The Fake Optimism of Washington's Warriors

Norman Solomon on the public optimism and private pessimism of the Brass about Iraq. And more comparison to Vietnam.

In front of TV cameras, Pentagon officials do their best to make war sound wise and noble. Most of all, they lie.

Sometimes they do it with bold assertions, other times with intentionally tangled syntax. But those who give the orders that consign young soldiers to participation in horror must assure the folks back home that all the carnage is under control. The officials strive to project an aura of calm about the unspeakable; they mumble cliches about grief that cannot touch it.

For the most powerful war-makers in Washington, the most dangerous potential enemies are the citizens of the United States who might insist on an end to taxpayer subsidies for mass slaughter. To forestall such a calamity, officials proclaim endlessly that the war's worst days have passed and the future looks increasingly bright for the ravaged land and for the freedom-loving invaders whose invasion has ravaged it.

These kinds of statements may seem like mere pep talks or, in retrospect, miscalculations. But they're integral to the war-making process - continually speaking of light that's just over the horizon, while corpses pile up in grisly shadows alongside the lies that keep a war going on top of the lies that got it started.

Washington's warriors insist that Iraq is not Vietnam. Any geographer would certainly agree. But imperial wars share similar characteristics - including the profound fact that the people who live in a country are more committed to it than the invaders are. This war can't be won for reasons that have everything to do with why it's wrong. The occupiers are on the lowest moral ground. No amount of fake optimism in Washington can change such realities in Iraq.

The last paragraph applies here at home as well, I think. This time, however, the "occupiers" are the Bush administration, the Republican Congress, Big Corpora, and the christo-fascist whackjobs. Their "moral ground" is the lowest ever.

I am proud, but saddened, that this time WE get to be the Viet Cong.

Rove's War

From Sidney Blumenthal:

Rove is fighting his war as though it will be settled in a court of Washington pundits. Brandishing his formidable political weapons, he seeks to demonstrate his prowess once again. His corps of agents raises a din in which their voices drown out individual dissidents. His frantic massing of forces dominates the capital by winning the communications battle. Indeed, Rove may succeed momentarily in quelling the storm. But the stillness may be illusory. Before the prosecutor, Rove's arsenal is useless.

At one point, on CNN, Wolf Blitzer asked Mehlman if he had attended meetings at the White House on how to deal with Wilson. Suddenly, the voluble Mehlman constricted. "I don't recall those meetings occurring," he said. Has the prosecutor inquired about such meetings and their participants?

The sound and fury of Rove's defenders will soon subside. The last word, the only word that matters, will belong to the prosecutor. So far, he has said very, very little. Unlike the unprofessional, inexperienced and weak Ken Starr, he does not leak illegally to the press. But he has commented publicly on his understanding of the case. "This case," he said, "is not about a whistle-blower. It's about a potential retaliation against a whistle-blower."

This is a pretty good commentary on the whole deal. Go read. Magazine length, so take lunch. Funny how Mehlman and JimmyJeff crop up along with Rove like an unholy troika, ain't it?

Dean vs. Santorum proves media bias

From Sirotablog:

Last month when Howard Dean called the GOP a "pretty much a white Christian" party, the Beltway media went absolutely crazy. You couldn't turn on a television without hearing about it in some way, shape or form. Incredibly, though, the same can't be said for revelations that Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) blamed the Catholic church's child molestation scandal on Massachusetts/Boston liberalism.

This is sheer crazy talk from the #3 Republican in the U.S. Senate. And yet, beyond a few stories, it hasn't garnered nearly the same coverage as Dean's comments, which were, frankly, less inflammatory, and rooted in fact.

What we have here, however, is a media double standard. When a Democrat says something that pushes the envelope, it is a scandal. When a top Republican Senator makes an offensive statement worthy of an insane asylum patient, its barely news because the GOP is just expected to make crazy fringe comments like this. That's the media obstacle our side faces these days - and it is surely part of the reason why it is so difficult for Democrats to get their message out.

When the inmates are put in charge of the asylum, the sane people are looked at like they're crazy.

Scott McClellan ponders how to address the Rove investigation

Will Durst got aholt of this tape from McClellan on Bush's answering machine:

"Anyhow, boss: please, please, please tell me we're not going to run that stupid "he never mentioned her name" defense. I mean, c'mon. He did say Joe Wilson's WIFE worked for the CIA. Which unless the guy is the King of Bahrain or an Elder in the Mormon Church or an Eskimo or something sounds pretty definitive even to me. And unh, if you do talk to Mr. Rove about this, could you leave my name out of it? To be honest, the guy kind of gives me the heebie jeebies. Remember that time I spilled coffee on his lap, and everyone laughed? Later on he pushed me into my office and started screaming and all the doors and windows shut on their own and the air got dense and I swear his eyes turned all red and stuff and a bunch of papers on a chair burst into flames. They were just a pile of old Posts so it was no big deal, but still. "And I've been asking around, and I'm not the only one he creeps out. Cheney's chief of staff's head intern told my intern that she walked in on the Vice President and Mr. Rove in that big marble bathroom upstairs dancing around waving dead chicken carcasses and using the decapitated heads as finger puppets. And now she's got warts on her eyes, and I know you don't want to know anything unless you need to know, but this is stuff I think you need to know."

Will Durst truly hopes the President was just kidding about the hot tub thing with Robert Novack.

Shudder.

Hockey?

What's hockey?

Pay attention, idiots

The great Michael Hawkins:

The half that identifies with the Republican Party, the half that voted for W not once, but twice... the half that continues to bury its head in the sand, continues to watch Faux News, continues to champion O'Lielly and the Oxycontin Kid... the half that still thinks Saddam ordered the 9/11 attacks....

...it's time for that half of the country to wake up. What's happening with the Rove/Plame story is the tip of the iceburg, folks. For those who've remained purposely blind to the astounding level of corruption in this misAdministration need to read this:

[. . .]

Let's review

The lovely Jane has a review of the Plame case so far, replete with lotsa links. Go take a look. And just a note about the pic on Jane's post, I wish I was part of the ground crew. "What? The brakes released by themselves."

Heh

(CBS) President George W. Bush's approval ratings are now back to where they were before their post-9/11 meteoric increases. His overall approval rating and his rating on handling the economy are near the lowest marks of his presidency, and his rating on handling foreign policy is lower than ever before.

In addition to the declining overall job approval rating, confidence in the President's ability to handle the two major issues dominating his presidency -- the economy and international crises - has fallen, and is now more negative than positive. [my emphasis]

[. . .]

Great poll results on the page also. To wit:

COMPARED TO WHEN GEORGE W. BUSH TOOK OFFICE ...
Nation's economy is:
Better
12%
Worse
59%
Same
26%

Yeah, thanks for that tax cut, Dicknose. Where did these people get their MBAs, Enron University? Shit, I'm just the dropout son of a small businessman and I could run a corporation better than these guys and still skim my share of profits off the top. I have a better grasp of economic principle anyway.

Before You Sign that Online Petition...

A few months back, I signed an online petition for the People for the American Way. I think I only put down my e-mail address and perhaps what state I live in, but since then, I've received non-stop e-mails, and tonight one of their phone solicitors called at 8:50 p.m. , wanting a $50 "donation."

If I can ever get them to stop bugging me, I'll think twice about participating in their petitions. Or anyone else's, for that matter.

Masterful

The Sister takes apart the Repub talking points about Wilson and Plame:

[. . .]

TALKING POINT: Bob Novak used the word "operative" by accident and his sources did not say she was one.
FACT: This is false, after-the-fact spin from Novak.

TALKING POINT: Rove "was discouraging a reporter from writing a false story" based on Joe Wilson's "false premise" (that DCI Tenet or VP Cheney authorized his trip)
FACT: False. Moreover, Joe Wilson did not make such a claim before Rove exposed Valerie Plame's identity.

TALKING POINT: The Senate Intelligence Committee said that Valerie Plame was the one who set up Joe Wilson's trip.
FACT: False and false. (Also see here). (In fact, there is no consensus view that Valerie Plame even suggested that Wilson be sent on the trip.)

[. . .]

The woman is excellent, and she provides lotsa links too.

The Big Lie

From TPMCafe via Are You Effin' Kidding Me:

The misinformation being spread in the media about the Plame affair is alarming and damaging to the longterm security interests of the United States. Republicans' talking points are trying to savage Joe Wilson and, by implication, his wife, Valerie Plame as liars. That is the truly big lie.

A few of my classmates, and Valerie was one of these, became a non-official cover officer. That meant she agreed to operate overseas without the protection of a diplomatic passport. If caught in that status she would have been executed.

