Fox Dishonors Troops

Crooks and Liars » Whither Rush Goest, So Goes FOX News; FOX Now Insults War Generals: "...And the text of the article — by Fox News Contributor and frequent O’Reilly guest David Hunt — is even more Despicable, as it repeatedly attacks the honor and integrity of members of the United States Armed Forces in one smearing paragraph after the next, beginning with this first sentence:

Our generals are betraying our soldiers . . . again.

Our generals are betraying our soldiers . . . again. And yet, Brit Hume still couldn’t keep himself from making a few anti-MoveOn.org slams this morning on FOX News Sunday. Et tu, Brit?"

The Empire Strikes Back

GOP Is Ready to Roll Out the Klieg Lights for Craig - washingtonpost.com

"Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho is a tough guy to run out of town.

Not that his Republican colleagues aren't trying. Worried that the disgraced lawmaker intends to remain in the Senate indefinitely, they are threatening to notch up the public humiliation by seeking an open ethics hearing on the restroom scandal that enveloped Craig last month..."

Who's Paying, Who's Profiting?

Hall Institute of Public Policy - New Jersey: ANOTHER $30M?: "...Finally, why oh why are New Jersey taxpayers continuing to fund professional sports teams? These sports teams are raking in hundreds of millions of dollars while our State and her citizens are drowning in debt. If the Jets and Giants can afford tens of millions of dollars for less than successful players, surely they can cover a $30M tab to finance their elaborate new stadium, which will earn them millions more in the long-term.

It is time to end government sponsorship of professional sports in New Jersey and to recognize that such sponsorship is an abuse of the taxpayer that must not be tolerated. It is also time to hold accountable the elected and appointed officials who engineered yet another taxpayer-funded debacle..."

And every time the government, state, local, or federal, builds a highway or put up a red light or adds a sidewalk because Wal-Mart or GM or somebody has moved onto a new parcel of farm land, the tazpayer has to pay that toll, too. It's not just sports, it's the entire corporate welfare structure that needs to be overhauled. We paid trillions to put satellites in orbits and pioneered the technology, so have you received that DirecTV dividend in the mail? (Buying stock dodges the issue; I get that argument. The dispute I have is over levels of taxation.)

Medieval McCain

Talking Points Memo | McCain: Constitution establishes a ‘Christian nation’: "By Steve Benen

I've always thought the constitutional language was straightforward: 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' The Constitution is entirely secular -- there's no mention of God, the Bible, the Ten Commandments, or the Judeo-Christian tradition.

With this in mind, one wonders what Constitution Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has been reading..."

Dissing Rush

VoteVets.org Ad on Rush Limbaugh

Whack-A-Mole, Part Two Million

US-Led Forces Kill Top al-Qaida Leader - Politics on The Huffington Post
"WASHINGTON — A U.S. airstrike killed one of the most senior al-Qaida leaders in Iraq, a Tunisian linked to the kidnapping and killings last summer of American soldiers, a top commander said Friday. Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson said the death of the suspected terrorist in a U.S. airstrike Tuesday south of Baghdad, and recent similar operations against al-Qaida, have left the organization in Iraq fractured..."

Good.

Cal Theft Averted?

Talking Points Memo | Villains Go Broke: "Seems the GOP effort to pre-steal a chunk of California's electoral votes is kaput. So says this LA Times blog. The outfit behind the scheme is "virtually dead with the resignation of key supporters, internal disputes and a lack of funds..."

St. John Troop Propping

Military: Army personnel violated Pentagon directive by attending McCain event - The Boston Globe: "MANCHESTER, N.H. --Seven on-duty Army personnel participated in a campaign event for Senator John McCain earlier this month in Londonderry, New Hampshire, in an apparent violation of a Pentagon directive against partisan political activity, two military officials confirmed this week..."

Jesus and the Noose

Crooks and Liars » Jena 6 DA’s “Undying Gratification” - Thanks to Jesus a Disaster averted!: "

Reed: The only way and let me stress that, the only way that I believe that me, or this community has been able to endure the trauma that has been thrust upon us is through the prayers of the Christian people who have sent them up in this community. (loud applause) I firmly believe and am confident of the fact that had it not been for the direct intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ last Thursday, a disaster would have happened. You can quote me on that!

There was a “press conference” today with the Jena 6 prosecutor DA Reed Walters. Or there was supposed to be a press conference but instead Walters played host for a gathering which sounded more like a revivalist tent meeting. ,While reporters noted they had never before been allowed to bring cameras into the courtroom, Walters had quite a show set up complete with about 60 local residents - described as “white supporters of the DA” on CNN who broke into applause when he appeared. I guess they had loved his performance back in 2006 when Black students protested the hanging of nooses in the “white tree.” Then Walters arrived at the school with a group of police and warned the peaceful student protest that “I could end your lives with the stroke of a pen.” This is the same Walters who consistently claimed “This case is not and never has been about race” and who “credits the ‘imaginations’ of African-Americans for the heightened racial tensions around the case.” Today, his words were less overtly threatening but the racist message was just as clear..."

Benefit of a doubt on bigotry now withdrawn.

Rush Disses Troops

Media Matters - Limbaugh: Service members who support U.S. withdrawal are "phony soldiers": "soldiers' During the September 26 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh called service members who advocate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq 'phony soldiers...'"

I'm gonna hold my breath until Congress passes a resolution condemning Rush Limbaugh (since they apparently have nothing better to do). Woops. Just passed and my head exploded.

Message To Congress?

Firedoglake - Firedoglake weblog » Fabled

"...The moral of the story: You want my vote? My phone banking time? My door knocking abilities? My knowledge of my community — and that of every person who reads here or any other online blog or for any other progressive political group? You earn it. Every damn day.

You can start with restoration of the rule of law, checks and balances and a commitment to the Constitution. With a more intelligent and long-reaching foreign policy strategy that doesn’t include the word “yeehaw!” With work — real work — on domestic policy, including strengthening our crumbling infrastructure and schools, tackling poverty and taking a long, hard look at how we care for at risk children. Oh, commitment to honesty and rebuilding in the Gulf Coast would be a nice start, too. Add in better care for our nation’s soldiers and their families — real mental health services for soldiers and families in need, and adequate care for the families left at home who are barely getting by right now on food stamps and prayer. And that’s just for starters..."

Could I add "Bring Blackwater To Heel?"

New Movie In The Offing

About that semi-perhaps-maybe nuclear incident in Syria: Defense Tech: Israeli Commandos in the Mix: "...All of this makes perfect sense, save one thing. Why the secrecy? If the Syrians have nuclear facilities, the Israelis should be delighted to make it public. Frankly, so should the United States, since the Bush administration has always argued that nuclear proliferation to rogue states, including Syria, is one of the key problems in the world. The Syrians should be spinning the story like crazy as well, denying the nuclear program but screaming about unprovoked Israeli-U.S. aggression. The silence from one or two parties makes sense. The silence from all parties makes little sense..."

Agreed. What could make everyone keep quiet when it is to someone's advantage to go public? There is only one answer. Majestic 12. Get those conspiracy theories revving. I feel another novel coming on.

Verizon's Abortive Decision

Verizon Reverses Itself on Abortion Rights Messages - New York Times

"Saying it had the right to block “controversial or unsavory” text messages, Verizon Wireless last week rejected a request from Naral Pro-Choice America, the abortion rights group, to make Verizon’s mobile network available for a text-message program.

But the company reversed course this morning, saying it had made a mistake...." along the way discovering that women use phones, women have money, women may want to preserve decisions about their bodies for themselves, and men can have their testicles clamped in a vice, and ...

Dobson Defocused

Focus on the Family lays off 30, moves 15 more to new jobs - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth: "Oh my goodness! Flogging the gay boogeyman isn't filling the coffers these days. Time for a happy dance...'MSNBC:

Focus on the Family announced Monday that it is laying off 30 employees and reassigning 15 others. It also announced that founder James Dobson had been cleared of accusations that he jeopardized the group's nonprofit status by endorsing Republican candidates...'"

I'm sure they will all find employment at an HMO denying health care claims. Meanwhile, the happy dance.

HuffPo Smearing Edwards?

This is a major non-story puffed-up on a major blog. The commenters on the post had a field day slamming the blogger and his intentions. I wasted 20 minutes of my life on this. It's your choice. Edwards Mystery: Innocuous Videos Suddenly Shrouded In Secrecy - Politics on The Huffington Post

Grammatical Butchery Continues

An Extra 'S' on the Report Card - washingtonpost.com: "NEW YORK, Sept. 26 -- As a candidate, George W. Bush once asked, 'Is our children learning?'

