...
Your piss-poor speech today - of all days - proves that you don't know jack shit about the military and the needs of men and women in uniform. You took a sacred occasion and turned it into a political soapbox to cover your chickenhawk ass. Fucking coward. [Link]
...
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has claimed victory as the first woman to be elected president of Liberia - or anywhere in Africa.
With 91% of ballots counted, the "Iron Lady" as she is known, has won 59% of the vote leaving her rival, George Weah, trailing on 41%.
...
...
But there are many things a Commander-in-Chief must be to truly gain the respect and authority that such a designation merits - and you have shown none of those.
...
Those of us who have served in the military know the rigors of boot camp, the positive aspects of completing that introduction to true mental and physical discipline and the lifelong feeling of pride in successfully finishing those hard months. Many of us have also held a rifle, fired that weapon at another human, had bullets come at us and know what that truly means.
And no, Mr. President, it's not the toy-soldier, "bring-it-on" thrill that your protected, sheltered experience would lead you to believe. It is terrifying. You're scared to death, shoot at almost anything that moves and pray to whatever deity you worship that you see tomorrow. But you would have no way of knowing that - not even through the stories of the sycophants you are surrounded by, most of whom have never served a day in uniform in their lives.
...
...
So, like, let's see if we've got this straight: Bush essentially stated that nothing will change for Americans because of our Iraqi venture. That wasn't off the cuff, that wasn't in answer to a question, that was his goddamned prepared speech. Yet, as he continues to say, we must stay the course. And that course would be to ensure that nothing changes for the United States, save the loss of thousands of lives, limbs, and minds, and, of course, our national identity and treasury. [my em]
...
"A lot of elected Republicans are running for the hills in the Northeast," said Connecticut GOP strategist Chris DePino after what he called "a waterfall of missteps" by Republicans. Bush and the GOP must return to their message that the United States has been safe from terrorism during his administration, DePino said. (my bold)
O'REILLY: Hey, you know, if you want to ban military recruiting, fine, but I'm not going to give you another nickel of federal money. You know, if I'm the president of the United States, I walk right into Union Square, I set up my little presidential podium, and I say, "Listen, citizens of San Francisco, if you vote against military recruiting, you're not going to get another nickel in federal funds. Fine. You want to be your own country? Go right ahead."
And if Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead.
San Franciscans might be offended by this invitation, or perhaps even threatened, if more of them visited Coit Tower.
On a cool gray Thursday afternoon, the San Francisco landmark was filled, as usual, with tourists from Ohio, Texas and other states where TV's "The O'Reilly Factor" and its syndicated radio companion, "The Radio Factor," pull better ratings than in San Francisco.
When visitors were told of O'Reilly's remarks, several had the same question: "Why would he say that?"
The few locals found at the tower had another: "Who's Bill O'Reilly again?"
Board of, uh, Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, whose district includes Coit Tower, suggested that O'Reilly should get his head examined.
"It sounds like he's on the same medication Rush Limbaugh is addicted to, and he should go see a therapist," Peskin said.
Imagine if O'Reilly had read the plaque on the front of Coit Tower, which describes its benefactor and namesake, Lillie Hitchcock Coit, as a woman "who smoked cigars and often dressed as a man to gamble in North Beach saloons."
When is "business as usual" worth a major PR push? When you're Karl Rove and your legal fate is still in the hands of specialinquisitorprosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, and you're tired of everyone in the West Wing muttering "Dead man walking" whenever you pass by.
There's another reason for the Rove happy-talk campaign -- the wingnut world has caught a glimpse of Dubya trying to run the country without anyone pulling his strings, and they're horrified.
...
We finally reached a point where a lot of people are starting to acknowledge the obvious, which is that we were deliberately hyped into war, and a lot of defenses are coming up. People are still trying to pretend that nothing happened and it all made sense, and I felt that it was time to find a way to play how ridiculous that is.
...