At the end of the day, Joe Wilson was right. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It was the Bush Administration that pushed that lie and because of that lie Americans are dying. Shame on those who continue to slander Joe Wilson while giving Bush and his pack of liars a pass. That's the true outrage.

I hope it's getting hard for the Bush misadministration to keep their lies straight. It's a lot to remember.

5 years ago

[. . .]

I was a congressman when another man of integrity lived in the White House. I saw a president restore America's confidence, and prepare the foundation for victory in the cold war. I saw how one man's will can set the nation on a new course. I learned the meaning of leadership from President Ronald Reagan.

[. . .]

I have been in the company of leaders. I know what it takes. And I see in our nominee the qualities of mind and spirit our nation needs, and our history demands. Big changes are coming to Washington. To serve with this man, in this cause, is a chance I would not miss. This country has given me so much opportunity.

[. . .]

We can restore the ideals of honesty and honor that must be a part of our national life, if our children are to thrive. When I look at the administration now in Washington, I am dismayed by opportunities squandered. Saddened by what might have been, but never was. These have been years of prosperity in our land, but little purpose in the White House. Bill Clinton vowed not long ago to hold onto power "until the last hour of the last day." That is his right. But, my friends, that last hour is coming. That last day is near. The wheel has turned. And it is time. It is time for them to go.

George W. Bush will repair what has been damaged. He is a man without pretense and without cynicism. A man of principle, a man of honor. On the first hour of the first day he will restore decency and integrity to the Oval Office. He will show us that national leaders can be true to their word and that they can get things done by reaching across the partisan aisle, and working with political opponents in good faith and common purpose. I know he'll do these things, because for the last five years I've watched him do them in Texas.

[. . .] - Dick 'Dick' Cheney, August 2, 2000

If they wouldn't have done so much damage, this would actually be funny.

Great thanks to Pauly for the link.

Skippy reminder

He only needs 20,000 more!

Failing Up From The Best Leak Ever

Man alive, there is so much shit out there today about Rove that I simply couldn't decide what to point you at, so I'm going with my fallback source: The Daily Show. This show will be repeated tonight after today's show in case you missed it. I paraphrase:

"President Bush's biggest problem in this deal is how to sufficiently reward Karl Rove.

"George Tenet manipulated intelligence that allowed Bush us to commit us to a fraudulent war. Bush awarded him the Medal Of Freedom.

"Condileeza Rice missed the point of a memo that flatly stated Osama bin Laden wanted to attack on U.S. soil. Bush promoted her to Secretary of State.

"For this latest bungle, can there be any doubt that we are about to see Chief Justice Karl Rove?"

A note to the Media: Yes, I know you have been frustrated by this administration's lying, dissembling, mis- and dis-information, distractions, diversions, and general all-around malfeasance. No, I don't blame you a bit for climbing their frame now that you finally have a golden opportunity for payback. Keep it up.

My point, however, is that you have allowed, even promoted, the current state of affairs for at least the last five years by fellating the White House and taking their bullshit at face value. What you're doing now is fine, but where were you when we needed you?

Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back for finally doing your job for a little while.

Willie's Reggae

On the cultural front, from Yahoo! News:

No, you're not smoking something--the cover of Willie Nelson's new reggae album comes in two separate versions: regular and Wal-Mart.

The cover art of Countryman, released Tuesday, features green marijuana leaves over a red and yellow background and looks similar to a large pack of rolling papers.

However, for those looking to snap up the CD at Wal-Mart's famously rolled back prices, the cover features a palm tree in place of the offending leaves, a change made by Universal Music Group Nashville out of deference to the retailing giant's strict guidelines with regards to lyrics and packaging.

Willie doing Reggae? There must have been enough smoke pouring out of the recording studio that passers-by thought a new Pope had been elected.

I know which version I'm getting. Fuck Wal-Mart.

Legally wrong

. . . Am I alone in regularly being stunned that a group of men who claim such moral clarity must now muddy discussion with terms like "legally wrong?" . . .

No you're not, my friend.

Go read the Heretik.

And by the way, Blogger sucks wet monkey ass today.

Demon seed

Democratic Veteran:

[. . .]

All we have done is sow the seeds for one of the longest civil wars in the middle east, whose violence will be exported around the world thanks to the megalomania of Beloved Leader and the Neo-Cons. I wonder if Mommy and Poppy Bush are impressed with Junior yet? . . .

When you boil it down, we have taken a country that was essentially stable and contained and turned it into a Goddamn mess over a little kid's inferiority complex.

Health care . . . socialized 2

Our esteemed colleague and friend David at 42 just had an experience with the German health care system:

. . . So yeah my first experience with socialized medicine was hugely positive. I'm not sure how the German system compares to the rest of western Europe (and I've heard very good things about the French system and not so great ones about the UK's NHS) but next time some ignant asshole bitches to me about how bad a national health care system is he's gonna get a fat lip.

We're gonna need something done here soon or none of us will be able to afford to get sick.

Bon Voyage

The shuttle Discovery takes off today and I wish the astronauts aboard her a safe an productive voyage. As regular readers know, I take time every so often to bash NASA. They need it. It's become a joke.

Now, people who know me know I am one of space exploration's biggest advocates. I believe the future of Humanity lies among the stars. Space to us is like the Atlantic Ocean to Columbus. We stand here on the shore, gazing up at the opportunities that await us, just out of our grasp. The fact we are sending our people up in 35 year old crap spacecraft is equivalent to sending our kids to Iraq in unarmored Humvees.

Yes, folks, the shuttles and their systems were designed over 3 decades ago. We've lost two crews already and it's only a matter of time until we lose another now that we'll begin regular rotations again.

Think about this. We're sending people who are willing to take the risk to explore the most forbidding environment, up in craft that are so delicate, a piece of fucking foam or a stiff wind can damage them critcally. WTF? This is space you idiots. Scrap these fucking things and build something that'll hold together if it gets hit by a fucking bus.

Our astronauts are willing to do the hard, dirty work of giving mankind a presence in the heavens, the least we can do is give them dependable equipment. It's time to redefine NASA's priorities. It's time to streamline their mission so they can devote their time and resources to either manned flight or unmanned probes. It's time to remove the top-heavy management structure of the agency and purge the entrenched bureaucracy.

By God, ladies and gents, we've been doing this for almost half a century. By now we should have bases on the Moon and Mars, and mining operations in the Asteroid Belt. What are we doing instead? Watching and praying the fucking thing will make it to the Station and back. This is a joke and unconscionable.

Good luck to the crew of STS-114, my heart and my dreams go with you. I pray the people who make the decisions to fly have your best interest, not the political expediency of getting the thing into space, in mind.

Update: 14:00:

------------------------------------------------------
MSNBC Breaking News
------------------------------------------------------

NASA says current weather may delay shuttle launch. More to come... -

Ooops, something else broke. As of 2 PM it's scrubbed. Piece of shit.

Just sad . . .

I saw this at Gillard's yesterday and meant to blog it:

TULSA, Okla., July 8 - The Laura Dester Shelter here is licensed for 38 children, but at times in the past months it has housed 90, forcing siblings to double up in cots. It is supposed to be a 24-hour stopping point between troubled homes and foster care, but with foster homes backed up, children are staying weeks and sometimes months, making it more orphanage than shelter, a cacophony of need.

[. . .]

This is a problem methamphetamine has made, a scene increasingly familiar across the country as the number of foster children rises rapidly in states hit hard by the drug, the overwhelming number of them, officials say, taken from parents who were using or making methamphetamine.

[. . .]

Back when I was hooked on coke I tried some of this shit (anything for a buzz) and I can't describe what it did to my mind and body. This is worse than just about any drug because it's cheap to make and so highly addictive. Aside from giving the finger to the conservatives who always point to New York's junkies as a byproduct of our 'liberal lifestyle of sin', this is mostly a rural problem where treatment centers are farther apart and not as readily available as in big cities. Something has to be done about this before Rural America loses several generations to this insidious chemical.

This one will piss you off...

Fixer and I have gone on at some length about how poorly our combat troops, and I include every last one of 'em in Iraq as "combat" troops since they're all in needless peril, are treated once they're no longer able to pull a trigger or fix a tank or whatever. The Tacoma News Tribune tells of how they are almost forcibly discharged before their medical needs are met by the regime that put them in harm's way.

The day before his 22nd birthday, a bomb hanging from a tree along a road near Fallujah exploded above Rory Dunn's Humvee.
Dunn's forehead was crushed from ear to ear, leaving his brain exposed. His right eye was destroyed by shrapnel; the left eye nearly so. His hearing was severely damaged.