Now he has an answer.

"Childrens do learn," he said Wednesday..."

William Shakespeare, he ain't.

Smoked Tarheel

CITIZEN-TIMES.com: Man finds human leg in smoker purchased at auction: "MAIDEN, N.C. (AP) — A man who bought a smoker Tuesday at an auction of abandoned items might have thought twice had he looked inside first.

Maiden police said the man opened up the smoker and saw what he thought was a piece of driftwood wrapped in paper. When he unwrapped it, he found a human leg, cut off 2 to 3 inches above the knee..."

There is an explanation.

On BO Dining

Eric Deggans: Judging Bill O'Reilly: Why His Comments About Lunch in Harlem Matter - Media on The Huffington Post: "...The most disappointing turn for me in this media meltdown was watching a discussion on the issue this morning on The Today Show. Anchor Matt Lauer, clearly unsympathetic to critics, kept pressing the point that O'Reilly was trying to be complimentary, if by using 'ham-fisted' language.

But when it comes to dialogues on race, I judge people's intent and meaning by their history. And O'Reilly has never been one to seek understanding with an open mind. To this black American, his words felt like the most backhanded compliment I'd heard from a celebrity in many years -- a congratulation to black people for having, finally, the ability to act like we have some sense.

News flash, Bill: black people have been conducting themselves this way for many, many years. I'm just sorry that it took a lunch with Al Sharpton for you to finally realize it."

Air Foce Evangelicals

Fannie's Room: Christian Warriors Soldier On!: "...For, some evangelicals are unable to see how evangelizing within a military environment is offensive to the validity of the faiths of other people. Because they so firmly believe that their religion is the correct one, and are so intent on making other people also believe this, they don't seem to stop and think 'Maybe this Jewish/Catholic/Muslim person believes that her religion is the Truth just as strongly as I believe that mine is. And maybe I should respect that. '

Which brings me to the lack of tolerance and respect for other religions that became pervasive at the Academy. One report called the situation 'reflections of systematic and pervasive religious bias and intolerance at the highest levels of the Academy Command Structure.' In short, some military evangelicals are unable or unwilling to see how evangelizing often led to the inhibition of non-evangelical Christians' right to the 'free exercise' of their respective religions (or non-religions). Or, perhaps, they just didn't care..."

Bush Base Boogie

Tammy Bruce: Bush Approves of Ahmadinejad at Columbia

This from the comments:

" GWB had oil at $23/barrel before we went into Iraq; now it's +80/barrel; and he was our conservative and we all know that he sold us a barrel of goods. That's the "conservative" GWB and "god-fearing" man that I voted for twice; the most disappointing president in the last 100 years other than his father, who blew the legacy of Ronald Reagan's "3 rd" term.

Thank God that there are no more viable Bushes waiting in the wings.

Frankly it would have been interesting to see what the Dems would have dug-up on this administration had they had the balls to have investigated the underpinnings and dealings within this administration.

It sarted out with such high hopes and such HUGE disappointments by us who feel like the "battered wife" as Peggy Noonan wrote in her WSJ editorial "Too Bad" as Tammy emphasized in her broadcasts of May 2007. I read that piece and I thank you Tammy for calling your attention to it. http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110010148"

Couric Terminates Self

Couric weighs in on Iraq, Rather

'Speaking at the National Press Club Tuesday evening, CBS "Evening News" anchor Katie Couric pulled back the curtain on her personal views of both the war in Iraq and former “Evening News” anchor Dan Rather.

“Everyone in this room would agree that people in this country were misled in terms of the rationale of this war,” said Couric, adding that it is “pretty much accepted” that the war in Iraq was a mistake.

“I’ve never understood why [invading Iraq] was so high on the administration’s agenda when terrorism was going on in Afghanistan and Pakistan and that [Iraq] had no true connection with al Qaeda.”

Further, Couric said the Bush administration botched the war effort, calling it “accepted truths” that it erred by“disbanding the Iraq military, and leaving 100,000 Sunni men feeling marginalized and angry...[and] whether there were enough boots on the ground, the feeling that we’d be welcomed as liberators and didn’t need to focus as much on security.” She added “I’d feel totally comfortable saying any of that at some point, if required, on television...”'

I'll give a year as anchor and then she will be spending more time with her family-- like Dan Rather.

House Votes For Kids

House Votes to Expand Insurance for Kids - Politics on The Huffington Post: "WASHINGTON — The House voted Tuesday to expand health insurance for children, but the Democratic-led victory may prove short-lived because the margin was too small to override President Bush's promised veto..."

General Revolt

SignOnSanDiego.com > In Iraq -- Generals opposing Iraq war break with military tradition: "The generals acted independently, coming in their own ways to the agonizing decision to defy military tradition and publicly criticize the Bush administration over its conduct of the war in Iraq.

What might be called The Revolt of the Generals has rarely happened in the nation's history.

In op-ed pieces, interviews and TV ads, more than 20 retired U.S. generals have broken ranks with the culture of salute and keep it in the family. Instead, they are criticizing the commander in chief and other top civilian leaders who led the nation into what the generals believe is a misbegotten and tragic war.

The active-duty generals followed procedure, sending reports up the chain of command. The retired generals beseeched old friends in powerful positions to use their influence to bring about a change..."

That is important and interesting and something you should read so click on the link. There is, however, a separate issue I'd like to bring-up again. My bold:

"While on active duty, Eaton did not criticize his civilian bosses – almost to a man, the generals agree active-duty officers have no business doing that. But he was candid in media interviews. Building an Iraqi army, he warned, would take years, and the effort might never succeed.."

Unless the President is a Democrat then apparently it is just fine to criticize the Commander-In-Chief. For a recent example, think Colin Powell and the Great Gays In The Military controversy during Bill Clinton's initial year. Maybe Powell didn't go on teevee talking about the evil of Teh Gay but he was certainly there in the background running from Senate to House committees crying about gays. (I don't remember all the details and the timeline and I've got other things do rather than spend the evening on Google looking for data snipes, thank you very much.) He was wrong then on two counts: one, gays in the military, and two, undermining the Commander-In-Chief. If Clinton were a Republican, maybe Powell wouldn't never have done all that backstabbing, or maybe if he were a Republican and did voice opposition to the Big Cheese, he would be called a traitor. Anyway, nice to see some of the generals have finally come out of the closet.

From the comments at the link (my bold): "Just because we have the right to speak our minds doesn't mean it's always the right thing to do. Retired officers especially generals really need to keep their opinions to themselves at least until the conflict is over and our troops are out of harms way. Whatever value they may bring to the national debate is more than outweighed by the propaganda value they provide our enemies."

Nice sentiment. What if the conflict never ends? The War on Terror is forecasted to last for the next century. That's a long time to hold your breath.

Amen On The Shuster Show

PoliTits: MSNBC Should Give David Shuster His Own Show

"Hey, Media! Hey, Interviewers! Hey, Reporters!!! Here's How It's Done! Watch and learn.

David Shuster, who was filling in for Tucker Carlson on MSNBC tonight, really interviewed Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) who came on to repeat Republican talking points about the MoveOn.org ad in the New York Times. See, the Republican pro-war folks still want to talk about the NY Times ad, not the war.

Guess what......Shuster makes Blackburn talk about the war..."

GOP Congress Not Prospering

Too bad.
Election Central | Talking Points Memo | Report: GOP "Broke," Expecting To Lose More House Seats

Unsafe At Any Ballot Box

Is Ralph Nader planning to put yet another Republican in the White House? - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

"Starting to look that way. The man is an egotistical idiot. He has done more than any man in America to destroy the environment and further corporate interests at the expense of the individual. Every single crime that Bush-Cheney have committed is on Ralph Nader's head. And now he may be planning to do it to us all again."

Well, I wouldn't sugarcoat it exactly like that, but I do agree with the gist of the sentiment. One abortive run, ok. But you're not going to fool me that many times Ralph.

