Making Conservatives Cringe Since 1977

Wrap it up...

2006-06-10T11:20:00.000-04:00

This is my last post here at fredbieling.blogspot.com, click here to visit my new site!!!

These are the cold, dead ashes of my former blog... What are you still doing here!!!

Let's not forget about bin Laden.

2006-06-08T07:55:00.000-04:00

Analysis: Threat will outlive Al-Zarqawi

By JOHN LEICESTER ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

PARIS -- The killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi deprives Islamic terrorism of one of its most high-profile and violent poster boys. But it leaves largely intact the threat of attacks from small, independent cells - the "100 bin Ladens" that Egypt's president once said could be spawned by the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

Once they absorb the psychological blow of his death, al-Zarqawi's followers and other militants outside of Iraq not directly associated with him could regroup and continue with their bomb plots and killings.

Al-Qaida has shown great resilience, and its network of networks and followers has continued even as top leaders have been killed or captured. Even with Osama bin Laden in hiding, other militants have stepped forward to make good on his calls for terror attacks. Hundreds of arrests in France, Britain, and elsewhere in Europe have thwarted plots but did not stop the attacks on transport systems in Madrid, Spain, and London.

-I don't think this is the end of the insurgancy. But I hope this is the begining of the end. A great step towards success. Let's hope we can capitolize on this, and bring this war to an end, bring our boys home.

8 words caused this.

2006-06-07T07:20:00.001-04:00

-Feel the power of Crooks and Liars

The Emperor has no clothes

2006-06-06T09:16:00.001-04:00

-Pay attention to the background while President Bush speaks on Border Security... Hat tip goes to my arch nemesis, Caveman

Readers to the rescue.

2006-06-06T08:21:00.000-04:00

Reader contributions put us closer to the total of identifying 50 left-wing Country songs.

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo writes in with his sugesstions:

11."goodbye earl" by the [Dixie] chicks

12."independence day" by martina mcbride

13."he thinks he'll keep her" by mary chapin carpenter,

“all hotbeds of feminism that would put nora of the doll's house to shame…”

Jen of Donkey OD:

14. Todd Snider, "Conservative Christian Right Wing Republican Straight White American Male". 15. and 16. John Prine: "Some Humans Ain't Human", "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven"

17. Loretta Lynn 'The Pill'. (oooh, I like this one)

All these years I've stayed at home While you had all your fun And every year thats gone by Another babys come There's a gonna be some changes made Right here on nursery hill You've set this chicken your last time 'Cause now I've got the pill

NavySwan:

18. Willie Nelson - What happened to peace on earth

19. James McMurtry, We can't make it here anymore. (must listen to this one if you have the chance)

To put us at twenty I'll contribute Tim McGraw's "Drugs or Jesus," where he's practically telling us “Religion is the opiate of the masses.” Everybody just wants to get high Sit and watch a perfect world go by We're all looking for love and meaning in our lives We follow the roads that lead us To drugs or Jesus

The sun will come out, tomorrow...

2006-06-05T19:16:00.000-04:00

666

Exposing the Leftist agenda in Country Music.

2006-06-05T08:46:00.000-04:00

A challenge from John J. Miller:

For the purposes of this list, I’ve viewed a rock song as a tune that’s already played on a “classic rock” radio station or one that might conceivably be played there. This eliminates a lot of “pop songs” that might be called conservative, such as “Love Child” by The Supremes or “Papa Don’t Preach” by Madonna . It also excludes country music, where it is of course much easier to find lyrics that express a conservative sentiment. For what it’s worth, I’d love to see someone assemble of list of the 50 best left-wing country songs.

Well here you are, The first batch of ten. I’ll just write ‘em down in no particular order as they come to me:

1. Johnny Cash, Man in Black. “I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down, Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town, I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime, But is there because he's a victim of the times.” Is there any more of a left-wing sentiment than caring for your fellow man? 2. Willie Nelson, Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys. “Mama don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys, Don't let 'em pick guitars and drive them old truck’s, Make 'em be doctors and lawyers and such.” Education has always been priority #1 on any Lefties’ agenda. 3. The Dixie Chicks, Not Ready To Make Nice. Everyone knows they story behind this one. “I'm not ready to make nice, I'm not ready to back down, I'm still mad as hell and I don't have time to go round and round and round.” A song for all of us that have been made to feel as if we’re wrong for having a different point of view. 4. Shania Twain, She's Just Not A Pretty Face. She's a geologist--a romance novelist She is a mother of three She is a soldier--she is a wife She is a surgeon--she'll save your life Wonder what Brush Lintball has to say about that? Bet ya he'd say she's a man hater. 5. Kris Kristofferson, Broken Freedom Song. “Got a song about a soldier, ridin' somewhere on a train, empty sleeve pinned to his shoulder, and some pills to ease the pain.” Go ahead; keep under funding the VA my Republican friends. Do it in the name of Conservative “smaller government governs best” That's a values vote. 6. Waylon Jennings, Lukenbach Texas. "In your high socitey you cry all day We've been so busy keepin' up with the Jones Four car garage and we're still building on Maby it's time we got back to the basics of love" Wonder what Ol' Waylon would say about Bush's "Ownership Society." 7. Merle Haggard, Fix America First. “Let’s get back on track, Let’s get out of Iraq, And rebuild America first,” ‘nuff said. 8. K. D. Lang, Constant Craving. Long before Hollywood had Ellen, Country had K. D. Lang. 9. John Denver, Sunshine on My Shoulders. Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry Sunshine on the water looks so lovely Sunshine almost always makes me high Sounds like some damned dirty hippie to me. Singing about alternative energy and such. 10. Hank Williams Sr.,Your Cheating Heart. Your cheating heart will make you weep You’ll cry and cry and try to sleep But sleep won’t come the whole night through Your cheating heart will tell on you Special dedication to Tom Noe and Ken Blackwell. -Stay tuned for the next ten... (H/T) His Rudeness My picks:

The Trial is over.

2006-06-04T09:58:00.000-04:00

Cross Posted @ My own Private Idaho:

"I, Herman F Bieling III, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

Thank you for hosting the trial Jesse. Even though we may disagree from time to time, let us do so in a civil manner. There is more that unites us as Countrymen than divides us. May there come a day, and soon, that a Leader who is capable of finding that common ground steps forth.

Here is to all Patriots, of all stripes...

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” - Mark Twain

This week in dirty Republican politics.

2006-06-03T08:01:00.000-04:00

FEC FINDS FRIST 2000 VIOLATED LAW

FEC Finds Frist Campaign Committee Violated Law by Failing to Disclose $1.44 Million Loan

CREW’s complaint alleged -- and the FEC agreed -- that Frist 2000, Inc. failed to disclose a $1.44 million loan taken out jointly by Frist 2000, Inc. and by Frist’s 1994 campaign committee, Bill Frist for Senate, Inc.The result of the discrepancy was to make it appear that Frist 2000, Inc. had significantly more money that it actually had.

FEC fines Frist's 2000 Senate campaign By NANCY ZUCKERBROD

ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Election Commission has determined that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's 2000 Senate campaign violated federal campaign finance laws.
The federal agency fined Frist 2000, Inc., $11,000, according to a lawyer representing Frist's campaign and a watchdog group. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington had filed a complaint last year against Frist's 2000 campaign committee and received the FEC's findings Thursday.
The FEC found that Frist 2000, Inc., failed to disclose a $1.44 million loan taken out jointly by the campaign and Frist's 1994 campaign committee.

-Yet for some reason Senator Harry Reid actually doing his job within the law gets press as being controversial and unethical.

---

-Update:

Bush Supports Constitutional Amendment Banning Gay Marriage, Distorts Meaning of Democracy

-Didn't this guy swear to uphold and defend the Constitution?

An enemy of my enemy.

2006-06-02T19:47:00.000-04:00

The Everlasting Gospel By William Blake

THE VISION OF CHRIST that thou dost see
Is my vision’s greatest enemy.
Thine has a great hook nose like thine;
Mine has a snub nose like to mine.
Thine is the Friend of all Mankind;	5
Mine speaks in parables to the blind.
Thine loves the same world that mine hates;
Thy heaven doors are my hell gates.
Socrates taught what Meletus
Loath’d as a nation’s bitterest curse,	10
And Caiaphas was in his own mind
A benefactor to mankind.
Both read the Bible day and night,
But thou read’st black where I read white.

Al-Zarqawi:

"Sunnis, wake up, pay attention and prepare to confront the poisons of the Shiite snakes," al-Zarqawi said. "Forget about those advocating the end of sectariansim and calling for national unity."

‘Tens of Thousands’ of Somalians Demonstrate Against U.S. Support for Militias:

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Mogadishu on Friday angrily condemning the United States for supporting warlords involved in clashes with Islamic militias that claimed 16 more lives overnight.

The War Tapes:

No one else can comprehend what they've been through, certainly not the audience members, who will at least try. Specialist Moriarty complains that nobody really wants to hear his stories, even though someone will occasionally express some polite curiosity. And Sergeant Pink, drinking beer with his girlfriend, muses that people don't really know what to say to him, and that there's nothing they can say that he really wants to hear. But then on second thought, and with some prompting, he admits that there is one sentence he doesn't mind hearing: "I'm glad you're home."

(H/T) Donkey OD

I'm turning the channel, as soon as he turns his back.

2006-06-02T10:26:00.000-04:00

Aaaaghh!!! No internet at work today. On top of that, it’s Conservative radio day. We have an agreement in the office where one day it’s NPR, the next Savage/Ingram/Rush/O’Reilly, and the day after that is Howard 100. As I write Laura Ingram's nasally W.A.S.P.ish voice is buzzing in my ear. It reminds me of the time I was in Korea, out on the Battery’s Tac Site working on a HEMTT M983 when the starter fused upon ignition and started whining uncontrollably as the little thingy inside spun around. It did something with the current that made the caps to the cells on the vehicle’s batteries pop off like champaign corks, and bubble battery acid. I’m impressed, once again, at the level of fear and paranoia that flows from the filthy mouthpieces of these people. I must have heard Michael Savage repeat “Sub-human Sunni” about a hundred times before 0900 today. All morning long, from show to show, there was an incessant drone about the media poisoning the American public against the war in Iraq by repeatedly talking about Haditha. I even heard at one point how Walter Conkrite forced us out of Vietnam using the same tactics. That’s funny, I could have sworn that President Nixon, who ran on a platform of withdrawal, and was elected through the Democratic process, was the one who was Commander-in-Chief and ordered our troops out of Vietnam. Gone are the days when the Republican/Christian/Conservative faction believed that the American citizen is able to think for itself, if such days every existed. Big Brother now feels it must hold our hand in all things. Yes, the connections back…See you at your blog.

Naw, that could never happen in America...

2006-06-02T06:27:00.002-04:00

"How They Stole Ohio And the GOP 4-step Recipe to 'Blackwell' the USA in 2008 Abracadabra: Three Million Votes Vanish " - Greg Palast

Step 1: "Spoiling" ballots -- 1,389,231 of them. In the vote-count game, these are called "undervotes" and "overvotes." You can recognize these lost ballots by their hanging chads, punch cards without punches (an Ohio specialty), paper ballots eaten by scanners, and touch screens that didn't know you touched them. Step 2: Rejecting "provisional ballots"-- 1,090,729 in this pile. Voters finding themselves at the "wrong" precinct, or wrongly "scrubbed" from voter rolls get these back-of-the-bus ballots first inaugurated in 2002. In '04, provisional ballots were passed out like candy to voters in the poorest precincts. They handed them out -- then threw them away -- one million dumped in all. In Ohio, Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell changed state rules, allowing him to toss out the ballots of legal voters who cast ballots in the wrong precinct although these citizens were told their vote would count after confirming their registration.

Step 3: Not counting absentee ballots -- 526,420 of them. At least, that's what we figure from official stats. But it's anyone's guess how many mailed-in votes were dumped. (However, in one case, in Palm Beach, Florida, Jeb Bush's candidate for Elections Supervisor, Theresa LaPore, counted more absentee votes than absentee ballots mailed in. Not the brightest bulb in the vote-fix biz, that Theresa.) Step 4: Scrub'm, Purge'm, Block'm. These are the voters who never got to vote at all. This group includes those who found their registrations were never entered on the voter rolls. In Ohio, about one-fourth of those registered by Jesse Jackson's 2004 voter drive, found their registrations delayed beyond the election date or lost.

Pic von Left of Center

"potential loss of public faith in the presidential race."

2006-06-01T07:10:00.000-04:00

Via Brad Blog:

Howard Dean:

"I'm not confident that the election in Ohio was fairly decided."

U.S. Congressman from Ohio, Rep. Dennis Kucinich:

"The secretary of state is supposed to administer elections – not throw them."

