Do as I say ...

A lot of people are hypocrites. Fortunately for the human race, the hypocrisy the average person engages in mainly has to do with talking shit about other people while failing to install mirrors in their own houses. Relatively harmless.

That said, Greenwald looks at the Neocon hypocrisy in terms of following the law:

...

The central premise of the Bush presidency has been that this Middle East agenda -- the Epic War of Civilizations for Our Very Existence -- is so paramount that no limits can be tolerated, whether those limits be expressed by long-standing worldwide conventions, moral and political taboos against torture and lawless detention, or even the basic limits imposed by our constitutional framework and by the rule law. All of that must give way to glorious neoconservative triumph over the Supreme Evil Muslim Enemy.

...

Any neoconservative accused of wrongdoing is, by definition, innocent and wrongfully persecuted. The real criminals are always the prosecutors, the investigators, and the accusers. And even when a noeconservative is demonstrated to be guilty, the pure Goodness -- the Overarching Importance -- of their mission means that they ought to be immune from punishment.

...

This has had ramifications across the globe, some we aren't even aware of yet, that will haunt us for decades.

Paris ...

No, not the city Mrs. F and I love so dearly.

Listen to me. If your biggest concern is Gov. Ahnold pardoning that waste of good oxygen, you are in desperate need of a life. As our friend Skippy points out, some of the comments are hilarious.

Shiny shit

Wow, two links to BlueJersey today. Jmelli finds this comment* on an article in the Star-Ledger:

So let me get this straight....The plan was for six guys to attack a fortified US MILITARY BASE filled with soldiers and weapons in the middle of the pine barrons [sic]?

The Bush administration HAS to be behind this plot. Only they could come up with such a ill-concieved battle plan!

Iraq, what Iraq? We got real live terrists Islamic terrists right here! (I thought we were "fightin' them over there so they don't follow us over here", but what do I know?) I mean, real Americans can't be terrorists, right?

*Read through the comments on the page to see the freepers flippin'.

The troops are going hungry because of the Democrats...

Iraq's child mortality rate up by 150% since 1990

From Save The Children:

“Iraq’s child mortality rate has increased by a staggering 150 percent since 1990, more than any other country. Even before the latest war, Iraqi mothers and children were facing a grave humanitarian crisis caused by years of repression, conflict and external sanctions. Since 2003, electricity shortages, insufficient clean water, deteriorating health services and soaring inflation have worsened already difficult living conditions. Some 122,000 Iraqi children (1 in 8) died in 2005 before reaching their fifth birthday. More than half of these deaths were among newborn babies in the first month of life. Pneumonia and diarrhea are the other two major killers of children in Iraq, together accounting for over 30 percent of child deaths. Only 35 percent of Iraqi children are fully immunized, and more than one-fifth (21 percent) are severely or moderately stunted. Conservative estimates place increases in infant mortality following the 2003 invasion of Iraq at 37 percent.”

Not a lot I can add. These (particularly horrifying) facts stand by themselves. A naked indictment of Republican politcs. Please see that this link is circulated. The full State of the World's Mother's 2007 report (PDF) is definitely a riveting read.

R.

What kinda bird don't fly?

From a previous post:

Now that the FCC has ruled that every blog has to have the "Paris Percentage" -- some quotient alluding to Paris Hilton -- let's get that part over with, shall we?

LATimes

When Paris Hilton checks into her temporary quarters at the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood next month, she will surrender more than just the freedom to roam Los Angeles' boutiques and clubs.

That 'surrender freedom' is sorta the whole point of jail, I think. A description follows of the hardship and deprivation that spoiled brat will endure. In California you get one day off your sentence for each two days served if you behave, so she's gonna do 30 days. As us former jailbirds like to say, "30 days? Shit, I can do that standing on my head with my balls on fire!"