Fake Pink Photo

Sadly,No! has the dope on Confederate Yankee and Photoshopped Fake Fotos: Sadly, No! » Foto Funnies Pt. 1

Pooling For Bush

Check this out. An interesting little "slice of life" in Bushland. George W. Bush's pool boy speaks - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

Diaper Dave Helps Flat Earthers

Crooks and Liars » Republican Senator At Center Of D.C. Madam Scandal Earmarks $100K For Christian Anti-Darwin Group: "

Via The Times Picayune: Sen. David Vitter, R-La., earmarked $100,000 in a spending bill for a Louisiana Christian group that has challenged the teaching of Darwinian evolution in the public school system and to which he has political ties.

The money is included in the labor, health and education financing bill for fiscal 2008 and specifies payment to the Louisiana Family Forum “to develop a plan to promote better science education...”"

Independents Tilt Dem

Independent voters tilt toward Democrats - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

"More signs of trouble for the Rs. Then again, this isn't a surprise. Independents have been with us for years. George Bush has made the Republicans a semi-permanent, for the moment, minority party. Yes, 70% of Republicans think Bush is doing a great job - but what percentage of the country ARE those Republicans? And, are fewer people calling themselves Republicans as a result of Bush's reign? I would suspect they are. So let Cheney and the others advise Bush to stay the course because his base still loves him. That still means that Bush is governing 28% of the country, and while we can't stop him now, once the elections come, 28% is a mandate for disaster."

Bigots Everywhere

Shorter Pam's House Blend:: Progressive blogosphere MIA on Jena 6: You a racist bigot if you haven't been blogging about the Jena 6. Excuse me. Look before you leap. Duke Lacross, etc. etc. etc.

Mayoral Hypocrisy Not In New York

Talking Points Memo | Coming around on gay marriage: "Andrew Sullivan linked today to a press conference from San Diego's Republican mayor, Jerry Sanders, who announced this week that he will now support gay marriage. The video clip is definitely worth watching.

Sanders' remarks were a pleasant surprise. In fact, he got elected after promising voters in 2005 that he would oppose same-sex marriage, and would use his veto power if the San Diego City Council took steps to go beyond civil unions.

With that in mind, when council members voted 5 to 3 recently on a resolution endorsing gay marriage, most expected the mayor to reject the measure. But then a funny thing happened -- Sanders decided he wanted his lesbian daughter to have the same marriage rights as everyone else..."

I thought I was the only one who felt Sanders' position reeked of hypocrisy. Everyone has been singing this guy's praise for his conversion and I am glad he has changed position. However, I still think he's hypocritical. At least one other person sees the point.

Bush Headlines Causes Stress

The Coloradoan - www.coloradoan.com - Ft. Collins, CO.: "A four-word editorial published in the student newspaper at Colorado State University has landed the paper’s student man-agers in hot water with campus administrators.

The Rocky Mountain Collegian on Friday published an editorial that reads, in total, “Taser this… F--- BUSH,” spelling out the expletive, along with an explanation that “this column represents the views of the Collegian’s editorial board...”"

Israelis Get Nuclear Material In Syria

Israelis seized nuclear material in Syrian raid - Times Online: "sraeli commandos seized nuclear material of North Korean origin during a daring raid on a secret military site in Syria before Israel bombed it this month, according to informed sources in Washington and Jerusalem. The attack was launched with American approval on September 6 after Washington was shown evidence the material was nuclear related, the well-placed sources say..."

Iran Cross-Haired Again

A Tiny Revolution: Threatening Lieberman-Kyl Amendment On Iran

"Threatening Lieberman-Kyl Amendment On Iran

Amazingly, no one anywhere in the US media seems to have noticed that yesterday Jon Kyl (Arizona) and Joe Lieberman filed an extremely threatening amendment on Iran to the FY 2008 Defense Authorization bill. I guess all their time was taken up with the earth-shakingly important issue of newspaper ads..."

Watcha Reading?

Talking Points Memo | Keeping track of carry-on reading materials: "I try not to get too worked up over the hassles of airport security. Officials are well-intentioned and trying to provide a crucial public service. Fine.

But when federal officials maintain travel records on Americans that keep track of everything from destinations, to travel companions, to reading materials, one can't help but wonder if some reasonable lines are being crossed..."

Taser Time

You can't touch this.

The Sound of Near Thunder

Democrat Taylor Marsh Broadcasts Live Talk Radio and Blogs Politics
Posted by Ed Encho:

"...An increasingly vocal majority of Americans have had it with this sort of crap. Americans are fed up with a lawless administration, the disembowelment of the constitution and the maniacal fat-asses over at the AEI and their damned wars. Enough is enough and the Democrats have to make a choice, it is either time to ride the zeitgeist or reap the whirlwind because as one of my favorite essayists William Rivers Pitt so accurately put it in his excellent column A Time To Reap a few months back:

“There is something happening today in America. With the right kind of ears, you can hear it in the sound of millions of brows slowly furrowing in anger and disgust. It feels like those tense moments just before the eruption of a summer thunderstorm, those moments when the air is electric, the ozone reek of spent lightning fills the world, and you know that something very loud is about to happen.

And you CAN hear it. You could hear it in Washington last weekend, you can hear it in Jena and sweet Jesus, for you can hear it in stores, workplaces, churches and other areas where criticism of the Bush regime was at one time unthinkable and by God does it sound good. This sort of slow building outrage shows that a large number of Americans are starting to ‘get it’ that their system has failed them utterly and completely and the old paradigms that divide us are now being challenged. There is a huge storm of revulsion building in this country and more than anything it is a time to renounce politics as usual, discard stereotypes and scream ala Howard Beale “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”. Where are the leaders? Cowering behind their rapidly eroding status quo, too timid to dare to challenge the affront to American ideals and human dignity that has swept the fruited plain like the black plague for the past six and a half shame drenched years. They are hiding from their constitutional responsibilities and by God come election time there will be a price to pay if this is allowed to continue any longer."

Colin Powell and The Tell-All Book

Colin Powell by the Strokeland Superband Good satire and good music, too.

Iranian Nerve Tonic

Why Bush won't attack Iran | Salon.com: "...In sum, Bush does not plan to escalate toward a direct military conflict with Iran, at least not now -- and probably not later. The costs are too high, and there are still many options to be tried before the worst of all options is put back on the table. As it stands today, he wants that 'third option,' even if Cheney doesn't. Bush's war-prone team failed him on Iraq, and this time he'll be more reserved, more cautious. That is why a classic buildup to war with Iran, one in which the decision to bomb has already been made, is not something we should be worried about today..."

Unfair To Baptists

The Daily Dish: "...I wouldn't be quite so blunt. But for me, the evolution issue is very hard to get past. Those who believe that the earth was created 6,000 years ago and that human life has not evolved from more primitive forms are people I cannot engage with in civil discourse. To posit faith in things unprovable and unknowable is one thing. To posit faith in something demonstrably falsifiable is another. I simply have no tolerance for creationism or for those who enable it. Creationists are as much an insult to reasonable Christians as they are to rational thought. And they perpetuate the notion that religious faith is indistinguishable from idiocy."

The title of post was "Why do we diss Baptists?", which tells me someone (perhaps, the reader who emailed Sullivan the long quote in the post) does not know very many Baptists. The Baptists are all over the map in terms of Creationism and all its attendant ideas. There are quite a few other Christian sects who are generically deeper into "Jesus on a Dinosaur" than are the typical Baptists, who are being labelled as unfairly as "wingnut" and "moonbat" describe political belief systems. The key statement to apply the JoaD sect might be "primitive," which means they would logically fit in nicely with bin Laden and the so-called Islamic fundamentalists.

Full disclosure: I'm a Methodist, which most Baptists think of as "liberal." Bush is a Methodist, but not from any branch I've ever been near. I like quarks better than Genesis.

MoveOn Did What?, Part 3

"Dear MoveOn member, Yesterday, an amazing thing happened. After the Senate's shameful vote, and after President Bush called MoveOn "disgusting,"1 our email started to fill up with messages like this one: I'm currently in Iraq. I do not agree with this war, and if I did support this war, it would not matter. You have the RIGHT to speak the truth. We KNOW that you support us. Thank you for speaking out for being our voice. We do not have a voice. We are overshooted by those who say that we soldiers do not support organizations like MoveOn. WE DO. YOU ARE OUR voice. And then came the donations. By midnight, over 12,000 people had donated $500,000—more than we've raised any day this year—for our new ad calling out the Republicans who blocked adequate rest for troops headed back to Iraq. The message from MoveOn members was loud and clear: Don't back down. Take the fight back to the issues that matter. So today we're shooting for a very ambitious goal: Reach $1 million so we can dramatically expand the campaign we launched yesterday going after politicians who support this awful war. Can you chip in $25 toward our goal?..." Go here to donate.