Pollster Lou Harris of the Harris Poll -- described in the piece as "the father of modern day political polling" -- says:
"Ohio was as dirty an election as America has ever seen."
John Kerry:

"Can I draw a conclusion that they played tough games and clearly had intent to reduce the level of our vote? Yes, absolutely. Can I tell you to a certainty that it made the difference in the election? I can't. There's no way for me to do that. If I could have done that, then obviously I would have found some legal recourse."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr, writing for the Rolling Stone, telling us Ohio Sec. of State J. Kenneth Blackwell (isn't he running for governor of Ohio?) was in cahoots with the White House! Who going to believe that, LOL, I mean, he couldn't have...LOL, I mean that's sour grapes right? Just another bunch a whiny Liberals conspiracy theorizing, right? Noe pleads guilty to illegally funneling donations to Bush By MIKE WILKINSON and STEVE EDER BLADE STAFF WRITERS

Former GOP fund-raiser Tom Noe admitted today that he used politicians, former aides to Gov. Bob Taft, coworkers, and friends to illegally pour thousands of dollars into the effort to reelect President Bush. Noe entered a guilty plea before U.S. District Court Judge David Katz in Toledo to all three felony charges he faced for violating federal campaign finance law. Appearing with his sister and brother-in-law and three attorneys, Noe was calm and responsive to Judge Katz' questions during the 47-minute hearing. Then, in a brief, 10-second statement, Noe said he voluntarily agreed to change his plea "to accept responsibility to spare my family and friends the further embarassment of any additional court proceeding. Therefore, I plead guilty."

No date was set for sentencing pending a pre-sentencing report to the judge. Noe, who lives in Florida, remains free on $350,000 bond. With the admission, Noe faces a maximum of five years in prison on each count, but likely faces 24-30 months in prison. He also faces a potential fine of nearly $1 million, and possibly probation. John Pearson, an assistant U.S. Attorney in the public integrity section of the Justice Department, said he would seek an even harsher penalty for Noe because of the "potential loss of public faith in the presidential race."

Happy Birthday, to me...

2006-05-31T10:02:00.000-04:00

Born, Memorial Day, May 31^st 1977

Indicted, Memorial Day, May 30^th 2006

The Charges:

Treason, and violation of Article 134:

(1) That the accused made a certain statement;

(2) That the statement was communicated to another person;

(3) That the statement was disloyal to the United States;

(4) That the statement was made with the intent to promote disloyalty or disaffection toward the United States by any member of the armed forces or to interfere with or impair the loyalty to the United States or good order and discipline of any member of the armed forces; and

(5) That, under the circumstances, the conduct of the accused was to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces or was of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.

Explanation.

Certain disloyal statements by military personnel may not constitute an offense under 18 U.S.C.

§§ 2385, 2387, and 2388, but may, under the circumstances, be punishable under this article. Examples include praising the enemy, attacking the war aims of the United States, or denouncing our form of government with the intent to promote disloyalty or disaffection among members of the armed services. A declaration of personal belief can amount to a disloyal statement if it disavows allegiance owed to the United States by the declarant. The disloyalty involved for this offense must be to the United States.

-Pictures coming soon

Dispatch from Wingnutia

2006-05-30T08:32:00.000-04:00

A short list of "Conventional Wisdom" from Right Blogsylvania: Franklin D. Roosevelt was a communist and a terrible president. Jimmy Carter used to be a waffler, now he's a traitor. Walter Mondale is a flip-flopper. Michael Dukakis is a waffler. Ronald Reagan was the best president in history. The media is liberal. Bill Clinton is a flip-flopper. Hillary Clinton murdered Vince Foster. Bill & Hillary Clinton are radical leftists. Al Gore is a waffler. Al Gore claimed he invented the internet. Al Gore is boring, stiff and wonky. George W. Bush is a great guy to have a beer with. George W. Bush is a Texan. George Bush was a successful businessman. Bush won Florida in 2000. Losing by 2 million votes in 2000 is a mandate. This administration will hold itself accountable. Bush will restore honor and integrity to the White House. The Clinton administration trashed the White House before the Bush administration took over. Bush will make health insurance affordable for low-income families. The Healthy Forests Initiative will help forests. No Child Left Behind will help children. The Clear Skies Initiative will reduce air pollution. Republicans are compassionate conservatives. It is executive privilege not to reveal the members of the energy task force. Vice President Cheney no longer has ties with Halliburton. Bush is not that familiar with Ken “Kenny Boy” Lay. There is no global warming. There is global warming, but humans aren't causing it. If there is global warming, it's actually good for us. There are legitimate scientists who dispute the "liberal" theories about global warming. Sex education causes STDs and increases pregnancy rates. HPV vaccine will cause teen sex cults. Unemployment numbers have never been so low. Outsourcing will create more jobs. The vast majority of Bush's tax cuts go to the bottom end of the spectrum. Tax breaks for Hummers are good for the economy. Tax cuts increase federal revenue. The estate tax hurts family farms. Privatizing Social Security will save Social Security. Citizens will earn more money for retirement with “private accounts.” Republican proposals to change Social Security are not plans to “privatize.” They are not “private accounts,” they are “personal accounts.” The budget deficit will be cut in half in four years. The economy is doing great. Nothing is more important in a time of war than cutting taxes. Bill Clinton is responsible for 9/11. Bill Clinton was offered Bin Laden on a silver platter and turned it down. No one could have anticipated airplanes flying into buildings. We have removed the Taliban from Afghanistan. Pat Tillman was killed by enemy fire. They hate us for our freedom. The creation of a department specializing in Domestic Security isn’t necessary. Refusing to support the creation of a new Department of Homeland Security is anti-American. The Patriot Act is needed to protect Americans. Giving up some freedoms is necessary to defend freedom. "Bin Laden Determined to Strike within the U.S." was a historical document. You're either with us or against us. We don’t want the smoking gun to be in the form of a mushroom cloud. The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Anyone who leaks information will no longer be a part of this administration. There can be no doubt that Saddam has reconstituted his WMD program. The only way to get Zarqawi is to invade Iraq. Saddam Hussein attacked us on 9/11. We're fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here. Critics of the war are liberal, left-wing radicals. Opposition to the war gives aid and comfort to the enemy. Democrats hate America. Dissent is unpatriotic. The Iraqis will welcome us with open arms and flowers. It could take six days, six weeks - I doubt six months. Several hundred thousand troops is wildly off the mark. Democrats voted for the war too. Iraq is the central front on the war on terrorism. Yellow ribbon magnets on your car mean you support the troops. Iraqi oil will pay for the war and the reconstruction. US liability for the war shouldn’t be more than a billion dollars. Saddam would not let the weapons inspectors in the country. Saddam would not let the weapons inspectors do their jobs. There is a large international coalition participating in “Operation Iraqi Freedom.” We know where the WMD are. They’re in the area around Baghdad and Tikrit and north, south, west and east somewhat. Those trucks we found in Iraq were mobile biological weapons labs. Iraq sent its WMDs to Syria. Mission accomplished. The violence is the result of a few Baathist dead-enders. The insurgency is in its last throes. Bring It On. No one could have anticipated the Iraqi insurgency. There is no civil war in Iraq. We've turned a corner in Iraq. A spike in violence in Iraq is a sign of American success as insurgents resist positive changes. A decline in violence in Iraq is indicative of American success in getting a handle on Iraqi security. If our military commanders need more troops, all they have to do is ask for them. Abu Ghraib was the result of “a few bad apples.” There is no need for a bill banning the use of torture. We do not torture. A “signing statement” freeing the executive branch from having to follow a law is necessary during a time of war. Progress as a result of the “historic” pass of sovereignty, formation of government, election in Iraq will be seen in the next 6 to 8 months. When they stand up, we'll stand down. A plan to withdraw troops is defeatist. U.S. beliefs that Iraq had WMD was an intelligence lapse. The WMD mistakes were made in good faith. Congress had access to the same intelligence on Iraq. The Founding Fathers were Christians. George W. Bush is a Christian man. America is a Christian nation. There is a war on Christmas. There is a war on Easter. Democrats and the ACLU want to ban the bible. Democrats and the ACLU want to make it illegal to pray. Bush was elected by “values voters.” Dems struggle to attract “values voters.” Jesus would have voted for Bush. Gay marriage threatens the sanctity of marriage. Republicans are pro-life. Democrats are the party of death. Evolution isn't supported by the facts. There are legitimate scientists who dispute the "liberal" theories about evolution. Man existed alongside the dinosaurs. The earth is 6,000 years old. Terry Schiavo wanted to live. Michael Schiavo wanted to murder his wife. Michael Schiavo abused his wife. Terry Schiavo can laugh, smile & communicate. Terry Schiavo can recover. The country is 'bitterly divided' over the Schiavo controversy. George W. Bush is a war hero. John Kerry isn't. John Kerry shot himself in the leg to earn his medals. Max Cleeland blew off his own limbs. Bush is a war president. Bush is a popular president. The Democrats are weak on national security Bush critics are 'shrill,' 'angry,' 'bitter’ John Kerry was against the $87 million before he was for it. John Kerry is a flip-flopper. John Kerry outed Mary Cheney. Howard Dean is insane. Diebold voting machines are secure. Fox News is fair and balanced. Jeff Gannon is a journalist. Bill O’Reilly looks out for you by cutting through the spin to get to the truth. Chris Matthews will not let anything get by him. Tim Russert asks the tough questions. Dan Rather got what was coming to him. No one could have anticipated the breech of the levies. Kathleen Blanco never asked for federal help. Ray Nagin should have used the buses. All of the president’s nominations should be given an “up or down vote.” John Roberts would be a great Supreme Court justice. Harriet Miers would be a great Supreme Court justice. Harriet Miers is the best candidate to fill the Supreme Court vacancy. It is not necessary to give Harriet Miers an immediate “up or down vote.” Sam Alito is the best candidate to fill the Supreme Court vacancy. It is the duty of Congress to approve the President’s nominations. Tom DeLay is decent Christian businessman. The Delay investigation is the result of a rabidly partisan prosecutor. Nobody at the White House knows Jack Abramoff. Democrats took money from Jack Abramoff too. The Corruption scandals are bipartisan. The 9/11 plot would have been discovered with the NSA domestic spying program. Press reports about warrantless wire tapping undermines American national security. Bill Clinton did it too. Democrats don't want to wiretap terrorists. Whenever we say "wiretap," that means we're going to get a court order. The government is tapping your phone to protect you. Leaks of classified information authorized by the President are ok because he can de-classify anything at will. Leaks of classified information to the press by a whistleblower to expose illegal activity are treasonous and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. You cannot have Civil Liberties if you are dead. Anyone who thinks Dubai shouldn't control our ports is racist. No one who thinks we should build a wall along the Mexican border is racist. The national anthem should only be sung in English. Mexicans must be stopped from taking jobs Americans won't do. George W. Bush is a decider. Dick Cheney is a sober shooter. Joe Wilson admitted that Valerie Plame wasn't covert. Valerie Plame is a traitor. Joseph Wilson is a traitor. Patrick Fitzgerald is going to indict Joe Wilson. Karl Rove has a faulty memory. Scooter Libby has a faulty memory. Gas prices are high because of liberal environmentalists. Gas prices are high because of taxes. Drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge will lower the price of oil. High gas prices are the result of increased global demand. Capping gas prices interferes with the free market. Gas is still cheaper in America than in Europe. Windfall taxes on high oil company profits is socialism. It’s surprising that Bush’s poll numbers are so low since people like him so much. Basically everybody likes the president except for a few wackos on the left. George Bush doesn't read the polls. The Democrats are in disarray. The Democrats are struggling to take advantage of opportunities even with a weakened GOP. Some Democrat party insiders are concerned the party is too liberal. Some Democrat party insiders say Howard Dean is destroying the party. Howard Dean can't raise money. The Republican Party is the party of ideas. Democrats lack new ideas. Democrats are struggling to articulate ideas. Democrats take a political hit criticizing Bush when he has strong poll numbers. Democrats look like they are “piling on” if they criticize Bush when he has weak poll numbers. Al Gore is an angry madman. John McCain is a maverick. John McCain is a straight shooter. Hillary Clinton will be the Democrat nominee in 2008. -You really must read the whole post. Update, Election results for 2000

Every once in a while you stop to look around.

2006-05-28T14:00:00.000-04:00

For the most part, what I see in my day to day life isn’t that bad. I don’t see any hoards of (illegal) immigrants coming to take my, or anyone else’s, jobs. Although I don’t see that many jobs to be had by anyone. I don’t see the institution of marriage breaking down any quicker than it was yesterday, or the day before, or last decade either. I do see crime and drug use at historic lows. Abortions too. I do see a lot more SUV’s and trucks in front lawns with “for sale” signs on them. I don’t find much to watch on the T.V. these days beyond “The Sopranos,” and the season finale is next Sunday anyways. I get what I need from the internet. Maybe these are the calm and fair last few days of the Empire. The, “before the storm,” type deal. Maybe there hasn’t been a real Empire since the last President to wear a top hat to his inauguration was shot a few short years thereafter. Maybe America still lurks under all the trappings of nostalgia, and is just waiting for a storm shake the trees, pound the roof, and batter the shutters. Suns out, have a beer. Here's to the memory, and here's to what we have to show for it. Oh, and thanks, Carl, you Krazy Katzen, for reminding me of this:

"I've always been amazed that the very people forced to live in the worst parts of town, go to the worst schools, and who have it the hardest are always the first to step up, to defend us. They serve so that we don't have to. They offer to give up their lives so that we can be free. It is remarkably their gift to us. And all they ask for in return is that we never send them into harm's way unless it is absolutely necessary." - Michael Moore, Farenheit 9/11

Ed, Edd n' Eddy

2006-05-27T10:07:00.000-04:00

What saddens me about this isn't that the other side cares more about power than anything else. It's that my side -- of which Jonathan Chait is a sterling example and spokesperson -- doesn't, and therefore loses political struggles it ought to win, thus creating BOTH empirical harms and a morally less attractive social order.