Here's an article about the judge who finally gave Miss Hilton the spanking her parents should have given her long ago:

"I don't care to be the DUI judge to the stars," Sauer told The Times on Monday. "I'm amazed about the amount of talk about this case. I'm amazed at the amount of publicity."

At 69, Hizzoner may not be aware that the proletariat loves its celebrity circuses, especially when a high-profile arrogant young idiot gets treated like anybody else who repeatedly violates their probation, which mostly says to obey the law and not use alcohol. Whee!

She must not be a large contributor to Republicans.

Another attorney who has appeared multiple times before Sauer speculated that the judge may have been annoyed by Hilton's repeated violation of her license suspension and her late arrival for her hearing.

"I think in this case she must have gotten under his skin ... basically she thumbed her nose at him," said Mark J. Werksman. "There's a limit to a judge's patience.

Having probably spent more time in court than anybody who reads this, I can attest to that.

The urban legends have already begun to crop up; celebrity gossip website TMZ.com, citing "sources inside," reported that Sauer received a standing ovation from his fellow congregants Sunday at St. Brendan Catholic Church.

He says it isn't true. I have my doubts. Heh.

I'm a little surprised that she's going to jail in L.A. I'm sure the Lynwood facility isn't as dangerous as the Twin Towers (a real LULU), but it's still an urban lockup. When Sean Penn had to do a little stretch several years ago, he got to do his time in a quiet little country county jail in Mono County, whose major attractions are trout fishing and a ghost town. It probably saved his life.

I hope Miss Hilton gets to meet some reg'lar folks in the hoosegow, and wises up a little. Hey, it could happen!

Having now complied with FCC regulations, I will return to matters of greater significance, which is almost anything else.

Chris Matthews To War Supporter: You Got A Problem With Democracy?

Lardass stood on his hind legs like a man for a minute. Noteworthy.

The Horse's Mouth, with video:

Chris Matthews' guest, a pro-war vet, pumps his host's head up with winger talking points until it finally explodes:

(Video)

In response to the inevitable "Congress is micromanaging the troops against the wishes of the Commanders" argument, Matthews says:

"...Democracy -- that means politicians run countries. You got a problem with that?"

Yeah, something like that. Geez, Matthews really was ticked -- but of course, it can get pretty exasperating just how often the basics need to be restated.

The 'basics' involve the difference between 'strategy' and 'tactics', and 'civilian control of the military'.

My own sentiment is expressed by the very first commenter:

Good. Now let's see if he can repeat that more often ... 'cause I have my doubts.

No shit.

George Kennan vs. Bush, Cheney, Rove, Kristol, Limbaugh, O'Reilly and Coulter

Walter C. Uhler

George Kennan's 15 May 1953 speech at the University of Notre Dame was delivered at a time, when the right-wing anti-communist hysteria, inflamed by Senator Joseph McCarthy, was at its peak. Yet, it courageously exposed the demagogic McCarthyites for the ignorant, self-righteous, fear-mongering extremists they were. Thus, one can hardly avoid the conclusion that John Lukacs appended the speech to his new book about George Kennan, because it has much to teach us about courage during the current campaign of fear orchestrated by today's American equally self-righteous right-wing extremists.

But what about the water-carriers for Bush, Cheney, Rove and Kristol, such as Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Ann Coulter? They certainly meet the criteria Kennan observed in 1953, when he said: "[T]hey claim the right to define a certain area of our national life and cultural output as beyond the bounds of righteous approval… One has the impression that if uncountered, these people would eventually narrow the area of political and cultural respectability to a point where it included only themselves, the excited accusers, and excluded everything and everybody not embraced in the profession of denunciation."

Mr. Uhler, channelling and updating Mr. Kennan, takes 'em on one at a time. Go read to find out who's "the worst of them all". Place yer bets...

