the week that was

First they came for the Jews. Now they are coming for you.
"Over the past few days, much has been written about what Jesus General has called the "Indian River Pogrom" -- about how two Jewish familes sold their homes and moved away from Indian River Delaware, after a campaign of religious persecution by local Christian rightists that has included death threats and the publication of the names and address of one family on the internet as part of a campaign of harrassment and intimidation."
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/7/7/23044/44217

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/07/04/us/05liberty.large1.jpg
"This is real. A church in Tennessee spent a quarter of a million dollars on this thing. Jesus says feed the poor, the Commandments they worry so about say something pretty clearly about "graven images," and they build this?! Seriously, their reality has truly lapped our satire."
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/7/6/12447/07445
(i've now had my own romantic visions of last-turn-of-the-century russian-jewish immigrents looking upon -this- version in place of the rl staten island version... and turning back...)

Bush administration says detainee suicides in Gitmo are really part of an evil plot
"Did you get that? A classified US military memo about Guantanamo itself. Let's just assume for a moment that these guys ARE Al Qaeda terrorists who are under top security at a US military prison. How did they get their hands on a classified US military memo detailing all sorts of useful information about Guantanamo Bay itself? They got it from their lawyers? ... if this is true, the Bush administration just admitted to one of the biggest intelligence snafus and security breaches since they've come into office."
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/07/bush-administration-says-detainee.html

House GOP pushing "Terri Schiavo" agenda
"Besides a potential series of votes on family tax breaks, the legislative lineup for the weeks ahead included initiatives that would prohibit any government from using federal money to confiscate guns during emergencies; (ed. - think that's gonna stop them??) ensure that local governments do not have to pay damages or lawyer fees in court battles over public expressions of religion, and protect the Pledge of Allegiance from being found unconstitutional.

The agenda also includes a measure to ban human cloning and one requiring that those performing late-term abortions inform women seeking the procedure that the fetus could feel pain and could receive anesthesia. House Republican leaders also plan a vote on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, even though it could not be adopted in this Congress because it has already been rejected by the Senate.

The House of Representatives, still stained by the leadership of Tom DeLay, has become utterly irrelevant to the governing of this country. If you can't demonize it, then it's not worth trying to legislate about. So we have another agenda designed to alienate, anger, and motivate the basest of their base voters. Leaving behind many moderates."
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/7/8/134449/5110

NH Phone Jammer: The White House made me do it
"According to a recent court filing, indicted phone jammer Shaun Hansen may offer an affirmative defense at his upcoming fall trial, arguing that the phone jamming scheme which his company carried out had the seal of approval of both the Republican National Committee and the White House."
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/07/nh-phone-jammer-white-house-made-me-do.html

CIA shuts down office hunting down Osama Bin Laden
"The Central Intelligence Agency has closed a unit that for a decade had the mission of hunting Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants, intelligence officials confirmed Monday."
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/7/5/144659/0244

Bush brags on TV today about the great success we've had with "electricity" in Baghdad. Total BS.
"You can only manage the news to a certain degree. It is certainly hard to hide the fact that in the third year of this war, Iraqis are only getting electricity for about 5 to 10 percent of the day. Living conditions have gotten so much worse, violence is at an even higher tempo, and the country is on the verge of civil war."
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/07/bush-brags-on-tv-today-about-great.html

2,543
"Three American troops were killed Saturday in fighting in the western province of Anbar, the U.S. military said. They were the first U.S. fatalities reported in Iraq in four days and only the eighth so far this month."
"Only the eighth so far this month? It's only the eighth day of the month. "
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/7/8/125337/2066

That "only" makes me shudder. It shows you just how little they value the lives of the individual soldiers.

(Edit: From the looks of it, the word "only" was used only by the writer of the blog, and not found anywhere in the article to which it links.)