No shit ...

Does this surprise anybody?

A group of American advisers led by a small State Department team played an integral part in drawing up contracts between the Iraqi government and five major Western oil companies to develop some of the largest fields in Iraq, American officials say.

The disclosure, coming on the eve of the contracts’ announcement, is the first confirmation of direct involvement by the Bush administration in deals to open Iraq’s oil to commercial development and is likely to stoke criticism.

In their role as advisers to the Iraqi Oil Ministry, American government lawyers and private-sector consultants provided template contracts and detailed suggestions on drafting the contracts, advisers and a senior State Department official said. [my em]

...

Heh ... Republican lawyers. One day, the Iraqis will realize they have signed away their sovereignty (oh wait, we took that away from them 5 years ago) and are now an official U.S. territory (see - Guam, Puerto Rico, etc).

"See, we told you it was our oil."

At this point does anyone have any doubt about why we went in there?

Link via Dr. Fez-head.

Offered without comment ...

From Zoriah:

Click to embiggen.

If Terrorists Rock The Vote

Daddy Frank whups up on the Repug fear machine.

Unlike Hillary Clinton’s rumination about the Bobby Kennedy assassination or Barack Obama’s soliloquy about voters clinging to guns and faith, Mr. Black’s remarks were not an improvisational mishap. He gave his quotes on the record to Fortune magazine. He did so without thinking twice because he was merely saying what much of Washington believes. Terrorism is the one major issue where Mr. McCain soundly vanquishes his Democratic opponent in the polls. Since 2002, it’s been a Beltway axiom akin to E=mc2 that Bomb in American City=G.O.P. Landslide.

That equation was the creation of Karl Rove. Among the only durable legacies of the Bush presidency are the twin fears that Mr. Rove relentlessly pushed on his client’s behalf: fear of terrorism and fear of gays. But these pillars are disintegrating too. They’re propped up mainly by political operatives like Mr. Black and their journalistic camp followers — the last Washington insiders who are still in Mr. Rove’s sway and are still refighting the last political war.

But you can’t blame the McCain campaign for clinging to terrorism as a political crutch. The other Rove fear card is even more tattered. In the wake of Larry Craig and Mark Foley, it’s a double-edged sword for the G.O.P. to trot out gay blades cavorting in pride parades in homosexual-panic ads.

Mr. McCain is trying to swing both ways. [...]

Yer a real card, Pop. Sorry about no liquid alert. I wonder if the bleach I'm pouring in my ear will help with gettin' the mud outta my keyboard...

More. Read.

Bill Clinton says Barack Obama must 'kiss my ass' for his support

BuzzFlash, links to Telegraph

The Telegraph has learned that the former president's rage is still so great that even loyal allies are shocked by his patronising attitude to Mr Obama, and believe that he risks damaging his own reputation by his intransigence. A senior Democrat who worked for Mr Clinton has revealed that he recently told friends Mr Obama could "kiss my ass" in return for his support. Note: ROFLMAO!!!! Boy, you talk about taking it hard. There is no defeat like conceit!!!!

Real classy, Bill.

General Clark Says McCain Oversold Navy Experience

Expanding on Fixer's post a little, Bloomberg and comments

Retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark, an adviser to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, said Republican contender John McCain has oversold his military and national-security experience.

Gee, ya think?

"I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president," Clark said, referring to the incident that led to McCain's being taken prisoner of war in Vietnam. He also said McCain's service as a prisoner made him "a hero."

Here's the awful irony: If McCain had used proper judgment and not let the North Vietnamese shoot his ass out of the sky, we'd have never heard of him.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Bush Wants to Use Diplomacy With Iran
Will rename aircraft carrier “U.S.S. Diplomacy.”

Consumer Confidence Index Hits Bottom
Nobody thinks things will improve, ever.

FDA: Salmonella Outbreak Might Not Be Caused by Tomatoes After All
Consumers advised not to eat anything until further notice.

Audit: Justice Dept. Hired on Ideological Basis
If you believed in justice, you weren't hired.

High Court Slashes Exxon Valdez Spill Punitive Damages
Says ExxonMobil has "suffered enough."

Hollywood Braces for Possible Actors' Strike
Starbucks braces for glut of baristas.

Physicist: Tiny Chance Atom Smasher Will Create All-Consuming Death Star
Still, you should put on hold any plans beyond August.

No problema. I ain't got any plans past the next ten minutes...

Just because ...

It's Monday and I'm annoyed. I needed a pick-me-up:

Falco - Rock Me, Amadaeus

Off to the shop ...

Biblical Truth ...

Now, I love this. When someone tells me something is right or wrong because the Bible says so. Everything in the Bible is true. I have some observations.

1) Being multi-lingual (I spoke German before I spoke English), and being someone who enjoys a good joke, I've come across many jokes that don't translate from German to English and vice versa. Nuance and meaning are lost in the translation.

2) Mrs. F's grandfather used to tell jokes in English but the punch line was in Yiddish because "it didn't translate properly".

3) If you look on the left sidebar on this page, you'll see the Alta Vista Babel Fish link to translate this page into a number of languages (mainly so my German relatives can read the Brain). While you get the gist of the posts, the translation is not great.

Now a question. When was the Bible written? I've heard everything from one of Jesus disciples wrote it not long after his death, to a century later, to the Middle Ages (900 - 1400 A.D.).

Another question. Was it written in English originally? From what I've heard, the original was probably written in Aramaic. It was most certainly translated into Latin long before the English version came out.

Last question. Taking the three statements and two questions together, how can some mono-lingual southern preacher (or anyone else for that matter) tell me exactly what truths are contained in the Bible? I am constantly amazed how people can point to truth in a document written hundreds (if not thousands) of years ago, translated from at least one 'dead language' into another before being translated into English.

When you talk to me about "Biblical truth" the Big Man/Woman better be standing next to you to translate (that word again) what he really meant before I'll believe it. 'God's mouthpieces' here on Earth have as much inside track to the Master Plan as I do and don't let anyone else tell you different.

Quote of the Day

General Wesley Clark:

"I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president."

Sunday Crazy Redneck Music & Storytelling Blogging

Billy Joe Shaver is a member of a great sub-genre of country music, the Texas singer/songwriter, which includes Willie Nelson, Nanci Griffith, Joe Ely, Townes Van Zandt, and on and on. One of the best things to ever come out of that state besides Interstate 10. Being on the cusp of curmudgeonry my own self, I like this guy.

I think this is a very slyly subversive song. See if you do too.

Freedom's Child

This one's for you, Fixer. Heh.

Ink Follow-up

I got a tattoo a coupla weeks ago, to which post I added a comment in self-defense, heh. It's all healed up so here it is.



Me'n Mrs. G have decided it needs a little red, so I'll be getting the letters SCUM USMC added soon.

Someone I Used To Know

This is so bizarre I couldn't resist. An old country tune, but a pretty clever song title/slideshow connection, I think. Looks like the wall at a Japanese tattoo parlor..."Herro, Sairor, you pick, I draw, carry you back to ship".

Emmylou Harris, John Anderson, and some Japanese ghosts

There, there, youngun' ...

We'll come back to our senses one day. Notorious P.A.T commenting on John Cole's post about the latest faux outrage from the right:

A question for people older than me (I’m 34): There was a time in this country, wasn’t there, when people who thought Congress was in league with our nation’s mortal enemies, and actively, knowingly plotted with them to have Americans killed, were confined to street corners with urine-soaked refridgerator [sic] cartons and tinfoil hats, right?

Please tell me this was so, and that it could some day be that way again.

Yes, hopefully one day people who are mind-numbingly stupid or downright delusional or criminally complicit will be treated as such once again.

For your evening ...

The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Harding:

Richard Strauss - Tod und Verklärung

Is this thing on?

The candidate who is aware of the intarwebs can't figure out a cell phone:

...

