Blogpower

BREAKING... Home Depot dumps O'Reilly: "We will not... advertise on the Bill O’Reilly show" - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth: "Home Depot seems to have had a change of heart. They're now unequivocally telling their customers that they will not advertise on Bill O'Reilly's show. Oddly, however, they're now also claiming that they never advertised on O'Reilly's show.

From: Jarvis, Ron @homedepot.com]
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 3:00 PM
To: JH
Subject: RE: PULL SUPPORT FOR OREILLY

Thank you for your email , we will not and have not advertised on the Bill O’Reilly show..." (more)

Egoism At Work

Bill Moyers Journal: Why Earmarks Matter: "...When one of his earmarks was challenged recently, Rep. Don Young (R-AK) complained that people were trying to take “my money.” That’s how earmarks have twisted things in Washington. It’s our money, it’s our government. Work with Taxpayers for Common Sense to make the budget more transparent and more accountable to taxpayers."

Summer Time and The Living Is...

PERRspectives Blog: Republicans Quiet on Iraqi - and Bush - Vacations

"Just one day after the Iraqi government received failing marks in President Bush's surge interim progress report, Americans learned that the Iraqi parliament is proceeding with its plans to take off the month of August. But while the American people may be up in arms, President Bush's amen corner is predictably silent. After all, given Bush's own record-setting penchant for vacationing during crises here at home, Republicans are understandably reticent to criticize the absentee government in Baghdad.

Judging by the numbers, the Bush presidency at times resembles one extended holiday. As of this Easter, Bush had traveled to his Crawford ranch 63 times, spending all or part of 405 days there. By August 2005, Bush set the two-term record for most presidential days off, easily eclipsing Ronald Reagan's previous eight-year tally of 335..."

Winter View

Our barn and pasture.

Park Gestapo

American gestapo | Capitol Hill Blue: "The last place you expect to run into a federal government goon squad is the Blue Ridge Parkway, the scenic highway that runs through Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee..."

Short Take : Federal employees, empowered by the Patriot Act, threaten to arrest a photographer for pointing a camera at them; they were engaged in the search of vehicle on the Blue Ridge Parkway, apparently stopping and harassing hippies, er, music lovers, on their way to FloydFest.

The Daily Flashback

The Raw Story | Washington Post details Gonzales's 'decade of dishonesty': "...Gonzales's apparent willingness to dissemble in order to protect himself or President Bush stretches back to at least 1996, when he intervened to prevent then-Gov. Bush from serving jury duty in Texas, the Post notes. Not until its second-to-last paragraph, however, does the Post article remind readers that by not serving jury duty in the drunken driving case Bush was able to keep his own drunken driving conviction a secret for several more years..."

Health Care Reminder

Mitt Mauled By Kurtz

Crooks and Liars » Howie Kurtz Jabs Mitt Romney: "On Sunday’s Reliable Sources, Kurtz good-naturedly knocks Mitt Romney’s excuse for not joining the CNN/YouTube GOP debate:

KURTZ: Mitt Romney said that, he was expressing his reservations about joining the next YouTube debate, “I don’t think candidates should have to answer questions from a snowman.” Well let me just say this to the former governor: how are you going to deal with Osama bin Laden if you’re afraid of that snowman?

Oh, snap."

YouTube here.

Something tells me we've not seen the last of the snowman.

Gonzo For The Defense?

TPMmuckraker July 30, 2007 9:44 AM: "Is Alberto Gonzales a liar? a slippery parser of language? an amnesiac (as yet undiagnosed)? Or is he just an idiot?

These are the various scenarios contemplated in The Washington Post's front page analysis this morning, which marshals experts and an examination of Gonzales' history of public service to examine the question:..."

I know how to test all the theories. Impeach Bush. Then let Gonzales defend him.

Votes Hacked

Most vote machines lose test to hackers: "State-sanctioned teams of computer hackers were able to break through the security of virtually every model of California's voting machines and change results or take control of some of the systems' electronic functions, according to a University of California study released Friday..."

That gives me no comfort.

A Muslim In Dallas

ContraCostaTimes.com - WHY DO THEY HATE US?

U.S. has chance to lessen Muslim resentment: "LONDON -- RECENTLY, I found myself in Dallas, a place I'd never been before. As a Muslim writer, I felt about going there pretty much the way an American writer might have felt about heading to the tribal areas of Pakistan: nervous, with the distinct suspicion that the locals carried guns and weren't too fond of folks who look like me.

So I was surprised by the extraordinary hospitality I encountered on my trip. And I still remember the politeness with which one elderly gentleman addressed me in a bookshop. He held a copy of my latest novel, 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist,' and examined the face on its cover, comparing it to mine. Then, he said, nodding once as if to dip the brim of an imaginary hat: 'So tell me, sir. Why do they hate us?...'" (more)

Air Force Expanding

America's ace: Without the might of the U.S. Air Force, the battle would be lost - The Smirking Chimp:
"by Eric Margolis | Jul 29 2007 - 9:31am |

Washington is buzzing with talk about withdrawing U.S. military forces from Iraq, but nobody seems to have told the United States Air Force. Far from packing their duffel bags, America's air warriors appear to be planning a long stay in Iraq..."

The Couping of FDR

JM Bell - Militant Progressive » Blog Archive » Sometimes it skips a generation. No, not balding: the Bush Family’s penchant for Facist Government

On Unfettered Dick

Walter F. Mondale - Answering to No One - washingtonpost.com: "...The corollary to Cheney's zealous embrace of secrecy is his near total aversion to the notion of accountability. I've never seen a former member of the House of Representatives demonstrate such contempt for Congress -- even when it was controlled by his own party. His insistence on invoking executive privilege to block virtually every congressional request for information has been stupefying -- it's almost as if he denies the legitimacy of an equal branch of government. Nor does he exhibit much respect for public opinion, which amounts to indifference toward being held accountable by the people who elected him.

Whatever authority a vice president has is derived from the president under whom he serves. There are no powers inherent in the office; they must be delegated by the president. Somehow, not only has Cheney been given vast authority by President Bush -- including, apparently, the entire intelligence portfolio -- but he also pursues his own agenda. The real question is why the president allows this to happen.

Three decades ago we lived through another painful example of a White House exceeding its authority, lying to the American people, breaking the law and shrouding everything it did in secrecy. Watergate wrenched the country, and our constitutional system, like nothing before. We spent years trying to identify and absorb the lessons of this great excess. But here we are again.

Since the Carter administration left office, we have been criticized for many things. Yet I remain enormously proud of what we did in those four years, especially that we told the truth, obeyed the law and kept the peace."

No Politics For Our Customers

Home Depot wants you to shut up - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth: "Oh, you're gonna love this. Home Depot is now telling its customers that if you have the audacity to complain about BillOReilly.com's death threats against Hillary Clinton and suggestions of a terrorist attack against the US Capitol then YOU are the problem..." More.

Troops To Blame For Extended Tours

The Gavel » Blog Archive » Armed Services Hearing on Iraq Legislation

Rep. Nancy Boyda: “...And finally, I would just like to share a story. When I was speaking back at home with one of a very right wing conservative talk show hosts and after, thank God, after we were off the air, I said something that I assumed he would agree with and I just said ‘you know, I’m really worried about these guys and gals, but mainly guys, that have gone, that they’ve been redeployed now three and four times’ — he came back to me and said ‘you know what, they should have thought about that before they enlisted, before they signed up.’ He said ‘it’s their fault.’ And I was so upset, I looked at him and I said with all due restraint, and I said no respect, it’s not with all due respect because quite honestly, I have no respect for that opinion, with all due restraint, and I got myself calmed down and left the room. But I am very disappointed, I would hope that General Keane would not say that. But I am very disappointed that, where is he to get up and defend the men and women who have so honorably served our country? Where is he and where is the rest of this military to say this is the right thing to do? With all due respect, this country has to come together and first and foremost deal in the reality of the situation and find a way to come together and put these crazy partisan politics behind us, and come up with a way forward. And maybe that’s where I should stop. And I will yield back my time...”

Gun. Gun? Where's my gun?

