Putting The 'Moon' In "Moonbat"

Who doesn't love Jerome Armstrong?  Before he was a controversial political consultant; before he was a co-author, with Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, of "Crashing The Gate", in which he heralded the rise of the "Netroots"; and before he was barred from the securities industry by the SEC for his role in some penny-ante stock hustling, he was - I wish I had the nerve and imagination to make this up - an astrologer.

I am not kidding.  And neither was he - here is a flavor of his analysis of the then-impending 2002 election, as brought to us by the Providence Journal:

MyDD, a liberal political blog that's heavy on polls and polling, doesn't link its affiliated Astroworld political astrology index   from the homepage, but this offers its own sorts of odds.

Astrologers there are analyzing the cosmic weather, using a symbolic language, and looking at indicators: Who's moving to another house, who's under a heavy Saturn transit, who's a winner whose precise time has come. Nancy Luber Sommers is looking for periods of elation in the charts of the candidate and leaders of both parties in the next few days and beyond, especially to January. She has on on her own site a chart of predictions in major races based on what she sees in the candidates' charts.

Does this work? No idea. Come back tomorrow.

We might have a surprise.

That's what astrologer Jerome Armstrong says we'll see today, a surprise that's been brewing below the radar: that women voters will pour out to the polls today, while men will be inclined to stay home, for reasons only an astrologer might understand (so I've edited them out here):

Bush and the rulers (in) power could be pierced by something that seems   trivial in (its) simplicity, that triggers larger events to occur. Simply   put, men will not turn out to vote in near the numbers that women will   this election....

Ceres and Venus are representative of younger, and especially feminine   energies in the mundane election analysis;... they are holding a secret,   their voice has seem(ed) stifled, and their vote will be a secret from   Bush & the media...

No one knows how big the vote is, until after it happens, surprising   the media, and shifting control of Congress.

It’s an angry vote. The dissatisfaction with the economy is there;   but the Sun-Moon’s conjunction in the 7th, where the Rx Venus/Mercury   conjunction is also, points towards the threat of war as a strong motivation. 

For the full analysis, try this Google-cache of a post by "Jerome" with text that matches the Pro-Jo excerpt.  It's pretty heavy stuff.

So one of the leaders of the "reality-based community" is an astrologer - who knew?

Actually, Dan Riehl, RedState and Wizbang knew before I did, and they have plenty of coverage.  But what they don't have is Saturday night karaoke - I want all you unreconstructed 60's flower children to put your hands together and join in.  I know you know the song:

When the moon is in the seventh house
And MyDD aligns with Kos
Then Mark Warner will be the nominee
And love will steer the stars

Everybody!

This is the dawning of the Age of the Daily Kos
The Age of the Daily Kos
The Daily Kos!
The Daily Kos!

OK, that was a beautiful moment but I have to serious up - these folks might actually anoint our next President.  Ooops, now I'm laughing again...

BUT SERIOUSLY:  Follow the money.  Or, less seriously, learn why Mark Warner won in 2001.  Here are lots of links from Glenn, and good background from the National Journal.  Golly, those Kos Kidz sure do know how to kill a story, don't they?

ADMIRABLE RESTRAINT:  From a disgruntled lefty:

I am feeling a powerful urge to bring up the obvious Democrat's retort here, but I am going to stay strong and Just Say No to that temptation.

UPDATE:  Let's hear from Astrologer Jerome:

Another Update [2006-6-25 14:13:39 by Jerome Armstrong]: Oh yea, on the astrological stuff. I have done the new age type things over the years—life’s never boring that way. Down that line, I dabbled with planets and predictions in the most abstract manner, as one of several different predictive mathematical disciplines, when coming out of finances and into politics during my early blogging days (nobody is surprised that remembers the early 2001 days here), and since then have completely tapered out of it over time. So yea, the cons got me on this one being a little out of the ordinary… It has nothing to do with what I consult with in online political strategy. But hey, like JP Morgan once said, “millionaires don’t use astrology, billionaires do!” I hope to see those wingnuts that are obsessed with every little thing I do at the next bikram yoga or vipassana meditation session in DC-- but fair warning that I believe we evolved from monkeys!