Someone hummed a ditty into the phone. More minutes passed. Finally, at 3:18, McCain came back on the line. "Where did you lose me?" he asked.

"We lost you at the very beginning," he was told. "You gave your whole speech and you didn’t know you weren’t connected to us."

...

Senility - shoulda got used to it with Reagan, ya damn kids!

In defense of marriage ...

The other day I pointed you to Pam's place, noting that the people of Arizona don't want to define marriage as only between a man and woman. Seems a buncha conservatives think they should do it on the federal level to avoid all those messy "states' rights", except, of course, when those "states' rights" help the conservative cause. And guess who's sponsoring this great federal "defense of marriage"? Two of the pillars of "moral values" (you know, the kind the gays don't have):

...

But the funny part is looking over the list of the 10 original sponsors. Most of the names are predictable — Brownback and Inhofe, for example — but there are two others whose names stand out: Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho).

...

[Blink, blink]

"...you have to keep a nice open mind about what the young people go for."

The geezers hadn't quite got it yet in '59. I'm a geezer now and I still don't get it other than I know that, then as now, the main purpose of the whippersnappers' music is to piss the geezers off!

Sweet Baby James

A very pretty treatment of this old song. 'Old' meaning I remember it from my youth.

James Taylor & The Dixie Chicks

The Un-American Lies of Antonin Scalia

A little light weekend reading on Scalia at The Existentialist Cowboy:

Scalia's 'war on logic' is even older. In Bush v Gore, the 'decision that made no law', Scalia argued that 'continuing the recount' would be harmful to Bush. Well, I would hope so! That's the very purpose of elections. The candidate who gets the fewer number of votes is supposed to lose!

Being a disingenuous, snake oil salesmen is one thing. But telling a bald face lie in support of an argument in a decision of the high court is 'intellectual dishonesty' of the highest order.

It's time to impeach Scalia! Scalia doesn't like his job anyway. He thinks himself 'too smart' for it. Let's oblige him by firing his sorry ass.

Let's take the longer view. This government has become illegitimate by every definition of that term. Therefore, according to sound principles practiced by the Barons who forced King John to sign the Magna Carta and, more recently, the principle espoused by such disparate figures as Thomas Jefferson and Che Guevara, it is the right of the people to abolish the government.

It's time to start all over. And when we've done it, when we've plugged up the loopholes that even the disingenuous Scalia can't slither through, then a new government should give Scalia the notice that his 'services' are no longer required. He should have no complaints. After all, Scalia has said that he is 'too smart' for the court!

Nice try, Cowboy, but the American public'll only get off their collective ass for bread and circuses. When our 'government' falls, it will be of its own ponderous weight.

Saturday whorage

Off to Home Depot before the masses get there. The next chapter of Birthright is up at The Practical Press.

Busy, busy...

Pardon the light blogging today, but I was busy over at Fixer & Gordon. Bustedknuckles has a real, er, potboiler up at F&G as well.

When Anonymity Fails, Be Nasty, Brutish and Short

Dana Milbank

Throughout the Bush presidency, he toiled in secrecy deep within the White House, a mysterious and feared presence who never stepped into the sunlight of public disclosure.

Until yesterday.

There he sat, hunched and scowling, at the witness table in front of the House Judiciary Committee: the bearded, burly form of the chief of staff and alter ego to the vice president -- Cheney's Cheney, if you will -- and the man most responsible for building President Bush's notion of an imperial presidency.

David Addington was there under subpoena. And he wasn't happy about it.

Fuck him. We're damned happy about it.

He had the grace of Gollum as he quarreled with his questioners. [...]

I can only wish for the same end for him as Gollum...

Think of Addington as the id of the Bush White House. Though his hidden hand is often merely suspected -- in signing statements, torture policy and other brazen assertions of executive power -- Addington's unbridled hostility was live and unfiltered yesterday.

Sounds like he's a little twitchy at his criminality being close to exposure. Good.

Cheney's Cheney continued to dole out the scorn ("You asked that question earlier, today, and I'll give you the same answer") until Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.), the last questioner, inquired about waterboarding. "I can't talk to you -- al-Qaeda may watch these meetings," Addington said.

"I'm glad they finally have a chance to see you, Mr. Addington," Delahunt joked.

"I'm sure you're pleased," Addington growled.

This prick is the poster boy for what we need to get rid of in the halls of power. Please read the rest.

Update:

More at Slate.

Addington also gets in a little fear-mongering: When the torture memos were written, he says, "the smoke was still rising" from 9/11. Actually, by 2003, that was no longer the case. But never mind: Addington's point is that things were different then, "but not as different today as a lot of people may think. … No American should think that we're free, or that the war is over. Because that's wrong." He's the teacher. That's the lesson. Now, go copy it onto the blackboard 500 times, Congress.

"No American should think that we're free." Fuckin' beautiful, asshole, but you know this administration as well as anyone. We'll be a lot freer when we're free of them and you.

But heaven forbid ...

We piss the Chinese off:

...

Now, if the Rude Pundit remembers his recent history (although, truth be told, these days, shit that happened last year seems about as distant as the tadpole days of a dying frog - such is the result of our American dementia), back in December 2002, there was another member of the Axissss o' Eeeeeevil who made a big ol' weapons declaration, when Iraq "delivered a 12,000-page declaration on banned weapons to the United Nations, meeting a Security Council deadline with more than 24 hours to spare. Officials said the documents confirmed, in rebuttal of American and British claims, that Saddam Hussein's government had no weapons of mass destruction and no current programs to develop them." As the ever dickish Ari Fleischer said at the time, Iraq had issued "what it claims is a declaration of its programs to develop chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and other delivery systems."

...

Because had we attacked NK, more than a million DPRK infantry would have gone south, overrunning 7th Cav and 51st Wing before taking the rest of South Korea. Because the Chinese would do the same thing they did when we crossed the Yalu 50 years ago.

... "If we allow the U.S. to occupy all of Korea… we must be prepared for the U.S. to declare… war with China," ... - Mao Zhe Dong to Iosef Stalin 8 Oct 1950

And of course:

...

The Chinese made contact with American troops on November 1, 1950. Thousands of Chinese had attacked from the north, northwest, and west against scattered U.S. and South Korean (Republic of Korea or ROK) units moving deep into North Korea. The Chinese seemed to come out of nowhere as they swarmed around the flanks and over the defensive positions of the surprised United Nations (UN) troops.

...

China could wreck us, be it economically or militarily. China has enough problems with North Korea already, let alone having to to put more money into that failed country thanks to the UN sanctions. It just seems to me the Chimp got the message loud and clear from Beijing. Assume UN sanctions will effectively go away in the near future too.

However, don't think that insane midget won't restart the program again in the future when he wants something else from the UN or China. He did it to Clinton and he did it to Bush, he'll do it again to the next US President. Maybe it's time for the next US President to begin talks with China on the subject of getting that family of psychopaths out of North Korea.

But US anti-proliferation policy aside, the reason we didn't deal with NK the way we are doing with the other two members if the 'Axis of Evil' (attacking Iraq, saber-rattling at Iran) is because they have no oil. Saddam could have stood on his head and made sparks shoot out his ass and we still would have attacked.

Never forget; the war in Iraq has nothing to do with fighting terrorism.

TGIF. See yas later.

So what's his stand ...

On vacation? Seems McCain doesn't like to work weekends. I wonder if he's gonna take 18 months of vacation time like the Chimp did over the past 8 years? Jeff Fecke:

I know John McCain claims he isn't George W. Bush redux. But he sure seems to want to emulate him. The latest case in point? Angry McCranky doesn't work weekends:

...

It's a bit reminiscent of Will Ferrell channelling George W. Bush on "Saturday Night Live," when he promised to work 24/7 for America -- that's 24 hours a week, seven months a year.

...