President George W. Bush and the current administration have now borrowed more money from foreign governments and banks than the previous 42 U.S. presidents combined, which the Blue Dog Coalition in the House of Representatives called "astounding."
Throughout the first 224 years (1776-2000) of our nation's history, 42 U.S. presidents borrowed a combined $1.01 trillion from foreign governments and financial institutions according to the U.S. Treasury Department. In the past four years alone (2001-2005), the Bush Administration has borrowed a staggering $1.05 trillion.
Pete McCloskey, a farmer in Yolo County, was a Marine Reserve lieutenant colonel in 1967, the year he was elected to Congress from San Mateo County as the first Republican opposing the Vietnam War. During the Korean War, he was awarded the Navy Cross, Silver Star and two Purple Hearts.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A proposal to end the long-standing practice of veterans groups addressing a joint session of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees is an insult to all who have fought, sacrificed and died to defend the Constitution, according to the Disabled American Veterans (DAV). And in a strongly worded letter to House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), the DAV has urged him to continue the joint hearings as an invaluable tool in formulating public policy toward America's veterans.
Chairman Buyer recently announced that veterans service organizations will no longer have the opportunity to present testimony before a joint hearing of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees.
...
"I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover. If there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city. And don't wonder why He hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for His help because he might not be there."
Austin Chronicle: What's the bigger issue in journalism today - blogs, and their sometimes amateurish quality, or the cozy relationships some mainstream media reporters cultivate with their sources, as seen in the Judith Miller fiasco?
Should George W. Bush Take a Cue from Judy Miller?
They both got into trouble over WMD and Valerie Plame. Surely, if he wishes, he could work out a severance package that would allow the president to receive a nice buyout package, a lucrative book deal, and a chance to publish a "Farewell Letter" in The New York Times.
Maybe I should try to get a grip -- after all, it's just this one administration that I had more cause than most to realize was full of inadequate people going in. And even at that, it seems to be mostly Vice President Cheney. And after all, we were badly frightened by 9-11, which was a horrible event. "Only" nine senators voted against the prohibition of "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of persons under custody or control the United States." Nine out of 100. Should we be proud? Should we cry?
Then I hear the familiar tinniness of the fake machismo I know so well from George W. Bush and all the other frat boys who never went to Vietnam and never got over the guilt.
"Sometimes you gotta play rough," said Dick Cheney. No shit, Dick? Now why don't you tell that to John McCain?
I grew up with all this pathetic Texas tough: Everybody here knows you can't make an omelet without breaking eggs; and this ain't beanbag; and I'll knock your jaw so far back, you'll scratch your throat with your front teeth; and I'm gonna cloud up and rain all over you; and I'm gonna open me a can of whup-ass ...
And that'll show 'em, won't it? Take some miserable human being alone and helpless in a cell, completely under your control, and torture him. Boy, that is some kind of manly, ain't it?
Why did we bother to beat the Soviet Union if we were just going to become it? Shame. Shame. Shame.
"I'm glad you brought up the subject of oil. Let's suppose there was an energy-related company. And a high government official, say, used to work for it. Now let's say that his country - call it Country A - went to war against Country B. And the energy-related company then got a very lucrative contract to rebuild Country B. Now let's say that the high government official agitated - indeed, pushed - his government to invade Country B in the first place. Do you see any potential conflict there?"
"None at all."
"Anyone? Yes, Harriet?"
"The vice president is the second most brilliant person I have ever met, and if he says it's O.K. to pull out people's -"
"Harriet, we're not discussing whether someone is smart."
"Sorry. I withdraw."
"I'm out of here."
"Mr. Vice President, class is not over until I - what is it, Karl? I asked you to put away your Blackberry."
...
The shifting center of Long Island politics was underscored this week by a string of Democratic victories across the Island. In January, Democrats will simultaneously take control of Nassau and Suffolk Counties for what officials say is the first time. Both counties will still be run by Democratic county executives, and, thanks to the legislative seats that Democrats picked up in Suffolk County on Tuesday, Democrats will have a majority in both legislatures. The vaunted Republican machine of old is just a memory. [my em]
...