Men In Black Arrive!

"Right Wing Watch: Right-wing Activists Suspicious of Thompson Ties to ‘Shadow Government’
Right-wing Activists Suspicious of Thompson Ties to ‘Shadow Government’

According to the right-wing news website, WorldNetDaily, Fred Thompson has finally and “candidly” confirmed his membership in the Council on Foreign Relations, which WND says is sometimes referred to as the “‘shadow government’ organization of elites with a global agenda.” Earlier this week, Thompson was confronted and questioned by an activist during a campaign stop regarding his association with the Council, long a bete noir of activists who suspect the United Nations and other elites of scheming to destroy U.S. sovereignty. The activist who confronted Thompson, and was eventually forcibly removed from the event, mentioned the Council’s supposed efforts to bring about the North American Union, the latest nightmare for Phyllis Schlafly and the black-helicopter crowd..."

For more proof, visit TBogg; then here.

Weeping For The Troops

Press Reports: Another Apparent Iraq Vet Suicide: "NEW YORK One of the least covered aspects of the fallout from the Iraq war is the rising toll of suicides, both near the battlefield and back home.

Latest official figures released by the Pentagon reveal at least 116 self-inflicted fatalities in Iraq. But this does not include several dozen still under investigation, nor any of the many cases back in the U.S..."

"The horror..."

This is too much for me right now.

Thompson Troubles

Thompson’s Race Hasn’t Quite Begun, but Turmoil Has - New York Times

"Former Senator Fred D. Thompson has yet to make a formal declaration that he is running for president, but already his noncampaign campaign has gone through its first shake-up.

A week of personnel turnover that extended from his campaign-manager-in-waiting down to volunteers raised questions about whether the Thompson camp is prepared to jump fully into the race for the Republican presidential nomination, a race in which his rivals have had months to establish their campaign organizations, raise money and hone strategy..."

No BO At Lowe's

Daily Kos: Lowe's pulls advertising from O'Reilly show: "Lowe's pulls advertising from O'Reilly show
by kos
Fri Jul 27, 2007 at 05:59:06 PM PDT

A reader emailed Lowes about their ads on O'Reilly's show. They got this response:

Replied On 07/27/07 15:41:09

Dear Lowe's Customer,

Thank you for your comments regarding the program, The O'Reilly Factor.

Lowe's has strict guidelines that govern the placement of our advertising. Our company advertises primarily in national, network prime-time television programs and on a variety of cable outlets.

Lowe's constantly reviews advertising buys to make certain they are consistent with its policy guidelines. The O'Reilly Factor does not meet Lowe's advertising guidelines, and the company's advertising will no longer appear during the program.

We are dedicated to providing the best service, products, and shopping environment in the home improvement industry. All three of these are very important to our business, and our customers will always be our number one priority.

We appreciate your contacting us, and hope this information addresses your concerns.

Thank you,

Lowe's Customer Care

Emphasis was mine.

Two can play at this game."

Ok. Now does everyone know where to get those 2x4's ?

Update: or Home Depot either...

Chuck's Question

Re: Darth and the Assault Story
The incident occurred in '04 so it is a bit of an oldie; for more information check here: The Washington Note. They have a very thorough article on the incident. Incidentally, here's the Google page for the initial search if you want to look around more. I got sidetracked in the comment sections of some of the blogs. (Yes, the natives were restless then, too.)

Murder In The Trenches

TPMmuckraker July 27, 2007 9:05 AM: "Today's Must Read
By Spencer Ackerman - July 27, 2007, 9:05 AM

Was Pat Tillman murdered?

Stunning as it is to contemplate, the Associated Press obtained Pentagon documents through the Freedom of Information Act showing that investigators looked into whether the athlete-turned-soldier might have been deliberately killed in 2004 by members of his Special Forces unit in Afghanistan. Nothing the AP obtained is definitive, and ultimately the friendly-fire ruling withstood a criminal investigation..."

Fat Map

It's interactive! Fit Nation: The Obesity Fight - Special Reports from CNN.com

BO's Unfan

News Corpse in Bill O'Reilly: Propaganda Pimp says:"In a roomful of egomaniacal bloviating pundits, Bill O'Reilly would stand out as a towering infernal display of delusional demagoguery. His crusading rants are illustrative of a society that is weakened by a disease (a social disease?) whose predominant symptoms are a mash of masochism and narcissism. Almost any random sampling of The O'Reilly Fester will reveal a man obsessed with his own righteousness. He views himself as the singular savior of America's meek, who he refers to simply as the 'Folks.' The semantic approach to his message is overwhelmed with the imagery of conflict and danger..."

Com'on. Don't sugarcoat it. Tell us how you really feel.

More Vet Shafting

wcbstv.com - Army's 'Debt Of Service' Leaves Vets Perplexed: "...Former Army Specialist Rodriguez started getting bills for $700 for lost or damaged government property this summer. Although he was discharged some four years ago, bills recently arrived demanding payment, but giving no details on what or why -- nor do they offer a way to dispute the charges.

'For doing my job you're going to bill me?' Rodriguez said.

And he's not alone. A 2006 government report found more than 1,000 soldiers being billed a total of $1.5 million. And while fighting overseas put their lives on the line, this battle on paper could cost them their future by ruining their credit. Rodriguez will be reported to credit agencies next month.

'It makes a terrible point about the nature of military service today,' citizen soldier Tod Ensign said.

Ensign is a veteran's advocate. He says this is all part of the military’s push to be run more like a business.

'They'll just pound him and call him, call his employers, and make his life as miserable as they can until he pays up,' Ensign said.

Testimony before Congress detailed in a report found that 'although unit commanders and finance offices are authorized to write off debts for lost and damaged equipment ... they have not always done so..."

Years ago, what is probably an archetypal story floated through the Viet Nam theatre concerning a grunt on a helicopter. The chopper started getting small arms fire and eventually a few hits. Somewhere along the line, the chopper lurched and the soldier lost his M-16 out the open door. He started yelling at the pilot to "Take 'er down! Take 'er down!" The pilot refused but the soldier said, "But I'll have to pay for that weapon!" The co-pilot pointed at the open door as they sped over the jungle: "Now you know why a Captain goes down with his ship."

That sounds absurd but no more so than the reality of the story above. The question unanswered, of course, is who pays for all those broken and lost human weapons that make up the daily body count?

Slogans Instead of Funds

Taylor Marsh has a good post about GOP posturing on veterans and the recommendations from the Dole Shalala report . Click for more: Support the Troops is Still a Slogan to the GOP.

Prison Reform Twist

Philippines prisoners exercise to Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

BO/Kos/Clinton Furor

In case you have forgotten, a sitting U.S. Senator in the not so distant past threatened a sitting U.S. President. Thus, O'Reilly's assertion that all wingnut speech is pure as the driven snow is not likely to pass muster on the truth scale.

27741. Helms, Jesse. The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996:

"CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD · AUTHOR INDEX
The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996.


NUMBER: 27741
QUOTATION: Mr. Clinton better watch out if he comes down here. He’d better have a bodyguard.

ATTRIBUTION: Jesse Helms (b. 1921), U.S. Republican senator from North Carolina. New York Times, p. A19 (November 23, 1994).

Public statement made a week after calling the President unfit to be commander-in-chief."

And Harry Reid said George Bush was a liar. Whoopeedooo.

Specter Irked At New Judges

ACSBlog: The Blog of the American Constitution Society: Former Judiciary Chair Calls For Probe into Roberts, Alito: "Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), who chaired the committee hearings on Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito, said yesterday that he intends to investigate whether the Court's newest Justices 'lived up' to their promises during those hearings to respect stare decisis.

The Chief Justice told Senators during his hearings that 'I do think that it is a jolt to the legal system when you overrule a precedent. Precedent plays an important role in promoting stability and evenhandedness.' His remarks were echoed by Justice Alito, who said that 'there needs to be a special justification for overruling a prior precedent...'"

Sorta Leaving

Key Democrat urges Iraq pullout without deadline | Politics | Reuters: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saying he sees signs the White House is open to changing course in Iraq, a leading House Democrat on Wednesday proposed starting a U.S. troop pullout without a hard deadline for completion that many Republicans oppose.