Yet, even as Dunn fought to overcome his traumatic brain injury and other wounds, his mother, Cynthia Lefever, fought the Army to ensure her son continued to receive critical care from Army specialists. Lefever said the Army tried to pressure her son into accepting a discharge before he was ready - pressure other severely wounded soldiers say they've experienced, too.

Lefever and other critics say the Army's medical system, particularly Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., has been overwhelmed by the number of wounded returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. They accuse the Army of attempting to discharge wounded soldiers before their essential medical needs are met and transfer them to Veterans Affairs medical facilities.

"The Army tried to get rid of him," Lefever said. "It was immoral and unethical. The Army owes these kids."

Soldiers are discharged if they no longer can "adequately perform" their assigned duties and have received "optimum medical care," Garvey said. The process is subjective and can last months or more than year, he said, but soldiers are informed of their rights and can appeal.

Veterans organizations say they are aware that the military medical system is stretched.

"It's obvious when you go to Walter Reed," said Cathy Wiblemo, the American Legion's deputy director for health care. "They are running out of room."

"The Army's medical bills are going up, and it's encroaching on other things they have to pay for," she said.

Running out of room? "Other things" they have to pay for? WHAT THE FUCK? There ain't a goddam thing more important for the military to provide space for or pay for than properly treating soldiers that were injured in this criminal war.

Please go read this article. If it doesn't blow your blood pressure out your ears, go read it again.

A Parse Too Far

Needlenose has his bayonet-like proboscis stuck right in McLiellan's ass. He has a good all-purpose post on what the WH has said v. what it implied on the Plame case, and how the chickens may be coming home to roost.

Both Sen. Reid and the press are steamrolling right over the Bushites' finely crafted distinction of what Rove et al. were "involved" in -- what the meaning of "this" is, you might say -- defining the term by the misimpression McClellan intended to give instead of the legalistic definition he had hoped to fall back on.

Sweet, isn't it? That game of implying more than they were technically stating worked just fine when Dubya and his hacks were trying to link Iraq and the September 11th terrorist attacks. But it's backfiring now.

I hope the whole WH lie machine ends up with everything a chicken could possibly do all over their face.

Yank it

I said a long time ago that we should yank Zell Miller's party memberhsip card. Today via the lovely Jill (buy her cookies) blogging at Skippy's (remember the million hits by tomorrow):

[. . .]

When this nationally famous figure left the governor's office in 1999, he pocketed more than $60,000 in taxpayer funds earmarked for entertainment and other expenses at the Governor's Mansion, WSB-TV investigative reporter Dale Cardwell revealed last week.

Miller also picked up a check for more than $20,000 for "unused leave"-a sum to which he was not entitled as a constitutional officer, Cardwell also reported.

At first blush, such stuff may sound shockingly sleazy. Bear with us. Miller has an explanation, contained in prepared statements issued through his attorney.

In essence, Miller says that he was technically eligible to take the mansion money as his own because no one said he could not. "When I retired from state government, I received only what I was advised was legal, ethical and traditional," his statement read, citing an attorney general's official opinion from 1969. [Link]

[. . .]

Miserable, deceitful old bastid. I wish he would have challenged me to a duel instead of that fat moron Matthews.

Karl Rove must be destroyed!

The Rude Pundit is starting a series (his time is short today so he's posting in segments) on why the pasty-faced weasel should be DESTROYED!

It is time to destroy Karl Rove - that fat fuck must bear the burden of his sins against this nation as surely as a tail-chasing, abusive cocksman must die alone, diseased, and despised. Rove must be dragged out in public and his pants must be yanked down so we can all laugh at the tiny dick and bean-like balls of this so-called fearsome presence. In the old days, they used to draw and quarter fuckers like Rove, who would, for personal vendetta and political expediency, sell out the good of the nation. But, fuck, horses are a burden these days, so let's tie Rove's limbs to four news vans, each driven by a member of the so-long cowed Washington press corps, and let 'er rip. Metaphorically, of course. Of course.

Heh, go back later to check for updates.

Repub Al-Qaeda

Bush: 'You're my base, heh heh.'

Pudentilla: . . . Perhaps Karen Hughes and the Dark Lord have figured out that "the base" (does anyone find it ironic that this translates to "al-quaeda" in Arabic?) secretly thrills to hear such uncouth trash talk in the midst of Britain's travails ("the Brits are fine as allies, but we'll toss them to the sharks if it means we can be safe on our fat keesters at home"). . .[my emphasis]

Just sayin' . . .

Skippy

Go.

Heh . . .

Snotty.

Diamonds and Rhinestones

Perhaps when one is born, we have little settings in our heads. These little settings are capable of holding either diamonds or rhinestones. Which is placed in the settings is one's own determination.

Some are curious and they seek answers. They want to educate themselves and determine what they believe to be right and wrong, fair and unfair. They learn, they read, and they listen. They may follow others' paths, but they come to their own conclusions based on experience and knowledge. These people place as many diamonds in their settings as they possibly can. They are seekers of nothing but the real thing, the diamonds.

[. . .]

An excellent and insightful post by Pissed Off Patricia. Light blogging for me today, work-related injury.

Everything you need to know about blogs

This guy needs: anger management, Xanax, blood pressure monitoring, a dog, and to get laid. Via South Knox Bubba.

He's also a mite full o' hisself. Be sure to click on his home page at the bottom of his rant, or go here.

Coincidence, or...?

This is absolutely incredible. Thanks, Granny.

A consultancy agency with government and police connections was running an exercise for an unnamed company that revolved around the London Underground being bombed at the exact same times and locations as happened in real life on the morning of July 7th.

Apparently, this isn't the first time something like this has happened. Go read.

Boy President in a Failed World?

From TomDispatch (take a lunch):

Let's face it. George Bush likes dress-up. What a video game is to a teenager, the Presidency seems to be to this man. It's a free pass to the movies with him playing that brave warrior part. All in all, I'm afraid to say, it must be fun. When he so cavalierly said, "Bring 'em on," he was surely simply carried away by the spirit of the game. What it wasn't, of course, was the statement of a mature human being, an adult.

If you'll excuse another image, it was as if our child leaders had taken off, ridden directly into someone else's neighborhood, seen a wasp's nest, promptly stomped on it, and then stood around praising themselves and waiting to be stung.

The sad thing is that the truth is relatively simple. What people using terror in the fashion of London are quite capable of doing is killing and maiming randomly and in large numbers - and perhaps in the process revealing to us both how fragile and how strong our world actually is. What they are completely incapable of doing, no matter what George Bush says, is taking our liberties and freedoms away. They can't take anything away. Only we can do that (my emphasis).

Engelhardt's a little windy, but he makes good points.

Clinton on Bush

Sentor Clinton nailed Bush pretty good during a speech at the Aspen Ideas Festival (see Whiskey Bar) according to the Grand Junction (CO) Sentinel:

"I sometimes feel that Alfred E. Neuman is in charge in Washington," Clinton said referring to the freckle-faced Mad magazine character. She drew a laugh from crowd when she described Bush's attitude toward tough issues with Neuman's catchphrase: "What, me worry?"

More like Chucky with nuclear weapons, I think.

Clearing his brain...

To see a picture of Rove plotting his next move, go here.

Unitarian Jihad

Frisco Jon seems to have gotten an e-mail from a new group. They may be on to something.

Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States! Too long has your attention been waylaid by the bright baubles of extremist thought. Too long have fundamentalist yahoos of all religions (except Buddhism -- 14-5 vote, no abstentions, fundamentalism subcommittee) made your head hurt. Too long have you been buffeted by angry people who think that God talks to them. You have a right to your moderation! You have the power to be calm! We will use the IED of truth to explode the SUV of dogmatic expression!

We are Unitarian Jihad, and our motto is: "Sincerity is not enough." We have heard from enough sincere people to last a lifetime already. Just because you believe it's true doesn't make it true. Just because your motives are pure doesn't mean you are not doing harm. Get a dog, or comfort someone in a nursing home, or just feed the birds in the park. Play basketball. Lighten up. The world is not out to get you, except in the sense that the world is out to get everyone.

Go read this one. It's fun.

Goodbye, Boy Genius

From Freiheit und Wissen:

[. . .]

The fact that it came from the White House proves once again just how vindictive President Bush and company are - given that blowing the CIA cover for Plame was meant as payback for her husband contesting the administration's story that Saddam was trying to buy uranium from Niger. It also fits the overall picture that Bush's administration was hell-bent on going to war at all costs.

[. . .]

I am cautiously optimistic this will finally lead to Chimpy Inc's undoing. The Sister also tells us Rep John Conyers is on the White House over this too:

It's official. I'm announcing my endorsement of Congressman Conyers for the 2008 presidential race.