Quote of the Day

Athenae:

... But this is exactly why most people who've been relatively awake for the past eight years hear "bipartisanship" and "working across the aisle" and "ending the gridlock in Washington" and "getting things done for YOU" and hear the sound of one hand wanking Richard Cohen ...

Time-Life Issues the Definitive Collection of ‘Bush Scandals’

SPR

"After listening for just two seconds, your foot starts stomping in anger and outrage. From the invasion of Iraq and fake WMDs, torture, illegal spying on Americans, Katrina, and the rank politicization of the Justice Department, you'd have to watch over 200 episodes of Olbermann to get the same aroma of the Bush years, all captured on just these 3 CDs.

"And for the first 500 callers, you'll not only receive free shipping, but the complete collection of McCain flip-flops."

No thanks. The 'Bush years' are something we won't need CDs of. We'll be remembering, and trying to undo, the things he has done for generations to come.

Adios Iran & U.S., hola Paraguay.

Think Progress

Bolton: Israel Will Attack Iran After U.S. Election But Before Inauguration, Arab States Will Be ‘Delighted’.

[...] Adopting Bill Kristol’s argument, Bolton suggested that an attack on Iran depends on who Americans elect as the next President:

He's probably right. If the 'wrong' guy gets elected, Bush will drop this turd in our punchbowl like the whiny, petulant little punk crybaby bastard he is because he can, and because nobody likes him, just before he gets on the plane to Paraguay. I predict he will do this on the morning of Inauguration Day right after he issues a blanket pardon for everybody in his criminal administration.

Fuck Bush, fuck Kristol, fuck Bolton, fuck the Arab states. If the Chimp is allowed to get away with this, it's fuck us. Big time.

Note to SecDef, JCS, and anybody and everybody down the chain of command from them: Stop this from happening. Just say NO.

His Master's Voice

You can tell a lot about a person by his taste in music. Go see what's on Obama's iPod.

No word at this time on what's on McCain's wind-up iVictrola, but from the photo below, probably Bush.

"I can make a diesel sing/Just like Patsy Cline"

All you Emmylou Harris fans go see her appearance last night on Charlie Rose.

Synchronized Flush To Honor Bush

A coupla months back I posted about the proposed George W. Bush Sewage Plant in Frisco. Here's a follow-up from WaPo via Blue Oregon:

Reagan has his highways. Lincoln has his memorial. Washington has the capital (and a state, too). But President Bush may soon be the sole president to have a memorial named after him that you can contribute to from the bathroom.

The plan, naturally hatched in a bar, would place a vote on the November ballot to provide “an appropriate honor for a truly unique president.”

It's good to hear that sometimes alcohol is a lubricant for the thought processes instead of just 'stupid oil'!

The renaming would take effect on Jan. 20, when the new president is sworn in. And regardless of the measure’s outcome, supporters plan to commemorate the inaugural with a synchronized flush of hundreds of thousands of San Francisco toilets, an action that would send a flood of water toward the plant, now called the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant.

Yes, a moving wall of crap would definitely be "an appropriate honor for a truly unique president". It will be a wonderful, er, relief to be able to contribute to it the next time I'm in EssEff.

Good news ...

From Pam. Seems the folks in Arizona don't believe in marginalizing a group of American citizens because a buncha Jesus freaks think homosexuality is contagious:

Great news -- the Arizona Senate, in a 14-11 vote, rejected the ballot initiative to amend the state's constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. I wonder what McSame will say about his home state turning this away, after all, he backed the bigoted state amendment the first time around -- and it was rejected by voters.

...

You know, allowing the gays to marry will make me leave my wife to bottom for the large black man next door who's hung like a horse.

Unbelievably, I actually think Americans are finally getting it; not getting sidetracked by the hubbub over issues that shouldn't be issues in the first place. I'm getting more hopeful about our chances in November. Barring, of course, the Dems' penchant for shooting themselves in the foot.

There's only one ...

Type of good Blue Dog and that's this one:

Princess Shayna

For the rest of 'em; either you're a Democrat or you're not. Figure it out before we get you replaced.

Quote of the Day

Avedon Carol:

...

Because there is absolutely nothing a Republican can do, no matter how dishonest, incompetent, egregious, or downright evil, that will make our current press corps sound the alarm - but no attack on a Democrat is so scurrilous, so ridiculous, so dishonest, so outrageous, that it can be treated with the derision it deserves.

...

Quandary

Market Watch

The price of retail gasoline could fall by half, to around $2 a gallon, within 30 days of passage of a law to limit speculation in energy-futures markets, four energy analysts told Congress on Monday.

Testifying to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Michael Masters of Masters Capital Management said that the price of oil would quickly drop closer to its marginal cost of around $65 to $75 a barrel, about half the current $135.

The creation of a comprehensive U.S. energy policy that tackles issues of increasing domestic supply and reining in consumer demand via conservation should be Congress' focus, Ryan said. "Instead we're on bended knee begging the Saudis to put more oil on the market and talking about shutting down spec trades."

I hate to say this, but $2 gas (remember when we thought that was high? It wasn't very long ago.) is probably the worst thing that could happen to us.

Yes, it would ease the financial pain at the pump, which relief is desperately needed by many, but unless buying gas HURTS, the leadership of this country, if we ever get any, will never get around to passing a comprehensive energy policy that takes into account all forms of energy for the increasing and future needs.

Nor will Americans ever change their profligate, wasteful energy habits.

Folks have said for many years that the only answer to this problem lies in high prices so everyone tales this seriously and changes their ways. They are being proven correct.

I heard a guy on Charlie Rose say last night that "oil is the enemy of democracy", and I think he makes a good point. As long as the oil-consuming nations of the world continue to shovel money to the petrofascists that hate us and use our money to undermine us, nothing's going to change.

Women For McCain

Go see the 'choice' page at Women For John McCain. Other stuff as well.

The top of the fear chain...

Click to embiggen

McCain Alledgedly Assaulted Wheelchair-bound POW/MIA Advocate

BuzzFlash

On June 20, 1996, Senator John McCain allegedly assaulted a family member of a Vietnam War prisoner of war (POW) who was missing in action (MIA), as a group of about 15 family members of POW/MIAs watched in astonishment. Within about one month, five ethics complaints had been filed with the Senate Ethics Committee by five eyewitnesses. But the Senate Ethics Committee refused to investigate the matter.

"He went from a smiling, congenial, happy face to a beet red, totally enraged face in an instant," she said. "I have never seen a senator act in this way. We were all dumbfounded how this happened. He threw his arm up, and she goes flying and Jane [who was in a wheelchair] gets pushed aside as he brushes by her. All I see is people flying and I'm behind him [McCain]... This was assault."

You can read the rest, but I don't think we need this hothead for president.

I think the 'ethics' committee only investigates serious breaches of Senate 'ethics' such as not paying off on lobbyist bribes.

As far as treatment of wheelchair folks, my offer still stands to help Chuckie Krauthammer down the Capitol steps any time.

Waiting ...

I'm home today, waiting for my drywall delivery from Home Depot, and to pass the time, I'm yanking the old nails. This is, for me, the worst part of doing a remodel. So tell me, any readers who are professional carpenters, do you guys use plebes, the way I make Sam do all the shitty jobs in the shop, to do the mundane shit like pulling nails, or do you do it as you go along?

That said, Chris Dodd is still standing tall on FISA*. He was my choice to get the party's nom for President.

Update:

Since I'm here "twiddling my thumbs" (this crap just dragged itself up a flight of stairs and stacked itself) I took Deuddersun's advice and watched this video about how corrupt the Chimp's 'Justice' Department has become.



And just a response to Deuddersun's other bit of advice:

Why pull them at all? Just bang them in. who cares? The new drywall will cover them. Screws, now, those can either be reomoved or just broken off flush to the surface.

...

Do you think, anal German that I am, that I could sleep at night knowing I left a couple hunnert useless nails in? In 2 years, I'd be tearing everything down again just to get 'em out. Seriously.

*Link thanks to Mr. Philadelphia.

Appeasers!!!!!!

...

Q Dana, is the United States considering opening an interest section in Iran? How close are we to reaching a decision on that, and why would the U.S. do that?

MS. PERINO: Well, I think that Secretary Rice said it best yesterday when she said that there might be some ideas out -- floating out there, but there's nothing concrete at the moment. In regards to us reaching out and talking directly to the Iranians, President Bush goes out of his way every time he talks about the Iranian issue, which is often; he gets asked about it and he brings it up proactively himself.

...

Holden and his obsession.

All he needs is a milk crate and some Viagra...

Click to embiggen both asses

The Carla Effect

MoDo on Mme. Sarkozy:

If an American first lady, or would-be first lady, described herself as a “tamer of men” and had a “man-eating” past filled with naked pictures, Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton, sultry prone CD covers, breaking up marriages, bragging that she believes in polygamy and polyandry rather than monogamy, and having a son with a married philosopher whose father she had had an affair with, it would take more than an appearance on “The View” to sweeten her image.

It’s hard to imagine the decibel level on Fox News if Michelle Obama put out a CD this summer, as Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is, with songs featuring lyrics like “I am a child/despite my 40 years/despite my 30 lovers/a child”; and this song, “Ma came”: “You are my junk/more deadly than Afghan heroin/more dangerous than Colombian white. .../My guy, I roll him up and smoke him.”

A First Lady like that would make life a lot more interesting, and my collection of nekkid First Lady pictures would benefit. Move over, Eleanor and Mamie...

I don't know why I'm thinkin' about French gals lately. Must be the line dancin'...

This Brave Nation

This is just cool. Go watch Pete Seeger and Marjora Carter reflect.

Enema Of The People

This could truly serve as the Bush-Cheney memorial.

RIA Novosti

A statue is to be unveiled to an enema at a health center in the southern Russia's town of Zheleznovodsk, the center director said on Monday.

The 1.5 meter-high bronze monument, weighing 350 kilograms (771.6 pounds), portrays "three angel-like children carrying above their heads a big pear-like enema," the Alexander Kharchenko said.

"This will be the first monument to an enema in the world," he said, adding that the initiative to erect the monument was proposed by the center's administration, where hundreds of similar procedures are carried out every day.

"It is high time a monument to an enema was erected," he said.

The United States needs a high colonic to cleanse its bowels of this administration. They can insert the tube in the Oval Office and OVP.

Maybe it was all the guy could find to cover some rust...

My Wife & I Saw A McCain Bumper Sticker in California -- Finally -- Verse-Case Scenario by Tony Peyser

There on the back of a black gas guzzler
The driver announced his White House choice
(But the letters were in such small print
It was like he didn't want to raise his voice.)

The only reason I bothered with this is because I actually - as in didn't make it up - saw an 'Alan Keyes for President' bumper sticker the other day and just wanted to share. There's a lot of crazies out there and they all have driver's licenses. Heh.

Strategy Session

From P.M.Carpenter:

The swarthy bogeyman strategy had already exhausted its bad GOP-self by the 2006 elections. Now, it's a parody of a caricature wrapped in a burlesque, to paraphrase Winston. And voters just aren't buying it -- not, especially, while being swallowed up by the economic marvels of Bush-McCain, a rather pertinent topic of conversation that sends John staring absentmindedly into the abyss.

Voters, in time, notice these things. They notice when a candidate is but a blank slate upon which nothing immediately relevant to their lives will apparently ever be written. By constantly framing the nation's welfare in singular, foreboding and hair-raising terms, John McCain & Co. merely emphasize what it lacks: a relevant plan.

And the last thing we should want to do is take a guy like Charlie Black -- what with all his thuggish dictator friends and lugubrious references to America's future -- out of action. I think he's delightful.

All McCain has to fear is lack of fear itself. It's all he's got.

How-to ...

So ya wanna be a tin horn dictator in some Third World toilet and you're wondering how to keep power once you get it? No problem. The United States wrote the book:

...

The leaked manual, which has been verified with military sources, is the official US Special Forces doctrine for Foreign Internal Defense or FID.

FID operations are designed to prop up "friendly" governments facing popular revolution or guerilla insurgency. FID interventions are often covert or quasi-covert due to the unpopular nature of the governments being supported ("In formulating a realistic policy for the use of advisors, the commander must carefully gauge the psychological climate of the HN [Host Nation] and the United States.")

The manual directly advocates training paramilitaries, pervasive surveillance, censorship, press control and restrictions on labor unions & political parties. It directly advocates warrantless searches, detainment without charge and (under varying circumstances) the suspension of habeas corpus. It directly advocates employing terrorists or prosecuting individuals for terrorism who are not terrorists, running false flag operations and concealing human rights abuses from journalists. And it repeatedly advocates the use of subterfuge and "psychological operations" (propaganda) to make these and other "population & resource control" measures more palatable.

The content has been particularly informed by the long United States involvement in El Salvador.

...

Ah yes, the United States, bringing freedom and democracy to everyone, whether they need it or not.

And let's be clear here, the Rethugs have been using this manual to run their operations on Americans too. It was Karl Rove's playbook. Aside from the war crimes Chimp & Co. are guilty of, treason also ranks high on the list.

Great thanks to the Gorilla's Guides for the link.

Kept in the dark ...

And fed bullshit. If you've got any question why the FISA bill is so important, the lovely Avedon can explain it to you:

Someone asked me to explain what the whole FISA thing is about, which surprised me since she's not a low-information sort of person, so here's the simple version ...

Quote of the Day

Cdr. Huber:

One problem with using the rational actor model to forecast what the George W. Bush administration may do next is that the model wasn’t designed to analyze people referred to as "the crazies in the basement." ...

McGovern: Iran attack coming soon

Raw Story

In a new editorial published by AntiWar.com, former CIA officer Ray McGovern states that he believes "a perfect storm seems to be gathering in late summer or early fall," when the Bush administration and allies in Israel will launch attacks against Iran.

"This time it will be largely the Air Force's show, punctuated by missile and air strikes by the Navy," writes McGovern. "Israeli-American agreement has now been reached at the highest level; the armed forces planners, plotters and pilots are working out the details."

From the editorial:

By all indications, Vice President Dick Cheney and his huge staff continue to control the flow of information to the president.

But, you say, the president cannot be unaware of the far-reaching disaster an attack on Iran would bring?

Well, this is a president who admits he does not read newspapers, but rather depends on his staff to keep him informed. And the memos Cheney does brief to Bush pooh-pooh the dangers.

There's no danger to Cheney and Bush.

Here's the alarming thing: Unlike Iraq, which was prostrate after the Gulf War and a dozen years of sanctions, Iran can retaliate in a number of dangerous ways, launching a war for which our forces are ill-prepared.

The lethality, intensity and breadth of ensuing hostilities will make the violence in Iraq look, in comparison, like a volleyball game between St. Helena's High School and Mount St. Ursula.

In sum, a perfect storm seems to be gathering in late summer or early fall.

Fucking swell. In this Perfect Storm the future of the United States gets to be the Andrea Gail.

Whatever extraterrestrial sky monsters there may be out there, help us. Suck Cheney and Bush to your lair and probe them. Drop us a video. Just stop them from committing this madness.

Bush 'war crimes conference' to convene

Raw Story

On September 13-14, 2008, Lawrence Velvel, the dean of the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover, plans to convene a 'convention' at the school's facilities; the attendees of which will plan strategies to prosecute members of the Bush administration for war crimes.

"This is not intended to be a mere discussion of violations of law that have occurred," stated Velvel in a press release. "It is, rather, intended to be a planning conference at which plans will be laid and necessary organizational structures set up, to pursue the guilty as long as necessary and, if need be, to the ends of the Earth.

