Dawn Johnsen's belief in the rule of law disqualifies her from Senate confirmation

Glenn Greenwald in Salon on the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to OLC. Links at site:

One of the best things Barack Obama has done since being elected President was selecting Dawn Johnsen to head the Office of Legal Counsel -- the office of Jay Bybee, John Yoo, Stephen Bradbury, torture memos, and theories of presidential omnipotence. Johnsen expressed outrage over the extremism and lawlessness of the Bush administration not (like most political and media elites) in the last few weeks when doing so was easy and irrelevant, but did so loudly and continuously while those crimes were actually taking place. Her arguments were grounded in one simple belief: that the duty of the OLC is to tell the President when his desired policies are unconstitutional or otherwise illegal. But as a vivid reflection of how perverse Washington culture is, those attributes -- outrage over high-level government extremism and criminality, and a belief in the rule of law -- are apparently disqualifying:

The Senate that is refusing to confirm Dawn Johnsen is the same Senate that confirmed Gen. Michael Hayden as CIA Director -- with overwhelming Democratic support -- even after it was revealed that he oversaw Bush's illegal NSA spying program. It's the same Senate that confirmed Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General -- with substantial Democratic support -- even once everyone knew that he had played a key role in Bush's torture program. It's the same Senate that -- thanks to Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer -- confirmed Michael Mukasey as Attorney General even after he refused to say whether waterboarding was torture and endorsed some of the most extremist presidential powers ever asserted in the U.S.

And the Washington culture that finds Dawn Johnsen too inappropriate and extreme for their upstanding halls of power is the same culture that venerates as Serious centrists the "Blue Dogs" despite -- or, really, because of -- things like this:

Blue Dog Dems Rake in Health Care Contributions, Protest Exclusion from Debate

To recap the Washington hierarchy of Seriousness: Implementing an illegal spying program aimed at Americans is Serious, as is legalizing a torture regime, endorsing the President's right to imprison Americans without charges, and obediently carrying out the agenda of groups that stuff your pockets full of cash. But arguing that it is intolerable for the President to break the law in secret and that he must be held accountable when doing so is deeply unSerious, disqualifying from holding high political office, including when Democrats are in control of the Congress (the objections over Johnsen's involvement in NARAL are quite obviously pure pretext since NARAL's positions are squarely within the mainstream of abortion views and Johnsen was previously the acting OLC chief under Clinton without any objections; what changed, clearly, are both the tone and substance of her objections to Bush radicalism and lawbreaking {my em}).

Dawn Johnsen is probably someone who is actually too good for Washington, or at least too good to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. It's still possible that her confirmation can be engineered -- Christy lists some phone numbers that might be worth calling -- but, at this point, at least, it looks doubtful. Examining Johnsen's apparent inability to get confirmed, and contrasting it with those who are hailed as the Serious centrists in Washington, reveals all anyone really needs to know about our political establishment.

Get the money, get re-elected, and don't derail the gravy train. The people and the country don't mean nothin'.

See also: this post from earlier today on how the term "Hard Left" is exploited by dishonest pundits in the torture debate, and this one on the mysterious collapse of the Right.

Go read those too. Mr. Greenwald hits both of 'em dead nuts.

UPDATE: I have one question for the great fighter-leader, Harry Reid: during Reid's tenure as Majority Leader, Michael Mukasey was confirmed as Bush's Attorney General with a grand total of 53 Senate votes. How come Dawn Johnsen "needs 60 votes" or else she'll be rejected?

Because he's a pussy, Glenn.

More.

Tell me lies and the torture will stop...

THE ENTIRE TORTURE PROGRAM WAS DESIGNED TO OBTAIN FALSE CONFESSIONS SO THEY COULD LIE US INTO THEIR GODDAM WAR. - Gordon, April 23, 2009

The important thing to take away from Keith's report is that Cheney wanted interrogators to torture a legitimate Iraqi Prisoner Of War, not an al Qaeda terrorist, into giving a false confession to get the false Saddam/al Qaeda connection he needed.

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Dear Chrysler,

It'd have been nice, during this tumultuous time for the auto industry, if you'd have thought about your parts supply chain before embarking on this 'reorganization'. I have 3 Jeeps in various states of repair because I can't get parts from you and they aren't available in the aftermarket. Get yer shit together, I'm running out of room.

Regards,

Fixer

Cross-posted at F&G.

It ain't the Abu Ghraib pix ...

That'll "inflame anti-American sentiment":

...

We're currently occupying two Muslim countries. We're killing civilians regularly (as usual) -- with airplanes and unmanned sky robots. We're imprisoning tens of thousands of Muslims with no trial, for years. Our government continues to insist that it has the power to abduct people -- virtually all Muslim -- ship them to Bagram, put them in cages, and keep them there indefinitely with no charges of any kind. We're denying our torture victims any ability to obtain justice for what was done to them by insisting that the way we tortured them is a "state secret" and that we need to "look to the future." We provide Israel with the arms and money used to do things like devastate Gaza. Independent of whether any or all of these policies are justifiable, the extent to which those actions "inflame anti-American sentiment" is impossible to overstate. [em in orig]

...

I'm trying to figure out what the fuck is going on in the White House and who's in charge there. Or is it that one succumbs to assholus contagiosa once they move in? What, does Barry now feel a dictatorship is good "so long as [he's] the dictator"? It seems, when it comes to war crimes and 'detainees', he thinks it's just fine to use the playbook left behind by the previous administration.

You know times are hard ...

If you're thinking about applying for this job.

Joke of the Day

I got this from my old school pal Steve, a retired Master Chief who still knows how to get a dig in:

[Four retired Chiefs are walking down a street in Norfolk, Virginia. They turn a corner and see a sign that says, 'Old Timers Bar - all drinks 10 cents.' They look at each other, and then go in, thinking this Is too good to be true.

The bartender says in a voice that carries across the room, 'Come on in and let me pour one for you! What'll it be, Gentlemen?' There seemed to be a fully-stocked bar, so each of the men asks for a martini. In short order, the bartender serves up four iced martinis...shaken, not stirred, and says, 'That'll be 10 cents each, please.' The four men stare at the bartender for a moment. Then look at each other...They can't believe their good luck. They pay the 40 cents, finish their martinis, and order another round.

Again, four excellent martinis are produced with the bartender again saying, 'That's 40 cents, please.' They pay the 40 cents, but their curiosity is more than they can stand. They have each had two martinis and so far they've spent less than a dollar. Finally one of the men says, 'How can you afford to serve martinis as good as these for a dime a piece?' 'I'm a retired tailor from Boston,' the bartender said, 'and I always wanted to own a bar. Last year I hit the Lottery for $25 million and decided to open this place. Every drink costs a dime - wine, liquor, beer, it's all the same.'

The four of them sipped at their martinis and couldn't help but notice seven other people at the end of the bar who didn't have drinks in front of them, and hadn't ordered anything the whole time they were there. One man gestures at the seven at the end of the bar without drinks and asks the bartender, 'What's with them?' The bartender says, 'Oh, they're all old retired Marine Gunny Sergeants. They're waiting for happy hour when drinks are half price.']

And yer point is...?

I got yer 'personal mobility'...

When you retire and go on Social Security, you get all kinds of interesting offers. Mrs. G got one yesterday. Her reply*:

Dear The Scooter Store,

Thanks, but this 'personal mobility device' is all I need for now:



You'll need yer goddam little electric cripmobile before I will.

I suggest you call the Social Security person who sold you my name and ask for your money back, suckers.