Media Corruptions and Stevens

Talking Points Memo | Amen: "From a reader ...

Last night, news broke that the FBI had been taping phone calls placed to the senior Republican in the United States Senate as part of a bribery investigation stretching back more than a year. In fact, the man alleged to have bribed the senator is cooperating with investigators, and the calls recorded included some he placed at the FBI's behest...

The Washington Post, always eager to cover political stories of national import, ran the news on page A10. Most papers gave it similar prominence, if they ran the item it at all.

Contrast that to the (admittedly luried) tale of Norman Hsu, fronted by papers around the nation. That was a case of a major donor to Democratic figures who turned out (unbeknownst to the politicians to whom he donated) to be a crook and a fraud. That's big news. But when a businessman who is a major donor to Republican politicians turns out to be a crook and a fraud, and some of the nation's senior legislators are revealed to have knowingly accepted his bribes and funneled him earmarks in return, it's hardly worth mentioning.

Where's the outrage?"

Exactly.

Not Being Jesus

Christian Theater Troupe Scolds Griffin - Entertainment on The Huffington Post: "PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. — Members of a Christian theater troupe are spreading the word that they're irate about Kathy Griffin's off-color speech in accepting a creative arts Emmy earlier this month. The Miracle Theater in Pigeon Forge spent $90,440 on a full-page advertisement in USA Today that ran nationally Monday, proclaiming 'enough is enough...'"

Could the starving waifs of Bombay used $90,000? How about the local schools in Pigeon Forge? How about some outreach to the poor of Sevier county? Seems like a helluva waste for God's Greenbacks.

Too Much Truth

Barbara Ehrenreich: We Have Seen the Enemy -- And Surrendered - Politics on The Huffington Post: "Bow your heads and raise the white flags. After facing down the Third Reich, the Japanese Empire, the U.S.S.R., Manuel Noriega and Saddam Hussein, the United States has met an enemy it dares not confront -- the American private health insurance industry.

With the courageous exception of Dennis Kucinich, the Democratic candidates have all rolled out health 'reform' plans that represent total, Chamberlain-like, appeasement. Edwards and Obama propose universal health insurance plans that would in no way ease the death grip of Aetna, Unicare, MetLife, and the rest of the evil-doers. Clinton -- why are we not surprised? -- has gone even further, borrowing the Republican idea of actually feeding the private insurers by making it mandatory to buy their product. Will I be arrested if I resist paying $10,000 a year for a private policy laden with killer co-pays and deductibles...?"

Beating Fathers

This event is truly awful but has received little publicity-- please pass the following link around. You can get a full account of this incident at the link and by following the links over to the "Gathering" homepage-- but be prepared for some insane ranting. The People Who Assaulted a Gold Star Father on September 15th | AfterDowningStreet.org "Here are photos of members of "Gathering of Eagles" who assaulted gold star father Carlos Arredondo in broad daylight in Washington, D.C., on September 15, 2007, throwing him to the ground and kicking him..."

Stagnation Central

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 07/22/2007 | Senate tied in knots by filibusters: "WASHINGTON — This year Senate Republicans are threatening filibusters to block more legislation than ever before, a pattern that's rooted in — and could increase — the pettiness and dysfunction in Congress.

The trend has been evolving for 30 years. The reasons behind it are too complex to pin on one party. But it has been especially pronounced since the Democrats' razor-thin win in last year's election, giving them effectively a 51-49 Senate majority, and the Republicans' exile to the minority..."

Clinton Knows Cheney

Darth Cheney - Ben Smith's Blog - Politico.com
'"Vice President [Dick] Cheney came up to see the Republicans yesterday. You can always tell when the Republicans are getting restless, because the Vice President’s motorcade pulls into the Capitol, and Darth Vader emerges," Hillary Clinton said just now at a $100-a-head fundraiser at town hall near New York's Times Square, referring to Cheney's efforts shore up Republican congressional support for the Iraq war...'

Welcome to that rather large club of people who have been calling Shooter by his real name, Darth, for years.

Kudos For Sen. Clinton

Democrat Taylor Marsh Broadcasts Live Talk Radio and Blogs Politics

"...And just for the record, the only one of the three frontrunners refusing to cave in to the wingnut spin is none other than Hillary Clinton, the one person more vilified than Obama and the Edwardes combined. Hillary Clinton knows what it means to be the target of wingnut attacks and she has no intention of falling prey to their trap. She remembers and learned well from the 1990s, where if she had caved as the wingnuts wanted and planned it is quite possible that Bill Clinton would have been done in by a consensual sexual affair. Think about what Bush has gotten away with and the thought of such a thing now seems completely impossible. For those of us who wrote about the Lewinski brouhaha, I assure you it was not. In fact, given the cave in of both the Obama and Edwards camps on the MoveOn.org ad, I can imagine Obama and maybe even John Edwards giving a Lieberman style speech of moral indignation on the Senate floor.

As for Hillary Clinton, not even when attacked by Rudy did she cave. This is after she also not only sent Howard Wolfson out to defend YearlyKos on Bill O'Reilly, but she also has turned every single question about the MoveOn.org ad back into the face of the Republicans and Bush where it belongs. That says a lot about her. It also could be the reason Obama and Edwards can't catch her."

Rather Romps On CBS

Rather Sues CBS, Saying It Made Him a ‘Scapegoat’ - New York Times

"Dan Rather, whose career at CBS News ground to an inglorious end 15 months ago over his role in an unsubstantiated report questioning President Bush’s Vietnam-era National Guard service, filed a lawsuit this afternoon against the network, its corporate parent and three of his former superiors.

Mr. Rather, 75, asserts that the network violated his contract by giving him insufficient airtime on “60 Minutes” after forcing him to step down as anchor of the “CBS Evening News” in March 2005. He also contends that the network committed fraud by commissioning a “biased” and incomplete investigation of the flawed Guard broadcast and, in the process, “seriously damaged his reputation...”

Warner Shafting Webb

Webb's Righteous Amendment | Campaign for America's Future

"...Now we find that one of the great statesman Warner's last acts may be to pull the football out from under Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, whose amendment to allow the military a decent interval between deployments is coming up for a vote. Like clockwork, Warner, who had supported the bill is now saying that he may not since the Bush administration has agreed to his propaganda ploy to bring home a handful of troops for a big Christmas pageant, (which I'm sure the president, the vice president and Senator Warner will milk for all its worth.) You could make big money in Vegas by betting on Warner to stab Democrats in the back every time and take some cheap shiny trinket from the White House as a reward.

The Webb Amendment is a powerful piece of legislation, backed by the Military Officers Association and many military families who are seeing their loved ones deployed over and over again until their marriages and their finances are at a breaking point. Although it may serve to force the administration to withdraw troops more quickly than they wish to, this is not a political ploy. Even before the surge, experts said that the Iraq war was breaking the military. Now it is far worse. Someone has to step in and do something about this problem and it's obvious it isn't going to be the Republican party..."

Tased Student Background

Remember: his plan worked. Attytood: Meet the future savior of journalism: "FamousWriterMan@aol.com", a/k/a Taserman "The Andrew Meyer"

More DOJ Troubles In Minnesota

U.S. attorney's office here is target of federal probe

"...Citing unnamed sources, Black said the matter grows out of allegations that U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose mishandled some classified documents by failing to secure them properly in her office, and that she demoted First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Marti after he discussed the alleged security breach with her, then reported it up the chain of command.

Paulose also is alleged to have retaliated against some staff members for perceived disloyalty, and to have downgraded some job reviews for reasons other than performance, Black wrote..."

Oozing Nonsense

The internets tubes are all aplugged with this item: Crooks and Liars » University Of Florida Student Arrested, Tasered During Kerry Speech.

Why? It's way too much ado over a regrettable incident of police overreaction. Yet, somehow, John Kerry is the one being blamed in much of the commentary in the various blog posts. This story pales in comparison to the library tasering of this past summer.

Saying "No" To Liz

Manilow boycotts ‘The View’ over Hasselbeck - Access Hollywood - MSNBC.com: "NEW YORK - The man who writes the songs won’t be singing any of them on “The View” — not as long as Elisabeth Hasselbeck is there. Barry Manilow has backed out of his scheduled appearance on the morning talk show after the show refused to pull Hasselbeck from the interview, “Access Hollywood” has learned..."

