Hi, If you are picking this up on The RSS Feed, or Atom Feed, We are switching Blog formats and these feeds will no longer be updated. Starting Monday Morning The Hollywood Liberal will be on Wordpress which automatically updates feeds in various categories. We will have seperate feeds for News, Videos, Comics, as well as a general feed which will contain everything. Our web address will be the same So check back on Monday, you will see the sight looks different. There will be a link to RSS Feeds at the top click on the link which will open a page that will have all the information of the various feeds we will offer, there will also be links to set up the feeds on MY Yahoo, and MY MSN.] See you over there. H.L.
Excerpt: Five U.S. troops — including four Marines — were killed in operations south and west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said, and an explosion of sectarian and revenge killings in Iraq's third-largest city in the past three days claimed 24 lives.
Excerpt Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, in turn, portrayed Republican leaders as blindly following President Bush's "failed" stay-the-course strategy. "It is long past time to change course in Iraq and start to end the president's open-ended commitment," he said. In an 86-13 vote, the Senate turned back a proposal from some Democrats that would require the administration to withdraw all combat troops from Iraq by July 1, 2007, with redeployments beginning this year. No Republicans voted in favor of the plan. Minutes later, the Senate rejected by 60-39 the proposal more popular with Democrats, a nonbinding resolution that would call for the administration to begin withdrawing troops, but with no timetable for the war's end.
H.L.s Take: Here is a list of the brave 13 Democratic Senators who voted to get the troops out of Bush's Bloodbath. To them I say Thank You. Of course both my boys are on this list. H.L. With John Kerry H.L. with Russ Feingold Akaka (HI) Boxer (CA) Durbin (IL) Feingold (WI) Harkin (IA) Inouye (HI) Jeffords (I-VT) Kennedy (MA) Kerry (MA) Lautenberg (NJ) Leahy (VT) Menendez (NJ) Wyden (OR)
Now here is a list of The Cowardly 6 that would not even vote yes on the second vote which said that at some point, at some time in the near or distant future, that we would eventually begin to pull the troops out. (I guess these 6 want to leave the troops in Iraq forever.) Of course the usual suspects are on this list. These people need to be voted out now.
Dayton (D-MN) Landrieu (D-LA) Lieberman (D-CT Nelson (D-FL) Nelson (D-NE) Pryor (D-AR)
Excerpt: Democrats who wished Senator John Kerry would take a firm stand in 2004 now oppose his call for a fixed date for the withdrawal of troops. Mr. Kerry now describes the war in Iraq as a mistake, even though he once supported it. His critics say they believe the new stand reflects more politics than principle, and ignores other Democrats' concern that setting a fixed date will leave those in tough re-election fights open to Republican taunts that they are "cutting and running" in Iraq.
The Democrats' exasperation has increased in the last week, as they postponed a vote on Mr. Kerry's amendment to try to fashion a broader consensus among themselves. Democrats up for re-election asked him not to propose a fixed date. But Mr. Kerry, several Democrats said, was unwilling to budge from that idea, even though his co-sponsor, Senator Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin, seemed willing to compromise for the sake of consensus. In the end, Mr. Kerry agreed only to extend his deadline, from Dec. 31 of this year to July 2007.
H.L.s Take: All right John and Russ, way to make a stand. Make the rest of the Democrats realize that either they stop licking Bush's sack and vote to end the war, or else. Its time the Democrats started bowing to the will of the people (who want this bulls**t stopped) or else.
Videos: Fox News: Bush Hid WMD Evidence. Santorum Debunked. Lou Dobbs.
Fox News Analyst: Administration Hid Evidence of WMD To Protect China, Russia and France Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) are hyping a document that describes degraded, pre-1991 munitions that were already acknowledged by the White House’s Iraq Survey Group and dismissed. The Defense Department has already knocked the story down. But on Fox this is big news, proving that Saddam Hussein had WMD, just as the administration claimed. The question is, if this information is so significant, why would the administration keep it under wraps? Alan Colmes asked Fox News Military Analyst Thomas McInerery that question last night. McInerery explained that the administration was complicit in a multinational cover-up intended to protect Russia, China and France. Watch it:
Crooks and Liars. Santorum debunked over WMD's by FOX NEWS Rick Santorum went on Fox News, and even they didn't believe what he had to say. The Debunked him right on the air. Check it out. Copy and paste this link.
Excerpt: "Hence it is that at the present time the liberal is the great agitator for the complete destruction of America. Whenever we read of attacks against America taking place in any part of the world the liberal is always the instigator."
Excerpt: SHANGHAI, China - Chinese military observers said Thursday that observing U.S. military exercises in the Pacific this week gave them a better understanding of U.S. weapons and tactics. Delegation leader Rear Adm. Zhang Leiyu called the visit to the war games near Guam "a positive step in China-U.S. military ties," the official Xinhua News agency reported.
