Yellow Dog

12 Great Years

2009-12-08T16:49:00.000-05:00

Sept. 1997 - Dec. 8, 2009

Our Long National Nightmare is Over

2009-01-17T12:49:00.001-05:00

As we near the end of the Bush administration, the words of Ford following the corrupt Nixon administration seem appropriate: "Our long national nightmare is over." Of course, Ford said this in the context of pardoning Nixon, and there's no excuse for Bush's record. Here are some highlights:

CORRUPT POLITICIZATION OF GOVERNMENT AGENCIES:
--Politicized every government office, including installing political appointees in the Justice Dept. who actively worked to hire only "right-thinking Americans" (aka Republican loyalists)
--Has overseen rampant cronyism, mismanagement in many government agencies like FEMA
--Stayed on vacation and let New Orleans drown for several days while he did nothing
--Allowed energy industry to write US energy policy
--Allowed political appointees to rewrite environmental policy
--Filled EPA positions with former oil lobbyists and Forestry division with former timber lobbyists

PUTTING CEOs before CITIZENS:
--Signed legislation designed to benefit pharmaceutical industry against interest of the American people
--Signed legislation designed to benefit banking & credit industry against interest of the American people, thus leading to the current crisis
--Deliberately withheld true cost of Medicare bill from Congress, threatened job of actuary who wanted to reveal truth
--Prohibited Medicare from negotiating drug prices with pharmaceutical companies
--Has sabotaged clean air and water regulations in favor of industry and to the detriment of the environment

IGNORED RULE OF LAW & CONSTITUTION:
--Abrogated multiple international treaties the U.S. had signed and long honored, allowing torture
--Allowed illegal wiretapping of innocent Americans
--Administration blew cover of CIA operative in retribution for operative's husband exposing Bush lie about Iraq
--Lied about obtaining court warrants for wiretaps before the program was made public
--Lied excessively about his reasons for authorizing illegal wiretaps
--Pretended to speak to the American public but closed events and only allowed in supporters even when taxpayer dollars funded events
--Removed protesters to "free speech zones" far from appearance areas or even travel routes
--Had protesters arrested on bogus charges even when they just wore T-shirts critical of him

STARTED UNNECESSARY WARS (and ignored real threats):
--Ignored memos that predicted 9-11 and that planes would be used to strike US targets
--Failed to capture Osama bin Laden
--Has enabled al Qaeda to make massive recruitments
--Lied about Iraq having "massive stockpiles" of WMD
--Lied about Iraq's ties with al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's involvement in 9/11
--Established dangerous and unethical policy of pre-emptive warfare
--Mismanaged the War in Iraq from the start
--Failed to prepare an exit strategy from Iraq
--Failed to send enough troops as per the advice of the generals
--Failed to supply troops with necessary gear, especially armor
--Lied about the cost of the war
--Has allowed massive corruption and mismanagement causing billions of US tax dollars to be stolen

DESTROYED THE ECONOMY:
--Turned a historic budget surplus into a string of record deficits
--Has overseen weakest overall job growth in nearly a century
--Anemic "recovery" from recession is the weakest and latest-coming in more than half a century
--Has overseen a surge of McJobs: low-paying and benefit-free employment exploding
--Has given multiple massive tax cuts and payoffs to wealthy individuals and to industries while short-changing lower- and middle-class Americans

Bush's Record

Debate Follow-Up: Obama 1, Grumpy Old Man, 0

2008-09-28T15:00:00.000-04:00

I agree with much of the analysis of Friday's debate, which noted that--while the debate, arguably, could have been declared a draw in terms of substance--McCain lost points on style, with Obama exhibiting the more presidential temperament. McCain came across as old, grumpy, and angry, and you half expected him to yell at Obama, "Get off my lawn, kid!"

But while I was irritated with McCain constantly and arrogantly telling Obama that he was naive and "didn't understand," I thought Obama had a good comeback in his interview today with Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation:

SCHIEFFER: Senator Obama, it seems to me that the whole debate came down to a couple of questions. You questioned Senator McCain's judgment repeatedly, he repeatedly said you just didn't understand; that you didn't have the knowledge or the understanding to deal with these issues, both the financial issues and foreign policy issues.

Sen. OBAMA: Right. Well, the interesting thing is he kept on asserting I didn't understand, but beyond saying the line never indicated what exactly I didn't understand. It's true I don't understand Senator McCain's positions on a whole host of issues, because given how the Bush administration has created an extraordinary crisis in the economy and considering that we remain bogged down in Iraq--al-Qaeda is resurgent, Iran is developing nuclear weapons--that our foreign policy is, if not in a shambles, then certainly not in a place that I think anybody is comfortable with. Given those facts, what I don't understand is that Senator McCain continues to promote them. There was not one instance where Senator McCain could support his assertions with some indication that, in fact, he had some secret understanding of what the Bush administration was doing that made sense. In fact, he essentially is defending a status quo that is not working for the American people.

SCHIEFFER: Some Democrats said that they thought he was being condescending to you. Did
you take it in that way?

Sen. OBAMA: Well, I think it was a--it was a debating trick, which is to essentially just keep on asserting that because of my vast years in Washington, somehow I'm better qualified to be president. And one of the points that I've made consistently in this campaign is that if the length of tenure in Washington is a measure of your wisdom, then people should vote for somebody else. But I think the American people understand that the conventional wisdom in Washington, which John McCain has followed for the last eight years, is exactly what needs to be changed.

Obama: "No Welfare For Wall Street", Nominee Is Inclined To Support Congress' $700B Bailout Package If It Also Protects Main Street - CBS News

McCain's Suspension Bridge to Nowhere

2008-09-28T12:43:00.001-04:00

Great op ed by Frank Rich in today's NYT:

On McCain's "stunt" to suspend his campaign:
"When John McCain gratuitously parachuted into Washington on Thursday, he didn’t care if his grandstanding might precipitate an even deeper economic collapse. All he cared about was whether he might save his campaign. George Bush put more deliberation into invading Iraq than McCain did into his own reckless invasion of the delicate Congressional negotiations on the bailout plan."

On McCain's (lack of) knowledge of economic issues:
"To put these 24 hours in context, you must remember that McCain not only knows little about the economy but that he has not previously expressed any urgency about its meltdown. It was on Sept. 15 — the day after his former idol Alan Greenspan pronounced the current crisis a “once-in-a-century” catastrophe — that McCain reaffirmed for the umpteenth time that the “fundamentals of our economy are strong.” As recently as Tuesday he had not yet even read the two-and-a-half-page bailout proposal first circulated by Hank Paulson last weekend. “I have not had a chance to see it in writing,” he explained. (Maybe he was waiting for it to arrive by Western Union instead of PDF.)"

On McCain's close ties to Freddie and Fannie:
"What we were learning — through The New York Times, Newsweek and Roll Call — was ugly. Davis Manafort, the lobbying firm owned by McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, had received $15,000 a month from Freddie Mac from late 2005 until last month. This was in addition to the $30,000 a month that Davis was paid from 2000 to 2005 by the so-called Homeownership Alliance, an advocacy organization that he headed and that was financed by Freddie and Fannie to fight regulation."

I can hardly wait to see what the next gimmick or campaign stunt will be. October surprise, anyone?

Op-Ed Columnist - McCain%u2019s Suspension Bridge to Nowhere - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

What's the Matter with GOP voters?

2008-09-28T12:31:00.002-04:00

Four years ago, born-and-bred Kansas conservative-turned-liberal, Thomas Frank wrote a popular book called _What's the Matter with Kansas?_ In the book, Frank explored why Republicans--particularly low-income or middle-class individuals--choose to vote against their economic interests. He posits that they have embraced cultural wedge issues over the economic good of the country.

I have long wondered why people like my family, who are squarely middle class, would embrace a Republican free-market ideology--like the one that has led to our recent financial crisis--or why they would look down on welfare to the poor but avert their gaze when it comes to corporate welfare. And honestly, unless you are making over $250K and will gobble up even more tax breaks from a McCain presidency, why wouldn't you vote for Obama, who will give tax breaks to 95% of US citizens?

Puzzled by this seeming disconnect, I've set out to answer the question, "What's the Matter with GOP voters?" Here's my attempt at a response at why anyone would vote McCain/Palin:

1) You are a rich CEO enjoying "voluntary regulation" and the privatized profits and socialized risks that go along with deregulation (which McCain promoted);

2) You are part of the 24% who still think Bush is doing a good job, and you want to see a continuation of the disastrous policies that got us where we are today;

3) You are part of the "values voters" who are more interested in the fact that the Pentecostal Sarah Palin can speak in tongues than whether she can speak coherently about any other domestic or international issues;

4) You are woefully misinformed and only listen to right-wing talk radio, FOX news, or WorldNet (Nut) Daily and therefore have a very warped view of reality and along with a deep hatred of anyone who is different, which leads to my last point:

5) You are a racist who would never vote for a black man for President, even if the alternative is a doddering old white guy who has spent 30 years in Washington and failed to change it and who picked a frighteningly inexperienced running mate and put her a heartbeat away from the presidency--all for a gimmick and not the good of the country.

Online NewsHour: Economic, Social Issues Play Part in Voters' Decisions -- October 28, 2004

Palin Piles On the Gibberish

2008-09-28T12:05:00.001-04:00

Following calls from right-wing conservatives, like the Washington Post's Kathleen Parker, for Sarah Palin to step down "to spend more time with her family," comes this scathing article from Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek, who is usually pretty moderate. Here's his lede:

"Will someone please put Sarah Palin out of her agony?"

Citing the recent interview with Katie Couric, Zakaria notes that "Palin has been given a set of talking points by campaign advisers, simple ideological mantras that she repeats and repeats as long as she can. ("We mustn't blink.") But if forced off those rehearsed lines, what she has to say is often, quite frankly, gibberish."

In fact, she's so much of a joke, that on SNL last night, Tina Fey--doing a spot-on impersonation of Palin--was able to recite direct quotes from the interview. Instant comedy! Here's Palin's actual answer to a question from Couric re: the bailout:

"That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, were ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the—it's got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we've got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that."

Huh? Gibberish indeed. This would be hilarious if it weren't the case that this woman is one 72-year-old's heartbeat away from the Presidency. Great call, McCain--way to go in putting "country first."

Fareed Zakaria: Palin Is Ready? Please. | Newsweek Voices - Fareed Zakaria | Newsweek.com

Palin at Cheney's Undisclosed Location?

2008-09-07T12:25:00.000-04:00

Today McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said that Palin won't give any interviews until she is "comfortable" and "until the point in time when she'll be treated with respect and deference." At the moment she is off being "tutored" at some undisclosed location and is not ready for prime time (or even a softball interview from her Friends at Fox). That's pretty scary to contemplate--two months from the election, and Palin is being prepped on foreign policy and the challenges and tasks facing this country.

As Josh Micah Marshall points out, "That's really all we need to know" about whether she is prepared to be a heartbeat away form the presidency.

At least Cheney waited until _after_ the campaign to hide out at his undisclosed location.

Talking Points Memo | Not Training Wheels We Can Believe In

"Palin and McCain’s Shotgun Marriage"

2008-09-07T12:17:00.000-04:00

Frank Rich nails it in his column today. While "fact-checking" Palin's speech and noting that, far from what she claimed, she actually supported the "Bridge to Nowhere," hired lobbyists to secure earmarks (negating one of McCain's biggest platforms), did not sell her jet on eBay, and is under investigation for abuse of power, he notes that the issue is not just that Palin is not qualified to be VP, but that it reflects negatively on McCain and his decision-making qualities:

"[McCain's] speed-dating of Palin reaffirmed a more dangerous personality tic that has dogged his entire career. His decision-making process is impetuous and, in its Bush-like preference for gut instinct over facts, potentially reckless.

As The New York Times reported last Tuesday, Palin was sloppily vetted, at best.... There was no F.B.I. background check. The Times found no evidence that a McCain representative spoke to anyone in the State Legislature or business community. Nor did anyone talk to the fired state public safety commissioner at the center of the Palin ethics investigation. No McCain researcher even bothered to consult the relevant back issues of the Wasilla paper. Apparently when McCain said in June that his vice presidential vetting process was basically “a Google,” he wasn’t joking.

This is a roll of the dice beyond even Bill Clinton’s imagination. “Often my haste is a mistake,” McCain conceded in his 2002 memoir, “but I live with the consequences without complaint.” Well, maybe it’s fine if he wants to live with the consequences, but what about his country? Should the unexamined Palin prove unfit to serve at the pinnacle of American power, it will be too late for the rest of us to complain."

When is the media going to start vetting McCain?

Op-Ed Columnist - Palin and McCain’s Shotgun Marriage - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

10% Change?

2008-09-04T22:51:00.002-04:00

I'm listening to the last of the RNC speeches, and I'm still waiting to hear about some substantive policy ideas--particularly ideas that vary from the failed policies of the last 8 years. So you like wars and recessions? McCain-Palin promises more of the same!

First there was Rudy Guliani's speech, in which he led the crowd in a rousing speech (no kidding) of "Drill, Baby, Drill!" Surreal. (And sick.)

Then there was Palin's speech, which was just red meat for the conservative base, forsaking ideas for sarcastic one-liners and sophomoric attacks on Obama. Then again, she doesn't have much substance to run on, so they had to fill the speech with something, and we all now how well Republicans do hate and vitriol. Yes they can!

McCain is speaking now and, in the midst of a lot of cliches, is promising "change" in Washington. Um, John, you do realize that the Republicans have been in charge for the last 8 years, right? And I think you've been in Washington over 30 years, haven't you? The only "change" I can detect is that McCain shifted from a "maverick" who sometimes stood on principle instead of partisan politics to a politician who totally sold out and embraced all of Bush's policies, even policies (such as defending torture) that are beneath a POW (who should know better). From a guy who voted with Bush 90% of the time, I'm not sure 10% change is enough of the change this country needs.