For your weekend reading.

2006-05-26T16:58:00.000-04:00

The NSA Surveillance Program is Illegal

(H/T) Moonbatty

Official Business

2006-05-26T11:09:00.000-04:00

Thank you for contacting my Washington, DC office. The concerns of my New York constituents are very important to me and I appreciate that you took the time to share yours with me. Please know that as I participate in discussions on the issues before the United States Senate, the thoughts and the opinions of all New Yorkers who write or call are given careful consideration. Please check my website for updates on the issues being considered by the Senate.

This is what I recieve in the mail after months of calling Senator Clinton's regional office in Syracuse and her offices in DC. All I wanted was an answer as to the Senators position on Senator Feingold's resolution to censure President Bush. Looks like I'm not going to get one other than her silence.

Boo Hoo Hastert

2006-05-25T09:17:00.000-04:00

- Hastert is demanding a retraction from ABC. Now they think the power of the Executive Branch is geating too strong...after it effects them. Convenient. (H/T)Crooks and Lairs.

Happy Birthday Bob.

2006-05-24T17:52:00.001-04:00

Robert Allen Zimmerman, born 24 May 1941

-Where is this Generations Dylan? Where is this generation's Pete Seeger for that matter?

This kinda stuff makes sense, that's why it'll never see the light of day.

2006-05-24T06:06:00.003-04:00

Hawks for Withdrawal

by TOM HAYDEN

[posted online on May 17, 2006]

Democrats are slowly but surely uniting around a plan for military withdrawal designed by the Center for American Progress, a think tank linked to Clinton-era Democrats and headed by former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta.

§ Immediately reduce our troop presence at a rate of 9,000 per month to a total of 60,000 by the end of 2006, and to "virtually zero" by the end of 2007.

§ Bring home all National Guard units this year.

§ Double the number of US troops in Afghanistan, place an Army division in Kuwait, an expeditionary force in the Persian Gulf and an additional 1,000 special forces in Africa and Asia.

§ Shift the central paradigm of Iraq policy "from nation-building to conflict resolution."

§ Appoint a presidential peace envoy to organize a Geneva conference under United Nations auspices to "broker a deal" on security, militias and the division of power and oil resources.

§ Obtain international funds for Iraqi reconstruction with a greater emphasis placed on Iraqi jobs. Use the assistance to leverage power-sharing agreements on provincial levels.

§ Make key policy shifts, declaring that the United States seeks no permanent bases in Iraq and "intensifying its efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

War, what is it good for?

2006-05-23T05:48:00.000-04:00

Amid War, Troops See Safety in Reenlisting The military offers steady wages, housing and a health plan -- benefits that many service members find scarce in civilian life. By Faye Fiore, Times Staff Writer May 21, 2006

TACOMA, Wash. — The first time Staff Sgt. Matthew Kruger came home from Iraq, he and his wife, Maggie, went straight into marriage counseling. The second time, she threatened to divorce him if he didn't get out of the Army. The separations were tearing them apart. So in July, to save his seven-year marriage, Kruger quit the service. Then he looked around the job market, and it didn't take long to figure out that leaving the Army held its own perils. Nothing offered him the financial security of his military job — especially the generous health coverage for his wife and three small children. And so, 29 years old and with no other place to turn, Kruger spent his first full day of freedom at a military processing center, signing up for four more years.

I can relate, sounds about like my own story. I'm about to re-up for 6 years in the National Guard when I get back from MOS school later this summer. Just five more to go until retirement after that. I thought I was smart when I got out, after the many deployments and everything, going into the National Guard. That was in the begining of 2004, right when they really started ramping up the deployment of Guard units. In fact, they deployed the very unit I was headed to before I even got home to New York. So I guess I wasn't smart, I just had good timing. Oh, and New York . . . nothing but minimum wage jobs. That's one reason I can't seem to sever myself from the military life. Like the article above says:

For many service members, it's a matter of balancing risk: Within the military, multiple deployments are commonplace, and more than 2,400 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq and 18,000 have been wounded. Outside the military, 46 million people in the U.S. have no health insurance, and those who do pay increasingly higher prices for it.

Now that the Guard has been broken by so many deployments it is unlikely I'll be sent overseas for awhile. A National Guard soldier can't be deployed for more than two years in a five year time period without signing a voluntary waiver. This creates gaps in units that preclude them from being deployed in the first place. Of course that doesn't mean that the day wont come eventually, there is always the chance of being swept up as back fill for one of these units that is under-manned. That's brings up issues on how these units that have never trained together are suppose to function effectivly, along with all the other issues a deployment brings on the home front with a soldiers family having no support group and not even knowing the other families from the unit (families that may even live hundreds of miles across the state).

You wonder why so many people, having come out of the military, having been Conservative, end up Liberal. It's seems natural to me. I think put it best when Markos Moulitsas described why he's a Democrat:

There's a reason most vets running for office this year are running as Democrats. The military is perhaps the ideal society -- we worked hard but the Army took care of us in return. All our basic needs were met -- housing, food, and medical care. It was as close to a color-blind society as I have ever seen. We looked out for one another. The Army invested in us. I took heavily subsidized college courses and learned to speak German on the Army's dime. I served with people from every corner of the country. I got to party at the Berlin Wall after it fell and explored Prague in those heady post-communism days. I wasn't just a tourist; I was a witness to history.
The Army taught me the very values that make us progressives -- community, opportunity, and investment in people and the future. Returning to Bush Senior's America, I was increasingly disillusioned by the selfishness, lack of community, and sense of entitlement inherent in the Republican philosophy. The Christian Coalition scared the heck out of me. And I was offended by the lip service paid to national service when most Republicans couldn't be bothered to wear combat boots. I voted for Bush in 1992, but that was the last time I voted Republican.

BAGHDAD ER

2006-05-22T05:06:00.000-04:00

God damn. The soldiers of the 86th Combat Support Hospital are just amazing people. I hope I never have to meet them, or one of their brethern, though. If you watched last nights show and the tears didn't flow, I don't know what to say. I couldn't imagine going through that day in, and day out, for a years tour.

'Baghdad ER': Saluting Valor On the Medical Front Lines

By Tom Shales

Washington Post

Staff Writer

Saturday, May 20, 2006; C01

To read political motives into "Baghdad ER," a poignant and powerful documentary about military medical personnel working in Iraq, would be to insult and diminish not only the film but also its subjects. Even so, the right wing has started flapping already, and the Pentagon reputedly finds the movie worrisome.
Truth is always worrisome to those with vested interests. Those who would denigrate the film --which is a lesson in humanity, not politics--presumably have chosen to ignore the printed prologue on the screen: "This film is a tribute to the heroism and sacrifice of the soldiers who are the patients and staff of the 86th Combat Support Hospital" -- men and women working feverishly and around the clock to put wounded soldiers back together amid the horror of a bedeviling war.

See me through, Waterfall

2006-05-21T07:42:00.000-04:00

Well, a change has been overdue. It would suck to be one of the bigger blogs that suffers from Scooby Doo syndrome, having to wear the same clothes episode after episode just so the children feel comfortable and identify. I’m hoping to also change the format somewhat, I’ve tried the epistle approach in the past, but that became just one big shout fest I didn’t have time to moderate. The “Document the Atrocities” style will always be around in a pinch, but what I’d like to lean toward more in the future is something along the lines of actual journalism. The picture to the left is of the waterfalls at Fillmore Glen State Park, in my old home town of Moravia, New York. I’ve spent many a hot summer day lounging around in the pool up at the top. Summer 2004 I worked at the Park. Good memories. That’s the point though; I want to have more pictures of real people and places, and stories to accompany them. The battles that my favorite big leaguers wage--Kos, Crooks and Lairs, Atrios—need to be fought, but I want to make people real. So much of what has led to the current situation here in America is the dehumanizing tactics of the pundits and prophet of the Right. As always, if you have any suggestions on the format, more padding here, font is too small, let me know. I hope to be adding Java Script that will change the main picture for every refresh. I’m also trying to fit in a menu that will slide in from the left and cover the area where the picture is and display my links.

Sometimes you don't want to be right. But you know that you are.

2006-05-20T07:35:00.000-04:00

"Military officials told NBC News that the Marine Corps' own evidence appears to show Murtha is right."

See any of them Varmints?

2006-05-19T06:29:00.000-04:00

Captions please... Blog round up: The Lie Lives On ... and On ... and On

NSA, turning America into a War Zone!

DOG BITES MAN, PART 587

The Battle of Evermore

2006-05-18T08:42:00.000-04:00

This is the kind of thing that makes it hard to stop blogging:

Bush Supporting Somali Warlords Responsible for Downing U.S. Black Hawk

Today, the Washington Post reported that the U.S. has been “secretly supporting secular warlords who have been waging fierce battles against Islamic groups for control of the capital, Mogadishu.”
The Bush administration is “backing the warlords as part of its global war against terrorism,” even though some of these warlords “reportedly fought against the United States in 1993 during street battles that culminated in an attack that downed two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters and left 18 Army Rangers dead.”
-I wonder if these soldiers in the picture below ever could ever imagine...

Photos taken by former medic and Battle of Mogadishu veteran Mark Jackson while stationed in Mogadishu, Somalia with the 10th Mountain Division from Aug - Dec 1993. Jackson caption for the photo, "Shocked members of TF 2-14 stare blankly at helicopters evacuating wounded and dead soldiers from the stadium."

aMERICAN mUSIC

2006-05-17T17:09:00.000-04:00

- My "American Music" final project for Web Design is done. Last one. No more school for a while. Plus in a couple of weeks I'll be done with my time at the Task Force in anticipation of leaving for El Paso in June. My readership has dwindled to a few loyal friends and I want to thank you all for your patients. I'm going to take a little break. When I come back I'll tell you about the little West Texas town of El Paso.

I'll see your Melvins and raise you some Mudhoney.

2006-05-17T00:08:00.000-04:00

-I couldn't find "Touch Me, I'm Sick" -So, Here Comes Sickness...

Oh, shit...the cameras are on?!

2006-05-15T20:03:00.000-04:00

lol... - O.k., not bad, not bad. 6,000 troops, one year. I was with him untill he had the nerve to say that the reason so many employers had problems avoiding hiring illegal immigrants was because of document fraud. What a cop out. Otherwise, not bad. Which means only one thing...the Conservative base probably didn't get the red meat it was looking for.

-Update, The Morning After Edition

There's no morning after pill to solve this mess for the right

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL...

Deploy guns and badges

2006-05-15T05:47:00.000-04:00

Bush to Propose Guard Troops for Border

WASHINGTON — In a move designed to win support for immigration reform from get-tough conservatives, President Bush plans to send thousands of National Guard troops to help secure the Mexican border.

Bush, in a speech to the nation Monday, will propose using the troops as a stopgap measure while the Border Patrol builds up its resources to more effectively secure the 2,000-mile line between the U.S. and Mexico, said two White House officials speaking on a condition of anonymity before the president is scheduled to speak at 8 p.m. EDT.

---

-Hey, I don't care, I'll go down there and collect some special duty pay for sitting around sweating my ass off on the border. More money in my pocket. I'm just wondering why, if this is such a priority, why we can't fully fund the Border Patrol in the first place. Probably the same reason we can't fully fund the Veterans Administration, and everything else. The Iraq War is sucking our coffers dry. It's always cheaper to have a soldier do what a State or Federal agency does anyways. Seems I heard something of this , "deploy Guns and Badges" strategery somewhere before...

P.S. Click on the Shamrock for a fast-forward Flashback.

Waste is not moral.