...
house leaders late wednesday abandoned an attempt to push through a hotly contested plan to open an alaskan wildlife refuge to oil drilling, fearing it would jeopardize approval of a sweeping budget bill thursday.
...
Dear Friend,
George Bush needs to lay out the facts about Iraq and his strategy to achieve military, political and economic success to bring our troops home. He needs to know this failure of leadership cannot continue.
Join me and tell George Bush: You can no longer mislead Congress and the American people. It's time for an Iraq success strategy that will bring our troops home. Join me by visiting:
http://www.giveemhellharry.com/page/petition/iraq/ktvu
I signed and you should too.
Thanks!
Senate Republicans are holding a sham hearing today on the rising cost of gasoline and heating oil, rejecting Democratic efforts to force the oil company executives to testify under oath. Why are Republicans - who receive millions of dollars in campaign contributions from oil companies - flat-out refusing to force the executives to be sworn in? Why won't Senate Republicans demand the truth? What are Republicans and their executive donors trying to hide? [Link]
[. . .]
A sign held high at the recent huge anti-Bush protest demonstration in Washington:
WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE
GIVE HIM A BLOWJOB
SO WE CAN IMPEACH HIM!
"Only a generation ago, this was a continent plagued by military dictatorship and civil war," Bush intoned in Brazil on Sunday. "Yet the people of this continent defied the dictators, and they claimed their liberty... Freedom is the gift of the Almighty to every man and woman in this world - and today this vision is the free consensus of a free Americas."
Right, and where was Washington? Many of the same leaders with whom Bush met at the summit were in prison, or buried their friends and colleagues murdered for their activism, and faced the constant threat of murder and torture for standing up to dictatorship. And in most instances, they were fighting dictators backed by the United States.
Chile's President Ricardo Lagos is a case in point: He was imprisoned by Washington's man, Pinochet. Yes, he wants a trade deal with the U.S. But you can hold the democracy lecture, thank you.
No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No
At a Trader Vic's in the same hotel where Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger addressed supporters after all of his ballot proposals failed, "giddy nurses" reportedly "formed a conga line and danced around the room, singing, 'We're the mighty, mighty nurses.'"
...
Defending the military's treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, he [Bush administration shill/moron/Sen. Pat Roberts - R-Intelligent Design] added: "There are more senators and congressmen with ethics cases pending than there are problems with interrogation right now in Gitmo." [Link - not that I'm fond of Dana Milbank - my em]
...
TOPEKA, Kan. - Risking the kind of nationwide ridicule it faced six years ago, the Kansas Board of Education approved new public-school science standards Tuesday that cast doubt on the theory of evolution.
The 6-4 vote was a victory for "intelligent design" advocates who helped draft the standards. Intelligent design holds that the universe is so complex that it must have been created by a higher power.
[. . .]
In a startling display of hypocrisy that might just be followed by a speedy kharmic kick in the ass, Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN) has asked for federal aid for victims of the tornado in his district.
John Hostettler was one of the eleven republicans that voted against the relief bill for victims of hurricane Katrina.
[. . .]
Sea-pirates chased off with sonic blasts
Spurred by paranoia and aided by the USA Patriot Act, the Bush Administration has compiled dossiers on more than 10,000 Americans it considers political enemies and uses those files to wage war on those who disagree with its policies.
Those on the list include former Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife, former covert CIA operative Valarie Plame, along with filmmaker and administration critic Michael Moore, Senators like California's Barbara Boxer, media figures like liberal writer Joe Conason and left-wing bloggers (mine) like Markos Moulitsas Zuniga (the Daily Kos).
"If you want to know who's sleeping with whom, who drinks too much or has a fondness for nose candy, this is the place to find it," says another White House aide. "Karl (Rove) operates under the rule that if you fuck with us, we'll fuck you over."
