Ok, the people of Alaska are now on my shit list. Hillary came off it yesterday and they went on. Way up there. They’re also on my dumber than a box of rocks list.

Alaska Republicans gave U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, currently facing a federal indictment, a primary victory on Tuesday.

It sets up a November election race with possibly the toughest opponent Stevens has ever faced in his 40 years in public office, squaring off against popular Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.

Stevens won his primary with 63 percent of the vote. Begich easily won his Democratic primary over two minor challengers with 91 percent of the vote.

More at MSNBC

But I still won’t believe until I see it.

Federal judge rules Bush’s aides can be subpoenaed

A federal judge on Thursday rejected President Bush’s contention that senior White House advisers are immune from subpoenas, siding with Congress’ power to investigate the executive branch and handing a victory to Democrats probing the dismissal of nine federal prosecutors.

The unprecedented ruling undercut three presidential confidants who have defied congressional subpoenas for information that Bush says is protected by executive privilege. Democrats swiftly announced they would schedule hearings in September, at the height of election season.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House could soon vote on a contempt citation against one of the three officials, Karl Rove, formerly Bush’s top adviser.

“It certainly strengthens our hand,” she said of the ruling. “This decision should send a clear signal to the Bush administration that it must cooperate fully with Congress and that former administration officials Harriet Miers and Karl Rove must testify before Congress.”

In case anyone is wondering where they can find Rove, just check out the green room at FOX studios. He’s been spending plenty of time there lately, what with going on-air and lying his head off, in typical fashion, about anything and everything. Fat, criminal fuckhead.

This ought to be interesting… from a Cleveland Ohio newspaper, The Plain Dealer:

DEVELOPING: Agents take truck loads of material in corruption probe

FBI and IRS Officials seized some eight boxes from the home of Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo today.

Federal agents used U-Haul trucks to cart away documents from the homes of Jimmy Dimora and Frank Russo as a day-long series of searches continued in a public corruption investigation.

Officials said the searches were part of a long-term public corruption investigation but refused to elaborate. The list of places search indicates that the probe may involve irregularities in construction contracts.

The places searched include: The home of Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, the home of Auditor Frank Russo, the home of county Information Technology Administrator Kevin Kelley, the county administration building, the county Data Center, the county Engineer’s Office, DAS Construction in Garfield Heights, Blaze Construction in Middleburg Heights, Doan Pyramid Electric in Bedford Heights and Vincore LLC in Cleveland.

(HT: What-The?) (emphasis mine)

They probably couldn’t elaborate if they didn’t have any physical evidence to go on. But hatred will surely light their path.

I found another interesting story, dated May 21, 2008, in which Commissioner Dimora accused The Plain Dealer and the Republican Party of conspiring to take down the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party.

Well it looks like they’re finally going to succeed. It has that “Bush admin-Karl Rove-fired U.S. attorneys” feel to it, doesn’t it?

Washington is just a hot-bed of crime and corruption… and they rub it in our faces every chance they get, for they know we’re powerless to do anything about it.

Fannie, Freddie spent $200M to buy influence

If you want to know how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have survived scandal and crisis, consider this: Over the past decade, they have spent nearly $200 million on lobbying and campaign contributions. [...]

The two government-chartered companies run a highly sophisticated lobbying operation, with deep-pocketed lobbyists in Washington and scores of local Fannie- and Freddie-sponsored homeowner groups ready to pressure lawmakers back home.

They’ve stacked their payrolls with top Washington power brokers of all political stripes, including Republican John McCain’s presidential campaign manager, Rick Davis; Democrat Barack Obama’s original vice presidential vetter, Jim Johnson; and scores of others now working for the two rivals for the White House.

Bastard employers. Bastard government.

This is one of those stories where you’ll stop and ask yourself; “exactly what the f*ck did I celebrate yesterday?”

Employers use federal law to deny benefits

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dying of cancer, Thomas Amschwand did everything he was told to make sure his wife would collect on the life insurance policy he had through his employer.

“He was obsessed with dotting every `i’ and crossing every `t’,” Melissa Amschwand-Bellinger recalled about her husband, who died in 2001 at age 30.

But Spherion Corp., the temporary staffing company where Amschwand worked, told Amschwand-Bellinger she would not receive any of the $426,000 in benefits she believed she was due. When she went to court, Spherion succeeded in getting her lawsuit thrown out. The Supreme Court on June 27 refused to review the case. [...]

“The beneficiary under the policy didn’t get the promised benefit,” said Colleen Medill, an expert on ERISA at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “To say we’re just going to return your premiums, that’s a total farce. That’s not what they paid the premiums for. They paid them for the benefits.”

See, the way it works is, for each employ that a company screws over, the CEO of said company gets a huge pay wage. Cherry!

BBC Report on the Senate investigation (I’m having a hard time keeping up with all the investigations and hearings that go nowhere) into some televangelists.

From World Mag:

Billionaire Warren Buffet became one of the richest men in the world by knowing what adds value to a corporation and what does not. And one of the things that does not, he has argued for years, is a corporate jet: They’re a luxury in almost every case and a necessity for only a few. He often railed against them in the annual reports of his company, Berkshire Hathaway, and elsewhere.