To those, like the writer, who are inclined to fight fire with fire, the following observations seem inescapable: In light of the fact that the Bush/Cheney regime started an illegal, immoral war against Iraq, based upon lies and exaggerations about Iraq's so-called weapons of mass destruction and so-called links to al Qaeda; in light of the fact that the lives of more than 3,300 American soldiers have been wasted for such lies and exaggerations, as well as, perhaps, the lives of some hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis, and in light of the facts that this illegal, immoral war has increased terrorist attacks seven-fold around the world, elevated Iran to a position of regional dominance, infringed upon domestic liberties in the U.S. and caused a worldwide explosion of hatred of the United States; isn't it plausible to claim that the real traitors to the United States are the members of the Bush administration, the neocons and their McCarthyite water-carriers? ?

In the name of "forgiveness and charity and understanding," then, let's simply work to assure that the Bush administration, the neocons and their McCarthyite water-carriers receive justice. Which would include impeachment for some and jail time for all! (my heartfelt em)

I have nothing to add. Don't miss this one.

How To Tell A Bible-Reading Event Outside The Capitol Was Coordinated By Jeff Gannon

Tony Peyser

"Here's a passage from the Book Of Mark
To show us the light and banish the dark:

If you are guilty of eternal sin,
Well, hello, sailor! Come on in!"

Blow or Dough?

Patt Morrison at HuffPo:

Now that the FCC has ruled that every blog has to have the "Paris Percentage" -- some quotient alluding to Paris Hilton -- let's get that part over with, shall we?

Ms Hilton's great-grandfather, hotelier Conrad Hilton, famously ended his public appearances by asking, "And please remember to put the shower curtain inside the tub."

We now return to our regularly scheduled blog, already in progress.

I'm thinking that there are many ways to sort Democrats from Republicans, but when it comes to scandals, I like this helpful little rule of thumb:

All scandals are about power. But I think Democrats especially covet Republicans' money, and Republicans have the hots for Democrats' sex lives. And there's the tripwire.

It isn't a law of physics ; there are loads of exceptions to the red-or-blue blow-or-dough rule [Wilbur Mills, for starters]. But the next time the word "scandal" hits the headlines, check whether the word "money" or "sex" is there, and then try to predict whether the subject has an R or a D after his name. You can't take it to Vegas, but maybe you can make book on it -- a little black book -- in the Beltway.

Heh. I think the D.C. Madam's 'little black book' runs to 47 pounds!

Will Doolittle do time?

A good article about the rise and looming fall of my congresscritter, and the peak and decline of the Repug criminal machine in general, in the Sacramento News & Review.

Does the downfall of a local congressman mean something more than the latest corruption of a politician?

Whatever the ultimate outcome of the U.S. Department of Justice's ongoing investigation into Congressman John T. Doolittle and his wife, Julie - and it's been going on for three years now - clearly his political career is over. Even if he and his wife unexpectedly locate some loophole to avoid indictment or imprisonment for the two corruption cases in which their fund-raising activities are inextricably entangled, the Doolittles' unsavory skimming of campaign contributions and personally pocketing more than a quarter-million dollars have forever finished off their reputations among their own conservative kith and kin. From Sacramento to Washington, the only discussion of the Doolittle case by political insiders from both parties regards strategy over when and how and by whom he should be replaced.

Easy answers: When and How? If he's still hangin' on by his toenails next November, at the ballot box. Preferably, indictment, prosecution, conviction, jail sooner. By whom? Doolittle or some hapless Repug interim chump will be beaten by Charle Brown.

But Doolittle's devious machinations may not have amounted to all that much if it also had not been for larger forces at work. In hindsight, one can identify the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978 and the election of Ronald Reagan as president in 1980 as the beginnings of a conservative ideological ascendance, one that more or less continued-and perhaps crested in the 2006 election. Whatever its sources and whatever accounts for its relative longevity, Doolittle's rise and fall serve as the bookends of the era.

Whether it's their aggressive overreach abroad or their negligent under-reach at home, the neoconservative Republican agenda with its ersatz Christian halo exhausted itself in failure. Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and climate change are among the key indicators of their collapse.