H.L.s Take: Thats great, now if they ever want to attack us. They will know our secrets.
Excerpt: You'd never know it from some of the reporting and bloviating on the debate over an Iraq withdrawal, but all major polls show that the public favors withdrawals, with strong support for a timeline or total pullout within a year.
Excerpt Rick Santorum told a tall tale during the debate on the Kerry-Feingold Iraq amendment and in a press conference on Wednesday. We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons,” Santorum claimed, smug and lying like a rug on the floor. He cited report by the National Ground Intelligence Center, a Defense Department intelligence unit, that he had heard about a month or so ago, but “no one had seen before”. Oh, so very convenient, that Ricky pulled that one out of the air just in time for the debate on the Kerry-Feingold amendment
Excerpt: Apparently, it's neither a case of "sour grapes" nor "sore losers" when Republicans challenge elections that they reportedly lost. That's only the case when Democrats charge irregularities or illegalities in an election. And, of course, when it's a Republican whose ox has been gored, the GOP uses every available means to fight the results of the election, and the courts and the legislatures usually play along. And nobody bothers to call them "tin-foil hat conspiracy theorists." Go figure.
Excerpt: BREAKING NEWS (June 22, 2006) - At approx 0230 hours this morning, June 22, U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada refused written orders to board a bus bound for an adjacent airstrip, and Iraq War deployment - as he has pledged to do since first speaking out against the illegal Iraq War. At this time Lt. Watada has been restricted to base, possibly confined to quarters, and has been ordered to have no contact with any non-military personnel, with the exception of his civilian lawyer. More information is coming soon.
Excerpt: AT&T has issued an updated privacy policy that takes effect Friday. The changes are significant because they appear to give the telecom giant more latitude when it comes to sharing customers' personal data with government officials. The new policy says that AT&T -- not customers -- owns customers' confidential info and can use it "to protect its legitimate business interests, safeguard others, or respond to legal process."
Excerpt Former Enron boss Jeffrey Skilling is asking a judge to overturn last month's court verdict that found him guilty of fraud and conspiracy at the firm.
Excerpt: congressman was calling the war a lost cause. Sixteen-term Rep. John Murtha (news, bio, voting record), a decorated Vietnam veteran and military hawk, has become the face of the Democrats' anti-war movement since he called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops last fall. His oft-repeated criticism of the Bush administration's war policies also has earned him the wrath of Republicans. In Murtha's southwest Pennsylvania district, however, many share the war critic's views. At a welcome home ceremony this week for Myers and other troops from the Johnstown, Pa.-based 876th Engineer Battalion, the crowd cheered when a Murtha aide welcomed the troops on the congressman's behalf. Myers said he backs Murtha, an opinion echoed by a number of other troops and their families. Several share his frustration with the conflict. "I'm not sure we're doing a whole lot of good," Myers, 46, said of the U.S. presence in Iraq.
Excerpt: WASHINGTON (AFP) - Some Democrats are having second thoughts about Hillary Clinton as their 2008 presidential candidate, wracked by doubts about her cross-party appeal, and disappointed by her position on US troops in Iraq. Those reservations were given expression last week at a forum in Washington of liberal Democrats, where the New York senator was roundly booed when she expressed her opposition to setting a date for withdrawing US troops from Iraq.
Excerpt How do you triangulate among death, hypocrisy and stupidity? Not at all logically, which is why Hillary Clinton’s dissembling on Iraq has become a fatal embarrassment not only for her but for anyone who hopes she can provide progressive leadership for the nation. If she has still not found the courage to reverse course on this disastrous war, why assume that as president she would behave any differently? It is unconscionable that those who can accurately measure the true cost of the Iraq folly in wasted lives and resources — more than 2,500 Americans, tens of thousands of Iraqis and hundreds of billions of dollars — dare prefer her to potential 2008 presidential election rivals John Kerry, Al Gore, Russ Feingold and John Edwards, who have all come to speak honestly of this quagmire and our need to extricate ourselves from it.