Love
Mrs. G

*She mighta had a little help...

White House Czar Calls for End to 'War on Drugs'

From the Murdoch Street Journal

Kerlikowske Says Analogy Is Counterproductive; Shift Aligns With Administration Preference for Treatment Over Incarceration

"That the War on Drugs has been a complete failure is not even a question anymore."

In his first interview since being confirmed to head the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske said Wednesday the bellicose analogy was a barrier to dealing with the nation's drug issues.

"Regardless of how you try to explain to people it's a 'war on drugs' or a 'war on a product,' people see a war as a war on them," he said. "We're not at war with people in this country."

Well, up to now they certainly have been, particularly as a way of continuing the oppression of minorities since slavery and Jim Crow laws have gone the way of the buffalo.

Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, a group that supports legalization of medical marijuana, said he is "cautiously optimistic" about Mr. Kerlikowske. "The analogy we have is this is like turning around an ocean liner," he said. "What's important is the damn thing is beginning to turn."

James Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation's largest law-enforcement labor organization, said that while he holds Mr. Kerlikowske in high regard, police officers are wary.

"While I don't necessarily disagree with Gil's focus on treatment and demand reduction, I don't want to see it at the expense of law enforcement. People need to understand that when they violate the law there are consequences."

Change the fucking law, you idiot.

If this is a subject that interests you, it's not a bad article considering the source.

"Give Me a Water Board, Dick Cheney and One Hour..."

Thanks to heathr456.

Update:

More at Kos.

Socialism ...

As with everything they do, the Rethugs and their "base" (Big Insurance, Big Pharma) are trying to scare you out of demanding serious healthcare reform. Avedon (who lives with the British system) lends a little reality:

Depending on what poll you read, anywhere from 60% to 80% of Americans like the sound of single-payer, and the same is even truer of physicians. But every effort is being made to keep single-payer off the table. This is because, we are told, Americans want to keep paying insurance company bureaucrats to try to prevent them from getting healthcare rather than cutting out the middle-man and the profit motive (and get their health insurance from a less avaricious and cold-hearted source). And because some people actually believe the stories they hear about how bad all that "socialized medicine" in the rest of the world is. I'll tell you for free that there is nothing superior about commercial medicine in America to the genuinely socialized (not just single-payer) system in the United Kingdom. Yes, some UK hospitals aren't as good as they should be, and yes, some UK doctors are jerks, and yes, you might not get elective surgery scheduled within a week of asking for it, but that's even more true in America. Under the NHS, though, you don't have to spend weeks or months on the phone with the insurance company trying to convince them that they should deliver on getting you healthcare you actually need and have been paying for - and you don't have to worry about what it will cost. There is no arguing between your doctor and bean-counters, and there's no co-pay, either. You will get the treatment your doctor recommends in reasonable time. But, as with so many things, we've got the memes running in the other direction until we don't even know how many Americans are in agreement with us.

Pigsty ...

Just as we've shitted up our planet, we've also turned the space around it into a junkyard. How long before we can't launch anything for fear of hitting a piece of crap in orbit? I wonder if anyone ever thought about cleaning up after ourselves over the past 50 years?

This is why ...

My ass puckers every time the Mrs. flies in and out of little podunk airports (too often for my liking, thank you) on business:

The lack of experience, fatigue and low pay of the Buffalo-bound prop jet pilots involved in the worst U.S. plane crash in seven years created a "recipe for an accident," the government said Wednesday.

...

Transcripts of the flight's final moments reveal that Renslow, 47, and Shaw, 24, were chatting about their careers and her lack of experience operating a plane in icy conditions, according to the cockpit voice recorder.

...

Federal investigators hammered Colgan Air executives about the pay of their pilots — in [Copilot] Shaw's case, she made between $16,000 and $20,000 a year, according to testimony — as well as whether they were discouraged from getting second jobs and felt pressure by the company not to call in sick.

...

With those two in the cockpit, that flight was doomed as soon as the first ice crystals formed on the leading edges of the wings. How can these little shitbag commuter airlines expect to recruit quality people when they'd make a better living flipping burgers? The pilot should have never been in command of an aircraft and the copilot would probably have held nothing more than 'flight trainee' status in the Air Force. And I'm putting my wife in these peoples' hands? Time for the FAA to start squeezing some testicles.

Great thanks to Da Fez for the link.

Hey!

We all Socialists now!

Blogger was dicked this morning. Back after I get the Mrs. from the train.

Repugs Set To Block Dawn Johnsen’s Nomination

No shit. She wants to investigate the crap out of them. Big job. Lotta crap.

Think Progress, with links, comments, and updates.

Roll Call reports that conservatives look poised to successfully block the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to head the White House Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) declared that his hands were tied without the assistance of a few Republican votes:

“Right now we’re finding out when to do that,” Reid said, responding to a question about the status of Indiana University law professor Dawn Johnsen’s nomination to the Justice post. “We need a couple Republican votes until we can get to 60.”

It’s unclear why 60 votes are needed to confirm Johnsen, considering her predecessor, Jay Bybee — who went on to authorize illegal torture — won easy confirmation in 2001 through a simple voice vote. Bybee’s successor, Jack Goldsmith, was also approved by a voice vote. Steven Bradbury served for three years as an acting OLC head, and so did not have to come up for a vote. Having a full — and filibuster-proof — Senate vote on Johnsen would be an unusual break with recent precedent.

Senators opposing Johnsen include new Democrat Arlen Specter...

It's very clear why 60 votes are needed to confirm Johnsen: Reid's a pussy.

Johnsen is eminently qualified to head the OLC. She has been an outspoken critic of Bush’s torture and eavesdropping programs, argues persuasively for accountability for wrongdoing, and has written passionately in support of checks and balances and against executive branch power grabs. She is a strong progressive candidate who could restore the tainted OLC to a place of legal professionalism and pride. And, like the majority of Americans, Johnsen thinks abortions should be safe and legal in most cases.

To Repugs, that's the resumé from hell.

Undersupplied US soldiers forced to steal water in Iraq

Raw Story, with video.

You thought the lack of armor-plated Humvees was bad.

US soldiers are now being forced to steal water in Iraq. With supplies tight, and the number of trucks carrying potable water even tighter, troops have resorted to stealing water from civilian contractors. Many have also reportedly suffered from dysentery because they were forced to drink untreated water from Iraqi wells.

The shocking news aired Wednesday on Houston-based CBS affiliate KHOU. (G's note - go read.)

It gets worse. Soldiers say the situation has become so dire they were forced to raid the United States’ own airbase in Baghdad for bottled water. They found the water stored in pallets held by civilian contractors, who were supposed to be distributing it.

Soldiers averred that they’d been given two to three liters of water per day by their commanders. But according to the Army’s own field manual, the human body can lose as much as four gallons of water daily in the desert.

Two to three liters isn’t enough, Robey said. “You’ll see guys throw up, you’ll see them pass out.”

Who’s supposed to be maintaining the water supply? At least in some parts of Iraq, it’s the US engineering contractor KBR. KBR is a spinoff of Halliburton, which it separated from in 2007.

KBR again. Plenty of 180 volt water for the troops to shower in and be electrocuted by, but not enough water for them to drink. We keep paying them plenty for their malfeasance. Bastards.

Not only should everybody at KBR be in jail, in Iraq if there's any justice in this world, but so should everybody at the Pentagon who keeps giving them contracts.