2006-05-14T13:59:00.000-04:00

oxygen - willie mason I wanna be better than oxygen So you can breath when you're drowning and weak in the knees I wanna speak louder than Ritalin for all the children who think they've got a disease I wanna be cooler than TV for all the kids that are wondering what they're going to be We can be stronger than bombs if you're singing along and you know that you really believe We can be richer than industry as long as we know there's things we don't really need We can speak louder than ignorance coz we speak in silence every time our eyes meet On and on and on it goes The world it just keeps spinning Until I'm dizzy Time to breathe So close my eyes and start again anew I wanna see through all the lies of society, to the reality, happiness is at stake I wanna hold up my head with dignity, proud of a life where to give means more than to take I wanna live beyond the modern mentality where paper is all that you're really taught to create Do you remember the forgotten America? Justice, equality, freedom to every race Just need to get past all the lies and hypocrisy, make up and hair, to the truth beyond every face Then look around to all the people you see How many of them are happy and free? I know it sounds like a dream but it's the only thing that can get me to sleep at night I know it's hard to believe but it's easy to see something here isn't right I know the future looks dark but it's there that the kids of today must carry the light On and on and on it goes The world it just keeps spinning Until I'm dizzy Time to breathe So close my eyes and start again anew If I'm afraid to catch a dream I weave you baskets and I float them down the river stream Each one I weave with words I speak To carry love to your relief I wanna be better than oxygen So you can breath when you're drowning and weak in the knees I wanna speak louder than Ritalin for all the children who think they've got a disease I wanna be cooler than TV for all the kids that are wondering what they're going to be We can be stronger than bombs if you're singing along and you know that you really believe We can be richer than industry as long as we know there's things we don't really need We can speak louder than ignorance coz we speak in silence every time our eyes meet On and on and on it goes The world it just keeps spinning Until I'm dizzy Time to breathe So close my eyes and start again anew

Weekend at Cheney's

2006-05-12T22:52:00.000-04:00

U.S. President George W. Bush speaks during a meeting about the situation in Iraq with current and former U.S. secretaries of state and defense at the White House in Washington May 12, 2006. From left are Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney, Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque -I know, I know...it's an old joke, but WTF?! Does this guy have an Ambien problem or something?

Bush hiring policy: Always replace one criminal with another.

2006-05-12T12:14:00.000-04:00

Hayden, President Bush's pick to replace Porter Goss as head of the CIA, contracted with MZM Inc. for the services of Lt. Gen. James C. King, then a senior vice president of the company, the sources say. MZM was owned and operated by Mitchell Wade, who has admitted to bribing former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham with $1.4 million in money and gifts. Wade has also reportedly told investigators he helped arrange for prostitutes to entertain the disgraced lawmaker, and he continues to cooperate with a federal inquiry into the matter.

Before joining MZM in December 2001, King served under Hayden as the NSA's associate deputy director for operations, and as head of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency.

-a Drunk always needs an Enabler...

We know everything about you, and this will go down on your permanent record...

2006-05-11T09:29:00.000-04:00

Update: Bush Claims Program That Monitors Tens of Millions of Americans ‘Strictly Targets Al Qaeda’ -Fool me once...

Unable to get comfortable with what NSA was proposing, Qwest's lawyers asked NSA to take its proposal to the FISA court. According to the sources, the agency refused The NSA's explanation did little to satisfy Qwest's lawyers. "They told (Qwest) they didn't want to do that because FISA might not agree with them," one person recalled. For similar reasons, this person said, NSA rejected Qwest's suggestion of getting a letter of authorization from the U.S. attorney general's office. A second person confirmed this version of events.

-Only one company willing to stand up for America?

Another Gem

2006-05-10T20:23:00.000-04:00

"Turnover" Layafette Park, Washington D.C. 01/12/91

It's in the Republican dictionary, look it up

2006-05-10T12:52:00.000-04:00

This is how Republicans define loyalty -->

"This is much bigger and wider than just Randy 'Duke' Cunningham. All that has just not come out yet, but it won't be much longer and then you will know just how widespread this is."

Ain't it a Shame

2006-05-10T06:40:00.000-04:00

-Some things will never change...

ROFL

2006-05-08T20:56:00.000-04:00

Fish tales, or a Shit sandwich, take your pick... (H/T) The Green Knight

We are Citizens too.

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

May is National Military Appreciation Month, and I'm not going to let Michelle Malkin have a monopoly on it. We always hear the old adage that, "freedom is not free," and how America's soldiers are on the frontlines today, as they've been through the ages, defending our freedom of speech (so you'd better shut up about the War), yet as we've seen before with the case of Daniel Goetzit and Leonard Clark, sometimes the freedoms we are told our soldiers are fighting for don't always apply to them, especially when they dare to offer dissent.

Being in the military, I understand there are natural limits to what you can say on a blog about military operations, or things that might effect the "good order and discipline" of a unit, but I don't understand what honest political discourse has to do with either of these areas. I do understand what happens when the military suppresses this kind of speech. It certainly doesn't help retention efforts. There are, however, more positive side effects.

Meet Leonard Clark less than a year latter.

Leonard Clark - Democratic Candidate for U.S. Senate I support impeachment of President Bush and the entire administration! The undeclared war in Iraq was a bad idea, based on lies, and our continued presence there is a mistake. We should end our occupation as soon as possible. The undeclared war in Iraq is not only costing lives, but money that would be better spent elsewhere. We need to bring fiscal responsibility back to government. As much as possible, I am an environmentalist, and support positive environmental legislation. April 22nd is Earth Day, but in my view, every day should be Earth Day!

Leonard Clark http://www.thedamnliberal.com/ Grassroots Democrats for Leonard Clark 6230 W Echo Ln Glendale, AZ 85302 Phone: 623-205-2832 Email: leonardclark385@hotmail.com
You want to support the military? Really? Support this guy. Support these Veterans, as well. If you can find a Republican Veteran running for office, let me know. I'm not completely partisan about the whole thing, it's just a rare thing these days to find an Elephant in uniform unless there's a photo-op on an Aircraft carrier involved. We in the military need to find our voice. It's our duty.
(H/T) Democratic Vet

He's lost it.

2006-05-06T06:28:00.000-04:00

World War III.

Liberal Media Myth exposed once again.

2006-05-05T13:44:00.000-04:00

Rep. Kennedy Crashes Into Security Barrier Officers Suspect Intoxication, Congressman Blames Prescription Drugs By Del Quentin Wilber, Allan Lengel and Bill Brubaker Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, May 5, 2006; 1:18 PM

Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy had "red and watery" eyes, "slightly slurred" speech and unsteady balance after his car crashed into a security barrier near the Capitol early yesterday, a police report said.
The Democratic congressman from Rhode Island has been charged with three infractions, the report said.
Capitol Hill Police officers at the scene suspected Kennedy might have been intoxicated, a police union official had said yesterday.

You absolutely gotta be fucking kidding me. It's on every channel. Patrick Kennedy scrapes the right rear quarter-panel of his Mustang, receives three tickets, and afterward annouces he's seeking treatment for addiction to prescription drugs. All of a sudden it's like Rush Limbaugh meets Dicky Cheney shooting a guy. All this attention on Kennedy while elsewhere in the world Darfur peace talks are moving forward, and Blair removes Jack Straw as foreign secretary. Oh, that's right, he is a Kennedy. This will be an excellent chance to reair footage of Chappaquiddick for the thousandth time.

Of course this ain't even shit when you consider the real biggest story of the day, or the one the so called "Liberal Media," has bobbled: Porter Goss resigns as CIA chief 'I honestly believe that we have improved dramatically,' he says

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- CIA Director Porter Goss is resigning, President Bush announced Friday. "Porter's tenure at the CIA was one of transition, where he's helped this agency become integrated into the intelligence community, and that was a tough job," Bush said in a photo session with Goss at the Oval Office.

Think Progress has the real story about Goss that Bush's lapdogs in the Press have failed to report:

For more than a decade, Cunningham-linked defense contractor Brent Wilkes curried favor with lawmakers and CIA officials by hosting weekly parties at lavish hospitality suites at the Watergate and Westin hotels in Washington. Guests would gamble, socialize, and sometimes receive prostitutes; according to Harper’s magazine, the festivities “began early with poker games and degenerated” into what one source described “as a ‘frat party’ scene — real bacchanals.”

GOSS’ NO. 3 ADMITS ATTENDING PARTIES: The highest-ranking CIA official to admit he attended the poker parties thrown by Wilkes is Executive Director Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, the agency’s third-ranking official. (Foggo even “occasionally hosted the poker parties at his house in northern Virginia,” though he denies ever seeing prostitutes at the gatherings.) Foggo’s connections to Wilkes and fellow contractor Mitchell Wade are now the focus of an investigation into CIA contracts by the agency’s inspector general, first made public in March. One of Wilkes’ companies, Archer Logistics, won a contract to provide supplies to CIA agents in Afghanistan and Iraq despite having “no previous experience with such work, having been founded a few months before the contract was granted.”

GOSS CONNECTED? Last week, Harper’s magazine reported that party-goers “under intense scrutiny by the FBI are current and former lawmakers on Defense and Intelligence committees — including one person who now holds a powerful intelligence post.” CIA Director Porter Goss is perhaps the only individual who fits such a description. (Goss denied the accusations through a spokesperson.) But the alleged links between Goss, Foggo, and Wilkes led some to return to questions raised when Goss initially selected Foggo to be executive director in November 2004. At the time, the decision was viewed with skepticism since Foggo’s previous position was as a “midlevel procurement supervisor,” and because following his unexpected selection, “Porter Goss lieutenant Patrick Murray went to then-Associate Deputy Director of Operations for Counterintelligence Mary Margaret Graham and informed her that if anything leaked about other Goss appointments — in particular, Foggo’s — she would be held responsible.”
Project on Government Oversight fellow Jason Vest reported last week that much of Foggo’s counterintelligence file “has to do with various social encounters over the years, none of which he’s been deceptive about when polygraphed, and all of which have been deemed to be of no threat to operational security — but are still the types of things that could be embarrassing for Goss and the Agency.” Vest suggests the latest reports raise important questions about the “relationship between Foggo and Wilkes, and the relationship of each with Goss.”

-Although I do wonder when Rep McKinney is going to hold a news conference to inquire if Kennedy was wearing his Congressional Pin during the incident.

The Jig is up...

2006-05-04T16:52:00.000-04:00

Via Think Progress:

Click picture for video

- To bad the guy didn't have time to call Rummy on the fact that the U.S. knew where Zarqawi was and let him go so they could have their little war...

This concludes our broadcasting day...

2006-05-03T07:17:00.000-04:00

I'll be out of the office today. It's a longish read, but take a look at the press release by Russ Feingold below. Enjoy it while I'm out on the road in a Government Ford Expidition burning Dinosaurs. You also might want to check out this.

Russ 08'

2006-05-03T06:45:00.000-04:00

Via Commen Dreams:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MAY 2, 20069:15 AM CONTACT: Senator Russ Feingold

Zach Lowe (202) 224-8657

Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold On the Redeployment of U.S. Troops from Iraq by December 31, 2006

