And President Bush admits pre-war intelligence failures and takes full responsibility for the invasion of Iraq during a speech this afternoon, all the while defending the removal of Saddam Hussien as the right thing to do.

That’s all for breaking news, now, the rest of the program.

Conspiracy

In our conspiracy segment this evening, we take a look at the EU’s findings on secret CIA activities taking place in their own back yard.

European investigators believe that they have found evidence that supports the allegations of abduction and relocation of terrorism suspects by the Central Intelligence Agency, a process known as rendition.

In a report filed by Swiss Senator Dick Marty to the Council of Europe, Mr. Marty stated:

“The information gathered to date has reinforced the credibility of the allegations concerning the transfer and temporary detention of individuals without any judicial involvement in European countries.”

While stopping short of accusing any EU member states of complicity with the CIA in the process, Mr. Marty did note that “if the allegations proved correct, the member states would stand accused of having seriously breached their human rights obligations to the Council of Europe.”

The organization Human Rights Watch has identified both Poland and Romania and possible sites for the CIA prisons, although both nations have denied having been involved in the process.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice just completed her week-long visit to Europe amidst tough questions of the CIA’s involvement in potential human rights and due process violations. The heated rhetoric is believed to be responsible for the Bush Administration to officially state that they hold their government agents to abiding by the rules of the Geneva Convention, whether they are operating within or outside of the United States. Previously, the White House had held that the rules only applied within US territory.

This story looks like it’s got legs, which, of course, are attached to feet, which might just kick the Bush Administration right in the ass, if we are so lucky.

In a related development, the German government is still waiting for a response from the Bush Administration on allegations that it had kidnapped Lebanese-German Khaled al-Masri and spirited him away to Afghanistan, where he was interrogated and held prisoner for 5 months.

Although pleased with the comments made by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice while on her visit to Europe last week, who stated that mistakes “may have been made” , German’s foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in an address to the Bundestag today that he was troubled by the as yet unanswered allegations and voiced concern over the possible damage the scandal may have done to German-US relations, to say nothing of the rest of Europe.

Mr. Steinmeir, who was the chief of staff for then-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder when the alleged incidents occurred, has been attacked in the German newspapers since the scandal broke, even though he has denied any prior knowledge or involvement in the clandestine operations.

But with the Bush Administration’s house of cards falling down around it’s ears over the issue of rendition of European citizens, it will be interesting to see what other nations in the EU will find themselves still standing when the music stops.

And no, I didn’t forget about Poland.

Man Behind the Curtain

In tonight’s Man Behind the Curtain segment, we take a look at new developments in the Tom DeLay Money Laundering Scandal.

Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle, who’s busy reading his money laundering case against former used car salesman and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, requested bank records and other information from a defense contractor yesterday, who has been implicated in a bribery scandal that prompted California Republican Congressman Randy Cunningham to resign his seat last month.

“District Attorney Ronnie Earle issued subpoenas late Monday afternoon for California businessmen Brent Wilkes and Max Gelwix, records of Perfect Wave Technologies LLC, Wilkes Corp. and ADCS Inc. in connection with a contribution to a fundraising committee at the center of the investigation that led to DeLay’s indictment on money laundering charges.” – CNN.com

Mr. Earle appears to be following the money, specifically some $15,000 that was contributed to DeLay’s PAC, Texans for a Republican Majority, that is at the center of his money laundering case. The Texas prosecutor contends that The Hammer and his two associates funneled some $190,000 through the RNC for distribution to Texas GOP candidates.

An interesting tidbit of information that the CNN article mentions is that Tom DeLay’s wife actually worked for Wilkes Corporation, when they hired the consulting firm Alexander Strategies, for whom Mrs. DeLay was employed at the time. In addition, Brent Wilkes private jet company, Group W Transportation, ferried Tom DeLay back and forth to Texas three separate occasions, ostensibly for business but possibly for evil purposes as well.

So what does all this mean, dear reader? Well, it appears that if you follow that convoluted twists and turns of the GOP underworld long enough, you eventually find a degree of separation between these good ol’ boys that would make even Kevin Bacon jealous. And that’s saying a lot.

Smirkgin POTUS

In our Smirking POTUS segment this evening, we take a look another one of President Bush’s appointees who finding himself in a bit of hot water.

President Bush’ nominee to for assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, J. Dorrance Smith, may not get the nod from the Senate if Michigan Dem Carl Levin has anything to say about it.

Mr. Smith was called to testify yesterday behind a closed door session of the Senate Armed Services Committee and was asked some tough questions about an opinion piece that he wrote for the Wall Street Journal back in April, in which he accused US television news networks of providing aid to the enemy in the war on terror.

“Osama bin Laden, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and al Qaeda have a partner in Al-Jazeera and, by extension, most networks in the U.S. This partnership is a powerful tool for the terrorists in the war in Iraq.”

Following the hearing, Senator Levin that he had “deep concerns about whether or not he should be representing the United States government and the Department of Defense with that kind of attitude and approach.” He also remarked that he found Mr. Smith’s comments “extreme” and “over the top.”

Mr. Smith, is a former ABC News producer and spent 9 months in Iraq as U.S. Ambassador Paul Bremer’s senior media adviser, also commented in the Wall Street Journal that “Al-Jazeera has very strong partners in the U.S.—ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CNN and MSNBC. Video aired by Al-Jazeera ends up on these networks, sometimes within minutes.”

But all this hubbub doesn’t seem to phase the committee’s chairman, Republican Senator John Warner (R-Va.), as he said that he fully expects the Smirking POTUS’ nominee to be confirmed and voted on by the Senate by the end of the week.

Of course he does. This clown is cut from the same cloth as our wacky UN Ambassador John Bolton, who set the standard for irresponsible, illogical, abrasive, and confrontational behavior in governmental appointees. Mr. Smith is pussy. Cat.

Closing

That’s all for this edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast. We really do appreciate you tuning in to our little corner of the podosphere and hope that you stay subscribed to this little source of goodness. And as always, you can send us your comments to our email address at leftwingnutjob ‘at’ gmail.com.