"We must try to hold Bush administration leaders accountable in courts of justice. And we must insist on appropriate punishments, including, if guilt is found, the hangings visited upon top German and Japanese war-criminals in the 1940's."

A laudable idea, but I fear it'll just be another academic exercise in futility.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Billions More Needed to Secure American Embassies
Only alternative, say experts, is diplomacy.

Fat chance. Inarticulate dumbass punks with an inferiority complex would rather fight to prove the manhood they haven't got. With other people's kids and money, of course.

Bush to Write Memoir
Like others, it'll lay bare the hypocrisy and incompetence of his administration.

He can just plagiarize from the memoirs of his former employees. With a ghostwriter of course.

Chertoff Announces New High-Tech Domestic Surveillance Program
If you've never imagined doing something illegal, you have nothing to worry about.

Many more.

Jackpot Jesus

Seems to me that Betty is following in George Carlin's footsteps a little in her own way. Here she Explains “Prayer” to Everyone Else.

Mainlinin'

Occasionally, the kool-aid wears off of Tom Friedman. Maybe even billionaires don't like $4+ pushmoline.

It’s as if our addict-in-chief is saying to us: “C’mon guys, you know you want a little more of the good stuff. One more hit, baby. Just one more toke on the ole oil pipe. I promise, next year, we’ll all go straight. I’ll even put a wind turbine on my presidential library. But for now, give me one more pop from that drill, please, baby. Just one more transfusion of that sweet offshore crude.”

Yeah, we'll just keep mainlinin' under Bush's oil company administration. Maybe under a real President we can reduce it to skin poppin' until we can get on the Methadone program of a real energy policy.

That’s what a real president would do. He’d give us a big strategic plan to end our addiction to oil and build a bipartisan coalition to deliver it. He certainly wouldn’t be using his last days in office to threaten Congressional Democrats that if they don’t approve offshore drilling by the Fourth of July recess, they will be blamed for $4-a-gallon gas. That is so lame. That is an energy policy so unworthy of our Independence Day.

Some of us know who to blame: a president whose oil 'policy' was to go to Iraq and steal it and couldn't even do that right. He's good at lettin' his cronies and pals steal all they want from us though.

Separation ...

Skippy has a post up about how McSame is distancing himself from the Chimp. Heh ...

...

president bush prefers the caramel popcorn in a box of cracker jacks; john mccain prefers the peanuts. also, the president gets much more excited about the prize.

...

I'm going to work. I hate Mondays ...

A national treasure ...

The Seven Words ...

Rest in peace, George. He was one of the people who taught me, at a very young age, to always question authority.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs, dirty words and the demise of humanity, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday. He was 71.

...

"I don't have any beliefs or allegiances. I don't believe in this country, I don't believe in religion, or a god, and I don't believe in all these man-made institutional ideas," he told Reuters in a 2001 interview.

Carlin told Playboy in 2005 that he looked forward to an afterlife where he could watch the decline of civilization on a "heavenly CNN."

"The world is a big theater-in-the round as far as I'm concerned, and I'd love to watch it spin itself into oblivion," he said. "Tune in and watch the human adventure."

...

Gotta love a guy who gave everybody the finger.

Update:

Dday has this great Carlin quote:

"Religion convinced the world that there's an invisible man in the sky who watches everything you do. And there's 10 things he doesn't want you to do or else you'll to to a burning place with a lake of fire until the end of eternity. But he loves you! ...And he needs money! He's all powerful, but he can't handle money! [...] I've begun worshipping the sun for a number of reasons. First of all, unlike some other gods I could mention, I can see the sun. It's there for me every day. And the things it brings me are quite apparent all the time: heat, light, food, a lovely day. There's no mystery, no one asks for money, I don't have to dress up, and there's no boring pageantry. And interestingly enough, I have found that the prayers I offer to the sun and the prayers I formerly offered to God are all answered at about the same 50-percent rate. [...] Religion is sort of like a lift in your shoes. If it makes you feel better, fine. Just don't ask me to wear your shoes. And let's not nail the lift to the natives' feet."

Update Zwei:

Dr. Fez-head has this one:

I think that human beings were given great gifts and had great potential and they squandered it all on goods, possession, power, territory and on a superstitious God that watches everything and controls. These things, I think, crippled the human animal to the extend that we never lived up to their potential. The same thing happened in this country. We were given great potential. We were given this great system of self-government, the best one that had been devised so far. And we've given it all up for gizmos, and goods, and toys and possessions, and - in this country - God, overlooking everything and spoiling everything.

Sunday Crazy Redneck Music and Line Dancing French Gals Blogging

I watched Emmylou and that Limey guitar picker on Soundstage on PBS last night, so today I thought I'd like to find and post their very sweetly suggestive call & response gearhead love song "Red Staggerwing" for you. Well, there are 14 videos of it and they all have pretty lousy audio, so I picked this one and posted the lyrics so you can follow along. Sorry, no bouncing ball...

A coupla differences from domestic line dancing, at least to me, one, not near as much junk in the trunk and, two, these folks dance better.

Fixer has said he and Mrs. F would like to retire in France. In this video I see several reasons why, although I have a disturbing visual of a dancing F-Man in a cowboy hat and shitkicker attire. Nothing a bottle or two of Clorox' finest won't cure.

Whoever did the title of the video either can't spell for shit in English or has a sense of humor. Heh.



If I was Staggerwing plane
A Staggerwing painted red
I'd fly over to your house, baby
Buzz you in your bed

If I was a Taperwing
A Taperwing painted blue
I'd be barrel-rolling over you

You're gonna need a rider anyhow
Let me be your rider now

If I was a Maserati
A red 300s
I'd ride around to your house, baby
Give you a driving test

If I was a Mustang racer
White with a stripe of blue
You could ride me, baby
Whenever you wanted to

You're gonna need a rider anyhow
Let me be your rider now

If I was a Fender guitar
A Fender painted red
You could play me, darlin'
Until your fingers bled

If I was one of them Gibsons
Like a '58 or '9
You could plug me in
And play me anytime

You're gonna need a rider anyhow
Let me be your rider now

If I was a motorcycle
A Vincent red Rapide
I'd ride around to your house, baby
Get you up to speed

If I was a short track racer
I'd be an Indian
You could ride me around
And ride me round again

You're gonna need a rider anyhow
Let me be your rider now
You're gonna need a rider anyhow
Let me be your rider now

A Waste of Paint

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Experts have confirmed that the "McCain Laughing" portrait was painted by Rembrandt in 1628. William Noortman from Noortman Master Paintings, specializing in Dutch and Flemish masters, said it's worth between $5 and $20: "I'm very surprised it sold for more than that at auction." The painting was purchased last October by Cal Thomas for $29.95. When interviewed later about the painting, Senator McCain said "The 1620s bring up of fond memories of my youth, those were the gold old days."

The Pre-Age of Enlightenment Express!

Probably a commission. Even Rembrandt had to eat.

A tip o' the Brain to IWR.

Now That We’ve ‘Won,’ Let’s Come Home

Daddy Frank with a rare 'today's second must read' on McCain and his/Bush's criminal war:

To finesse this embarrassing record, Mr. McCain asks us to believe that the only judgment that matters is who was “right” about the surge, not who was right about our reckless plunge into war. That’s like saying he deserves credit for tossing life preservers to the survivors after encouraging the captain of the Titanic to plow full speed ahead into the iceberg.

Even so, it leaves him trapped in a Catch-22. If violence continues to subside in Iraq — if, as Mr. McCain has it, we keep “winning” — it will only call more attention to the internal contradictions of a policy that says success in Iraq should be punished by forcing American troops to stay there indefinitely. And if Iraq reignites, well, so much for “winning.”

Not that the Obama policy is foolproof either. As everyone knows, there are no good options in Iraq. Our best hope for a bipartisan resolution of this disaster may be for a President Obama to appoint Mr. McCain as a special envoy to Baghdad, where he can stay for as long as he needs to administer our withdrawal or 100 years, whichever comes first.