Postcard From Pipelineistan

Lest we forget what is really going on in the world amid the 24/7 distractions of Miss California's wind-blown nipples, The Dick's self-noosement, and the thoroughly enjoyable Repug circular firing squad, here's a postcard, first of a proposed series, from Pepe Escobar. Tomgram alert - take a lunch.

Knowing his proclivity for following energy flows the way normal tourists might follow the sun, I asked him if he might offer TomDispatch readers periodic "postcards" from the energy heartlands of the planet and what he calls the Tower of Babel of "nations, mercenary peoples, terrorists, dictatorships, tribes, nomad mafias, and religious outfits" that are in conflict upon them. This is the first of his postcards. More will follow. Tom

What happens on the immense battlefield for the control of Eurasia will provide the ultimate plot line in the tumultuous rush towards a new, polycentric world order, also known as the New Great Game.

Our good ol' friend the nonsensical "Global War on Terror," which the Pentagon has slyly rebranded "the Long War," sports a far more important, if half-hidden, twin -- a global energy war. I like to think of it as the Liquid War, because its bloodstream is the pipelines that crisscross the potential imperial battlefields of the planet. Put another way, if its crucial embattled frontier these days is the Caspian Basin, the whole of Eurasia is its chessboard. Think of it, geographically, as Pipelineistan.

Forget the mainstream media's obsession with al-Qaeda, Osama "dead or alive" bin Laden, the Taliban -- neo, light or classic -- or that "war on terror," whatever name it goes by. These are diversions compared to the high-stakes, hardcore geopolitical game that follows what flows along the pipelines of the planet.

Who said Pipelineistan couldn't be fun?

Yeah, sounds like a dream vacation to me. The quotes are from the introduction, the article follows. Go.

It's still all about oil.

Only in America ...

Or some Third World, tin-horn dictatorship toilet. Dday:

I almost have to get out of my seat and clap at the absurdity of this news: Torture lawyer John Yoo has been given a monthly column at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

...

Why Rush Limbaugh Ought to Be Force-Fed His Own Liposuctioned Fat (Cheney Reacharound Edition)

Guess Who. First and last paragraphs:

When former Vice President Dick Cheney paused in his sodomizing of Bob Shieffer's Face the Nation to give Rush Limbaugh a little reacharound hand job action (while shitting on Colin Powell's head - it's really quite a complicated move), you knew that Limbaugh would be as grateful as he is when the local Chinese buffet brings out a new tray of sweet and sour pork in the middle of his dining experience. His hand stretched around Limbaugh's girth like an elastic band on a sack of jello, Cheney needed only his thumb and forefinger to clutch the radio host's burnt wick of a cock and yank it as Shieffer spit out pubes to ask Cheney, between Limbaugh and Powell, "Where do you come down?"

And, yeah, Dick Cheney was motivated by love for "his" country. The problem is that Dick Cheney's United States is not the United States of the rest of us. In fact, it's not really the United States at all. His nation compromises every principle to reach an indeterminate end. Our nation believes those principles are what make us a nation in the first place.

The last sentence is the crux of the biscuit.

Please enjoy the rest.

Swiftboating Health Care

Rachel explains this better than I can imagine doing in any other way. Her guest is Howard Dean.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Would a torture investigation be Dick Cheney's final revenge?

P.M. Carpenter, obviously a regular reader of the Brain, follows up on Fixer's post just below.

Naturally, the GOP's bogeywoman of Nancy Pelosi seems ideal: "Republicans say new revelations about a CIA briefing Pelosi received in 2002 have given them their best shot yet at blocking a sprawling probe into Bush administration interrogation techniques."

That strategy, however, could very well backfire -- and the more strenuously the GOP pushes it, the more certain it becomes to accomplish just that: to blow up in their face.

In short, to protect her reputation Pelosi may move from strongly encouraging a "sprawling probe" to downright insisting on one. Sure, she'll say, I'd be happy to testify; but in that event let's haul everybody in, under oath, and a good 99 percent of those "everybodies" will be -- you got it -- Republicans.

Here's the kicker:

And as an investigative committee works its way up, it ultimately, as Dick Cheney so selflessly conceded on "Face the Nation," will land on the singular desk of George W. Bush, who "basically authorized" the stunningly illegal torture program (my em). George may have again sought the solace of drink upon hearing that one.

Furthermore, Mr. Cheney said he may even be willing to testify to that -- in fact all of it -- under oath. To which one can only speculate that hell hath no fury like a Scooter-loving vice president scorned.

It's a nice thought, but I think Cheney knows damn well he broke the law with the very thinnest of cover, which was all he could come up with and knows will not stand close scrutiny in a court of law, and will have to be dragged kicking and screaming from an undisclosed location in front of an investigating body where we will all learn the Fifth Amendment word for word direct from his reptilian lips.

Cheney has a whole phalanx of desperate defenders, including his daughter and some right wing gasbags and pols, trying to muddle the issue. It is documentary evidence and the testimony of witnesses whom The Dick is busy pissing off right now, and perhaps his own words, that will ultimately convict him.

Bush? He deserves to go to jail because he bears responsibility as the president, but he didn't come up with the torture program. He's not that good(?) a thinker. He signed anything Cheney put in front of him. It's going to bite him on the ass big time.

Bush was a weakling and a witting pawn of evildoers he was incapable of understanding, much less foil in their attempts. That will be his legacy for all time. He's still young enough that he will get to enjoy that knowledge for years to come.

But ...

Contrary to Rethug screeching points, it seems Nancy Pelosi (and the rest of the Dem leadership) were not briefed on Bush "interrogation techniques":

Former Senator Bob Graham, who received a classified briefing on terror detainees during the same month in the fall of 2002 as Nancy Pelosi, was not briefed about the use of either waterboarding or enhanced interrogation techniques during the meeting, he claimed in an interview with me.

Graham’s assertion — his first public comments since the release of the intelligence document detailing torture briefings given to members of Congress — directly contradicts the document’s claim that he had been briefed on enhanced interrogation techniques, or EITs. Graham is now the second Dem official to deny on the record the document’s contents and raises questions about its claim that Pelosi had been told, which she has denied.

...

It's time for a full, open investigation into Bush war crimes and let the chips fall where they may, regardless of who gets splattered with the shit. If they were involved (Dem or Rethug) they should be facing a federal judge or sitting in the dock at The Hague, period.

Thanks to Mr. Aravosis for the link.

We knew it would happen ...

Having been on that edge (though at the time, the only person I wanted to kill was myself), it sickens me to hear this:

BAGHDAD – An American soldier opened fire at a counseling center on a military base Monday, killing five fellow soldiers before being taken into custody, the U.S. command and Pentagon officials said.

Although it was unclear what prompted the shooting, the incident draws attention to the issue of combat stress and morale after six years of war as the mission of the 130,000-strong force transforms to one of training and mentoring the Iraqis.

...

After repeated deployments and iffy mental health care (a lot of our guys are on anti-depressants to get them through), these incidents will become more frequent, either by GIs in-theater or when they get back stateside. A couple months ago, our pal and regular commenter WKMaier informed us of an example that hit close to home:

... Fixer, just heard from a friend in the midwest, her granddaughter's husband just got back from Iraq, started drinking, and killed himself last night. He leaves behind a wife, baby boy, and extended family ...

It is a shame these boys and girls, who are willing to give their lives for us, are being used until they lose their grip. I spent 5 years of my life in a Jack Daniels' bottle with a coke spoon up my nose, and I didn't see anywhere near the action these folks have. We'd better buck up and get our guys the help they need before we have a large scale problem on our hands.