But worried White House insiders say the intelligence gathered by the Bush administration is far larger, more extensive and potentially more damaging than the excesses of previous occupants of the White House. Even worse, it dovetails into a pattern of spying on Americans that has become commonplace since Bush took office.
"We're talking about Big Brother at its most extreme," says one White House staffer. "We know things about people that their spouses don't know and, if it becomes politically expedient, we will make sure the rest of the world knows."
The White House press official did not respond to a request for an interview on this story and did not return phone calls seeking comment. (ed. note - DUH!)
The glistening slime trail left by lobbyist Jack Abramoff leads to an infamous homicide scene in South Florida.
And while the indicted bosom buddy of indicted Rep. Tom DeLay says he had nothing to do with the mob-style execution of casino fleet founder Gus Boulis, Abramoff probably wasn't turning cartwheels when three men were recently charged with murdering Boulis back in February 2001.
Abramoff was coasting along nicely, ripping off the Indian tribes, until the SunCruz indictments last summer. Today his big-shot friends can't help him, and wouldn't if they could.
Once a star and darling of congressional Republicans, Abramoff is now political poison. No more skybox parties or free Scottish golf vacations for the Speaker of the House. No more schmoozing with Ralph Reed and Grover Norquist.
Indicted in Florida, under fire from McCain in Washington, Abramoff can now look forward to an upcoming mob-hit trial in which his once-golden name might be unflatteringly invoked.
He could even be asked to testify, an event that would reduce his once-bulging Rolodex to the thickness of a library card.
The players and politicians who are so desperately distancing themselves from Abramoff would prefer that we think of him as some small-time hustler, a fringe sleazeball who crawled out of the shadows.
He wasn't. He was a big-league hustler and a mainstream sleazeball.
And he was all theirs.
Author's Note: I apologize in advance for the length of this essay. There is so much utter nonsense and outright disinformation flying around about Iraq right now that it takes 3,000 words to set things straight. Call this a fact-bomb, and put it to good use. - wrp
Find a defender of the White House on your television these days, and you are likely to hear them blame Bill Clinton for Iraq. Yes, you read that right. The talking point du jour lately has focused on comments made by Clinton from the mid-to-late 1990s to the effect that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and was a threat. The pretzel logic here, of course, is straightforward: this Democratic president thought the stuff was there, and that justifies the claims made by the Bush crew over the last few years about Iraqi weapons.
Let's take a deeper look at the facts. Right off the bat, it is safe to say that Clinton and his crew had every reason to believe Iraq was in possession of weapons of mass destruction during the 1990s. For one thing, they knew this because the previous two administrations - Reagan and Bush - actively assisted the Hussein regime in the development of these programs. In other words, we had the receipts.
Flip to the end of the chapter, however, and you'll come across the pages being left out of the discussion by Bush's defenders. One, the stuff was destroyed by 1998, a fact that weapons inspections in 2003 could have easily established (and did establish, thanks to Bush's inspector, Dr. David Kay, who stated bluntly the stuff wasn't there, but only after the killing had begun). Two, Clinton did not invade Iraq and throw the United States into a ridiculous, endless, bloody quagmire. He managed to disarm Hussein without taking this disastrous step.
In short, the contortions that defenders of Bush are going through to justify the invasion do not hold water. Further, evidence that the Bush administration lied with their bare faces hanging out to get this war is piling up in snowdrifts.
"Thank god this book is out of print."
"Why is it necessary for "authors" to go to such lengths to shock the reader? Did the pornography in this book add to the plot? No. This guy gives Laurell K. Hamilton a run for her money in the porn without plot department."
"Not as riveting as My Pet Goat, but just as much a looser."
And my personal favorite:
"Any review that omits the "10-year-old girl in a cage raped by a bear" is extremely disingenuous, as is the author. This is an illumination of a perverted mind. No wonder "Scooter" had/has no problem with bombing the youthful population of Iraq."