Kagan: No Rest For The Weary

Snark from me in [ ].Glenn Greenwald - Political Blogs and Opinions - Salon

"... Fred Kagan yesterday went to National Review -- home to countless tough guy warriors like him who fight nothing -- to argue against Senator Webb's bill. There is no need to give our troops more time away from the battlefield, Kagan types. Besides, doing that would be too administratively difficult ("this amendment would actually require the Army and Marine Corps staffs to keep track of how long every individual servicemember had spent in either Iraq or Afghanistan, how long they had been at home, how long the unit that they were now in had spent deployed, and how long it had been home" [Well, golly, could anything be more impossible here in the Age of Computers? How does Wal-Mart age that inventory?])...

If troops want more time at home, Kagan says, there is an easy way to achieve that: "win the war we're fighting." Of course, that would not even work, because Kagan and his friends at the Weekly Standard and the American Enterprise Institute have many more wars planned beyond Iraq for other families' sons and daughters to fight. For that reason, Kagan actually had the audacity several months ago to type this:

The president must issue a personal call for young Americans to volunteer to fight in the decisive conflict of this generation..."

But not anyone ever from my flock of chicken hawks.

MoveOn Moves On Rudy

Rudy Giuliani: A Betrayal of Trust

Cocky Bush

Some Friend, W's Mexican Amigo - Washington Whispers (usnews.com): "At the White House, the president has got to be muttering 'some friend' when he pores over the new autobio from his old buddy Vicente Fox, Mexico's former leader. That's because Fox raps his border pal as stubborn and 'the cockiest guy I have ever met in my life.' Revolution of Hope, out next month, is a well-written, well-researched book about Fox's political career and presidency, which coincided with George W. Bush's..."

Chafee Quits GOP

Chafee quietly quits the GOP | Rhode Island news | Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal: "PROVIDENCE — Lincoln D. Chafee, who lost his Senate seat in the wave of anti-Republican sentiment in last November’s election, said yesterday that he has left the party. Chafee said he disaffiliated with the party he had helped lead, and his father had led before him, because the national Republican Party has gone too far away from his stance on too many critical issues, from war to economics to the environment. “It’s not my party any more,” he said..."

Stossel Flamed

MichaelMoore.com : SiCKO : 'SiCKO' News : Open Letter to ABC's John Stossel ... from Julie Pierce, American SiCKO

Making Lemonaide

Travelers clamoring to see Craig airport bathroom | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "MINNEAPOLIS — When tourists ask for the bathroom at the Minneapolis airport lately, it's usually not because they have to go.

It's because they want to see the stall made famous by U.S. Sen. Larry Craig's arrest in a sex sting.

'It's become a tourist attraction,' said Karen Evans, spokeswoman at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. 'People are taking pictures...'"

Iranian Holocaust Drama

Iran Holocaust Show Sympathetic to Jews - World on The Huffington Post: "TEHRAN, Iran — It is Iran's version of 'Schindler's List,' a miniseries that tells the tale of an Iranian diplomat in Paris who helps Jews escape the Holocaust _ and viewers across the country are riveted.

That's surprising enough in a country where hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has questioned whether the Holocaust even took place. What's more surprising is that government media produced the series, and is airing it on state-run television.

The Holocaust is rarely mentioned in state media in Iran, school textbooks don't discuss it and Iranians have little information about it.

Yet the series titled 'Zero Degree Turn' is clearly sympathetic to the Jews' plight during World War II. It shows men, women and children with yellow stars on their clothes being taken forcibly out of their homes and loaded into trucks by Nazi soldiers..."

Clinton Made Me Say That

Thompson: Clinton made issue of remark - Yahoo! News: "MIAMI - Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson blamed Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday for the publicity surrounding his remark suggesting Cuban immigrants are bringing suitcase bombs to the United States..."

MoveOn Did What?, Part 2

Talking Points Memo: "Images of Gen. David Petraeus appeared in an ad the Giuliani campaign began running yesterday attacking Hillary Clinton. The Pentagon says the use of the Petraeus images was done without Petraeus' consent. Military personnel are barred by Pentagon regulations from appearing in political ads in uniform. Greg has more at Election Central."

If you're in a GOP ad, by permission or not, then don't complain when someone attacks you for being partisan. (The "permission" argument would be a lot more convincing if Petraeus were throwing a public, screaming fit. It all smells rather like one of Ann Coulter's "kill a judge" statements followed by "just kidding.)

The Bush Mafia

Jane Smiley: The Shock Doctrine - Politics on The Huffington Post: "...Personally, I would have put things slightly differently. The Republican Party now seems to work like a gang, in which the most valued qualities in members are loyalty to the gang and the leader, obedience to authority, and violence toward outsiders. The gang is constantly having to prove its dominance, and so candidates for leadership vie with one another for the most tyrannical or violent rhetoric, rhetoric which simultaneously demonizes those who don't accept the authority of the gang and the leader and removes all rules and laws for the gang and the leader. No one is exempt from the wrath of the gang. In this case, the Republican party has now separated itself fairly clearly from the general American population, and as Americans support it less, they come to seem to the Republicans to be more and more the enemy. The far away enemy is one thing, in terms of threat (think Al Qaeda, Shiites, Sunnis) but the enemy close at hand is more threatening because their enmity is seen as a 'betrayal...'"

MoveOn Did What?

Think Progress
"Montana conservative attacks fallen soldier over op-ed.

Earlier this week, Sgt. Omar Mora and Sgt. Yance Gray, who recently co-wrote a New York Times op-ed critical of the Iraq debate, were killed in a vehicle accident in Western Baghdad. The two fallen soldiers have since been hailed for serving their country and speaking out on Iraq. But one former conservative state Senator in Sgt. Gray’s home state of Montana, Dave Rye, has chosen to attack him for the op-ed, claiming he and his fellow soldiers weren’t intelligent enough to write it on their own:

Pardon my skepticism, and certainly no disrespect for the dead Montana soldier, but in my time in the Army I never heard such a word as “recalcitrant” escape the lips of any Staff Sergeant. I doubt if it’s spoken all that much in Ismay, either. The soldiers had the help and probably the encouragement of a writer with an agenda, from a newspaper which has always had one. Its continually declining circulation now mainly consists of those who want desperately to consider themselves sophisticated as well as compassionate, even if that means always branding the U.S. as the chief villain on the world stage—in fact, especially if it does."

I knew quite a few big college words when I was in the service. Some of them I actually learned there because-- gasp!-- the military has schools where they teach you some stuff like that and trigonometry, too! I guess only officers and politicians have sufficient intelligence to parse the language into melodious tones for editorial consumption. I offer as my proof George. W. Bush, who certainly has taken the hum-drum English vocabulary found betwixt the covers of the Oxford English Dictionary into a netherworld no one has never experienced before.

Protests and Arrests

The Associated Press: More Than 150 Arrested at Iraq Protest: "WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of protesters marched Saturday from the White House to the Capitol to demand an end to the Iraq war, leading to the arrests of at least 150 people..."

Hmmm. Very little coverage of this event.

Comparing Apples and Apples

"Fun Times: Let's Compare Coverage Of Kerry Troop Joke With That Of Boehner<Horses Mouth September 14, 2007 2:02 PM: "...And Boehner's remark offers a perfect chance to marvel at this anew. Here's how: We can compare coverage of it to John Kerry's botched joke in October 2006. The missteps are very similar: Both denigrated the troops; both Kerry and Boehner are peripheral players to the main current political event; both made remarks that are ambiguous and could be read as a mistake; and both came under fire from members of the opposition party..."

It's worse than you think.

Sticks 'N Stones

theGarance.com: "MoveOn ran a bone-headed ad — calling Petraeus “General Delay Us” would have been just as effective from a rhyming and message perspective, but less inflammatory — but really, does anyone really think the same U.S. military that won two world wars is now afraid of “name calling”? And if it is, shouldn’t we all be worried for our safety?"

Fox Fails, Again

Media Matters - Fox only broadcast network that did not air Democratic response to Bush speech: "Summary: Following President Bush's address to the nation on Iraq, Fox was the only broadcast network not to air the Democratic response. Instead, Shepard Smith gave a short description of the response and stated: 'Our coverage continues on the Fox News Channel on cable and satellite with the Democratic response and more. Right now, back to your local Fox programming.' ABC, NBC, and CBS all aired the Democratic response..."

Well, golly, gee-whiz. Go figure.