Update:

Our friend Lisa of RangerAgainstWar brings up a point in 'comments' I should have touched on:

Many soldiers are loathe to admit the need for psychiatric treatment, added to a system which looks askance at any possible PTSD case. It is a bad combination.

There should be a proactive effort on the part of the military to identify soldiers at risk of breaking and get them help instead of said soldier knowing when to seek treatment. Even when some do understand how close to the edge they are, there are plenty of reasons not to seek help (I'm not leaving my mates behind on the battlefield - I don't want to be labeled as 'crazy' - I can handle it until I get home and everything will be all right).

As I stated above, we're using these people up; their bodies, minds, and souls, and we owe it to them to make sure they're taken care of. It's already set in stone (mostly) that we're leaving Iraq by 2011 but we have to start helping these folks today, not when the war's over. We cannot wait until one of them has a pistol at his temple (or someone else's) because by then it'll far too late.

Olive branch?

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad might be responding to Obama's words of respect toward Islam. Agence France Presse:

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday she was "heartened" by the release of US-born reporter Roxana Saberi from a jail in Iran, but again attacked her conviction for spying.

"Obviously we continue to take issue with the charges against her and the verdict rendered, but we are very heartened that she has been released and wish her and her family all the very best," Clinton told reporters.

She said Saberi's release had been confirmed to the US government by the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which handles US interests in Iran in the absence of diplomatic ties between the two nations. [my em]

...

While the buzz on the networks is it is a bid by Iran to decouple negotiations over Saberi's incarceration (and possible execution) from the nuclear talks, this, I believe, is a message to the American people, just as Obama's Nowruz message was meant to tell the Persian people that we are turning over a new leaf from the Bush administration. This says that Iran is not the heartless, hard-line Islamic state that most Americans think they are.

While Iran has far to go in terms of human rights, especially in their treatment of gays (after Bush, we're no shining examples of morality either), this is a response, albeit small. It is an invitation to continue dialogue, and, as someone famous once said, "if they're talking, they're not shooting". We have a lot to learn from them (their culture is thousands of years older than ours) and they from us (our American ideals, when we decide to practice them) and any attempt to diffuse the tension in that part of the world is a good thing. It's not a breakthrough, merely a small step in a long negotiation. It's what diplomacy is all about.

Why Now, Dick?

El Rude-o

Now that it has realized that it can absorb sunlight without ulcerating too quickly, the acidic pollutant-made-flesh known as former Vice President Dick Cheney believes it can appear at will to forcibly spit forth fungal spores into the media atmosphere, parasitically attaching to those who it once spurned, feeding off them to hopefully infect them to make them rot. For, indeed, Dick Cheney is nothing if not an entity that wishes things to collapse from within, like a gutted corpse.

"What is Cheney's game?" the political prognosticators ponder. Why has he appeared now, so very often, to declaim the rightness of his administration's approach to interrogation and war? More than likely, it's just the ruminations of a bitter little man with nothing better to do with his time. But, still, the Rude Pundit's got a couple of other ideas:

Go see.

But mostly, Cheney's interview on CBS's Face the Nation with Vampire Bob was just a clusterfuck of self-aggrandizing and masturbatory impulses, with the former VP yanking it until he exploded cold spooge over Vampire Bob's nation-sized face. For, and here's the deal, if waterboarding did absolutely prevent that Dubuque nuke, then who the fuck cares if it was torture or not? Give someone a fuckin' medal.

Except it didn't. That's why he's scrambling so hard. All Cheney was peddling was the pathetic idea that the United States became so degraded under the watch of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney that it was just one pour of the bottle, one detainee slapping away from apocalypse. If the purpose of Cheney's interview schedule is to prop up his legacy, then all he's succeeding in doing is making us see how far down they dragged us.

I have nothing to add to that.

Mexico's Drug Museum

A new cruise ship destination perhaps?

Video and article at the LATimes

Reporting from Mexico City -- Army Capt. Claudio Montane wants one thing clear from the start: This place is not not a narco-museum. The point is not to glorify drug traffickers.

"Its purpose is to show Mexico and the world the efforts and the good results that we have achieved," Montane said, opening a tour of a military collection officially called the Museum of Drugs.

But spend a couple of hours examining the exhibits with Montane, in his crisp dress uniform and spit-shined shoes, and you wonder if a better name would be the Museum of Mexico's Long and Unwon War Against Drug Traffickers Who Keep Finding Clever New Ways to Feed the U.S. Habit.

The museum tells the story of a cat-and-mouse battle, with prehistoric roots. Mexico's peoples used peyote and hallucinogenic mushrooms for rituals. Later, Spanish sailors showed up with marijuana seeds and Chinese traders brought poppy to Mexico's Pacific region.

Subsequent exhibits depict the global campaign to stop illegal substances. In one telling map, arrows showing the routes of various illicit drugs converge on the United States.

Well, duh. Of course they do. We're the ones with the habit and the money.

Certain to impress is a gold-plated Colt .38 Super, studded with tiny red and green stones and engraved on the pistol grip with the date of Mexico's independence: Sept. 16, 1810. (Who says bloodthirsty gangsters can't be patriots?)

Another .38-caliber pistol, seized last year when authorities captured suspected drug lord Alfredo Beltran Leyva, is adorned with emeralds, an engraving of revolutionary leader Francisco "Pancho" Villa and a proverb: "I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees." (Who says bloodthirsty gangsters can't be cliched?)

It's fine with me if these gangsters die on their feet. Or on their faces with their hands tied behind them.

The Mexican drug war is not a nice thing, but it's there. There oughta be a better, more peaceful way for the U.S. to deal with drugs, but at present there's not. As long as there are loads of untaxed cash money to be made, criminals will fill the demand and compete for exclusivity in satisfying the demand for illegal products.

Not to mention the loads of taxpayer money for American law enforcement and the ever-expanding prison industry. No matter which side of drugs you're on, there's money to be made on the backs of users.

The crux of the biscuit.

Obama's First 110 Days

Will Durst

Neither is Barack getting what you would call your major assistance from either side of the aisle. "We want to work with the President." Mmm- hmm. The same way a starving coyote wants to work with a nest of baby ducks. One discouraging word circulating the Beltway accuses the Chief Executive of being arrogant, but you know what, at least he's smart. Because we tried arrogant and stupid and that didn't work.

Not to mention the economy being more fragile than a spun glass step- ladder, so pretty much everyone not named Rush Limbaugh is rooting for him to succeed. But with pirates and pandemics and Pakistan all set on High Menace, the job ahead looks tougher than untying a centipede's shoe laces while wearing oven mitts.

Much more.

The Dick Show

Hmmmmm. Maybe we're lookin' at The Dick all wrong by wanting him to STFU. Maybe F** Noise should offer him a show. Let him dig himself in even deeper.

It'd be pants-around-the-ankles stuff to see him get perp-walked outta the studio while he's on the air!

Related:

8 years of Binge
40 years of Putge

Bush May Haunt Republicans for Generations

Good.

Details of Spain’s Indictment of Yoo, Bybee, et al.

From Zongo at Oxdown Gazette:

While I have not yet been able to locate a copy of the indictment itself, an article published today on the website of "El Mundo", a Madrid newspaper, does detail some of the allegations made in the indictment/complaint. The main part of the article was discussing the judge's request of the United States to state whether or not there was an existing investigation or prosecution of the relevant matters. The article goes on to provide some of the specifics contained in the indictment. With the caveat that I don't speak "Spain" Spanish, and also that translation is tricky even when it's not legalese being translated, here is a translation of the second half of the article.