Rep. John Murtha, a moderate Pennsylvania Democrat and longtime critic of the war, said he would propose that in an amendment to a defense spending bill for the fiscal year starting October 1, expected on the House floor next week..."

No Critique of The Dick

Cliff Schecter: "A man walked up to Dick Cheney, calmly told him he thought his Iraq policy was reprehensible, and walked away. A few minutes later he was arrested by the Secret Service, in front of his 8-year-old son, for 'assault'.

When he asked what would happen to his child, the Secret Service said, 'He can be sent to Child Services.' Luckily, the boy found his mother and was safe.

But the citizen who practiced his free speech spent a few hours in jail before he was released..."

The Daily Dish

From Sullivan's The Daily Dish

"Weimar Watch

Hewitt warns us:

The Boot and Hanson interviews make it perfectly clear that the consequences of retreat in Iraq are perfectly clear. The genocide and the export of terror that followed such a cut and run would be catastrophic, and wholly the legacy of a Democratic Congress. [My italics.]

You thought this debate was about Iraq? Notice how the Iraq catastrophe will be pinned by the GOP entirely on the one political party that has had almost nothing to do with a war now in its fifth year. It won't work, but that doesn't mean they won't try."

Power Sharing

Democratic Debate - John Edwards on Special Interests

Fox Farce

Talking Points Memo |: "I try not to be too quick to cast aspersions when it comes to misidentifying a politician's political party. On occasion I put an (R) after a Dem's name or vice versa. And I don't think there's anything to it beyond an overworked set of hands or whatever part of my brain takes control when I'm jotting down those sorts of details on autopilot. But Fox News does seem to have this unmistakable pattern of calling any Republican who either gets caught boffing someone besides their spouse or attacks the president a Democrat.

Of course, to think about just what a joke Fox is you need do no more than remember how their star reporter Carl Cameron wrote a 'parody' (the one with a very fey John Kerry gabbing about his manicures) about then presidential candidate John Kerry about a month before the '04 election and somehow this 'parody' ending up running as a news story on Fox website. And of course the whole thing was brushed off as just good fun..."

The Betrayal of Heroes

Paul Slansky: In Defense of Nader-Bashing - Politics on The Huffington Post: "...Defend Nader on principle all you want, but the truth is that, whatever idealistic goals he claimed to be fighting for, what he actually accomplished was helping mightily to put in power a man who epitomized everything he'd spent his entire career fighting against. And, as every passing day brings new evidence of the erosion of our civil liberties, yes, I and millions of others place major blame on him and will never forgive or forget. In what's left of our democracy, that's our right."

I now loathe Nader. I can forgive a mistake; I cannot forgive a repeated mistake. Nader has and continues to repeat his mistakes. Once, I was a great fan of Nader, though I knew voting for him was tossing a vote to the wind, so I did not. But apparently his giant ego cannot face the fact that he did, in fact, put George Bush in the White House. Without him, the race would not have been close enough for the Supreme Court to usurp the will of the people and install its toy. Nader owes us all an apology.

Captain Kirk Helps

JM Bell - Militant Progressive » Blog Archive » Reason 101 why Kirk is better than Picard: The William Shatner Walter Reed Army Medical Center Project: "Dear friends,

Elizabeth and I were shocked to learn that an alarming number of wounded U.S. soldiers are not necessarily receiving adequate treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, one of the country’s most prestigious hospitals for our armed forces. Many of these brave people have been severely injured and their lives forever changed. It’s horrible to contemplate that they are not getting the class-A care that they truly need and deserve..."

Greek Mastodon

BBC NEWS | Europe | Greek mastodon find 'spectacular': "The remains of a prehistoric mastodon - a mammoth-like animal - have been found in northern Greece, including intact long tusks.

A Dutch scientist at the site, Dick Mol, says the find near Grevena should help explain why mastodons died out in Europe two to three million years ago..."

Edwards Steams

Edwards is mad and won't take it anymore - Roger Simon - Politico.com: "...Analysis: John Edwards has found a theme: He is angry and he is on your side. He is bold and he will use his boldness for you.

Here was his key response, his voice rising as he went along:

“Do you believe that compromise, triangulation will bring about big change? I don't. I think the people who are powerful in Washington -- big insurance companies, big drug companies, big oil companies -- they are not going to negotiate. They are not going to give away their power! The only way that they are going to give away their power is if we take it away from them!...”"

Contempt Clock Ticking

TheHill.com - Closer to a showdown: "The House Judiciary Committee will decide this week whether to issue contempt citations for White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers, both of whom have refused to comply with congressional subpoenas for information related to an investigation of the firings of at least eight U.S. attorneys..."

John Edwards - Hair

Yep. What really matters?

Bush Passing Carter?

Bush Approval Rating Tumbles To 25 Percent - Politics on The Huffington Post

"According to a new American Research Group poll, just 25% of Americans approve of the way President Bush is handling his job as president and 71% disapprove. These are record lows for the survey.

When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 23% approve and 73% disapprove.

Read more here."

Gasp! Bush Lies

Harry Reid on calling liars, like Bush, what they are: Liars - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth: "The Washington press corps just can't believe that Harry Reid called Bush a 'liar.' Reid is still getting questioned about it. Yesterday, on Face the Nation, Reid explained his rationale:

'When I have dealings with people, and they tell me one thing and do something else, they're not telling the truth, what else do you have to call them? I am a person who calls things the way I see them,' Reid said Sunday.

Now, that's not very complicated, but the media can't grasp it. Bush lies to them regularly -- and they report what he says anyway. The Bush team knows the media won't call them liars. It's just not done. So, Bush and his crew have lied without repercussions for years.

Fortunately, Harry Reid doesn't hold back. A lie is a lie -- especially if it comes from George Bush. Most of the media doesn't get that, but more and more Americans do"

More On Media Bias

Firedoglake - Firedoglake weblog » Everything Old Is New Again: "...The relentless coverage of the Edwards’ haircut smacks of an incredible amount of hypocritical schadenfreude from these fake Heathers — since high-priced television news personalities, with their need for Botox-ed and groomed make-up and hair perfection, anti-aging oxygen facials, and such that is a requirement in a business that promotes image over substance relentlessly live those expensive haircut and spa treatments on a weekly basis. To hear the sort of faux populist spin that all of them have tried to put on the haircut nonsense, knowing both the salary requirements and the grooming regimins of these people is appalling enough.

But to hear all of this — and the recent “Hillary has boobs” expose (so to speak) — one notices a big, gaping pattern: why is it that Democratic candidates get the full Heathers treatment, while Hollywood Fred and Make-up Mitt and Rudy Guiliani and his travelling cross-dressing show, and all the other superficial gaffes and goofs get nary a mention?

The double standard has to stop. But it will only do so when we all stand up together and say collectively “enough.” I’m with Jamo — ENOUGH."

Calling The Spade

Paul Abrams: John Kerry Does It: Breaks the Taboo, and Shoves It Back Down Their Throats - Politics on The Huffington Post: "...John Kerry has done it. On Olbermann yesterday he said, 'it is about time that those promoting this war offered up their own children to fight it, and anyone who themselves are 40 and under in the Congress and the Administration'...

This was in response to the letter Hillary Clinton received from Eric Edelman, former Cheney advisor, now in the Pentagon, and, according to Turkish newspapers, the absolute worst US Ambassador to Turkey in history. Edelman wrote that Clinton's letter asking what plans the Pentagon had for withdrawing US troops was, in effect, helping our enemies.

Democrats typically would slam the Administration for such accusations, thus succumbing to their invitation to join their argument. Indeed, that is what Hillary did in her response.

John Kerry did it better. He shoved it back down their throats so that they would choke on it. He also broke the taboo on calling for those voting and promoting the war volunteering themselves and having their own children go to Iraq.

This hypocrisy is NOT the major reason we should not have invaded to begin with, nor the main reason we should withdraw all our troops. It is, however, a potent weapon because it strikes at the most "reptilian" part of our brain: their fear conflicting with and overcoming their grand ideas of remaking the world so long as someone else took the risk.