So for now, this is your Leftwing Nutjob Podcaster saying, goodbye and good day.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Dec 15, 12:48 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 29

Episode 29 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Plame spoiler Viveca Novak, Tom DeLay and SCOTUS, listener feedback and promo.

Direct link to the show.

SHOWNOTES/TRANSCRIPT

LEFTWING NUTJOB PODCAST #29 FOR DECEMBER 12, 2005

Introduction

Broadcasting from just north of 8 Mile in the Motor City, home of the Detroit Lions and a mayor name Kwami, it’s the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for December 12, 2005.

Heartbreaking. Viveca Novak may have cost Liberals and interested parties everywhere the satisfaction of a Karl Rove frog walk by sharing a beer with his attorney Robert Luskin. We’ll have disappoinment.

Gerrymandering. Tom DeLay’s questionable 2003 redistricting of his home state of Texas gets the attention of the US Supreme Court. Why this man is still a member of the House of Representatives is beyond me.

All this plus your comments in this evening’s edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

Man Behind the Curtain

In our Man Behind the Curtain segment this evening, we take a look a what may turn out to be Karl Rove’s get out of jail free card.

It’s quickly becoming apparent that the Valerie Plame investigation is bad news for anyone who has become involved in the brouhaha. Take the case of Ms. Viveca Novak, TIME Magazine reporter and colleague of Matthew Cooper, who may just find herself in the unemployment line over her little after-work conversation with Robert Luskin, the attorney for Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove.

Information that has come to light over this past weekend about Ms. Novak’s involvement in the case paints a picture of someone who may just have innocently tipped off Luskin as to what his client knew and possibly when he knew it when she shared with him that Karl Rove may just be her colleague Matthew Cooper’s secret source at the magazine about Valerie Plame’s CIA identity. And this all new, heart-wrenching revelation in the roller-coaster case may just be enough to keep Rove out of the big house.

The conversation prompted Luskin and Rove to perform a new comprehensive search of both email and phone records; a search that eventually turned up an email between Rove and Steven Hadley, who was then serving at the White House as the deputy National Security Advisor, in which Rove mentions a conversation between him and Cooper. It was the discovery of that email that Rove claims “jogged his memory” and subsequently forced him changed his testimony before the grand jury.

Another possible legal strategy that the Washington Post alludes to is that Luskin may focus on the date of his conversation with Novak, using that as a basis upon which to bolster his claims that his client is guilty of nothing more than a poor memory and was not trying to hide anything. But whether or not this new bit of information helps or hinders Rove’s case is anyone’s guess, but sources close to the case agree the Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is very close to deciding his legal fate.

As for Ms. Viveca Novak, according to TIME Magazine Managing Editor Jim Kelly, she is now on administrative leave “taking a deep breath” and contemplating why she failed to inform her bureau chief about her involvement in the case until after she was called to testify before the grand jury. But any repercussions against Ms. Novak will probably not be enough for some who will undoubtedly hold her responsible as the person who let Karl Rove get away.

SCOTUS Watch

In our SCOTUS Watch segment this evening, we turn our focus to another GOP nitwit whose political back-door dealings are coming under new scrunity from the US Supreme Court.

It sure seems as of late that you are hard pressed to find a political scandal that doesn’t include at least one reference to the midas touch of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

Guess what? Today is no different.

Earlier this morning, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments appealing the 2003 redrawing of congressional districts in the state of Texas, in which Democrats and others maintained that Republican gerrymandering, led by former used car salesman Tom DeLay, was detrimental to minority voter representation. Now new developments in the case involving the Justice Department may have prompted the men (and women) in black to get involved.

In a Washington Post article from this past Friday, a recently discovered Justice Department memo highlights the involvement of two analysts and five lawyers from with the government who argued for the rejection of the redistricting plan, saying that it was “retrogressive,” but were eventually overruled by superiors.

Now that SCOTUS is involved, it will invariably put more unwanted attention on the involvement of The Hammer in another questionable endeavor. In addition, one of the DeLay’s coconspirators named in his money laundering indictment, James W. Ellis, was cited within the Justice Department memo as arguing strongly for the implementation of DeLay’s redistricting map, acknowledging and accepting the high political risks involved in doing so.

An interesting side-effect of this investigation may just reveal what role, if any, Tom DeLay played in locating Texas House Democrats, perhaps even to the extent of bribing or influencing FAA officials. But if nothing else, at the very least, we can look forward to seeing The Hammer’s name continuing to be tied to more scandal for the foreseeable future, further undermining his chances of regaining his former position as House Majority Leader.

Critical Feedback

In our Critical Feedback segment this evening, we take a look a email that I received from another dedicated listener.

Mr. Blackerby writes:

“Dear Leftwing Nutjob

You do a fantastic job and I really enjoy your show. I have been subscribed for a few months and look forward to each of your updates.

I have linked to you on my humble little blog. I may only have a few readers, but what the heck, every little bit helps.

Take care and keep up the great work.”

Thank you Mr. Blackerby for those kind words. Our little podcast has seen quite a jump in subscribers over the past few weeks, no doubt from listeners like yourself spreading the word about the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

And speaking of spreadig the word, the podcast Ed’s Mixed Bag graciously decided to include my promo in his last show. As a show of appreciation, here now is Ed’s promo for his own podcast, Ed’s Mixed Bag.

(PROMO)

Closing

That’s all for this edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast. We once again want to thank our listeners for tuning in and very much appreciate the many votes that were cast for this podcast over the weekend at Podcast Alley, where we’re inching even closer to being the number #1 poltical podcast on the net. So for now, this is your Leftwing Nutjob Podcaster saying goodbye and good day.

- posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Dec 13, 12:11 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 28

Episode 28 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: CIA called on the carpet, Rubberstamping Republicans, Alito pulls a Harriet Miers, Plame investigation update.

Direct link to the show.

SHOWNOTES/TRANSCRIPT

LEFTWING NUTJOB PODCAST #28 FOR DECEMBER 8, 2005

Introduction

Broadcasting from the frozen tundra of southern Michigan, where Republican bullshit has been frozen solid, it’s the Leftwing Nutjob Pocast for December 8, 2005.

