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.