Are Republicans really buying this?

A Tale of Two Jokes

2008-07-13T12:37:00.002-04:00

Joke #1: Bernie Mac apparently told an off-color joke during a recent Obama fundraiser. Seems like much ado about nothing.

Bernie Mac makes off-color joke at Obama event - omg! on Yahoo!

Joke #2: John McCain tells a "joke" about killing Iranians, drawing condemnation from the Iranian government.

Iran condemns McCain for cigarette joke - Yahoo! News

One joke offends the sensibilities of some of the guests at a fundraiser; another joke offends an entire nation and further ignites hostilities and increases tensions.

Which "joke" gets the most media attention? Ding, ding, ding! That's right, the inconsequential one.

Real joke = The mainstream media.

McCain versus McCain

2008-07-11T22:36:00.000-04:00

McCain may be "McSame" as Bush, but he's not McSame when it comes to his own varied and constantly-changing stances on domestic and foreign policies. Hilariously, while the media tries its best to construct a narrative of Obama as flip-flopper, McCain has reversed himself on no fewer than 61 (and counting!) positions (detailed in the link below), including rejecting his own legislation on campaign finance and lobbying reform (oops--don't mind all those lobbyists he hired to run his campaign!). Worst of all, he has reversed his principled position against the use of torture, which is pretty sickening given that he himself was a prisoner of war. If he'll change his perspective on his own legislation and reject what his own experience should tell him is right and moral, what won't he do to bend (over) and shift with the political winds?

Jack Cafferty of CNN notes that McCain's attempt to maintain his "maverick" independent stance while also appealing to the Repulican base is "a delicate dance. And if McCain’s not careful, ‘he’s liable to break a hip.’ Of course, any doctor will tell you a broken hip can be very difficult to recover from.”

I'm sure the corporate-owned media, which will only continue to profit from the corporate whoring of a Republican administration, is only to happy to assist in McCain's recovery.

It%u2019s a delicate dance, and John McCain is %u2018liable to break a hip%u2019 - The Carpetbagger Report

This Stinks

2008-05-03T10:29:00.000-04:00

Clearly not following the Bush administration mantra of "Industry first, consumers last," an administration official was fired for trying to do the right thing. How dare an EPA official take on Dow Chemical and try to influence them to clean up a contaminated dioxin site? She clearly has her values (consumer health over industry profits) all wrong for this CEO-run government.

EPA official ousted while fighting Dow -- chicagotribune.com

Lies, Lies, and More Lies

2008-01-23T11:15:00.000-05:00

935 lies to be exact.

The Center for Public Integrity carried out a study that found President George W. Bush and seven of his administration's top officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, made at least 935 false statements in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Nearly five years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, an exhaustive examination of the record shows that the statements were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses.

TPMmuckraker | Talking Points Memo | Today's Must Read

George McGovern Piles On

2008-01-06T11:53:00.000-05:00

You know it must be bad when a former senator who did not join impeachment proceedings against Nixon has now chosen to speak out for Bush and Cheney's impeachment. George McGovern, former senator, presidential candidate and WW II combat veteran, creates a vivid image of the piles of crap left in the wake of the disastrous Bush/Cheney administration:

Bush and Cheney are clearly guilty of numerous impeachable offenses. They have repeatedly violated the Constitution. They have transgressed national and international law. They have lied to the American people time after time. Their conduct and their barbaric policies have reduced our beloved country to a historic low in the eyes of people around the world. These are truly "high crimes and misdemeanors," to use the constitutional standard.

From the beginning, the Bush-Cheney team's assumption of power was the product of questionable elections that probably should have been officially challenged -- perhaps even by a congressional investigation.

In a more fundamental sense, American democracy has been derailed throughout the Bush-Cheney regime. The dominant commitment of the administration has been a murderous, illegal, nonsensical war against Iraq. That irresponsible venture has killed almost 4,000 Americans, left many times that number mentally or physically crippled, claimed the lives of an estimated 600,000 Iraqis (according to a careful October 2006 study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) and laid waste their country. The financial cost to the United States is now $250 million a day and is expected to exceed a total of $1 trillion, most of which we have borrowed from the Chinese and others as our national debt has now climbed above $9 trillion -- by far the highest in our national history.

All of this has been done without the declaration of war from Congress that the Constitution clearly requires, in defiance of the U.N. Charter and in violation of international law. This reckless disregard for life and property, as well as constitutional law, has been accompanied by the abuse of prisoners, including systematic torture, in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

I have not been heavily involved in singing the praises of the Nixon administration. But the case for impeaching Bush and Cheney is far stronger than was the case against Nixon and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew after the 1972 election. The nation would be much more secure and productive under a Nixon presidency than with Bush. Indeed, has any administration in our national history been so damaging as the Bush-Cheney era?

Short answer: No.

Why I Believe Bush Must Go - washingtonpost.com

"Restoring Honor & Dignity": Load of Crap

2008-01-01T11:02:00.000-05:00

Bush's promise to "restore honor and dignity" to the White House has ended up being such a load of crap it's hard to know where to begin. The reporters over at Talking Points Memo, however, have kept a comprehensive list of scandalized administration officials, with 10 Bush Administration officials on the "Indicted/Convicted/Pled Guilty" list; 24 officials who have "Resigned Due to Investigation, Pending Investigation or Allegations of Impropriety"; 5 officials whose Nomination Failed Due to Scandal; and 3 officials "Under Investigation But Still in Office." Take a look at the most scandal-ridden, corrupt administration since Nixon.

TPMmuckraker | Talking Points Memo | TPM�s Great List of Scandalized Administration Officials

YDB Daily Crap: Republicans Back Polluter Industry

2007-12-14T09:06:00.000-05:00

Congress finally passed an energy bill, one weakened considerably by Republican capitulation to their buddies in the oil industry. From the NYT:

"The oil industry conducted its own campaign of opposition to the tax provisions, arguing that it would impose burdens on the industry when it needed all the resources it had to find and develop new sources of energy."

How's that development of new sources of energy coming along?

We'll never have more progressive energy plans until we replace the Bush/Cheney Big Oil Presidency with someone more progressive.

Industry Flexes Muscle, Weaker Energy Bill Passes - New York Times

Daily Crap: Bush Vetoes Healthcare for Kids

2007-12-12T20:26:00.000-05:00

It doesn't get much crappier than vetoing healthcare for poor children:

Bush Vetoes Kids Health Insurance Bill - on The Huffington Post

This should make everyone, not just kids, sick.

YDB Daily Crap: CIA Destroys Torture Evidence

2007-12-08T17:31:00.000-05:00

The CIA's destruction of tapes showing harsh interrogation techniques stinks to high heaven. But I guess obstruction of justice charges are looking better to the CIA than violations of the Geneva Conventions.

Democrats Call for Inquiry in Destruction of Tapes by C.I.A. - New York Times

YDB Daily Crap: Tell Senators You're Tired of Their Crap!

2007-09-21T22:14:00.000-04:00

Stick Thrower writes a letter to Senators Corker and Lamar:

Senator,

I am writing you today to express my overwhelming disgust and
disappointment in your vote condemning the advertisement put out by
MoveOn.org. Unbelievably, this absurd condemnation got an up/down
vote today, yet you continue to filibuster other meaningful
legislation such as yesterday's Webb amendment restoring reasonable
deployment periods for active military.

It was an ad! If you can muster such resolve over a lousy
advertisement to waste time on such a resolution, could you please
work up a little outrage over the senseless Iraq war and the way our
troops are being overused to fight it. Show some real support for the
military and do something about THAT, please!

As Chris Dodd so succinctly stated today, "Now that you've voted
twice on this ad, it's time to move on and vote to end the war in
Iraq."

Exactly.

The next time the Webb amendment comes up for vote, don't filibuster.
Vote for cloture and passage, and put it on the desk of President
Bush. Then override his veto. Show some real support for the military
instead of doing Bush's dirty work to keep his war going.

Better yet, cut the funding for the entire Iraq debacle and bring the
troops home now.

Finally, Justice: Gonzales Gone

2007-08-28T08:42:00.000-04:00

One of the best lines on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' departure, referencing his lying under oath--from Rahm Emanuel:

“Alberto Gonzales is the first Attorney General who thought the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth were three different things."

Election Central | Talking Points Memo

Dems Roll Over

2007-08-08T22:13:00.000-04:00

Democrats caved to pressure last week, voting with Repugs to allow Bush to continue to spy on U.S. citizens without a warrant. And director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell--by acting as a political tool for the White House--inserted himself directly into the political process:

"As the director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell is supposed to be above politics.

But last week, as the White House was successfully bullying spooked congressional Democrats into expanding the government's authority to eavesdrop on Americans without a warrant, McConnell was President Bush's most effective enforcer.

And if that weren't controversial enough, some Democrats are charging that McConnell initially expressed his support for a much more restrictive Democratic plan -- then reversed himself under pressure from the White House."

Dan Froomkin - Chief Spy or Chief Enforcer? - washingtonpost.com

Daily Crap (that we're not hearing about): Iraq

2007-08-08T21:57:00.000-04:00

Just after the media has dutifully reported the White House talking points of the low death toll in Iraq in July (despite the continuing numbers of civilian casualties), using this as an indication the surge is working, CBS News reports that 26 U.S. troops have been killed in the last week in Iraq. That's some surge.

But there's even more crap:
A report in The Washington Post says investigators don't know what happened to about a third of the guns given to Iraqi security forces — or who has them now. A study by the Government Accountability Office shows U.S. military officials have lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi forces in 2004 and 2005, according to the newspaper. The report says the highest previous estimate of unaccounted-for weapons — given to Iraqi forces as part of their training — was 14,000.

Sixty decomposing bodies were found in a mainly Sunni area that had been under the control of al Qaeda in Iraq west of Baqouba, according to a Diyala police official. The U.S. military said it had no information about any discovery. At least 53 other people were killed or found dead elsewhere in Iraq, according to police. Those included the bodies of five soldiers who had been ambushed by gunmen while on their way home for vacation north of Tikrit.

26 U.S. Troops Killed In 1 Week In Iraq, Military Announces 4 More Deaths Around Baghdad - CBS News

A Modest Proposal

2007-07-18T22:44:00.000-04:00

With support for the war in Iraq under 30% in most polls and the cost of the war approaching a half trillion (see the link below for a running tally), I have a modest proposal. Why not take the 27% or so of war supporters (aka deadenders) and enlist them for a secondary surge in Iraq, or to shore up the first surge? These people obviously have to be robots to still be supporting the failed, unnecessary occupation of Iraq, so no worries there--they won't get hurt. As an added bonus, I read that military recruitment numbers are down and that military recruiters are falling short of their quotas, so this is the perfect solution. We'll call the unit the "Sheeple Brigade."

As for keeping the spiraling costs of the war down, Congress should consider passing a "war tax"--a 10% increase on the sales tax for all those who supported Bush in 2000 (since clearly these voters were gullible enough to buy the BS that Bush is selling) and a 50% increase for those who voted for him the second time around. After all, if we can increase taxes on cigarettes and penalize smokers, shouldn't we be able to levy a tax on the brain-addled voters who got us into this mess?

Cost of War - National Priorities Project

All politics, all the time

2007-07-11T09:16:00.000-04:00

I guess this shouldn't be so surprising. After all, it's already clear that the Bush Admin. has politicized every aspect of government, from firing attorneys in the Justice Dept. who wouldn't go after bogus charges against Democrats (plots to stifle voting by minorities) to hiring loyalists (mostly grads. from the bogus Regents University--Pat Robertson's outfit) who wouldn't even hire interns who ever worked for someone with a "D" beside their name. That's not even mentioning the loyalists they put in key positions, like an ex-oilman as director of the EPA or a former timber lobbyist as head of Forestry.

Now comes news that the former Surgeon General--the nation's doctor--was told to suppress important public health reports because of politics.

"The administration, Dr. Carmona said, would not allow him to speak or issue reports about stem cells, emergency contraception, sex education, or prison, mental and global health issues. Top officials delayed for years and tried to “water down” a landmark report on secondhand smoke, he said. Released last year, the report concluded that even brief exposure to cigarette smoke could cause immediate harm.

Dr. Carmona said he was ordered to mention President Bush three times on every page of his speeches. He also said he was asked to make speeches to support Republican political candidates and to attend political briefings.

And administration officials even discouraged him from attending the Special Olympics because, he said, of that charitable organization’s longtime ties to a “prominent family” that he refused to name.

“I was specifically told by a senior person, ‘Why would you want to help those people?’ ” Dr. Carmona said.

The Special Olympics is one of the nation’s premier charitable organizations to benefit disabled people, and the Kennedys have long been deeply involved in it."

All politics. No policy.

Surgeon General Sees 4-Year Term as Compromised - New York Times

Surge...in Violence

2007-06-03T11:49:00.000-04:00

Bush's "surge" is working brilliantly, if the goal was a surge in attacks:

On ABC's _This Week_ newscast this morning, 37 US soldiers were added to the death toll, and there are also reports of surges in civilian casualties in Iraq.

Then there's this from the Washington Post:
"As U.S. troops push more deeply into Baghdad and its volatile outskirts, Iraqi insurgents are using increasingly sophisticated and lethal means of attack, including bigger roadside bombs that are resulting in greater numbers of American fatalities relative to the number of wounded.

May, with 127 American fatalities, was the third-deadliest month for U.S. troops since the 2003 invasion. As in the conflict's two deadliest months for U.S. troops -- 137 died in November 2004 and 135 in April of that year -- the overarching cause of May's toll is the ongoing, large-scale U.S. military operations. Gen. Simmons called the high U.S. losses in May "a very painful and heart-wrenching experience."