First of all, there's no 'winning' something that was an immoral, criminal act in the first place and a colossal incompetent bungle afterwards.

Second, I doubt if McSame has ten years left in him, let alone 100, but Iraq would be a great place for him to live out his dream.

A redneck Veep with two Purple Hearts, three tattoos and spoiling-for-a-fight attitude? Hell yes!

Sometimes the WSJ gets it right. Today's 'must read'.

With his two Purple Hearts, three tattoos and spoiling-for-a-fight attitude, Sen. Jim Webb is emerging as the Democrats' point man on two of the most profound matters facing the electorate this November: national defense and the military.

A spokeswoman says Sen. Webb "speaks artfully about complex issues that many politicians shy away from, and it's his authenticity that is so compelling."

The self-described "redneck" occasionally carries a concealed pistol, and is still suspect to some Democrats for having served as Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration. He speaks fluent Vietnamese with his third wife, a lawyer who fled Vietnam as a girl and whom he calls his "warrior queen." He takes long walks in Arlington Cemetery, stopping recently to place a rock on the headstone of Sen. McCain's father, a tradition that signals respect for the dead.

"When most men hit 60, they buy a red Corvette," says Chris LaCivita, a Republican political consultant. "Jim Webb became a liberal Democrat."

Sen. Webb's latest mission is to expand his influence into what he calls "economic fairness." Calling himself a Reagan Democrat, Sen. Webb says the Democrats, to their detriment, have ignored the military, poor whites and Southerners in recent decades, but that is starting to change.

To broaden his populist appeal, Sen. Webb recently has been talking about financial and consumer issues. In the past week, at a Senate hearing on foreign relations, he criticized the fact that foreign countries have been investing government money in U.S. financial firms. Earlier this month he visited a Richmond, Va., food bank, where he lambasted the rising cost of food and gasoline.

The next morning, as a keynote speaker at the state's Democratic convention, Sen. Webb talked about the recent passage of the GI bill. "Some told me to wait my turn, let others -- more experienced -- do it," he said. "But I didn't back down!"

The crowd began clapping and chanting, "VP! VP! VP!" Sen. Webb pumped his fist in the air and strode off the stage.

Has Webb said things I don't agree with? Hell yes. Does it matter? Hell no.

This is a good man and it's time we have more (any!) of those in the White House.

Webb is a long shot to be picked for Veep, or to accept, but he would be a damn good choice. Of course, speaking as a 62-year-old recently tattooed redneck Librul Democrat Marine with an attitude, I might be just the teensiest bit biased...

Relativity ...

The Misfit, without comment:

...

A fresh-caught PFC makes $1,587.90 a month, a Spec 4 makes $1,758.90. A new 2LT hardly is rolling in dough at $2,555.70 a month. For being in a combat zone, the pay is tax-free and the government give an extra $225 or so. That is what they get paid to risk their lives, their limbs and their health.

Congressmen and Senators are paid $14,108.33 a month. They have the best health care system in the world and they pay nothing for it. They are not at personal risk, the most that can happen to them is that the voters fire them at the next election cycle. They risk far, far less than those soldiers do each and every day in Iraq and Afghanistan.

So the idea that 105 Democrats in the House caved on the FISA bill because they were afraid of losing their jobs rubs me the wrong way.

...

The 105 rat-fuck weasels are backstabbing the Constitution, not for glory, not for personal gain, but because they are abject cowards. We do not need friends such as those.

...

Horny ...

One of my favorite horn pieces.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Horn Concerto No. 2

Saturday whorage

As usual for a Saturday morning, the next chapter of Birthright is up at The Practical Press.

I had nothing but British cars at the shop yesterday, including this little beauty.

And, to get you going in the morning, what could be my favorite tune of all time.

Queen - Fat Bottomed Girls

Questions ...

Creature poses one:

... I have one question: when I break the law because a voice in my head assured me, with no basis in the law, that what I was about to do was completely legal, I can get off too? Right?

Silly Creature, we're not of the correct class to expect that kind of justice. We can't afford it, my friend.

Just...Liquid Alert!

I don't think it will bother any of our regular readers, but someone could blunder in here by accident, I suppose, so this is for them: Caution! Contains language some may find objectionable.

Aw, Christ 2.0...

Following up on Fixer's post, here's some more on the MTP swordfight/turkeyslap:

UPDATED: Keith Olbermann has vehemently denied rumors from the New York Post (owned by Rupert Murdoch) that he threatened to quit if he isn't given Tim Russert's job as host of "Meet the Press." Olbermann also said, "But I don't even consider myself qualified for it."

The big question is whether Olbermann would still do "Countdown." Olbermann should still be able to do both shows, but perhaps be given more time off for "Countdown," giving Rachel Maddow more of the screen time she deserves on MSNBC.

More screen time for Rachel Maddow! Be still my heart!

OTOH, KO is doing fine right where he is. What to do, what to do...

Olbermann and Gregory will be on the short list, since the network will likely fill from within the ranks of NBC News, an understandable move. But who else would be on the list?

Friedman and I agree on one thing: Chris Matthews should not be considered. Among many reasons, his style isn't conducive to the Sunday morning tradition. Chuck Todd is an outside pick, but his name will likely come up.

One name from the outside but who does have experience at NBC News is Gwen Ifill. Ifill, host of "Washington Week in Review" and contributor to the "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," has worked at NBC News, and would be a great pick if someone from outside the network is chosen. If Olbermann isn't picked, she would be my second choice.

I agree with all of that.

Is there someone else you think would do a better job than Olbermann? Or perhaps you want to keep Olbermann right where he is. Or maybe you like the sugesstion of either Olbermann or Ifill. Either way, let us know who you want to see as the next host.

????

Nutshells ...

And there you have it:

Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power.

...

Mission accomplished.

Widow nation ...

From the Guides:

BAQUBA, Jun 18 (IPS) - Just about everyone in Iraq is a loser as a result of the occupation, but none more than women. One of the more obvious signs of that is the very large number of widows.

...

For a widow, all things are the same, dark.

"Being a widow means being dead in Iraq today," a professor from Diyala University, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IPS. "This is because of the tremendous responsibilities cast upon her."

The widows have become victims of the occupation, but also of social codes. Women are not supposed to commit mistakes, and when they do, their mistakes are rarely forgiven. Women are easily accused of doing 'bad things', regardless of proof.

...

"Islam gives respectable freedom to the woman when she loses her husband," a religious cleric told IPS. "But because of their ignorance, people place severe restrictions on the woman."

...

Iraqi widows ain't like single moms here (not diminishing the job they have to do as well). The basic civil rights we take for granted (equal for men and women) are non-existent there. Our presence is helping to create yet another generation of widows.

Simple ...

Listen to Lambert:

...

Tyranny is tyranny, no matter the technology.

So it’s simple and crystal clear: The Fourth Amendment means that the government doesn’t get to read your data—to the Framers, “paper”—without a warrant.

It’s simple. And anybody who tries to make it complicated is trying to fuck you.

...

Off to work. TGIF!

Regular folks ...

The McCains are selling one of their houses (8) ... plural. And they're calling the Obamas elitist?

Vid stolen from Mr. Aravosis.

This is the realtor's video.

Aw, Christ ...

Another shill:

Six days after Tim Russert's death, his replacement on "Meet the Press" has been named -- at least for this Sunday.

Brian Williams, the NBC anchor and Russert's longtime friend, will fill the moderator's chair for the discussion of presidential politics and whatever else pops up. His guests will be Sens. Joe Biden (D-Del.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

...

We ain't surprised, are we?

Bullshit to me one more time* ...

Once and for all:

...