Stupid. The Central Intelligence Agency’s is in hot water over allegations that it has kidnapped european citizens from within their sovereign countries. We’ll have disbelief.

Unpatriotic. Congressional leaders reach a compromise on extending portions of the USA Patriot Act. We’ll have backbone.

Too little info. Samuel Alito pulls a Harrient Miers, turning in what the Dems call an incomplete questionnaire. Just what is this man hiding?

All this plus an update on the Valerie Plame investigation on tonight’s edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

Man Behind the Curtain

In our man behind the curtain segment this evening, we take a look at the CIA and whether or not Central Intelligence is a contradiction in terms.

It seems that the Central Intelligence Agency has been reading the international best seller “How to Piss Off Friends and Antagonize Enemies.”

Yesterday it was reported by the Washington Post that CIA operatives may have abducted a man under surveillance by Italian officials in Milan and spirited him away to an Egyptian prison. Then, to cover up the deed, those same US agents then informed the Italian national anti-terrorism police and told them that their missing suspect had fled to the Balkins.

This little bit of shuck and jive hasn’t amused the Italian government, who had the man in question, an Islamic cleric named Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, under surveillance and were close to arresting him in connection with their ongoing investigation into a secret network of Islamic extremists residing in northern Italy. And now independent judicial authorities in Milan have launched a criminal probe into the kidnapping, filing charges against 22 men in connection with Nasr’s disappearance and requesting their extradition from the United States.

The Italian government has publicly denied any prior knowledge about the CIA operation, but privately a US official has stated off the record that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s administration was kept fully apprised of the operation. But what is most embarrassing for the Italians are the reports that Nasr, after being routed through several US military bases, was tortured by Egyptian officials prior to being released and placed under house arrest in Egypt.

The European Union has been very critical of the Bush Administration’s purported use of secret CIA prisons and it’s alleged use of torture to extract information from its captives. Now today comes word that the German government is also dissatisfied with an explanation given by the United States as to why the CIA had mistakenly held one of their own citizens prisoner, one Khaled Masri, for several months in Afghanistan as a suspected terrorist.

All this comes as Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice is continuing her tour of Europe, struggling to keep ahead of the decidedly pointed questions that have been leveled at her about the issues of torture and secret CIA prisons. Yesterday, Ms. Rice responded to critics by clearly stating that the Bush Administration prohibits the use of “cruel or inhuman techniques” during prisoner interrogations, whether its agents were operating either within or outside of the borders of the United States. But that statement is being viewed as a risk for the Secretary of State, especially if CIA agents are later found to be using torture on terrorism suspects. Then Ms. Rice would find herself the in the same position as her predecessor Colin Powell, completely devoid of credibility.

In response to this story on the Leftwing Nutjob Blog, the Thieving Monkey had this comment: “It’s not really that they want to piss off allies, it has more to do with them not giving a shit about what anyone thinks. They have their permanent war, against an emotion, terror, no less. They are very Hobbesian/1984 and are working on redefining the language and punishing thought.”

Thank you, Mr. Monkey. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Department of Homeland Tyranny

In our Department of Homeland Tyranny segment this evening, we take a look at the Constitution hating Republicans, who are amounting to nothing more the a rubber stamp for the fear mongering Bush Administration.

Congressional leaders yesterday afternoon announced that they had reached a compromise, extending 16 key provisions of the USA Patriot Act for another 4 years. In the first revision of the law since it went into effect shortly after September 11, 2001, Republican lawmakers claimed that they were trying to balance the security of the nation along with concerns over civil liberties.

Acknowledging that the compromise reached was “not perfect” but “acceptable”, Senator Arlen “Single Bullet Theory” Specter said that this solution was “preferable to the alternatives—the existing Patriot Act or no law at all.”

But not everyone is happy with bill, especially Democrats, who, according to Senator Patrick Lahey, were completely excluded from working on the compromise between the House and the Senate, arguing that that fact alone will not endear the measure to the American people.

“If this comes across as simply a partisan bill, do you think people in this country… will respect this legislation,” Leahy said. “They’re not. They’re not.”

Senator Russ Feingold, the only member to vote against the original Patriot Act, vowed to do all he could to prevent the measure from passing, including a filibuster, if need be.

Among the more controversial provisions in the Patriot Act—secret FBI access to library and business records as well as roving wiretaps—survived the negotiations, albeit with new legal restrictions upon them. The compromise bill would now force law enforcement to “seek a court’s approval before getting access to library and business records.”

That’s little solace to those of us who believe that the entire bill should have been scrapped and new legislation drafted that focused first on the protection of civil liberties before bending over to the elusive boogie that the FBI claims to be chasing as it expends time and resources reviewing which books that you’re checking out of your local library to read to your 4 year old.

SCOTUS Watch

In our SCOTUS Watch segment this evening, we take a look at allegations by the Democrats that Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito is not being completely forthcoming.

Senate Dems are asking Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito to provide them with additional information that he apparently failed to include in the questionnaire he returned to the Judiciary Committee last month.

Mr. Alito was asked to provide copies of all his reports, any speeches that he made, as well as the Supreme Court cases that he may have worked on during his time as a federal appellate judge, a federal prosecutor and a government lawyer.

The missing information in question apparently revolves around 3 cases that Senate Democrats where aware of and that Mr. Alito did not list nor provide information for.

Hmm, I wonder just what those cases might be. Oh, I don’t know, perhaps, possibly, going out on a limb here…ABORTION?!

Indictment Watch

We’ve decided to add a new segment to the show this evening, one we’re calling indictment watch due to the ever increasing amount of indictments and criminal charges being brought against members of the Republican Party. In tonight’s segment, we catch up with the latest developments in the Valerie Plame investigation.

An interesting new twist has emerged in the Valerie Plame investigation. The Washington Post reported this morning that not only was TIME Magazine reporter Viveca Novak deposed yesterday by Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, by so was Karl Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin. This little bit of information wasn’t included in yesterday’s CNN article that I referenced in this blog posting.