Now, John Kerry has broken the taboo. Politicians, bloggers, and MSM -- repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat."

Fast Connection

Old lady surfing Web at 40 gigabits-per-second - CNN.com: "STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- She is a latecomer to the information superhighway, but 75-year-old Sigbritt Lothberg is now cruising the Internet with a dizzying speed.

Lothberg's 40 gigabits-per-second fiber-optic connection in Karlstad is believed to be the fastest residential uplink in the world, Karlstad city officials said.

In less than 2 seconds, Lothberg can download a full-length movie on her home computer -- many thousand times faster than most residential connections, said Hafsteinn Jonsson, head of the Karlstad city network unit..."

Lessons Via Sullivan

The Daily Dish-- Ten Lessons From Iraq: "Hilzoy lists them. These two strike very close to home in my case:

(4) When the rest of the world thinks you're crazy, it's worth entertaining the possibility that they might be right. We should not defer to their judgment mindlessly, but we should have what Jefferson called 'a decent respect to the opinions of mankind.'

(5) Beware of movements built on contempt. Many of the people who pushed for war had spent decades expressing their contempt for what you might call standard foreign policy -- the kind in which diplomacy is taken to be a useful instrument, not a snare for the weak-minded, and force is a last resort, not an all-purpose tool. Their own views had never been seriously tested (and no, Reagan doesn't count), and many of their spokesmen lacked any serious experience conducting foreign policy. Sometimes, groups of people who spend years muttering about how different things would be if they were in charge are right. Often, however, they are not. Absent a real track record on which to evaluate them, they should be approached with caution."

Why The GOP Fears Edwards

Democrat Taylor Marsh Broadcasts Live Talk Radio and Blogs Politics

"...There's been a lot of talk about the legitimacy of the Edwards expensive snip story: Scott Lemieux, Digby, Marc Ambinder, Glenn Greenwald, even me (more than once). Just about everyone has weighed in, especially the wingnuts and Fox, with the latest Romney makeup revelation offering a prime moment to examine the double standard.

But Romney beats the drums of war and is not a modern man, something Republicans understand and to which they can relate. Religious, cunning, "conservative" when it's convenient, rich.

John Edwards is different. He talks of poverty, peace and something beyond perpetual war, which completely flummoxes Republicans. The truth is that the reason Republicans want Edwards gone is that they can't attack his message, because they don't understand it, are even scared of it, dread facing it. The haircut is easier to ridicule, as they hope to capitalize on the juvenile mind set of the average American voter who is too busy working two jobs and is willing to hate anyone so rich, good looking and who has succeeded where they have failed. Edwards is a wealthy man who came from nothing who is now making his life's work the poor; people to whom Republicans can't relate, but to whom they continually sell their policy propaganda to, but which will never set them free. Nothing is scarier than the thought of the poor rising up and realizing that the talk of the American dream through Republican policies (and the cheerleading of talk radio) will never reach that far down to them. If the truth be told to the masses, Republicans would never win another election and wingnut radio hypocrisy would be finished forever. That's why Edwards must not only be defeated, but destroyed; like Kerry the veteran turned against war had to not only be stopped, but the symbol he represented obliterated and neutralized. Antithetical notions to Republican thinking are not allowed to thrive in the American dialogue, and the messenger will not survie to sell his story..."

Yummy Bo Goes Rudy

GOP Update: Forgotten Soft-Porn Actress Endorses Divorced Abortionist Fascist - Wonkette

Deputy Mitt

Romney aide’s bogus badges: Sources detail ‘illegal’ security tactic - U.S. Politics - BostonHerald.com: "In an apparent violation of the law, a controversial aide to ex-Gov. Mitt Romney created phony law enforcement badges that he and other staffers used on the campaign trail to strong-arm reporters, avoid paying tolls and trick security guards into giving them immediate access to campaign venues, sources told the Herald.
The bogus badges were part of the bizarre security tactics allegedly employed by Jay Garrity, the director of operations for Romney who is under investigation for impersonating a law enforcement officer in two states. Garrity is on a leave of absence from the campaign while the probe is ongoing..."

Be Afraid...

Bush to Have Colonoscopy at Camp David - The Huffington Post: "WASHINGTON — President Bush will have a routine colonoscopy Saturday and temporarily hand presidential powers to Vice President Dick Cheney, the White House said.

Press secretary Tony Snow told reporters Friday that Bush will have the procedure at his Camp David, Md., mountaintop retreat..."

Now that's real terror.

GOPer Hypocrite Charged

newsobserver.com | Coy Privette charged in prostitution case: "SALISBURY -- Former state legislator Coy C. Privette, a Cabarrus County commissioner and retired Baptist minister, was charged today with several misdemeanors related to prostitution, authorities said.

Privette, 74, of Kannapolis, was charged with six counts of aiding and abetting prostitution by renting a hotel room and paying for sexual acts with Tiffany Denise Summers, 32, who was charged with six counts of prostitution, according to arrest warrants.

All charges are misdemeanors, said State Bureau of Investigation Agent Kevin Canty..."

Strange. I looked at several new articles and never found a mention that Privette was a Republican. My first confirmation was in a comment wherein the commenter had asked what party Privette was in. Strange.

Kristol Wins

BUZZFLASH.com presents MediaPUTZ.com: "For reporting that is an embarrassment to the profession of journalism, and for being beholden to corporate paymasters rather than the citizens of America.

William Kristol is living proof of how the American media has turned the concept of meritocracy upside its head and now puts chronic failures at the top of the pundit pyramid..."

Plame Flamed

via Taylor Marsh--Plame Case Dismissed: "It's nice to have friends in robes.

It's not a small thing that the judge who just dismissed the Plame case is the same one who dismissed the lawsuit over Cheney's energy task force. Here's the decision.

What the Bush administration did to Valerie Plame, including the chill sent through the CIA, was beyond the pale; the targeting of Joseph Wilson a message to all private citizens daring to push back against the falsehoods we were fed. It was a gallant fight to engage..."

If this is the end of recourse, might I suggest a more spy-like accounting?

Biased Press On Edwards

Hullabaloo: "...Now, I am not especially surprised that the press corps doesn't like John Edwards. Many of these people probably didn't like guys like him in high school either and one thing we know about the political press corps is that they have never matured beyond the 11th grade. (See: chilean bass stupidity.) But I have to ask, once again, just who in the hell these people think they are and why they think they are allowed to pick our candidates for us based upon their own 'feelings' about them? I don't recall electing them to anything. (But, hey, maybe we should just poll the kewl kidz and find out which candidate they 'like, totally, like' and we can cancel the election and save a lot of time and money.)

This is exactly this kind of thing that makes people like me laugh when I get lectured by professional journalists about 'objectivity' and 'ethics.' At least I put my political biases up front. These phonies hide behind a veil of journalistic conventions so they can exercise their psychologically stunted desire to stick it to the BMOC, or the dork or whoever these catty little gossips want to skewer for their own pleasure that day. Please, please, no more hand-wringing sanctimony from reporters about the undisciplined, unethical blogosphere. Their glass houses are lying in shards all around their feet.

Each time they've pulled this puerile nonsense in the last few years, it's resulted in a mess that's going to take even more years to unravel. And they learned nothing, apparently, since they are doing exactly the same thing in this election. If the press really wants to know why they are held in lower esteem than hitmen and health insurance claims adjusters, this is it."

Flying Under The Blogdar

Ex-Cheney aide gets 10 years in prison in spy case | Politics | Reuters: "NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - A former White House official who took top secret documents from U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's office and gave them to opposition figures in the Philippines was sentenced on Wednesday to 10 years in prison.

Philippine-born Leandro Aragoncillo, a U.S. citizen and former Marine, pleaded guilty last year to taking the documents that included details on threats against U.S. government interests and military personnel in the Philippines..."

Drug Help For GOPers

White House Had Drug Officials Appear With GOP Candidates - washingtonpost.com

White House officials arranged for top officials at the Office of National Drug Control Policy to help as many as 18 vulnerable Republican congressmen by making appearances and sometimes announcing new federal grants in the lawmakers' districts in the months leading up to the November 2006 elections, a Democratic lawmaker said yesterday.