Because he's the only one who's earning our votes:

[. . .]

The Bloggers Anonymous badge of honor

"If, as you live your life, you find yourself mentally composing blog entries about it, post this exact same sentence in your weblog."
From a post today at It's Morning Somewhere.

WTI? WTF?

Have you heard of the WTI? I hadn't, until a little while ago while I was reading "Lest We Forget; These Were Blair's Bombs" in Truthout, and came across a couple of sentences that perked up my inner ears:

Over the past two weeks, the contrast between the coverage of the G8, its marches and pop concerts, and another "global" event has been striking. The World Tribunal on Iraq in Istanbul has had virtually no coverage, yet the evidence it has produced, the most damning to date, has been the silent spectre at the Geldoff extravaganzas.

The tribunal is a serious international public inquiry into the invasion and occupation, the kind governments dare not hold. Its expert, eyewitness testimonies, said the author Arundathi Roy, a tribunal jury member, "demonstrate that even those of us who have tried to follow the war closely are not aware of a fraction of the horrors that have been unleashed in Iraq." The most shocking was given by Dahr Jamail, one of the best un-embedded reporters working in Iraq.

The key words, to me, are "virtually no coverage". I haven't heard a thing about this in the LMSM, which means they are doing their job, as usual: blowing Georgie by filtering out that pesky "rest of the world" stuff that might hurt our woolly little heads and make Fearless Leader look bad. Who cares what everybody else thinks anyway? Nuthin' but a bunch o' damn furriner commies anyhow.

I did a little clickin' around and found out that this WTI has had meetings in about fifteen cities worldwide, including two in New York. New York? Isn't that in the United States? So we're not even hearing about this deal when it's goin' on in Fixer's back yard? Amazing.

I suggest you take a few minutes and go click around the World Tribunal on Iraq site. Bookmark it. It's pretty extensive. Then go read Code Pink's posts.

Let me know what you think.

Rove is a TRAITOR!

The Sister says so:

Sick

Oliver Willis:

[. . .]

On a personal note, I'm sick of these guys. Sick of all of them. Sick of the apologists in government, the media, and among the chattering classes. Sick of these people not giving a damn about dead civilians. Sick of the Republicans crapping on the American people. Sick of George Bush appeasing terrorists and doing nothing - nothing - to prevent terror attacks. Sick of having to wonder if the subway train I'm on is going to blow up, or if some yahoo will smash a plane into the White House a block and a half away from where I work, yet the President, his party and his apologists don't give a damn because they've got a "mandate". A mandate for immorality.

Go read the whole thing.

Exactly right

Froggy:

You want to fight terrorism? You want to hit the Arab world where it really lives and deliver a crippling blow to terrorism from which it will never, ever recover again?

Start a National Energy Race. Challenge the American people to come up with an alternative to fossil fuels the way Kennedy challenged the American people to fly to the moon. It took less than ten years from the start to the completion of that challenge. If the American people were challenged to come up with a clean energy solution, they could finish that challenge in less than ten years too.

[. . .]

Opening ANWR won't do shit, nor will clogging up the Gulf of Mexico with offshore platforms. A viable, alternative energy source is the only way to go. As long as we have to kiss OPEC ass (and support the corrupt regimes of the 'Oil Kings') we will never be free of the scourge of terrorism.

A little whoring: I dealt with this subject in Lightning Crashes, purely fiction but something to think about.

Short excerpt below the fold . . .

Fucking Supporting the troops

[. . .]

The VA is one the place in the DOD that, for all his overheated rhetoric, Bush has failed to adequately fund, in part thanks to his appointee, VA head James Nicholson, who failed to ask for money he knew the agency needed. In fact, the treatment of returning injured soldiers has been one of the great shameful chapters of the horror novel that has been the Bush administration. Most interesting, Democrats in Congress saw the shortfalls coming this past spring and tried to get additional funding included, which Bush and the Republicans both refused to pass.

[. . .]

Read the rest here and get angry.

pShrinking Wingnuts

Digby catches it perfectly:

[. . .]

That is not what we are dealing with here, however. We are dealing with a group of right wing glory seekers who chose long ago to eschew putting themselves on the line in favor of tough talk and empty posturing --- the Vietnam chickenhawks and their recently hatched offspring of the new Global War On Terrorism. These are men (mostly) driven by the desire to prove their manhood but who refuse to actually test their physical courage. Neither are they able to prove their virility as they are held hostage by prudish theocrats and their own shortcomings. So they adopt the pose of warrior but never actually place themselves under fire. This is a psychologically difficult position to uphold. Bullshitting yourself is never without a cost.

[. . .]

Now, I've learned that in combat (or in any similar high-stress, life and death situation) there are two types of people. Those who can and those who can't. You can't guess it about someone or yourself. You have to live the situation to find out. Those of us who've been there know talk is cheap. That's why the chickenhawks (and the 51% of the electorate who listen to them) piss me off so much. They have no idea what they're talking about. My grandfather (WW1 and WW2 on the German side) called them 'Movie Warriors'.

Old fashioned ethics

As opposed to the self-serving shit that's being shoveled nowadays. From the guy in the tuxedo:

Let's say that you're a reporter. You witness a murder. You happen to know the murderer. In fact, the murderer happens to be a source of yours that you talk to regularly. Now a prosecutor calls you to testify before a grand jury about the murder that you witnessed. Do you have a responsibility to testify?

If you were a priest, there's no conflict here. If you personally witnessed the crime, you have a moral responsibility to talk to the proper authorities.

[. . .]

Say it with me: 'Source privilege' cannot be used to cover up a crime. Period.

Journalism

I hope nobody is under the impression what we do here at the Brain is journalism.

Resilience and wisdom

Ol' Yella:

[. . .]

Perhaps having suffered so many insults to their collective safety from old enemies is the reason that the British were so hesitant for their government to go rushing out to make new ones.

Commentary

My weekly commentary is up at Pourquoi Pas.

Good question

JRH asks:

[. . .]

I don't get how these right wing idiots can say with a straight face that we need to focus on who the real bad guys are instead of arguing with each other by calling out people who disagree with them. Sean Hannity did something similar on his show yesterday that I caught the end of. How do they not choke on the hypocrisy coming out of their mouths?

[. . .]

Because it keeps them their jobs, my friend. They're all part of the Republican spin machine and they'd spout their diatribe in Swahili if the WH and RNC told them to. The thing that pisses me off even more is that so many people in this country believe this shit. You know how many people I've heard in the last 36 hours say we should nuke Mecca? How many people say criticizing the 'War on Terra' is hurting our troops? And this is New York.

Friday Cattle Dog London Blogging

The Princess takes a break this week to let us think about London in happier days.

More below the fold . . .

Novak's a Rat

We knew that. My apologies to rats. David Corn speculates on How Novak Covered His Ideological Ass And Sold Journalism Down The River For Partisan Gain.

No good options for Iraq

Go read the opinions of experts and others at Knight-Ridder.

There are easier options of what to do with the sonsabitches that got us into this mess: Leavenworth, the gallows, or a firing squad.

Turdblossom Three-fer

Here are three articles about Rove on the same page at Truthout.

From Joe Conason:

Even as Matthew Cooper of Time and Judith Miller of The New York Times both face prison time for protecting their White House sources, a question arises that the indignant Washington press corps seems to have forgotten to ask: Why hasn't the President of the United States tracked down the officials who leaked the CIA identity of Valerie Plame Wilson, fired them and turned them over to the special prosecutor?

I assume that's a rhetorical question. We know damn well why: Because he's a moral coward. He isn't about to out his Machiavellian brain because then he'd have no one to do his thinking for him except Cheney, and he needs all the help he can get to keep his little charade going as long as possible. Bush has absolutely no acquaintance with the truth and no guts to go against the demons who put him in power, not that he would want to. He has power, but no will to do the right thing. He never has and never will.

From Paul Kuhn:

O'Donnell is standing by his statement, which set off a flurry of "Is it Rove?" stories and blog posts over the weekend. On Arianna Huffington's Huffington Post, O'Donnell has continued to blog about "breaking" the story that Rove was Cooper's source, and likely Novak's as well. After naming Rove on the PBS program "Friday," O'Donnell proceeded to say, "When [Bush] finds out it's Karl Rove, the question becomes, What does the president do then?"