Rruh-rOh, Ted

Talking Points Memo | VECO Briber Gives Feds Evidence on Stevens " Oh my, not looking good for the Tubester, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK).

Under cross-examination, VECO CEO Bill Allen is now admitting that a portion of the $400,000 in bribes he's admitted to using to bribe legislators was used on labor for the home renovation of Stevens' home.

That would seem to put the onus pretty heavily on Stevens. The briber turning evidence on the bribee is usually real bad news for the guy who took the bribes."

Speaking In Tongues

The Pentecostal Church and The Holy Ghost Want You To Wear Pig Panties · Violent Acres: "During the crisis that was my Mother’s dating life, she became involved with a man named Ron who was extremely religious. Ron was a very devout member of the Pentecostal Church and longed for a family who maintained similar views. Within seconds of uttering this desire to my Mother, our entire family suddenly became firm believers in the Pentecostal faith..."

Keepeth thy no liquids in thine oral orifice as thou goest here to read the rest.

Thompson A Real Fake

James Wolcott's Blog: Future President of Petticoat Junction Seeks Florida Fun: Wolcott's Blog: vanityfair.com: "...I do think it's fair to speculate how long someone with Thompson's history as a politician, lobbyist, and film-TV actor can get by with this Goober-Gomer 'doggone' shtick. It's true that Reagan had his folksy side, complete with cheeks that blushed like painted roses, but he also delivered fully-rounded speeches with rhetorical bridges and perorations; he didn't just show up as if to shuck corn. I will say this, though: Thompson's somewhat lackadaisacal lope is a smart counterfoil to Mitt Romney's executive-vampire zeal and glinty opportunism--maybe it takes a real fake to show up a fake fake. Thompson at least seems to be composed of organic material; Romney is pure vinyl exterior down to the empty core."

Surging Fiction

Bush's appalling Iraq speech. - By Fred Kaplan - Slate Magazine: "President Bush's TV address tonight was the worst speech he's ever given on the war in Iraq, and that's saying a lot. Every premise, every proposal, nearly every substantive point was sheer fiction. The only question is whether he was being deceptive or delusional.

The biggest fiction was that because of the 'success' of the surge, we can reduce U.S. troop levels in Iraq from 20 combat brigades to 15 by next July. Gen. David Petraeus has recommended this step, and President George W. Bush will order it so..."

Deception and Election

David Sirota: The Lessons of Today's Stunning Lieberman Poll - Politics on The Huffington Post

"According to a new poll released today by the nonpartisan firm Research 2000, if Connecticut's 2006 Senate general election was re-run and happened today, Ned Lamont would defeat Sen. Joe Lieberman handily. What is of particular significance in the numbers is that the shift is due precisely to the deception that Lamont supporters had been exposing during the campaign - but which reporters refused to cover both during the race and in the post-election analysis. This deception on the issue of Iraq goes straight to how the media and political Establishment will do anything to keep this war going. And the two lessons that come out of this poll after looking at its details are worth remembering.

As the poll shows, if the race were held today, Lamont would garner 48 percent of the vote, Lieberman just 40 percent and Republican Alan Schlesinger would get 10 percent. This represents roughly a 16-18 point swing from the actual results (Lieberman 49, Lamont 40, Schlesinger 10), and according to today's poll, the major shift to Lamont from Lieberman would be among Democratic and Independent voters..."

The Late, Unlamented, Daddy Party

From Sullivan and The Daily Dish:

"Well, JPod and I agree on this, so the obvious caveat:

If the Democrats don’t blow it, 2008 could be the election that finishes off the pro-GOP salience of the tough-daddy-soft-mommy paradigm. Because the Republicans are being rapidly rebranded as a party of men who exemplify the least attractive, most pathetic aspects of the gender—they are the stubborn, arrogant, lazy, incompetent (Iraq, Katrina), hypocritical, crude, nasty fathers, Homer Simpson crossed with Tony Soprano, the kind of men who snarl and posture as old-fashioned patresfamilias but don’t come through when and where it counts. The GOP is becoming the deadbeat-daddy party."

Dead Americans; No Big Deal Says Boehner

Well, ok that is a paraphrase. Read the whole post at the link below and you decide.

Horses Mouth September 12, 2007 4:18 PM: "...Note that Boehner is specifically answering a question about troop deaths here -- which he calls a 'small price,' should we win the war.

This is an obvious point, but it bears making again, anyway: It's really uncanny how often those who aren't sacrificing anything for the Iraq war, aside for perhaps their health in the polls, are willing to...

(a) Describe the very real sacrifice being made by others as not being such a big deal ...while simultaneously...

(b) Describing the sacrifice others are making as their own.

Also, it bears pointing out that Boehner's overall thought here -- that we'll have made a small sacrifice 'if we're able to stabilize the Middle East'-- is a pretty big 'if.' Of course, if you're not really sacrificing anything in the quest to realize this big 'if,' then there's not much to be lost in going for it even if it is a real long shot, now is there."

President P?

Talking Points Memo | President?: "From the UK Independent ... The US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, expressed long-term interest in running for the US presidency when he was stationed in Baghdad, according to a senior Iraqi official who knew him at that time..."

Good luck with that.

From The Don't Sugarcoat It Department

Think Progress » CentCom Chief Fallon: Petraeus Is ‘An Ass-Kissing, Little Chickensh*t,’ ‘I Hate People Like That’: "...In January, President Bush replaced Abizaid and Casey, who were “surge” skeptics, with Adm. William Fallon and Gen. David Petraeus. This week, Petraeus — in the first public hearings since taking on his new role — delivered his Iraq assessment to great media fanfare. But where was his boss, Admiral Fallon? Inter-Press Service suggests animosity between the two might be one reason for Fallon’s absence:

Fallon told Petraeus [in March] that he considered him to be “an ass-kissing little chickensh*t” and added, “I hate people like that”, the sources say. That remark reportedly came after Petraeus began the meeting by making remarks that Fallon interpreted as trying to ingratiate himself with a superior.

The Washington Post reported this weekend that there is an internal military debate, described as “Armageddon,” brewing between Petraeus and Fallon because the two men have “profoundly different views of the U.S. role in Iraq...”"

The Other Shoe Falling

Papamoka Straight Talk: "I’m so sorry for saying this but Fred Thompson just ended his campaign with this one speech politically. Not being a political genius, even I know that the worst thing to say while campaigning for the highest office in the land is to state that you do not attend church even somewhat regularly is a NO NO! Somebody fire off a flare because the Thompson campaign just sank on its maiden voyage..."

Papamoka gets there first with the obvious Thompson gaffe. It's amazing, really. Though I have a couple of friends who won't even by moved by this admission-- the only reason I can discern for their support of Frederick of Hollywood is, maybe, the Twins, or maybe just because Fred is tall and would loom over any Democratic candidate like an old, fossilized deadwood redwood just waiting to fall and make a sound maybe even wingnuts would hear.

Testy Taylor Bites Brit

Democrat Taylor Marsh Broadcasts Live Talk Radio and Blogs Politics: "...Except that Bush's boy Brit is thinner. The video above on Al Qaeda is one of the classic moments in obfuscation. Brit not only phones it in, but you get the feeling the White House is feeding him his lines through an ear piece. I wouldn't be surprised.

Forget any pretense of journalism. Just give it up. Brit Hume and Fox 'News' have crossed over to the unequivocal (as if it weren't before today) government arm of the Bush administration. Yeah, yeah, they made that leap a long time ago. But nothing comes even remotely close to what happened tonight in Brit's 'A Briefing for America.' It even comes complete with swiftboating 'Freedom Watch' ads! Oh, boy..."

War Critics Killed

Two soldiers who wrote NYT op-ed killed in Iraq - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

"Since their op-ed criticizing the administration's strategy in Iraq began with the words, "Viewed from Iraq at the tail end of a 15-month deployment," one has to assume that nearly a month later the seven soldiers who authored the piece were achingly close to returning home.

Two of them won't be coming back alive. Yance Gray and Omar Mora, both of the 82nd Airborne Division, were killed on Monday. Gray leaves behind a wife and infant daughter. Mora is survived by a wife and five year old daughter. They demonstrated personal bravery in their service and integrity by speaking publicly about their views. They will, as will all those killed in this misbegotten war, be missed.

I want to rage against the injustice of it, the senselessness, the horror; but sometimes, as with yesterday's anniversary, I just want to note with sadness the loss..."