As prepared for delivery from the Senate floor

WASHINGTON - May 2 - Mr. President, our country desperately needs a new vision for strengthening our national security, and it starts by redeploying U.S. forces from Iraq and refocusing our attention on the global terrorist threats that face us. I have filed an amendment that requires the redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq by December 31st, 2006.
Unfortunately, Mr. President, the Senate will not be given the opportunity to vote on this amendment if we invoke cloture on the emergency supplemental bill that we will be considering shortly.
This body has failed time and again to debate the direction of our country’s policy in Iraq. Three years ago the President landed on an aircraft carrier and declared “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq. Today, with thousands of lives lost and billions of dollars spent, we are still no closer to a policy that lifts the burden from our troops and taxpayers, and that actually makes our country safer from the terrorist networks that seek to hurt us.
By failing to discuss alternatives to the Administration’s failed Iraq policy, we have let down this institution and our constituents. We simply cannot continue to avoid asking the tough questions about Iraq. We should not be appropriating billions of dollars for Iraq without debating – and demanding -- a strategy to complete our military mission there. Not when the lives of our soldiers and the safety of our country are at risk, Mr. President.
Mr. President, our military has performed heroically in Iraq, but the continued and indefinite presence of large numbers of U.S. forces there significantly weakens our ability to fight the global terrorist networks that threaten us today.
That is why I filed an amendment requiring the Pentagon to draw up a flexible timeline for redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of this year. The President has repeatedly failed to spell out for the American people when we can expect our troops to redeploy from Iraq. He has refused to provide a vision for ending our military mission in Iraq, and as a result a growing majority of Americans have lost confidence in our purpose, our direction, and our presence in Iraq.
Last August, I proposed a target date for withdrawal when I suggested U.S. troops leave Iraq by the end of 2006. This amendment in part reflects the fact that the Administration has made no progress – no progress whatsoever – in developing a clear vision for ending our military mission, redeploying U.S. troops from Iraq, and refocusing on the real national security threats that face our country.
My amendment spells out what an increasing number of military, intelligence, and diplomatic officials have been saying for some time – that a massive and seemingly indefinite U.S. presence in Iraq is destabilizing and potentially damaging to Iraqi efforts to rebuild their government and their country. Our presence is generating instability in Iraq, and unless we make it clear that our intent is to leave, and to leave now, our presence is more harmful than it is helpful.
More important, though, is the fact that our current Iraq policy is making the United States weaker, not stronger. We need to redeployU.S. forces from Iraq because, as a result of our current costly and burdensome presence in Iraq, we are unable to direct our resources worldwide to defeat the wide and growing network of terrorist organizations that seek to harm Americans. This Administration has compounded its misguided decision to wage war in Iraq by refusing to recognize the consequences of its actions – the tremendous cost to our brave troops and their loved ones, the drain on our financial resources, and the burden on our nation’s national security resources and infrastructure, which are unable to focus on new and emerging threats to our country.
I don’t have to point very far, Mr. President, to show how imbalanced and burdensome our policies in Iraq are. While we have spent, according to the Congressional Research Service, upwards of $6 billion dollars per week during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and $1.3 billion per week during Operation Enduring Freedom, we are spending a little more than $2 million annually – not weekly -- in Somalia, a known haven for terrorists and criminals and a true threat to our national security. This supplemental appropriation, if passed, will increase the cost of this war to $320 billion and rising. Mr. President, this is simply unsustainable, and because the President has failed to provide us with any semblance of a vision for when our troops will be redeployed, we can expect more of the same for years to come. That is, unless the Congress finally requires the Administration to develop an Iraq strategy that includes a flexible timeline for redeploying our troops by the end of 2006.
Mr. President, my amendment recognizes the need to maintain a minimal level of U.S. forces in Iraq beyond 2006. Those forces will be needed for engaging directly in targeted counter-terrorism activities, training Iraqi security forces, and protecting essential U.S. infrastructure and personnel.
Mr. President, it is time for Members of Congress to stand up to an Administration that continues to lead us astray in what has become an extremely costly and mistaken war. We need to hold this Administration accountable for its neglect of urgent national security priorities in favor of staying a flawed policy course in Iraq. And we need to tell the Administration that they it can’t continue to send our men and women in uniform into harm’s way without a clear and convincing strategy for success.
Some have suggested that we should tie our military presence in Iraq to whether or not Iraqis are able to form a unity government. While I share their frustration with the status quo, decisions about our troop presence should be based on what is best for our country’s national security. Making decisions about our troop levels contingent on a political solution in Iraq doesn’t make sense – our troops should not be held hostage to the failure to bring about a political solution in Iraq.
Here’s the bottom line: We need to refocus on fighting and defeating the terrorist network that attacked this country on September 11, 2001, and that means placing our Iraq policy in the context of a global effort, rather than letting it dominate our security strategy and drain vital security resources for an unlimited amount of time. The President’s Iraq-centric policies are preventing us from effectively engaging serious threats around the world, including Iran, global terrorist networks, and other emerging threats. We must change course in Iraq, and we must change course now, Mr. President. It is in this spirit that I filed this amendment to this supplemental spending bill. And, if I am not allowed a vote on my amendment to the supplemental, I can assure my colleagues that I will be looking for the next opportunity to bring this amendment to the floor for debate and a vote.
My colleagues are entitled to disagree with my approach. I welcome their suggestions and their advice. But what I really want is for the Senate to live up to its responsibility and engage in a serious debate about the topic that’s on the mind of every American – how to put our Iraq policy right and our national security policy right.

'Nough Said

2006-05-02T07:09:00.000-04:00

- Click on the picture for some hard hitting news...

---

- Meanwhile that wacky Moonbat filled, angery Leftist blogosphere gets hung up on the truth thing again, The Raw Story:

According to current and former intelligence officials, Plame Wilson, who worked on the clandestine side of the CIA in the Directorate of Operations as a non-official cover (NOC) officer, was part of an operation tracking distribution and acquisition of weapons of mass destruction technology to and from Iran.
Reports Shuster in this rush transcript:
"INTELLIGENCE SOURCES SAY VALERIE WILSON WAS PART OF AN OPERATION THREE YEARS AGO TRACKING THE PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS MATERIAL INTO IRAN. AND THE SOURCES ALLEGE THAT WHEN MRS. WILSON'S COVER WAS BLOWN, THE ADMINISTRATION'S ABILITY TO TRACK IRAN'S NUCLEAR AMBITIONS WAS DAMAGED AS WELL."

bin Forgotten, Abu Musab Zarqawi

2006-05-01T11:07:00.000-04:00

-I don't want to hear anymore shit about, "Clinton had bin Laden in his sights, and could have prevented 911." Not after this...

Out of Touch

2006-04-30T12:31:00.000-04:00

They just dont get it...

White House Correspondents Dinner

Hot Air has clips from last night’s White House correspondents dinner; Allahpundit says Stephen Colbert bombed. (Angry lefties think he was brilliant, of course.)
---

COLBERT BOMBS, BUSH ROCKS

By Michelle Malkin

---

-Update 2.0 (via NavySwan, better video)

Colbert Roasts Bush 1

Colbert Roasts Bush 2

Colbert Roasts Bush 3

Good round up of reviews here.

My fav:

"Man, this was funny but really edgy. It's like doing comedy about Iran in Iran in front of clerics."

-From News Hounds:

The videos on CNN.com, FOXNews.com and other outlets feature only the Presidential skit, but no clips of Colbert's scathingly funny expose of the current administration's foibles and failures.

One wonders if the word has gone out from the White House: Stifle references to Colbert or suffer the consequences. Or is this deafening silence the result of the collective guilty conscience of the MSM media?

Hey you,...

2006-04-29T13:34:00.000-04:00

Dumbass, what's your name? Michelle Malkin? In response to your "THIS IS OUR ANTHEM" illegal alien anthem nonsense . . . explain to me why the bible has been, to paraphrase your discription, "[rewritten] to pander to ethnic grievance-mongers who don't respect ~~American~~ Christian laws or traditions." Why isn't the bible still in the original Hebrew and Aramaic, Michelle?

Francis Scott Key's "Star-Spangled Banner" was written in English. So what. The Marriage of Figaro was written in French for the original stage play, before Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart did the Italian version. Me thinks Michelle has been reading a bit to much Burke as of late:

"We are afraid to put men to live and trade each on his own private stock of reason, because we suspect that this stock in each man is small, and that the individuals would do better to avail themselves of the general bank and capital of nations and ages. Many of our men of speculation, instead of exploding general prejudices, employ their sagacity to discover the latent wisdom which prevails in them. If they find what they seek, and they seldom fail, they think it more wise to continue the prejudice, with the reason involved, than to cast away the coat of prejudice, and to leave nothing but naked reason; because prejudice, with its reason, has a motive to give action to that reason, and an affection which will give it permanence."

What a way to celebrate my 300th post!

2006-04-28T18:36:00.000-04:00

Rush Limbaugh arrested on prescription drug charges Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.

Rush Limbaugh was arrested Friday on prescription drug charges, law enforcement officials said.
Limbaugh turned himself in to authorities on a warrant issued by the State Attorney's Office, said Teri Barbera, a spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office.
The conservative radio commentator came into the jail at about 4 p.m. with his attorney Roy Black and bonded out an hour later on a $3,000 bail, Barbera said.
The warrant was for fraud to conceal information to obtain prescription, Barbera said.
Black said his client and authorities reached a settlement on a single count charge of doctor shopping filed Friday by the State Attorney will be dismissed in 18 months.
Prosecutors seized Limbaugh's records after learning that he received about 2,000 painkillers, prescribed by four doctors in six months, at a pharmacy near his Palm Beach mansion. They contend that Limbaugh engaged in "doctor shopping," or illegally deceived multiple doctors to receive overlapping prescriptions.
Limbaugh has not been charged and maintains he's innocent. He has acknowledged he became addicted to pain medication, blaming it on severe back pain, and took a five-week leave from his radio show to enter a rehabilitation program in 2003.

-Just tell me Rove is next...

I ain't got no, dow da dow, freaking I-pod

2006-04-28T11:27:00.000-04:00

Ten highly recommended tunes hip daddy-o... Kittie - Run Like Hell Bloodhound Gang - Ralph Wiggum Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California Eagles of Death Metal - Stacks o' Money Tool - Vicarious State Radio - Mr. Larkin Pearl Jam - World Wide Suicide Anti-Flag - The Press Corpse Placebo - Infra-Red Neal Young - Let's Impeach the President

I knew I'd seen that guy somewhere...

2006-04-27T20:18:00.000-04:00

Via TMP Muckraker:

I've learned from a highly-connected source that those under intense scrutiny by the FBI are current and former lawmakers on Defense and Intelligence comittees -- including one person who now holds a powerful intelligence post.

-Is that Senator Pat Geary, from the Godfather II, or Porter Goss?

---

-UpDate from Daily Kos: "as evidence comes to light, this scandal is going to be blown wide open, and there's no telling who or how many Republicans will go down."

Prosecutors were tipped off about the sex-for-favors scheme by Mitchell Wade, who has already plead guilty to bribing Cunningham and is cooperating with investigators. Wilkes, through his attorney, has denied any involvement . . .It seemed, as Markos said when Hotline first reported on the hospitality suites, "insanely improbable" that the culture of corruption included a lobbyist-sponsored prostitution ring. Yet five months later, here we are, firmly outside of tinfoil hat territory, reading about a Republican sex scandal in the pages of the Wall Street Journal.

Get it

2006-04-27T13:59:00.000-04:00

Love that White House

2006-04-26T14:01:00.000-04:00

I remember it like it was yesterday.

2006-04-25T22:07:00.000-04:00

-I wont forget it either...

I didn't know Tony Snow grew a beard?!

2006-04-25T10:50:00.000-04:00

-It has come to pass...

V is for Victory

2006-04-24T19:21:00.000-04:00

They're gonna put me in the movies They're gonna make a big star out of me We'll make a film about a man that's sad and lonely And all I have to do is act naturally

MsKitka, an old MSN Spaces alum, has hit the big time! Congratulations !!! (and thanks for the overflow, being on your short list of links has bumped my stats crazy) Click on the picture for the story! (H/T) Mrs Jones @ Blog it Right.

"Damned to repeat."

2006-04-24T14:39:00.000-04:00

The Rude One's hittin' on all cylinders:

"Not so fast, Georgie. You walk away now, and I'll put in my last memoirs about all the times your Dad had to have the CIA disappear hookers and coke dealers you wouldn't pay." Bush relaxed, straightened his tie, and glared at the old man, remembering his father's fond talk about being able to easily manipulate Ford. "Half the bastards in your administration committed their first evil in my name-Cheney, Rumsfeld. You think they learned their shit in a vacuum? We faced the fuckin' Khmer Rouge, motherfuckers who make Saddam Hussein look like the dime-a-goddamn-dozen tinpot dictator he was. We faced the Soviet fuckin' Union, with its thousands of nukes pointing right at us, so organized and filled with hate for America that it makes al-Qaeda look like back stall of the shithouse group it actually is. And you think you have bad ass motherfuckers around? I had Kissinger. Cocksucker used to eat East Timorese babies for breakfast and Chilean mothers for midnight snacks. So a little goddamn respect, you little shit."

-He's right about Blogger shittin' the bed as well...which reminds me, back to my paper on Cholera.

Whats' in your wallet?

2006-04-24T09:25:00.000-04:00

- Because nothing says "Ownership Society" like a new pair of tits.

Is there a breeze in here?

2006-04-24T06:44:00.001-04:00

The Emperor's New Clothes and the Fucking Blogger

Illegal Immigration and Inverse Fascism

2006-04-21T08:12:00.000-04:00

I’ve yet to comment on the immigration debate, and I am reluctant to for a couple of reasons. First and foremost it is a political distraction from real and pressing issues--last summers Iraq and this spring's Iran--immigration is this years Gay Marriage Amendment. It conveniently takes the spotlight off the Republican Culture of Corruption, and the mess in the Middle East. Another reason I haven’t discussed it at any length is my own naturally Conservative notions might run off the readership.

Naturally Conservative notions? Shut up. We all have them.

Well the reason I’m saying something now—beyond having watched Gangs of New York again—is reading yesterday morning's post by Michelle Malkin. Just take a look at this graphic from the post:

It is noted by Malkin, after surveying this document, that, " . . . from 1997 to 2003, worksite arrests . . . fell by a factor of some 97 percent since 1997--and plunged by another 2/3rds by 2004." While Malkin comes to other conclusions about what this means, one of them being that the recent raids by the Department of Homeland Security are politicaly timed and hollow, I am struck by the reaccuring theme that has been seen again and again since the Republicans sealed their lock on the Congress, and since Bush has been squatting in the Oval Office.

The theme is smaller government by attrition. This is the Conservative modus operandi. Don't like the idea of a social safety net? Spend the surplus, and then try to privatize. Don't like the Education Department? Pass another unfunded mandate designed to bring down the already teatering public education system. Don't like Unions? Allow the Nation to be flooded with illegal immigrants. Strike busters. Scabs. Cheap labor. Why? Because when you boil "smaller government" down it means just one thing--a Goverment so small it is unable to protect the People from Corporations. The Executive branch becomes the office of the CEO of America Inc. We all are once again beholdin' to the company store.