My Spanish has never been anywhere near Spain either, but he puts each paragraph in Spanish with his translation underneath. It'll do.

Excerpt:

La querella afirma que los denunciados "participaron activa y decisivamente en la elaboración, aprobación y puesta en funcionamiento de un cuerpo de derecho positivo o andamiaje jurídicos" que permitió privar de derechos a los prisioneros, poner en práctica técnicas de interrogatorio que incluían la tortura y dar cobertura legal a esa situación.

The Complaint alleges that the accused “actively and decisively participated in the development, approval, and enactment of a body of legal authority and support” that stripped prisoners of their rights, put into practice interrogation techniques that included torture, and gave legal cover to the situation.

Much more, but what we really need are indictments in plain ol' American English.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Karzai Picks Warlord Accused of Human Rights Abuses as Vice Presidential Running Mate
Calls him “my Cheney.”

Nation's Capital Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage
Now secretly gay senators and congressmen who publicly oppose same-sex marriage can tie knot.

Republicans Begin Huge “Rebranding” Effort
Could cost billions, take years, necessitate military coup.

Tennessee: Bill Passes Allowing Loaded Guns in Bars
However, amendment requires armed drunks assign a designated shooter.

Heh.

Heh ...

Wanda Sykes at the White House Correspondents Dinner last night:



Hannity and Lintball's heads are gonna explode.

Update:

Jill has Obama's routine.

Sunday Flatpickin' White Boy Blues Music Blogging

I owe ya something good before ya get ta the next two videos. Heh.

From the DVD "Legends of Flatpicking Guitar".

http://www.normanblake.com/...

Norman Blake ~ Nashville Blues

Thanks to KoRt7, Germany.

Hillbilly douchebag

That's what TMZ called this asshole, and for once they're right. This is supposed to be on Sunset Boulevard, and given the lack of traffic, I am guessing the hour is late and that alcohol may be involved. It's no excuse. I further guess Mr. Chivalrous din't get none on this night...

Thanks to 1st5ive.

Diez de Mayo

It dawned on me that I let Cinco de Mayo completely slide by without a remembrance. To try and belatedly make up for my lapse, I offer a plaintive song of love and loss...

Deanace777 ~ There's No Tortillas

Always remember this ...

As you go about your day thinking Colin Powell was ever a stand-up guy or use him as a meter of what "the right thing" is:

...

Colin Powell is not only not a war hero, he's actually implicated in war crimes from two different wars --- as one of the "White House Principals" who watched the CIA act out torture techniques for their approval and as one of the men who tried to cover up My Lai. (He was involved in Iran-Contra too.) And that's not even taking into account his pivotal role in energetically selling the Iraq war with bogus intelligence. Certainly, the man cannot be separated from Dick Cheney on that issue.

...

The Mrs. and I are heading out to see a play that was written and scored by our lovely and talented niece, Lauren. See yas later.

Lowrider Oldie, ese

The Danleers ~ One Summer Night

Thanks to l3liljokerl3.

So long, Vern

Vern Gosdin passed away last week. He may have been the most influential country singer you never heard of. He was positively huge in West Coast country music from the '60s on. Please do him the courtesy of going and reading about him.

Country Show From Germany Vern Gosdin 80er years Mother Country Music

Vern Gosdin ~ Mother Country Music

Thanks to coockiestv, Netherlands.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris, Levon Helm ~ Evangeline

Thanks to CrowVideoArchive, Pitcairn(!).

'Flyover-gate' director resigns

NYT

The director of the White House Military Office submitted his resignation on Friday, less than two weeks after he authorized a flyover by an Air Force One backup of the Statue of Liberty that terrified thousands of people in New York City.

What, no 'Medal of Freedom'? The guy fucked up bad enough he'da got one from Bush. President Obama tied the can to his ass instead. This is change I can live with.

Grey Poupon urges pardons for 'Dijon-gate'

Following up on my post of a coupla days ago, from The Moderate Voice:

The following is NOT a joke but a real email/press release from Kraft Food’s Grey Poupon team — a fun press release that is (smart) public relations at its best.

In case you’ve been on Mars, amid a recession, two wars, concerns over health care, etc. conservative talk show hosts and some Republicans have been making a big deal over the fact that President Barack Obama dared to put Grey Poupon mustard on his hamburger.

Republicans didn’t cut the mustard in the last election — and they have been “poupon-ing” independent voters for several years.

“We believe that all Americans should have the option to exercise their freedom of taste,” said Christie Crouch, brand manager for GREY POUPON. “When we learned that President Obama was criticized for ordering a hamburger with Dijon mustard — now known as ‘Dijon-gate’ — we decided to take a stand by urging the President to issue ‘Pardon Me For Loving Dijon’ proclamations in support of condiment lovers everywhere.”

A copy of the letter appears below and can be viewed at www.greypouponpardon.com, where classic GREY POUPON “Pardon Me” television commercials can also be seen.

Enjoy. I'm glad this came on Saturday when I like to screw around a little! Good for the mustard company!

Hmmmm. I wonder if Hannity would volunteer to be 'mustardboarded'? I got some habanero 'tard around here somewhere...

Once in a while ...

Its nice to report on a veterans' issue that doesn't involve vets getting screwed out of benefits. The VA has a great new program designed to give vets a hand up and get them a decent, marketable education:

The Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program (Yellow Ribbon Program) is a provision of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008. This program allows institutions of higher learning (degree granting institutions) in the United States to voluntarily enter into an agreement with VA to fund tuition expenses that exceed the highest public in-state undergraduate tuition rate. The institution can contribute up to 50% of those expenses and VA will match the same amount as the institution.

...

It ain't the deal my dad got when he came home from Korea, but it sure beats the screwing my generation (post-Vietnam) got with regard to GI benefits.

By the way, we got 120 Afghanistan and Iraq vets going through Columbia University here in New York as we speak.

"...a worn out Chevy an' a beat-up Martin..."

Fixer got me goin' on religion today. Here's a song about a crazy ol' guitar-pickin' country preacher who lives in his car and goes from church to church to try and save souls with the Devil breathin' down his neck the whole way. I've got more respect for him than for all the God Damned, and I chose those words carefully, Dobsons and Robertsons and Donohues in the world.

BCB Band ~ Pickin' To Beat The Devil

Thanks to BCB Band. Keep 'em comin', ya good ol' farts!

Gotta Keep 'Em Separated

This is sort of in keeping with Fixer's post just below. There are good Christians in the world, and Rachel knows one.

We're taking attendance ...

As we all know, church 'goership' is down considerably lately. Now, I care less what religious folks do as long as they don't try to make me do it too, but I'm wondering if a lot more folks came to the epiphany I did so many years ago. My neighbor Blondie has some good thoughts on the subject:

...

Church goers are increasingly being associated with conservative bigots. I started noticing it in the 1980's. This is a reason why many adults I know don't attend church anymore and don't want to be associated with any religion. Those of us who actually grew up with 'Christian values' wonder what happened to them and why hating gays and banning abortion are the only issues of the day.

Probably true, as opposed to chucking religion completely as I did (I said a final goodbye to the Catholic Church when I saw the horrors in the world - war, starvation, hopelessness - first hand and wondered how a supposedly benevolent god could let it continue for centuries, many times in His name) while still in my teens. Ah well, whatever, as long as they stay out of the government.

I'm going to work. TGIF!

Quote of the Day - Zwei

The Rude One:

... Seriously, at this point, listening to Republicans talk about policy is about the same as listening to a particularly articulate toddler explain why he refuses to shit in a toilet ...