"It was a deliberate act that I was planning for months," O'Donnell told Salon. "What I've been doing with the Huffington Post is simply staying abreast of the story while it was evolving, and it turns out that a blog is an absolutely perfect way to do that," he said. When asked about his sourcing, O'Donnell replied: "I will not characterize my sourcing in anyway." Then he added, "After my public revelation of it, I obtained yet another highly authoritative source on this matter, on the same thing. That Rove is the person Matt Cooper is protecting - had been protecting up until today."

It has been said that the wheels of justice grind slowly, but exceedingly fine. I wish they'd change the gearing and speed 'em up, even if the end result is a little more coarse.

GOP cranks up fear-mongering

Of course they have. They have no shame. From Sirotablog:

You knew it was coming, didn't you? That's right - within 24 hours, the right-wing spin machine is up and working to transform the tragic London bombing into a way to attack progressives as weak on terrorism. Sadly, it is a tactic that continues to emasculate many Democrats, who still can't seem to find the guts to stand up to this nonsense.

Here's a dose of truth for the Republican Party in Washington, D.C.: your war-mongering policies and devotion to creating a constant state of panic/fear in this country has made America less safe, especially in light of your negligence on homeland security. Your heated rhetoric that indicts the strength and patriotism of progressives is a sad attempt to cover up your own pathetic failures.

Now, here's a dose of truth for the insulated Democratic establishment in Washington - an establishment that continues to lose elections, yet, incredibly, refuses to change: if you continue to pathetically cower in the face of all of this; if you continue to ignore the courageous lawmakers in your ranks who know the party needs to stand up; if you continue to defend the Iraq War in light of public opposition to it, in light of proof that the Bush administration lied about it and in light of proof it made America less safe; and if you continue to have positively no courage of any convictions and positively no ability to give voice to the concerns of the majority of Americans, then you will unfortunately continue losing elections far into the future.

I think that about says it.

Did the Brits know?

Did the Brits know it was going to happen? It seems the Israelis and American FBI did. The King of Zembla is on this like shrink wrap.

. . . Contrary to original claims that Israel was warned "minutes before" the first attack, unconfirmed rumors in intelligence circles indicate that the Israeli government actually warned London of the attacks "a couple of days" previous.

Pissed

The Sister's angry. A must-read:

[. . .]

I'm angry because on September 11, 2001, terrorists struck on US soil. These terrorists were part of a group called al-Qaida, which is led by a man named Osama bin Laden. Nearly four years later, and after a war in Afghanistan to remove the regime which supported him, bin Laden remains on the loose.

I'm angry because that corrupt Afghani regime, the Taliban, is regaining power, opium production in Afghanistan is skyrocketing, women are still being killed for trying to assert a modicum of independence, and we have all but abandoned the country to further ruin.

I'm angry because we shifted our focus away from Afghanistan and al-Qaida to a vague "war on terror," which diluted our emphasis on the perpetrators of a great American tragedy and made it eminently easy to position ourselves as the consummate victims, thereby indefinitely delaying any examination of our own role in the global community, other than the self-proclaimed purveyors of freedom and liberty at the end of a gun.

[. . .]

Who's winning what?

BBC:

Former enemies Iran and Iraq say they will launch broad military co-operation including training Iraqi armed forces.

"It's a new chapter in our relations with Iraq," said Iranian Defence Minister Admiral Ali Shamkhani.

[. . .]

This is the first visit to Iran by an Iraqi military delegation since the war, in which a million people died, started.

The promise of co-operation comes despite repeated accusations by the US - which has about 140,000 troops in Iraq - that Iran has been undermining security there.

"No one can prevent us from reaching an agreement," Mr Shamkhani said when asked about possible US opposition.

[. . .]

Is this what our children are dying in Iraq for? So Iraq can make nice with a member of the 'Axis of Evil'? So the oil city of Basra can become a Shi'ite theocratic city-state? Not that I personally give a shit about whom the Iraqis ally with, were it not for the cost to the American people in lives and capital.

As we learned from the events of yesterday, the 'War on Terra' is a sham. We are not safer, the 'flypaper' theory [we're fighting them in Iraq so they won't come here] was proved wrong, and now the people who we're giving freedom and democracy seem more inclined to accept the friendship of an Islamic theocracy than a Western democracy.

So, what are we doing except wasting time and treasure in the money-pit known as Iraq? We sure as Hell ain't getting cheap oil.

Links via Corrente.

A ride you won't soon forget...

Dear Fearless Leader,

I've noticed for a couple years now that you have trouble staying upright on two wheels. I done figured it out, and your troubles are over. Here's the deal: you ain't goin' fast enough. The gyroscopic effect hasn't fully kicked in at those slow speeds.

So here's what I propose: I'll tune you up a motersickle that'll go so fast it'll never tip over. I been wrenchin' on them things fer nigh on forty year, and I know how to make 'em go, by golly. We'll get ya a big American V-Twin with a stroker kit and a hot cam, carb, an' pipe setup. Won't be a faster sled on the road. Your eyes'll light up like a kid at Christmas.

I also know all about brakes, tires, and steering, as well as all the non-essential shit, like a kill button. I'll make sure the wheel and swingarm bearings, brake fluid, throttle return spring and stuff like that are all up to snuff, so to speak.

We got some groovy mountain roads out here in California. I'd love to show 'em to ya. During our ride I just know you'll get a lot closer to God. Hope to hear from ya real soon.

Your pal
Gord

A glimmer of hope

Good news (maybe) via Maru via MyDD:

Occasionally I get e-mails from Washington folks who work on the Hill claiming to possess juicy insider digs on our public servants and their corporate paymasters. I usually delete said e-mails, as I don't want to be responsible for propagating dirty rumors or false information that can't be corroborated. I'd rather let Judith Miller and the New York Times do that. Nonetheless, in the past 24 hours I have been contacted by three separate congressional Democrats in Washington, and a Justice Department official, first by e-mail and later phone, who all say the same thing: Karl Rove is about to be indicted.

[. . .]

These are all anonymous sources so take it for what it's worth, but it's nice to think about on a sad day.

A Steady Hand at the U.N.

From the WaPo:

UNITED NATIONS -- The face of American power here is a 5-foot-1 woman who can charm foreign envoys even when she is enforcing policies that infuriate them. Anne W. Patterson, the acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, represents a stark contrast to the confrontational John R. Bolton, whom President Bush has nominated to represent the United States at the world body.

Senior U.N. delegates say they value her pragmatism and they are in no hurry to see her replaced by Bolton.

"There are plenty of people who would like to see Bolton delayed indefinitely," one senior U.N. official said. "I haven't heard anyone saying we'd rather work with her than him, but obviously that's implicit."

Patterson has won high marks from her colleagues and staff members, who describe her as a smart manager who listens to advice from her specialists. She has won praise from human rights advocates for her role in implementing one of the largest U.S. foreign assistance programs, Plan Colombia, while serving as ambassador to Colombia.

Patterson has also demonstrated a willingness to compromise, supporting a politically controversial decision to allow the Security Council to grant the International Criminal Court, which the United States opposes, a mandate to investigate war crimes by Sudanese officials in Darfur.

"There is a natural tension between political appointees and career appointees and she absolutely bridged that," said Christopher Burnham, a former senior State Department official who oversees the U.N. department of administration. "I believe so strongly in Anne's talents that I hope that she will either stay on, or that the president will ask her to take on new and important responsibilities in Washington. I think it's important that this administration not lose a woman of such capability."

A smart woman? Imagine that! Listens to advice? Willingness to compromise? Well liked and works well with others? These attributes would seem to be what is called for in a job of this type, trying to work with the rest of the world, but I don't think they're on Bush's list along with loyalty, rock-brained (Sorry, rocks!) ideology, and "staying on (the wrong) message".

Listen up, Georgie: You made a mistake nominating Bolton. Eat it and move on. Do the right thing for once and tell this lady to unpack and stay a while.

Oversight

In my ranting this morning, I forgot to convey my condolences to the people of Great Britain and London in particular. I have so many fond memories of London and her people and I am sorry for your loss. You'll be in our prayers tonight.

So, ladies and germs, what do we do with our leaders who've spent so much money, so many lives, in the wasteful mess that is Iraq? They sure as hell haven't made us any safer, have they? Spain, Moscow, London, all these have happened since 'we have al-Qaeda on the run', since 'Mission Accomplished'. Let's get a grip, folks, and run these assholes out of office before they get us all killed.

Buried in the 24th paragraph...

...of this NYTimes article is the nugget:

In his statement in court, Mr. Cooper did not name Mr. Rove as the source about whom he would now testify, but the person who was briefed on the case said that he was referring to Mr. Rove and that Mr. Cooper's decision came after behind-the-scenes maneuvering by his lawyers and others in the case.