There is some confusion as to exactly when the deposition of Novak took place, as the CNN article states that she spoke to Fitzgerald last Friday, where the Post reports is was it was fact yesterday. The Post article also indicates that it was Luskin, rather than Novak, that gave testimony to the Special Prosecutor one week ago.

But in either case, neither witness is talking now, having possibly screwed the pooch when, according to some sources, Novak’s and Ruskin’s recollections conflicted as to when it was exactly that their conversation about Novak’s colleague Matt Cooper actually took place, thereby prompting the Special Council’s invitation for them both to testify under oath.

And considering the amount the trouble Karl Rove has caused for a lot of people in Washington, how long do you think it will be before the man is labeled radioactive and is hung out to dry by the Washington establishment, to say nothing of the Bush Administration. This Leftwing Nutjob Podcaster thinks that its time to take out the trash.

Closing

That’s all for this edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast. We would like to say welcome to our new listeners from Podcast Pickle as well as from Podcast.net as well as a big thank you to all of our regular subscribers. You’ve the reason why we’re here and we appreciated you tuning in.

Remember to send feedback to leftwingnutjob@gmail.com and to cast a vote for us at PodcastAlley if you haven’t already done so for the month of December.

So for now, this is your Leftwing Nutjob Podcast saying, goodbye and good day.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Dec 10, 12:16 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 27

Episode 27 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Condoleezza Rice’s torture clarification, FDR and the Smirking POTUS.

Direct link to the show.

SHOWNOTES/TRANSCRIPT

LEFTWING NUTJOB PODCAST #27 FOR DECEMBER 7, 2005

Introduction

Coming to you on the 64th anniversary of the day that continues to live in infamy, it’s the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for December 7, 2005.

Wordsmithing. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s clarification of the Bush Administration’s position on torture is, in the words of Press Secretary Scott McClellan, just a reiteration of their all ready existing position, even though that position has never been the official position. We’ll have confusion.

Looking back. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s speech to a joint session of Congress 64 years ago tomorrow united a nation in its resolve to emerge victorious against the Axis powers. We’ll have a history lesson.

All this and more on this edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

Breaking News

In our breaking news segment this evening, we bring you up to date on new developments on the Valerie Plame investigation.

Earlier this morning, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald entered a Washington, D.C. courtroom, accompanied by his staff and several boxes of documents, and went before a new grand jury, ostensibly to present additional evidence concerning his ongoing probe into the Valerie Plame CIA leak investigation.

After the nearly three-hour proceeding, Mr. Fitzgerald emerged without comment to reporters, just as a truck was pulling up to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave carrying a large shipment of Malox and Pepto Bismol for the staff of the West Wing.

We here at the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast will continue to keep you informed of any new developments as they occur.

Department of Homeland Tyranny

In our Department of Homeland Tyranny segment this evening, we take at a look at comments made by the Secretary of State as she makes where way across the former Soviet Union on the middle leg of her European Tour.

The Bush Administration, in a effort to help quell the firestorm of criticism it has received both here and in Europe over the use of secret CIA prisons and the alleged torture of its detainees, today made its strongest statement yet about its position on the treatment of those it held in US custody.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, while in the Ukraine meeting with President Viktor Yushchenko, attempted to clarify the United State’s stance on the issue with a statement that read in part:

“As a matter of U.S. policy, the United States’ obligations under the CAT [U.N. Convention Against Torture], which prohibits cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment—those obligations extend to U.S. personnel wherever they are, whether they are in the United States or outside of the United States.”

The sticking point that has caused such controversy revolves around the Bush Administration’s assertion that while United States is a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, the provisions in that charter only apply to treatment of prisoners on US soil, and not to the CIA or other government agents operating overseas. This “legal loophole” has been the target of recent Senate legislation spearheaded by Arizona Senator and former Vietnam War POW John McCain, who has argued that the Bush Administration’s stance on torture sullies the reputation of the United States both here and abroad.

But whether today’s statement by the Secretary of State will satisfy the White House’s critics on this issue is anyone’s guess, but it does appear that the Bush Administration, having found its chief diplomat continually dogged by this issue in the European Union, and unable to find support for its position here at home, may have just blinked.

Smirking POTUS

LEFTWING NUTJOB

In our Smirking POTUS segment this evening, we contrast the Presidency of George W Bush against one of his predecessors, the incomparable Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

As the fires were still burning in Pearl Harbor the day after the Japanese attack 64 years ago today, FDR went before Congress, not only to ask for a declaration of war against the Empire of the Sun, but to speak to the nation and assure them as only a leader can in a time of crisis, that although the country had just suffered a tremendous loss in life, we would pick ourselves up, we would dust ourselves off, and we would persevere.

Here now is the audio of that address:

What I find most compelling about FDR is that after the speech was given and in the months and years that followed, he maintained a singular focus to never let the country loose sight of the ultimate goal; the goal of removing from the world a threat to the security of the nation and to do so as quickly and as prudently as possible.

Contrasted with our current Smriking POTUS, who has never asked the country to sacrifice for this seemingly endless war on terror, and has strayed far from the initial goal of finding and defeating an enemy whose name we all knew; Usama bin Laden.

Today unlike WWII, there are no victory gardens, there is no rationing, there is no single sense of purpose that can only come from the commander in chief. There is only stubborn hubris and a petty sense of revenge that has distracted the country’s motivation from eliminating a clear and present danger to the country by putting vanity ahead of the interests of this great nation.

That’s why today, more than ever, we should never forget Pearl Harbor.

That’s all for this edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast. As always, send your comments to leftwingnutjob@gmail.com. And please vote for us at Podcast Alley, we really would appreciated it.

So for now, this is your Leftwing Nutjob Podcaster saying, goodbye and good day.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Dec 8, 12:21 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 26

Episode 26 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Rice heads to Europe, Karl Rove’s fairy godmother, Alito tries to mend fences, and Tom DeLay legal developments.

Direct link to the show.

Promo for show.