We can expect more painful and heart-wrenching experiences from such painfully wrong-headed policies of "staying the course" in Iraq.

Attacks on U.S. Troops in Iraq Grow in Lethality, Complexity - washingtonpost.com

Electing an Egghead

2007-06-03T11:38:00.000-04:00

This Washington Post article by Eugene Robinson makes a case for why we need to ensure that we elect a next president who is smart, not a good old boy we'd like to have a beer with and who charms us with his folksy speech:

"One thing that should be clear to anyone who's been paying attention these past few years is that we need to go out and get ourselves the smartest president we can find. We need a brainiac president, a regular Mister or Miss Smarty-Pants. We need to elect the kid you hated in high school, the teacher's pet with perfect grades.

When I look at what the next president will have to deal with, I don't see much that can be solved with just a winning smile, a firm handshake and a ton of resolve. I see conundrums, dilemmas, quandaries, impasses, gnarly thickets of fateful possibility with no obvious way out. Iraq is the obvious place he or she will have to start; I want a president smart enough to figure out how to minimize the damage.

I want a president who reads newspapers, who reads books other than those that confirm his worldview, who bones up on Persian history before deciding how to deal with Iran's ambitious dreams of glory. I want a president who understands the relationship between energy policy at home and U.S. interests in the Middle East -- and who's smart enough to form his or her own opinions, not just rely on what old friends in the oil business say.

I want a president who believes in empirical fact, whose understanding of spirituality is complete enough to know that faith is "the evidence of things not seen" and who knows that for things that can be seen, the relevant evidence is fact, not belief. I want a president -- and it's amazing that I even have to put this on my wish list -- smart enough to know that Darwin was right.

I want the next president to be intellectually curious -- and also intellectually honest. I want him or her to understand the details, not just the big picture. I won't complain if the next president occasionally uses a word I have to look up.

The conventional wisdom says that voters are turned off when candidates put on showy displays of highfalutin brilliance. I hope that's wrong. I hope people understand how complicated and difficult the next president's job will be, and how much of a difference some real candlepower would make.

I don't want the candidates to pretend to be average people, because why would we choose an ordinary person for such an extraordinary job? I want to see what they've got -- how much they know, how readily they absorb new information, how effectively they analyze problems and evaluate solutions. If the next president is almost always the smartest person in the room, I won't mind a bit. After all, we're not in high school anymore."

Voters need to grow up and stop voting for candidates they "like" and start looking at policies and who is best equipped, intellectually and ethically, to lead us back from the failed current policies.

Eugene Robinson - An Egghead for the Oval Office - washingtonpost.com

Yellow Dog's Dogwoods

2007-04-01T13:42:00.000-04:00

The neighbor lady finally cleaned up her yard.

Yellow Dog

Pelosi Gives Bush a "Time-Out"

2007-03-29T10:26:00.000-04:00

Nancy Pelosi had a great response to Bush's petulant, tantrum-throwing threats of a veto if the Democrats do the will of the American people and pass a timetable for withdrawal of troops in Iraq in the latest funding bill:

"On this very important matter, I would extend a hand of friendship to the president, just say to him, 'Calm down with the threats, there's a new Congress in town. We respect your constitutional role. We want you to respect ours.' This war must end. The American people have lost faith in the president's conduct of the war. Let's see how we can work together."

Bush responded by throwing himself on the floor, kicking and screaming.

The Crypt's Blog - Politico.com

Yellow Dog Update: The Crap is Piling Up

2007-03-27T18:15:00.000-04:00

As the crap is piling up with one Bush administration scandal after another, even conservative commentators are piling on. Here's Robert Novak, who's usually a Bush apologist:

"The I-word (incompetence) is also used by Republicans in describing the Bush administration generally. Several of them I talked to cited a trifecta of incompetence: the Walter Reed hospital scandal, the FBI's misuse of the USA Patriot Act and the U.S. attorneys firing fiasco. "We always have claimed that we were the party of better management," one House leader told me. "How can we claim that anymore?"

Novak started a list of Bush incompetence, but it's incomplete:
1) Walter Reed hospital scandal
2) FBI's misuse of the USA Patriot Act
3) US attorneys firing for political reasons
4) War in Iraq (the "Surge," aka "Stay and Die")
5) Deception about WMD & distorted evidence
6) Rewriting the report on global warming; screwed or suppressed scientific research and policies
7) Outing the name of an undercover CIA operative
8) Botching the Katrina disaster aftermath and recovery/reconstruction
9) Abu Ghraib: approving of illegal torture methods
10) Dismissing habeas corpus
11) Holding prisoners at Guantanomo without a trial
12) Increase in terrorisim since war in Iraq (seven-fold)
13) Increased violence in Afghanistan
14) Inability to catch Osama bin Laden
15) Halliburton's no-bid contracts
16) Cheney's secret energy plan and meetings with Big Oil
17) Surging costs of the Iraq War
18) Mounting fiscal deficits and tax relief for the wealthy only
19) Abramoff and Indian gaming scandal
20) Illegal wiretapping
21) GOP illegal "phonejamming" in election
22) Medicare money scandal
23) Replacing health policy on HHS website with abstinence info

Okay, that's enough crap for one day (or one administration), and there's lots of scooping to do. Remember when we used to impeach presidents for a marital indiscretion?

Robert D. Novak - A President All Alone - washingtonpost.com

Delusional Dick

2007-01-27T18:08:00.000-05:00

Dick Cheney's interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN has finally sealed the deal: Dick is delusional. In the face of one of the most violent months in Iraq, a huge loss of support for the war (polls are showing that around 30% of Americans still support the war--talk about delusional, but that's another story), and even Bush's own admission that the Iraq war has been a "slow failure," Cheney is still insistent that things are going just swell. When asked about the only problem he sees, Dick astoundingly noted that it was that the American people "didn't have the stomach" to continue the fight. Too bad he doesn't have a heart, a soul, or a brain--never mind a stomach. Has there ever been a more pure embodiment of evil than Darth Cheney?

Maureen Dowd asks this same question in her latest column:

"Delusional is far too mild a word to describe Dick Cheney. Delusional doesn’t begin to capture the profound, transcendental one-flew-over daftness of the man.

Has anyone in the history of the United States ever been so singularly wrong and misguided about such phenomenally important events and continued to insist he’s right in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary?

It requires an exquisite kind of lunacy to spend hundreds of billions destroying America’s reputation in the world, exhausting the U.S. military, failing to catch Osama, enhancing Iran’s power in the Middle East and sending American kids to train and arm Iraqi forces so they can work against American interests.

Only someone with an inspired alienation from reality could, under the guise of exorcising the trauma of Vietnam, replicate the trauma of Vietnam.

You must have a real talent for derangement to stay wrong every step of the way, to remain in complete denial about Iraq’s civil war, to have a total misunderstanding of Arab culture, to be completely oblivious to the American mood and to be absolutely blind to how democracy works."

That's Dick: Deranged, Delusional, in Denial--and Dangerous to Democracy.

Welcome to Pottersville: Maureen Dowd: Daffy Does Doom

Surge

2007-01-22T20:50:00.000-05:00

If Bush's plan for a "surge" refers to a surge of violence in Iraq, then "mission accomplished."

The latest new from Iraq: "In all, 137 people were killed or found dead across Iraq, including a teacher who was gunned down as she was on her way to work at a girls' school in a mainly Sunni area of Baghdad. The toll also included the bullet-riddled bodies of at least 30 people, apparent victims of death squads largely run by Shiite militias.

An al-Qaida-linked coalition of Iraqi Sunni insurgents claimed its fighters shot down an American military helicopter in a Saturday crash that killed 12 U.S. soldiers. The U.S. military has said the cause of the crash has not been determined.

Bush has committed an additional 21,500 troops to the effort to secure Iraq, but congressional Democrats, mindful of a rising U.S. military death toll, oppose this move.

A U.S. soldier was killed Monday by a roadside bomb in northern Iraq, raising to 28 the number of American troops killed in the past three days; the U.S. military also reported that two Marines were killed Sunday in Anbar province."

The Bush Plan: A Surge of Stupidity.

137 killed or found dead across Iraq - Yahoo! News

First 100 Hours

2007-01-18T20:07:00.000-05:00

I guess it shouldn't be surprising (to the half of the country that is sane, that is) that the Democrats have gotten more done for the American people in their first 100 hours in office than the Republicans have in the past six years:

Here's a list of the Democrats' accomplishments thus far:
--passing all of the 9/11 commission recommendations and forcing more homeland security measures
--adopting new ethics rules (Repugs are trying to sink this ethics legislation, which affects a lot of their cronies)
--passing bills raising the minimum wage
--expanding taxpayer financed research into embryonic stem cells
--directing the federal government to negotiate for cheaper Medicare prescription drugs
--lowering interest rates on subsidized student loans
--passing an energy bill that recoups billions of dollars in lost royalties from oil and gas companies and rolls back industry tax breaks

Recent polls show that a majority of Americans favor the above legislative agenda and are waking up to the fact that it's the Democrats who have their best interests in mind. Here's hoping that beyond these first 100 hours, there are a lot more hours of sane leadership in the days and years ahead.

House Dems close the first '100 hours' - Yahoo! News

Waterboarding Rummy

2006-11-11T11:34:00.000-05:00

A new Time magazine exclusive reports that a lawsuit in Germany will seek a criminal prosecution of the outgoing Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, for his alleged role in abuses at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo.

It was only a matter of time before Rummy's war crimes caught up with him. But if he won't confess, I suggest prosecutors try a method favored by Rummy's co-hort, Vice President Cheney: waterboarding. That'll get Rummy to talk. While most people (outside of Rummy and Big Dick) would see this as a crime against humanity, it's really getting hard to find any semblence of humanity in either Cheney or Rumsfeld, VP and Secretary of Quagmires, Death, and Misused Taxpayer Funds.

TIME.com: Exclusive: Charges Sought Against Rumsfeld Over Prison Abuse -- Page 1

Draining the GOP Swamp

2006-11-10T13:18:00.000-05:00

Well, it only took 6 years, but the American voters finally woke up. I wonder what issue finally drove voters to the edge. Was it
the Abramoff scandal?
the Foley scandal?
the Haggard scandal?
the suspension of habeas corpus?
the suspension of the Geneva Conventions and creation of secret torture sites?
the incompetent response to Katrina?
a war killing thousands of US troops and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis?
the increase in terrorism, according to the NIE?
the no-bid contracts to Cheney's company, Halliburton?
the big tax give-aways to the richest of the rich?
the industry-friendly suspension of environmental regulations?
the secret meetings of Cheney with big oil companies to determine energy policy?
the convoluted Medicare drug plan and give-away to Big Pharma?

In contrast, take a look at the Democrat's "First 100 hours" plan for when they take office in Jan. and officially drain the GOP swamp:

In the first 100 hours:
We will start by cleaning up Congress, breaking the link between lobbyists and legislation and commit to pay-as-you-go, no new deficit spending.

We will make our nation safer and we will begin by implementing the recommendations of the independent, bipartisan 9/11 Commission.

We will make our economy fairer, and we will begin by raising the minimum wage. We will not pass a pay raise for Congress until there is an increase in the minimum wage.

We will make health care more affordable for all Americans, and we will begin by fixing the Medicare prescription drug program, putting seniors first by negotiating lower drug prices. We will also promote stem cell research to offer real hope to the millions of American families who suffer from devastating diseases.

We will broaden college opportunity, and we will begin by cutting interest rates for student loans in half.

We will energize America by achieving energy independence, and we will begin by rolling back the multi-billion dollar subsidies for Big Oil.

We will guarantee a dignified retirement, and we will begin by fighting any attempt to privatize Social Security.

We will introduce this legislation on the first day of the new Congress, we will pass it within the first 100 legislative hours. This new direction represents the priorities of a unified Democratic Party. This is our pledge to the American people.

Jobs and Economy | HouseDemocrats.gov

Mental Quagmire

2006-11-02T20:05:00.001-05:00

"You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

Yellow Dog

State of Denial

2006-10-01T11:58:00.000-04:00

We don't need Bob Woodward's book to tell us that--with regard to the Iraq War--the "stay the course" Bushistas are in a state of denial. But it is eye-opening to discover how Condi Rice blatantly ignored CIA Director George Tenet's warnings about a possible attack two months before 9-11.

From the Washington Post:

For months, Tenet had been pressing Rice to set a clear counterterrorism policy, including specific presidential orders called "findings" that would give the CIA stronger authority to conduct covert action against bin Laden. Perhaps a dramatic appearance -- Black called it an "out of cycle" session, beyond Tenet's regular weekly meeting with Rice -- would get her attention.

Tenet had been losing sleep over the recent intelligence he'd seen. There was no conclusive, smoking-gun intelligence, but there was such a huge volume of data that an intelligence officer's instinct strongly suggested that something was coming. He and Black hoped to convey the depth of their anxiety and get Rice to kick-start the government into immediate action.

He did not know when, where or how, but Tenet felt there was too much noise in the intelligence systems. Two weeks earlier, he had told Richard A. Clarke, the National Security Council's counterterrorism director: "It's my sixth sense, but I feel it coming. This is going to be the big one."

But Tenet had been having difficulty getting traction on an immediate bin Laden action plan, in part because Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had questioned all the National Security Agency intercepts and other intelligence. Could all this be a grand deception? Rumsfeld had asked. Perhaps it was a plan to measure U.S. reactions and defenses.

Tenet had the NSA review all the intercepts, and the agency concluded they were of genuine al-Qaeda communications. On June 30, a top-secret senior executive intelligence brief contained an article headlined "Bin Laden Threats Are Real."