---

A recent post @ On the Rocks with a Twist broke Fascism down into a simple mathematic equation:

This equation is true enough, but it is not what is happening today in America. In my response I stated:

America is actually suffering from reverse fascism. Fascism is basically the State control of industry. The U.S. has given up regulation of Airlines, Ma Bell, and other industries over the years. In an equal yet opposite reaction corporate oligarchy has slowly taken over Government through lobbyist, lawyers, and the like. Reverse Fascism.
I'm no Marxist, and certainly no admirer of Mussolini, but reverse Fascism is just as detrimental to American Democracy (what's left of it) as the first two. In a Democracy the needs of the business class must be balanced with the needs of the private citizen, and vice versa. No inanimate corporation deserves more rights than a living human being. What's happening in America is a travesty. The marketing of medicine, the auctioning off of our Government by the ruling party, the de-secularization of America, all absolutely disgusting.
The way forward is to institute real ethics reform, campaign finance reform, instant runoff voting, and secure computer voting. The People need to know their vote counts. The People need to know the voice is being heard. Whatever your values or political affiliation if your advocating for the status quo your squarely against America.

So my equation, my expression of what we have here in an America, where Government has trended toward less oversite ( Ie - Smaller Goverment ) looks something like this:

-Ya, I changed it from reverse to inverse. Also, if you have the time check out what Bacchus has dug up from the real Founding Fathers.

Rewind, unwind, unbind...Imagine

2006-04-20T09:21:00.000-04:00

I just got done watching Bush welcome the leader of China to our country. At the end of the pomp, a Marine came forward and saluted the Preznit. Bush didn't even return the salute. At least Reagan managed a half-assed left handed salute, the senile old bastard. (H/T)One Good Move Update: THAT'S what Democracy looks like Mr. Hu!!! How'd ya like that lady calling you out? "President Bush, stop him!" "Stop the oppression of Falun Gong!"

The deckchair boogie

2006-04-19T10:52:00.000-04:00

After a nail bitter last week, with Rummy in a dead heat with Scottie, and a recount, and another recount--hanging chads and the whole 9--the results are in...and it's a two-fer, Scottie, and Darkhorse come from behind Karl Rove! McClellan Leaves White House Press Office White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan Resigns;

Karl Rove Reassigned By NEDRA PICKLER The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove is giving up his policy portfolio and press secretary Scott McClellan is resigning, continuing a shakeup in President Bush's administration that has already yielded a new chief of staff.

A senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the president had not yet made the announcement, said Wednesday that Rove is giving up oversight of policy development to focus more on politics with the approach of the fall midterm elections.

(H/T) Comandante Agí @ The Defeatists

Update- Nominees for Scotties job, via Atrios:

Tony Snow

Baghdad Dan Senor, otherwise known as Mr. Campbell Brown

Jeff Gannon

Ron Silver

Toby Keith

Keep on Rockin' in the Free World!

2006-04-19T08:04:00.000-04:00

Ohio

Southern Man

This Note's for You

Rockin' in the Free World

...and now

Neil Young Rockin' Dubya's World

by Josh Grossberg

Apr 18, 2006, 2:25 PM PT

Neil Young's 1989 anthem "Rockin' in the Free World" was scathingly critical of the social policies of then-president George Bush. Now the rock icon has found himself a new target: Bush's son.

In a ticker on his official Website, Young has announced plans to release Living With War, a anti-war album addressing the conflict in Iraq which he recorded earlier this month in three short days.

The album, being distributed by Warner/Reprise, takes sharp aim at the administration of President George W. Bush with the scathing tune, "Let's Impeach the President."

I'm living with war in my heart everyday/. . . and on the flat screen we kill and we're killed again/and when the night falls, I pray for peace.

- Comes a time...

Rumsfeld: Six retired senior US generals are agents of Bin Ladin.

2006-04-18T10:49:00.000-04:00

-WTF, this guys losing it...

Read all about it!

2006-04-18T09:12:00.000-04:00

Check out this article; the story of how another facet of the Republican Culture of Corruption Tm was taken down. 'Safe Road' probe almost didn't happen By Ray GibsonTribune staff reporter Published April 17, 2006, 9:56 PM CDT -How many other thieves have slipped the noose?

In case you missed it this weekend...

2006-04-17T07:18:00.000-04:00

I watched this on CSPAN2 this weekend, great stuff. The best part was at the end during the Q&A. Stephen Kinzer absolutly shut down the right-wing critics in the audience. I learned this as well; in this day and age all you have to do to be a rebel, is stand up for American principles. The Right-wing will simply froth at the mouth and flial around when they fail to paint such a person (anyone with intelligence and objectivity) with the Communist/Socialist/Traitor brush.

See ya in three...

2006-04-15T13:57:00.000-04:00

It's a Resurrection Weekend! Rolling Stones - Sweet Virginia Janis Joplin - Turtle Blues Jimi Hendrix - Jelly 292 The Doors - Black Train Song The Who - Substitute Led Zeppelin - In the Light John Lennon - Watching The Wheels (acoustic) Stevie Ray Vaughn - Wham! Mother Love Bone - Chloe Dancer / Crown of Thorns Nirvana - Grey Goose Blind Melon - Change Grateful Dead - Loser *Warning, step back in case of lightning*

...and it's in the dirt!

2006-04-11T16:45:00.000-04:00

- Hey Ump, check his mit for vaseline...

Just in case you've received one of those e-mails...

2006-04-11T08:13:00.000-04:00

Shell Shock- by George Carlin

I don't like words that hide the truth. I don't words that conceal reality. I don't like euphemisms, or euphemistic language. And American English is loaded with euphemisms. Cause Americans have a lot of trouble dealing with reality. Americans have trouble facing the truth, so they invent the kind of a soft language to protest themselves from it, and it gets worse with every generation. For some reason, it just keeps getting worse. I'll give you an example of that. There's a condition in combat. Most people know about it. It's when a fighting person's nervous system has been stressed to it's absolute peak and maximum. Can't take anymore input. The nervous system has either (click) snapped or is about to snap. In the first world war, that condition was called shell shock. Simple, honest, direct language. Two syllables, shell shock. Almost sounds like the guns themselves. That was seventy years ago. Then a whole generation went by and the second world war came along and very same combat condition was called battle fatigue. Four syllables now. Takes a little longer to say. Doesn't seem to hurt as much. Fatigue is a nicer word than shock. Shell shock! Battle fatigue. Then we had the war in Korea, 1950. Madison avenue was riding high by that time, and the very same combat condition was called operational exhaustion. Hey, were up to eight syllables now! And the humanity has been squeezed completely out of the phrase. It's totally sterile now. Operational exhaustion. Sounds like something that might happen to your car. Then of course, came the war in Viet Nam, which has only been over for about sixteen or seventeen years, and thanks to the lies and deceits surrounding that war, I guess it's no surprise that the very same condition was called post-traumatic stress disorder. Still eight syllables, but we've added a hyphen! And the pain is completely buried under jargon. Post-traumatic stress disorder. I'll bet you if we'd of still been calling it shell shock, some of those Viet Nam veterans might have gotten the attention they needed at the time. I'll betcha. I'll betcha. But. But, it didn't happen, and one of the reasons. One of the reasons is because we were using that soft language. That language that takes the life out of life. And it is a function of time. It does keep getting worse. I'll give you another example. Sometime during my life. Sometime during my life, toilet paper became bathroom tissue. I wasn't notified of this. No one asked me if I agreed with it. It just happened. Toilet paper became bathroom tissue. Sneakers became running shoes. False teeth became dental appliances. Medicine became medication. Information became directory assistance. The dump became the landfill. Car crashes became automobile accidents. Partly cloudy bacame partly sunny. Motels became motor lodges. House trailers became mobile homes. Used cars became previously owned transportation. Room service became guest-room dining. And constipation became occasional irregularity. When I was a little kid, if I got sick they wanted me to go to the hospital and see a doctor. Now they want me to go to a health maintenance organization...or a wellness center to consult a healthcare delivery professional. Poor people used to live in slums. Now the economically disadvantaged occupy substandard housing in the inner cities. And they're broke! They're broke! They don't have a negative cash-flow position. They're fucking broke! Cause a lot of them were fired. You know, fired. management wanted to curtail redundancies in the human resources area, so many people are no longer viable members of the workforce. Smug, greedy, well-fed white people have invented a language to conceal their sins. It's as simple as that. The CIA doesn't kill anybody anymore, they neutralize people...or they depopulate the area. The government doesn't lie, it engages in disinformation. The pentagon actually measures nuclear radiation in something they call sunshine units. Israeli murderers are called commandos. Arab commandos are called terrorists. Contra killers are called freedom fighters. Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part of it to us, do they? Never mention that part of it.

-Bonus, I know you've got one about Robin Williams too:

President Ronald Reagan: Uh.. Iran, Iraq.. stalagmite, stalactite..

Designated Hitter

2006-04-10T07:30:00.000-04:00

The Penguin Declines

Joker: Get Penguin's clothes for him! Hurry!

Penguin: Get my clothes for me? I've got them on!

Joker: Oh, so you do! For a minute, I thought those were prison issue!

Penguin: Prison issue?! This sartorial triumph, a prison issue?!

Joker: Well, sometime I'll give you the name of my tailor!

Penguin: Sometime I'll give you a piece of my mind! Like right now!!

-The Right has stolen another Lefty Idea, "Anybody but Bush!"

---

- Coda

The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500

Atten: President Pampers

World landspeed flip-flop record

2006-04-08T08:53:00.000-04:00

from Think Progress: White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, 12:59 PM, refusing to talk about a legal filing:

The second part of your question is referring to an ongoing legal proceeding and referring to a filing in that legal proceeding. We have had a policy in place, going back to the October time period of 2003 that we are not going to comment on an ongoing investigation or an ongoing legal proceeding. That policy remains unchanged.

McClellan, 1:08 PM, referring a reporter to a legal filing:

Actually, go back and look at the filing that was made by Mr. Fitzgerald, because Mr. Fitzgerald talks about that very issue in his filing, and contradicts what you’re suggesting.

-anybody want to guess who will be featured in week three of "Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?"

When will you or I be next?

2006-04-07T15:39:00.000-04:00

"You know you hear these stories everyday and say, 'This will never happen to me,' but yesterday it happened to me," Pickett said.

(H/T) Shakespeare's Sister

Treason, somebodys going to swing.

2006-04-06T15:39:00.000-04:00

from The Smoking Gun: Libby: Bush Authorized Plamegate Leak Indicted ex-Cheney aide told grand jury of White House approval

APRIL 6--A former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney told a federal grand jury that President George W. Bush authorized him to leak information from a classified intelligence report to a New York Times reporter. Details of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's testimony were included in a court filing made yesterday by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, who is prosecuting Libby for perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements in connection with the probe into the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity. According to Fitzgerald's filing, an excerpt of which you'll find below, Libby, 55, testified in 2003 that he provided reporter Judith Miller with information from a classified National Intelligence Estimate after being told by Cheney that Bush "specifically had authorized" him to "disclose certain information in the NIE." Click here to read on, and Click here for PDF of entire 39-page Fitzgerald filing.

Frist and Foremost

2006-04-06T08:08:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post before I run out the door. I watched Bill Frist's whiney ass on both the Today Show and Fox and Fiends this morning (It's my day off, yeah!) First let me say Frist recieved the star treatment from Katie Couric, amazing when you compare this mornings interview with the exchange she had with Howard Dean a while back. I think this means CBS is going decidedly to the Right with this pick. I dare say Frist recieved a slightly more detailed questioning from the Fox crew, most like just a more elaborate set up for his, "Democrats are obstructing everything even though I obstruct things like Ethics reform because it's convieniant" bitching and moaning.

I'm going carshopping, it's time to trade in the Nissan.

Administration Disconnect Vol XXVI

2006-04-05T05:16:00.000-04:00

Good News! The Rich Get Richer

Lack of applause for falling wages is media mystery By Janine Jackson

The Bush administration made a concerted effort to trumpet a “booming” U.S. economy in early December, widely understood as an attempt to reverse what polls indicate to be the public’s largely negative views on the matter. There are, of course, obvious reasons the majority of Americans dissent from the White House’s rosy presentation of the economy: Most American households are not, in fact, seeing their economic fortunes improve. GDP is up, but virtually all the growth has gone into corporate profits and the incomes of the highest economic brackets. Wages and incomes for average workers, adjusted for inflation, are down in recent years; the median income for non-elderly households is down 4.8 percent since 2000 (Economic Policy Institute, 8/31/05). The poverty rate is rising, as is the number of people in debt. But rather than confront these realities, and explore the implications of the White House’s efforts to deny them, most mainstream media instead assisted the Bush team’s PR by themselves feigning confusion over the gap between the official view and the public mood.

-Read the rest here.

Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, week 2

2006-04-04T07:11:00.000-04:00

Bush said likely to replace Treasury chief Snow

By Caren Bohan and Glenn Somerville Mon Apr 3, 7:54 PM ET
President George W. Bush looks increasingly likely to replace Treasury Secretary John Snow and is considering former lawmakers and some Wall Street executives to succeed him, Republican sources said on Monday. The Bush administration wants a more compelling figure than Snow to lead its effort to highlight the economy's strength in the hope of bolstering Republican chances in November's congressional elections, the sources said.