My Odeo Channel (odeo/6ecac32c66f1aef8)

SHOWNOTES/TRANSCRIPTS

LEFTWING NUTJOB PODCAST #26 FOR DECEMBER 6, 2005

Introduction

Coming to you from the just north of the Eminem Highway in the suburbs of the Motor City, it’s the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for December 6, 2005.

Torture 2-step. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to Europe amid growing protests from the EU over the Bush Administration’s purported use of secret European prisons. We’ll take a look.

Bosom buddies. Did Viveca Novak’s inside information and personal relationship with Robert Luskin keep Karl Rove from being indicted alongside Scooter Libby? We smell indictment.

Backpedal. Samuel Alito once again heads to Hill in an effort to quell the concerns over whether or not he really does respect the legal precedent of Roe v Wade. We’ll have skepticism.

Facing the music. Tom DeLay is ordered to stand trial for money laundering after a Texas Judge refuses to dismiss the most serious of charges brought against him. We’ll have glee.

All this on tonight’s super-sized edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

Smirking POTUS

In our Smirking POTUS segment this evening, we take a look at the ongoing torture controversy that follows the Secretary of State as she journeys to European continent.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is on her way to Europe, and between stops at Parisian boutiques and Milan shoe stores, she’ll be under a lot of pressure to respond to the firestorm of press that has erupted in the EU over the issue of secret CIA prisons.

Ms. Rice issue a statement prior to leaving that said, in part, that the US does not participate or condone torture and vigorously investigates allegations of same, while carefully treading around the question of whether or not the secret prisons even exist. She went on to also defend the United States’ use of rendition, which is the removal of foreign nationals from their sovereign soil without a formal extradition process, as well as the secret cooperation and sharing of intelligence with some nations of Europe.

Of the 8 countries that a senior US official identified to the Washington Post last month that kept the prisons within their borders, only Thailand and Afghanistan were identified by name, with the other six being referred to as merely “democracies in Eastern Europe.”

But in between the lines of Ms. Rice’s carefully worded treatise is what the Washington Post is interpreting as the Bush Administration’s overt warning to the governments of the EU; back off. That the benefits of intelligence sharing and the capture of these evil-doers has undoubtedly made your continent and its citizens more safer and more secure than they ever were before.

It appears that the White House has now decided that since it is having trouble intimidating the American public and the Fifth Estate, with its dark tales of doomsday and imaginary mushroom clouds, it has turned its sights on Europe and what it apparently considers to be its seemingly more simpleton society. But what the Bush Administration is going to find out, is that the EU press has never bent over for any of their governments nor has it ever taken the White House’s explanations for its actions at face value, having been some of the few countries who openly questioned the same Iraqi intelligence that the United States used for going to war well before the American press even got a clue.

So enjoy your trip, Madame Secretary. But don’t be surprised that your welcome is not a very warm one.

Conspiracy

In our conspiracy segment this evening, we take a look what role another TIME Magazine reporter may have played in the ongoing Valerie Plame investigation.

New information is coming to light about the role that TIME Magazine reporter Viveca Novak played in the events surrounding the grand jury probe of the Valerie Plame leak. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald now seems to be focusing his attention on assistance given, if any, by Ms. Novak to Karl Rove, via his attorney Robert Luskin, regarding his omission to the grand jury about his conversation with her colleague at the magazine, reporter Matthew Cooper.

Sources close to the investigation say that a picture is emerging where Ms. Novak contacted her friend Mr. Luskin and informed him that the testimony of his client Karl Rove may not pass muster if Cooper was compelled to testify by the Special Prosecutor. Specifically, it appears that Ms. Novak tipped off Rove to “revise” his testimony with an eye toward heading off any embarrassing revelations by Cooper’s testimony about the conversation he had with Rove about Plame. Now Fitzgerald appears to be trying to determine that whether or not without that assistance by Ms. Novak, would Bush’s longtime political advisor have come forward of his own volition.

Rove had the now pivotal conversation with Matthew Cooper just days prior to the undercover CIA operative’s name being revealed by White House shill Bob Novak, a conversation that he later detailed to colleague Stephen Hadley in a email. The discovery of that electronic communication was what Rove claimed to have jogged his memory and prompted him to change his previous testimony about who he had spoken to about Valerie Plame. But all this plotting and planning by Ms. Novak to help out her buddy Luskin may only serve to hasten Karl Rove rendezvous with a federal indictment.

SCOTUS Watch

In tonight’s SCOTUS watch, we take a look at the latest developments in the Samuel Alito nomination.

It appears that Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito really, really, really wants the job, and is prepared to offer whatever assurances he can to whomever will listen. In a private meeting with Senate Judiciary Chairmen Arlen “Single Bullet Theory” Spector, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals judge once again reiterated his support for Roe v. Wade, even though a memo written by the Alito himself some 20 years ago appears to contradict that sentiment.

President Bush’s nominee to replace Sandra Day O’Connor was on Capitol Hill this past Friday on something of a damage control mission as he struggled to explain the contents of the memo, in which he offered the hope that Roe would one day be overturned and suggested that the then Edwin Meese-led justice department should support state-sponsored initiatives in a effort to help curtail abortion. The contents of the document, released by the National Archives, has given his critics new ammunition in their effort to derail his confirmation.

Senator Spector said that in their conversation, Alito voiced his support of “stare decisis,” the Latin for “to stand by what is decided,” and noted the Roe was an established precedent within our society and had to be respected. Mr. Alito also stated that there was a distinct difference between the opinions of a young man trying to impress his boss and the reality of a being sitting judge. But as more and more information continues to come to light about Mr. Alito, it’s looking more and more like this nomination may just get “borked.”

Man Behind the Curtain

In our man behind the curtain segment this evening, we catch up with Tom DeLay, whose hopes of regaining his position as House Majority Leader were dashed yesterday in a Texas courtroom.

Texas Republican and maniacal GOP mastermind Tom DeLay will stand trial next month for money laundering, even though the charge of conspiracy brought by District Attorney Ronnie Earle was dismissed yesterday by Judge Pat Priest. But perhaps the more interesting news about yesterday’s developments were the arguments made by Mr. Delay’s attorneys in an attempt to get the charges against their client dismissed.