Tenet and Black felt they were not getting through to Rice. She was polite, but they felt the brush-off. President Bush had said he didn't want to swat at flies.

Besides, Rice seemed focused on other administration priorities, especially the ballistic missile defense system that Bush had campaigned on. She was in a different place.

Tenet left the meeting feeling frustrated. Though Rice had given them a fair hearing, no immediate action meant great risk.

Afterward, Tenet looked back on the meeting with Rice as a tremendous lost opportunity to prevent or disrupt the Sept. 11 attacks. Rice could have gotten through to Bush on the threat, but she just didn't get it in time, Tenet thought. He felt that he had done his job and had been very direct about the threat, but that Rice had not moved quickly. He felt she was not organized and did not push people, as he tried to do at the CIA.

The Bush Administration ignored the threats and lost the opportunity to prevent 9-11. They can try to blame Clinton all they want, but this happened on their watch--and they turned a blind eye.

Two Months Before 9/11, an Urgent Warning to Rice - washingtonpost.com

Grand Old Party of Corruption

2006-10-01T11:46:00.000-04:00

The Bush administration has tried to distance itself from corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff, claiming that he had no more than two known meetings or contacts with White House officials. Turns out that estimate was a little low: how about 435?

In January, after he was indicted and there were rumors —which turned out to be correct—that Abramoff was in several photos at the White House, Bush said at a news conference, "I, frankly, don't even remember having my picture taken with the guy... I don't know him." At the time, White House officials also suggested that Abramoff had little influence or contact with them. The report cites more than 400 instances of Abramoff's team lobbying the White House.

The report makes clear that Abramoff was in frequent communication with White House officials, particularly Susan Ralston, who was an assistant to Abramoff before becoming Rove's assistant early in Bush's first term. Abramoff's clients, mainly Indian tribes, paid for skyboxes and tickets to events that the lobbyist used to host congressional aides and others, and in the e-mails, Ralston treats Abramoff like her own personal Ticketmaster, frequently asking him if he has tickets to games and leaving the impression in some messages that she occasionally didn't pay for them. White House officials are banned from taking gifts of more than $20, which would barely get you a cheap seat at any of these events, let alone a luxury box seat. Other Rove aides were shown to be in e-mail contact with lobbyists on Abramoff's staff, and Rove himself e-mailed Abramoff a few days before the 2000 elections, responding to a message from Abramoff noting that "Governor Bush is winning" by saying "Jack - I will rest much easier..." Abramoff relied on Ralston, who remains in the White House as an aide to Rove, and Ralph Reed, an advisor to the 2004 campaign who was close to Rove, to communicate his wishes.

TIME.com: Too Close for Comfort with Abramoff -- Page 1

Hypocrisy

2006-09-30T17:28:00.000-04:00

Another GOP Congessman, Mark Foley (R-West Palm Beach, FL) is resigning in shame and possibly facing criminal charges for his internet sexual advances on a 16-year-old page. Here's what high-and-mighty Foley had to say about Clinton during the Lewinsky affair:

"It's vile," said Rep. Mark Foley, R-West Palm Beach. "It's more sad than anything else, to see someone with such potential throw it all down the drain because of a sexual addiction."

Not only this, but Foley was the chairman of the house caucus on missing and exploited children and has long crusaded for tough laws against those who use the Internet for sexual exploitation of children.

Worldandnation: Congress sees through party-colored glasses

Habeas Corpus, R.I.P. (1215 - 2006)

2006-09-30T17:23:00.000-04:00

A good piece by Molly Ivins:

"With a smug stroke of his pen, President Bush is set to wipe out a safeguard against illegal imprisonment that has endured as a cornerstone of legal justice since the Magna Carta."

ITruthdig - Reports - Molly Ivins: Habeas Corpus, R.I.P. (1215 - 2006)

Clearly, as Congress moves to throw out the rule of law and give up the moral high ground by rewriting the Geneva Conventions to allow torture, the terrorists have won.

War on Terror=More Terror

2006-09-23T23:45:00.000-04:00

I guess this is what happens when you go to war with a country that had nothing to do with the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and try to make people (like Fox News viewers) believe that it's part of the broader "War on Terror."

According to a classified National Intelligence Estimate the Iraq War has fueled more terrorism:

"A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.

More recently, the Council on Global Terrorism, an independent research group of respected terrorism experts, assigned a grade of “D+” to United States efforts over the past five years to combat Islamic extremism. The council concluded that “there is every sign that radicalization in the Muslim world is spreading rather than shrinking."

Feel safer?

Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat - New York Times

Torturer-in-Chief

2006-09-23T13:37:00.000-04:00

Now that our government has sunk to new lows as it tries to "compromise" on torture (talk about moral relativism), it's worth asking why Bush wants to change the long-standing Geneva Conventions, for which--for the past 75 years--no one seemed to question the statutes' vagueness.

But this Chicago Sun-Times story gets it right. It's not about the vague language of the statute; it's all about the usual Bush administration politics of CYA (cover your ass):

Now, President Bush, to avoid a similar public outcry, is quietly trying to pardon himself of any crimes connected with the torture and mistreatment of U.S. detainees.

The ''pardon'' is buried in Bush's proposed legislation to create a new kind of military tribunal for cases involving top al-Qaida operatives. The ''pardon'' provision has nothing to do with the tribunals. Instead, it guts the War Crimes Act of 1996, a federal law that makes it a crime, in some cases punishable by death, to mistreat detainees in violation of the Geneva Conventions and makes the new, weaker terms of the War Crimes Act retroactive to 9/11.

Creating immunity retroactively for violating the law sets a terrible precedent. The president takes an oath of office to uphold the Constitution; that document requires him to obey the laws, not violate them. A president who knowingly and deliberately violates U.S. criminal laws should not be able to use stealth tactics to immunize himself from liability, and Congress should not go along.

Bush seeks immunity for violating War Crimes Act

Are we winning?

2006-09-22T13:59:00.001-04:00

If winning means soaring to new record highs in the number of deaths, destruction, and dollars spent in Iraq, then, yes, we are winning. It still astounds me when I see polls where Republicans cling to their support of the Iraq War, despite the facts, including two reports today--one that civilian deaths in Iraq are at an all-time high as Iraq slides to civil war and the other that Congress just approved another $70 billion for military operations in Iraq.

Nearly 7,000 civilians were killed in Iraq in the past two months, according to a UN report just released - a record high that is far greater than initial estimates had suggested. As American generals in Baghdad warned that the violence could worsen in the run up to Ramadan next Monday, the UN spoke of a "grave sectarian crisis" gripping the country.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Civilian deaths soar to record high in Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House-Senate negotiators Thursday approved a new $70 billion infusion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as they wrapped up talks on a $447 billion Pentagon funding bill.

The additional war funds would bring the total approved by Congress for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001, to more than $500 billion, with another installment likely to come next spring.

How devoid of critical thinking skills and rational thought must you have to be to want to "stay the course" in Iraq?

Sorely Mistaken

2006-09-22T13:39:00.000-04:00

Now who's sorely mistaken?

Atrios links to this Bush quote right after 9/11, and it's worth remembering five years later:

Q Sir, are you satisfied that Osama bin Laden is at least a kingpin of this operation?

THE PRESIDENT: There is no question he is what we would call a prime suspect. And if he thinks he can hide and run from the United States and our allies, he will be sorely mistaken.

Someone in this deal is "sorely mistaken," and I don't think it's OBL....

President Urges Readiness and Patience

Winglish Dictionary

2006-09-04T23:38:00.000-04:00

This is great: a dictionary of "Winglish" terms necessary to understanding the language spoken by the wing-nuts now running the country. Here are some of my favorites:

alternative energy sources /n. phr./ 1. New locations to drill for gas and oil. 2. Coal mines.

bankruptcy /n./ A means of escaping debt available to corporations but not to poor people.

class warfare /n. phr./ Any attempt by the poor, the middle class, or even the well-off to resist the depredations of the very rich. (Ex.: Progressive taxation, unionization, consumer protection, the minimum wage.)

Clear Skies /idiomatic phr./ More air pollution.

compassionate conservatism /n./ Poignant concern for the very wealthy.

conspiracy theorist /n. phr./ Someone with a mind so sick and so twisted as to be capable of believing the truth about the Bush Administration and the Republican leadership in Congress.

creation science /n./ Belief that George W. Bush's resemblance to a chimpanzee is totally coincidental.

faith /n./ The belief that the Beatitudes include "Blessed are the rich" and "Blessed are the warmakers."

free markets /n./ Halliburton no-bid contracts at taxpayer expense.

healthy forest /idiomatic phr./ "No tree left behind."

honesty /n./ Lies told in simple declarative sentences (e.g., "Freedom is on the march.").

insanity /n./ (See "staying the course.")
in the national interest /idiomatic. phr./ 1. Conducive to the election of Republicans. 2. Beneficial to Republican contributors.

Nine-eleven (9-11) Emergency number to call when your poll numbers have fallen and you can't get up.

ownership society /n./ 1. A civilization where 1% of the population controls 90% of the wealth. 2. A political system in which all power is in the hands of the owners.

patriot /n./ 1. A person who salutes the flag and despises the Constitution.

Patriot Act /n./ 1. Pre-emptive strike on American freedoms to prevent the terrorists from destroying them first. 2. The elimination of one of the reasons why they hate us.

pro-life /adj./ Placing an infinite value on each human life from conception all the way to birth.

staying the course /gerund phr./ Continuing to perform the same actions and expecting different results (Syn: "insanity").

The Reality-Based Community: English-Winglish Dictionary (updated)

Rocky Rocks!

2006-08-31T22:37:00.000-04:00

From Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson's Speech (Warning: Because the speech chronicles all of the lies of the Bush administration, the piece is very long):

Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism.

We are patriots. We're deeply concerned. And we demand change, now.
No more lies from Condoleezza Rice about whether she and President Bush were advised before 9/11 of the possibility of planes being flown into buildings by terrorists.
No more gross incompetence in the office of the Secretary of Defense.
No more torture of human beings.
No more disregard of the basic human rights enshrined in the Geneva Convention.
No more kidnapping of people and sending them off to secret prisons in nations where we can expect they will be tortured.
No more unconstitutional wiretapping of Americans.
No more proposed amendments to the United States Constitution that would, for the first time, limit fundamental rights and liberties for entire classes of people simply on the basis of sexual orientation.
No more federal land giveaways to developers.
No more increases in mercury emissions from old, dirty, dangerous coalburning power plants.
No more backroom deals that deprive protection for millions of acres of wild lands.
No more attacks on immigrants who work so hard to build better lives.
No more inaction by Congress on fixing our hypocritical and inconsistent immigration laws and policies.
No more reliance on fiction rather than the science of global warming.
No more manipulation of our media with false propaganda.
No more disastrous cuts in funding for those most in need.
No more federal cuts in community policing and local law enforcement grant programs for our cities.
No more inaction on stopping the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.
No more of the Patriot Act.
No more killing.
No more pre-emptive wars.
No more contempt for our long-time allies around the world.
No more dependence on foreign oil.
No more failure to impose increased fuel efficiency standards for automobiles.
No more energy policies developed in secret meetings between Dick Cheney and his energy company cronies.
No more excuses for failing to aggressively cut global warming pollutant emissions.
No more tragically incompetent federal responses to natural disasters.
No more tax cuts for the wealthiest, while the middle class and those who are economically-disadvantaged continue to struggle more and more each year.
No more reckless spending and massive tax cuts, resulting in historic deficits and historic accumulated national debt.
No more purchasing of elections by the wealthiest corporations and individuals in the country.
No more phony, ineffective, inhumane so-called war on drugs.
No more failure to pass an increase in the minimum wage.
No more silence by the American people.

Salt Lake Tribune - Transcript of Mayor Rocky Anderson's speech

A Modest Proposal

2006-08-30T00:44:00.000-04:00

I like Garrison Keillor's proposal--it makes a lot of sense:

Problem:
This country is squashing its young. We're sending them to die in a war we don't believe in anymore. We're cheating them so we can offer tax relief to the rich. And we're stealing from them so that old gaffers like me, who want to live forever, can go in for an MRI if we have a headache.

Solution:
Annual interest on the national debt now exceeds all government welfare programs combined. We'll be in Iraq for years to come. Hard choices need to be made, and given the situation we're in, I think we must bite the bullet and say no more healthcare for card-carrying Republicans. It just doesn't make sense to invest in longevity for people who don't believe in the future. Let them try faith-based medicine, let them pray for their arteries to be reamed and their hips to be restored, and leave science to the rest of us.

Cutting out healthcare for one-third of the population -- the folks with Bush-Cheney bumper stickers, who still believe the man is doing a heckuva job -- will save enough money to pay off the national debt, not a bad legacy for Republicans. As Scrooge said, let them die and reduce the surplus population. In return, we can offer them a reduction in the estate tax. All in favor, blow your nose.

America eats its young | Salon.com

Bushtemberfest!

2006-08-30T00:09:00.000-04:00

From "The Opinion Mill":

Depressed that summer is over? This new holiday may cheer you up:

Bushtemberfest, or the Festival of Fatal Fuckups, will give GOP-weary Americans a chance to celebrate the non-accomplishments of George W. Bush, the first president to let one major American city be devastated by terrorists and allow another one to drown, all within the space of a few years. The observance will start with the anniversary of the flooding of New Orleans and climax with the anniversary of the destruction of the World Trade Center, during which time we will pray — loudly and publicly — that no other disasters befall us while we await the blessed day that King George and his menagerie of religious hucksters, corporate bandits and ideological grifters get their eviction notice.