RNC Clown College

Following up on Fixer's post, here's an even better look at 'em. Hide the children!

Damn! That sounds like a good party!

My invite musta got lost in the mail again...

Katrina Vanden Heuvel in The Nation

"You outlasted the bastards, man," Bruce Springsteen told the roaring crowd.

I think that was my favorite line at the rollicking birthday concert celebrating Pete Seeger's 90th!

Just like Castro! Heh.

Fifteen thousand people, of all ages, (okay, median age was probably 55) danced, clapped and sang along as Seeger did a soaring version of "Amazing Grace" and the saintly looking Joan Baez sang " Where Have All the Flowers Gone."

Arlo Guthrie reminded us that Pete, like his father Woody, "believed in the power of the people singing songs to change the world." Richie Havens reminded us why "Freedom" is a great anthem for all times. Tim Robbins and his son, strumming the guitar, to "Michael, Row The Boat Ashore." Ruby Dee entranced with her enchanting reading of a poem (for peace) written by Pete's uncle before he joined the Foreign Legion. In between, a startlingly youthful Emmylou Harris recounted correspondence she had with Pete as a young folk singer; Tom Morello and Taj Mahal teamed up on "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy"), and John Mellencamp offered up "If I Had a Hammer." Congressman John Hall, once the lead singer for one of my favorite groups, "Orleans," joined in several rounds.

In so many ways, Pete is a repository of American history in himself. As Springsteen said, he has a "stubborn, nasty, defiant optimism," and he serves as "the stealth dagger through the heart of our country's illusions about itself."

He most certainly does, and he's been screwed over a dozen ways from Sunday for it too. He's a real American hero. Read more about Mr. Seeger here and here.

Happy 90th, Pete.

Update:

Here's one for Pete. Thank you.

The Boss from We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

Thanks to Thespadecaller.

"...an' a slice o' processed real life on that!"

There's been a lotta press on Obama and Biden's lunch at a burger emporium. An in-depth Brainalysis of their refreshing and no doubt pretty well-planned PR coup:

WaPo

The world's most powerful man, and the guy a heartbeat away, waited patiently in a single-file line as the lunch crowd gawked -- and as two customers in front of them at the counter pondered the menu leisurely, apparently oblivious to whom they were holding up. Then it came time to order.

[...] "Your basic cheddar cheeseburger, medium well."

No ketchup, the president said, but lettuce and tomato. And: "Have you got a spicy mustard or somethin' like that? A Dijon mustard?"

A guy can order whatever he wants to eat, of course, but mustard only on a cheeseburger? It sounds so...so...French! I'm surprised the wingnuts haven't picked up on that as elitism. Remember how they climbed his frame for liking fancy lettuce? Remember how they accused John Kerry of elitism for ordering a very slightly non-standard Philly cheesesteak? The wingtard gasbags are slippin' up here by missing a cheap and easy, not to mention fact-free which is their specialty, shot at him. Thank God he had better sense than to order this one or they'da had him:

...the $17.50 burger with foie gras and white truffle oil.

Biden ordered a Swiss cheeseburger with jalapeno peppers and ketchup, medium well, and a root beer.

Now yer talkin'! Not bad for an East Coast guy, Joe. That's pretty much how I like 'em too, but then I like 'peños on my oatmeal. Actually, I go for the poblano/'peño/pepper jack/guacamole model with a slice of red onion and Thousand Island dressing. I take off the lettuce and eat the tomato on the side. It's called the 'Baja Burger' at my local Young Gentlemen's Drinking & Fighting Establishment, comes with a choice of fries, onion rings, or cole slaw. We'll go there when you're in town.

Ray's doesn't do fries, said the guy behind the counter, Tim Murray. But Murray suggested the president try "Cheesy Tater Puffs," which are pureed potatoes with cheddar cheese and chives flash-fried like Tater Tots. Obama looked skeptical, but asked for one order for him and Biden to share.

Sounds good! Sounds like a heart attack. They've got a good health care plan.

Obama and Biden went Dutch -- basic cheeseburgers cost $7.95 -- as each pulled a wad of cash from his wallet to pay. But Obama bought burgers for reporters, cameramen and staff, including personal aide Reggie Love. "We're paying, or these people are gonna write about how we're freeloading," Obama said, pointing to members of the press corps, whom he dismissed as "cheap dates."

That's just short of callin' 'em whores! Heh. Nice touch, Mr. President! Of course, like all the good easy ones the press corpse expects to get fed first...

The president left $5 in the tip jar.

I even heard one of the wingnut gasbags say that was cool, and it is. Mrs. G's Mom put her through college on her waitress tips, and I'm a pretty good tipper as a result, mostly to avoid THE LOOK from Mrs. G, but I've never put five bucks in a 'tip jar' in my life. Points for Barry on that one.

Yolanda Pineda, 29, manned the grill and cooked the burgers with special care. "For Obama," she said, "especial!"

There's a host of social implications in that simple sentence, but I'll skip 'em all and just say that I like my restaurant meals cooked by Latinos. I don't mean at all to sound any kind of racist, but those folks are good cooks.

Bonnie Cosby, 51, a technology consultant who picked up burgers on her way home from work, opined: "It shows that he's in touch with the people, that he's not up in the ivory tower. He's a real person -- with a burger."

It was a great PR stunt to show Barry and Joe's common touch, and probably a pretty good lunch as well. A tip o' the Brain on this one, boys.

Update:

I am informed by a reliable old fart that Obama was indeed called 'elitist' for his use of mustard with actual flavor in it. Hannity. Figures. What an asshole.

Quote of the Day

Gail Collins in an NYT op-ed on teen pregnancy and the Repug 'moral value' view against sex education:

If you have ever watched Levi Johnston on TV for two minutes you will appreciate how terrifying it is when he has the most reasonable analysis of a social issue.

No shit!

Maybe not here ...

I wouldn't support denying anyone their free speech rights but it's heartening to see some folks won't put up with hateful bullshit:

San Francisco-based conservative talk show host Michael Savage -- whose sharp-tongued right-wing commentary has earned him headlines across the U.S. -- is making news again: He's been banned in Britain.

...

His companions on the British list include Stephen "Don" Black, who founded a white supremacist Web site in Florida, and preacher Fred Phelps, who leads an anti-gay church in Topeka, Kan., and who has been to San Francisco numerous times to mount anti-gay protests.

...

Good, they won't try to fuck London up for the rest of us.

Thanks to Mr. Aravosis for the link.

How long ...

Have I been pissing on Harry Reid? As long as he's been majority leader at the least and he deserved every bit of it. Today, however, I am here to congratulate him. He shoved it hard, dry, and deep into Arlen's sphincter:

The Senate dealt a blow tonight to Sen. Arlen Specter's hold on seniority in several key committees, a week after the Pennsylvanian's party switch placed Democrats on the precipice of a 60-seat majority.

...

Tonight's committee resolution, quickly read on the Senate floor by Reid himself, contradicts Specter's assertion last Tuesday when he publicly announced his move from the Republican side of the aisle. He told reporters that he retained his seniority both in the overall chamber and in the committees on which he serves. Specter said that becoming chairman of the Appropriations Committee was a personal goal of his, one that would be within reach if he were granted his seniority on the panel and placed as the third-most senior Democrat there.

...

Fuck you, Arlen, you whiny, self-serving, Joe Lieberman-esque, slimeball. I know used car salesmen whom I hold in higher esteem than I do you.

Great thanks to DB for the link.