Before Judge Priest, counsel for the defense argued that under Texas law, money laundering is defined as the transfer of criminally obtained funds, and since the money in question was obtained legally, a crime therefore wasn’t committed. But Judge Priest didn’t agree, stating that the money involved became suspect when “it began to be held with the prohibited intent.”

Not to outdone, DeLay’s attorneys then argued that Texas money laundering law only applied to funds in the form of paper money or coins, not in a the form of a check, which was the disposition of the funds in question. Again, Judge Priest disagreed, stating that checks “are clearly funds and can be the subject of money laundering.”

Now you really got to love this. Tom DeLay and his attorneys are mounting a defense in which they are not denying the fact that their client and his compatriots, John Colyandro and Jim Ellis, routed the funds in question through the RNC and back to local Texas candidates, but are having a crack at wordsmithing the letter of the law in order to get Delay off the hook. And if yesterday’s ruling is any indication, the former House Majority Leader might be well served to find himself new counsel before he finds himself doing hard time in the big house. And that, my friends, would be a shame.

On second thought, not really.

And in a coda to our previous story, A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released yesterday as the former House Majority Leader was licking his legal wounds after being told that he would have to stand trail for money laundering indicates that support is slipping for “The Hammer” back in his home district.

The staunchly Republican 22nd Congressional District in Texas appears to be quite dissatisfied with its native son Tom DeLay, so much so that a majority of those polled believe that he probably is guilty of the charges brought against him by District Attorney Ronnie Earle. In addition, nearly 50% of those asked whether or not they would vote for Mr. DeLay in next year’s elections stated that they will cast their ballet instead for his as yet unnamed Democrat opponent.

That’s a shame.

Closing

That’s all for this edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast. If you enjoyed this source of liberal goodness, please cast a vote for us at Podcast Alley and stay subscribed in your favorite podcast aggregator. And don’t forget to write to us at leftwingnutjob ‘at’ gmail.com with any comments, suggestions or complaints that you may have. We really do appreciate the feedback.

So for now, this is your Leftwing Nutjob Pocaster saying goodbye and good day.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Dec 7, 12:04 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 25

Episode 25 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Slippery Samuel Alito, GOP scandal agony, Smirking POTUS’ shortcomings, letters from listeners.

Direct link to the show.

SHOWNOTES/TRANSCRIPT

LEFTWING NUTJOB PODCAST #25 DECEMBER 1, 2005

Introduction

Continuing to bring the source liberal goodness to the podisphere, it’s the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for December 1, 2005.

Two-face. President Bush’s nominee to replace Sandra Day O’Connor on the US Supreme Court has his past come back to haunt him as memo from 1985 contridicts his statements to US Senators. Will the real Samuel Alito please stand up.

Cold shoulder. Friends and aquitances abandon Randy “Duke” Cunningham as the GOP struggles to put whatever distance they can between themselves and an ever widening shadow of scandal.

Clueless. A former Bush Adminstration official states that the Smirking POTUS wasn’t concerned in the least about planning for a post-war Iraq following the US invasion. We’ll have shock and awe.

All this plus your comments on this edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

SCOTUS Watch

In our SCOTUS Watch this evening, we continue our coverage of Samuel Alito and his continuing attempts to change his spots.

The controversy surrounding Samuel Alito’s nomination to the US Supreme Court heated up yesterday when the National Archives released a memo from 1985 when, in his capacity as assistant to the solicitor general, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals judge expressed hope that Roe v Wade would one day be overturned.

The revelation has renewed calls by Democrats for the White House to release any and all documents from Mr. Alito’s tenure in the solicitor general’s office, as well as documents from when he worked for the Office of Legal Counsel. The Bush Administration is resisting such requests, as they did during Chief Justice John Roberts’ confirmation, claiming that the documents are privileged information.

The memo outlines a strategy suggested by Alito that the Justice Department should focus its attention on arguing for cases at the state level that advocate placing restrictions on access to abortion rather than mounting an all-out attack against Roe v. Wade.

This approach [would be] “free of the disadvantages that would accompany a major effort to overturn Roe. When the court hands down its decision and Roe is not overruled, the decision will not be portrayed as a stinging rebuke.” Samuel Alito May 30, 1985

Alito went on to remark that “no one seriously believes that the court is about to overrule Roe v. Wade,” and that the strategy he outlined would be a good compromise until the landmark ruling could be overturned.

Critics of Judge Alito’s nomination, like Senator Barbara Boxer of California, are pointing to this memo as another indication that he may not have been entirely forthcoming in his comments about Roe v. Wade when he met with senators on the hill last month, and that the “great respect” that he professed for the ruling may merely be a smoke screen in order to get his Christian Fundamentalist ass on the bench.

But the bigger question may just be who the hell is it in the National Archives that keeps leaking this information to the press? Or better yet, how can I PayPal him a donation to show my support?

Man Behind the Curtain

In our Man Behind the Curtain segement this evening, we take a look at the vain attempts by the President and his party to appear anything other than the crooked liars that they obviously are.

In the aftermath of House Republican Randy “Duke” Cunningham’s resignation from Congress this past Monday after pleading guilty to charges of bribery, tax evasion, and mail fraud, it didn’t take long for his former colleagues and friends to kick the eight-term representative to the curb and put him and his problems at arms length.

When asked about Mr. Cunningham at a presser in El Paso, Texas during the Smirking POTUS’ 2005 Immigration Tour through the south-west, Mr. Bush had this to say.

“The idea of a congressman taking money is outrageous,” the president said. “And Congressman Cunningham is going to realize that he has broken the law and is going to pay a serious price, which he should.”

Other members of Congress agreed with Mr. Cunningham’s decision to resign immediately, seemingly so as not to draw further unwanted attention to the endless parade of Republicans who are currently either under investigation or are facing indictment.

Representative David Dreier, another California Republican and Mr. Cunningham’s now former colleague, released a statement that read in part, “It is regretful that his great service to this country has been tarred by his actions.”