Cheer up! It%u2019s Bushtemberfest! � The Opinion Mill

Fat Cat Update

2006-08-29T23:56:00.000-04:00

As the rich get richer via Bush's corporate welfare and tax cuts that benefit the wealthiest, there has been a steady increase in poverty and in the number of uninsured Americans. Too bad the hundreds of billions of dollars being spent in Iraq couldn't be going toward a universal healthcare plan. Think of what we could do with 310 billion.

The new census date, which the Bush administration tried to block the release of, shows a rise in poverty from 31.6 million in 2000 to 37 million in 2005. The number of uninsured rose from 39.8 million to 46.6 million. Heckuva job, Bushie.

Think Progress � The Bush Record: More Poverty, More Uninsured

71 Days

2006-08-28T19:56:00.000-04:00

71 Days to the Election, according to Atrios.

Other Numbers of Interest:

50 people killed today in a car bombing in Iraq

9 US Soldiers killed this weekend in Iraq

310 Billion spent in Iraq so far

2,630 US soldier casualties in Iraq

19, 323 US soldiers wounded in Iraq

45, 399 Iraqi Civilian casualties

8.5 Trillion national debt

1833 lives lost in Katrina

38% Bush Approval Rating

Declaring our Independence from King George

2006-07-04T14:11:00.000-04:00

This letter-writer, Beth Quinn, uses the language of the Declaration of Independence to illustrate the eerie similarities between the colonists' rebellion against the monarchy on July 4, 1776 and the current-day monarchical rule of our own King George:

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands that connected them with another, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

The history of the present King George of America is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.

To prove this, let Facts about the excesses of King George of America be submitted to a candid world:

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. By use of a device called the "signing statement," he has placed himself above more than 750 laws enacted since he became king, including the anti-torture law passed by Congress to correct a most grievous wrong.

He has appointed Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices and, in so doing, he has created a Supreme Court to be an arm of his government absent the usual and customary checks and balances.

The Supreme Court of his Land has removed the protections of the Fourth Amendment by allowing unlawful police searches of our homes, all evidence thus obtained to be used against us in a Court of Law.

He has affected to render the Military independent and superior to Civil power, thereby creating a netherworld of despair at Gitmo, in which prisoners are held without charges, isolated from their families, deprived of a trial by jury, and subject to abuses against humanity.

He has abrogated the Citizens' right to privacy by ordering Officials of the Crown [the NSA] to monitor our phones, track our e-mail, demand to know our reading habits and examine our banking records.

He has censured and attempted to silence the Free Press for revealing his excesses, such as those enumerated above.

He has plundered the nation's land and air and picked the pockets of the Common Man, even as he has filled the royal coffers and called for Legislation to protect the riches of the Upper Classes.

He has desecrated our Constitution's Bill of Rights - our most sacred freedoms - by attempting to subvert that document's purpose and instead use it to limit rights through amendments that would ban marriage for certain of our Citizens and to criminalize certain expressions of Free Speech.

He has cut off the Good Will extended us in all parts of the world.

We, therefore, the citizens of these United States, do solemnly publish and declare that we wish to be free and independent of this monarchy.

King George of America, This Letter is For You

Bush Declares Independence...from the Constitution

2006-07-03T22:18:00.000-04:00

From "The Scoop" (Independent News):

The colonists did not just write these words [of the Declaration of Independence]. They also fought and died for them. The 4,435 who died to rid America of a King George are now in fact required – as a matter of patriotic duty – to have died in vain.

In vain their deaths to free us of a unitary executive.

In vain their deaths to establish freedom of assembly.

In vain their deaths to separate church and state.

In vain their deaths to create freedom of speech.

In vain their deaths in the cause of freedom from unreasonable search and seizure.

In vain their blood spilled in rivers to establish the right to freedom from cruel and unusual punishment.

In vain their ultimate sacrifices to create a representative democracy based on checks and balances.

In vain the heartache of their families suffered in the name of an end to empire.

All in vain, all unsupported. Welcome to the world of free speech zones, detention without charge, no access to a court of law, no prohibition on torture. Welcome to the end of the veto and the birth of the signing statement. Welcome to an executive branch that neither obeys Congress nor so much as informs Congress of its actions. Welcome to wars of aggression for a theocratic plutocracy. Welcome back, King George.

Scoop: On the 4th, Read the Declaration of Impeachment

GOP Blocks Raise for American Workers, Then Gives Themselves a Raise

2006-06-27T21:59:00.000-04:00

While a majority of Democrats have been pushing for an increase in the minimum wage for American workers, Republicans in Congress are having none of it. But in a moment of brazen hypocrisy, after rufusing to raise minimum wage for American workers, they turned around and scheduled themselves a $3,300 pay raise scheduled for Jan. 1.

So let's get this straight. the minimum wage, which is currently $5.15 per hour, brings a salary of $10,700 a year for full-time workers, about $6,000 below the poverty line for a family of three. It hasn't been raised since 1997, and Democrats are proposing to raise it by 70-cent increments to a still-modest$7.25 by January 1, 2009. Not exactly an outrageous hike, considering it's been 9 years since it has been raised.

Salaries for members of Congress have risen $31,600 during the time the minimum wage has been frozen, and members of Congress enjoy an annual salary of $165,200. [A side note: The job approval rating for Congress is now in the 20's, so they're not exactly earning this pay hike.]

A move by House Democrats to attach the minimum wage to an unrelated spending bill now being debated in the House of Representatives was blocked. In turn, Democrats promised to block a congressional pay hike unless low-paid workers get their first raise in nearly a decade. Good for them.

CNN.com - Democrats vow to block pay raises until minimum wage increased - Jun 27, 2006

Staying the (Deadly) Course

2006-06-24T19:35:00.000-04:00

Following a week in which the Republican Congress defeated Democratic proposals for withdrawal from Iraq comes this news that Baghdad has declared a state of emergency and that it's been one of the deadliest weeks for US troops, with 15 soldiers killed. Ironically, the media narrative has focused on how Democrats disagree on withdrawal plans, without pointing out that the party in power has no plan at all. Yep, the Republicans are unified all right--unified around their blind adherence to a failed plan to stay the course. They then have the audacity to accuse Democrats of wanting to "cut and run." That's better than their plan to "Stay and Pay" or "Lie and Let Die."

Deadly Week For U.S. Troops In Iraq, Army Announces 3 Casualties Bringing Weekly Count To 15 Dead Troops - CBS News

Incompetent or Dangerous?

2006-06-21T10:30:00.000-04:00

In Ron Suskind's book, The One Percent Doctrine, there are some rather frightening revelations about Bush's pre-9/11 incompetence:

Tenet [former CIA Director] and his loyalists also settle a few scores with the White House. 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."

Instead of just humoring the CIA briefer, it's really too bad that Bush couldn't have taken time away from his month-long vacation and work clearing brush to actually confront this danger and take seriously the CIA claims. Of course, if he had prevented 9/11, he couldn't use it as his favorite political wedge, could he?
The Shadow War, In a Surprising New Light

Had Enough?

2006-06-19T18:29:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that none other than Newt Gingrich suggested a new Democratic motto: "Had enough?" Senator Barack Obama of Illinois takes this suggestion and runs with it:

"I don't know about you, but I think old Newt is onto something here. Because I think we've all had enough. Enough of the broken promises. Enough of the failed leadership. Enough of the can't-do, won't-do, won't-even-try style of governance.

Four years after 9/11, I've had enough of being told that we can find the money to give Paris Hilton more tax cuts, but we can't find enough to protect our ports or our railroads or our chemical plants or our borders.

I've had enough of the closed-door deals that give billions to the HMOs when we're told that we can't do a thing for the 45 million uninsured or the millions more who can't pay their medical bills.

I've had enough of being told that we can't afford body armor for our troops and health care for our veterans and benefits for the wounded heroes who've risked their lives for this country. I've had enough of that.

I've had enough of giving billions away to the oil companies when we're told that we can't invest in the renewable energy that will create jobs and lower gas prices and finally free us from our dependence on the oil wells of Saudi Arabia.

I've had enough of our kids going to schools where the rats outnumber the computers. I've had enough of Katrina survivors living out of their cars and begging FEMA for trailers. And I've had enough of being told that all we can do about this is sit and wait and hope that the good fortune of a few trickles on down to everyone else in this country.

You know, we all remember that George Bush said in 2000 campaign that he was against nation-building. We just didn't know he was talking about this one."

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: Take Back America | U.S. Senator Barack Obama

Heckuvajob, Zoellick!

2006-06-19T14:18:00.000-04:00

CNN.com - State Department's No. 2 resigns - Jun 19, 2006:

"[Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick] has been the administration's leading diplomat handling the volatile situation in Sudan's western Darfur region, where at least 180,000 have died since 2003. Zoellick has also been the State Department's chief diplomat dealing with China."

In part, the China dealings pertained to Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs. So, donning the ol' tinfoil hat, it seems to be interesting timing for Zoellick to bail out now, with North Korea in the process of fueling up to test missiles and Iran shrugging off "preconditions" to nuclear talks.

Dear Graduates: You're screwed.

2006-06-16T12:22:00.000-04:00

This graduation speech given by Bill Moyers at Hamilton College lays it on the line. But why should Bill apologize for the screwed up world that college graduates are entering into? All of those misguided Bush voters should be the ones apologizing:

"Frankly, I'm not sure anyone from my generation should be saying
anything to your generation except, 'We're sorry. We're really sorry for the mess you're
inheriting. We are sorry for the war in Iraq. For the huge debts you will have to pay for
without getting a new social infrastructure in return. We're sorry for the polarized
country. The corporate scandals. The corrupt politics. Our imperiled democracy. We're
sorry for the sprawl and our addiction to oil and for all those toxins in the environment.
Sorry about all this, class of 2006. Good luck cleaning it up.'"

Pass the Bread

Kitty-killer label litters Frist resume for president

2006-06-13T11:05:00.000-04:00

This column in the Tennessean yesterday discusses Senator Bill Frist's biggest hurdle in seeking the Presidency in '08.

Animal experimentation in the name of science and medicine wouldn't necessarily be a problem for Frist, but this quote from his book is just a little too Jeffery Dahmeresque:

"Desperate, obsessed with my work, I visited the various animal shelters in the Boston suburbs, collecting cats, taking them home, treating them as pets for a few days, then carting them off to the lab to die in the interests of science. And medicine. And health care. And treatment of disease. And my project.... bwahahahahaha ha ha..."

--Bill Frist, M.D. (in his bookTransplant)

OK, I added the evil laugh ... in case it wasn't creepy enough.

Kitty-killer label litters Frist resume for president - Nashville, Tennessee - Monday, 06/12/06 - Tennessean.com

Republican Culture of Corruption

2006-06-11T10:44:00.000-04:00

As if their policies and practices don't already confirm the corruption that is rampant in the GOP (witness Delay's last day in the Congress, due to his criminal indictment), here's an admission from a Republican, Allen Raymond, who participated in the phone-jamming political scandal in New Hampshire:

"Most recently, Raymond has been in prison. And for that, he blames himself, but also says he was part of a Republican political culture that emphasizes hardball tactics and polarizing voters.

Raymond stressed that he was making no excuses for his role in the New Hampshire case; he pleaded guilty and told the judge he had done a ``bad thing." But he said he got caught up in an ultra-aggressive atmosphere in which he initially thought the decision to jam the phones ``pushed the envelope" but was legal. He also said he had been reluctant to turn down a prominent official of the RNC, fearing that would cost him future opportunities from an organization that was becoming increasingly ruthless.

'Republicans have treated campaigns and politics as a business, and now are treating public policy as a business, looking for the types of returns that you get in business, passing legislation that has huge ramifications for business,' he said. 'It is very much being monetized, and the federal government is being monetized under Republican majorities.'"

It's not just corruption; it's government for sale, bought and paid for by big business. Let the buyer (the consumer) beware.

Fallen star blames self, GOP tactics - The Boston Globe

Bush's Environmental Policy Stinks

2006-06-03T10:49:00.000-04:00

As this article notes, one of the first things Bush did when he became President was lift environmental regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, he made it "voluntary" for big cmpanies and power plants to reduce pollution. Now that the GAO has had a chance to review these voluntary reductions, how are they working? As you might have guessed, not so well.

"The EPA still has no system of tracking how long it takes companies to set reduction goals, which only half of the 74 participants had done by the end of last year. At least 13 companies that joined the program in 2002 had yet to set targets, the GAO found.

The energy department hasn't even established deadlines for trade groups to report their emissions. That seems like one of the first things it would do.

It's hard to believe that these programs were ever about reducing emissions. Rather, they seem designed to provide the administration with political cover, an excuse to do nothing about global warming. If that was the mission, mission accomplished."

At least Bush has accomplished one mission--to increase pollution and increase the profits of big companies. Cough, cough.

STLtoday - News - Editorial / Commentary

Winning Hearts and Minds

2006-06-03T10:33:00.000-04:00

"The [Haditha] affair, which centres on claims that members of Kilo Company of the 1st Marine Regiment coldly killed 24 civilians, including infants and a man in a wheelchair, in Haditha in western Iraq last November after a roadside bombing killed one of their own, may also become a defining moment in the American public's view of the war."

Actually, some of us knew this war was wrong before marines started killing innocent children.

"So, Haditha becomes another of the names at which we wince, along with Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and My Lai," Molly Ivins, the columnist and author noted yesterday. "Tell you what: Let's not use the "stress of combat" excuse this time. According to neighbours, the girls in the family of Younis Khafif – the one who kept pleading in English: "I am a friend. I am good" – were 14, 10, 5, 3 and 1 What are they going to say? ‘Under stress of combat we thought the baby was 2'?"

It's too late for winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqis. And it's too late for winning, period. We need to get out of there.