Gee, I'm glad the NYTimes saw fit to squander all that ink on such an insignificant little point. Yeesh.

Interesting Times

By William Rivers Pitt via Truthout:

Many an ancient lord's last words have been, "You can't kill me because I've got magic aaargh." - Terry Pratchett

Maybe ten thousand times in the last few years, someone has stated with profound assurance that the Bush administration is in trouble, that the hammer is coming down, that some form of accountability is in the offing. Maybe ten thousand times, these predictions have turned out to be wrong. Nowadays, it takes a special kind of fool to think this White House can be easily cashiered for its gross violations, lies and flat-out crimes.

But it is getting awfully crowded around here. Bush's numbers are still cratering, the nation has stopped buying into the idea that he is some kind of Great Protector, the Brits are bugging out of the chaos in Iraq, Afghanistan is heating up, the Jesus Brigades on Bush's right flank are preparing to wig out unless they get some kind of Falwell clone onto the court, and one of the journalists used to destroy the career of a CIA operative who worked to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction is cooperating with a prosecutor.

Don't blink this week. You might miss something.

I never blink, but I might miss something during the times some new administration outrage comes out when my eyes roll backwards into my head. It's a reflex.

A Little More Good News...

From The Financial Times.

President George W. Bush is unlikely to seek a recess appointment for John Bolton in the near future, increasing the sense that his nomination for US ambassador to the United Nations is running out of steam.

A senior administration official suggested that a recess appointment (a presidential confirmation of an official while the Senate is in recess) (parentheses added for clarity - Ed.) would antagonise relations with Democrats ahead of what is expected to be a contentious Senate debate over filling a vacancy on the Supreme Court.

"Perhaps [the Bush administration] is trying to send a signal to [Mr Bolton] that he should withdraw his name," the aide said.

A pinpoint of light on a very dark day.

I think costs are bound to go up...

From Working For Change:

7/7/1863: First military draft by U.S. (exemptions cost $100).

I'll bet exemptions will cost enough in the upcoming draft that, once again, only the rich won't have to go.

Some Good News on a Sad Day

There will be many posts in the blogosphere today about the bombings in London and Smirky McFlightsuit's response, so I thought a feel-good article about an honest-to-goodness honest politician, a real "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" type might be in order.

Donna Frye has been a lone voice for the average San Diegan on San Diego's City Council. She doesn't live in the back pocket of developers and big-business types like her colleagues. And she's not afraid to piss off the powers-that-be or take an unpopular stand. God love her! Last November, she entered the mayoral race as a write-in candidate five weeks before election day against the incumbant mayor and a Republican fat-cat. She ended up in a run-off with incumbant Mayor Dick Murphy and lost only because the local courts said that, while her name was written on more ballots than those cast for Murphy, some voters forgot to check the "other" box. Disgusting.

San Diego is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, and Mayor Murphy didn't have a clue about how to fix it, so he bailed last spring. Now we're having another mayoral election, and surf-shop owner Frye is again on the ballot. She is a true light in the darkness of American politics, and I hope to goodness that she wins.

Ineptitude

------------------------------------------------------
MSNBC Breaking News
------------------------------------------------------

Blasts shut down London train system; injuries reported -
Multiple explosions on central London train lines Thursday morning injured several people, British Transport Police said.

So, we're winning the 'War on Terra', just like we're winning the War on Drugs. That reminds me, I gotta pick up a bag o' cheeb from the Jamaicans today. BTW, London has closed-circuit television cameras all over the place. There should be some serious footage of the explosions by this evening. Another thing, let's hope the NYPD takes a closer look at things than they usually do. I just put my wife on the train to NYC a few minutes ago. Hope this ain't a coordinated attack. Remember (p)resident Dicknose, if my wife gets hurt, you're gonna answer to me.

Another note: Security's real good too, being that all the G8 leaders are in the Kingdom. Way to go, assholes. That little troll Bloomberg says that too when we have dignitaries here. "New York is the safest place in the world with all this security." Yeah, keep believing that, dickheads. The Brits did. Yep, 'after 9/11, everything changed'. Ain't nothing changed.

Prediction: Tony Blair will be unemployed by this time next month.

A worthy goal

ImpeachCentral.com is dedicated to the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney for violating the Constitution of the United States.

Go see 'em. Thanks to Froggy for the link. And G.D. gives us this reminder:

. . . Read Federalist No. 65 and then check Article. II. Section. 4. of the US Constitution. Bush and Cheney have committed impeachable offenses of great significance and need to be removed from public office now . . .

Crooks

At the end of the Iraq war, vast sums of money were made available to the US-led provisional authorities, headed by Paul Bremer, to spend on rebuilding the country. By the time Bremer left the post eight months later, $8.8bn of that money had disappeared. Ed Harriman on the extraordinary scandal of Iraq's missing billions

[. . .]

The "financial irregularities" described in audit reports carried out by agencies of the American government and auditors working for the international community collectively give a detailed insight into the mentality of the American occupation authorities and the way they operated. Truckloads of dollars were handed out for which neither they nor the recipients felt they had to be accountable.

[. . .]

There appears to have been good reason for the Americans to stall. At the end of June 2004, the CPA would be disbanded and Bremer would leave Iraq. There was no way the Bush administration would want independent auditors to publish a report into the financial propriety of its Iraqi administration while the CPA was still in existence and Bremer at its head still answerable to the press. So the report was published in July.

The auditors found that the CPA didn't keep accounts of the hundreds of millions of dollars of cash in its vault, had awarded contracts worth billions of dollars to American firms without tender, and had no idea what was happening to the money from the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI), which was being spent by the interim Iraqi government ministries. [The Guardian via Rising Hegemon]

[. . .]

Chimpy Inc is not a political administration, it is a criminal organization; crooks, liars, and thieves, nothing more.

Walls

Berlin, Baghdad, what's the difference?

1,000,000

Go see the roo . . . again . . . and again . . . and again . . .

Now watch this drive!

Dear Leader doing 'hard work'.

And speaking of the Chimp in Pictures, Pam has a good one.

One of these days, that asshole's gonna get us in real trouble...

From Sisyphus Shrugged via Are You Effin' Kidding Me?

A regional security alliance dominated by Russia and China yesterday demanded the US and its allies in the "war on terror" name a date for the removal of their military bases from central Asia.

Both Moscow and Beijing have their own energy interests in the region, and have shown signs recently of forging a new anti-US alliance.

Sanobar Shermatova, an Uzbek political analyst based in Moscow, said: "There is a growing feeling in central Asia that the Americans are only a source of instability."

You know, what's interesting about that list is how many great and good friends of Our Fearless Leader are on it.

Practically all of them, as a matter of fact.

They represent more than half of the human beings on earth.

And they control a great deal of our trade.

And they've taken over a great deal of our manufacturing.

And they hold our paper.

And they don't particularly like us, now, do they?

And they've gotten together to do something about it.

And our army is tied down in Iraq serving as a training exercise for every wannabe terrorist in the world with a plane ticket -

which the Saudis have historically been good for, and at $60/barrel they can certainly afford it -

and who have lots and lots of lovely explosives that Mr. Rumsfeld's hand-picked generals let them have in case lots for free.

Oh, and bin Laden definitely isn't in Pakistan.

Again.

Hawks, take a bow. You guys really did change the balance of power in the world.

Still, if your luck holds, you'll end up standing on top of the rubble, which means you win, right?

I got nothin' to add to that.

The pigeon's singing

Let's see what falls out, if anything. Why do I think Chimpy Inc has him so intimidated he'll lie his motherfucking ass off:

WASHINGTON - Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper agreed Wednesday to testify about who in the Bush administration leaked the identity of an undercover CIA operative, while New York Times reporter Judith Miller refused to reveal her source.

[. . .]

Breaking: Judy Kneepads is going to JAIL. See ya's.

Our Georgie

My governor and his whelp:

"With supreme guts and righteousness, President Bush went into Iraq," Gov. Pataki told the Republican National Convention last August. The place erupted with applause. It was all very stirring.

Almost one year later, Pataki's son Teddy is, with supreme guts and righteousness, seeking a three-year law school deferment from the Marines, which last week commissioned the recent Yale grad as a second lieutenant.

[. . .]

If the cause in Iraq is even half as important as the governor has led us to believe, then surely his son is more needed in Fallujah than in some Cambridge lecture hall. If, on the other hand, the governor no longer considers the war important enough to justify his son's immediate contribution, then he should speak up as loudly as he did in the winter of 2003. Which is it, George?

Enjoy being the sphincter-licking whore you are for another year, George. Look in your rearview mirror. See the guy coming up fast? His name is Eliot Spitzer and your ass is gonna be unemployed.