To whatever extent Doolittle's decline signals a shift in the larger forces that are reshaping the state's and the nation's political dialogue, there still seems something exquisitely inevitable about him personally facing the prospect of criminal prosecution. His successful unbroken ride to power, while regularly violating the most basic ethical standards, must have had the effect of deluding him to believe there need not be any boundaries to his behavior.

In a remark suggestive of both his ambition and his underlying amorality, when he first arrived in Congress in 1991 Doolittle told a reporter, "You can do what you need to do here, and the only thing holding a person back is the person himself." There is a growing likelihood that, in the near future, Doolittle will have some significant time on his hands to contemplate this insight.

Whether or not you're interested in the goings-on in one California district, the story of Doolittle's rise and fall is a microcosm of the whole Repug scam of the last quarter century.

It is coming to an end despite its desperate 'last throes' and kicking and screaming. Go down it must and go down it will. We will be able to breathe again soon.

Update, kicking & screaming dept.:

Raw Story

Writing in his hometown newspaper, Doolittle said the search was "an attempt to intimidate us and garner media attention," noting that news of the search emerged in a Capitol Hill newspaper just before Gonzales was to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"I do not believe it was a coincidence that the leak came the day before Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before Congress on charges that his office was overly partisan in its firing of eight U.S. Attorneys," Doolittle wrote in the Auburn Journal, "especially considering Gonzales specifically cited his recent prosecution of Republican members of Congress as evidence to the contrary."

Nice try, Johnny boy.

Be afraid, be really afraid . . .

From Blue Jersey:

(note: the "Chen" referred to is Ron Chen, the New Jersey Public Advocate)

“Senator Barbara Buono used today's hearing to gently nudge Chen on the status of an Amicus brief Chen filed after learning the NSA was sorting through the phone records of NJ residents, in violation of state law.

(Some quick background: When the NSA's domestic spying follies came to light way-back-when, then-AG Zulima Farber wanted some answers. After all, the Attorney General is charged with protecting New Jerseyans from consumer fraud. In this case, the questions surrounded whether telecom companies violated their own privacy statements by releasing this information to NSA. According to Chen, the current AG Stuart Rabner was keen to pursue this after taking over.)

When Sen. Buono asked about the status of that suit -- and the Amicus brief that went with it -- Chen's answer was pretty shocking.

Apparently, Rabner's efforts have most recently been met with Federal intervention as the Department of Justice moved to block the AG's enforcement of the telecom companies' privacy agreements, citing "state secrets."”

This is more chilling than usual, they are now blocking state-level invesigations. I don't think the Fascism question is open any more, the U.S. is heading full-tilt to a Fascist society. Impeach the bastards. Now!

R.

Yeah, we got a couple bodies ...

... to answer phones, but if you want equipment* well ...

Greensburg, KS (AHN) - Adding to the woes of residents of Greensburg, Kansas who survived Friday's tornado was the slow response by the National Guard. The guard had trouble responding because some of the equipment needed is in Iraq. One of the National Guard's primary duties is responding to natural disasters and assisting Americans.

...

"We're missing about half our trucks" as well as Humvees and trained personnel that are in Iraq, said Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, on NPR Monday morning.

...

Being that tornado season is just beginning, well, didn't they make a movie about this?

*Thanks to divageek @ WTF for the link.

Top Ten Lowlights of the GOP Debate

Don Davis

Hey, Chris Matthews, if this is the "Daddy Party," wouldn't we be better off as orphans?

10. Sam Brownback: "I'm from the theological wing of the theological party."

9. John McCain: "I'll get Osama even if I have to follow him to the gates of hell, or even worse, to the central market in Baghdad."

8. Mike Huckabee: "As the formerly fat man of faith, who's now the svelte man of faith, I'm guided by one question: 'What Would Jesus Weigh'?"

7. Jim Gilmore: "Nobody ever heard of me, so let me make clear I'm not a character on the Gilmore Girls."

6. Ron Paul: "Let's abolish all government regulation - so that the fatcats can plunder and ruin this country even more than they did under Bush."

5. Tom Tancredo: "Mr. Gorbachev, build up that wall."

4. Tommy Thompson: "I'm the ultimate Ronald Reagan: I only made an anti-gay remark because I had a hearing aid malfunction."

3. Mitt Romney: "I can single-handedly solve global warming by soaking up the sun's rays with my George Hamilton caliber tan."

2. Duncan Hunter: "Elect me and you'll really see a military industrial complex that'll have old Ike spinning in his grave."

1. Rudy Giuliani: "First, I'm gonna make googly eyes at the Iranian leaders, just like the Gipper. Then I'll do what I did in New York: attack the squeegeemen from Squeegeemenistan."

I think the Repug candidates should have a "White Collar Comedy Tour". There's nothin' really funny about 'em, but they'd be outta our hair for a while. Especially if they let me 'n Fixer work on their bus a little. Heh.

Toons

Bob Geiger had many 'toons up on Satiddy.

Quote of the Day deux

BuzzFlash

Bush's new poodle is French

I hope Bush's pants leg can stand the strain.

Nekkid Mes'kins

¡Santa Mierda!

If he'da used Americans, he coulda only got about half as many in that zocalo.

Who 'won' in Iraq?

Today's 'must read', from AlterNet:

From the enormous advantage gained by Iran via our invasion of Iraq, you would think that Dick Chaney(sic) is a mole for the Ayatollah.

[...] In fact, Iran wins so big in this war I think that Dick Cheney's DNA should be checked out by a reputable lab, because he has to be a Persian mole. My theory is that they took a fiery young Revolutionary Guard from the slums of Tehran, dipped him in a vat of lye to get that pale, pasty Anglo skin, zapped his scalp for that authentic bald CEO look, squirted a quart of cholesterol into his arteries so he'd develop classic American cardiac disease, and parachuted him into the outskirts of some Wyoming town.

All these claims that Iran is helping the insurgents really make my head spin. Of course they're helping. They'd be insane if they weren't. If somebody invades the country next door, any state worth mentioning has to act. If Mexico got invaded by China, you better believe the U.S. would react. We'd lynch any president who didn't.

[...] They want us there as long as possible, stoking the feuds and making sure nobody wins. That's what we just did under Bush's new Iraq commander, Gen. Petraeus: switched sides, Shia to Sunni, because the Shia were getting too strong. Yeah, God forbid we should be unfair to the Sunnis, God forbid we should do anything to let somebody win. Let's just make Tehran happy by keeping the feud going another few centuries.

So the likely winner of a war like this is an up-n-coming world economic power that has been investing in its own economy while we blow a trillion -- yep, a trillion -- dollars on nothing. Not hard to figure out who the likely suspects are here.

What's worst is that the war has made us dumber. When Sen. Graham asked his question, "Who won Iraq?" he thought he was being clever. He thought we're too dumb and soft to face that question and its answers. Because there are answers, pretty grim ones. I just hope people are tough enough to start thinking about them.

Anyway, for those of you collecting guidelines, here's what I think are some general rules for "Who wins wars?"

That oughta set the hook! Here endeth my post.

"Wall of the Fallen" Full

Fort Wayne News-Sentinel

Congress already has run out of space on a memorial created last year to honor all of the U.S. service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In a grim sign of the times, the "Wall of the Fallen," set up by House Republican leaders in June, is almost full. The mounting death toll from Iraq has forced U.S. House staffers to study how to reconfigure the display in the lobby of the Rayburn Building - the largest office building for members of Congress - to squeeze in more names.

A perfect example of Repug "planning".

Note to House Repugs: replace the names at half their present size. Then you can get 7000 names on the Wall. You can halve their size again later when you need to.

Desperation ...

Quoting our pal Skippy:

you know things are bad in wingerville when they are so desperate for good news about conservatives, they cheer france.