Independent Online Edition > Middle East

Bush's Boom

2006-06-03T10:02:00.000-04:00

The following numbers explode the myth of Bush's economic boom:

Health care, gas, housing and college costs have risen since President Bush took office as the purchasing power of paychecks drop.

Median family income has dropped every year of the Bush Administration. [Census, BLS]

The typical family is paying $1,200 more a year for health insurance. [KFF, 2005]

College tuition has gone up about 40 percent in real terms. [College Board, 2005]

Gas prices have doubled to nearly $3.00 a gallon. [Energy Information Administration, 5/06]

Housing is the least affordable it has been in 14 years. [U.S. Census]

Real wages have been flat since 2001, while the cost of families’ big-ticket items (medical care, housing, food, cars and household operations) rose 11 percent. [Center for American Progress, 5/06]

Median household debt has climbed 34 percent to $55,300 in 2004. [Federal Reserve Board, 2/06]

The Federal Reserve interest rate has climbed to the highest level in five years – pinching the pocketbooks of families with credit card debt, car loans, and adjustable rate mortgages.

The number of people in employer-sponsored retirement plans dropped from 50 percent to 48 percent from 2001 to 2004, and about 3.7 million employees have lost employer-provided health insurance since 2000. [Congressional Research Service, 5/06; CPS, 8/05]

Republicans’ record budget deficits are out of control and driving our country deeper into debt to foreign investors and governments, as more American jobs are being shipped overseas.

Republicans have turned President Clinton’s projected 10-year $5.6 billion surplus into a $3.2 trillion deficit.

America has accumulated more debt to foreigners, nearly $1.1 trillion, than this country had accumulated in its first 224 years. [Treasury Department, 12/05]

Interest payments are growing faster than all other items in the Bush Administration budget. America’s total debt has climbed by nearly 50 percent to nearly $9 trillion.

Republicans voted to protect more than $5 billion in oil industry giveaways.

In most recent Republican tax bill, most middle-class families will receive less than $30 from any tax relief, while the average tax cut for millionaires is about $43,000.

Under President Clinton, all families prospered; they saw their income grow, opportunities for good-paying jobs increase, and a better standard of living:

In the Clinton years, nearly 23 million new jobs were created (or 237,000 per month).

In the Clinton years, nearly 23 million new jobs were created (or 237,000 per month).

Only 42,000 jobs per month have been created and 2.9 million manufacturing jobs lost under the Bush Administration

In the Clinton years, America had five years of real wage growth, and middle-income families saw their incomes grow 10 percent in real terms.

Renegade Band of Right-Wing Extremists

2006-06-01T10:51:00.000-04:00

I remember having conversations with Republicans during the 2000 election who thought that Gore was "too extreme" on his environmental policies. Little did they know that the right-wing extremists they elected to office would turn back decades of environmental regulations to appease their big business contributors.

At least Gore is out there spreading the truth about global warming while Bush still resides in his bubble. In the years since the 2000 campaign, Gore "has been a steady critic of specific Bush administration policies. He opposed the war on Iraq at a time when most prominent Democrats were supporting it, and more recently spoke out against what he called "a gross and excessive power grab" by the administration over phone tapping."

It's interesting to consider where we might be today had the Supreme Court not handed the presidency to Bush--no war, cleaner air, a balanced budget, a surplus to use on things like renewable energy or universal healthcare. Instead, we're stuck with a renegade band of right-wing extremists for 3 more years. God help us.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Gore: Bush is 'renegade rightwing extremist'

Republican'ts

2006-06-01T10:42:00.000-04:00

I like this suggestion to start referring to Republicans as Republican'ts. It's the perfect reflection on their incompetence and mismanagement of just about everything, from the budget to the Iraq War to Katrina:

As in:
Can't balance the budget;
can't stop raising the national debt ceiling;
can't manage federal emergencies;
can't find Osama bin Laden;
can't control our borders;
can't stop smearing and leaking;
can't answer tough questions from the media;
can't find weapons of mass destruction...

(I can't spend all day doing this, but you get the point.)

The Gadflyer: Fly Trap

Bush's "Best Moment" is Fishy

2006-05-08T09:57:00.000-04:00

When Bush was asked by a reporter what his "best moment" has been over the past five years, it was a political softball allowing him to reflect on what he sees as his successful policies or significant encounters with international leaders. So it makes perfect sense that this is what he picked:

"I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound perch in my lake," he told the newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.

THAT'S the highlight of his presidency? I guess, since he represents the interests of the fat cats, there's a certain logic in his reference to catching a fish.

Now compare the responses from past presidents on the question of their "best moments":

Carter: "I think the best time was probably dealing with the Middle East issue at Camp David," he said, "and even better I think was the peace treaty that came along six months later. I made a very difficult decision over the almost unanimous opposition of my cabinet and my staff to take the initiative and to go to Egypt and to go to Israel to try to get Begin and Sadat to agree on a peace treaty. And when they did sign-both of them signed the agreement-I guess that was probably my best moment."

Clinton: I don't know. So many things have happened here at home that have been important to me; passing economic plan, passing the Brady Bill and assault weapons ban, so many things have happened internationally, the role that I was fortunate to be able to play in the peace process in the Middle East and in Northern Ireland, but this (Kosovo) could have the biggest long-term positive consequences if we do it right.... I think what we did in Kosovo was profoundly important.

Bush: I caught a big fish on my ranch.

Bush's best moment in office? Reeling in big perch�|�Top News�|�Reuters.co.uk

Repugs: Culture of Corruption

2006-05-07T13:20:00.000-04:00

The Carpetbagger Report poses the question, "Are we near the tipping point on the Republicans' "culture of corruption" story? Have we passed it?"

He offers the following as evidence that this administration does not govern by policy but instead by ideology, corporate fealty, and blind stubbornness:

* CIA Director Porter Goss resigned suddenly Friday, a move than may have been driven, in part, by his connection to Kyle "Dusty" Foggo (who is now facing a criminal investigation of his own) and the Brent Wilkes/Duke Cunningham/prostitutes scandal. In fact, the San Diego Union Tribune and the New York Daily News both reported that Goss' departure is related to the Cunningham affair.

* The AP reported yesterday that Tom DeLay's office knew full well that Jack Abramoff had "arranged the financing for the GOP leader's controversial European golfing trip in 2000 and was concerned 'if someone starts asking questions.'"

* MSNBC's David Shuster reported on Friday night that the "tea leaves" suggest Karl Rove will get indicted in the Plame scandal, while Scooter Libby's defense is already going poorly in his own Plame-related charges.

* David Safavian, the administration's top federal procurement official before he was arrested last fall, will go on trial shortly for his Abramoff-related charges.

* All the while, Patrick Fitzgerald's grand jury is still meeting, the case against Tom DeLay in Texas is still proceeding, the investigation into Bill Frist's investments is ongoing, and Rep. Bob Ney is still this close to an indictment.

As the New Democratic Network's Simon Rosenberg put it:

"This has never been about lobbying reform, or connecting the corruption to legislative outcomes. The corruption is of such magnitude that it stands alone as a statement of their values, of their lack of respect for the public trust. Simply put these are the largest set of scandals in American history. That should be enough for us to make the case for a new direction."
The Carpetbagger Report

Hookergate

2006-05-07T11:15:00.000-04:00

Add one more scandal to the already huge heap of scandals of this administration (cherrypicking intelligence to justify an unwarranted war, outing a CIA operative, spying on US citizens without warrants, trading money for political favors--as a side note, it was revealed this week that slimy Jack Abramoff visited the White House over 200 times in one year): Hookergate. The details are in the link below, but since it involves a former Goss aide, it's hard to believe that Porter Goss' sudden resignation from the CIA wasn't somehow related to these, um, poker-and-"escort" parties.
TPM Muckraker: Hookergate Archives

Yellow Dogs: Running Congress for a Change

2006-05-07T10:59:00.000-04:00

A recent AP-Ipsos poll found that 51 percent of Americans say they want Democrats rather than Republicans to control Congress. Only 34 percent favor Republican control.

Sentiment is favoring Democratic control of Congress (although Republican gerrymandering and redistricting may make this a tough road to hoe), but what is the plan should Dems regain control?

"Their leaders said a Democratic House would quickly vote to raise the minimum wage for the first time since 1997. It would roll back a provision in the Republicans' Medicare prescription drug benefit that prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services from negotiating prices for drugs offered under the program. It would vote to fully implement the recommendations of the bipartisan panel convened to shore up homeland security after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Democratic leaders said. And it would reinstate lapsed rules that say any tax cuts or spending increases have to be offset by spending cuts or tax increases to prevent the federal deficit from growing.

Sounds like a good start. Now just add in a plan for getting us out of the Iraq war debacle, and we're good to go.
Confident Democrats Lay Out Agenda

Run for the Roses: Go "Lawyer Ron"!

2006-05-03T22:21:00.000-04:00

No real reason to cheer for (or bet on) this horse, except the tragedy of his owner's death earlier this year makes him sort of a sentimental favorite.

Check out the festivities in Louisville, as the Galt House Hotel and Suite prepares a dozen roses for each of its guests -- all 1,300 rooms--this weekend at check-in. Ever wonder what 15,600 roses look like?

Very Nice!

Horse Racing - Yahoo! Sports

Snow Job

2006-04-25T23:32:00.000-04:00

Fox News pundit Tony Snow has been named White House Press Secretary in what has been described as a career "transfer" from one propaganda arm of the Bush administration (Fox News) to another propoganda outlet (the White House press room). At least the move won't require a makeover since Fox and its commentators have never pretended to be anything but a group of cheerleaders for Bush's failed policies. Should be a seamless move for Tony.

What's next? Rush Limbaugh as Treasury Secretary? Bill O'Reilly as Secretary of Defense?

Snow to be White House spokesman - Politics - MSNBC.com

Is U.S. being transformed into a radical republic?

2006-04-23T18:44:00.000-04:00

It might or might not surprise you to find out that this question is being posed by a Republican and Retired Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, Chief of Staff to Colin Powell from 2002-2005. Here's his answer:

From the Kyoto accords to the International Criminal Court, from torture and cruel and unusual treatment of prisoners to rendition of innocent civilians, from illegal domestic surveillance to lies about leaking, from energy ineptitude to denial of global warming, from cherry-picking intelligence to appointing a martinet and a tyrant to run the Defense Department, the Bush administration, in the name of fighting terrorism, has put America on the radical path to ruin.

Unprecedented interpretations of the Constitution that holds the president as commander in chief to be all-powerful and without checks and balances marks the hubris and unparalleled radicalism of this administration.

Moreover, fiscal profligacy of an order never seen before has brought America trade deficits that boggle the mind and a federal deficit that, when stripped of the gimmickry used to make it appear more tolerable, will leave every child and grandchild in this nation a debt that will weigh upon their generations like a ball and chain around every neck. Imagine owing $150,000 from the cradle. That is radical irresponsibility.

This administration has expanded government - creation of the Homeland Security Department alone puts it in the record books - and government intrusiveness. It has brought a new level of sleaze and corruption to Washington (difficult to do, to be sure). And it has done the impossible in war-waging: put in motion a conflict in Iraq that in terms of colossal incompetence, civilian and military, and unbridled arrogance portends to top the Vietnam era, a truly radical feat.

Remember how the media, during the presidential campaigns, portrayed Bush as a moderate and a centrist? Turns out that he and his adminstration now define the radical right. Even leading Republicans are calling for radical change.
Is U.S. being transformed into a radical republic? - baltimoresun.com

Petulant President

2006-04-18T21:13:00.000-04:00

President Bush at a Press Conference today, when asked about whether Rummy should step down:

"I'm the decider, and I decide what's best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the secretary of defense."

Oh my god. We are being led by a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. So far "THE DECIDER" has made some disastrous decisions.

This guy will definitely be wiretapped...

2006-04-06T20:48:00.000-04:00

Check out this exchange during a Q&A at a forum Bush attended today:

Q: You never stop talking about freedom, and I appreciate that. But while I listen to you talk about freedom, I see you assert your right to tap my telephone, to arrest me and hold me without charges, to try to preclude me from breathing clean air and drinking clean water and eating safe food. If I were a woman, you'd like to restrict my opportunity to make a choice and decision about whether I can abort a pregnancy on my own behalf.

Bush: I'm not your favorite guy. Go ahead. (Laughter and applause.) Go on, what's your question?

Q: Okay, I don't have a question. What I wanted to say to you is that, in my lifetime, I have never felt more ashamed of, nor more frightened by my leadership in Washington, including the presidency, by the Senate, and I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and the grace to be ashamed of yourself inside yourself. And I also want to say I really appreciate the courtesy of allowing me to speak what I'm saying to you right now. That is part of what this country is about.

The man was then escorted away by security and shipped to Guantanamo, where he was held without charges and without legal representation and was tortured.

Leaker-in-Chief

2006-04-06T20:40:00.000-04:00

From the Washington Post:
"A former top aide to Vice President Cheney told a federal grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA agent's identity that President Bush authorized him to disclose classified intelligence information about Iraq as a way of rebutting criticism from the agent's husband, according to court papers filed by prosecutors."

So Bush, who has publicly criticized leaks, turns out to be the Leaker-in-Chief. Not only that, but he leaked information for purely political reasons--as payback for Joseph Wilson's challenge to his claims about WMD in Iraq (which we now know were justified challenges).

I agree with Howard Dean:
"The fact that the president was willing to reveal classified information for political gain and put the interests of his political party ahead of America's security shows that he can no longer be trusted to keep America safe."

Former Cheney Aide: Bush Authorized Iraq Intelligence Leak

Bush Does Something Right

2006-04-01T18:30:00.000-05:00

APRIL FOOL'S!!!!!!!!