That’s why, when Berkshire Hathaway finally bought a corporate jet in 1989, he somewhat ashamedly called it “The Indefensible.”

But try telling that to Fred Price, Creflo Dollar, Jesse Duplantis, Benny Hinn, or Kenneth Copeland. Their organizations are among more than 30 churches and Christian ministries with luxury jets (see sidebar), according to a WORLD investigation. And according to Ole Anthony of the Trinity Foundation, a Dallas-based ministry watchdog, ownership and use of luxury jets is one of the surest indicators that donor money is not being used for ministry purposes.

Leahy is right. “Disconnect” is the word for the day.

Oil Execs tell Congress: Don’t Blame Us

It’s wonderful to be rich and be an American resident. You have politicians catering to your every whim. You decide to break the law, the law looks the other way. Man-on-man sex in a public restroom? No problem! Taxes? Who the hell pays taxes?!

And when you decide to hold Americans up at the pump and rob them of their hard-earned money, money earmarked for food or some other essential item, the strength of the mighty U.S. Congress swoops down from above and raps you with a newspaper.

Yep. Wealthy Americans have it tough.

Big Oil defends profits before irate senators

WASHINGTON (AP) — On a day oil prices leaped to unheard-of highs, senators lined up Big Oil’s biggest executives and pummeled them with complaints that they’re pretending to be “hapless victims” while raking in record profits. [...]

It’s all about economics, came the reply. Supply and demand. The company leaders tried to shift attention from motorists’ anger over $4-a-gallon gasoline to a debate over new areas for drilling.

But senators at the Judiciary Committee hearing weren’t having any of that. They wanted to press the executives about public anguish over paying $60 or more to fill up a car’s gas tank.

“People we represent are hurting, the companies you represent are profiting,” Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told the executives. He said there’s a “disconnect” between legitimate supply issues and the oil and gasoline prices motorists are seeing.

Oh, please! Big John is as crooked as a… well… I usually say “republican” here. Like we’re supposed to believe that he doesn’t surround himself with like-minded thieves.

Oh well. If he can fool a few dim-witted moderates, then more power to him.

Analysis: Flap conflicts with McCain’s image

WASHINGTON (AP) — John McCain’s campaign angst over his lobbyist ties is putting the Republican in conflict with his carefully honed reformer image. It’s also giving Democratic rival Barack Obama an opening to paint him as nothing more than a Washington creature.

“The fact is, John McCain’s campaign is being run by Washington lobbyists and paid for by their money,” Obama argued Monday in Billings, Mont. - far from the Beltway. “I’m not in this race to continue the special interest-driven politics of the last eight years. I’m in this race to end it.” [...]

He’s tried to straddle two worlds, being both a four-term senator known as a fighter of special interests and a candidate whose campaign has employed people with long lobbying records. The dual role is proving problematic.

The reporter calls CREW a left-leaning group. I call bullshit. It just so happens most of the politicians with ethics and corruption problems are Republican. They have no problem throwing Democrats under the bus if they see them being unethical or corrupt. It just pisses me off when they label people who are exposing corruption as “left leaning.” Such bullshit.

A Washington ethics watchdog group wants the House ethics committee to investigate whether Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) violated House rules by romancing his mistress on taxpayer-funded congressional delegation trips abroad.

The left-leaning Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, known as CREW, has sent an ethics complaint against Fossella to the ethics panel, officially called the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

The group called on the panel to investigate Fossella’s May 1 drunken driving charge in Alexandria, Va., as well as reports that he and his mistress, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Laura Fay, traveled together on taxpayer-funded CODELS while they were carrying on a romantic relationship. CREW noted “Fossella allegedly was the solo member of Congress who traveled to France in January 2003 in Lt. Col. Fay’s company” and cited the ethics manual, which states that a House member’s travel must not “create the appearance that the individual is using public office for private gain.”

More at the Washington Post

I can’t begin to tell you how mad this makes me. Before Blue Herald, I rarely followed politics. It was all just a blur to me as I would walk on by a television tuned to the evening news.

You’ve probably heard that if Bush were to “off” an infant on-air, barely a gasp would be uttered. Let Obama go a day without a flag lapel pin and watch the MSM and half the country go ape’shit. It all just serves to push me back away from politics.

My fellow democrats, I implore you, if you’re thinking of running for office, and there’s a small chance you may use that office for some crooked adventures or personal gain, or whatever, then please don’t run. Stay home and let someone who does give a damn be elected, k? It would be a much greater country if you did!

Scandal-plagued Ohio attorney general resigns

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s attorney general resigned Wednesday under threat of impeachment because of a sexual harassment investigation in his office and his extramarital affair.

Attorney General Marc Dann, a Democrat elected in 2006 on an anti-corruption platform, said at a news conference that he had to resign to preserve the ability of the office to carry out the priorities he established. [...]

He admitted May 2 to an extramarital affair with an employee that he said contributed to an atmosphere leading to sexual harassment claims against a top aide. [...]

Strickland and Dann were among many Ohio Democrats swept into office after an investment scandal that involved a GOP donor and went as high as former Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican.