Bush Rules indeed

Go read Froomkin. He blasts the detainee bill for allowing the President to play Calvinplay with the prisoners.

Fat Mike for President

My first choice in '08.

Yuck

I can’t decide which piece of this story I find most disturbing. Is it:
1. that Dustin Diamond, the lanky, unattractive doofus Screech from “Saved by the Bell” has a sex tape about to go public
2. that, reportedly, he introduces one of the two women in the tape to the Dirty Sanchez (I just gagged a bit writing that)
3. that there is a guy out there trying to sell this thing
4. that he could actually find a market of people willing to pay money to watch something so awful

We live in truly weird and disquieting times…

UPDATE: Thanks to Lo for pointing out that his character was Screech.

The detainee bill in unconstitutional – period

The US Constitution says the following regarding prosecution and trial of suspected criminals. The detainee bill passed by the House violates each portion in some way. This thing is never getting approved by the Supreme Court.

Article One, Section Nine:
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

The Fourth Amendment:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

The Fifth Amendment:
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

On commas

I have been meaning to post about Bush’s disgraceful Sunday interview with Wolf Blitzer but it took me forever to find the transcript (hat tip to the Carpetbagger). In the exchange, our rock-headed President declared that the war in Iraq would be seen as a “comma” in the history books.

BLITZER: Let's move on and talk a little bit about Iraq. Because this is a huge, huge issue, as you know, for the American public, a lot of concern that perhaps they are on the verge of a civil war, if not already a civil war…. We see these horrible bodies showing up, tortured, mutilation. The Shia and the Sunni, the Iranians apparently having a negative role. Of course, al Qaeda in Iraq is still operating.

BUSH: Yes, you see — you see it on TV, and that's the power of an enemy that is willing to kill innocent people. But there's also an unbelievable will and resiliency by the Iraqi people…. Admittedly, it seems like a decade ago. I like to tell people when the final history is written on Iraq, it will look like just a comma because there is — my point is, there's a strong will for democracy.

There may be a strong will for democracy but there are also thousands of dead and maimed Iraqis and Americans. I would submit that their families consider this war is a damn sight more significant than a comma. I am not sure how much more dismissive of their sacrifice this motherfucker could be. It is not quite pissing on the grave of the war dead but what an asshole all the same.

I am sure, however, that historians will be far less kind than I when they write of W and his regime. In the grand scheme of things, my voice, no matter how nasty, is inconsequential. Historians, however, have the determination and temperament to survey the current American landscape objectively, through the lens of time and distance. They tell the story to the generations that follow. This is what they will see.

In five short years, we sustained the worst terror attack in our history and let the perpetrators, thus far, run free. We started and lost the Iraq war and are on the verge of losing Afghanistan. We codified the suspension of habeas corpus and the denial of due process. We have instituted a domestic spying program. We have ignored the Geneva Convention and established torture as policy. New Orleans, fiscal responsibility, and our international reputation were destroyed.

Leading the charge down this hideous path of destruction is our man George. Scarier still, he has two years left in office. Lord knows how much more blood will be spilled and treasure will be spent in service to his delusional schemes and wrong headed policies. But this particular act of hubris and condescension, this flippant remark regarding the most important policy choice of his presidency, reveals a great deal about his presidency.

He is a man-child, incapable of empathy or sound judgment, making rash decision after rash decision, unable to grasp the significance of those outcomes or accept responsibility for same.

So history will not be kind to Bush's presidency or his war. And sure as hell, neither will be seen as a comma.

More Fun with YouTube

Hilarious.

Facts have no agenda

Science has no agenda

The Bush Administration has once again suppressed a report that undermines (bad) government policy. The report linked global warming with the increase in hurricane strength and frequency. From the AP:

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has blocked release of a report that suggests global warming is contributing to the frequency and strength of hurricanes, the journal Nature reported Tuesday.

The possibility that warming conditions may cause storms to become stronger has generated debate among climate and weather experts, particularly in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

In the new case, Nature said weather experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration part of the Commerce Department in February set up a seven-member panel to prepare a consensus report on the views of agency scientists about global warming and hurricanes.

According to Nature, a draft of the statement said that warming may be having an effect.
In May, when the report was expected to be released, panel chair Ants Leetmaa received an e-mail from a Commerce official saying the report needed to be made less technical and was not to be released, Nature reported.

Leetmaa, head of NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in New Jersey, did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment.

NOAA spokesman Jordan St. John said he had no details of the report.

NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher is currently out of the country, but Nature quoted him as saying the report was merely an internal document and could not be released because the agency could not take an official position on the issue.

However, the journal said in its online report that the study was merely a discussion of the current state of hurricane science and did not contain any policy or position statements.

No policy or position statements, just facts. But if the facts don’t support Bush’s predetermined conclusions (the lead up the Iraq war comes to mind), those facts are disregarded, suppressed, or slanted to support the original position. This is not the only reason why these people scare the shit out of me, but it is a big one.

So to lighten the mood a bit, I give you Will Ferrell as Bush on the environment. A soul patch, lava flows and Frisbee golf all in three and a half minutes. Enjoy!

The funnies (and the not so funnies)

Tom Tomorrow. Boondocks. Doonesbury. Non Sequitur. Oliphant. Toles. Luckovich.

Healthcare

Why healthcare and specifically, a national single payer system, is not a bigger political issue is a mystery to me. Especially when you get news like this:

Workers won't find much comfort in the smallest increase in health insurance premiums since 1999. The 7.7 percent increase this year was still more than twice the rate of inflation.

[Snip]

Altman said the rising gap between premium growth and wages is particularly startling when one takes a longer look back. Since 2000, health insurance premiums have gone up 78 percent; wages 20 percent.

"Yes, the rate of increase is down, but I don't think anybody is celebrating," Altman said of this year's numbers.

America’s healthcare system is becoming more and more unaffordable with each passing day. The employer provided insurance model is clearly unsustainable. It makes American business less competitive compared to other companies abroad because they do not have this massive expense on their balance sheet. Hence, American firms are being forced to curtail or even drop insurance benefits for employees. Employees without insurance are sicker and hence less productive than their insured counterparts. So companies are left with two bad choices: provide heinously expensive coverage that kills the bottom line or deal with lost productivity from employees in poor health.

It seems to me that at some point in the near future, we are going to see a big push, most likely from Big Bidness, to offload healthcare costs to the state or federal government. I may be completely wrong here but I think the day of reckoning for our healthcare system is coming. Why aren’t there more politicians, think tanks, etc. talking about this?

The plot thickens

Larry Sabato, UVA prof and classmate of Sen. Allen, has unequivocally claimed that the Senator did indeed use the n-word, contrary to Allen’s prior denials. From the AP:

RICHMOND, Va. - A noted political scientist joined one of Sen. George Allen’s former college football teammates in claiming the senator used a racial slur to refer to blacks in the early 1970s, a claim Allen dismisses as "ludicrously false."

Larry J. Sabato, one of Virginia's most-quoted political science professors and a classmate of Allen's in the early 1970s, said in a televised interview Monday that Allen used the epithet.

[Snip]

Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, would not tell The Associated Press how he knew Allen used the n-word. He told Chris Matthews on MSNBC that he did not know whether it was true that Allen used the word frequently while in college.

"I'm simply going to stay with what I know is the case and the fact is he did use the n-word, whether he's denying it or not," Sabato said.

Smack! What we have here is an old-fashioned pissing match between a sitting Senator and a powerful voice in Virginia politics. Larry Sabato is a guy with a pretty big soapbox so crossing him would be really, really stupid. Plus, the professor is very astute, has a lot of creditability with the Beltway crowd, and is not known to pick fights.

The real danger for Allen now is not that he is being further exposed as a bigot. The damage on that front is already done. People in the Commonwealth that are not going to vote for a guy they think is a racist have already made up their minds. The bigger problem is that a reasonable and credible voice with a substantial media presence has essentially called him out as a liar. Allen’s good old boy image was built on a façade of folksy, straight-shooter charm and affability that people seemed to like. With Sabato challenging his honesty and integrity, that could all be washed away.

We are not safer, no matter what Cheney says

The recently completed National Intelligence Estimate concluded that the war in Iraq has helped incubate more terror cells. From the Guardian:

An authoritative US intelligence report pooling the views of 16 government agencies concludes America's campaign in Iraq has increased the threat of terrorism.

The National Intelligence Estimate was completed in April but not made public. Its conclusions, which were first reported by the New York Times, contradict assertions made by President George Bush and White House officials during the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

"It's a very candid assessment," said one official who has seen the report. "It's stating the obvious."

As this report clearly contradicts current Administration talking points regarding Iraq, terrorism, et al, the article kindly provides a few quotes to drive the mendacity home.

In their own words

"My administration, the Congress, and the United Nations saw the threat - and after 9/11, Saddam's regime posed a risk that the world could not afford to take. The world is safer because Saddam Hussein is no longer in power"
George Bush's address to the nation, September 11 2006

"I think it's clear that we are safer but not really yet safe. We've done a lot ... our ports are more secure, we have a much stronger intelligence sharing operation. We've clearly hurt badly the al-Qaida organisation"
Condoleezza Rice, September 10 2006

"I don't know how much better you can do than no attacks for the past five years. The fact is, the world is better off today with Saddam Hussein out of power. Think where we'd be if he was still there"
Dick Cheney, September 11 2006

So, if the NIE was completed in April and the Prez. Vice, and SecState all made these statements in September, and we assume that these three have actually seen the report, that would make them huge fucking liars – no? If terrorism is worse because of the war, then we are not safer. That seems pretty cut and dry. Just saying something is true does not necessarily make it so (“I do believe in fairies, I do, I do”).

Not for nothing, it seems lots of Republicans are having trouble with the truth these days. With the election this close and the R’s doing badly, the season for saying anything to stay in office is upon us. I am just waiting for the “No one could have predicted” statement that is surely forthcoming. Simply plug the latest fuckup into the construct and away you go.

“No one could have predicted that al Queda would attack”
“No one could have predicted that the levees would fail”
“No one could have predicted that Iraq would become a hotbed for terrorism and sink into a civil war”.

None of these statements are true, of course, yet they offer the patina of “this was out of our hands so we cannot be held responsible”. It is the Administration’s favorite accountability avoidance device, sort of like Mad Libs for the incompetent.

That boom you are hearing is the Allen campaign imploding

Stories depicting a candidate as an overt racist are bad enough. The killer here is Allen’s recent statements that he learned tolerance from his family and that he never used the “N-word”. It was, of course, utter bullshit but it was at least plausibly true. If we are to believe Michael Scherer’s Salon article, Allen was provably racist while in college and a huge liar right now.

Living (and dying) Hell

Police found four dozen bodies in and around Baghdad in the past 24 hours. The death tolls in recent months are breaking the kinds of records one wishes would remain unbroken. Kidnapping victims are being press ganged into becoming suicide bombers. Meanwhile, the Administration seems to be laying the ground work for deposing the existing leadership and putting together yet another government. All of this is bad enough until you read something like this. The headline, “Braving death, Baghdad's children start school”, is the most depressing thing I have seen in a while. Until I read the final paragraph:

Back at Jawad Salim Primary School, another boy also named Ali, 12, was waiting for the afternoon shift to start.

"There's death out there, people are dying," he said matter-of-factly. "But despite all that I like to come to school."

Jesus - what a mess. This is just tragic…

Shameful and stupid

Go read tristero and digby at Hullabaloo. They are exactly right. If the Senate “compromise” on detainee treatment passes, it will codify actions that violate the Geneva Convention. It will endanger our troops when they are captured and will undermine any claim that this country has to the moral high ground. This disgusting deal is nothing sort of a wound to America’s core beliefs. Fuck McCain, fuck Graham, and fuck Warner for selling out our country’s principles. Fuck the Democrats for getting rolled like this.

We, as a nation, are so much better than this. Unfortunately, our leadership is not. This is a sad, sad day.

Fun with Google

Guess where you go when you Google "Worst President Ever" and hit the I'm Feeling Lucky button.

Here.

I swear - try it. Same thing for "miserable failure". Go figure...

The funnies (and the not so funnies)

Doonesbury. Toles. Dilbert. Oliphant. Luckovich. Schorr.

George Allen is part Jewish and all dick

The Allen campaign has issued a press release acknowledging his family’s Jewish heritage, claiming ignorance of that fact until a recent magazine article discovered it and his mother confirmed. From Allen’s statement:

"I embrace and take great pride in every aspect of my diverse heritage, including my Lumbroso family line's Jewish heritage, which I learned about from a recent magazine article and my mother confirmed,"…

[Snip]

"Some may find it odd that I have not probed deeply into the details of my family history, but it's a fact. We in the Allen household were simply taught that what matters is a person's character, integrity, effort, and performance -- not race, gender, ethnicity or religion. And so whenever we would ask my mother through the years about our family background on her side, the answer always was, 'Who cares about that?'

Taken at face value, the statement is clearly a message of tolerance that questions the relevance of anyone’s background when judging one’s character. Pretty straight forward. Then Allen made this statement to the Richmond Times Dispatch:

Speaking with The Times-Dispatch, Allen said the disclosure is "just an interesting nuance to my background." He added, "I still had a ham sandwich for lunch. And my mother made great pork chops."

WTF? Like I said, he is a dick. The ham sandwich remark is like acknowledging that your mother is white but you can still play basketball. Comedians can play with stereotypes. Senators with a checkered history on racial issues cannot.

Not to mention how stupid this is. If Allen had not been such a dick about the macaca thing in the first place, it most likely would have blown over. Instead, we are still talking about it and he keeps making bigoted remarks, thinking he is being cute. Dumb, dumb, dumb…

Anyway, for those keeping score at home, Allen has offended those of African descent with his love of all things Confederate; he scored a twofer on Indian-Americans and Arab-Americans with the monkey comment, and now Jews with the pork reference. Are there any other ethnic groups that I am forgetting?

Allen opens another can of divisiveness

George Allen’s inner cracker popped out again in yesterday’s debate, bristling at the suggestion that he was some Jewish heritage. From the Post:

At a debate in Tysons Corner yesterday between Republican Allen and Democrat Webb, WUSA-TV's Peggy Fox asked Allen, the tobacco-chewing, cowboy-boot-wearing son of a pro football coach, if his Tunisian-born mother has Jewish blood.

"It has been reported," said Fox, that "your grandfather Felix, whom you were given your middle name for, was Jewish. Could you please tell us whether your forebears include Jews and, if so, at which point Jewish identity might have ended?"

Allen recoiled as if he had been struck. His supporters in the audience booed and hissed. "To be getting into what religion my mother is, I don't think is relevant," Allen said, furiously. "Why is that relevant -- my religion, Jim's religion or the religious beliefs of anyone out there?"

"Honesty, that's all," questioner Fox answered, looking a bit frightened.

"Oh, that's just all? That's just all," the senator mocked, pressing his attack. He directed Fox to "ask questions about issues that really matter to people here in Virginia" and refrain from "making aspersions."

The American Heritage Dictionary defines aspersion as “An unfavorable or damaging remark; slander”. Is this how Allen feels about Jews? Is he really saying that insinuating he may have some Chosen blood equates to a form of insult to his character and “good” name? Kos summed the whole situation perfectly:

…Allen accused the moderator of insulting him by suggesting he had Jewish blood.

That can only mean one of two things: 1) he's an anti-Jewish bigot, or 2) he's afraid he'll lose the bubba vote if people think he's a Jew. And neither of those two speak well of the man.

Absolutely correct.

The “freedom” agenda

US authorities arrested Maher Arar, an innocent Canadian citizen, on bad information provided by the Royal Mounted Police. Mr. Arar was then shipped to Syria, via Jordan, imprisoned for a year, and repeatedly tortured. He was never given a trial, a charge, or even a lawyer.

The incompetence of both US and Canadian law enforcement in this case is simply staggering. Mr. Arar’s unfortunate (and probably criminal) treatment is the reason why we have laws protecting habeas corpus and due process. Our government disappeared a citizen from a friendly country in complete disregard of national and international laws not to mention basic civil rights. This is stuff straight out of the Latin American dictator playbook from the 70’s. It is simply shameful that Western governments are abandoning core democratic principles for the sake of fighting terrorism, and fighting it poorly I might add. This is Bush’s freedom agenda at work and the Administration, at this moment, is fighting Congress tooth and nail to continue these practices.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” He is, of course, correct. Our current leadership, however, does not understand this point. They made the Faustian bargain and in doing so, betrayed the Constitution and their oaths of offices.

“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

…preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States – there is damn little of that going on these days. If a blowjob was evil enough to impeach Bill Clinton, then the Democrats should file proceedings as their first act when we take back the House. This is simply too much – these people must go now.

Science is cool

The geniuses at MIT have come up with a way to mount wind turbines on buoyant platforms in water as deep as 650 feet. OK – I know that this sounds really boring and lame as a topic for discussion but this is very, very cool. We only have a few renewable, zero emission energy sources that can be scaled out to generate significant amounts of power. Wind is one of those sources, and by almost any measurement, this new plan is a giant leap forward on several fronts.

Per the article, the new design delivers four key benefits over existing systems. First, the platforms have a generating capacity nearly 40% greater than existing offshore wind farms because they can be placed further out to sea where winds are much stronger. Second, the floating platform design is mobile and durable. Capacity can be moved to areas of greater efficiency and need. Plus, they can be assembled at a shipyard, rather than miles offshore, and towed into position. Third, the new system is one-third the cost of offshore tower wind farms. Fourth and last, the platforms can be place far out of sight from the coast, eliminating arguments about reducing views and near coast environmental concerns.

Floating wind farms are not going to save the planet (yet?) but seemingly innocuous and incremental advances like this may end up doing just that. Hats off to MIT.

Allen versus Webb on Meet the Press

The general consensus is that Jim Webb well and truly whipped George Felix Allen, Jr. on Meet the Press yesterday. Larry Sabato, probably the most astute political observer in the Commonwealth, called it for Webb, as did most everyone else. From the Cavalier Daily:

According to Politics Prof. Larry Sabato, this heavy focus on the war in Iraq allowed Webb to emerge as the clear winner of the debate.

"Webb clearly edged Allen in the debate," Sabato said. "Slightly more than half of the debate was about Iraq, which is Webb's number-one platform plank. He was aggressive, decisive, and confident; Allen seemed defensive and evasive on that subject."

[Snip]

Sabato added that the debate's national stage has one key implication.

"Democrats across the country saw Webb's performance and may start giving," he said. "Everyone's been waiting for the Democratic Senatorial Committee to jump into this race, and so far they haven't. If they don't, Webb has virtually no chance to win."

Sabato also said with 50 days left in the campaign season and two debates to go, "this was the most important debate."

From the Richmond Times Dispatch:

"This was Webb's debate," said political analyst Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia. He gave Webb good marks for improving his debating skill from a matchup in July. Sabato had scored that one an Allen win.

"They both did reasonably well," said political scientist Robert D. Holsworth of Virginia Commonwealth University. He said Webb probably enjoys that Allen must defend the Iraq war position of Bush, who has suffered in national polls. Allen voted with Bush 96 percent of the time last year on key votes.

From the conservative TownHall.com:

I should also say that given the vital partisan stakes involved this election season that Hugh and I have frequently discussed here, I squarely and unequivocally support Allen’s re-election.
Or at least I did until this morning’s debate. Now I’m not so sure.

IT WOULDN’T BE FAIR TO ALLEN to ignore the fact that he had to deal with being double-teamed by Webb and “Meet the Press” host Tim Russert. Still, Webb outclassed Allen in every aspect of the clash.

When it was time to talk about the candidates’ biographies, Allen really didn’t have a chance. There aren’t too many people in America who have biographies that compare with Webb’s.

Folks – Allen got smoked...

Ladies and gentlemen, start your drinking

By and large, Americans drink. In fact, I think we drink pretty well. We are, however, a nation of diverse, well rounded drinkers – we are the utility players in international imbibing. We have no real forte when it comes to beverage genres. Europeans, on the other hand, do specialize. The Russians are the world's master liquor drinkers. The French take the gold in the wine events. And the Germans, they win the beer division. (Honorable mention goes to the Irish – the standard bearers in all double-fisting categories with their patented whisky and a Guinness combination move.)

I bring this up because today marks the opening of the 18 day beer fueled German bender known as Oktoberfest. No other nation on the planet decides, en masse, to go on a two and a half week open air pub crawl. I simply marvel at their stamina and sheer determination. In short, the Germans elevate beer drinking from humble pastime to high art.

In that spirit, I raise my glass. Proste!

Rep. Bob Ney (R – Ohio) to plead guilty to corruption charges

This is not a huge surprise but as the article says, this will surely give new life and meaning to the Democrats’ “culture of corruption” rhetoric. The timing of this could not be worse for the Republicans.

Guess who had spinach last night

Thankfully, we steamed it first. I am switching to cabbage.

Molly on Ann Richards

Molly Ivins was a close friend of the former Governor. Here is her column.

Queen Ann the Magnificent

We lost a great one yesterday. Former Texas Governor Ann Richards succumbed to cancer at the age of 73. Gov. Richards has always been a favorite of mine. She was a tougher than shoe leather Texas populist with a wicked wit and sharp tongue. She would back down to no one when she thought she was right. Her success in the rough and tumble boys clubs that is Texas politics is a testament to her willingness to do right by doing good. Richards had enormous energy, boundless compassion, and a talent for finding a way to make things work. She worked her ass off her entire adult life trying to improve the lot of the least fortunate in society, whether as a teacher or politician, and she never, ever quit. But the thing I loved most about Richards was her sense of humor. This was one very funny lady who always had a quick one-liner at the ready. So rather than eulogize her any further, I will leave you with a few of my favorite quotes from her.

On George H. W. Bush at the 1998 Democratic Convention:

“Poor George, he can't help it...He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.”

On learning lessons:

“I have always had the feeling I could do anything and my dad told me I could. I was in college before I found out he might be wrong.”

On life:

“There is a lot more to this life than just the struggle to make money.”

On education:

“I have a real soft spot in my heart for librarians and people who care about books.”

And the coup de gras, on being a Good Republican.

You done good Ann. You have earned your rest.

Science is cool

It never ceases to amaze me that we are still discovering new species of animals. I am not talking about bugs or bacteria at the bottom of the sea but things like brightly colored birds living on the border of the two most populous nations in the world. The cute fellow above is called a Bugun Liocichla and was found in India in May of this year.

The new math

In Iraq today, police discovered 65 murdered people while car bombs, mortars, and shootings non-murdered another 30. Ah, sweet, sweet progress…

When a death is a murder

So we know that the Administration will lie about anything. As such, that striking reduction in murders in Baghdad claimed by the military is bullshit. From the AP:

The American military did not count people killed by bombs, mortars, rockets or other mass attacks including suicide bombings when it reported a dramatic drop in the number of murders in the Baghdad area last month, the U.S. command said Monday.

The decision to include only victims of drive-by shootings and those killed by torture and execution, usually at the hands of death squads, allowed U.S. officials to argue that a security crackdown that began in the capital Aug. 7 had more than halved the city's murder rate.

But the types of slayings, including suicide bombings, that the U.S. excluded from the category of "murder" were not made explicit at the time.

What the fuck? The Administration does not have the decency or respect to tally a death as a murder unless the poor bastard suffered a bit before meeting his maker. Seriously, these dicks tried to push the phrase “homicide bomber” into the lexicon. But now that “homicide bombing” deaths are screwing up the bottom line, that notion is no longer operative. So homicide no longer equates to murder people – get it straight. Oy.

These are horrible, despicable people who will say anything to cast the glimmer of success on their failed policies. This is just more of the same.

BTW– Am I the only one reminded of when Marion Barry claimed that “If you take out the killings, Washington actually has a very very low crime rate”?

The funnies (and not so funnies)

Tom Tomorrow. Toles. Non Sequitur. Luckovich. Schorr.

Olbermann takes no prisoners

Last night, Keith Olbermann gave the commentary of his life - passionate, forceful, courageous, and defiant as hell. If you haven’t seen it, you must. It is as stirring an eight and a half minutes as one will find in cable journalism. Here is a taste:

They promised protection, and then showed that to them "protection" meant going to war against a despot whose hand they had once shaken… a despot who we now learn from our own Senate Intelligence Committee, hated Al-Qaeda as much as we did.

The polite phrase for how so many of us were duped into supporting a war, on the false premise that it had ’something to do’ with 9/11, is "lying by implication."

The impolite phrase, is "impeachable offense."

Fire away Keith - you are doing God's work...

Thanks to Crooks and Liars.

From the front page of today's Virginian Pilot Online

Sweet.

Reflection on 9/11

I had every intention of watching Bush’s nonpolitical 9/11 speech tonight. Really I did. But I just could not bring myself to do it; not today. I have been trying to figure out what to say, if anything, about the world we live in five years hence. I knew no one that died in that day’s events. I always feel that commenting on 9/11 in any sort of personal way for those of us fortunate enough to not be directly affected by it demeans the loses of those that did. I believe, rightly or wrongly, that the victims, survivors, and heroes of 9/11 own this day and the grief that it brought them. I was a simple bystander hundreds of miles away. In that spirit, I want to recount what I saw and felt and how I see things now.

I pulled up a news site that morning and saw that a plane had hit the WTC. I immediately went to my co-worker J.’s office who had a TV. And I just sat in a co-workers office, watching the first tower burning on the television. I remember thinking that there is no fucking way that this is happening. This had to be some kind of terrible accident. Then the second tower was hit. And then they fell. I sometimes feel like this nation has not stopped shaking since. I left J.’s office and tried to process what I had just seen. I sat outside smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee, trying to purge from my mind the images of people I had seen jumping from the flaming towers.

I remember that the President was nowhere to be found.

Bush delivered an address later that night that I still recall as bumbling and inept – deer in the headlights stuff. Our President did not take up the leadership mantle until days later when he grabbed a bullhorn and spoke from atop a pile of rubble; an image he has traded on since. Bush has since manipulated that tragedy to push his agenda, has fanned our fear and used it as a wedge. He has squandered the goodwill and empathy of other nations following 9/11 by employing a bullying, disastrous foreign policy, trashing the Constitution, and telling those that opposed his policies that we were aiding and abetting the terrorists.

So I made a decision to ignore his remarks tonight. As far as I am concerned, he lacks the authority to speak about this day. He abdicated that right when he sat in that classroom as we were under attack. He abdicated that right when he “cut and ran” to Nebraska aboard Air Force One while New York, the Pentagon, and a field in PA burned. And he abdicated that right when he pulled troops from Afghanistan and sent them to Iraq.

This is not a day for the President to attempt an image rehab. This day was and is for the victims, their families, and the people that tried to save them. God bless them all.

The state of the Allen campiagn

The Washington Post has a decent article up about Allen’s effort to rally support among minorities after ‘macaca’. The article stresses the changing demographics in the Commonwealth and Allen’s minority outreach at a recent ‘ethnic event’ (the Post’s words, not mine). First off, having something called an ethnic event speaks volumes. I guess those private fundraisers held at country clubs are ‘white events’. Anyway, our boy George is on an image repair crusade but the affable bumpkin on horseback shtick is starting to wear thin; even for Republicans. From the Post:

Last week, as he has for years, Allen put on a cowboy hat and saddled up a horse -- this time named Bubba -- to ride in Buena Vista's annual Labor Day parade. Allen, who was born and raised in California, rode down the parade route greeting the Shenandoah Valley crowd by saying, "Howdy! How y'all doing? Good to see y'all."

When the image was broadcast, one longtime Allen supporter said he cringed. "Seeing him with a horse called Bubba wearing cowboy boots, that doesn't resonate with us," said Terone Green, a Republican activist from Richmond who is black.

Green added: "He needs to revamp his whole operation. . . . I have never seen it this bad. I have friends who are just so anti-[Allen] now."

Green’s point is dead on. After using a racial slur, the cowboy thing now comes across as cracker in cowboy boots rather than likable country boy. The polls are starting to reflect that.

But the larger point is that Allen is fast running out of campaign themes. The cowboy persona will help reinforce redneck image. Webb’s ad is stealing a bit of the ‘heir to Reagan’ storyline that Allen’s people like to propagate. His record is securely tied to support of Bush and the war, neither of which will help in this electoral environment. Webb has closed a 16 point gap two months ago to a statistical tie now. Allen’s only option from here on out is go negative in a big way. This campaign is about to get nasty…

UPDATE: I forgot to add that Allen and Webb are going to debate on Meet The Press this Sunday. Should be interesting.

Reaction to the Gipper

A couple of days ago, I predicted that Jim Webb’s first ad, featuring Ronald Reagan, would cause a bit of discomfort among Republicans. Turns out, I was right. Kos has a roundup of the GOP’s and Allen campaign’s reactions. They are throwing a temper tantrum…

September 11

Today we remember a horrible moment in American history. I don't have anything more to add...

Joe is mad as hell

In the long tradition of publishing bad news on Friday, the Senate has finally released their report on the investigation of links (or lack thereof) between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaida. And guess what – there weren’t any. From the AP:

There's no evidence Saddam Hussein had a relationship with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his Al-Qaida associates, according to a Senate report on prewar intelligence on Iraq. Democrats said the report undercuts President Bush's justification for going to war.

No shit – really? You are kidding me. See, I thought that they said, oh well, never mind…

It discloses for the first time an October 2005 CIA assessment that prior to the war Saddam's government "did not have a relationship, harbor, or turn a blind eye toward Zarqawi and his associates," according to excerpts of the 400-page report provided by Democrats.