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said documents obtained by his panel suggest that the appearances by the drug control officials were part of a larger White House effort to politicize the work of federal agencies that "may be more widespread than previously known..."

I wonder if the taxpayers footed the bill? Oh. wait. Stupid question.

The Bottome Line On Iraq and al Qaeda

Talking Points Memo | Townsend's Dodge: "...The simple fact is that the full picture is now clear. The White House was repeatedly warned in advance that attacking Iraq would strengthen al Qaeda. We did and it did. That's where we are now. The White House has no excuse and no answer."

Paul Leads Among GOP Troops

The Daily Dish: "So we now know that, measured in terms of financial support, Ron Paul, the one GOP candidate who actually backs individual liberty against government power, is now ahead of Huckabee, Brownback, Gilmore, Thompson (Tommy), and Tancredo. He's the alternative to the Big Three. But guess who are among his strongest supporters? The US military, now being shamelessly coopted by the stab-in-the-back righties. Paul has a staggering 52.53 percent of all military contributions..."

Into The Iranian Twilight Zone

No, it's not The Onion--it only seems like it.

Here first for your approval (queue Rod Serling):

BBC NEWS | Middle East | British blamed for Basra badgers: "British forces have denied rumours that they released a plague of ferocious badgers into the Iraqi city of Basra.

Word spread among the populace that UK troops had introduced strange man-eating, bear-like beasts into the area to sow panic..."

... to the second picture in the Night Gallery;

Iranians arrest 14 squirrels for spying

Iranian intelligence operatives recently detained over a dozen squirrels found within the nation's borders, claiming the rodents were serving as spies for Western powers determined to undermine the Islamic Republic.
"In recent weeks, intelligence operatives have arrested 14 squirrels within Iran's borders," state-sponsored news agency IRNA reported. "The squirrels were carrying spy gear of foreign agencies, and were stopped before they could act, thanks to the alertness of our intelligence services..."

Decades ago, I read a short story in either Amazing or Analog concerning the U.S. dropping squads of Teddy Bears on the Soviet Union. The Soviets accused the Americans of spying. The charges went nowhere until one of the Teddy Bears confessed.

I bet if the Iranians waterboarded one of the squirrels, it would confess.

From The Boo-Hoo Department

Veterans' Affairs Secretary Resigns - Politics on The Huffington Post

Secretary of Veterans' Affairs, Jim Nicholson, announced he will be resigning on October 1, 2007, according to a press release from his office.

Nicholson has weathered a number of scandals, namely the massive loss of veterans' data in 2006, since he was sworn in as Secretary of Veterans' Affairs on February 1, 2005. Nicholson was also criticized for claiming the number of injured vets is overblown since "a lot of them come in for dental problems."

Nicholson plans to return to the private sector. He did not release any definite plans.

Bush Says "No" To Vet Increase

Military.com Legislative Center: "With President Bush's popularity scraping bottom in opinion polls, with U.S. casualties rising in Iraq in a force surge that has stretched soldier tours to 15 months, the Bush administration July 10 said it 'strongly opposes' key military pay and benefit gains tossed into their fiscal 2008 defense bill.

Initiatives opposed by the White House included:

1) Bigger Pay Raises
2) Higher TRICARE Fees
3) TRICARE Retail Drugs 'Fair Pricing'
4) CRSC Expansion
5) Survivor Indemnity Allowance
6) Reserve GI BILL..."

Click here to check any of the above of list.

The Bush GOP

When All They Understand Is Fear or Force | The Agonist: "...Republicans, as Krugman has observed, are a revolutionary power. They do not accept the legitimacy of the bipartisan non-parliamentary form of government that ruled the US for most of the post-war period. They do not accept that all three branches of government are co-equal. They do not believe that everyone has to obey the law. They are in Washington to get what they want, and if they can't get it they will bring the entire machine to a shreeking halt.

The Republicans in general, and the Bush administration in particular really have only strategy - they always, always, give the other side nothing of any significance. They never cooperate, they never admit a lie, they never back down unless forced to do so. They understand only the most primal of motivations - fear and force. If you can't force them to do something; if you can't make them fear the consequences of not doing something, they won't do it.

This is a very powerful strategy. You've probably observed it in your life when you've seen a customer in a store scream until someone gives them what they want (or calls the cops). You've seen it from people in power - from cops who will beat you bloody because they know they can get away with it and know if you fight back, you're screwed. In schools kids will use it with teachers, knowing that the teachers aren't allowed to use force anymore. Just do whatever you want - what's the teacher going to do? In business just lock your employees in the store (Wal-mart) or just dock wages whether it's legal or not. What are they going to do?..."

Vitter Does Self No Good

The Raw Story | Vitter on DC Madam 'borderline disastrous:' MSNBC: "David Vitter (R-LA) today broke his week long silence and spoke publicly about being linked with the so-called 'DC Madam.'

Appearing alongside his wife Wendy, Vitter seemed to lay blame on the media and appeared to be trying to come off as a victim, when he talked about how hard the media scrutiny had been on his family. MSNBC HardBall host Chris Matthews characterized Vitter as 'contemptuous' and 'angry.'

'If this is what they waited a week to come up with,' said Chuck Todd, NBC News' Political Director. 'Vitter's part of it was borderline disastrous as far as political damage control...'"

Media Mafia

Conrad and His Media Comrades: The Real Issue is Stealing BY Media Companies, Not FROM Them - The Smirking Chimp: "...In the old days, anti-trust regulators would scrutinize gatherings of competitors on business policy. Concerns over price-fixing seemed to have disappeared in an age of media concentration and 'strategic alliances.' The courts are more worried about the cheating of shareholders than the expropriation of the earnings of consumers. They protect stealing from the greedy, not the needy.

Notice that the price of media and many entertainment products has quietly gone up, up and away. My cable bill has soared. The Sunday Times is now $4.00, and a ticket at the neighborhood movie theater is $11. In any other country, this would be seen as a form of pocket picking even as media CEO salaries rise. Barry Diller made a reported $437 million last year to cite but one example. That's obscenity by media, not in it"

John Aravosis Wins Headline Derby

I can't beat the following head.

Hooker-lovin' cajun adulterer Senator lets wife he cheated on defend him - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth: "GOP family values Senator David Vitter just held a press conference, didn't acknowledge that he paid a hooker repeatedly for sex, then put his wife - the woman who publicly attacked Hillary Clinton for standing by her man after his repeated indiscretions - before the cameras to blame the media for being mean (hmmm... yeah, the press made him bash gay marriage for being a bigger threat to society than Hurricane Katrina while he knew he'd committed repeated adultery with a hooker). But please don't judge David Vitter's marriage, his wife begs, it's only for the Vitter's to judge our marriages..."

Reid To Rumble

BobGeiger.com: Reid To Force Senate Into All-Night Session Tuesday
"Forcing his Republican colleagues to put up or shut up on the notion of an up-or-down vote, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) just moments ago announced that he will immediately file a cloture motion on the Reed-Levin troop redeployment bill and, if Republicans follow through with a filibuster, will place the Senate in a prolonged all-night session Tuesday to force a true continuation of debate..."

Filibustering

Firedoglake - Firedoglake weblog » Christy Hardin Smith: "

Sen. Reid: Do Your Job And Make Them Stand And Filibuster

I have had it. Giving the Republicans in Congress a pass to do as they please, obstruct whatever legislation they like and pay no penalty for doing so has to stop.

Harry Reid must do his job and make the Senate GOP physically stand up and filibuster. Or we might as well declare Congress to be a lovely afternoon tea party and be done with it.

Civility doesn’t mean that you roll over and ask for a belly scratch from your opponents — it means that everyone plays by the rules on all sides. We had 56 votes for the Webb bill — but could not get it through because a super-majority was required of 60 votes for cloture. This has happened time and time again. The GOP continually obstructs? Then they ought to pay a hefty public price. Harry Reid needs to lead on this — or get the hell out of the way.