-Afterward, the seven hundred people in the boats had nothing to do but wait: wait to die, wait to live, wait for an absolution which would never come.

Straight-Talk Regress

2006-04-03T08:55:00.000-04:00

"And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say "you helped this happen." - Jerry Farwell on the Events of September 11th 2001 "I remember a day when ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN and the major print media controlled all the news flow to the American people and we found ourselves getting warped and distorted news. I thank God now in the 21st century for talk radio, that three hours a day people like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and hundreds of others are telling the truth of what really is going on. I thank God for FOX News Channel [applause]. I thank God for the Internet bloggers and the news producers like NewsMax.com, WorldNetDaily.com, even The Drudge Report." – Jerry Farwell, Thanksgiving 2004

"The [National Government] regards Christianity as the foundation of our national morality, and the family as the basis of national life." – Hitler (Whoops, damn you google) "His message of peace and reconciliation under almost all circumstances is simply incompatible with Christian teachings as I interpret them. This 'turn the other cheek' business is all well and good but it's not what Jesus fought and died for. What we need to do is take the battle to the Muslim heathens and do unto them before they do unto us." – Jerry Farwell on Jimmy Carter "AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals. To oppose it would be like an Israelite jumping in the Red Sea to save one of Pharaoh's charioteers . . . AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals." - Jerry Farwell on AIDS "I listen to feminists and all these radical gals... These women just need a man in the house. That's all they need. Most of the feminists need a man to tell them what time of day it is and to lead them home. And they blew it and they're mad at all men. Feminists hate men. They're sexist. They hate men; that's their problem." - Jerry Farwell on why he can't get laid "Now, further evidence that the creators of the series intend for Tinky Winky to be a gay role model have surfaced. He is purple -- the gay-pride color; and his antenna is shaped like a triangle..." -- the gay-pride symbol." - Jerry Farwell off his rocker

---

RUSSERT: Do you believe that Jerry Falwell is still an agent of intolerance?

MCCAIN: No, I don’t.

View from the Top

2006-04-02T07:59:00.000-04:00

The economy is doing good, no, great!!! From Think Progress: - After adjusting for inflation, wages have not risen during the last three years. In fact, real hourly wages fell for most middle- and low-income workers in 2005 and the inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage is 29 percent lower today than it was in 1979. - The poverty rate has risen each year since 2001, with 12.7 percent of the population now living in poverty. - Job growth during President Bush’s term has been the lowest since World War II.

Dr Rice, say it ain't so!

2006-04-01T09:13:00.000-05:00

Rice admits "thousands" of errors in Iraq Fri Mar 31, 2006 9:46 AM ET By Gideon Long and Sue Pleming

BLACKBURN (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accepted on Friday the United States had probably made thousands of errors in Iraq but defended the overall strategy of removing Saddam Hussein.
Local Muslims and anti-war activists told Rice to "Go Home" when British counterpart Jack Straw earlier led her on a tour of his home town of Blackburn in the industrial northwest, an area which rarely plays host to overseas politicians.
"Yes, I know we have made tactical errors, thousands of them," she said in answer to a question over whether lessons had been learned since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

-Defeatists? Another Jill Carrol? Jane Fonda Redux? Look at the mirth in her eyes! April Fools! (H/T) Daily Kos

Do you?

2006-03-31T10:14:00.000-05:00

My Man Snag wants to make sure you Know Your Rights!

Also for your Friday afternoon entertainment GOP operatives put out a stringent list of requirements to apply for the slew of WhiteHouse jobs to be opening up in the coming days and weeks: White House Employment Application 1. List at least ten people you have bribed. 2. List the ten largest bribes you've received. 3. Explain how you contribute to global warming, daily, monthly, and yearly. 4. List two ways to use more energy, be specific 5. Suggest five possible tax breaks for the rich we don't have. 6. Write a paragraph on why God loves republicans best. 7. List all those friends, neighbors, and coworkers you've spied on. 8. Write an essay on how to support the military while never serving 9. List three powers the executive branch doesn't have that it should have. 10. Submit at least seven samples of someone else's writing

Schoolwork's ramping up before the Break

2006-03-30T14:24:00.000-05:00

So stop over to The Heretik's and read some that's worth reading

...and speaking of stealing

2006-03-29T14:03:00.000-05:00

House of Cards comes tumbling down.

2006-03-29T07:11:00.000-05:00

Loyal to the End Andy Card was devoted to his president. But in the end, the failure of Bush’s agenda on Capitol Hill was his undoing. By Richard Wolffe and Holly Bailey Newsweek Updated: 2:49 p.m. ET March 28, 2006

Card first offered his resignation three weeks ago, according to the White House. That was just after the first polls showed just how much the White House was bleeding support after the Dubai ports story. A CBS poll gave Bush a job approval rating of only 34 percent and a personal favorability rating of 29 percent. (NEWSWEEK’s poll later showed the president with a 36-percent approval rating.) Bush won some respite from the ports storm when he traveled to Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. But within days of his return, he suffered another defeat in the House on the ports deal. One day later, the finely crafted compromise between the White House and the United Arab Emirates collapsed and the Dubai company agreed to sell its new U.S. operations. That was the day Card offered to quit.

What could have made yesterday the day for President Bush to take Card up on his offer? After all Donald Rumsfeld offered to resign and Bush didn't take him up on it. Said he was to important to the War on Ter. Who, besides Karl Rove, could be more important to Bush's Administration than World Champion workaholic Andrew Card, the guy who helped manipulate intelligence to sell the War in the first place?

Could it have been this headline?

Fake "Dirty Bomb" Smuggled into U.S Investigators find security lapses at U.S. ports of entry including some in Texas

Monday, March 27, 2006 — By LIZ SIDOTI Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Undercover investigators slipped radioactive material -enough to make two small "dirty bombs" - across U.S.borders in Texas and Washington state in a test last year of security at American points of entry.
Radiation alarms at the unidentified sites detected the small amounts of cesium-137, a nuclear material used in industrial gauges. But U.S. customs agents permitted the investigators to enter the United States because they were tricked with counterfeit documents.
The Bush administration said Monday that within 45 days it will give U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents the tools they needto verify such documents in the future.

45 more days after all the time they've had since the smuggling occured in December? This coming on the heels of Administration approval of a no-bid contact for the Chinese company Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. to, "detect nuclear materials inside cargo passing through the Bahamas to the United States?" Is the President actually listening to his Conservative critics? Critics like Syncophant-in-Chief Fred Barns? Is he really going to clean house? Has old "asleep at the wheel" finaly woke up in a cold sweat concerned with real border control security as the Democrats have been for years? I doubt it.

The idea that you could cleanup the Bush White House by replacing just a few people is ridiculas. The whole establishment is rotten, from Lawrence A. Franklin, Douglas Feith, to Andrew Card and Karl Rove. These people have the nerve, after all that's occured to allow an, "Israeli high-tech company . . . paying $225 million to purchase Sourcefire, a Maryland software firm that sells firewall protection. Its customers include the Pentagon." As long as these people are incharge our Nation is for sale to the highest bidder, and that is the very definition of treason.

WHATEVER PEOPLE SAY I AM, THATS WHAT I'M NOT

2006-03-27T17:35:00.000-05:00

MegaBrad,

While your Father was running his business, my father was running from police dogs and fire hoses in the deep south of the 1960's. So I guess civil disobedience runs in my family just as much as business sense runs in yours. Neither is less of a contribution to society. While the act of downloading music is a far cry from the courageous efforts of my Father's Generation, I hope it will have just as profound an impact on the Recording Industry Establishment. The recording industry is one of the most exploitive in modern history. Price-fixing, radio consolidation, and copyright extension the list goes on and on. Artists can at very best collect a minuscule share of royalties. File sharing benefits everyone. Instead of arguing all the minutia lets take a look at the most recent success story, The Arctic Monkeys. The band first put out demos for downloading on the internet in 2004. This month they were on Saturday Night Live. File sharing and so called "illegal" downloading has freed artist’s sense of creativity, lifting the pressure most feel from Record Labels to produce a manufactured commercial product. Remember Mrs. Jones's comment, "If these artists actually made full records that were good instead of just a song here and there I may buy one of them?" The point of me posting the Rock's Top Thirty Moneymakers list was that these artists make the majority of their money from touring. How can you be upset at me "stealing" from a group (the Recording Industry) that steals from these artists, in so many ways? When I download I am in fact not stealing, I am creating publicity and spreading a bands influence, based on the bands merits, not on Record Label marketing. Bands who tour and develop a grassroots following on the internet earn them by proving they're just more than a flash in the pan marketing blitz. The Arctic Monkeys prove this theory once again:

. . . widely expected to be one of the biggest releases of 2006 with thousands of copies pre-ordered, early versions of many tracks were already freely available to download from the band's pre-label demo CDs. On 5 January 2006, Domino announced the album's release would be brought forward one week to the 23 January "due to high demand". While the same thing was done with the release of Franz Ferdinand, there has been continued speculation that the move came as a result of the album's leak and the impact of file sharing - a controversial suggestion given file-sharing's part in establishing the band's incredibly large and dedicated fanbase.
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not became the fastest selling debut album in chart history, selling 363,735 physical copies in the first week[7]. This smashed the previous record of 306,631 copies held by Hear'say with their debut Popstars, and is likely to be even higher once online downloads of the album are added [8]. The record's first day sales alone - 118,501 copies - made it the fastest selling debut rock album, and would have been enough to secure the Number One chart position.

BTW: A note on downloading from Dana Mulhauser of Slate Magazine:

The Recording Industry Association of America has been bringing about 700 suits per month, but they're against uploaders—people who make music available for copying—and not downloaders.

Who would have guessed?

2006-03-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

Republicans are screwing over us veterans once again. S.AMDT.3007 Amends: S.CON.RES.83 Sponsor: Sen Akaka, Daniel K. [HI] (submitted 3/13/2006) (proposed 3/14/2006) AMENDMENT PURPOSE:To increase Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes. TEXT OF AMENDMENT AS SUBMITTED: CR S2046 STATUS: 3/14/2006: Amendment SA 3007 proposed by Senator Akaka. (consideration: CR S2078-2083, S2094-2095; text: CR S2079) 3/14/2006: Amendment SA 3007 not agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 46 - 54. Record Vote Number: 41. From Bob Greiger:

The kiss of death for America’s Veterans was the fact that the additional funding was to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes, which ensured that the GOP-dominated Senate would take care of its corporate donors before worrying about those who truly serve our nation.
The 46-54 vote was entirely down party lines, with all Democrats voting for the Veterans medical care funding and every Republican but Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) voting against it.

-How any Veteran could support these rats is beyond me. Put your money were your mouth is Republicans, Support our Troops!

A different kind of Top Ten

2006-03-24T09:31:00.000-05:00

The following is a list that shows why "illegal" music downloading should be legal. All these people made the bulk of their money touring. Not from record sales. ( I can actually tolerate listening to the groups in blue)

Rock's Top Thirty Moneymakers

Compiled by Rob LaFranco

U2, $154.2 million

The Rolling Stones, $92.5 million

Eagles, $63.2 million

Paul McCartney, $56 million

Elton John, $48.9 million

Neil Diamond, $44.7 million

Jimmy Buffett, $44 million

Rod Stewart, $40.3 million

Dave Matthews Band, $39.6 million

Celine Dion, $38.5 million

Kenny Chesney, $31.5 million

Green Day, $31 million

Coldplay, $30.1 million

Destiny's Child, $24.8 million

Diddy, $24.3 million

Gwen Stefani, $23.9 million

Toby Keith, $22.2 million

Motley Crue, $22 million

50 Cent, $19.7 million

Bruce Springsteen, $19.6 million

Eminem, $17.8 million

Jay-Z, $17.5 million

Barry Manilow, $17.2 million

Hilary Duff, $17.1 million

Kanye West, $16.9 million

Dr. Dre, $16.9 million

Rascal Flatts, $16.3 million

Aerosmith, $16.3 million

Bon Jovi, $15.8 million

Tom Petty, $14.9 million

Big Love for the Department of the Interior

2006-03-23T09:01:00.000-05:00

With Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton leaving Washington under a cloud of scandle you would think that the Bush Administration might take this opportunity to combat their image of cronyism and incompetence. Not so much.

Instead we behold Dirk Kempthorne, (seen here with his family, right) former Senator and current Governor of Idaho, and deja vu appointment. Beyond the usual insider credentials we've come to expect from a Bush Administration nominee, strong ties to the industry the position oversees, (think Sago Mine Tragedy), or trying to throw the agency your about to run out of your state while Governor (Superfund/EPA), Kempthorne brings a special twist sure to draw in the Conservative Christian crowd:

From 43rd State Blues:

Dirk Kempthorne has an 'illegitimate' child.

When Dirk Kempthorne went to DC as a Senator, he took a special aide with him.

While in DC, Dirk Kempthorne was known as the Kennedy of the Republican Party -- and not for his stance on civil rights.

His exit from senatorial life was because Dirk's wife, Patricia Kempthorne, insisted that he end the affair and/or the philandering.

