DoubleSpeak with Matthew and Peter Slutsky

While We Wait For Libby Sentencing…

Democratic strategist James Carville has had some long-standing problems with the blogosphere. I have never attacked him to date and I have even defended some of his comments and actions to my friends and colleagues. However, I was just reading through the sentencing letters sent on Scooter Libby’s behalf to Judge Reggie Walton and I’m pretty appalled to see one of the letters is sent by Carville and his wife, Mary Matalin.

James Carville is not an elected official and he is free to support anyone who he would like, but Libby is a convicted criminal and he should not have the support of Democrats who are working to clean up government and hold Bush and Cheney accountable for their illegal and unethical activity in regards to Valerie Plame and the Iraq War.

This just shows that when you live in Washington, D.C. for too long, you forget who you are and you lose touch with reality. Sure, Libby might be a nice guy, but he was convicted of a crime and he deserves to pay his debt to society.

The bottom line is that James Carville should not be lending his support to a criminal. Oh, and Rep. William Jefferson should resign immediately!

Jun 5, 2007 by Peter Slutsky in
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War Criminal Tuesday

Thank you Sen. Harry Reid for kicking this war criminal’s ass.

“I’m not going to get into a name-calling match with somebody who has a 9 percent approval rating.”

-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on tricky Dick Cheney’s name calling.

Apr 25, 2007 by Matthew Slutsky in
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Monday Quote Of The Day

“I find it ironic that the flags were flown at half-staff for the young men and women who were killed at VT, yet it is never lowered for the death of a U.S. service member…”

-Sergeant Jim Wilt stationed at Bagram military base north of Kabul, Afghanistan.

Apr 23, 2007 by Matthew Slutsky in
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Republicanism

I can’t tell you how damn good it feels to be on the right side of history.

Republicans:

“Get ‘er Done” from ThinkProgress.org.

Democrats:

Feb 16, 2007 by Matthew Slutsky in
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Bush Continues to Break Law

And with impunity.

Not content to hold American citizens indefinitely without filing charges, spy on American telephone calls, and in general act like king, President Bush has decided it’s his right to open our mail. Despite that being a blatant violation of federal law. Cue the signing statement…

The President asserted his new authority when he signed a postal reform bill into law on Dec. 20. Bush then issued a “signing statement” that declared his right to open people’s mail under emergency conditions.

That claim is contrary to existing law and contradicted the bill he had just signed, say experts who have reviewed it.

The problem is Bush Doesn’t Care. He doesn’t believe in the Law. He only believes in his divine right as a President Bush to do whatever he wants.

Let’s hope the new 110th Congress starts to do something about this lawless administration.

Jan 4, 2007 by Joshua Skaroff in
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AP Lede Of The Day

From the Associate Press

President Bush worked nearly three hours at his Texas ranch on Thursday to design a new U.S. policy in Iraq, then emerged to say that he and his advisers need more time to craft the plan he’ll announce in the new year.

He then took a nap. It’s hard work being president.

Dec 29, 2006 by Joshua Skaroff in
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Voodoo Bush (Slight Return)

Passed along without comment. Via TPM.

A renowned black magic practitioner performed a voodoo ritual Thursday to jinx President George W. Bush and his entourage while he was on a brief visit to Indonesia.

Ki Gendeng Pamungkas slit the throat of a goat, a small snake and stabbed a black crow in the chest, stirred their blood with spice and broccoli before drank the “potion” and smeared some on his face.

“I don’t hate Americans, but I don’t like Bush,” said Pamungkas, who believed the ritual would succeed as, “the devil is with me today.”

Nov 17, 2006 by Joshua Skaroff in
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Phoenixville, PA

Day 3
3:45 PM ET.

We just finished a great interview with Lois Murphy, who is running to replace Jim “George W. Bush” Gerlach in the PA-6th.

The event and interview were great and the show will be up tomorrow or Saturday.

I don’t know why, but my brother honks the horn at every cow we see. It’s getting annoying, because there are tons of cows. I might eject him from the automobile.

BREAKING NEWS: Just saw my first Bob Casey lawn sign. Wow, so there is a Senate race in PA after all. You wouldn’t know traveling around Southeastern PA.

That’s it for now. We’re listening to former Gov. Jim McGreevey (D-NJ) on Terry Gross. Tune-in if you’re near your radio. We’re working on production the rest of the day and then heading to our next stop, New Jersey. More later.

-Peter

Sep 21, 2006 by Peter Slutsky in
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Still In S. Philly

Day 1
1:52 PM ET.

While we’re now officially on the road (read: not at work), there’s still lots of work to do booking, packing, and organizing the marathon journey we’re about to start. Peter is doing research for an interview tonight, Matt is working on the script for an upcoming episode, and I’m editing together audio of a recent sitdown with a friend from MoveOn.org. And while we work in my living room in South Philly, still mourning the collapse of our Eagles on Sunday, we’re catching Bush’s speech to the UN on CNN.

The most interesting part of the speech is watching the reactions of the international representatives in the room. The president’s speech is all boilerplate rhetoric at this point so the the occasional chuckles from various Middle Eastern ambassadors are about the only thing to look for. They don’t look too happy. John Bolton looks fantastic with his ear translator piece however.

Bush is also adopting a very strange style in this speech, constantly using “you” to describe each region and state as he comes to it. He really feels the need to dictate everyone’s actions.

Ok, back to the grindstone. We’ve got lots of writing and editing to do before we get in the van tonight.

-Josh

Sep 19, 2006 by Joshua Skaroff in
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Rahm’s Letter To Bush

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, who heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) wrote this letter to President Bush today on the lessons of history. Bush spoke about his legacy and about how history will remember his failed presidency with NBC’s Brian Williams the other day.

Mr. President:

Since you’ve taken it upon yourself to educate the American people on the “lessons of history,” perhaps you should spend the long holiday weekend with one of the many fine volumes about World War II and bone up yourself. (Or, since it’s a family weekend, you could ask your dad.)

Mr. President, when faced with the deadly threat of fascism, Franklin Roosevelt did not divide our country; he brought people together—Democrats and Republicans—behind the war effort. During the war, he created a bipartisan Cabinet and refrained from using the war as a partisan ramrod.

Under FDR’s brilliant wartime leadership, we were one country with a single purpose, steely resolve and deep faith in the ultimate outcome of that struggle.

FDR also understood that, faced with a mortal enemy, we could not go it alone, and he worked painstakingly to build respectful alliances with other nations. That was a key to victory.

So Mr. President, you are right when you saw the lessons of history are valuable. But the lessons of combating fascism are unity – not division, and alliances abroad – not isolation. And it is you who needs to learn them.

Sincerely,

Rep. Rahm Emanuel

Sep 1, 2006 by Peter Slutsky in
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