"Instead of President Bush flying directly to a Republican event [fundraiser for Kilgore in VA], he should be flying to Indiana where 25 of his countrymen just died . . ."
I stopped using the signoff phrase "Watch Your Backs" for a while, after the Senate "Gang of 14" saved the filibuster. I felt that was a turning point is the Christian Right's attempts to take over, and relaxed. I am starting to think I might have been wrong.
For one thing, the investigations closing in on White House, Congressional and "conservative movement" corruption are backing the right-wing leadership into a corner. I don't think we should underestimate what this crowd is capable of -- like committing aggressive war, for example. [my bold]
[. . .]
The coalition of the clueless that launched the tragically misguided war in Iraq is in complete disarray.
Dick Cheney is simultaneously running from questions about his role in the Valerie Wilson affair and fighting like mad to block any measure that would outlaw torture by the C.I.A. His former top aide, Scooter Libby, one of the original Iraq war zealots, is now an accused felon who is seldom seen in public unaccompanied by defense counsel.
Donald Rumsfeld, the high-strutting, high-profile defense secretary who was supposed to win this war in a walk, is suddenly on the down-low. There are people in the witness protection program who are easier to find than Rummy.
As for the president, he went all the way to South America to get away from the Washington heat. But even within the luxurious confines of Air Force One, Mr. Bush found that he couldn't escape the increasingly corrosive effect of the fiascos plaguing his administration.
The fact that Mr. Bush is struggling in his own political purgatory (for the sin of incompetence) is bad news for the soldiers in Iraq, where the suffering and dying continues unabated. The administration that was so anxious to throw scores of thousands of healthy young Americans into the flames of war, now has no idea how to get them out.
The war? There's no plan for the war. The architects of this war had no idea what they were getting into, and they are just as clueless now. The war just goes on and on, which is not just tragic - it's criminal.
If the American public could see the carnage in Iraq the way television viewers saw the agony of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, this war would be over. A solution would be found. Imagine watching a couple of soldiers in flames, screaming, as they attempt to escape the burning wreckage of a vehicle hit by a roadside bomb or a rocket-propelled grenade.
For all the talk, neither the administration nor the public has taken the reality of this war seriously enough to do something about it. If the sons and daughters of the privileged were fighting it, we'd be out of Iraq soon enough. But they're not fighting it.
"Before, I sold water, flowers, shoes, cars - but not weapons. We didn't know anything about weapons."
-- Ziad Cattan, former used-car dealer, handpicked by our government to buy military equipment for [I]raqi soldiers, and who -- big surprise -- is unqualified and corrupt.
The funny thing is that the solution - national health insurance, available to everyone - is obvious. But to see the obvious we'll have to overcome pride - the unwarranted belief that America has nothing to learn from other countries - and prejudice - the equally unwarranted belief, driven by ideology, that private insurance is more efficient than public insurance.
Why does American medicine cost so much yet achieve so little? Unlike other advanced countries, we treat access to health care as a privilege rather than a right. And this attitude turns out to be inefficient as well as cruel.
The U.S. system is much more bureaucratic, with much higher administrative costs, than those of other countries, because private insurers and other players work hard at trying not to pay for medical care. And our fragmented system is unable to bargain with drug companies and other suppliers for lower prices.
The economic and moral case for health care reform in America, reform that would make us less different from other advanced countries, is overwhelming. One of these days we'll realize that our semiprivatized system isn't just unfair, it's far less efficient than a straightforward system of guaranteed health insurance.
The Internal Revenue Service has warned one of Southern California's largest and most liberal churches that it is at risk of losing its tax-exempt status because of an antiwar sermon two days before the 2004 presidential election.
In his own voice, Regas said: "The religious right has drowned out everyone else. Now the faith of Jesus has come to be known as pro-rich, pro-war and pro-American.... I'm not pro-abortion, but pro-choice. There is something vicious and violent about coercing a woman to carry to term an unwanted child."