Bush and other administration officials have said that the presence of Zarqawi in Iraq before the war was evidence of a connection between Saddam's government and al-Qaida. Zarqawi was killed by a U.S. airstrike in June this year.

White House press secretary Tony Snow played down the report as "nothing new."

And that lying sack of shit Tony Snow can kiss my ass (shaking my fist in rage). Continuing:

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., a member of the committee, said the long-awaited report was "a devastating indictment of the Bush-Cheney administration's unrelenting, misleading and deceptive attempts" to link Saddam to al-Qaida.

You’re goddam right it is. This Administration is chock-a-block full of idiots and liars. They knowingly peddled the fiction that Saddam and Osama were in cahoots. The consequences of that falsehood are dead soldiers, dead Iraqis, people losing their limbs and their minds, and a nation in total fucking chaos. That fact should be driven home with every opportunity from now until the election. It is time to make these nefarious bastards pay. November 7 people – get your asses to the polls and vote. When the Democrats take Congress, the real fun begins…

Let's win one for the Gipper

If you live in the Commonwealth and have a working television, you have undoubtedly seen George Allen’s campaign ads. He has been all over the airwaves. As a Webb supporter, I have been waiting (and waiting) his response. Well, today I got an email from the campaign; they are getting ready to hit the airwaves and their ad is a thing of beauty. The campaign describes it thusly:

This ad introduces Virginians to Jim's exceptional record of service to our country, a record of service our opponent, George Allen, simply cannot match. What we've learned over and over again in this campaign is that when voters learn about Jim Webb, they're ready to support Jim. They realize Jim is the "soldier, scholar, leader" we need to get our country back on track. And Jim is a leader Virginians can be proud of.

And how. The ad is very crafty, extremely well done, and tactically brilliant. It plays like an endorsement from Ronald Reagan; something that should have Republican heads exploding from Bristol to the Bay. So please have a look at the next Senator from Virginia.

Not a good way to start the weekend

Terrorist bombers struck India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq today. So far, over 50 people are dead, though that number will rise. While these bombings are not related in any sort of tactical sense, today’s horror show sort of underscores just how restive that part of the world is. Iraq is fucking bedlam and Afghanistan is not far behind. Pakistan is one assassination away (the angels that watch over President General Pervez Musharraf are some very busy fellows) from a serious meltdown. Then there is India, which has been hit repeatedly in recent months. The Indians are super pissed (understandably) at Pakistan for harboring terrorists and are running out of patience. And oh yeah – both nations have nukes and hate each other with the fury of a thousand suns.

Stories like this make me think it will be a miracle if we don’t blow ourselves to hell by the middle of next week.

Science is cool

An Australian scientist today claimed that his team has isolated a strain of bacteria that can eat toxic waste and render it harmless to humans.

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Microbes with a taste for toxic waste may hold the solution to cleaning up contaminated industrial sites and poisoned waterways across the globe, saving billions of dollars in cleanup bills, an Australian scientist said.

Microbes found in old waste sites in Australia not only tolerate lethal soil and water cocktails created by waste petroleum and chlorine, but can break them down so they no longer threaten humans, the scientist said on Friday.

"We have isolated bacteria which can live on those waste compounds," Megha Mallavarapu, from a government-backed environmental research center based in South Australia state, told Reuters.

Stories like this make me think that there is hope for us yet.

Freedom is on the march?

Good Lord. The Saudis are mulling over a proposal to ban women from the vicinity of Mecca’s holy sites and, in particular, the area of the Grand Mosque during daily prayers. From the AP:

The issue has raised a storm of protest across the kingdom, with some women saying they fear the move is meant to restrict women's roles in Saudi society even further. But the religious authorities behind the proposal insist its real purpose is to lessen the chronic problem of overcrowding, which has led to deadly riots during pilgrimages at Mecca in the past.

Um, bullshit. Safety concerns issued by people that still advocate stoning as an appropriate punishment cannot be taken seriously. If safety was the real reason, why aren’t men being restricted as well? Overcrowding is a non-gender specific problem. I guess in Wahhabism, a sausage fest stampede is OK, but once the chicks get involved, a guy could get cooties. Whatever…

Only a very sick society would consider something like this. When are these people going to step into the 20th Century?

Coffee Wars

Dunkin’ Donuts challenges Starbucks

If there is any justice in this world, Dunkin’ Donuts will win. One cannot get a raspberry filled glazed at Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts has, by far, better and cheaper coffee. That is unless one prefers coffee that borders on a milkshake. Starbucks is clearly the winner in that category.

But I take my coffee black (insert joke here) and IMHO, 7-Eleven has the best widely available coffee in America.

More Path to 9/11

The Clinton administration officials that are blamed for 9/11 in ABC's new dramatization (they have abandoned docudrama and documentary) have fired back regarding the rampant inaccuracies in the film. From ABC News:

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, Clinton Foundation head Bruce Lindsey and Clinton adviser Douglas Band wrote in the past week to Robert Iger, CEO of ABC's parent The Walt Disney Co., to express concern over "The Path to 9/11."

[Snip]

The letter writers said the miniseries contained factual errors, and that their requests to see it had gone unanswered.

"By ABC's own standard, ABC has gotten it terribly wrong," Lindsey and Band said in their letter.

"The content of this drama is factually and incontrovertibly inaccurate and ABC has a duty to fully correct all errors or pull the drama entirely. It is unconscionable to mislead the American public about one of the most horrendous tragedies our country has ever known."

[Snip]

"ABC/Disney acknowledges this show is fiction and in direct contradiction of the 9-11 commission report and the facts, and it is despicable that ABC/Disney would insist on airing a fictional version of what is a serious and emotional event for our country," Clinton Foundation spokesman Jay Carson said in a statement Thursday. "No reputable organization should dramatize 9-11 for a profit at the expense of the truth."