Comments

[clarice]

BRAVO!!

[Rick Ballard]

Astrologers fleece suckers.

Stock hustlers fleece suckers.

Hey! Wait a minute - you're not implying that the Kossacks are a bunch of.. Nah, you couldn't be. Obviously Jerome has turned over a new leaf and involved himself in politics due to heartfelt convictions - just like Kos himself.

[clarice]

If you guys drive Kos and Armstrong out of politics, I'll never forgive you.

[Bill in AZ]

TM - you gotta put a "put down your drinks" warning at the top of posts like this!! (now, where is my dry keyboard)

[Rick Ballard]

It's the NYT driving a stiletto between Kos's ribs. They want the nutroots off the porch as quickly as possible.

Besides, there is an 80% probability that the replacements will be nuttier than Kos.

[Gary Maxwell]

When the moon is in the 7th house and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace will guide the planet and love will rulle the stars...

But Cleo could have told you all of this too. He has a direct line to the psychic hotline.

[clarice]

Riehl says Brooks has an anti-Kos piece in the NYT ...I prefer the nutroots we know guys.

[Foo Bar]

I wholeheartedly acknowledge that this is extremely embarrassing for Armstrong, and my opinion of him has indeed plummeted further.

I am feeling a powerful urge to bring up the obvious Democrat's retort here, but I am going to stay strong and Just Say No to that temptation.

[Rick Ballard]

Over $1.1B was spent on the '02 cycle. About $500M has been spent so far on this cycle, which means that there is over $500M yet to be spent.

Could the Times be missing out on its cut? Is this a gentle hit to Dean as to how easy it is for the Times to cut a throat?

[richard mcenroe]

You mean Armstrong wasted his time back-editing all the astronomy references off his site?

[Rick Ballard]

Correction - those were totals for both parties - the Dems will spend another $240M - if they can raise another $150M or so.

[clarice]

Rick, let's dust off those old Che shirts..It's time for new leaders to grab the banners (and the gelt)..

[Jane]

Well I'm a Pisces; that must count for something!

[clarice]

You suggesting there's a new way to use the old line"What's your sign?" LOL

[Gerry]

Tom, Bravo!

Encore, encore!

I add to your post two things. One is a direct link to the Projo entry, rather than using the Google cache.

And two">http://astroworld.mydd.com/archives/000195.html">two is a link to the original MyDD post that Projo linked. It has been cleansed from MyDD, but the Wayback Machine had it.

It is a riot.

[Rick Ballard]

Hmm...

The Aquarian Culture

New Hope For A Progressive Future

[that way I can use the regular TAC logo stationary]

A place in cyberspace for sharing and caring - join today and receive a 50% discount on the regular annual membership price of..

Hmm.. they're suckers and they're stupid but how big a sucker (the 'how stupid' I've got a handle on)? Damn, don't want to shoot too low....

[clarice]

It's hard to pick a fav , Gerry, but I really like this:
"I may be totally off on this whole thread of analysis though, just maybe. The aspects of trine from Jupiter to Pluto, and from Saturn to Uranus, are what the media says the debate is about, with a split decision. But these are trines, and trines usually don't protend toward making the tough choices, and this election is a stark choice. So a lot of people will look at the election in terms of these trines, and decide to sit it out; but some will feel this deeper unsettled energy, and will make the effort to vote for a change."

[clarice]

Rick, Maybe we can throw in a chatchke for those who sign up early..But I like the idea of recycling the TAC logo..Good thinking.

[Semanticleo]

Bravo! Bravissima!

Maguire, you've outdone yourself....once again ::chuckle::

Another game of telephone successfully engineered by the host, all to the applause
of the unionized musicians who manage to hit all the correct notes.

Where were you this morning Maguire?
Mom wouldn't let you out of the basement to
go outside and play?

