Powell

Salon via Digby:

Secretary of State Colin Powell has privately confided to friends in recent weeks that the Iraqi insurgents are winning the war, according to Newsweek. The insurgents have succeeded in infiltrating Iraqi forces "from top to bottom," a senior Iraqi official tells Newsweek in tomorrow’s issue of the magazine, "from decision making to the lower levels."

[. . .]

Any respect I had for Powell went bye-bye a long time ago. He knew what invading Iraq would entail and he knew the White House lost any grip they had on reality when they decided on war. He should have resigned when he realized he was being played for an Uncle Tom stepandfetchit by President No Nuts.

Flog It

I have just recently heard the expression used by bloggers to promote posts on their own blogs when posting on other blogs: Blog-whoring. I think that's crass. Accurate, maybe, but crass nonetheless.

I have come up with a term that I think is more G-rated, combining an element of self-promotion while retaining an off-color element to satisfy our base desires. Ready?

Blogflogging.

The term combines the Brit term, flogging, which means 'sell' or 'promote', and an old American meaning derived from the phrase 'flogging your dummy' which needs no explanation to those who have done it. The other half of the population doesn't have the need to know. I think their expression for the same deal is 'tickling the sailor' or something like that. Come to think of it, 'flogging' was a Royal Navy practice, involving whips and chains. Ooh!

I think it has a certain alliterative quality as well.

This could be my big chance for cyber-fame and fortune. I even have a new word for that: Anonyfame.

Out Of The Ether...

I'm not the only one with a tinfoil hat, but some get better reception than others. Go catch these future broadcasts on election night at Jeffthinks.
A sample:

10:07 p.m. - Rather: "So far, there has been only one surprise tonight and that's John Kerry's surprisingly strong showing in the 'Sunshine State.' He currently leads there in popular vote by nearly a million votes."

11:42 p.m. - Rather: "There appears to be a change in the popular vote in Florida. Now, we don't know if there is a tie-in to the computer crashes in South Florida, but the popular vote in Florida has changed and there are now actually LESS votes reported than before . Also, it appears that John Kerry's million vote lead in the 'Sunshine State' has apparently disappeared and the popular vote nows shows President Bush with a slight lead there."

Jeff's in Florida, so the signals may be extra strong there. Strong, but wrong. Good story, tho'.

Fluffers in N.J.

America’s favorite twin bachelorettes, Barbara and Jenna Bush, are expected to visit Mercer County Republican headquarters in Hamilton this afternoon.

[. . .]

The twins’ visit is coming two days after their father campaigned near Yardley, Pa., where news events get coverage from media outlets on the both sides of the Delaware River, which separates the two key states.

[. . .]

Story.

New campaign slogan. "BJs for Bush."

Ellen Goodman

In WaPo via Melanie:

[. . .]

On Sept. 12 the world was divided into us and them, the community of nations against the terrorists. Today, the world is divided into the United States and them. After all the bungling and arrogance, we are nearly isolated.

[. . .]

Polls

I gave up watching them because my head was gonna explode, but the team at Kos love the fucking things. Newest here and here.

Some lowly blogger

Though Kevin Hayden is no lowly blogger, he theorizes as to what Osama and Ayman are talking about lately.

[. . .]

Zawahiri: What is the meaning of this? This “October Surprise"?

Osama: It is a way to influence the elections of the Imperial Goatman. The Democratic infidels have been saying lately that the Goatherder Rove is planning this surprise as a strategy to get his Goatman elected.

[. . .]

This'll Clear It Right Up....

Shoulda went to Wonkette first, saved myself a lot of head scratchin' trying to figure this shit out. Out of the mouths of babes...

Ooops: He's alive. And he's condemning Bush. Which of course means that he wants Kerry to win. Unless he really wants Bush to win and is just by default endorsing Kerry in order to get people to vote for Bush out of spite. But then again, if we're smart enough to figure that out, then maybe Osama knows that, too and he really wants Kerry to win, and is endorsing Kerry so that people will at first learn toward voting for Bush but then think that's what Osama wants. . . So confusing. Clearly, we've fallen for one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is: "Never get involved in a land war in Asia"; but only slightly less well known is this: "Do not read about goats when death is on the line."