Hello, people? You know the Republicans lie about everything, right? They lied about the war, they lied about WMD, they lied about 9/11, they lied about the Clintons, they lied about their own compassion, they lied about military casualties. So why do you believe them when they tell you that China is drilling off the coast of Cuba?

Because that is NOT HAPPENING, people. No, no, a thousand times no. Dick Cheney, the father of all lies (in his other incarnation as Satan) started this particular lie. Think about all the times over the past five years this moronic monster has told you that the Iraqi "insurgents are in the last throes" of their insurgency. How many times was it true? Once? Even once?

Nope. Not even once. [my em]

...

Links aplenty at PC's place.

*Apologies to the Captain and Tennille.

"Slay the Beast once and for all!"

Today's 'must read' at The Regressive Antidote will make you feel good!

Republicans are going down.

Let me say that again (‘cause it feels so good): Republicans are going down. Hard.

A tsunami this way cometh, and it’s got GOP loaded in its GPS.

Anyhow, November 4th is going to be a serious party in a whole lot of households across the entire planet, but November 5th is in many ways going to be even more amusing. For, along with getting clobbered in the race for the White House, the Republicans are going to get smashed all across the ballot, from the US Senate all the way down to local dogcatcher races. They are going to be shell-shocked zombies. The walking wounded. Poster-children for PTSD. And, they are neither going to know what to do about it, nor will they have any particularly attractive options from which to choose.

Fuck 'em.

Many of the looniest of the regressive right will insist that their problem was that they simply weren’t conservative enough! The rest of us here in the reality-based world should cross every finger, toe and any other bodily appendage we can, in the hopes that these folks win the fratricidal war inside the party. Yeah, man, that’s what America wants! Not less of the thirteenth century, but more! More war! More bankruptcy! More lies! More recession! More deficits! More economic predation! More environmental destruction! More trashing of the national reputation! More Constitution shredding! More democracy debasing! More corruption! More sexism, racism, xenophobia and homophobia! More polarization and rancor in our politics! More imperial presidency accountable to no one! More drowned cities! More incompetence! More Bushes! (Yo, Jeb – what up, dude?) Of course! What could Republicans ever have been thinking? The problem with conservatives is that they didn’t realize until too late that America is actually more conservative than Bush, Scalia, DeLay and the rest.

[...] This party is today nothing whatsoever other than a vehicle for corporate predation. It pretends to give a shit about abortion or affirmative action to get votes. It pretends to be pious to sucker preacher-programmed Jesus Freaks into voting for it. It pretends to care about national security because a good fright always comes in handy on election day (and also because there’s loads of fat, no-bid contracts to be had from the corpulent military-industrial complex). In fact, though, it doesn’t care about any of those things.

Indeed, in truth it is a misnomer to even consider the GOP to be American in any real sense of the normal meaning of that term. Ironically, the party of xenophobia and so-called national security has long been little more than a wholly-owned subsidiary of corporations whose locations and tentacles are completely global, and whose only real interest is in importing wealth to shareholders and management, while exporting risk elsewhere. [...]

[...] Indeed, this is probably what the McCain candidacy now represents, though pre-November 4th he must still genuflect deeply in the direction of the rapacious right – whether of the corporate, imperialist or religious stripe.

My guess is that you can’t bury these guys forever, and that, anyhow, the new Republican Party that emerges after their near-death experience in 2008 will be much more moderate than the crazed one of the Reagan-through-W era (and how could it not be?).

All of that would be a major improvement on the horror story we’ve all lived through these last decades, though of course, even better would be to slay the beast once and for all.

Meanwhile, whatever happens, progressives are about to live through the Woodstock of schadenfreude.

Enjoy the ride. Boy, have we ever earned it.

As far as I'm concerned, the money line in that piece is "slay the beast once and for all".

Note to Repugs: Payback is a sucking chest wound and you made the ammo that we will be very pleased to shoot you and pin an Ace of Spades to your forehead with.



I'm trying to not be smug just yet because it could all go horribly wrong, but a little anticipatory practice smugness, just to see what it feels like for later, feels good and can't hurt.

'W' is for...

You can get these bumperstickers here.

Would an October surprise even work?

The Last Chance Democracy Cafe follows up on yesterday's post:

Democrats have been worrying a lot lately about a possible October surprise. You know, some dramatic game changing event deliberately dropped into the closing months of the campaign in the hope of saving John McCain’s bacon: something along the lines of war with Iran, catching Osama bin Laden or McCain proving the Beltway pundits right by actually walking on water.

McCain can easily demonstrate his prowess at walking on water by taking one more teeny step off the end of the pier he's already standing on. My money's on straight to the bottom. Johnny, meet Davey Jones. Heh.

So does worrying so much about this (other than the walking on water part) mean we’re paranoid?

Nope, no paranoia here: There’s obviously nothing irrational about fearing that George W. Bush will do anything — and I mean anything — to keep his team in the White House. He’s proven as much on multiple occasions, most shamefully through the deliberate manipulation of terrorism alerts for political gain. Besides, Bush & Co. have plenty of incentive to continue their pattern of gaming the machinery of American democracy. If nothing else, how happy can they be over the prospect of having Barack Obama’s Department of Justice investigating their various crimes?

No, it seems pretty clear that the irrational thing would be to not worry about an October surprise.

But would one even work?

It might, I suppose, but personally I doubt it. Bush, the most politically obsessed president in memory, in terms of subverting federal policy for political ends, overplayed his hand long ago. No one believes him anymore. In fact, even if he were to act in absolute apolitical sincerity in, say, launching a few missiles at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a month or two before the election, people would still assume the worst.

He’s earned our abiding distrust the good old-fashioned way — by lying almost every time he opens his mouth.

I don’t doubt that he may well try to help McCain through an October surprise, but my money’s on it backfiring in a big way.

Steve's talkin' about the October Surprise backfirin' on McCain, but if Bush does something truly demented like bombing Iran, the backfire could extend waaaay beyond that as far as the U.S. is concerned. My visual of the 'backfire' Bush could cause goes something like a car backfire that blows the carburetor and exhaust pipe, cylinder heads attached, right off the engine with an impressive display of pyrotechnics, along with a flyin' hood and crap on the seat. God help us.

Travel Advisory

Scott Horton with a 'recommended read':

The U.S. isn't likely to try Bush administration officials for war crimes--but it's likely that a European country will.

After a couple of false starts at the end of the Civil War and World War I, the idea of prosecuting prominent policymakers as war criminals was launched after World War II, when the historic tribunals convened in Nuremberg and Tokyo. Significantly, one of those cases involved lawyers whose crimes included the preparation of legal memoranda explaining how the leadership could dispense with the troublesome requirements of the Geneva and Hague Conventions in dealing with detainees. The Nuremberg proceedings inspired the special purpose tribunals created for Cambodia, Yugoslavia, and Rwanda, among others, and laid the groundwork for the International Criminal Court.

But the questions hanging over efforts to enforce the law of war with respect to political leaders remain. Only extremely unusual circumstances will lead a country to try one of its own leaders for war crimes. Curiously, the Bush administration is responsible for the most prominent recent case: the prosecution, before a U.S.-financed and -advised special court in Baghdad, of Saddam Hussein and a number of his senior lieutenants.

Is it likely that prosecutions will be brought overseas? Yes. It is reasonably likely. Sands's book contains an interview with an investigating magistrate in a European nation, which he describes as a NATO nation with a solidly pro-American orientation which supported U.S. engagement in Iraq with its own soldiers. The magistrate makes clear that he is already assembling a case, and is focused on American policymakers. I read these remarks and they seemed very familiar to me. In the past two years, I have spoken with two investigating magistrates in two different European nations, both pro-Iraq war NATO allies. Both were assembling war crimes charges against a small group of Bush administration officials. "You can rest assured that no charges will be brought before January 20, 2009," one told me. And after that? "It depends. We don't expect extradition. But if one of the targets lands on our territory or on the territory of one of our cooperating jurisdictions, then we'll be prepared to act."