[Rick Ballard]

The vowel ending an Italian superlative indicates the gender of the noun to which it refers. Almost any idiot would know that.

But then you're very special, aren't you?

[clarice]

Here's another from the Mark Warner race:

http://acepilots.com/mt/2006/06/24/hilarious-uncut-from-the-nutroots-own-astrologer/

[richard mcenroe]

Breaking News: The Warner Campaign will announce within 24 business hours that they are letting Armstrong go and bringing in noted Satanist Anton La Vey as a campaign coordinator...

[clarice]

Now, you're just "trine-ing" us, aren't you, RM.

[Dan Riehl]

Take a look at the Raw Story Brooks piece - he added a link to a quick, dare I say, Gipper-like response from kos. Only he forgot to add that their success depends on his "sign."

[clarice]

We've had Kos' Grapes of Wrath speech, how many business days (hours?) until we get his I shall return speech?

[danking70]

Through The New Republic and the NY Times (spit!), Hillary has just knee-capped Mark Warner.

I think you guys and gals should just leave Jerome and Kos alone.

[clarice]

I think so, too, danking, but TM and RB and RM made me do keep picking on Kos. It's their fault.

[danking70]

Nice to know I've got such pleasant company.

But I am also looking forward to all the Joe-mentum sending Kos to 0-22.

[verner]

Actually, I want Hillary to kneecap Warner. Nice looking successful Southern governer who doesn't have the baggage of having to vote on any war resolutions--therefore can pick any position the wind blows in. He is their imaginary, mainstream, grassroots candidate. Sheesh. He might actually win.

The more inter-family bloodletting the better.

And cause Hillary has just blown it for Warner, and made Kos and his backers look stoopid and corrupt, they will continue to be very very unhappy with her.

[lurker]

OT: The Iraqi insurgents rejected the amnesty plan.

[lurker]

And OT: Michelle Malkin, LGF, and CQ noticed that NYT leaked another classified story - about the troops reductions.

[Tom Maguire]

...but I am going to stay strong and Just Say No to that temptation.

But I am going to Just Say Yes to stealing that.

Could the Times be missing out on its cut? Is this a gentle hit to Dean as to how easy it is for the Times to cut a throat?

Geez, if the Times can take down major intel programs, you would think they could take down a couple of bloggers.

[windansea]

wow....TM targets Townhouse with a MIRV warhead

[clarice]

lurker, mac thinks that was a fake leak..I think so, too..and the NYT story seems quite devoid of any new facts.
Perhaps instead of yanking their credentials or banning fed employees in security slots from speaking to NYTs' reporters, the Administration has hit on a new plan--embarrass them by feeding them nonstop crap.

[topsecretk9]

Sign check

Sagittarius
I know Clarice is too

[Gerry]

Boy, Neptune must be aligned with Mercury or something, because I too am a Sagittarius, as is my wife.

March must be a very good month!

[Chants]

I am almost without words.

But Armstrong is like a carnival splash-clown.

[Tom Maguire]

TM targets Townhouse with a MIRV warhead

Scorpio.

[windansea]

triple Scorpio rising here...but my dark side is hidden by a sunny Taurus disposition

good work dude!!

[clarice]

Chants You'd think with his special talent for reading the stars he'd have seen this coming..........

[windansea]

I think this has legs...Warner is toast by association

the kossacks will implode and splinter into the irrelevance they deserve

PIAPS will be defeated by a ham sandwich named Rudy....

[windansea]

that will be fun...the adulterer vs the adulterated

the vote will be determined by the silent majority of the happily married

[Chants]

I don't know if this Armstrong thing has legs, or even if it deserves legs.

But it is hella funny, and TM just beat the crap out of him.

[Gerry]

Depends on what you mean by "has legs." Will it become a big story? No.

But Armstrong is done as a player, and rightfully so. At worst he is a total scam artist. At best, he is the embodyment of the charicatures the left made of Nancy Reagan. And he isn't just a bride, he's a paid consultant for Presidential candidates.