Excerpt: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE HORRORS OF IRAQ BECOME TOO MUCH FOR A SOLDIER TO BEAR? BY NEIL MACKAY
When the news broke on allegations of Marine misconduct at the Iraqi village of Haditha, It did not take today's generation of mass media morons even half a news cycle to vaguely recall that something bad had happened at a Vietnamese village called My Lai…. It is in this current PR campaign being waged by the political factions -- those for and those against the current policies -- that My Lai and Haditha most closely resemble each other. "Pro-war" and "Anti-war" faced off over My Lai, and the same is happening today. What is best and fairest, i.e., justice for the troops involved, does not seem to be a factor…. To save Defense Watch readers from having to do their own research on My Lai, although it is strongly encouraged, here's some of the most pertinent data to keep in mind as the Haditha case slowly plays itself out… On March 16, 1968, an infantry company under the immediate command of Task Force Barker (named after Lt, Col Frank Barker, the TF commander) of the American Division's 11th Light Infantry Brigade entered an undefended hamlet in central Vietnam near the South China Sea. In the space of four hours, members of the company murdered around 500 Vietnamese non-combatants -- old men, women and children. At the time the actual butchery was underway, there was no pretense that these victims were collateral casualties who were dying as the consequence of legitimate military actions.... The company commander, Captain Ernest Medina, knew, or should have known, that mass murder was erupting all around him.... The principal subordinate "executioner," Lieutenant William Calley not only knew full well that mass murder was occurring, but actively participated in the slaughter. As one book put it, "It was Calley who, seeing a baby at My Lai crawling away from a ditch already filled with dead and dying villagers, seized the child by the leg, threw it back in the pit, and shot it." (From an excellent book, "Four Hours in My Lai," by two British authors who also did a riveting television documentary that aired in the UK and on PBS here.) In an aspect little noted until decades later, the misconduct at My Lai included numerous sexual assaults, both rape and sodomy. Additionally, mutilations and other barbaric acts bespoke a unit totally without appropriate leadership. Good order and discipline, such as it existed, focused on ensuring that the innocents died.
Excerpt: Here's another telling tale: "The book's opening anecdote tells of an unnamed CIA briefer who flew to Bush's Texas ranch during the scary summer of 2001, amid a flurry of reports of a pending al-Qaeda attack, to call the president's attention personally to the now-famous Aug. 6, 2001, memo titled 'Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US.' Bush reportedly heard the briefer out and replied: 'All right. You've covered your ass, now.'
Excerpt: The case is separate from the alleged killing by other Marines of 24 Iraqi civilians at Haditha last November. A pair of investigations related to that case are still under way and no criminal charges have been filed.
Video: Cheney, No one anticipated Insurgency Strength
Here’s a Dick Cheney Video where he says that No one anticipated Insurgency Strength, but he also says that he still believes the insurgency is in its final throes. So which is it Dick-boy. Typical lying as usual from The Prince of Darkness
H.L. in Association with Special Ops. Media is giving away 4 Road to Guantanamo Prize Packs. You get 2 Tickets to the movie which opens on June 23rd, you also get a Road to Guantanamo Poster, like the one you see here. Check out my review of the film Which got the entire Right Wing Spin Machine in a Tizzy. I also did an Audio Interview with Director Mat Whitecross You have to live in a city that is showing the film to get the prizes, or be willing to go to one. (They are N.Y., L.A., S.F, Washington D.C., and Boston) This is a very important movie you don't want to miss, and thanks to The H.L. you don't even have to pay. email me at mail@thehollywoodliberal.com if you would like to go. First 4 that write in get the Tix.
Video Tony Snow. Too Much Focus on Kidnapped Soldiers.
Think Progress.org
Snow: There Is Too Much Focus on Kidnapped U.S. Soldiers On Friday, two U.S. troops were kidnapped at a checkpoint in Iraq. They remain missing. This morning on Fox News Sunday, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow criticized the press for spending too much time covering their plight. Watch it:
Last week at a White House press briefing, Snow was asked for a reaction to the death toll for U.S. troops in Iraq reaching 2,500. Snow responded: “It’s a number.”
Video: Murtha Goes On The Attack Against Rove, War.
Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rummy Hate him because he spent 37 Years in The Military. They spent a combined total of 0. Another One from Think Progress. Murtha on Rove: ‘He’s Sitting in His Air-Conditioned Office on His Big, Fat Backside, Saying Stay the Course’ Karl Rove attacked Rep. John Murtha during a speech last week in New Hampshire. Rove described Murtha’s Iraq plan as “cutting and running,” and suggested that the 37-year Marine combat veteran would “be with you at the first shots” but not “for the last, tough battles.” Murtha defended himself this morning on Meet the Press:
MURTHA: He’s in New Hampshire. He’s making a political speech. He’s sitting in his air-conditioned office on his big, fat backside, saying stay the course. That’s not a plan. … We’ve got to change direction. You can’t sit there in the air-conditioned office and tell troops carrying 70 pounds on their backs, inside these armored vessels hit with IEDs every day, seeing their friends blown up, their buddies blown up — and he says stay the course? Easy to say that from Washington, DC.
Excerpt: WASHINGTON -- Now that top White House aide Karl Rove is off the hook in the CIA leak probe, President George W. Bush must weigh whether to pardon former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the only one indicted in the three-year investigation. Speculation about a pardon began in late October, soon after Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald unsealed the perjury indictment of Libby, and it continued last week after Fitzgerald chose not to charge Rove.