Wiretap-gate

2006-03-31T22:25:00.000-05:00

Today John W. Dean, Nixon's White House Counsel, told senators that Bush's illegal domestic spying is worse than Watergate. The man who himself spent four months in prison for the Nixon scandal spoke in support of the censure resolution introduced by Senator Feingold.

Feingold's measure would condemn Bush's "unlawful authorization of wiretaps of Americans within the United States without obtaining the court orders required" by the FISA act.

"If we in the Congress don't stand up for ourselves and the American people, we become complicit in the lawbreaking," Feingold, D-Wis., told the panel. "The resolution of censure is the appropriate response."

Bush is breaking the law. Time to restore "checks and balances."

John Dean Blasts Warrantless Eavesdropping - Yahoo! News

To Err is Human...

2006-03-31T20:49:00.000-05:00

But to make "thousands" of errors in Iraq, as Condi Rice admitted to doing today, is just plain incompetent.

Here are Condi's exact words: "Yes, I know we have made tactical errors, thousands of them," a response to a question over whether lessons had been learned since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Too bad these thousands of tactical errors have led to thousands of lost US lives and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi lives. Oh well, everyone makes mistakes--usually just not thousands of them at a time.

Rice admits "thousands" of errors in Iraq - Yahoo! News

More Corporate Welfare

2006-03-31T20:44:00.000-05:00

From a Dept. of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General Report, we learn that the DHS is now using our tax dollars to subsidize poor beleaguered...oil companies:

For example, a Fortune 500 refinery received a port security grant in round five totaling almost $1 million for fencing and surveillance upgrades at a refinery located in a major port. This company recently reported 3rd quarter net income in excess of $1.2 billion. We remained concerned about the absence of more specific guidance on security measures proposed by private companies that are capable of paying for them, and what measures they should pay for. (p. 21)

This is par for the course for the Bush administration. Just keep cutting programs for the poor and elderly and bitching and whining about how the victims of the Hurricane Katrina are too reliant on welfare to help themselves (yes, this is a popular "blame the victim" argument among Repugs), but don't even blink when you give $1 million to a Fortune 500 oil company that is netting $1.2 billion. That's corporate welfare. Government of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich.

AMERICAblog: Because a great nation deserves the truth

The Bushistas: Taking Crime to International Levels

2006-03-12T08:42:00.000-05:00

Wow. This is a story from the conservative Washington Times, who interviewed yet another disgruntled career CIA official:

A 27-year veteran of the CIA, spanning administrations from John F. Kennedy to George Herbert Walker Bush, the current president's father, McGovern has taken, in recent years, a vocal stand on several aspects of the current Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq and ensuing events.

Returning his medal for "especially commendable service" took a lot of thought. "I had been thinking of ways I could disassociate myself from torture," he said, describing it as a response for his grandchildren who, he said, would ask him what role he played in current events.

During his time at the CIA, McGovern at one point was responsible for daily briefings to the first President Bush. After retiring in 1990; he said he received a "wonderful letter from Bush, Sr. We do stay in touch periodically," but would not comment on the former president's opinions on McGovern's current activities. Today, he spends his time writing and speaking around the world and abroad, mostly about the Iraq war, "trying to spread a little truth around," he said.

The alleged corruption of intelligence strikes a heavy chord with McGovern. The war in Iraq started, he said, because former CIA director George Tenet, was given no choice but to state the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. "Back in my day, I like to think we would have got up and walked out," if asked to force intelligence, he said. "Cooking intelligence is a cardinal sin in the intelligence world."

"As outraged as we are by the politicization, some say prostitution, of intelligence procedures, we are upset by the undermining of the Constitution," he said, speaking for the anti-war group, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, of which he is a founder. "If you're going to have an intelligence apparatus that tells the president what he wants to hear, you might as well just abolish the whole thing," and let the State Department run intelligence operations, said McGovern. The point of the CIA was to be accountable, he said. "We're supposed to tell the truth."

"The American people need to wake up now, the evidence is all there," he said. "Our president and vice president have started a war of aggression defined by Nuremberg as a supreme international crime." Describing members of Congress as tools of the White House, McGovern expressed a need for the people to take a different way. "Together with torture and clearly illegal wiretapping, we need to look for ways to stop all these crimes and indignities," he said.

United Press International�-�The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

Another Top Bush Aide Goes to Jail

2006-03-12T08:22:00.000-05:00

Move over Libby, Safavian, and Abramoff (and Rove, who's still under investigation for treason)--there's always room for another indictment when your administration is filled with as many crooks and criminals as the Bush administration:

Claude A. Allen, who resigned last month as President Bush's top domestic policy adviser, was arrested this week in Montgomery County for allegedly swindling Target and Hecht's stores out of more than $5,000 in a refund scheme, police said.

Allen, a former deputy secretary in the Department of Health and Human Services, was nominated in 2003 to a federal appeals court seat. He was appointed the president's top domestic policy adviser last year at the start of Bush's second term. Working out of a small office on the second floor of the West Wing, Allen shaped administration policy on such issues as health care, space exploration, housing and education.

Add this criminal behavior to the growing list of incompetent Bush appointees, such as Brown and Chertoff at FEMA and Gale Norton at the EPA (who recently resigned--could it be she was finally apprehended turning over environmental regulations in order to appease special interests and big business?). Stay tuned for more of this unfolding saga on "All the President's (Law-Breaking) Men."
Former Top Bush Aide Accused of Md. Thefts

Good question

2006-03-12T07:51:00.000-05:00

From Michael Hirsch of Newsweek:

"How then did we arrive at this day, with anti-American Islamist governments rising in the Mideast, bin Laden sneering at us, Qaeda lieutenants escaping from prison, Iran brazenly enriching uranium, and America as hated and mistrusted as it ever has been? The answer, in a word, is incompetence."

Worst. President. Ever.

2006-02-28T20:12:00.000-05:00

Seems like the wingnuts always want to point out what a lousy president Bill Clinton was.

Clinton: Job Ratings

Bush: 34%

Time to start scraping the "W" stickers off your SUV's.

Dead-enders.

Tanking

2006-02-27T23:50:00.000-05:00

Bush continues to tank in the polls:

The latest CBS News poll finds President Bush's approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 34 percent, while pessimism about the Iraq war has risen to a new high.

Ouch. 34% approval. That's a frighteningly low number for Bush, but it's even more frightening that 1/3 of those polled still support this failed presidency. Are those people NUTS?

At least Cheney's 18% approval rating is easier to explain--that 18% is comprised of family, rich oil buddies, and Halliburton employees.

CBS News | Poll: Bush Ratings At All-Time Low | February 27, 2006 22:05:25

Dick: Now We Know For Sure He's Not a Straight Shooter

2006-02-12T23:35:00.000-05:00

Whether it's spreading lies about why we went to war in Iraq, leaking the names of CIA operatives, covering up secret meetings with his oil buddies to determine energy policy, or arranging cushy government contracts in Iraq and New Orleans for Halliburton, Dick Cheney has never been a straight shooter. But now it's confirmed:

Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, spraying the fellow hunter in the face and chest with shotgun pellets.

This time Cheney's reckless behavior hurt a millionaire attorney from Texas, but with big Dick's reckless abuse of power and claim that executive powers should be expanded and should go unchecked by Congress, we're all the next victims (after all, this is the man who has "shot down" many an innocent victim with votes against headstart programs for kids and meals-on-wheels for the elderly and shut-ins).
Chicago Tribune | Cheney Accidentally Shoots Fellow Hunter

The Trust Gap

2006-02-12T11:38:00.000-05:00

Trust Gap? More like a gaping hole....

From an editorial in the New York Times:

We can't think of a president who has gone to the American people more often than George W. Bush has to ask them to forget about things like democracy, judicial process and the balance of powers — and just trust him. We also can't think of a president who has deserved that trust less.

This has been a central flaw of Mr. Bush's presidency for a long time. But last week produced a flood of evidence that vividly drove home the point.

DOMESTIC SPYING After 9/11, Mr. Bush authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on the conversations and e-mail of Americans and others in the United States without obtaining a warrant or allowing Congress or the courts to review the operation. Lawmakers from both parties have raised considerable doubt about the legality of this program, but Attorney General Alberto Gonzales made it clear last Monday at a Senate hearing that Mr. Bush hasn't the slightest intention of changing it.

THE PRISON CAMPS It has been nearly two years since the Abu Ghraib scandal illuminated the violence, illegal detentions and other abuses at United States military prison camps. There have been Congressional hearings, court rulings imposing normal judicial procedures on the camps, and a law requiring prisoners to be treated humanely. Yet nothing has changed. Mr. Bush also made it clear that he intends to follow the new law on the treatment of prisoners when his internal moral compass tells him it is the right thing to do.

On Thursday, Tim Golden of The Times reported that United States military authorities had taken to tying up and force-feeding the prisoners who had gone on hunger strikes by the dozens at Guantánamo Bay to protest being held without any semblance of justice. The article said administration officials were concerned that if a prisoner died, it could renew international criticism of Gitmo. They should be concerned. This is not some minor embarrassment. It is a lingering outrage that has undermined American credibility around the world.

According to numerous news reports, the majority of the Gitmo detainees are neither members of Al Qaeda nor fighters captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan. The National Journal reported last week that many were handed over to the American forces for bounties by Pakistani and Afghan warlords. Others were just swept up. The military has charged only 10 prisoners with terrorism. Hearings for the rest were not held for three years and then were mostly sham proceedings.

And yet the administration continues to claim that it can be trusted to run these prisons fairly, to decide in secret and on the president's whim who is to be jailed without charges, and to insist that Gitmo is filled with dangerous terrorists.

THE WAR IN IRAQ One of Mr. Bush's biggest "trust me" moments was when he told Americans that the United States had to invade Iraq because it possessed dangerous weapons and posed an immediate threat to America. The White House has blocked a Congressional investigation into whether it exaggerated the intelligence on Iraq, and continues to insist that the decision to invade was based on the consensus of American intelligence agencies.

But the next edition of the journal Foreign Affairs includes an article by the man in charge of intelligence on Iraq until last year, Paul Pillar, who said the administration cherry-picked intelligence to support a decision to invade that had already been made. He said Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney made it clear what results they wanted and heeded only the analysts who produced them. Incredibly, Mr. Pillar said, the president never asked for an assessment on the consequences of invading Iraq until a year after the invasion. He said the intelligence community did that analysis on its own and forecast a deeply divided society ripe for civil war.

Like many other administrations before it, this one sometimes dissembles clumsily to avoid embarrassment. (We now know, for example, that the White House did not tell the truth about when it learned the levees in New Orleans had failed.) Spin-as-usual is one thing. Striking at the civil liberties, due process and balance of powers that are the heart of American democracy is another.

The Trust Gap - New York Times

Bush's Budget: Cruel Cuts

2006-02-10T23:17:00.000-05:00

Bush's budget is not only irresponsible, it's also dishonest, with costs of the ongoing war in Iraq not even included. To pay for his billion-dollar (unnecessary and unjustified) war and to offset his tax cuts to the highest income groups, Bush is making some cruel (and not very compassionate) cuts:

Cuts would be made in hundreds of domestic discretionary programs across the budget, including education programs, environmental protection programs, numerous programs to assist low-income families, children, and elderly and disabled people, and research related to cancer, heart disease, and other medical conditions.

Program Terminations: For example, among the domestic discretionary programs that would be terminated are:

The Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which provides nutritional food packages for less than $20 a month to more than 400,000 low-income elderly people, one-third of whom are over age 75;

The Preventive Care Block Grant, which is operated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and provides grants to states for preventive health services for underserved populations;

The TRIO Talent Search program, under which colleges and universities assist disadvantaged secondary school students (two-thirds of whom are minority) by providing them with academic, career, and financial counseling so they will better be able to finish high school and attend college;

The Community Services Block Grant, which provides funding for a range of social services and other types of assistance to low-income families and elderly and disabled individuals.

Other programs that would be terminated include: the Emergency Watershed Protection Program, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, and Safe and Drug Free Schools Grants.

Deep Program Cuts: Among the domestic discretionary programs that would be cut deeply are:

Section 202 housing for the low-income elderly — funding in 2007 would be cut 26 percent below the 2006 level, even before adjustment for inflation.

Section 811 housing for low-income people with disabilities — cut 50 percent in 2007.

Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), which promotes community policing primarily by putting police on the streets — cut 79 percent in 2007.

Cuts in child care: The President’s budget also calls for cuts in discretionary child care funding for children from low- and moderate-income families; the number of children receiving child care assistance in 2011 would drop by more than 400,000 as compared to the number who received assistance in 2005.

So at a time when poverty is increasing along with the gap between rich and poor and when we are at war and spending billions of dollars in Iraq, Bush--instead of asking us to sacrifice--is implementing new tax cuts and making deep cuts in programs that benefit the elderly, the poor, the disabled, and children. Gee, when God was talking to Bush and telling him to go to war in Iraq, I wonder if he ever happened to mention, "Whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren, that you do unto me."
The President's 2007 Budget: A Preliminary Analysis, Revised 2/10/06

Outrage Overload: Part V

2006-02-09T19:04:00.000-05:00

Here's an article from the conservative-leaning Washington Times, noting that Bush's spy program is not only illegal but also ineffective:

The Bush administration's surveillance policy has failed to make a dent in the war against al Qaeda.

U.S. law enforcement sources said that more than four years of surveillance by the National Security Agency has failed to capture any high-level al Qaeda operative in the United States. They said al Qaeda insurgents have long stopped using the phones and even computers to relay messages. Instead, they employ couriers.

The assertions by the law enforcement sources dispute President Bush's claim that the government surveillance program has significantly helped in the fight against terrorism.