However, some GOPers are apparently refusing to acknowledge the impact that these scandals are having on their standing with the American public, even going so far as suggesting that their party’s current legal difficulties are merely the result of unwarranted scrutiny that has always historically been directed at the party that holds the power in Washington, D.C.

As for Randy Cunningham, even though he has to forfeit the vast majority of his ill gotten gains, he’ll still have his health, insofar as his pension and other perks afforded to all former members of Congress will not have to be relinquished.

It would seem that crime does pay after all.

Smirking POTUS

In our Smirking POTUS segment this evening, we take a look at new allegations about that President Bush’s leadership ability.

Here we have yet another former Bush Administration official stating what us “nutjobs” have long held to be true; that the Smirking POTUS did not give much thought at all with what to do with Iraq after we invaded the country and overthrew Saddam Hussein.

Joining the ranks of former water-bearers like Paul O’Neil who have since come clean, former State Department official Larry Wilkerson, Colin Powell’s chief of staff when Powell was serving as the US Secretary of State, gave an interview on Monday to the Associated Press in which he opined that President Bush was “too aloof, too distant from the details” when it came to planning for a post-invasion Iraq. The result, Mr. Wilkerson says, was a dark void that was filled by the likes of Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and their ilk, who believed that the US was not beholden to the Geneva Convention and whose beliefs were eventually codified into policy by the now infamous ‘Torture Memo.’

Mr. Wilkerson went on to criticize the CIA for allowing patently incorrect information to be the basis upon which the country went to war, and has very nearly come to the conclusion himself that the Bush Administration outright ignored any intelligence except for that which bolstered their case for war with Iraq.

These comments come on the heels of an ABC News report that documents the use of water boarding, a callous interrogation method that makes a person believe that they are drowning by placing them supine with legs elevated and pouring water over their blind-folded face, ostensibly for the purpose of extracting information.

The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Porter Goss, has said that he doesn’t know whether or not water boarding could be classified as torture, yet US generals during the Vietnam War outlawed it and later court-martialed a soldier caught performing it on a captured North Vietnamese soldier. And prior to that, in 1901, during the Spanish-American war, an “Army major was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor for water boarding an insurgent in the Philippines.”

So why then can Porter Goss insist so adamantly that his agency is not breaking the law when they interrogate prisoners, even though water boarding is considered the harshest of the CIA’s “six secret interrogation techniques?”

Because they aren’t; at least according to a rumored 2002 presidential finding that approved water boarding as a valid interrogation technique. Alberto Gonzales, and his then boss former Attorney General John Ashcroft, saw to that.

Critical Feedback

In our critical feedback segment this evening, we take a look at an email that I received from a dedicated listener.

Mr Al Reinig writes, dear Mr. Nutjob, I really like your show. I heard about it from Adam Curry and I have been tuning you in ever since. The commentary is dead on and I really like the style and presentation of your podcast. So, where are you from? Second most dangerous city in the US? San Francisco maybe?

Thank you for those kind words, Mr. Reinig, we merely strive to tell it like it is, even if it scares the hell of the Republican faithful so much, that they refuse to respond to our emails.

The show originates from just north of the Eminem Highway in the suburbs of the Motorcity, where I keep a sharp eye out for compassionate conservative doubletalk and regularly lay the smack down on the GOP. Come to think about it, it’s actually quite fun and entertaining. Thanks for writing.

Closing

That’s all for this edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast. Be sure to tell your friends about us and to stay subscribed to this beacon of truth with your favorite podcast aggregator.

Also, it’s now the first of the month, which means that Podcast Alley has reset the rankings, leaving you, dear listener, with the opportunity to vote for the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast again. So if you enjoy the show, please head on over to podcast alley and cast a vote for us. We really would appreciate it.

So for now this is your Leftwing Nutjob Podcaster saying, goodbye and good day.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Dec 2, 10:58 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 24

Episode 24 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Porter Goss is Capt. Obvious, the future of Afghanistan, Viveca Novak is Rove’s sugar daddy, Abramhoff fallout.

Direct link to the show.

SHOWNOTES/TRANSCRIPT

LEFTWING NUTJOB PODCAST #24 NOVEMBER 29, 2005

Introduction

Broadcasting from the second most dangerous city in America, where Republicans fear to tread, it’s the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast for November 29, 2005.

Captain Obvious. Porter Goss, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, tells the country why they can’t seem to find Usama bin Laden. You won’t believe his answer.

Cut and Run. Increasing violence in Afghanistan may be an indication that our old friends the Taliban are back in the saddle. I’ll have commentary.

The other woman. Attorney Robert Luskin believes that Viveca Novak may be his client Karl Rove’s best bet for keeping his ass out of the big house. We’ll take a look.

Casualty. Uber lobbyist Jack Abramhoff’s evil testicles ensnare a top Democratic Senator. We’ll have a strong dose of reality.

All this goodness and more on tonight’s edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast.

Department of Homeland Tyranny

In our Department of Homeland Tyranny segment this evening, we take a look at the CIA and comments made by it’s current director, Porter Goss.

In an interview this morning on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Porter Goss stunned the world by stating that Usama bin Laden doesn’t really want to be found.

Responding to questions about why the CIA, with its seemingly unlimited resources and top secret operational budget, can’t seem to locate bin Laden or his deputy Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Mr. Goss said that the reason was “primarily because they don’t want us to find them and they’re going to great lengths to make sure we don’t find them.”

Well, no shit? And I always thought we knew exactly where bin Laden was and we were not going after him because we didn’t want to piss off our toupee-wearing buddy Pervez Musharraf, the military dictator of Pakistan!

Goss when on to offer an almost tacit acknowledgment about the much rumored secret gulags that his agency purportedly has in Europe where they incarcerate the evildoers captured in the war on terror. Saying that “We’re fighting a war on terror [and] we’re going to have to capture some terrorists and inevitably they’re going to have to have some due process,” Goss added, “It’s going to be done lawfully.”