Kos likely won't be impacted, unless he goes to the mat for his friend. Of course, if there was a sweetheart deal going on where there was some pay-for-touting, then Kos just had a planned source of future income evaporate. That is, unless the grassroots left is really that big of a collective sucker. I believe they are so-wrong on politics, but I also believe that most do not like being scammed, so I have faith.

[clarice]

Well, the koslambs seem to be unshaken in their faith in their non-leader.Great!

Niters.

[windansea]

but I also believe that most do not like being scammed, so I have faith

considering this diary at kos I would calculate that 75% of the kossacks are still BDS infected and thus incapable of realizing they are being scammed...I'd feel sorry for them if my my triple scorpio rising was in retrograde...

[windansea]

my brain huuuurts By: streiff

And, if you want to see the significance of Varuna at work in the mundane world. Look at it's connections with George Bush, 9/11, and the Republican chart, in event, transit, and progression. Look at Varuna with Kennedy's assassination-- this is a paradigm tipping-point energy at work. Varuna is a body that is on the same 'energetic' playing field as Pluto. Awakening this supra-unconciousness of the trans-Neptunians as their own group, instead of just co-opting Pluto from the bunch and calling it a day, is gonna take some work; but hey, that's where the enlightenment resides.

Jerome Armstrong, author, strategist, shill, and advisor to presidential hopeful Mark Warner.

[Sara (The Squiggler)]

On the new "leak" from the NYT -- this does not seem logical to me at all. General Casey and Donald Rumsfield held a press briefing on 22 June 2006, just two days ago. In that briefing, they gave broad numbers in terms of battalions, brigades and divisions. They talked about the Iraqis being up to 75% by the end of the year, etc. Is the Times saying that right after that they held some super secret meeting in which they came up with some troop draw down plan. It doesn't wash. Read the transcript of the briefing and see if you don't think the Times is talking about the very same things and trying to make it sound like a leak.

Pam the Reporter asks:

Q General, this week the national security adviser for Iraq laid out what they consider to be a withdrawal plan for U.S. forces. They're operating under the assumption that it will be the end of fiscal year -- or the end of 2007. Has that been coordinated with your office or with you? And is it feasible?

GEN. CASEY: I looked at that article. What Dr. Rubaie is talking about is about this provincial Iraqi control process that we have been working on with him for the past year. And we together built a set of criteria to evaluate the threat in the province, to evaluate the readiness of the police forces, to evaluate the readiness of the army forces, and to evaluate the ability of the provincial security apparatus to coordinate their efforts. And since April, the governors actually sit down with our division commanders and they evaluate themselves on that criteria and they make projections on where they're going to be. And so that's what he was talking about. There have been no discussions between any Iraqi authorities and myself that tied that to U.S. troop reductions.

Reporter Jim asks:

Q General Casey, understanding that you haven't made your recommendations on troop levels, can you say are you still confident -- do you still feel confident that the level of troops that are there now could come down by the end of the year, or has this complex security situation sort of obscured your vision as to what's possible this year?

GEN. CASEY: I'm confident that we'll be able to continue to take reductions over the course of this year, and yet -- it's -- well, it's the security situation and the progress of the Iraqi security forces. And I think I've mentioned the significant progress that has been made in that regard.

Q But last year you said fairly a substantial number --

SEC. RUMSFELD: Wait a second, wait a second, wait a second, wait a second.

Q Is that still true, fairly substantial?

GEN. CASEY: I think so. It looks over time --

SEC. RUMSFELD: (Let him ?) finish answering.

GEN. CASEY: What we've always said, what we've always said is there would be a gradual reduction over time as the Iraqi security forces assumed a larger and larger role.