Call Sen. Harry Reid today and tell him to do his job and make them stand and filibuster. He can be reached at 202-224-3542 in DC and 702-388-5020 in Nevada..."

May I add-- Amen!

A Good-Bye To The Dick

...with apologies to Lorena Bobbitt.

Joseph A. Palermo: My Vacation in Cheney Land - Living Now on The Huffington Post: "...Cheney no doubt will live a long and happy life after his presence no longer darkens our nation's capital. In 'retirement' I don't think he'll end up anywhere near Wyoming, he just used the state as a means to attain power.

I have already written the peroration of the eulogy I plan to give him:

'Dick Cheney was simply an awful and indecent man, who saw right and tried to wrong it, saw suffering and tried to increase it, saw injustice and tried to worsen it, and saw war and tried to prolong it.'"

What Impeachment Is

"Great discussion between Bill Moyers, Bruce Fein, and John Nichols on impeaching Bush and Cheney. Here are some highlights:..."

Very informative post. The following snippet illustrates something that often gets lost in the debate about impeachment-- it's not a crisis.

The Vanity Press: "...JOHN NICHOLS: You are seeing impeachment as a constitutional crisis. Impeachment is the cure for a constitutional crisis. Don't mistake the medicine for the disease. When you have a constitutional crisis, the founders are very clear. They said there is a way to deal with this. We don't have to have a war. We don't have to raise an army and go to Washington. We have procedures in place where we can sanction a president appropriately, do what needs to be done up to the point of removing him from office and continue the republic. So we're not talking here about taking an ax to government. Quite the opposite..."

MSM Lies About Poll

Crooks and Liars » Poll: Congress Has Lower Satisfaction Numbers Than Bush: "...That’s a 31% drop in 60 days…a pretty dire warning, wouldn’t you say? But wait, here comes the part where the press pushes their own narrative:

Poll respondents from both political parties say they’re tired of the fighting between Congress and the White House, and want the two branches of government to work together on such issues as education, health care and the Iraq war.

This is what I’m talking about when I say we MUST pierce through the bubble that encircles the Beltway. These politicians read these stories and polls (TPM has the full poll here) and internalize it that their approval ratings will sink even further if they give Bush too hard a time or play the same kind of hardball that the Republicans had no problem playing when they were the majority. It is incumbent upon all of us to make very clear that their approval reading has to do with their lack of action, not fear of it."

Exactly. Everyone wants the war stopped and most of us want rid of Bush and his mafia. We want more fighting in Washington, not less.

Iran Inflates

Iran could well be a self-correcting problem if we'll just stay out of it.

The Daily Dish: "The inflation rate just surged, and unrest is brewing:

The CPI surged by 16.1 percent in the month from May 22 to June 22 from the same month of this year, giving an annual inflation rate of 14.2 percent, it said..."

Vocabulary Expansion

From the comments over at TBogg - "...a somewhat popular blogger" comes

"In addition to such gems as schadenfreude and sitzpinkler, the famously versatile German language has given us the term backpfeifengesicht, which translates to "a face that cries out for a fist in it."

That pretty much describes every last one of these wingnut warmongers, from Kristol to Continetti on down. If you can watch any of those videos without wanting to land a haymaker square on the end of that smug prick's nose, you oughta be in line for sainthood.

Doug | Homepage | 07.13.07 - 8:31 am | # "

It's not often you get to love a word you can neither spell nor pronounce.

Happy Bush

John Amato and Peggy Noonan wonder why Bush is always happy: Crooks and Liars » I think he’s lost Noonan: "...You know, that’s true. This president has had more calamities, of greater consequence, than any president should be allowed. And yet, he brags about how well he sleeps, he takes more vacation time than any president in history, and he’s constantly smirking, as if he hasn’t a care in the world.

The president has the weight of the world on his shoulders. How about showing some signs of stress?"

It all seems "positively Shakespearean," or maybe Biblical.

Edwards Queried

Taylor Marsh on The Empathy of John Edwards: "...But it was when audience members asked questions that something different happened between the candidate and the people that I haven't seen so far from any other candidate. The equanimity and empathy between the candidate and the people was palpable. One woman stood and told the story of her mother who was in danger of getting cancer, but couldn't get the preventative care required to stop her situation from getting worse. When Edwards responded, you could see the woman's mother sitting next to her wiping tears from her eyes. Edwards' voice modulated and the answer he gave took on a much different tone, quieter, more personal. Then he began speaking about Elizabeth Edwards, saying she addresses the issue much better, but that they don't have to worry about what the woman's mother is going through, because they have the best health care available. Prevention must be a part of universal health care, said Edwards. It's the moral thing to do, but also the most cost effective. It really was one of those moments when the candidate did more than just give a sound bite, but actually revealed his humanity.

Whether it was the personal health crisis or talking about the minimum wage, Edwards' ability to hear and respond to the audience, to engage and reach out to them was remarkable. It was also more than a politician looking for votes. Edwards seems to have the ability to touch people. It's the empathy quotient, which was in full view today. I hadn't covered Edwards on the stump before, though I'd covered his appearance at the health care forum, but today's town hall was personal between the people and Mr. Edwards..."

ChickenHawkerrrrryyy

YouTube title: "Cindy Sheehan Street Debate"

Defing Bush... Again

David Bromwich: Character of G.W. Bush - Politics on The Huffington Post: "...It is time we got him in focus. He is not amenable to persuasion. He may signal a willingness to compromise, but he always goes back on his word; not charging himself with insincerity when he does so, for he means what he promises in some special, private sense: 'I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn't do my job.'

He is not up to his job, and (to a greater extent than most people imagine) he knows it. This explains his inability to sack officials who have demonstrated their incompetence. A substratum of vivid knowledge of his own demerits forms a constant impediment, and has played a larger part in shaping his conduct than petulance, mere cronyism, or the boyish code of loyalty. Not just 'There, but for the grace of God, go I,' but: 'Who am I to fire this one, or any one?'

There has never been a president so unable to solicit or comprehend advice from qualified judges who don't support his prejudices. Never a president before with so continuous a motive for repression of reality. He bears the burden of having done great wrong. To admit even a fraction of that wrong would be to enter a path of remorse that is alien to his nature..."

B.O. Bucks Snowjob

The Raw Story | O'Reilly takes on Tony Snow, 'You can't win' in Iraq: "Fox News' Bill O'Reilly promised his audience 'the truth about Iraq' on Thursday, saying that most Americans now feel the war has not been worth the costs, while 'the president's argument for sustaining the war is largely theoretical.'

O'Reilly turned on his special guest during the segment, White House press secretary Tony Snow, saying, 'You can't win ... unless the Iraqi people turn on all the terrorists. And they're not...'"

Who's Blocking

Talking Points Memo | The Ploy That Dare Not Say Its Name: "Here we have a headline from the New York Times ...

Senate Narrowly Backs Bush in Rejecting Debate on Increasing Time Between Deployments

Well, no, I'm sorry. That's not right. The vote was 56 to 41. A solid majority of senators supported increasing time between deployments.

Republicans blocked a vote on the bill. Say it again: They blocked a vote. They filibustered it..."

The Rich Get Richer

Tax Loopholes Sweeten a Deal for Blackstone - New York Times: "The Blackstone Group, the big buyout firm, has devised a way for its partners to effectively avoid paying taxes on $3.7 billion, the bulk of what it raised last month from selling shares to the public..."

Radioactive Lejeune

EPA investigating waste at Camp Lejeune - Yahoo! News: "RALEIGH, N.C. - The Environmental Protection Agency is investigating whether cancer-causing radioactive material was buried in the 1980s near a rifle range at Camp Lejeune, the Marine Corps' primary base on the Atlantic Ocean..."

Cost Per Troop

Multi Medium » Yankee Go Home: "... the average cost of posting a single U.S. soldier in Iraq has risen to $390,000 per year, according to a new study by the Congressional Research Service. This fiscal year alone, Iraq will cost us $135 billion, which amounts to a bit more than a quarter-million dollars per minute..."