In spite of that ultimatum, the mistress followed Dirk Kempthorne back to Idaho, and currently lives either in Boise or McCall

The Department of the Interior is hot boys and girls, just another facet of the Republican Culture of Corruption TM. (side story, how Ben Domenech ties in)

State of the Right-wing Blogosphere

2006-03-22T10:23:00.000-05:00

I’ve been doing a little looking around lately, trying to see if a hypothesis that keeps occurring to me has any real foundation in reality, or whether it’s just perception playing tricks on me. To me it is pretty much a given that if you don’t allow comments at your blog, what you have is not a real blog. I don’t know what it is, online magazine or some bullshit, but it’s not a blog. I’ve also noticed that it seems that more Conservative “blogs” than Liberal follow this trend of sacrificing debate in order for maximum effect to be achieved by the day's meme. For the first part of my hypothesis I went through the top ten or fifteen blogs as listed on TTLB, and the top ten listed at Technorati. The only left-wing blog I found that didn’t allow comments was Talking Points Memo. On the other hand, Instapundit, Michelle Malkin, Power Line, Hugh Hewitt, Andrew Sullivan. That’s five to one. Case closed.

But what does it prove? Chris Bowers at MyDD has a thought:

I still believe this, only now I feel it has developed to such a degree that the right-wing blogosphere itself has been all but annihilated. Most major right-wing bloggers have now been incorporated into the established news media apparatus. Glenn Reynolds is a columnist for MSNBC. Andrew Sullivan is a columnist for Time. Michelle Malkin is a frequently published columnist in a number of offline outlets. And now, RedState co-founder Ben Domenech has a regular column in the Washington Post. Despite being the latest in a long line of conservative bloggers to achieve "mainstream" status with the established news media, his first column was, predictably, an attack on the same institutions that just hired him and gave him space.

That’s just it. The blogosphere, Left, Right, or indifferent, caught fire because it gave the people an opportunity to speak to what they feel. You could post your feelings and observation, find consensus, or debate the facts. If you said something stupid someone could call you on it. The days of being spoon fed by the corporate media were supposed to be at an end. With this quantum leap in democracy why would someone close their comments? Now we know. It’s because the one’s who’d go that route were never interested in what the blogosphere had to offer beyond using it as a lily pad to jump onboard the MSM Express.

Choice

2006-03-22T00:56:00.000-05:00

Documents Show Saddam's WMD Frustrations

By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special CorrespondentTue Mar 21, 5:19 PM ET

Exasperated, besieged by global pressure, Saddam Hussein and top aides searched for ways in the 1990s to prove to the world they'd given up banned weapons.

"We don't have anything hidden!" the frustrated Iraqi president interjected at one meeting, transcripts show.

At another, in 1996, Saddam wondered whether U.N. inspectors would "roam Iraq for 50 years" in a pointless hunt for weapons of mass destruction. "When is this going to end?" he asked.

It ended in 2004, when U.S. experts, after an exhaustive investigation, confirmed what the men in those meetings were saying: that Iraq had eliminated its weapons of mass destruction long ago, a finding that discredited the Bush administration's stated rationale for invading Iraq in 2003 — to locate WMD.

The newly released documents are among U.S. government translations of audiotapes or Arabic-language transcripts from top-level Iraqi meetings — dating from about 1996-97 back to the period soon after the 1991 Gulf War, when the U.N. Security Council sent inspectors to disarm Iraq.

-What noble cause?

Do You Realize

2006-03-21T18:14:00.000-05:00

...personality and emotions play a bigger role in our political leanings than we think. All of us, liberal or conservative, feel as though we've reached our political opinions by carefully weighing the evidence and exercising our best judgment. But it could be that all of that careful reasoning is just after-the-fact self-justification. What if personality forms our political outlook, with reason coming along behind, rationalizing after the fact?

H/T to Blogenfreude, rationalizaton after the fact provided by Jeff Goldstein.

`Nothing Less Than Victory'

2006-03-21T08:35:00.000-05:00

US military probes Iraq killings US military investigators have flown to Iraq to study reports that marines shot dead at least 15 civilians, including seven women and three children.
"Their bodies were riddled with bullets... there were blood spatters inside their homes" - Bobby Ghosh, Time reporter
Insurgents storm police station, free 30 detainees At least 19 people killed in attack north of Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- About 100 insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and machine guns stormed a police station in Diyala province Tuesday, killing at least 15 officers and freeing about 30 detainees. Insurgents also seized police weapons and radios and destroyed at least 20 cars, including a number of police vehicles. An official from the Diyala Joint Coordination Center said 18 police and one insurgent were killed. Nine people were wounded, including seven police officers. Two of the 18 dead were described as high-ranking police officers. The U.S. military said 15 police and 11 insurgents died and four police and two insurgents were wounded. The incident took place in the town of Muqdadiya, 65 miles north of Baghdad and about 25 miles north of Baquba, the capital of a province that has endured much insurgent violence.

-No Civil War here, smells like...~~Vietnam~~ Victory

That about sums things up...

2006-03-20T16:10:00.000-05:00

-My Thanks to Polishifter

"When I am king you will be first against the wall"

2006-03-20T09:07:00.000-05:00

warrantless physical searcheswarrantless physical searcheswarrantless physical searcheswarrantless physical searcheswarrantless physical searcheswarrantless physical searcheswarrantless physical searcheswarrantless physical searcheswarrantless physical searches

Time keeps on ticking...

2006-03-19T21:59:00.000-05:00

Sopranos Update:

As with all my favorite show, at some point in the love affair I become maybe a little to over critical (Letterman after moving to CBS comes to mind). Watching the Sopranos tonight I felt the little devil on my shoulder saying little things like, "what is with this slowness, why isn't this moving along." I smoked a cigerette though, and contemplated the whole thing. I think what was bothering me was the realness of the pacing, the viewer was sucked into the whole hovering over the Deathbed mode. There were other themes in the episode that didn't go unnoticed. The Patriot Act, Personal Identification, The Iraq war (right on time). The War on Terror. Again, hovering over the Deathbed. The issues we in the military live with everyday. Things go on down in The City that doesn't get talked about in the press. Things I can't talk about. It's seeping into everyday life however. I hear the discussions of civilians. I hear about, "you can't even open a bank account anymore without this and that." Or things like when Tony lost his I.D. tonite, how do you wire someone across the country money who needs help if they need I.D. to pick it up?

If you click on the picture above it will take you to One Good Move. I always stop by there for video, even more so than Crooks & Liars these days. This clip from Boston Legal is just another sample of how far off the track we've gone as a Nation in the last few years. It's effecting everyday people, and the backlash has only just started. The year has only just kicked off, really. It's going to be a long six months for some.

I see a red door and I want it painted black

2006-03-19T07:19:00.000-05:00

'NYT' Sunday Bombshell:

Secret U.S. Torture Site in Iraq

By E&P Staff Published:

March 18, 2006 9:00 PM ET

"In the windowless, jet-black garage-size room, some soldiers beat prisoners with rifle butts, yelled and spit in their faces and, in a nearby area, used detainees for target practice in a game of jailer paintball," the reporters relate. "Their intention was to extract information to help hunt down Iraq's most-wanted terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, according to Defense Department personnel who served with the unit or were briefed on its operations.
"The new account reveals the extent to which the unit members mistreated prisoners months before and after the photographs of abuse from Abu Ghraib were made public in April 2004, and it helps belie the original Pentagon assertions that abuse was confined to a small number of rogue reservists at Abu Ghraib."

-Again with the ~~torture~~ hazing?

Burning yourself in effigy, a case study.

2006-03-18T14:43:00.000-05:00

~If he only had a Brain~

Bush Using Straw-Man Arguments in Speeches By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer

When the president starts a sentence with "some say" or offers up what "some in Washington" believe, as he is doing more often these days, a rhetorical retort almost assuredly follows.
The device usually is code for Democrats or other White House opponents. In describing what they advocate, Bush often omits an important nuance or substitutes an extreme stance that bears little resemblance to their actual position.
He typically then says he "strongly disagrees" — conveniently knocking down a straw man of his own making.
Bush routinely is criticized for dressing up events with a too-rosy glow. But experts in political speech say the straw man device, in which the president makes himself appear entirely reasonable by contrast to supposed "critics," is just as problematic.

Later:

A specialist in presidential rhetoric, Wayne Fields of Washington University in St. Louis, views it as "a bizarre kind of double talk" that abuses the rules of legitimate discussion. "It's such a phenomenal hole in the national debate that you can have arguments with nonexistent people," Fields said. "All politicians try to get away with this to a certain extent. What's striking here is how much this administration rests on a foundation of this kind of stuff."

-Hey, someone caught on...cue Dark Side of the Moon, track #8.

Operation Swarmer, or Operation Photo op?

2006-03-17T18:11:00.000-05:00

From day one this has been the Photo Op Presidency. There is nothing of substance even remotely related to Administration policy or action. Snake oil salesmen, every last member of every cabinet and political appointment. It’s almost as if this has all been some bizarre experiment in absenteeism. Is that what Conservatives mean--are they speaking of this in code--when they ramble on about small government? And the glue that holds it all together is their preternatural talent to manipulate the press and thereby the American people. Examples A & B:

On Scene: How Operation Swarmer Fizzled Not a shot was fired, or a leader nabbed, in a major offensive that failed to live up to its advance billing By BRIAN BENNETT/AL JALLAM

The press, flown in from Baghdad to this agricultural gridiron northeast of Samarra, huddled around the Iraqi officials and U.S. Army commanders who explained that the "largest air assault since 2003" in Iraq using over 50 helicopters to put 1500 Iraqi and U.S. troops on the ground had netted 48 suspected insurgents, 17 of which had already been cleared and released. The area, explained the officials, has long been suspected of being used as a base for insurgents operating in and around Samarra, the city north of Baghdad where the bombing of a sacred shrine recently sparked a wave of sectarian violence. But contrary to what many many television networks erroneously reported, the operation was by no means the largest use of airpower since the start of the war. ("Air Assault" is a military term that refers specifically to transporting troops into an area.) In fact, there were no airstrikes and no leading insurgents were nabbed in an operation that some skeptical military analysts described as little more than a photo op. What’s more, there were no shots fired at all and the units had met no resistance, said the U.S. and Iraqi commanders.

'Operation Swarmer' Underwhelming So Far NewsHounds - March 17, 2006 Juan Cole:

"This Samarra operation is probably mainly a political act. The US generals are attempting to demonstrate to their Shiite allies that they take seriously the terror attack on the Askari Shrine on Feb. 22. Presumably they are also attempting to ensure that if the shrine is rebuilt, it won't just be blown up again. Short of pulling a Fallujah on Samarra, however-- which would involve emptying the city and then destroying it-- it is difficult to see how the US/ Iraqi government forces can prevail. Even then, they would just face sullen suicide bombers thereafter, as has happened in Fallujah, where 2/3s of the buildings were damaged and a large part of the population permanently dispossessed. "Frankly, the Samarra "Operation Swarm" is probably also meant to give the impression of progress or at least of activity in Iraq, where the political process is stalled and the guerrillas seem to strike at will, with increasing political success."

---

In fact about the only time I think they put any effort into anything is during one PR blitz or another. It's like that person, you know him/her, the one that puts more effort in to coming up with an excuse than doing what they were suppose to be doing in the first place. That's the stuff these Bushies are made of, that's their glue. But that glue is, I don't know...FUCKING COMING UNGLUED! That's right, a ship without a rudder is like a ship without a rudder is like a ship without a rudder. "...and God said of his favorite son, he shall be laid low, and come unraveled in the fifth year of his reign..."

Who better to leave you with the last word than Jon Stewart:

Video-WMP Video-QT

“Bush is exhausted,

you try working 24 hours a week, 7 days a month…”

Dat joint ain't goin platinum, it's goin double uranium!

2006-03-16T22:07:00.000-05:00

Bush clings to pre-emptive force Thu Mar 16, 2006 6:31 PM ET15 By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush clung to his doctrine of using preemptive force against threats of weapons of mass destruction on Thursday despite his experience in Iraq, and said Iran may be America's biggest security challenge.
A new White House national security strategy document said it was the strong U.S. preference to use international diplomacy to address weapons proliferation concern
"If necessary, however, under long-standing principles of self-defense, we do not rule out the use of force before attacks occur, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack," the document said.

-Well, guess I know what I have to do now... A pre-emptive Friday Random Ten: 1. Upon this Tidal Wave of Young Blood:by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 2. You Have Killed Me:by Morrissey 3.The Importance of Being Idle:by Oasis 4. Mr. Ambulance Driver:by The Flaming Lips 5. Corner of the World:by Blackbud 6.Don't Let me be Misunderstood:by Elvis Costello 7.Here Comes Your Man:by The Pixies 8.The Denial Twist:by The White Stripes 9. Destroy Everything You Touch:by Ladytron 10. Steady, As She Goes:by The Raconteurs *today's totally uncontrived theme: Foriegn Policy*