SEC. RUMSFELD: And I would add something else that it will very likely not be a steady path down. It could very likely be a drawdown with an increase, if you think about it. Look over the last year. General Casey has on at least three occasions -- for the January elections, the October referendum, the December elections, and more recently for the stand-up of the government -- brought in some additional forces, and -- or delayed letting some people go out or accelerated some other people coming in. And the effect has been that the number has -- right now, I think we have 126,900 or something -- it's come down from a high of 160(,000), but it could very well go back up at some point. So it very likely will go down and up and down and up depending on the circumstances and depending on the need.

Q Fairly substantial reductions by this time this year, you said that last year. Is that still the case?

GEN. CASEY: Well, we -- as the secretary just said, we've gone from when the baseline was 138(,000); we're down to about 126(,000) right now. That's -- 12,000 that's -- whether that's a very substantial amount -- enough, I'll leave to your judgment. But as I said, I think there will be continued gradual reductions here as the Iraqis take on a larger and larger role.

Q Over the next year or two --

GEN. CASEY: It'll run over the course of the next year.

SEC. RUMSFELD: Do you want to have your fifth question or do you want to let someone else ask a question? What'll it be?

Q He'd probably take a fifth question.

SEC. RUMSFELD: Should we vote? (Laughter.) Yeah, I'll bet he would.

[me]

the song is so clever. a real charm. so i guess that kos is an astrologist too?

i'd say more but i feel my iq dropping just being at this blog.

[Daddy]

I prefer Armstong's that walk on the moon over Armtrong's that bark at the moon. But that's just me.

[Karl]

A public service announcements for moonbats:

If you come here and feel stupid, it's not that your IQ is dropping. Rather, it's disorientation from arriving at a high-IQ blog from wherever you were.

PS: I don't know whether Kos is into astrology, but if so, it might explain his lousy track record supporting candidates.

[BumperStickerist]

The Kos Komment Kornicopia:

Astrology Keeps Me Sane (none / 0)
I picked it up, not out of serious belief, but out of a need for something other then politics with which to occupy my mind.
So of course, Ive done birthcharts for both Howie Dean and Bush. Howie and I have the same moon (in gemini).

Bush, belive it or not, is a cancer. He doesnt seem at all empathic or emotional to me. Cancers are easily influanced by those around them...hmmm...better work up a Bush/Cheney composite chart to see what mojo is a work there.

If they want a culture war, I'll give them a culture war. I intend to have as much gay sex as possible before the election. I encourage you to do the same.

by AnarchistFag on Wed May 19, 2004 at 07:42:04 AM PDT

[ Parent ]
followed by:

I believe in astrology (none / 0)
and have been watching the last few weeks of American Idol. Does that mean I'm banned from dKos? ;)

fwiw, there's a particular astrologer online (warning: the site has a lot of pop-ups) who I've been reading since she predicted that John Kerry would win the Democratic primary.

This at the end of December, when Kerry's poll numbers were in the basement and it looked like Howard Dean was going to walk away with it. She's predicted that Kerry will win the election and that Bush will have some of the toughest months of his presidency here in June and again in September. I've been relishing the arrival of June for months now. :)
-----------------------------------

No update for the smiley face to be a sad face :(

.....................................

[Cecil Turner]

PS: I don't know whether Kos is into astrology, but if so, it might explain his lousy track record supporting candidates.

I don't think so. Consider the difficulty level: as any mathematician will tell you, getting things consistently wrong is just as hard as getting them right. And the odds against picking the loser in 21 races in a row are huge. If each race was a simple two-way 50:50, the odds against picking the wrong one in 21 successive attempts is 2^15, or more than two million to 1 (1 chance in 2,097,152). Kos is bucking some truly astronomical odds, here, which argues for some science in his method.

[Jane]

So my bet is that Kos soon denounces Armstrong to save his dynasty.

His minions will enthusiastically follow suit, with naysayers quickly disposed of.

[Sara (The Squiggler)]

Bush, belive it or not, is a cancer. He doesnt seem at all empathic or emotional to me. Cancers are easily influanced by those around them...hmmm...better work up a Bush/Cheney composite chart to see what mojo is a work there.