Lawyers and Lobbyists

bustardblog: Fred Thompson Powerlies

"...Thompson is a lawyer. He has also been an actor, a Senator, and a Lobbyist. Depending on which of those hats he is wearing at any particular time, he has different rights and different obligations. There are many behaviors that are perfectly appropriate for an actor to do, but that are not all right for an attorney to do in a courtroom. John Adams was not lobbying for those British soldiers, he was their lawyer - representing them in court before a judge.

Lobbying is not lawyering. As the Tennessee Attorney General ruled in 2005: "lobbying is not per se the practice of law." You don't have to be a lawyer to be a lobbyist, and in fact some of the biggest lobbyists in Washington are not. ( Examples from the Washingtonian's list of the 50 biggest include Linda Daschle, David Carmen, J.C. Watts who are not lawyers))

The abortion rights group paid Thompson money to lobby for them. They did not hire him as their lawyer..."

Shafting The Troops, Part ???

BobGeiger.com: Report: Defense Department's No-Bid Contracts Put "Troops In Iraq At Risk": "A study completed in late June by the Pentagon's Inspector General concludes that the Department of Defense (DoD) has risked the lives of U.S. troops in Iraq due to malfeasance in awarding and monitoring contracts for badly-needed armored vehicles.

The study, which was requested by Democratic Congresswoman Louise Slaughter of New York, found that since 2000 the DoD has awarded 'sole-source' contracts valued at $2.2 billion to just two companies, Force Protection, Inc.(FPI) and Armor Holdings, Inc (AHI)..."

Bush Defined

TBogg - "...a somewhat popular blogger": "When George W. Bush says: 'I don't think Congress should be running the war; it should be funding the troops.'

That's like a drunk driver saying that he won't give you his keys, but you can pay for the gas."

Miers May Get Tagged

House Panel: Miers Wrong to Miss Hearing - The Huffington Post: "WASHINGTON — A House panel cleared the way Thursday for contempt proceedings against former White House counsel Harriet Miers after she obeyed President Bush and skipped a hearing on the firings of federal prosecutors.

Addressing the empty chair where Miers had been subpoenaed to testify, Rep. Linda Sanchez ruled out of order Bush's executive privilege claim that his former advisers are immune from being summoned before Congress..."

Please. Please. Please, Congress. Put somebody in jail.

Baseball and Iraq

The Satirical Political Report - An Offbeat Look at the Hot-Button Issues of the Day » BASEBALL’S ALL-STAR GAME TO DETERMINE IRAQ POLICY: "BASEBALL’S ALL-STAR GAME TO DETERMINE IRAQ POLICY
By Don Davis

Major League Baseball, in conjunction with both President Bush and Congress, has announced that the outcome of this year’s All-Star Game will determine whether the United States will immediately pull out of Iraq.

Since MLB’s former policy of awarding home field advantage in the World Series to the League that wins the Summer Classic did not translate into increased ratings, Commissioner Bud Selig has tried to up the ante, by making the All-Star Game the prime determinant of U.S. foreign policy.

Both President Bush, the former owner of baseball’s Texas Rangers, and the Democratic-controlled Congress, enthusiastically embraced the idea, since it relieves them of any responsibility for the Debacle in Iraqle."

Good Smoke

David Harsanyi's Blog | Author of Nanny State: "Is it immoral to hype good news about smoking?
July 9, 2007 on 4:08 pm | In |

There is mounting evidence that smokers are less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease than those who don’t partake of the Devil’s Weed. The protective effects of smoking also decreased with years since quitting..."

Supportin' The Troops

GOP Senators defeat by filibuster Webb's amendment to support the troops - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth: "Wow. The GOP Senators really, really are obstructionists. And, the GOP Senators do not support the troops. The Senate Republicans just successfully filibustered Senator Webb's amendment to support the troops and insure troop readiness by a 41 - 56 margin. Because the GOP opted to filibuster Webb's bill, it needed 60 votes to proceed. Here's the link to a fact sheet explaining the legislation.

Why the GOP chooses to be on the wrong side of this one is bizarre. But, they do what George Bush wants every single time."

Top Doc Blocked

Former Bush surgeon general says he was muzzled | Politics | Reuters: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first U.S. surgeon general appointed by President George W. Bush accused the administration on Tuesday of political interference and muzzling him on key issues like embryonic stem cell research.

'Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological, theological or political agenda is ignored, marginalized or simply buried,' Dr. Richard Carmona, who served as the nation's top doctor from 2002 until 2006, told a House of Representatives committee..."

Bush Finds New Excuse

Andrew Sullivan offers us the latest in Bush reasoning, which is rather like the latest gopher banjo music. The Daily Dish: "Glenn Reynolds is busy blaming the New York Times for losing the war in Iraq, but the president isn't going to stoop to that level. He knows the NYT hasn't been planning the occupation, just criticizing it. In a recent speech, the president clearly signaled a new p.r. strategy to explain the chaos in a country we've been ineptly occupying for four years:

'When the decision was made to liberate Iraq, I was going on what my advisers were telling me and what everyone has said for nearly a century—that the U.S. military is the best in the world,' Bush said. 'But if that were the case, and we did have the most powerful army, navy, marines, and air force on the globe, we would be winning, right?'

The president admitted that he'd been toying with the idea that a thorough lack of quality in personnel, from the top U.S. commander to the lowest-ranked private, is the only way to account for the colossal failure in Iraq, given that everything on the administrative side of the war has been carried out with the utmost care and precision."

Darth Sets New Record

Happy Hour Roundup | TPMCafe: "Cheney Rivaling Quayle As Least Popular VP
Polls show Dick Cheney has had a recent drop in his approval ratings that bring him very close to Dan Quayle, who was the least popular vice president since the age of polling began. Cheney is now viewed disapprovingly by 59 percent of Americans, four points less than Quayle's high of 63 percent in July 1992. Meanwhile, Cheney's personal favorability is an astounding 13 percent — an all-time low. We reported last week that a majority now favor impeachment proceedings against Cheney — an intensity of loathing that not even Quayle suffered from."

Chicken Hawkery Defined

Chris Kelly: National Review to Blue Star Mother: Tough Sh*t - Politics on The Huffington Post:

The following is a comment about this post.

"collapse pitman (See profile | I'm a fan of pitman)

As a Vietnam veteran I say Aww toughen up Cindy, you only lost your son. Your son could have had it tougher (NOT) like America's 'Ultimate Coward' right winger and has been guitarist Ted Nugent who admitted in an interview with the Detroit Free Press (July 15, 1990)to urinating and defecating in his pants for an entire week before reporting for his draft board physical during the Vietnam War. Now he earns 'Blood Money' preaching around the country about patriotism, killing and ironically the right to bear arms. All this while the generation he betrayed are still suffering from emotional and physical wounds from a war that this dirt bag coward ran from. Scum bags like Nugent and those like him in this administration that he represents are filthy draft dodging cowards. You Mrs. Sheehan and your son are American heroes. Shame on politicians lke Hagle, McCain, Kerry and Webb for not calling out the hypocrisy and cowardice of so many Vietnam draft dodging politicians in this administration. They sure as hell have no problem sending other Americans to their deaths. They don't stand in the same room with the integrity of Mrs. Sheehan and her son.

Log in | posted 6:10 am on 07/10/2007"

Another One

Senator's Number on Escort Service List - The Huffington Post: "WASHINGTON — Sen. David Vitter, R-La., apologized Monday night for 'a very serious sin in my past' after his telephone number appeared among those associated with an escort service operated by the so-called 'D.C. Madam.'

Vitter's spokesman, Joel Digrado, confirmed the statement in an e-mail sent to The Associated Press."

Phony Privileges

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall July 8, 2007 10:46 PM: "I'm not usually one for wanting to see people hauled off to the slammer for refusing to do this or that. But please, please haul Sara Taylor off to the slammer.

Taylor, you may know, is the former White House political director. She has been subpoenaed to testify on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. And she claims she's quite willing to do so as she's done nothing wrong. But the White House is urging her to ignore the subpoena. And since, in the words of Taylor's lawyer, the president is 'a person whom [Taylor] admires and for whom she has worked tirelessly for years', she doesn't want to testify and thinks she shouldn't have to.