Link via Skippy.

DemVet has more.

Info . . . maybe too much

As most of you know, the Brain was a year old on 4 July. A couple days before, I posted a short history of the blog over the last year. It just occurred to me (thanks to an email from a reader who asked the question) that I never mentioned how I came up with the name.

It's a reference to a wild night in London about 20 years ago. The Colonel (Vietnam vet, search and rescue, and all around stand-up guy) came and got us out of the lockup and asked me how we ended up in the jam. I told him. He said, "you gotta stop thinking with the alternate brain, Sarge." That is all.

'Hard work'

Link via his Highness, the King:

Cindy Sheehan [That would be this Cindy Sheehan - F-man] has already had her heart ripped into a million pieces by the illegal Iraqi war, losing the son she loved more than life itself only five days after he arrived in Baghdad in April 2004.

[. . .]

No one should have to experience such pain, but the cold reality of war is that someone's child actually dies and there are actual parents left living with the hopeless task of trying to cope with the pain.

[. . .]

So when Sheehan received an invitation to meet privately with President Bush at the White House two months after her son died, the least she could have expected was a bit of compassion or a kind word coming from the heart.

But what she encountered was an arrogant man with eyes lacking the slightest bit of compassion, a President totally "detached from humanity" and a man who didn't even bother to remember her son's name when they were first introduced.

Instead of a kind gesture or a warm handshake, Sheehan said she immediately got a taste of Bush arrogance when he entered the room and "in a condescending tone and with a disgusting loud Texas accent," said: "Who we'all honorin' here today?"

[. . .]

"The whole meeting was simply bizarre and disgusting, designed to intimidate instead of providing compassion. He didn't even know our names," said Sheehan. "Finally I got so upset I just looked him in the eye, saying 'I think you can imagine losing someone. You have two daughters. Imagine losing them?' After I said that he just looked at me, looked at me with no feeling or caring in his eyes at all."

Sheehan said what really upset her about the meeting is that Bush appeared to become annoyed and even angry at her daughter Carley, 25, who also attended the White House get-together.

"My daughter said to him directly 'I wish I could bring my loved one back' and he said something like 'so do we.' Later she told me that after he made his remark he gave her one of the filthiest looks she had ever had gotten in her life.

[. . .]

Like I've always said, this administration only 'supports the troops' if they are able-bodied enough to carry a rifle. The only reason the Chimp even deals with the families is for propaganda purposes. Don't forget, (p)resident Stupid McMoron has never attended a GI funeral. Never paid his respects to anyone whose blood stains his hands.

The Social Security Time Bomb

Read what folks are saying, from The Onion:

"This certainly is bad news for the elderly, coming as it does on the heels of the Federal Aging and Ice Floes Act."

"It's good I already have a taste for dog food."

"Everybody relax. We'll be fine as soon as we get our money back from Iraq."

I'm collecting warm clothes and getting a Petsmart discount card.

Limpness

Pic courtesy of Zen Comix.

Heh . . .

Again, from the Sister:

. . . I just dare Karl Rove to tell either The Fixer or Gordon to his face that liberals aren't patriots and don't care about defending their country. Go ahead, Karl. I double dog dare ya! . . .

Yeah, me too.

Well said

Driftglass via AOB:

[. . .]

The Chaffes, the McCains, the Snowes...they slink in the shadows, drawing their tattered Small Government rags around them, playing out some ghastly, humiliating, Norma Desmond/Sunset Boulevard charade, pretending that they're still Big Shots in a wholly imaginary Republican Party that is long, LONG dead in everything but name.

But since they have neither the honesty nor the integrity to acknowledge that the Party they once loved is a corpse - murdered by the very vampires they themselves invited in - they're reduce to scampering around out in the cold like some out-of-favor pet that no longer amuses a tyrant child. Listening hungrily for the dinner bell, hoping that they can scrape together one last shred of their dignity to barter away for whatever greasy scraps fall off of Karl Rove's plate.

And like a Gilbert and Sullivan version of "The Stand", the spawn of the wraiths who now dress up and dance in the Dead Flesh of the Party Once Known as Republican are gathering in Las Vegas next week to plot their various mini-me evils. Mostly trying to figure out a way to Whitewash the fact that they are vociferously cheerleading a war based on what we in the Real World call LIES...while scattering like roaches when the Recruiter Man come around.

[. . .]

Yes, indeed. The Republican Party I belonged to so many years ago is dead. It's why I left when I saw the writing on the wall in '92. Best political move I ever made.

Cold War Rehashed

Just as Bush's war against Iraq is compared against the Vietnam war, so is the War on Terror compared to the Cold War by Robert Scheer.

The "war on terror" is turning out to be nothing more than a recycled formulation of the dangerously dumb "domino theory." Listen to the way President Bush justifies the deepening quagmire of Iraq: "Defeat them abroad before they attack us at home." If we didn't defeat communism in Vietnam, or even tiny Grenada, went the hoary defense of bloody proxy wars and covert brutality in the latter stages of the Cold War, San Diego might be the next to go Red.

We fight in Iraq today because Bush listened to a band of right-wing intellectual poseurs who argued America could create a reverse domino effect, turning the Middle East into a land of pliable free-market, pro-Western "democracies" through a crude use of military force. This is rather like claiming a well-placed stick of dynamite can turn a redwood forest into a neighborhood of charming Victorians.

Does this mean Fixer will come out west and go into the home construction business? Shit, he'll make a pile, pun intended.

For four years the White House has framed the war on terror as an open-ended global battle against a monolithic enemy on many fronts, rather than employing a modern counterterrorism model that sees terrorism as a deadly pathology that grows out of religious or ethnic rage and must be isolated and excised.

But why has the White House pursued this nonsensical approach over the loud objections of the country's most experienced counterterrorism and Islamic experts? Because it allows the administration all the political benefits the Cold War afforded its predecessors: political capital, pork-barrel defense contracts and a grandiose sense of purpose.

And because the war on terror has no standard of victory, it can never end - thus neatly replacing the Cold War as a black-and-white, us-against-them worldview that generations of American (and Soviet) politicians found so useful for keeping the plebes in line. It's a one-size-fits-all bludgeon.

The former general who led us in World War II warned of the dangers of an unbridled militarism. "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex," said Eisenhower, a Republican, in 1961. "The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes."

In a related article, Daniel Ellsburg, of "Pentagon Papers" fame, claims to have written Bush's war words - in 1965.

Later, mates

Via the Sister:

The Ministry of Defence has drafted plans for a significant withdrawal of British troops from Iraq over the next 18 months and a big deployment to Afghanistan, the Financial Times has learnt.

In what would represent the biggest operational shake-up involving the armed forces since the Iraq war, the first stage of a run-down in military operations is likely to take place this autumn with a handover of security to Iraqis in at least two southern provinces.

[. . .]

While the MoD insisted that no decision had been made on Afghan or Iraqi deployments, John Reid, defence secretary, said yesterday that Iraqi forces could begin to take charge of security in their country within a year. [FT.com]

[. . .]

So where are we gonna get the troops to make up the difference? I'm hoping the Iraqis can take over from the Brits, but somehow I think the insurgents will move in as soon as the British leave and we'll have more U.S. troops bogged down there.

Snowed

Granny pointed me to this yesterday. Now that I'm sober I could read it:

A Strategy of Lies: How the White House Fed the Public a Steady Diet of Falsehoods

Colonel Sam Gardiner (USAF, Ret.) has identified 50 false news stories created and leaked by a secretive White House propaganda apparatus. Bush administration officials are probably having second thoughts about their decision to play hardball with former US Ambassador Joseph Wilson. Joe Wilson is a contender. When you play hardball with Joe, you better be prepared to deal with some serious rebound. [my emphasis]

[. . .]

This is illegal, ladies and gents. Another count to add to the indictments.

Amazing

This is the first year in memory where I didn't blow anything up on the 4th. It was a nice, sedate little gathering in my backyard, just my brother- and sister-in-law and my niece joinng the Mrs. and myself. I did celebrate my ass off though and now I dread going in to the shop this morning, hungover and knowing there'll be a line of cars waiting that got broken over the long weekend. See ya lata, if I live though it. Ha!

Cool Off A Little...

Well, I'll be dipped, you should pardon the pun! It actually works!

Click to embiggen

Patriotism

This is a good day to reflect on this stuff, but we should think about it all the time. From the LATimes.