My head hurts.

More on Osama Bin* Video

Here's a take on it from Whiskey Bar:

Right on time, too -- four days before the election. (The Madrid bombing was three days before.)

In a way, this move is even smarter than an actual terrorist attack on American soil -- which al-Qaeda might not have been able to pull off anyway. A real attack would have been an unpredictable gamble. It might have given Bush a huge boost, but it's at least conceivable it would have had the opposite effect, by underscoring the hollowness of the endlessly repeated Republican claim that our cowboy-in-chief has made us all safer.

What was it Rove said the other day when Sean Hannity asked him about October surprises? "We've got a couple of things we intend to spring." Something like that.

By plastering his face over every TV in America for the next couple of days, he's given Bush a priceless gift -- a boogeyman with which to frighten that last sliver of undecided voters into rejecting change. Al Qaeda, it seems, has evolved into one hell of an effective 527 organization.

I didn't know that OBL was a Republican operative. It would be interesting to know how long before 9/11 he was on the payroll.

*That's what they call him in Texas, like 'Billy Bob'.

Cheer Up, Vatos...

The 'Pubs and the right-wing media are already getting their excuses ready for Dubya's trouncing. Check out Wolcott, Digby, and Josh Marshall.

I don't wanna give it away, but the blame will include, but is not limited to, the words 'Liberal' and 'media'.

Bush, Cheney, Crow

If you wanna see something that will really piss you off even more at the 'Pubs, read this at Oliver Willis. Scroll down to "Black Voter Suppression Underway." Thanks Yelladog.

And I authorized this message . . .

The best Republican Jesus yet.

Saturday Cattle Dog blogging

I don't know

Gordon and Jeff didn't see the issue the same way I did in my last post. I don't know but my gut feeling says that enough people will see this as Bush's ultimate failure. This was the murderer, the international super-villain, a reg'ler James Bond bad guy, and Bush couldn't do what Her Majesty's Secret Service could, many times over. And here is Blofeld and his S.P.E.C.T.R.E. organization, taking over our airwaves to taunt President Impotent. Osama didn't look bad, he was calm and lucid, comfortable even. Bush had three years to make this guy's life miserable at the least, or turn him into fertilizer at most. Instead we had to go to war in Iraq. I think this points up Bush's failures in the brightest light possible.

Update: 07:15:

Kos:

Now, why that helps Bush is beyond me. For months, we saw the offense-is-defense idea pushed by every pundit you can think of who had access to RNC talking points that any discussion of Iraq, no matter how bad, was good for Bush. Whatever bad things surfaced that pointed out how screwed up Iraq was, it was good for Bush. Everything he did wrong was great publicity for him. Like the explosives story all this week. Like Halliburton investigations. Right.

I saw OBL today and I thought, hmmm. Looks in good health. Had access to video equipment. Arms work. Looks clean. So where is he? Why hasn't Bush found him? Why isn't Bush talking about him?

[. . .]

Update: 11:15:

Matt Yglesias sees it the way Gordon does:

I think liberals trying to argue that this bin Laden tape won't help Bush are probably fooling themselves. Bush will be helped, it's pretty obvious that Bush will be helped, and OBL is certainly aware that this stunt will help Bush. This is because, of course, OBL likes Bush in office just fine . . .

Osama

This is the October surprise, my friends. Osama did come out at the end of October, but instead of in a bodybag, he's laughing at Bush on TV. This will be the Golden Spike in Bush's coffin.