Pleading the fifth is on the books. Various privileges, though most are bogus, can be asserted and litigated. But being a member of the Bush personality cult just isn't a reason to refuse to testify.

Not yet at least."

So I'm walking to the mailbox and I see my neighbor shoot the postman. The cops tell me I have testify to what I saw. I claim Neighbor Privilege and say "No. I've lived next door to Mr. X for 30 years and he's a fine fella and I like him a lot." The cops, of course, using the Bush standard say "No problem. We'll just let this one go."

Welcome to Bizarro Bushworld.

On Risking It All

Matthew Yglesias

"The soldiers think they can win," reads Bill Kristol's subhead in The Weekly Standard while "some Senators lose their nerve."

This conflation of the actual physical courage exhibited by soldiers risking their lives in a war with the alleged courage demonstrated by pro-war pundits and politicians in advocating that the lives of others be risked is surely the most annoying tick of America's War Party. War is hard. Favoring war is easy. The distinction isn't difficult to grasp.

The Bottom Line On Presidential Contenders

Crooks and Liars » Katrina VandenHeuvel on This Week: Americans are following the money

"Okay, maybe not in the way you’d think. The Nation’s Editor Katrina VandenHeuvel points out that the overwhelming success that Democratic contenders are having in raising funds has everything to do with the fact that the Democrats are the party of ideas:

Look at the debate we had a few weeks ago. You had Democrats debating what was the best national healthcare plan they could offer the country and you had Republicans debate which method of torture would be best employed if they could bring in Jack Bauer."

Blue Virginny

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall July 7, 2007 09:04 PM: "

...Like Yglesias, I think Mark Warner deserves quite a bit of the credit for making Virginia "bluer." Following Jim Gilmore's almost comically hopeless term as governor, the state was willing to take a chance on a Democrat. Warner won, governed very well, and enjoyed stunning popularity statewide (he left office with an approval rating over 70%).

But reading over the results of the Post poll, Bush really is the gift that keeps on giving. Warner may have made Democrats palatable to otherwise GOP-leaning Virginians, but the president sealed the deal.

Randall Austin, who lives in conservative southwestern Virginia, said, "I think most of the United States and the majority of people I talk to are kind of negative towards the Republican Party. With the war, the economy, with everything, including fuel pricing, I have a feeling everyone wants a change." Austin, of course, voted for Bush."

Another Take On The Libby Pardon

Norman Pearlstine: The Commutation is an Outrage - Politics on The Huffington Post: "...Beyond that, while some think commuting the sentence more onerous than a pardon would have been, I believe it gives Libby important cover in the civil suit that Valerie Plame has filed against him and other White House officials involved in disclosing her identity and her role at the CIA. Since Libby wasn't pardoned, his appeal of the conviction is likely to continue and until it is concluded, he can plead the Fifth Amendment and not testify in the Plame's civil trial against him.

In sum, the commutation of Libby's sentence is a cover-up, pure and simple. The trial judge's sentence may have exceeded federal guidelines by a few months. But Bush's commutation of Libby's sentence totally ignores those guidelines. If Libby deserves a pardon, shouldn't we revisit other sentences that exceed federal guidelines?"

Thompson Trophies

Will Her Face Determine His Fortune? - New York Times: "Now, with the possible candidacy of Fred D. Thompson, the grandfatherly actor and former Republican senator from Tennessee, whose second wife is almost a quarter-century his junior, comes a less palatable inquiry that is spurring debate in Internet chat rooms, on cable television and on talk radio: Is America ready for a president with a trophy wife?"

Really Deconstructing Rudy

Group News Blog: Take a Number, Ya'll...All 54,337 Of You.: "
Shivs to the left of me...shanks to the right..."

The Next President

Amend The Constitution

It is not enough to let Scooter Libby slide through the rest of his life, greasing prosperity on Wingnut Welfare. Libby, and Bush, and Cheney, and all the rest, need to face the music for their criminal acts. It won’t happen any time soon, though, because we have basically a gutless Congress with only a few exceptions. The tired argument that the Republicans will obstruct any Democratic attempts at removing Bush and Shooter is perhaps true. But so what? Do you fight every fight worrying that you might lose? Do you run in any races that you know you might lose? For the morale of the country, the Democrats should lead the charge toward removal of the criminal enterprise at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Should the effort to remove these ill-begotten sons of privilege and contempt fail, then, the next President, whether Clinton, Obama, Edwards, or Ron Paul, after three days of careful lubrication of the legislative and bureaucratic wheels in the now veto-proof majority-ruled Congress, should immediately and unconditionally pardon Scooter Libby of all crimes related to the Plame investigation.

On the fourth day, Libby should be subpoenaed to appear before Congress and testify about everything he knows about the Plame outing. Given the general above-the-law smugness of everyone connected with the Bush cabal, Libby will evade, obfuscate, and outright refuse to answer. At that point, he can be transferred to an appropriate jail cell until such time that he agrees to answer Congress’ questions truthfully.

On the fifth day the Congress should send forth unto the States an Amendment to the Constitution that says that a presidential pardon or commutation can be overturned by a majority vote of the Congress. I do think that Amendment would pass the states and the people’s muster.

On the sixth day, the President should order the Attorney General to begin and complete and thorough investigation, backtracking every unraveling thread to this scandal even if it extends backwards to a by-gone era like Iran-Contra. The truth knows no statute of limitations.

There will be no rest on the seventh day, for that is when the next President must sign a new, reenergized version of the Fairness Doctrine, one that guarantees Net Neutrality and at least gives us a fighting chance of getting the truth out of the media.

Congress and the next President need to pledge to the American people that, like Osama Bin Forgotten, they will pursue the King and all his men and women to the gates of Hell until justice is finally served and the truth is known.

Though all that might be totally unnecessary if the next President has the cajones to do what is really called for—declare the whole kit and caboodle of neocon trash enemy combatants and then let Mitt do the “double Gitmo” on them.

The Daily Flashback: Bush 41 Edition

Firedoglake - Firedoglake weblog » All in the Family: "Digby reminds us that abusing the pardon/commuting privilege to cover up your own criminal tracks is a Bush family tradition:

But in a single stroke, Mr. Bush swept away one conviction, three guilty pleas and two pending cases, virtually decapitating what was left of Mr. Walsh’s effort, which began in 1986. Mr. Bush’s decision was announced by the White House in a printed statement after the President left for Camp David, where he will spend the Christmas holiday.

Mr. Walsh bitterly condemned the President’s action, charging that ‘the Iran-contra cover-up, which has continued for more than six years, has now been completed.’

Mr. Walsh directed his heaviest fire at Mr. Bush over the pardon of Mr. Weinberger, whose trial would have given the prosecutor a last chance to explore the role in the affair of senior Reagan officials, including Mr. Bush’s actions as Vice President.

What can you say. Like father, like son."

Six Degrees of Scooter

ContraCostaTimes.com - Commutation links diverse cast

"WASHINGTON -- Call it "Six Degrees of Political Separation" or "the Kevin Bacon Game Goes to Washington."

President Bush's commutation of Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence highlights some interesting connections between Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, a former fugitive from justice, an ex-president and two leading 2008 White House hopefuls.

Before entering government, Libby was a private attorney who represented billionaire international commodities trader Marc Rich.

Rich was indicted in 1983 by then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani on charges of tax evasion and illegal dealing with Iran during the American hostage crisis.

Rich fled to Switzerland. He also occupied a spot on the FBI's Most Wanted List for many years.

Giuliani, former mayor of New York, is now a leading Republican presidential candidate. He endorsed Bush's decision to spare Libby jail time even though he had tried to put Libby's client behind bars.

"After evaluating the facts, the president came to a reasonable decision, and I believe the decision was correct," Giuliani said in a written statement Monday evening.

Rich's fugitive days ended when former President Clinton pardoned him in January 2001, a move that prompted a congratulatory call from Libby to Rich..."

Oh, and Scooter paid his fine today. Not much problem coming up with the cash. (I wonder who paid the most--Bush forces or Cheney forces.)