But this revelation about bin Laden still has me reeling, like when you find out that your mommy is really Santa Claus, or that the tooth fairy doesn’t really take your teeth to give to other children but instead deposits them in your daddy’s top dresser drawer. No wonder the CIA operates in secret. Any other disclosures like this might just rip a tear in the space time continuum. And then where would we be?

Smirking POTUS

In tonight’s Smirking POTUS segment, I offer commentary on what has become of Afghanistan and what the future may hold.

In early 2003, when the Bush Administration decided to shift its focus away from Afghanistan to almost entirely on Saddam Hussein and Iraq, some forward thinking people asked a very simple question: what about the Taliban? Where was its leader, Mulla Omar? Is this really the best time to leave when there is still so much more to accomplish?

The chickenhawks at the White House were quick to dismiss such petty concerns. “It’s taken care of,” they said, “just look at the progress—kids are going to school, women are less oppressed, embassies are re-opening.”

But in the back of some people’s minds was a sense of incompleteness, a sort of deja vu not unlike the neo conservative lament about not going all the way to Bagdad during the first Gulf War. Was it the fact that Mullah Omar was still on the loose? That Usama bin Laden had eluded capture at Torra Bora? Or was it the factions of still-armed Taliban that were freely roaming the countryside just outside of the green zone that surrounded Kabul? Whatever it was, it has lingered in the minds of those who predicted what now appears to be happening; a resurgence of violence in Afghanistan.

In a Washington Post article the morning, an upswing in sophisticated, coordinated attacks over the past few months is chronicled. Observers are quick to note the uncanny resemblance to the hallmarks of the Iraqi insurgency, and is leaving some wondering whether they are seeing the rebirth of the Taliban, albeit with outside help and influence.

Others are not so sure, believing that these attacks are merely the actions of an increasing isolated group of extremists that are in their death throes. But with the foreign military presence in Afghanistan waning and the ghosts of both the Taliban and al Qaeda still fresh in the minds of those who live there, it’s anyone’s guess as to the outcome of a country’s future who repeated seems to find itself the equivalent of a third world red-haired step child.

Conspiracy

In our conspiracy segment tonight, we take a look at new developments in the ongoing Valerie Plame investigation.

Well, we now know ‘who’ it was the gave Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald “pause” enough to not indict Karl Rove along side Lewis “Scooter” Libby last month—it was the latest player in the Valerie Plame investigation, Ms. Viveca Novak.

This, according to a Washington Post article where Rove’s attorney Robert Luskin, who is close friends with Ms. Novak, believes that she has information that is crucial to preventing Rove from being indicted in the case. TIME Magazine, Ms. Novak’s employer, for whom she has contributed stories to about the CIA leak investigation, agreed without objection to having her deposed by Mr. Fitzgerald about her knowledge of the case.

However, sources close to the investigation don’t believe that Ms. Novak has anything of any real weight to add to the inquiry, and if anything, Karl Rove appears to be in as much legal jeopardy as he ever was as the Special Prosecutor continues his investigation. And as for Mr. Fitzgerald, who is currently believed to be readying evidence to present to a new grand jury, as well as preparing his case against against the Vice President’s former Chief of Staff, inquiring minds are wondering what new revelations will he uncover in his already 2-year-old investigation.

Conspiracy

We’ve decided to tag this next segment as conspiracy because the latest scuttlebutt is that it may a case of dirty pool.

Late last week, the Associated Press ran an article that appeared to outline the circumstances surrounding the first Democrat to be ensnared in the ever-widening probe of uber lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Senator Byron Dorgan, the top Dem on the Senate Indian Affairs committee that is currently tasked with investigating Abramoff’s crooked dealings, was been implicated in accepting payback from the lobbyist for using his influence to get an Indian tribe federal money.

But the North Dakota Democrat has denied any connection with Mr. Abramoff, let alone having met the man, even though records seem to indicate that a $20,000 donation was made to his political action committee by Abramhoff’s firm as well as by some of his tribal clients.

I want to be clear. We here at the Leftwing Nutjob Pocast, though we are definitely left-leaning, do not condone influence peddling or any other abuse of power, no matter what your political affiliation. And if it turns out that Dorgan is guilty of bribery, we’ll be one of the first to call for his resignation.

And speaking of resignation, in light of all the GOP indictments that have been swirling around as of late, you may have heard about one Congressman from California, Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who resigned from the House of Representatives yesterday in tears, after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud and others in U.S. District Court. I couldn’t help but find myself wondering whether that public show of contrition was because he was truly penitent or because he got caught red-handed.

So here’s to you, Mr. Cunningham, goodbye and good day.

Closing

That’s all for this edition of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast. Thanks again for staying subscribed and for tuning in to this beacon of truth in an otherwise dark sea of compassionate conservatism. Remember you can write to us at anytime at our email address leftwingnutjob ‘at’ gmail.com.

So for now, this is your Leftwing Nutjob Podcaster saying, uto buto buto uto.

Comment [1] - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Nov 29, 11:38 PM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 23

Episode 23 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Brownie’s back, Ohio GOP in deep doo-doo, another Novak in the Plame investigation, and Andy Card’s excellent adventure.

Direct link to the show.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Nov 28, 01:11 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 22

Episode 22 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Ignoring German intelligence, Potter Goss in the torture spotlight.

Direct link to the show.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Nov 21, 11:12 PM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 21

Episode 21 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Showdown on the Hill, and John Murtha, in his own words.

Direct link to the show.

SHOWNOTES
Listener request: Leftwing Nutjob Intro Theme 2:40

Comment [1] - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Nov 21, 12:09 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 20

Episode 20 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Cheney wags his finger, Rep Murtha calls for troop withdrawal.

Direct link to the show.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Nov 18, 12:20 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 19

Episode 19 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Big Time Oil and Bob Woodward comes clean.

Direct link to the show.

Comment [1] - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Nov 17, 10:41 AM in Podcast

Podcast Episode 18

Episode 18 of the Leftwing Nutjob Podcast: Bush gets the smack down, POTUS poll numbers in the toilet, and Alito backpedals.

Direct link to the show.

Comment - posted by: Thomas Jeffrey and Nov 15, 11:39 PM in Podcast