Ah-nold calls for reefer debate

Raw Story

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that Californians should have a debate over the legalization of marijuana and study how marijuana taxation has worked in other countries.

A recent Field Research Corporation poll of Californians found, for the first time ever, a majority in the state (56%) support legalizing marijuana and taxing it similarly to alcohol.

We're slooooowly starting to head in the right direction. It's only taken 45 years to get this far.

If you live in Kah-lee-forn-ya, please see yes390.org.

It's all about the nipples ...

Janet Jackson's, that is. The Rude One:

...

Even now, with the Supreme Court's two rulings in the last week upholding the fleeting, spontaneous "fuck" regulation on a 5-4 vote and sending the Jackson boob back to a federal appeals court to reconsider its overturning of a fine, Democratic Senator John D. Rockefeller declared, "We must be doing more, not less, to give the FCC and parents all across America the resources they need to protect their children from indecent programming." Once a prison bitch, always a prison bitch.

Of course, it probably doesn't need to be pointed out that by the time the Congress was arguing about fucks and tits, America was waterboarding the fucking tits off Abu Zubaydah and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and more or less making psychological and physical wrecks out of other detainees in various prisons, with the Abu Ghraib photos just coming out. But, especially to Republicans, there was far, far more indecency in that nipple.

...

The things considered priorities in this country are astounding. We can't hold people accountable who have wiped their ass with our Constitution, justified acts that are so antithetical to our real values, yet we can deem a network responsible for a fleeting glimpse of a body part all of us have.

When I was growing up, my mother had a subscription to Stern magazine (for those who don't know, she was a German immigrant). There were half-naked women in every issue, sort of like The Sun's 'Page 3 Girls'. I was never forbidden to look at them and my mother was happy I kept up my German language skills by reading the articles. I was raised to understand the human body was nothing to treat as 'dirty' or pornographic. The 'moral values' crowd doesn't get, or doesn't want to get, the difference between nudity and porn (and we won't even talk about their version of 'obscenity').

It was impressed upon me, most deeply, the horror and tragedy of war and the immorality of racism. I learned that the deprivation of human and civil rights were far, far worse that a child getting a glimpse of a naked body part.

We have become a nation of petty, trifling prudes. We allow ourselves to get sidetracked by the most insignificant things and completely lose touch with The Big Picture. We allowed this nation to be turned into a Third World toilet run by tin horn dictators while we worried about stupid little shit. From Janet Jackson's nipple to Freedom Fries, the crap we devote attention to, while disregarding our nation's crumbling foundations, is unbelievable.

Don't worry, Church Lady. Seeing an exposed breast won't fuck Little Johnny up nearly as much as sending him to a war we had no reason to be in.

Clown car ...

The Republican Party of the 21st Century.

Pic from Boing Boing via Digby.

Thought For The Day

Yesterday I posted about our proselytizing Holy Warriors passing out bibles to Afghanis.

There's a real upside to this.

About 90% of Afghanis can't read. They get their religion by listening to others.

So what's the upside, you may ask?

They will thank the Americans for the lovely bound toilet paper, and credit us for curing their itchy assholes.

Oooookay...

From YubaNet.

The Great Burrito Debate

Since Fixer mentioned his great love of things gastronomic, I'm throwin' in my 2¢...

Oooooh, Mama...

Pic from LATimes

LA Taco:

Gabachos, Angelenos, hounds , and pochos. What am I going to do with you? Burritos, tacos, tortas, carnitas, guacamole, shrimp cocktails, and chips! That’s all you ever talk about. You eat authentic Chinese in the SGV, poopoo our best ramen joints as being nothing like the ones in Japan, are in lock step in regards to the Izakaya Bincho’s, do Indian in Artesia,you know how lame the latest fad restaurant opened by a celeb chef really is, you give only golf claps to our best Italian, and every last one of you seems to know authentic Thai. Yet, you can’t wait to have your next Hollenbeck, carnitas and margaritas at some hipster fave like Alegria, or chow down on a plate loaded with cheese, rice, beans, and enchiladas. Que paso?

Well, don’t be discouraged, help has arrived to wean you off these vices. Yes, there are Mexican burritos, which originated in northern Mexico, but there is a difference between the burritos nortenos and the American version, a slop envelope of flour tortilla. For the purpose of this post I’m calling all non-Mexican burritos American. That includes Cal-Mex, Tex-Mex, East LA Mex, Mexican-American, etc.

If you look on Mexican food as the very stuff of life as I do, you'll want to go read about the delightful subset of burritos. Enjoy.

My own take is that if you roll a nice rare filet mignon and a large heavily-buttered lobster tail up in a flour tortilla, it will do nothing but improve it. As long as you include the baked potato, rice, beans, sour cream and guacamole and a cup of fresh pico de gallo on top, that is. If ya don't have the steak an' tail, you can do the the same thing to yer foot and get the same result...

CDC confirms outbreak of "Elephant Flu" in 26 States

Democratic Underground

In an unusual Sunday press conference Acting CDC Director Dr. Richard Bresser confirmed that the dreaded "Elephant Flu" virus has been identified in 26 states, "This is the same strain that first identified in Wheeling, West Virginia on Feb 9, 1950, when Senator McCarthy babbled the following, 'The State Department is infested with communists. I have here in my hand a list of 205—a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department' most rational people knew that a serious mental disease had entered in the public square, it continues to this day".

CDC epidemological experts believe that the number of people that are at risk for the flu has declined considerably because they have been getting such large doses of it over the last 8 years.

The CDC has issued the following bulletin listing the 5 stages of development of the Elephant Flu

The stages of Elephant Flu are classified as hyperaccumulative, in that as the disease progresses the additional stages are added to the previous stages and do not supersede them. It is common for patients to exhibit all 5 stages of the disease. [...]

Stage Five - Batshit Crazy

Identifying Characteristics: You will know it when you see it:

Notable Occurrences:

Too extensive to detail but since the original symptoms shown by Joe McCarthy there have been thousands of examples. Here are some recent examples showing geographic spread of the syndrome;

Go see. Set your drink down...

Quote of the Day

From James "Sleeps With The Enemy" Carville on Charlie Rose last night, I paraphrase:

"Arlen Specter has gone from being the most unreliable Republican to being the most unreliable Democrat."

Bada-bing!

Update:

Since love makes no sense most of the time, it's unfair of me to climb Carville's frame over his main squeeze. I do it anyway.

On the flip side, he's a good ol' boy and a Marine and I like him, even more since his new book is out:

40 More Years: How the Democrats Will Rule the Next Generation

Now that I like! Excerpt:

When historians or scientists look back over huge cataclysmic events, they generally find some harbinger that went unnoticed at the time.

There's always a warning. If you're a chaos theorist, it's the flapping of the proverbial butterfly's wings in New York that caused a tsunami in Hong Kong. A meteorologist might think of it in terms of a category five hurricane that began as a low-pressure area off the Cape Verde Islands on the African coast. Historians remember the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand as the spark for World War I.

When future historians begin to examine the absolutely disastrous events during the term of President Bush, from massive incompetence to blatant falsehoods and the trampling of the Constitution to the savaging of the good name of the United States around the world, they will look for one of these events.

The stealing of the election of 2000 in Florida is going to be a leading qualifier. But it isn't the one to focus on, for several reasons. (After all, there's really nothing that unusual in people resorting to the courts to try to win an election that they didn't win in the first place.)

Well, not everybody's Daddy owns 'em a Supreme Court Justice or two...