This is too funny. Don't these people ever watch the President when he is out among the people or especially the troops? He is always tearing up.

[noah]

Cecil, shouldn't that be 1:(2^21)?

[dave]

I'm really getting a kick out of watching you moronic brownshirt fucks yapping furiously as you spin around chasing your tail. Keep at it - you'll catch it yet!

[Cecil Turner]

Cecil, shouldn't that be 1:(2^21)?

Yes. Which is 2,097,152--so at least I got that part right--I don't know where that 15 came from. (Stepped on my own punchline though, eh? Mmmpht.)

[Cecil Turner]

I'm really getting a kick out of watching you moronic brownshirt . . .

Dude, you're not getting half the kick out of this we are. And since one of the best parts is the lame rejoinders by the visiting moonbats . . . pass the popcorn, please.

[Dwilkers]

So my bet is that Kos soon denounces Armstrong to save his dynasty.

I'm thinking no, because I'm thinking there's more here than we know about yet, as in more do re mi money involved.

Scorpio, BTW (Oct 25), and Herbie is a Taurus (April 22).

[Dwilkers]

Consider the difficulty level: as any mathematician will tell you, getting things consistently wrong is just as hard as getting them right. And the odds against picking the loser in 21 races in a row are huge.

Hehe.

Not if you pick 'em like Kos. Maybe he should start picking progressives to win in Berkeley or something, improve his record.

8^)>~~

[M. Simon]

I know Armstrong's sign.

$$$$$$$$$$$$

[lurker]

How about putting "Moon" in Murtha as "Moon-murtha-bats?

Time for more contributions to Irey.

BTW, John Kyl can use some help as his opponents are getting heavy contributions, prolly from the Fention-affiliated groups.

[lurker]

A letter to aMoon-Times-Bat newspaper.

[Patton]

"""I am feeling a powerful urge to bring up the obvious Democrat's retort here"""

Those would be:

1. No wonder your Mother killed herself.

2. Your just parroting what you hear on Faux News, that fat bastard Limbaugh, or 'insert
left wing attack' here.

3. Bush Lied!

4. Rove is Hitler!

5. It was that mean Capitalist system that made Armstrong do it.

[lurker]

ROFL, Patton, had you waited til you read Helen Thomas's new 2006 Dem scripts, your list would be LLLOOONNNNGGGEEERRR!!!

[lurker]

OT: Rick Ballard, looks like Mark Parkinson of Kansas switched parties.

[ed]

Hmmmm.

1. I'm rather disappointed really. What? Nobody could include a "uranus" reference in any comment?

2. Remember when Nancy Reagan was pilloried in the press and by the Democrats for supposedly relying on an astrologer?

[Soylent Red]

TM:

Nice job on the Fifth Dimension.

Ed:

I will obligingly...er, oblige.

"The concurrent Venus and Mercury alignment suggest the rise of Al Gore in the Democratic primaries. So let Mssr. Kerry beware: in '08 the former VP will be moving into Uranus. AND WE ALL KNOW WHAT THAT PORTENDS..."

Sign check: Sagittarius

[Semanticleo]

Astounding. A perfect storm of Denialism

[Jane]

OT:

Peter King just slammed the NY Times on FNS, and called for the prosecution of the journalist, editors and publisher. In his rant he noted that it was the NY Times that made it possible to Castro to come into power (I didn't know that) and said no-one elected them, or gave them the power to decide what should be declassified.

Arlen Spector responded, typically, by quoting Jefferson (if I had to chose between government and newspapers I'd choose newspapers and then offered that he had not yet decided if the administration had done anything wrong in the swift program

[John]

I don't think so. Consider the difficulty level: as any mathematician will tell you, getting things consistently wrong is just as hard as getting them right. And the odds against picking the loser in 21 races in a row are huge. If each race was a simple two-way 50:50, the odds against picking the wrong one in 21 successive attempts is 2^15, or more than two million to 1 (1 chance in 2,097,152). Kos is bucking some truly astronomical odds, here, which argues for some science in his method.