Pour It On

In the same vein as my previous post, Paul Krugman of the NYTimes adds fuel to the fire:

It's remarkable that the right-wingers who dominate cable news and talk radio are still complaining about a liberal stranglehold over the media. But, that absurdity aside, they're missing a crucial point: Al Qaqaa is hardly the only tale of incompetence and mendacity to break to the surface in the last few days. Here's a quick look at some of the others:

Letting Osama get away

Letting Zarqawi get away

The situation in Iraq

$70 billion more

All of these stories would be getting more play right now if it weren't for the Al Qaqaa mess. Still, one can understand why the right is so upset.

After all, Al Qaqaa illustrates in a particularly graphic way the failures of Mr. Bush's national security leadership. U.S. soldiers passed through Al Qaqaa, a crucial munitions dump, but were never told that it was important to secure the site. If administration officials object that they couldn't have spared enough troops to guard the site, they're admitting that they went in without enough troops. And the fact that these explosives fell into unknown hands is a perfect example of how the Iraq war has worsened the terrorist threat.

But worst of all from the right's point of view, Al Qaqaa has disrupted the campaign's media strategy. Karl Rove clearly planned to turn the final days of the campaign into a series of "global test" moments - taking something Mr. Kerry said and distorting its meaning, then generating pseudo-controversies that dominate the airwaves. Instead, the news media have spent the last few days discussing substance. And that's very bad news for Mr. Bush.

The flames are leaping high! More Boy Scout fluid! Get the steaks ready! Grilled chimp, mmmm!

October Surprise...YES!

Geov Parrish in Working For Change has a hopeful message:

Well, October is nearly over. You may not have even noticed, but the October surprise is in. Virtually every news development in this critical final week has been working against the re-election of George W. Bush.

Those voter suppression stories are only one of the more than a half-dozen major stories of the week, all of which call into question the rule or tactics of Bush and friends.

And then there's all those other stories. There's Iraq, of course, where Bush's sins in the past have been noisily unraveling in the news for a while now.

Meanwhile, our own guy, Iraqi puppet prime minister Iyad Allawi, blasted the Americans for incompetence over the execution last weekend of several dozen more Iraqi policemen. Do we sense a trend here?

It's all been bad news for a White House that has been curiously exempt from having to answer for its recklessness for the better part of four years. One after another, the stories remind us that this is an administration that is both ideologically extreme and stunningly incompetent. One after another, they remind us that we can't afford another four years.

But at this point -- less than a week out -- the tea leaves usually start to settle, and what they're pointing to is a Kerry victory. Soon -- with a lot of hard work in the next few days -- a long national nightmare will be over

Bad news for Bush, good news for us, our country, and the rest of the world. Read the article, it'll make you feel a lot better. It's about time.

Don't get complacent. You don't stop punching just because the guy's reeling a little. When the guy's on the ropes, that's the time to pour it on. Stay informed. Read magazines, newspapers, blogs. Raise your voice. It's not only your right, it's your duty.

Vote as many times as they'll let you. Use fake ID's and disguises. The Repubs will.

When Kerry wins, me and Fixer promise not to take all the credit for it. We'll be glad to share.

It's called Genocide

Via Lean Left from The Guardian:

[. . .]

As many as 100,000 more Iraqi civilians have died in the 18 months since the US-led invasion last year than would have been expected in the period before the war, a study claimed today.

Researchers said the chances of a violent death were 58 times higher after the invasion than before it. [my emphasis]

[. . .]

Bush and his Cabinet should be turned over to The Hague to face war crimes charges. I know, Americans should deal with this, but if there's one way to regain our credibility and respect in the world, this is it. Hell with Bush's lies and ineptitude, he is a mass murderer, no better than Saddam, no better than Osama. Though it would never be done, Chimpy Inc. should be living in 8x8 cells somewhere in . . . France.

The new al Qaeda tape

If I didn't know better, I'd say the guy in the tape is Ari Fleischer. See Digby for details.

Cancel

My local paper came today and they endorsed President Chimp-ass. Just called and canceled my subscription. I told 'em if they were that stupid to endorse that moron, I doubted their journalistic competence. Some of my neighbors have already commented.