A Thought About Fiat & The Current State Of Our Automotive Industry

Tony Peyser

I don’t mean to unnecessarily be tossing

Elbows that are sharp

But have we gone from Fix It Again Tony*

To Fix It Again TARP?

*'Fix It Again Tony' is a link to Mustang Bobby and leads to a lovely historical post which contains words like 'Studebaker', 'Packard', 'Nash', 'Hudson', and 'Yugo'. Heh. Don't miss!

Flus for Jesus

Bill Maher. Need I say 'liquid alert'? Take 5 and enjoy.

Thanks to BuzzFlash and amanisfly.

And you wonder ...

Why Mrs. F and I want to retire to Paris?

...

True to their reputation as leisure-loving gourmets, the French spend more time sleeping and eating than anyone else among the world's wealthy nations, according to a study published Monday.

...

I have a natural talent for eating and sleeping. Heh ...

Never, ever ...

Letting these people control the Republican Party (not that I have a problem with it) ...

...

Uber-conservative members of the Republican National Committee proposed a resolution demanding that Democrats "be truthful and honest with the American people" and "rename themselves the Democratic Socialist Party."

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., claimed Democrats will use the AmeriCorps program, a pet project of Republican Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, to establish "re-education camps" and indoctrinate children.

Rep. Spencer "McCarthy" Bachus, R-Ala., who impressed me with his ability to count on his fingers and his toes, alleged there are 17 socialists in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, protesting taxes, suggested Texans may want to secede from the union.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, interviewed in her office for the "American Chopper" reality television show, covered her couch with the pelt of a grizzly bear her daddy drilled with a high-powered rifle.

RNC Chairman Michael Steele, who fell out of favor for calling Obama a mere "collectivist" instead of a "socialist," was forced to kiss Poobah Limbaugh's ring after criticizing the talk show host.

...

... is like letting your kid drive the Ferrari.

Great thanks to Maru for the link.

"We hunt people for Jesus!"

Accompanying articles at HuffPo and Al Jazeera.

Trying to convert Muslims to any other faith is a crime in Afghanistan. The fact that the video footage is being broadcast on Al Jazeera guarantees that it will be seen throughout the Muslim world. It is likely to add more credence to the perception that the US is engaging in a war on Islam with neo-crusader forces invading Muslim lands.

Note to Bill Gates: This is not what our armed forces are supposed to be doing over there. We got enough fuckin' problems without this crap. Dab a loop on yer sky pilots and tell 'em ta knock off the cheap shit.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Consumer Confidence Soars
Now that bankrupt automakers promise to take over their car payments if they lose their jobs.

Republicans: No Reason to Probe Bush Administration Use of Torture
There was no oral sex involved.

Gates: Detainees May Be Housed Here, Solving One Problem
In foreclosed homes, solving another.

Yankees Slash Prices on Most Expensive Seats
Found that fans were unwilling to pay $2500 to spend three hours watching a mediocre bunch of overpaid over-the-hill bumblers get beaten to a pulp by teams with a tiny fraction of their payroll.

Time to scare Arlen

Last Chance Democracy Cafe, links at site.

Isn’t settling for Arlen Specter in such a state one hell of a waste? I’ll be honest: I’ve never really liked Specter, so maybe that’s coloring my viewpoint. But watching him using the Democratic Party to secure his own political salvation has done little to improve my view of him.

There is, however, one thing that might make me sit still for it — if Specter would actually do what so many talking heads said he would do, and enable the Democratic Party to break GOP filibusters in the Senate. If he’ll do that for the next critical year-and-a-half, he can have his six extra years in the Senate, as annoying and Republicanish as he’ll be. Given everything that’s on the line, helping Obama enact his agenda is worth it.

He doesn’t have to vote with the Democrats down the line. Most of the time, they won’t need his support on final passage. So let him vote with the GOP: but, if he wants to be a Democrat, he needs to be there for us on the all important cloture votes. He needs to help break the filibusters. If not, he’s useless and the Democratic rank and file in Pennsylvania should take him out in the primary, Ed Rendell and the Democratic leadership be damned.

Arlen Specter cares profoundly about one and only one thing — Arlen Specter. If he feels safe, he’ll continue to rub his new party’s face in it for the sheer joy of showing off his “independence” to the Beltway crowd. But put the fear of God in him, as by recruiting a viable Democratic primary opponent, and watch how quickly he finds religion (my em).

So get to work Pennsylvania Democrats. It’s time to scare the hell out of the bastard.

Work him like a red-headed stepchild. What's he gonna do, switch back?

Krauts in Paris ...

Before I leave, a reply to Gord's comment on my Mozart post yesterday:

Ja. ve Krauts got Paree on ze brain. Ve'll be Ba-ach!

Sorry...

Got news for ya, pardner. We never left. Heh ...

Yours truly in front of the German embasssy on Avenue de Franklin D. Roosevelt, Paris 1999

Quote of the Day

Digby:

...

Can I just say what a bunch of whining little wimps these Republicans all are? They love to present themselves as stoic, manly warriors, loving [t]heir country above all else, willing to lay down their lives for it.

Until something happens they don't like and then they want to blow the thing up.

Time to empty the dog and head to work. See yas later ...

But it's "new" ...

Running late this morning; Mrs. F has a meeting in the city office and I had to kick her out at the train station.

So, in lieu of my drivel, take look at D-cap's view of the Republican "rebranding" efforts. Heh ...

...

These people have deemed themselves saviors of the Republican brand. The plans of these five re-hashed trolls are supposed to change the fortunes of a Party mired in the 13th century. Talk about putting lipstick on the anus of an elephant.

...

As I said ...

When the Sphincter Specter defection became news, this is no great deal for the Dems. Once again, the Dems promised the moon to a guy (see: Joe Lieberman) who cares for nothing but his own political skin:

Here it comes. Been a Democrat for less than a week and already Arlen Specter is backtracking. Is it any clearer that this Faustian bargain made for those fabled 60 votes is no bargain at all for the majority party?

...

... I did not say I would be a loyal Democrat. I did not say that ...

So what the fuck did we let him aboard for, let alone allow him to keep his seniority? Hey, Harry Reid, I got this bridge over the East River you might want to buy ...

Sunday Crazy Redneck Music Blogging

BCB Band ~ Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off

The original big-time pro-fesh-un-al embedding-disabled big corporate video of this is a hoot too. Ya sorta gotta wait 'til almost the end for the kicker! Heh.

Thanks to the BCB Band.

"Damn near yuppie free"

Not only did I never think anyone would write a song about Oildale, it is even more astounding that uber-librul Mary McCaslin would sing about it! Go read and you'll see why. If my state ever needs an enema...well, you get the idea.

Interesting tidbit:

Most of the original U-2 spy planes flown out of Groom Lake were built at a secret factory in Oildale disguised as a tire factory.

Mary McCaslin w/Wake The Dead ~ Oildale

Thanks, garrufat.

Quote of the Day

From Daddy Frank's column:

That Obama needs a serious counterweight in the political arena. But the former party of Lincoln and liberty has now melted down to a fundamentalist core of aging, rural Dixiecrats and intrusive scolds — as small as 20 percent of the populace in the latest polls. Its position on the American spectrum of ideas is somewhere between a doomsday cult and Scientology.

Note to Repugs: You're caught between two doomsday cults. Your demise is assured. In the interest of time just take the koolaid and get it over with already.

Update:

Gleeped from YubaNet.

Swine Flew*

Just because:

Pink Floyd - Pigs on the Wing

*Thanks to PC

Wake up!

This oughta do it:

Mozart - Symphony #31 (Parisian Symphony)