Calls to ABC seeking comment Thursday were not returned. [Emphasis mine]

So let me get this straight. This is an ABC News story and yet ABC’s own news division cannot get a callback from the network regarding an increasingly controversial program dealing with an extraordinarily sensitive topic. WTF? This would be almost comical if it were not so disgusting and cynical. Also, I am not an expert on slander and libel issues, but it seems to me that knowingly broadcasting false information that defames a person would open the network up to a pretty wicked lawsuit. How hard would it be to prove malice when this thing was pre-screened by right-wingers only and set to air weeks before an election? Any legal experts out there?

War weary

I just love seeing an article titled “War turns southern women away from GOP”. In 2004, Bush received 54% of the Southern female vote. A recent AP/Ipsos poll shows a 3 out of 5 Southern women plan to vote for a Democrat in the mid-term elections. If that holds, expect the GOP to take as serious beating in Dixie. The tried and true Rovian strategy of flogging social issues to distract from real problems is wearing thin as evidenced by this:

Sandy Rubin, a high school teacher in Macon, voted for Bush and said she's also likely to vote for Marshall. Rubin said the GOP's focus on issues that appeal to social conservatives, such as gay marriage and abortion, have turned her off.

"I care about job security and education. The things I hear the Republicans emphasizing in their campaigns are not things that affect me or my family," said the 39-year-old mother of two.

The movement of some Southern women away from the Republican Party tracks with national poll results showing that women have become more disillusioned with the war and were more likely than men to list the conflict as the important issue facing the country.

Nationally, the AP-Ipsos poll found that only 28 percent of women approve of Bush's handling of the war. Bush did better in the South, but only slightly — just 32 percent of women in the region said they approve of his handling of the war.

"I never did understand why we went into Iraq and didn't instead clean up the mess in Afghanistan first," Knight said.

Teresa Cranford, 39, also of Macon, said her support for Bush was lukewarm in 2004, but she ultimately voted for him so he could finish the job in Iraq. As the death toll has risen, so has her discomfort.

"I'm a mother and that makes me think differently about it," Cranford said.
Lynn Hamilton, 44, said she still supports Bush even though her backing for the ongoing war has waned.

"As a mother you worry, 'Am I going to lose my baby boy?'" said the Gray, Ga., resident. "A mother's view about war is often going to be a lot different than dad's is."

Neither Cranford nor Hamilton has decided how they plan to vote in the midterm elections, although neither ruled out voting for a Democrat.

"I'm not a straight party-line Republican anymore," Cranford said

As Thomas Franks showed in “What’s the Matter with Kansas”, Republican candidates have succeeded, for almost a generation, in convincing middle-class voters to vote against their economic interests by pushing a conservative social agenda. If these sentiments are as wide spread as the recent polling indicates, the R’s are going to need a Plan B. When our kids are getting shot at and you haven't had a raise in five years, bitching about flag-burning and gay marriage seems trivial.

Mutant fish

The U.S. Geological Surveys has released a study finding abnormally high numbers of “intersex” fish in the Potomac River. From the AP article:

McLEAN, Va. - Some species of male fish in the Potomac River and its tributaries are developing female sexual traits at a frequency higher than scientists have seen before, raising concerns about pollutants in a waterway that provides drinking water for millions of people.

The so-called "intersex fish," which produce immature eggs in their testes, were discovered in the Potomac rivershed in 2003 and have also been found in other parts of the country.

But the frequency that the U.S. Geological Surveys found last year is much higher than what has been found elsewhere, said fish pathologist Vicki Blazer.

In some Potomac tributaries, nearly all of the male smallmouth bass caught in last year's survey were the abnormal fish. In the Potomac itself, seven of 13 largemouth bass exhibited female characteristics, including three that were producing eggs.

Although the frequency discovered was surprisingly high, Blazer cautioned that the sample size was relatively small, with about 10 male and 10 female fish taken from each of eight locations in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

I find this more than a little disturbing.

The real world versus the Onion world

Real world: Al-Qaida in Iraq No.2 dead
Onion World: Al-Qaida No. 114 Killed On Office Depot Run

For the record, how many Al-Qaida number twos and threes are out there and how many have we already captured/killed? Jesus, it seems like we are playing Wack-a-Mole with these guys...

The Path to Agitprop

The lefty blogs (go check out AmericaBlog – they are all over this) are going nuts over ABC’s new mini-series, The Path to 9/11. By most accounts, the film is a piece of serious propaganda that blames Bill Clinton for that most infamous terror attack while absolving, or just ignoring, President Bush’s actions. In fact, the movie contains a fictionalized scene in which CIA operatives have the opportunity to kill Bin Laden but the White House refuses to allow an attack. This is, of course, utter bullshit. Editor and Publisher has a quick summary of the story and there should be no doubt that this is a film with an agenda, namely covering Bush’s ass. And that agenda is driven by the director, David L. Cunningham, and the producer, Cyrus Nowrasteh; both are right-wing hacks. Even more disturbing, Tom Keane, Republican co-chair of the 9/11 Commission, has sanctioned the film as “reasonably accurate”, whatever the hell that means. BTW – I think Mr. Keane’s credibility just took a hit. Furthermore, advance copies have been sent to any number of conservative media outlets while requests from several liberal sources (and reportedly, Pres. Clinton himself) have been denied. The folks responsible for the travesty really don’t want to answer any questions about their docudrama until after release.

What are they so scared of? Well, Roger Cressey, a counterterrorism guy for Clinton and Bush II, just lays into the movie as being wrong all over the place(thanks to ThinkProgress).

Cressy said “it’s amazing…how much they’ve gotten wrong. They got the small stuff wrong” and “then they got the big stuff wrong.” He added that a scene where the Clinton administration passes on a surefire opportunity to take out bin Laden is “something straight out of Disney and fantasyland. It’s factually wrong. And that’s shameful.”

Just what the hell is going on here? Why is Disney going to air something that exploits our national tragedy in such blatantly false and slanted manner? And finally, does anyone still believe that there exists a liberal media? Imagine the uproar from the wingnuts if ABC played Fahrenheit 9/11 during primetime.