Ah, crappy statistics. Kos mostly chose candidates in races that weren't getting much money from the DCCC. Beyond this, 2004 was not a Democratic year, and the Dems didn't win many close house races. Given these basic facts, that all of Kos's candidates lost was not a 50/50 chance - for each individual race, the odds were highly in favor of the Republican.

[topsecretk9]

--Astounding. A perfect storm of Denialism--

projecting again, eh?

[topsecretk9]

I haven't really looked at the astrology site very closely, but it occurred to me ...could the astrology for stocks just be another finance scam...where the "readings" associated with particular stocks?

There are a lot of people who live and die by astrology "predictions" so I just wondered if the Asto/Stock thing was preying on those types?

[Cecil Turner]

Given these basic facts, that all of Kos's candidates lost was not a 50/50 chance - for each individual race, the odds were highly in favor of the Republican.

Your "basic facts" look a lot like opinions. But accepting them for the sake of argument, your contention appears to be that Kos frittered money away in races the DCCC correctly assessed as unwinnable. And here I was, giving him too much credit.

[Terry]

Newsweek out today also has a long piece in it that will not make the Mighty Kos very happy. Among other matters,it recounts details of the Kosola mess, and in so doing doesn't paint a very good picture for those Dems who have publicly aligned themselves with Kos.

[clarice]

Cecil!!!!!!!!!!!

Terry, Looks to me like a concerted attack from the Dem middle doesn't it? What's the leadtime on a Newsweek story?

[Rick Ballard]

Kos didn't fritter away a dime. The commission for ad placement is as safely banked as any of Trippi's $5M. The main objective has been met.

[verner]

Didn't Tom at AT write about KOS's new house in Berkeley?

That should give you an indication of how much he's bringing in from SEIU advertising and writing puff pieces for favored Progressive politicians.

The rank and file should know where their dues are going.

I think the leader of the leaderless movement should release his tax return. Hey, what's wrong with being totally open.

[verner]

And least anyone forget the friend of the people--KOS's backer Mr. Soros:

The crisis had significant macro-level effects, including sharp reductions in values of currencies, stock markets, and other asset prices of several Asian countries. Many businesses collapsed, and as a consequence, millions of people fell below the poverty line in 1997-1998. Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand were the countries most affected by the crisis.

"The economic crisis also led to political upheaval, most notably culminating in the resignations of Suharto in Indonesia and Chavalit Yongchaiyudh in Thailand. There was a general rise in anti-Western sentiment, with George Soros and the International Monetary Fund in particular singled out as targets of criticisms."

Say what you will about G. W. "HITLERMCWALMARTHALIBURTONCHENEY" Bush, but I don't think he's responsible for almost single handedly throwing millions of people in the developing world into poverty.

Oh the IRONY!

[Patton]

As usual, John Kerry has perfectly bad timing..embracing the loony left blogosphere just as it is imploding.

I am surprised Pelosi hasn't claimed their is a culture of corruption on the part of Right Wing Bloggers.

[Patton]

I actually sat through most of Meet The Depressed this morning and realized I having missed much in the last couple of months.

Russert still won't ask a liberal a hard question..such as:

Q: You opposed the war with Iraq so if your position had prevailed, Saddam would still be in power, we would still have sanctions on the Iraqi people and they would be dying at a UN confirmed rate of 5,000 - 8,000 a month. How long would you have continued the policy of sarvation and malnutrition of the Iraqi populace?

Q: Do you believe that policy was based on the Clinton adminstration claim that Iraq had and was continuing to pursue WMD?

Q: Do you believe Osama Bin Laden when he said he in 1998 he was declaring war on the United States due to that Iraq policy?

Q: You say after you withdrawal US forces, you would send them right back in if the Iraqis need help? Wouldn't that require them to fight for territory we already control?

Q: Could you point to Oooookinawa on a map?
Would you as President make John Murtha SECDEF?