Gone But Not Forgotten

This is a short excerpt from a long, complex, thorough post by the man who knows what happened to the truth.

The Raw Story | Author under gag order assails producer, ABC for 'Path to 9/11': "...If the Path to 9/11 was released on DVD in the form that it was telecast, the Clintons wouldn’t be the only losers. ABC’s well-earned reputation for news excellence could be irreparably harmed as well. After all, the average viewer doesn’t easily separate fact from fiction when the ABC logo appears on the lower third of the screen.

On the sixth anniversary of 9/11, it’s time for ABC to own up to the great disservice it did to this country in rewriting “history” for its project. And Cyrus Nowrasteh, ought to come clean about how he turned ABC’s most important mini-series since The Day After, into a work worthy of Leni Riefenstahl."

The Very Bitter End

George F. Will - A War Still Seeking a Mission - washingtonpost.com

"...A democracy, wrote the diplomat and scholar George Kennan, "fights for the very reason that it was forced to go to war. It fights to punish the power that was rash enough and hostile enough to provoke it -- to teach that power a lesson it will not forget, to prevent the thing from happening again. Such a war must be carried to the bitter end." Which is why "unconditional surrender" was a natural U.S. goal in World War II and why Americans were so uncomfortable with three "wars of choice" since then -- in Korea, Vietnam and Iraq.

What "forced" America to go to war in 2003 -- the "gathering danger" of weapons of mass destruction -- was fictitious. That is one reason this war will not be fought, at least not by Americans, to the bitter end. The end of the war will, however, be bitter for Americans, partly because the president's decision to visit Iraq without visiting its capital confirmed the flimsiness of the fallback rationale for the war -- the creation of a unified, pluralist Iraq.

After more than four years of war, two questions persist: Is there an Iraq? Are there Iraqis?..."

General Perjury?

Newsweek: Internal Pentagon report contradicts Petraeus' testimony to Congress - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth :That's called perjury, in some parts. It's also called, someone in the Pentagon has Petraeus' number and is leaking information. Not so well respected after all, is he?..." Reminder: The brass in the Pentagon is where the "Betray us" alliterative originated.

Facts, Not Facts, Fantasies

Arianna Huffington: Denying the Truth: Petraeus, Iraq, and Our Pontius Pilate Press - Politics on The Huffington Post: "...Like Pontius Pilate washing his hands of responsibility, too many in the Washington press corps want to pretend they are leaving the question of 'what is truth' to their readers -- refusing to admit that there is even such a thing as truth. It is particularly troubling that so many in a profession dedicated to the idea that there is a truth to be ferreted out -- and that the public has a right to know it -- remain so resolutely committed to presenting two sides to every story -- even when the facts are solidly on one side..."

And it's not just Iraq. The Old Media persists in presenting Creationist Jesus-on-a- Dinosaur stories as if they were something other than wild fantasy, and they insist on enabling haters by broadcasting stories that amount to nothing more than "you can catch Teh Gay," when no hard science supports the contention that being gay is a choice. What about Global Warming? One could go on forever about their resolute willingness to present two sides of a fact when the very definition of a fact means there is only one side.

Vitter The Er,Uh, Guy Takes New Hit

Talking Points Memo | Flynt unveiling more Vitter claims: "A former New Orleans prostitute who says she had an affair with Sen. David Vitter has passed a lie-detector test and will provide details of the four-month relationship at a press conference Tuesday, according to Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt..."

Troop Haters

John wants to know (AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth:'Why do Republicans hate our troops? ' They owe every American service member an apology for the continually abysmal treatment our vets receive at the hands of this Republican administration. Mitch McConnell, Tony Snow and the Republicans love to talk about standing by our troops while using them as political props, but when our troops are actually being abused, McConnell and Snow and the Republicans are silent." '

The Long View On Global Warming

Praise for Netherlands' 200-year water defense plan to deal with global warming - International Herald Tribune:

"AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: With two-thirds of the Dutch population living below sea level, the country's government sees the risk of rising seas caused by global warming as a matter of life and death. So it's taking a long term view of the problem — a two hundred-year view, to be exact.

The Cabinet announced plans Friday for a new commission to begin preparing water defenses through the year 2200.

'We want to make sure that there's still a Netherlands a century from now,' Tineke Huizinga, the country's top water official, told state broadcaster NOS..."

I was stationed in Holland for a time in the late 60's and fell in love with the country. I've never been back, though I'd love to, but I will always have fond memories of the Dutch, the government, and their general disposition toward life, which seemed to say: "Show me a problem, and I will attend to it."

Hail, Simon Stevin!

Depeopling Inc

AlterNet: Challenging Corporate Power: California Community Says Companies Are Not People; Bans Campaign Donations

"In 2006, Humboldt County, California, became the latest, and largest, jurisdiction to abolish the legal doctrine known as "corporate personhood."

Measure T was successful because our all-volunteer campaign came together to pass a law that bans non-local corporations from participating in Humboldt elections. The referendum, which passed with 55 percent of the vote, also asserts that corporations cannot claim the First Amendment right to free speech.

By enacting Measure T, Humboldt County has committed an act of "municipal civil disobedience," intentionally challenging "settled law." But voters also recognize that Measure T is an act of common sense. We polled our community and found that 78 percent believe corruption is more likely if corporations participate in politics..."

The Evolution of Chickenhawkery

Talking Points Memo | 'Chaos Hawks'

"Kevin Drum explains in a terrific post this afternoon that Iraq hawks have entered their third and least-persuasive stage.

First, there were War Hawks, who insisted that invading Iraq was a necessary endeavor. Second, these folks became Pottery Barn Hawks, who insisted they could clean up the mess they created.

And now they've transformed again, into Chaos Hawks, who insist that a withdrawal strategy would be even worse than the status quo..."

The Surge Disturbs

Marty Kaplan: This Is The Week When Nothing Will Happen - Politics on The Huffington Post
'"Watershed"? "Pivotal"? "D-Day for Iraq Policy"? Oh, puhleez. President Bush's prime time stay-the-course speech has already been written. Public opinion has already concluded that the Petraeus report will sugarcoat the statistics, that the Crocker report will move the goalposts, and that "victory" in Iraq will be no less absurd an American mission at the end of the week than at the beginning. Magical September will make Republicans no less likely to wag their lapdog tails at the White House, or to rattle their cut-and-run sabers at the Democrats, than will Magical March, the probable next location of the turning-point mirage. Democrats, for their part, will seize on the possible January withdrawal of one brigade of the surge as a bipartisan triumph, and their fear of being branded anti-troop and pro-terrorist by a bunch of chickenhawk demagogues will lead them to hail a non-binding non-deadline nonconditional footnote to the next defense appropriation as though they had drawn some heroic line in the sand...'

Bob Schieffer’s Question

Crooks and Liars: "...We haven’t lost this war, but we’re not winning it. We’re hanging on. Victory would be obvious, Iraqi families would be strolling the streets of Baghdad and Osama Bin Laden would be walking out of a cave somewhere with his hands up. Instead of that question, let’s hope the General will be asked what we so often forgot during Vietnam: Is this worth the cost in lives and money?"

More GOPer Gay Goofiness

Well, not the best title since this does involve murder.
Scrutiny Hooligans,Gay Porn Blogger Denounces McHenry Disinformation Campaign,

By Drama Queen

"I really thought this story couldn’t get any weirder. Well, it has. Apparently, we at Pat Go Bye bye have struck a nerve. A big one. At this post and this one.

And now Pat Go Bye Bye is officially the target of a McHenry-related disinformation campaign to discredit, of all people, a gay porn blogger. Damon Kruezer.

Why would McHenry’s friends spend energy trying to discredit a gay porn blogger, you might ask? After all, you’d think they would be pretty busy thinking up ways to defend him from his obvious connection to a staffer guilty of voter fraud, (in an election Pat won by only 85 votes). Then there’s the problem with his friend Ralph Gonzalez being murdered allegedly by his other friend Jason Drake. Let’s not forget his financial disclosure debacles, and the ass he made of himself nationally over earmarks. And then this weekend his freaked-out-looking deputy field director blew a point one three.

But you know political consultants these days. I guess they just sat him down (maybe over drinks with Brett) and said something like “Hey Pat, things are bad but really you need to focus on this dude, Damon Kruezer, who interviews hot young homosexual pornographic video actors..." Read more.