Benito Mussolini once said fascism should really be called corporatism because the guiding principle for the political philosophy was the merger of corporate and government power. We appear to be creeping towards that outcome, no? If corporate giant Disney is willing to be a mouthpiece for the Administration in such a shameful, undignified way, is it safe to say the ABC has been co-opted by conservatives? Is ABC the new Fox?

The funnies (and the not so funnies)

Doonesbury. Non Sequitur. Luckovich. Toles.

They are funny and/or scary because they are true.

A shallow bench

Republican legislators and party activists are not at all pleased with the recruiting efforts of Liddy Dole, the campaign committee chair. Many of the top-tier recruits opted out in what is shaping up to be a tough election for conservatives. As such, weak candidates like Katherine Harris, running for Bill Nelson’s Florida Senate seat, are going to win primaries, only to be destroyed in the general. To get a sense of just how bad things are in the Harris campaign, just read the opening few paragraphs from a new AP story.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Disaster may not be too strong a word for Rep. Katherine Harris’ Senate campaign.

Her makeup and formfitting clothes are mocked on national TV. Her flirty interview style embarrasses her campaign handlers. Staffers keep quitting in despair.
She's been linked to a shady defense contractor, caught in fibs and scolded for telling voters that non-Christian politicians "legislate sin."

Yet, on the strength of her name recognition, Harris is expected to win Florida's GOP Senate nomination on Tuesday, to the chagrin of many Republicans.

Because she helped Bush steal Florida in 2000 (and yes – Al Gore should be our President), it will be especially gratifying to watch Nelson hand Harris her ass.

A simple plan

The CW has laid out a simple but brilliant platform on which the Democrats should run and win.


Bush: Incompetent, unaccountable and out of touch
Rummy: Incompetent, unaccountable and an asshole
Economy: The middle class squeeze continues

Back to the Stone Age

Iran’s wackjob of a President is purging liberals and secularists from teaching posts in schools and universities. Why does this matter?

Ahmadinejad's aim appears to be installing a new generation of rulers who will revive the fundamentalist goals pursued in the 1980s under the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, father of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran. Shortly after the revolution, Iran fired hundreds of liberal and leftist university teachers and expelled numerous students.

Terrific. He is charging headlong down the crazy path and trying to stir up the hardliners.

Happy Labor Day

In the spirit of a holiday to celebrate the American worker, the always brilliant BBC offers up a sobering look at the state of the US labor force. Basically, Bushenomics has undercut the real wages of the average worker in a time of record corporate profits. As productivity soared, fewer workers reaped the benefits (italics from the article).

Productivity - the measure of the output of the economy per worker employed - grew even more strongly, by 16.6%.

But over the same period, the median family's income slid by 2.9%, in contrast to the 11.3% gain registered in the second half of the 1990s.

Average hourly real wages for both college and high school graduates actually fell between 2000 and 2005, and fewer of the jobs they found carried benefits such as health care or company pensions.

Companies and shareholders are keeping an ever greater share of the resulting economic output.

One way to comprehend what is happening is to look at the split between how much of the economy is won by profits and how much by wages.

The share allotted to corporate profits increased sharply, from 17.7% in 2000 to 20.9% in 2005, while the share going to wages has reached a record low.

Indeed, the rich are getting richer.

The incomes of the top 20% have grown much faster than earnings of those at the middle or bottom of the income distribution. The income of the top 1% and top 0.1% have grown particularly rapidly.

As Warren Buffet, the second richest man in the world put it, “The class war is over. My side won”.

Loving light rail

My lovely hometown has finally received federal approval for a starter light rail line. This is excellent news for anyone that works in downtown Norfolk and the immediate vicinity. Eventually, this line will run from the Naval Base all the way to the Virginia Beach oceanfront. Now, we just need to find the money…

Decency

I got this email from the Webb campaign yesterday and I thought I would share it with you. I think it illustrates quite clearly what a decent guy Jim Webb is.

Dear Joe,

I wanted to send a note to you today, as a supporter of Jim's campaign and someone who cares about the direction of this country. As many of you know, Jim's son Jimmy, an infantry Lance Corporal in the Marine Corps, has been scheduled to be deployed to Iraq for a number of months. In the last few days, Jimmy learned he would be deploying next week. While Labor Day is the traditional kickoff to the Election and Jim already made many commitments to do events throughout the state, including events with Governor Tim Kaine and Governor Mark Warner, we hope you understand at this time that Jim wants to have time with his son. He will be taking Jimmy back to Camp Lejeune on Monday and will spend time with him and his unit before their deployment.
Jim wishes to emphasize that he is not unlike the thousands of parents and families who are sending their children and loved ones to war but that it is important to him that he has some private moments with his son before he deploys. Regardless of the political aspects of this war and your feelings towards it, it's important we keep our thoughts and prayers with the soldiers we are sending into harm's way.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

Jessica Vanden Berg

Campaign Manager

Webb for Senate

How did this happen?

George Allen has declined a leadership award from the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, producing even more fallout from his recent ‘Macaca’ problem. WTF? How in the hell did a guy with a very checkered past on racial issues (and I am being much more generous than Allen deserves) get an award from a group named for the lawyer that won Brown vs. Board of Education and became our nation’s first African-American Supreme Court Justice? Seriously, how did this happen and who were the people that made this decision? Well, the Board of Directors reads like a who’s who of American business. Coca-Cola, Siemans, Booz Allen Hamilton, Phillip Morris, Wahl-Mart, and Maconalds are all represented on the Board as well as David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA(?!?!?!). Lots of these companies are serious Republican donors. So let me give you my version of events. I am totally speculating what went down here but this is my guess:

A bunch of Allen’s corporate buddies were trying to do him a solid in an election year and give him some polish on his racial record. The fund’s donors freaked out at the thought of their money being used to recognize a bigoted clown like Allen and threatened to cut the fund off. Allen got wind of the fracas and made the political calculation to get the issue off the table before it became bigger news. IMHO, he made the right call. The last thing the Allen campaign needs is more controversy on race issues, no matter how tangential. So George rejects the award and prays that the whole thing just blows over.

Marshall must be rolling over in his grave.