Viewed in this light, the Bush Administration figures involved in the formation of torture policy face no immediate threat of prosecution for war crimes. But Colin Powell's chief of staff, Colonel Larry Wilkerson, nails it: "Haynes, Feith, Yoo, Bybee, Gonzales and--at the apex--Addington, should never travel outside the U.S., except perhaps to Saudi Arabia and Israel. They broke the law; they violated their professional ethical code. In the future, some government may build the case necessary to prosecute them in a foreign court, or in an international court." Augusto Pinochet made a trip to London, and his life was never the same afterwards.

The Bush administration officials who pushed torture will need to be careful about their travel plans.

I think once the criminals are ensconced in a heavily fortified compound in Paraguay they will be beyond the reach of all but Special Ops. Tom Clancy described exactly how to get 'em all with one round in Clear And Present Danger.

The Enron Loophole

Can you say 'Enron'? - Fixer

Following up on yesterday's post about oil production and prices, Keith Olbermann, obviously an avid reader of the Brain, expands the discussion. This is probably as close to the reason why the prima benzina costs what it does as we're likely to get:



Like most of what is wrong in our country, it boils down to greed, lobbyists, Wall Street, and Repuglican corruption and incompetence at everything except enriching themselves at the expense of everyone who isn't part of their criminal enterprise.

Watch for spin that blames Clinton, "We started it but he didn't stop it so it's all his fault."

How it's done ...

Digby sez:

...

I think it's important to remember that they don't care about "credibility" at least the way we think of it. This is about the death by a thousand cuts, not any particular story. They start with a few tales that acclimate people to the idea that the Democrat has something to hide. He's not being forthcoming. Something's not quite right. Over time it creates a general sense of discomfort with the person, eventually even on the part of those who know it isn't true. (They resent the victim for making them have to deal with these things. It's exhausting.)

...

It should start coming in like high tide in the Bay of Fundy any time now.

Late for work. Bye ...

Compromise? On war?

This is why I have so little faith in Dems; on their chances this November, or on them affecting any real change in the way we do business in Washington:

The House will vote on an emergency supplemental spending bill Thursday after Republican and Democratic leaders struck a deal with the White House late Wednesday, aides said.

...

There should be no compromise with the White House on anything anymore.

...

The compromise bill will include about $165 billion in funding for the Iraq war with no conditions, such as banning torture or blocking a "status of forces agreement" between the Bush administration and the Iraqi government. [my em]

...

Keep acting like losers and that's what'll happen once again. Twits.

Link via the BooMan.

Your next President ... hopefully

...

Well I refuse to be lectured on national security by people who are responsible for the most disastrous set of foreign policy decisions in the recent history of the United States. The other side likes to use 9/11 as a political bludgeon. Well, let’s talk about 9/11.

The people who were responsible for murdering 3,000 Americans on 9/11 have not been brought to justice. They are Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and their sponsors – the Taliban. They were in Afghanistan. And yet George Bush and John McCain decided in 2002 that we should take our eye off of Afghanistan so that we could invade and occupy a country that had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. The case for war in Iraq was so thin that George Bush and John McCain had to hype the threat of Saddam Hussein, and make false promises that we’d be greeted as liberators. They misled the American people, and took us into a misguided war.

...

Our military is overstretched in Iraq. We have nearly 150,000 troops in Iraq, many on their second, third, or fourth tour of duty. Meanwhile, Afghanistan is sliding toward chaos, and risks turning into a narco-terrorist state. The Taliban is on the offensive in the south. A recent Taliban prison break in Kandahar freed hundreds of militants, and underscored the volatile situation on the ground. The coalition casualties in Afghanistan last month were higher than in Iraq. That’s the result of the Bush-McCain approach to the war on terrorism.

...

Get it together, people. This man is our last, best hope short of revolution (and that would probably do more harm than good). John McCain will put this country over the edge. This is our last chance to fix what we fucked up for the last 8 years.

Great thanks to Oliver Willis for the link.

Supporting the Troops ...

From Mr. Aravosis:

... So, one of our readers emailed me and noted that it's all and well and good for Bush to attend Tim Russert's wake, but has he ever bothered to attend the wake or funeral of a US soldier who died in Iraq? ...

Of course he went to Timmeh's funeral. Russert helped get him what he wanted.

Note to Congress: Has G got a deal for you!

Raw Story

The House Judiciary Committee has written a letter to Karl Rove reminding him of a pending subpoena requiring his appearance on July 10 to answer allegations that he played a role in the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. Rove has not yet agreed to testify publicly and under oath.

MSNBC’s Dan Abrams asked Judiciary Committee member Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) whether Chairman John Conyers would follow through on his threat to have Rove arrested if he does not appear.

“If that’s what it takes,” Wasserman Schultz replied. “We really cannot allow the co-equal branch of government, the legislative branch, to be trampled upon by the executive branch.”

You people ain't been exactly sterling at 'not getting trampled upon', but if you grow some sack and give it a try, here's my offer:

As a qualified Marine Corps Prisoner Escort, aka 'Brig Chaser' (see below), it would be my distinct pleasure to go clap that motherfucker in irons for you. The card has expired, but the desire to use the nightstick knowledge on Rove burns hotter than that for taking Marines to their court-martials and jail ever did. I'll betcha I have a lot of backup too.

Also, I'm not Halliburton or KBR. I'll work pretty cheap in this case since it's my patriotic duty, delivery guaranteed.

Click to emBRIGgen. Heh.

The tragic legacy of a disastrous president

Thank the stars for The Independent.

So perhaps Mr Bush's most significant legacy, as far as Britain is concerned, will be the destruction of the instinctive trust of America and its leaders that once prevailed here. It is no exaggeration to say that Mr Bush has done more damage to relations between our two nations than any president in living memory. This rupture is not an accident of circumstance; there are no impersonal forces of history to blame. This sorry state of affairs is the consequence of the actions of a single leader and his small coterie of advisers.

In one sense, this is a discussion about history. Like all second-term American presidents, Mr Bush's power is waning by the day. His legacy will be for academics to debate. The pertinent question now is to what extent Mr Bush's huge unpopularity has contaminated wider public attitudes to America in Britain. Can a President Obama, or a President McCain, heal the wounds? Or is the damage permanent? One would have to suspect that the situation is recoverable; not least because America itself seems as eager for change as Britain. But whether the relationship will ever return to what it was pre-Bush, is another question entirely.

And whatever the future holds for transatlantic relations, there will be very few in this country who watched President Bush's plane depart yesterday without a feeling of profound relief that the end of this disastrous presidency is finally in sight.

You and us both, my Limey brethren.

Re 'watching Bush's plane depart': the saddest moment on these shores will be watching it arrive.

What will the 'October Surprise' be, pray tell?

BuzzFlash

Fall can be a time of surprises. No, not the new TV season, but the kind of surprises that come up in the election year.

The official term "October Surprise" came about in 1980 over an alleged plan for a massive military invasion of Iran for rescuing the hostages. And it also applies to the alleged plot that claimed representatives of the Ronald Reagan campaign conspired with Iran to delay the release of 52 Americans held hostage until after the election. But the element of the "October Surprise" has been an issue in numerous elections.

So no matter whether it's September, October, November, are we getting a fall surprise? Will it be an invasion of Iran? Will Bush resign, giving the reins briefly to Cheney, and nominating Condoleezza Rice to replace Cheney? Will it be a replacement for McCain on the ticket?

Let us know what you think: what might the October surprise be in 2008?

OK, for what it's worth here's my worst-case scenario, and it'll come as no 'surprise': Besides the déjà fuckin' vu of an attack on Iran, a real one this time, 'Baby Doc' Bush will declare martial law, suspend elections indefinitely, decree himself President For Life for reasons of national security, and wipe his ass with what's left of the Constitution.