When you go into the voting booth, Regas told the congregation, "take with you all that you know about Jesus, the peacemaker. Take all that Jesus means to you. Then vote your deepest values."
Watch That Pea: What the administration is doing while you're watching Scooter & Sammy
Bush is most likely an untreated alcoholic who is either actively drinking or on a dry drunk. Alcoholics in this position resort to megalomania as long as they have the resources to maintain their illusion, and presidents have a lot of resources for self delusion at their disposal. When they become overwhelmed by the consequences of their actions they resort to blame, rage and destructive actions. Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz on the other hand are hard-core ideologues who are willing to sacrifice any number of people to execute their plans for world domination.
I really dislike John McCain. It's not just his politics, which are enough to make me dislike him as a probable presidential candidate, but it's who he is, which make me dislike him as a person, too. Watching him campaign for Bush during the last election, after his wife and child had been targets of the Rovian smear machine, was enough to make me puke. That he showed up on The Daily Show making wink-wink nudge-nudge comments about Bush, designed to bolster his image among liberals as The Republican You Can Like, in spite of his decision to campaign with his arm across the president's shoulders, was enough to convince me this snake oil huckster was as disingenuous and dangerous a specimen as the one we've got in the White House now.
...
It's only six months until the National Review Rhine River Charter Cruise, and I couldn't be more excited! For only $8,000+, you and a guest will get to explore the culture, history, beauty and romance of Olde Europe by day, and then retire to the ship's lounge for an evening of staving off seasickness while some visibly intoxicated lickshit from The Cornhole tell you how horrible it all is...
...
Note to chickenhawks and Yellow Elephants everywhere: when we start losing 13 year E-7's because you're fucking them over, it's time for you all to step in an show your country some love, besides just "fighting those wars of ideas" from mommy's basement surrounded by empty bags of cheesy snax and cola.
...
Those of us who opposed the near-election, then Supreme Court installation, then God forbid the RE-election of George W. Bush, have known at least the basic outlines of what is being said against Bush these days for at least 5 years, so the only part of the recent revelations that come as a surprise is the sheer brazen balls of these people, and the clarity of the perfidy they've perpetrated on America. Many in the blogosphere, and even a few in the MSM, have been saying things like this, with different details, for the entire time W has been on the national political radar, and some have suffered grievously for their efforts - witness Joseph Wilson, Valerie Plame (who did not herself ever do anything to harm the Bush administration), Gen. Eric Shinseki, Richard Clarke, Paul O'Neill, and a host of others recently documented by Nick Turse of TomDispatch.com.
So my question to these Bush-bashers-come-lately is: where the hell were you people when we needed you?
In the year 2004, those of us working our butts off to get Bush canned stood by and watched as pure lies, gross innuendo, delegated attack politics, guilt by alleged but never proven association, and religious-cum-patriotic posturing scuttled our man Kerry (with a little help from the man himself, it must be said), and caused the weak-minded, the magical thinkers, and the venal to re-elect the most corrupt president in American history because the filth came too fast and furious for anyone to counter, and most of our national news voices didn't really even try.
We knew. We tried to tell you. Almost everything we feared would happen in a second Bush term has come to pass, just as many of us predicted it would. And you weren't listening, and so your sudden epiphanies mean nothing to us.
...
Yeah, as we will learn shortly from Mr. Gibson, "Eighty-four percent of the country self identifies as Christian" -- and that 84% is feeling increasingly marginalized and shunted aside, poor dears.
...
(CBS 13) RIPON A congregation has lost faith in their pastor, after he sold their church without telling them, and scammed them out of more than half of a million dollars.
A for sale sign never went up in front of the First Congregational Church in Ripon. Local police say the pastor peddled it on the sly and was spending the proceeds on big ticket items. It's no doubt an understatement to say church members are shocked.
[. . .]
