What a dope

What deserves congressional attention?

Well, none other than the Move On scandal of course. Like Terry Schiavo I guess.

Here is GOP Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia. He sent a letter to Oversight Committee chair Henry Waxman demanding a probe into the "scandal."

It is time for The New York Times to answer publicly, on the record, and under oath for its conduct," Davis writes. "You have repeatedly challenged the public statements of administration and private industry officials and sought testimony under oath. It is time for you to give equal treatment to The New York Times.

He of course neglected to mention the times that Attorney General, and various other military and executive employees weren't sworn in. I guess because they are of the better sort. You can tell him

he's a dope - in a nice way of course - here
Tom Davis, you are a dope

Dear Harry Reid

Below is text of email to the Senator:

I've been thinking about the stupid censure of Move ON that you and your leadership team allowed the Republicans to pull. And I think turn about is fair play.

Here is a link from a blog - http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/rulz-by-digby-village-rule-number-one.html

It's ok it won't hurt you. You can click on it and read it and everything.

It's from Digby's blog Hullabaloo. In this post she lists a number of times when the right played the Obama/Osama name game.

Now this is just a small selection of things that if it had been aimed at a Republican would have made you allow a censure motion to show the dastardly culprit.

But instead you can use these as a starting point. Here's the idea: each day offer a censure motion to be you know just to be fair and balanced.

With a little thought you could add to the list I am sure. Pull some Swift Boat quotes and slurs aimed at Max Cleland - shucks just read Ann Coulter for a week and you would have a mother load (no pun intended).

That way you can cave to the Republicans and avoid making them actually have to filibuster whenever they threaten to and you with each (update: edited because the actual note had gibberish here) vote you lose you will still carry a message more potent than whatever pointless Iraq resolution you come up with to please Republican Moderates (ha-ha-ha) to plead with President Bush to please like uphold his oath to the Constitution.

Just trying to be helpful here,

Would you go to war because this guy thinks it's a good idea?

No, I didn't think so.



(ht := Glenn Greenwald)

Verizon part II

Oh just by the way - - -

I can't get passed the Verizon contact page to register my issue directly. They seem to have required STATE but then have disabled the STATE field.

It fails on both Firefox and IE.

I can see that I am up against real customer service professionals here.

So if you or anyone you know has a contact within Verizon who can, you know, pass a note please let me know.

It's a wonder that the Department of Homeland Security can anything out of these guys.

You ask what do I think of Verizon?

I was talking to a friend on my Verizon landline. In the middle of the conversation the connection was lost. It was on my end. There was no dial tone - - nada. I picked up my Verizon Wireless phone (always a dicey operation at my house) and called my friend, but that was ok. For a while.

Then the wireless died. But in the meantime my landline signal came back. So once again I called my friend back on landline. Landline died again - no dial tone. So back to wireless. We are going on an hour of this game now. Technical problems - I understand.

We talk on my wireless. I check periodically on the landline - no dial tone. Finally we hang up on the wireless - I must say hadn't failed that whole time.

So. I check the landline. It lives. I want to know the status of phone service in my area. Is this storm related? We've had heavy rains. Is this caused by a car that decided to take out a pole? I dunno. So I check.

I discover the contact number on the verizon website. I use the word "discover" deliberately, it is not obvious. I should have at least been given a cookie for my efforts but then again I probably got a cookie. That part of the interaction is always well thought out.

I play tone tag with the automated "assistant". Finally "she" tells me the office is closed.

So... I look up the help number in the F***ing phone book. That's the one that is supposed to have all the phone numbers in it.

I call the number.

I play some more tone tag with the automated assistant.

I am placed on hold.

They seem to have an endless supply of Steely Dan.

Then I wait on hold.

Then I do a refresher. I relearn playing Mary has a little lamb on the keypad.

Then I wait.

I learned how to play "For the Good Times" on a keypad: 1 5 8 5    ##  8 58#.
It's not perfect but keypad fidelity sucks too.

All tolled I listened for 45 minutes.

I cave.

They beat me.

I didn't get a person to ask what was going on with my phone service.

I didn't get a recorded message saying - "service in your area has been experiencing technical difficulties."

Whatever it was was evidently fixed because they kept me on hold for nearly an hour and I never lost the line.

One hour plus of Steely Dan.

So who wins?

Well. I have my phone back.

But now I am infinitely pissed at Verizon. And not even because of the phone outage. I can understand that.

What I can't understand is :
1 - THERE IS NO SIMPLE EASILY DISCOVERABLE STATUS help line online or in the phone book.
2 - Verizon's website SUCKS.
3 - Verizon's website SUCKS.
4 - VERIZON'S CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS. No I am being unfair. Verizon Customer Service may be the best in the world. I'll never know. I NEVER GOT THAT FAR. I do know their queuing algorithm or their HUMAN RESOURCING SUCKS.

Why should I have to wait an hour plus and then hang up in frustration because I NEVER GOT ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THE SERVICE STATUS IN MY AREA?

Here Verizon, this will save you easily a million bucks in consulting fees easy - I SHOULDN'T. Discount my bill.

What I really want to know is:

Why did you Verizon find it acceptable to piss me off on such a trivial matter? My landline - the phone that everyone relies on when even the electricity is out - dies and all I want to know is why. And you made me hate you for trying to ask.

After this experience I decided that it is time I found another phone service.

All I can say to Verizon is:
1 5 8 5    ##  8 58#.

Verizon, call me back ok, if you want to discuss? My number's in the book.

I just bought Kris Kristofferson's greatest hits special. It's playing on my answering machine.

Can you thread the needle?

Atrios says If I were a Democrat running for president I wouldn't be looking forward to inheriting this mess and would be working to end it sooner, not later.

I suppose a good point in the abstract but even Nixon running against Johnson couldn't do a frontal assault against the Viet Nam War. And he went to China for chissake!

Nixon ran with a secret plan to end the war. Of course that plan was a fiction but ending the war was everyone's goal. He stipulated "Peace with honor" never defining peace or honor as I recall.

Gene McCarthy (in the primary) and then later McGovern said they would just get out more-or-less and they got creamed - Gene taken out by soon-to-be-dead-Bobby and Humphrey. McGovern taken out by a straight up election of the enlightened electorate.

How does anyone expect a politician to not learn a serious lesson from that. No matter how stupid the war is. No matter how dishonest and corrupt the motivations or machinations that created the war - once in you can't just say we need to get out. That makes you a peacenik - and then you are fucked.

tells you all you need to know

Romney Headquarters Burglarized They took his TV and some computers. Is that redundant?