Patriotism consists of multiple, positive actions on behalf of the United States - registering voters, working in an AIDS hospice, volunteering at a disadvantaged school or raising questions about the Bush administration's full-throttle militarism. Almost no one today discusses the idea of national service that would require young people of different ethnicities and economic backgrounds to come together for community projects, not military ones. The most disturbing aspect of the New Patriotism is its suggestion that dissent about the war in Iraq - or even a simple questioning of progress there - is unpatriotic.

In Viroli's account, the good patriot makes sacrifices, works hard to preserve republican values and participates in civic life. This version of patriotism emphasizes positive freedom - our ability to act on our own behalf for the sake of the freedom of the republic - as opposed to negative liberty - passively allowing the state to protect us and in the process rob us of our liberties. The patriot works aggressively to defend the freedoms that make a people a republic.

We should reflect on these earlier traditions in American history. Although appeals to patriotism are almost always used for repressive purposes, a patriotic position should not be simply grounded in a citizen's reflexive acceptance of fear and surveillance. It is also an active involvement in civic life.

I hope blogging my ass off qualifies as part of "civic life".

A nation of morons

So much for the day off. Via Cookie Jill at Skippy's:

WOODSTOCK, Ont. (CP) - Ontario workers are well-trained.

That simple explanation was cited as a main reason why Toyota turned its back on hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies offered from several American states in favour of building a second Ontario plant.

[. . .]

Several U.S. states were reportedly prepared to offer more than double that amount of subsidy. But Fedchun said much of that extra money would have been eaten away by higher training costs than are necessary for the Woodstock project.

He said Nissan and Honda have encountered difficulties getting new plants up to full production in recent years in Mississippi and Alabama due to an untrained - and often illiterate - workforce. In Alabama, trainers had to use "pictorials" to teach some illiterate workers how to use high-tech plant equipment.

"The educational level and the skill level of the people down there is so much lower than it is in Ontario," Fedchun said. [my emphases]

[. . .]

And how does being an ignorant moron make us a better nation? If the Jesus freaks, Wal-Mart, and (p)resident C-student finish their job on our economy and educational system, we'll be a Third World toilet in 20 years, doing nothing more than providing unskilled, manual labor for India and Europe. Being stupid isn't something to aspire to.

Just this

Came across this from DemVet:

[. . .]

It's a shame that it takes an unfortunate event like the Mess in Mesopotamia to get the attention of guys who write for the CSM [Christian Science Monitor]. Back in the day, my young enlisted men were working 16+ hours a day on the "roof", and having to get food stamps to provide for their families back home. Pay and allowances for the hardest working and most vulnerable of our troops has long been a sore point with me. No US serviceman should have to resort to living hand-to-mouth, ever while in the service of our country, but yet the politicians who extol their virtues rob them of their pride and dignity with the same breath. And it's still going on, in spades.

If I had a single wish, it would be to educate the members of the military about the voting records of their members of congress on all matters that dealt with their pay and allowances and once a quarter lock them in a room with some of these soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines to explain their votes. In detail, and with no bodyguards. Oh, and hand out the congresscriminal's pay and benefits sheet to each attendee as they arrived in the room.

[. . .]

Hear, hear.

Born on the 4th of July

The nation and this blog share a birthday today. The U.S. is 229 and the Brain is 1. Happy Birthday to both. I'll probably be taking the day off unless something happens. To all our readers, commenters, and fellow bloggers, have a safe and happy 4th.

High Crimes and Really Stupid Moves

Got this From the Wilderness while cruisin' Wolcott. This is the best article I have read to date that ties the whole Plame deal together as a teeny little part of a much larger whole. It is much, much deeper than I thought. The article is quite long, but the whole deal is very complicated and takes a lot of words to sort out. Please, please, please, pretty please with sugar, go read this one. Here's a little teaser. Did I mention I'm a bitch? Ha!

The CIA Director's job by definition, whether others like it or not, is to be able to go to his President and advise him of the real scientific data on foreign resources (especially oil); to warn him of pending instability in a country closely linked to the US economy; and to tell him what to plan for and what to promise politically in his foreign policy. In light of her position in the CIA's relationship with Saudi Aramco, the outing of Valerie Plame made much of this impossible. In short, the Bush leak threatened National Security.

These jerks are doing real damage to their masters' interests.

There are a multitude of signs that the Bush administration is being "swarmed" in what is becoming a feeding frenzy as opposition is surfacing from many places inside the government, including the military. The signs are not hard to find.

Journalist Wayne Madsen, a Washington veteran with excellent access to many sources has indicated for this story that the Neocons have few remaining friends anywhere. All of this is consistent with a CIA-led coup.

It is one of the greatest ironies of the Plame affair that the Bush administration, spawned and nurtured by oil, might have committed suicide by vindictively, cruelly and unthinkingly exacting personal retribution on an intelligence officer who had committed no offense, and who was, quite possibly, providing the administration with critical oil-related intelligence which the President needed to manage our shaky economy and affairs of state for a while longer to squeak through to re-election. In our opinion, nothing better epitomizes the true nature of the Neocons.

Please report back with comments. Here's mine: I LIKE IT!

Update: Fixer found many good links. In light of the big story this week, I especially like this one.

Not to blow our own horn, well, not too much anyway, one thing I've noticed about our hook-up is that either one of us can pour lead downrange while the other spots targets and feeds the belt.

Bust Bob

If you like the "Douchebag For Liberty" as much as me 'n Fixer, go see this. Thanks, firedoglake.

Why?

Why hasn't the MSM been all over this?

SCOTUS fight

Melanie:

Gang, I just got off a conference call with the Vast Left Wing Conspiracy--they are learning to do what the right does so well, and are now coordinating with the blogs. We have a job to do in this SCOTUS nomination season. We know that, that's why we have blogs. We are going to be coordinating on each step of this fight, and the one we are all looking down the road to: Rehnquist's retirement, probably later this summer. We're going to be getting their oppo research, their talking points. About damn time.

I'm glad to say that Just a Bump and Judging the Future are going to be part of the fight to preserve individual rights, the freedom to determine your own values and to uphold human rights.

Sorry, that's classified

Via Pudentilla blogging at Skippy's:

WASHINGTON, July 1 - Driven in part by fears of terrorism, government secrecy has reached a historic high by several measures, with federal departments classifying documents at the rate of 125 a minute as they create new categories of semi-secrets bearing vague labels like "sensitive security information."

A record 15.6 million documents were classified last year, nearly double the number in 2001, according to the federal Information Security Oversight Office. Meanwhile, the declassification process, which made millions of historical documents available annually in the 1990's, has slowed to a relative crawl, from a high of 204 million pages in 1997 to just 28 million pages last year. [my emphasis]

[. . .]

And whatever incriminating that wasn't classified has already been shredded.

Conscience

Paraphrasing Sen. Chuck Hagel on MTP:

I saw 58,000 get chewed up by Vietnam and I'm gonna ask the hard questions so it doesn't happen in Iraq.

Maybe he has trouble sleeping at night? He also stood by his statement earlier in the week.

"Things aren't getting better; they're getting worse. The White House is completely disconnected from reality," Hagel tells U.S. News. "It's like they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we're losing in Iraq."

Good on him. Let's hope a few more moderate Repubs have an attack of conscience. Chris Dodd was good too.

Update: 14:10:

The essential PSoTD has more detail on Ol' Chuck.

Cool stuff

Thanks to Victoria for the link.

Breaking even

Matt Ruben has two interesting statistics.

A little cold water

The wonderful Dave Johnson sets our feet back on the ground:

Everyone is excited that Karl Rove might be named as the Plame leaker. But Time's story is out, and there's a problem. From the story:

He [Rove's lawyer] did say that Rove himself had testified before the grand jury "two or three times" and signed a waiver authorizing reporters to testify about their conversations with him.

Reporters wouldn't be going to jail to protect a source who has signed a document releasing them from confidentiality. So either it is someone else, or the reporters understand that Rove signed the document as a formality, and worse things than jail will happen to them if they snitch on this White House.

[. . .]

While we're all giddy (I know I am) over Photoshopped pics and the thought of Rove being drug out of 1600 and thrown into an unmarked Crown Victoria, I think we should prepare for him to be well insulated from this mess. Like the commenter he quotes:

There's a problem undermining the glorious fantasy of the "great unraveling" (of the trail of bread crumbs right up the BushCo hierarchy). These guys obsess about Watergate. For thirty years they've been thinking about and practicing (Iran-Contra) how to prevent a repeat of what they see as Nixon's great failure -- not being crooked, but being caught at it. (They've incidentally been searching for, and constantly attempting to manufacture, a "Democrat Watergate", with no success.)

[. . .]

Time to get a little reality. Even if there is a connection, I seriously doubt he's going to be called to account. We are the Reality-based Community after all.