Excerpt: In the e-mail, the question is asked, “Why doesn’t Usama Bin Laden’s Most Wanted poster make any direct connection with the events of September 11, 2001?” The FBI says on its Bin Laden web page that Usama Bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998 bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. According to the FBI, these attacks killed over 200 people. The FBI concludes its reason for “wanting” Bin Laden by saying, “In addition, Bin Laden is a suspect in other terrorists attacks throughout the world.” On June 5, 2006, the Muckraker Report contacted the FBI Headquarters, (202) 324-3000, to learn why Bin Laden’s Most Wanted poster did not indicate that Usama was also wanted in connection with 9/11. The Muckraker Report spoke with Rex Tomb, Chief of Investigative Publicity for the FBI. When asked why there is no mention of 9/11 on Bin Laden’s Most Wanted web page, Tomb said, “The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Usama Bin Laden’s Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11.” Surprised by the ease in which this FBI spokesman made such an astonishing statement, I asked, “How this was possible?” Tomb continued, “Bin Laden has not been formally charged in connection to 9/11.”
Excerpt After three inmates killed themselves, the Pentagon declared the suicides an act of 'asymmetric warfare', banned the media and went on a PR offensive. But as despair grows within the camp, so too does outrage mount at its brutal and secretive regime
Excerpt: BLITZER: Let’s move on and talk about some other issues. I know your time is limited. Afghanistan. Is the Taliban making a serious comeback right now?
SNOW: I think what the Taliban is doing — and it’s predictable — is that they are trying to test in the south, where the U.S. forces are handing over to NATO…But A, it’s predictable, and B, in the encounters, as you know, the Taliban fighters have overwhelmingly been losing. Now, I think it is predictable…you can expect there to be pushback by the Taliban.
Excerpt: LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton said Saturday that, if he returns to the White House in 2008 because his wife becomes president, his role would be to "do whatever she wants" because that's what a good citizen would do. Clinton said he didn't know if U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Democrat from New York seeking re-election this year, would run for president in two years as some have speculated, but he predicted a woman could win the most powerful office in the world.
Excerpt: A stepdaughter of Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has a second Washington job, working for a lobbyist who has business before the committee. Julia Willis-Leon, who lives in Las Vegas, is a "strategic partner" in Potomac Partners DC LLC, President Richard Alcalde said in a recent interview. Alcalde said he has paid Willis-Leon $40,000 to $50,000 over the last year for advice on several clients.
Excerpt Now, talking on the phone with his young warrior, Brian tried to understand what he was hearing. Don't believe spinmeisters on TV, Brian recalls his son saying; the Iraqi insurgency is real and building. John and his buddies in Charlie Company of the 508th Infantry Regiment of the 173rd Airborne Brigade were patrolling ever longer distances in thin-skinned Humvees suited for hauling cargo, not for carrying soldiers under fire. This was not the first time John had confided that the U.S. military was failing to provide him with essential equipment. In previous calls home, Brian recalls, John recounted a bewildering array of shortages and snafus. Before landing in Iraq that scorching July, John told his father, he'd been issued a winter-weight camouflage suit, body armor with protective plates too small to shield his broad chest, and a broken rifle. An expert marksman and former co-captain of the Bedford High School shooting team, John had been told to conserve scarce bullets by not taking practice shots to sight his weapon, he said. Summertime water rations were so inadequate that guys were passing out in the Iraqi heat.
Excerpt: Join PDA, The BRAD BLOG, Tribune Media's Bob Koehler, VelvetRevolution.us and thousands of Americans so far, in declaring NO CONFIDENCE in the reported results of the Busby/Bilbray special U.S. House of Representative run-off election last week in California's 50th congressional district! See how poll workers taking the voting machines home for overnights days before the election rendered them uncertifed and illegal for use by both State and Federal standards, leaving the announced results wholly unverifiable at this time.
The Hollywood Liberal is an anti-war, anti republican, from right here beautiful Hollywood California.
The Hollywood Liberal loves America, I have traveled to many countries, and have seen first hand how great America is. I want to keep it that way by running Bush, and all his slimy, thieving, con artist, cronies, and henchmen back to whatever hole in Texas they may have slithered out of. I'm not too crazy about Gropenor Ahnold either, so we will try to give him a hard time whenever possible. Check out the site and if you have any comments or suggestions Let me know. Thanks H.L.
H.L. with Russ Feingold
Democrats who wished 
Lou Dobbs continues his series on Diebold, Electronic Voting, and how it is enabling Republicans to steal elections. 
H.L. in Association with Special Ops. Media is giving away 4 Road to Guantanamo Prize Packs. You get 2 Tickets to the movie which opens on June 23rd, you also get a Road to Guantanamo Poster, like the one you see here.