[Patton]

Did you know Clinton, Peolosi, Kerry, Edwards, Hilliary, Kennedy, Rockefeller, Reid, etc. were lying when they claimed Iraq had WMD.

[clarice]

According to this top secret townhouse memo Jeff Goldstein somehow got hold of, JA DID do TM's chart..WoW!!! And you know Jeff, he doesn't kid about stuff like this. http://www.proteinwisdom.com/index.php/weblog/entry/20582/

[Jane]

What I could see of that was hysterical.

[Sara (The Squiggler)]

I am so incredibly sick and tired of Kos and now Armstrong, I want to take my computer and throw it across the room. Every major blog and now major media outlets are covering these idiots. I have never been to a KOS-kiddie site, not DU, not FDL, none of them. I see enough of their immature, naive, senseless, insane babbling in comments on other blogs. These are bottom feeders, rote readers, and definitely not critcial thinkers. I'm not even sure they are capable of putting a sentence together that doesn't include F**K or some scatalogical reference. Why does anyone give a crap (used here for the benefit of those who don't understand words more sophisticated)? All that is being accomplished is more publicity for them so that more disaffected bottomfeeding rote readers join in. Dumbasses that don't have a clue about life in general, politics and things military in particular, with no common sense, little understanding of history and definitely no concept of words like ethics, honor and integrity.

[Dwilkers]

My oh my.

Kos must be hiding under the kitchen sink right now. TNR is calling him illiterate and fascist, Newsweek is calling him a lunatic.

I almost feel sorry for the guy.

Almost.

[lurker]

"Arlen Spector responded, typically, by quoting Jefferson (if I had to chose between government and newspapers I'd choose newspapers and then offered that he had not yet decided if the administration had done anything wrong in the swift program."

%^^&&**^%##!@$##%#$^#$^#$%@#$@#(*&^%$#!!!!!

Why the hell does he have to be the ONE to decide?!?!?!?!?!?!

[Neo]

I can see that TM is not on Kos' e-mail list.

[Neo]

So exactly how does disgruntled lefty's withheld retort fit into the "Hillary channeling Eleanor" meme ?

[lurker]

Well, according to Markitos' email that using Greenwald as a diversion of JA and himself, shall we...redirect the focus from Greendwald and TNR to JA and Markitas?

We already are, aren't we? Ha!

[clarice]

I did think PW's take was wonderful but then I really think JG is first rate.

[lurker]

OT Drumheller quickly discredited by Mac Ranger (check his link).

Preparing for a Retreat and claims of increasing number of insurgency attacks per day, pre- and post-Zarq. My guess would be that they used some bogus numbers to justify that the war is not working out. Argues for more troops as well.

Wrong. We're not retreating. We're already winning.

My brother read several books and took note that each war always has a fill of naysayers.

[clarice]

lurker, you'll love this then:http://www.suntimes.com/output/steyn/cst-edt-steyn25.html

[Jane]

I love love love Mark Steyn!

[PeterUK]

Mr Ballard,
"But then you're very special, aren't you?"

There was a misprint on the T Shirt,their slogan is,"We are Specious".

[PeterUK]

Dave,You have Pluto in Uranus again,that isn't healthy.

[Patton]

As usual Specter got Jeffersons quote ALL WRONG. What Jefferson actually said was:

"If I had to choose between newspapers without government and government without newspapers, I'd choose the latter."

So if we had 'government', Jefferson would choose to NOT have 'newspapers'

The never seem to quote what Jefferson said in an actual government document...say The Declaration of Independence.

[Patton]

OK, so maybe the quotes wrong...who knows...but Jefferson did say:

"""But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them.""""

Guess Jefferson never heard of Times Select...

[lurker]

Thanks for the link to the Steyn article. I love his writings - short, to the point, well-focused, and with interjection of humor and something from the past! :)

I wish Steyn would write something about Feingold's comment that the majority of the Americans stand by him when he speaks of censure, impeachment, or the Iraqi war.