The ineffectiveness is really beside the point, though, when it comes to the larger issue of destroying our constitution. I'm encouraged to see, though, that some conservatives are showing some backbone and defying King George:

"I'm for the president's inherent authority to conduct the war, but not to neuter the other two branches," says Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of four Republicans on the Senate Judiciary panel to challenge the White House interpretation of presidential war powers.

All Republicans should be outraged by this abuse of executive power and invasion of privacy (all you have to do is imagine Clinton spying on you without getting a warrant) instead of lapping up Bush's claim that in order to protect our democracy, we have to destroy our democratic principles.

Insight

Outrage Overload: Part IV

2006-02-09T18:49:00.000-05:00

Former #2 Republican in the House, Tom Delay, was forced to step down when he was indicted on charges of fraud and influence-peddling and is currently under criminal investigation. So what do the Republicans do? They give him a coveted seat on the Appropriations Committee and a seat on the subcommittee overseeing the Justice Department.

This quote from Bill Burton, spokesman for the DCCC puts it better than I could have: "Allowing Tom DeLay to sit on a committee in charge of giving out money is like putting Michael Brown back in charge of FEMA."

Glad to see the Republicans are working so hard on reform. Pretty outrageous.

ABC News: DeLay Lands Coveted Appropriations Spot

Outrage Overload: Part III

2006-02-09T18:39:00.000-05:00

Remember Bush's overblown talk about how he wouldn't stand for leaks in his administration? Well, maybe he should have a talk with his VP:

"Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been "authorized" by Cheney and other White House "superiors" in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information to journalists to defend the Bush administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case to go to war with Iraq, according to attorneys familiar with the matter, and to court records."

Oops. I guess it's okay as long as the leaks are to cover their own asses. And speaking of asses, Karl Rove--who leaked the name of a CIA agent, endangering national security--should not still be working in the White House and should not have security clearance while under ongoing investigation. That's an outrage.

NATIONAL JOURNAL: Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information (02/09/2006)

Outrage Overload: Part II

2006-02-09T18:32:00.000-05:00

More rigged legislation (see outrage below), this time a backroom legislative maneuver by Bill Frist (Kitty Killer- TN) and Denny Hastert done without approval of the House-Senate conference committee. Does it protect consumers? Noooo. Does it protect big pharmaceutical companies? Ding, ding, ding! You are correct.
Hastert, Frist said to rig bill for drug firms - Thursday, 02/09/06

Outrage Overload: Part I

2006-02-09T18:24:00.000-05:00

When you're dealing with an administration as corrupt as this one--one that lies us into a war, commits the treasonous act of outing a CIA operative, and conducts illegal warrantless wiretaps of US citizens--it's hard to to work up any more outrage.

But in the recent budget submitted by the compassionless conservatives, there are not only deep cuts to education and programs for the poor and elderly, but some pretty vicious cuts to Social Security benefits:

"President Bush's budget calls for elimination of a $255 lump-sum death payment that has been part of Social Security for more than 50 years and urges Congress to cut off monthly survivor benefits to 16- and 17-year-old high school dropouts."

Bush also snuck into the budget his plan for Social Security privatization, a plan Americans clearly did not support despite Bush's hard-sell pitches--which is why he had to sneak it into the budget. It's the way this administration operates.
Sloan: Bush Slips Soc. Security Plan Into Budget - Business Edge - Newsweek - MSNBC.com

Pastor Throws Puppies From Pickup Truck

2006-02-07T10:04:00.000-05:00

Stumbled across this disturbing little story:

A Springfield (Florida) pastor was arrested and charged with animal cruelty after a witness told police he saw the pastor throwing puppies from a pickup truck, according to a report.

Robert Tiencken said he saw Vincent Kohn, pastor of The Anointed Church of God, throwing several puppies into the woods and leaving them to die, WJXT-TV reported.

"He was actually throwing them, not setting them down, but throwing them as far as the trees. Just chucking them," Tiencken said. "He said, 'I told my wife. You don't have to call the police. You don't have to call them.'"

Tiencken called the police anyway.

The detectives who tracked down Kohn said they found the malnourished mother of the puppies chained-up at Kohn's home along with four or five more puppies that had no food or water, according to the WJXT-TV report.

The dogs are now being cared for at animal control.

local6.com - News - Fla. Pastor Accused Of Throwing Puppies From Pickup Truck

Bush's State of Delusion

2006-01-31T18:54:00.000-05:00

In tonight's State of the Union address, Bush will once again try to prop up his failed policies, paint a rosy picture of Iraq and the economy, and try to convince Americans that he is breaking the law and spying on us without warrants in order to protect us. As Dennis Kucinich points out, Bush's rhetoric does not match reality:

The facts are clear. Our economy is struggling and leaving tens of millions of Americans behind. According to the non-partisan National Journal, since President Bush first stood before Congress and the nation in 2001, the median income in this country has decreased, the jobless rate has jumped from 3.9% to 4.9% and the number of families living in poverty has increased from 8.7% to 10.2%. Our trade deficit has doubled. Inflation has gone up. Personal bankruptcies have gone up. Consumer debt has gone up. College tuition has gone up. And, the price of gas has gone up. All the while, this Administration has turned a $128 billion federal budget surplus into a $319 billion deficit.

Today, almost 6 million more Americans do not have any health insurance than when President Bush took office. In total, over 45.5 million Americans, or over 15% of our total population, have no health care coverage at all.

During his 2003 address, President Bush told the nation that Saddam Hussein "had biological weapons sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax", "materials sufficient to produce more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin", "as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent" and "upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents".

Today, almost three years after the start of the President's war of choice, we know Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, had no connection to al-Qaeda and posed no threat to our nation. Yet, our armed forces are bogged down in the middle of civil war that our own generals say cannot be won by military force. Our presence in Iraq is counterproductive and has cost the lives of over 2,200 US troops and $250 billion.

President Bush has delivered four State of the Union addresses since the attacks on our nation on 9/11. In four speeches, the President has never once mentioned Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the terror attacks on this nation. The status of the FBI's most wanted man apparently is not important to the state of our union. Yet, in the same four speeches, President Bush has mentioned Saddam Hussein 24 times, and Iraq 78 times.

President Bush used the opening of his 2003 State of the Union to praise the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. This year our nation, and the world, saw the result of the failure of this massive reorganization of our government. As Katrina rolled ashore, destroying large cities and small towns in four states, it was FEMA, once an independent cabinet level agency--but now rolled into Department of Homeland Security--that failed to react. The searing image of thousands of Americans stranded without food and water dying on American streets will be the lasting legacy of the Department of Homeland Security, not a reorganized government "mobilizing against the threats of a new era" as the President described in his speech.

In his 2004 and 2005 addresses, the President spent a considerable amount of time advocating policies that would roll back much of the social progress made since the New Deal. In 2004, the President touted a Medicare prescription drug bill that will fatten the pockets of the pharmaceutical industry, endangering the future finances of the entire Medicare program, while leaving seniors confused and empty handed as they try to fill their prescriptions under the new plan. In 2005, the President used his address to promote his plan strip seniors of the guaranteed promise of Social Security, and replace it with a risky scheme to gamble their future in the stock market.

What the President has in store for his message this year is not known yet. But, we do know the President Bush will speak in glowing terms about the state of our union. The truth is the state of our union is in great peril. This Administration is conducting a war with no end in Iraq, illegally spying on Americans at home, overseeing an economy that is increasingly leaving more and more Americans behind and abandoning Gulf in their hour of great need.

If recent history is any precedent, then next week we should see more of the same old dance around reality that has been the hallmark of President Bush's annual address.

The Truth About the State of our Union

Dear Dr. Kitty Killer

2006-01-30T21:10:00.000-05:00

I wrote a couple letters to Tennessee's senators today, including Dr. Frist (who liked to adopt cats from animal shelters and kill them for medical experiments when he was a med student.) Not that it will do any good, but I think it's good to remind Frist once in a while that he's a creepy slimeball.

Senator Frist:

Recently you diagnosed Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito as the Democrats' "worst nightmare." I found it surprising you are supporting a nominee who is a "nightmare" for over 60 million Americans, including me and a million other Tennesseans, who are registered Democrats; but, I am thankful that you seem to understand why senate Democrats have legitimate justification to filibuster Alito's confirmation vote and to try to prevent the "worst nightmare" prognosis from becoming a terminal reality.

Should you achieve cloture on debate today, I urge you to reconsider your support for the "nightmare" nominee, and vote tomorrow to NOT confirm Alito. Use your senate leadership position to advise President Bush to nominate a reasonable Supreme Court justice who represents all of America, not just the radical right wing of the Republican party.

Sincerely,
Stick Thrower

In other news, a Senator from Massachusetts stood up on the senate floor today, got fired up, and explained why this Alito nomination matters.

KENNEDY LEADS FIGHT AGAINST CLOTURE VOTE ON ALITO NOMINATION

Compassionate Conservatism at Work

2006-01-30T09:09:00.000-05:00

The Bush Administrations has lots of compassion, if you are a rich CEO or corporation that can give them a big donation. But if you are poor or elderly, a struggling college student or a child, they have no use for you.

From the New York Times:
"Millions of low-income people would have to pay more for health care under a bill worked out by Congress, and some of them would forgo care or drop out of Medicaid because of the higher co-payments and premiums, the Congressional Budget Office says in a new report.

In response to the new premiums, some beneficiaries would not apply for Medicaid, would leave the program or would become ineligible due to nonpayment," the Congressional Budget Office said in its report, completed Friday night. "C.B.O. estimates that about 45,000 enrollees would lose coverage in fiscal year 2010 and that 65,000 would lose coverage in fiscal year 2015 because of the imposition of premiums. About 60 percent of those losing coverage would be children."

I guess it's not enough that the prescription drug program for Medicare is already a disaster, kicking sick elderly people out of the system, forcing them to pay more out of pocket, and helping only the big drug companies, who are making a fortune off other people's misfortune. And now we have a new bill under which 60% of children would lose coverage? That's just sick.
Budget to Hurt Poor People on Medicaid, Report Says - New York Times

Bush: "I am not a Crook"

2006-01-26T20:56:00.000-05:00

Bush is starting to sound more and more like Nixon every day, with his lame defense of spying on American citizens without a warrant: "Really, it's legal, I swear!" The fourth amendment to the Constitution would beg to differ. Bush has yet to explain why he couldn't simply get a warrant to carry out his eavesdropping, either before or retroactively. When was the last time we heard that argument that "if the president does it, it's not illegal"? Oh yeah, that was an argument made in 1977 by the impeached, disgraced, crooked former president Nixon, who is starting to look like a pillar of ethics compared to Bush.

Bush Confident Warrantless Wiretaps Legal - Yahoo! News

9/11 Anagram?

2006-01-23T23:53:00.000-05:00

Took me a few days to notice this, but the latest Bin Laden tape was release on January 19.

1/19 <==> 9/11

Probably just a coincidence.

"Let Freedom Ring" Rings False

2006-01-16T09:47:00.000-05:00

Bush will speak later this afternoon and pay tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. at a celebration dubbed "Let Freedom Ring." I wonder what MLK, Jr. would think about Bush's assault on civil liberties. Here's just a partial list:

--Bush instituted "First Amendment Zones" (also ironically called "Free Speech Zones") or fenced areas where protestors were kept away from his appearances and speeches. Let Freedom Ring.

--Three people in Colorado were removed from a Bush speech simply because they were wearing anti-war t-shirts. Let Freedom Ring.

--The Bush administration paid journalists to write propaganda (for example, the Education Dept. paid journalist Armstrong Williams $240,000 to write positive commentaries on the No Child Left Behind act). Let Freedom Ring.

--In a speech last week, Bush repeated his warning that American citizens who are critical of the government and the war in Iraq are "emboldening" and giving support to the enemy. Let Freedom Ring.

--Bush has been spyiing on American citizens, without a warrant. Let Freedom Ring.

Today "I have a dream" that someday the U.S. will be restored to democracy and will have a leader who respects our Constitution and individual civil liberties.

OK, This is just nuts...

2006-01-15T16:40:00.000-05:00

I honestly thought I was reading some sort of joke or parody column, but this story from Reuters is factual. Get this--to combat the AIDS epidemic in Africa, Laura Bush is promoting a program called "Abstinence for Africa."

According to the story, "Bush's trip to Ghana and Nigeria will focus on education and the HIV/AIDS pandemic which the United Nations estimates infects more than 30 million people in Africa. The disease has killed at least 20 million worldwide."

With the promotion of abstinence to fight AIDS, get ready for those numbers to climb even higher.

Reuters AlertNet - US first lady irked by criticism of Bush AIDS plan

Culture of Corruption

2006-01-14T18:51:00.000-05:00

Senator Dick Durbin (Illinois) in the Democrats' weekly radio address discussed the concentrated power of the current GOP-controlled Congress and executive branch, which has produced "a culture of corruption that is preventing government from dealing with the real needs of our nation."

In his broadcast, Durbin made several references to civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., who was slain in 1968 and would have turned 77 on Sunday. Durbin said that in his last book, King wrote: "'There is nothing wrong with power. The problem is that, in America, the power is unequally divided.'"

That's true in Washington today, Durbin said.

"Powerful corporate special interests control the agenda and people who don't have paid lobbyists really don't have much of a voice," he said. "To these power players, the challenges facing America are not problems to solve, but opportunities to exploit."

Those challenges include the lack of affordable health insurance, dwindling pension plans and rising energy costs, Durbin said.

"As Dr. King reminded us, America has no second- or third-class citizens," he said. "We should all have an equal voice and an equal chance to succeed."
Sen. Durbin: U.S. Deserves Honest Leaders - Yahoo! News