Dixie Chicking Seahawkery

Talking Points Memo | When football and politics collide

"...Now, sports teams routinely meet with presidents at the White House after a championship, but this was a little different. Two Seahawks players attended a GOP fundraiser, where they decided, on their own, to honor the president.

Apparently, Bush isn't particularly popular in Seattle, where fans told Hasselbeck and Strong how offended they were with the gesture towards Bush. Then, conservative bloggers argued yesterday how offended they were by Seahawks' fans.

Apparently, the right's argument seems to be that entertainers like football players should be able to express political preferences without hearing vitriolic reactions from fans. It's a free country; going to a GOP fundraiser and applauding the president isn't a crime. Sounds reasonable enough to me.

But I am curious about those making the argument. If football players should be able to express their support for Bush, should the Dixie Chicks be able to express criticism of Bush? If Democrats in Seattle who are bothered by Hasselbeck and Strong are crazy, are conservatives who crushed the Dixie Chicks' CDs with steamrollers expressing mature political opposition?

Just asking."

Good Advice

Papamoka Straight Talk: "...Turn the page, the Congress is having a mass migration of Republican Senators and Congressmen into retirement or resignation. The battle for America is on and the people have a chance to take it back. Republican political party leaders and current members are not the Ronald Reagan Republican’s. President Reagan hated corruption and waste in our government and frankly so do I. His idea of his political party has been hijacked by the worst possible dream that he could have ever envisioned. Corruption and arrest charges are not the Reagan Republican Party. That however is the current problem with the past political party affiliation of Ronald Reagan.

Times change, people change. Politics of yesterday can change in a heart beat but the honesty and respect that the American people will always look for can not and should not be taken for granted. While the flood gates of Senators and Congressmen from the Republican Party that are not seeking re-election opens up, in the next election the people need to decide who is telling the truth and whom is blowing smoke up the back side of your anatomy..."

Wedding Day

I'm giving the bride away so I probably won't be around today.

Modern Feudalism

Well-written post. Check it out. Two Americas « Little Bang Theory: "...I for one intend to not go quietly into the blades of the International Harvester, to not wave cheerily as Ross Perot’s “giant sucking sound” blows my children’s futures away to a distant shore. I intend to go kicking and screaming for the whole world to hear, “Look! Look up there! It’s not the ten percent at the bottom who are sucking you dry, stealing your retirement, denying you health care! Its the FFR at the top, the one percent, the Money Changers in the Temple of your Dreams, the few amongst all the people in the Ancient World who moved Jesus to violence, the few amongst all the people in the Modern World who are benefiting from the rape of your brothers and sisters, your friends and neighbors, your parents, your children, you!”"...

The Snark Continues

Talking Points Memo | Shrine: " Blogger makes pilgrimage to Larry Craig bathroom. With camera phone.

Late Update: Hard-hearted TPM Reader B notes that the 2008 Republican convention is being held in Minneapolis. So everyone should get a chance for their own pilgrimage of grace."

Re-M*A*S*H*ing

Very funny post concerning the Don Juan of the John: Give it a read at Larry Gelbart: Enough, God Help Us, Enough! - Politics on The Huffington Post.

Appleology

Steve Jobs Offers Rare Apology, Credit for iPhone - WSJ.com

"...Responding to a flood of emails complaining about a surprise iPhone price cut, Mr. Jobs apologized publicly and said Apple will issue a $100 credit at Apple stores to iPhone users who paid the original price. "Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these," Mr. Jobs wrote in a letter posted yesterday on Apple's Web site..."

So when do I and thousands of other suckers get a refund and an apology for the screwing Apple gave us when they abandoned the Apple II in favor of the Mac back in the Stone Age? Yeah, right, Jobs. "Apple II Forever." Bite me. I hate Apple.

Wolcotting 9/11 Ghouls

James Wolcott's Blog: The 9/12 Afterture: Wolcott's Blog: vanityfair.com: "The never-ending shame of September 11th is that the souls of the dead have not been allowed to rest in peace but have been conscripted again and again into the garish rationales of fools and knaves for unending war and conquest. For the neocons, those original 9/11 deaths have compounded nicely, provided an impressive rate of return. With each anniversary, 9/11 becomes harder to disaggregate, analyze; the smoke-pouring towers have optical landmarks purged of historical-cultural-psychological-political-human context..."

Powerful Troop Supporting Ad

TV AD: Sen. Collins, should we start training our kids now?

Fred Thompson Below The Bar

Joseph A. Palermo: Fred Thompson - Politics on The Huffington Post: "...Ever since Ronald Reagan lowered the bar of American politics to enable mediocre thespians to run for high office we have suffered our share of Republican cardboard..."

Lying Liars: WMD Edition

Bush knew Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction | Salon.com: "Sept. 6, 2007 | On Sept. 18, 2002, CIA director George Tenet briefed President Bush in the Oval Office on top-secret intelligence that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction, according to two former senior CIA officers. Bush dismissed as worthless this information from the Iraqi foreign minister, a member of Saddam's inner circle, although it turned out to be accurate in every detail. Tenet never brought it up again.

Nor was the intelligence included in the National Intelligence Estimate of October 2002, which stated categorically that Iraq possessed WMD. No one in Congress was aware of the secret intelligence that Saddam had no WMD as the House of Representatives and the Senate voted, a week after the submission of the NIE, on the Authorization for Use of Military Force in Iraq. The information, moreover, was not circulated within the CIA among those agents involved in operations to prove whether Saddam had WMD..."

The Traveling Emperor

Taylor Marsh flogs Bush for his 300 member royal escort to Sydney.

Our Ugly American President : "...Remember Republicans bitching about Clinton's travels, compliments (in part) to Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairman Larry Craig? Here's one heading: Clinton's Foreign Travel: Excessive or Abusive??

Wingnuts went on a war path.

Of course, Human Events had to jump in, too.

But when Bush takes a trip fit for an emperor conservatives are silent. Bush wouldn't give the troops the raise they not only deserve, but have more than earned. Our president has other priorities, that much is clear. Traveling like a king is not only an entitlement. It's what Bush believes is his due..."

Craig, The Undead

Talking Points Memo | The In-Again, Out-Again Mr. Craig: "...And to paraphrase the horror movie genre, is Craig really gone even now or has he merely entered the shadowy ranks of the unresigned, destined to walk the earth for eternity tormenting his party."

Let us hope for the latter.

Gay Heat Rising

Pensito Review » Four More Top GOP Outings Could Be in the Offing:

"In the wake of closeted Sen. Larry Craig’s self-outing in an airport men’s room this summer, Mike Rogers, the Washington-based publisher of blogActive who outed Craig, is threatening to reveal the secret sexual identities of two leading GOP senators, while two allegedly gay Republican congressmen are making headlines and drawing unwelcome attention to themselves, the timing of which could not be worse.

The senators are Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, from Kentucky. More about them below but first let’s look at two allegedly closeted members of the House, representatives Patrick McHenry and David Drier, who have been in the news lately..."

The post follows the above excerpt with a gay prostitution murder plot involving one of our semi-local congresscritters, Rep. Patrick McHenry (O' tangled web weavers we be) ...

My Kind of Candidate

The Left Coaster: Bill Richardson Stands With Working Families

"...As Governor, Bill Richardson has increased the minimum wage for all New Mexicans. In addition, he reinstated collective bargaining for public employees, supported stronger penalties for employer violations while workers attempt to unionize, secured the first public works labor agreement in New Mexico history and made New Mexico's prevailing wage a union wage. Governor Richardson also cut taxes for working families again this year, returning $52 million to their pockets.

In July, unemployment in New Mexico hit an all-time low of 3.5%, lower than the national average of 4.5%. In the last year, New Mexico has added 14,700 jobs, with over 80,000 new jobs being created in New Mexico under Governor Richardson's stewardship.

Governor Richardson also has taken the progressive and economically just step of ending taxation on food and medicine in New Mexico.

As President, Bill Richardson will appoint a union member as his Secretary of Labor. He's also indicated his strong support for the Employee Free Choice Act, allowing workers to unionize without fear of retribution or intimidation. Given his record as Governor of New Mexico, working men and women have every reason to believe that Bill Richardson will be a staunch defender of their rights to collectively bargain. And at the AFL-CIO debate in Chicago last month, Governor Richardson also said he'd get rid of all the union busting attorneys in the Department of Labor and OSHA.

With regard to trade, Governor Richardson supports strong and enforceable labor and environmental standards being included in any future free trade agreement..."