Doing God's work

Anyone who has ever doubted the value of teaching needs to read this. These kids learned a couple of value life lessons that will serve them well.

1 - You can catch more flies with honey rather than vinegar.
2 - Never underestimate the power of an organized response to address an injustice.

Good on them, their teacher, and the school. Somewhere in Heaven, Molly Ivins is smiling in approval.

Science is cool

By turning offal into biodiesel, a Honduran fish farm creates 300,000 gallons a year of carbon neutral fuel. They may not save the world, but by God, they are doing their part.

The moneyman

One of the codefendants in the Vick dogfighting case has copped a plea. He is saying that Michael Vick funded the despicable operation. So, does anybody else want to defend this asshole?

Corruption

You know you are in Trouble with a capital T when the IRS and the FBI rummage around your house. Even if you happen to be Senator Ted Stevens.

Today's required reading

Paul Krugman, cribbed in its entirety from today's New York Times.

An Immoral Philosophy

When a child is enrolled in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (Schip), the positive results can be dramatic. For example, after asthmatic children are enrolled in Schip, the frequency of their attacks declines on average by 60 percent, and their likelihood of being hospitalized for the condition declines more than 70 percent.

Regular care, in other words, makes a big difference. That’s why Congressional Democrats, with support from many Republicans, are trying to expand Schip, which already provides essential medical care to millions of children, to cover millions of additional children who would otherwise lack health insurance.

But President Bush says that access to care is no problem — “After all, you just go to an emergency room” — and, with the support of the Republican Congressional leadership, he’s declared that he’ll veto any Schip expansion on “philosophical” grounds.

It must be about philosophy, because it surely isn’t about cost. One of the plans Mr. Bush opposes, the one approved by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the Senate Finance Committee, would cost less over the next five years than we’ll spend in Iraq in the next four months. And it would be fully paid for by an increase in tobacco taxes.

The House plan, which would cover more children, is more expensive, but it offsets Schip costs by reducing subsidies to Medicare Advantage — a privatization scheme that pays insurance companies to provide coverage, and costs taxpayers 12 percent more per beneficiary than traditional Medicare.

Strange to say, however, the administration, although determined to prevent any expansion of children’s health care, is also dead set against any cut in Medicare Advantage payments.
So what kind of philosophy says that it’s O.K. to subsidize insurance companies, but not to provide health care to children?

Well, here’s what Mr. Bush said after explaining that emergency rooms provide all the health care you need: “They’re going to increase the number of folks eligible through Schip; some want to lower the age for Medicare. And then all of a sudden, you begin to see a — I wouldn’t call it a plot, just a strategy — to get more people to be a part of a federalization of health care.”

Now, why should Mr. Bush fear that insuring uninsured children would lead to a further “federalization” of health care, even though nothing like that is actually in either the Senate plan or the House plan? It’s not because he thinks the plans wouldn’t work. It’s because he’s afraid that they would. That is, he fears that voters, having seen how the government can help children, would ask why it can’t do the same for adults.

And there you have the core of Mr. Bush’s philosophy. He wants the public to believe that government is always the problem, never the solution. But it’s hard to convince people that government is always bad when they see it doing good things. So his philosophy says that the government must be prevented from solving problems, even if it can. In fact, the more good a proposed government program would do, the more fiercely it must be opposed.

This sounds like a caricature, but it isn’t. The truth is that this good-is-bad philosophy has always been at the core of Republican opposition to health care reform. Thus back in 1994, William Kristol warned against passage of the Clinton health care plan “in any form,” because “its success would signal the rebirth of centralized welfare-state policy at the very moment that such policy is being perceived as a failure in other areas.”

But it has taken the fight over children’s health insurance to bring the perversity of this philosophy fully into view.

There are arguments you can make against programs, like Social Security, that provide a safety net for adults. I can respect those arguments, even though I disagree. But denying basic health care to children whose parents lack the means to pay for it, simply because you’re afraid that success in insuring children might put big government in a good light, is just morally wrong.
And the public understands that. According to a recent Georgetown University poll, 9 in 10 Americans — including 83 percent of self-identified Republicans — support an expansion of the children’s health insurance program.

There is, it seems, more basic decency in the hearts of Americans than is dreamt of in Mr. Bush’s philosophy.

That these bastards will defend this philosophy at the expense on a few more dead kids should surprise no one. Just another outrage to throw on the pile… Worst. President. Ever.

Fiddling while Baghdad burns

Can we please, please get the hell out of Iraq? We are fighting a stalemate at best, the locals suck, and the folks that are nominally on our side don’t appear to give a shit.

BAGHDAD — Missing from Thursday's session of the Iraqi parliament were about half of the members, including the speaker, the former speaker and two former prime ministers.

Also missing: a sense of urgency.

American officials have been pressing Iraqi leaders to prove their commitment to ending sectarian strife by enacting landmark legislation before mid-September, when the Bush administration is to present its next report on Iraq to Congress.

But even as parliament's monthlong August break approaches, key issues aren't being discussed. Quorums are marginal, or fleeting.

Despite the high stakes here, the Iraqi parliament appears to be deliberating at a pace to rival plodding legislative bodies around the world.

Thursday's session, the 50th of the year, convened half an hour late.

The Iraqi government has never been a model of speed or efficiency but this is just pathetic. I almost want to say screw the insurgency; let's start shooting members of Parliament.

Want to see a bubble burst?

Here you go.

It never hurts to talk

Much has been made of Obama’s position in the most recent debate that the United States should talk to nations with which we do not have good relations. It prompted Hillary to accuse him of being naïve. She subscribes to the school of thought arguing that talking with rogue nations is rewarding bad behavior. That attitude makes no sense to me.

Look, we made it through the Cold War, in large part, by having frequent, high profile summits with the leaders of the Soviet Union. I fail to see why we should discard this successful strategy now. So what if the US President has a sit down with the leaders of Iran or Cuba. Meeting with the US President should not be akin to having an audience with the Pope.

Obama scores big points from me for his willingness to meet with people we may not like. As the saying goes, as long as you are talking, you are not shooting. We will need that sort of leadership if we are to fix the problems wrought by Bush’s mismanagement.

Wow

How did this get past an editor?

Taking the bad with the good

The Bad and boy, it is really, really bad:

Corey Feldman and Corey Haim are reuniting for a reality TV show called The Two Coreys. Um, A&E, what the fuck are you guys thinking? Couldn’t you just have rented Gooonies or maybe read a twenty year old copy of TigerBeat instead? I know I had my fill of these two clowns at least a decade ago and I doubt I am alone. Feldman is a pretentious crybaby. As for Haim, well, the guy disappeared for a reason, no? I predict a total train wreck and yeah, I know I am not exactly going out on a limb there.

And now for the good:

Billy Crudrup is making The Watchmen into a movie. For the uninitiated, The Watchmen is a super cool, Hugo Award winning graphic novel. It is also one of my absolute favorite pieces of fiction. If done right, this movie is gonna rock, ferociously.

Jeez, what’s going on up there?

The entire Alaskan Congressional delegation (Republicans all) is under investigation for an ethical breach of one form or another. That has to be a record of some kind.

Oh so fitting

The Post has a new poll out confirming that, statistically speaking, Bush is almost, but not quite, the least popular President ever.

President Bush is a competitive guy. But this is one contest he would rather lose. With 18 months left in office, he is in the running for most unpopular president in the history of modern polling.

The latest Washington Post-ABC News survey shows that 65 percent of Americans disapprove of Bush's job performance, matching his all-time low.

In polls conducted by The Post or Gallup going back to 1938, only twice has a president exceeded that level of public animosity -- Harry S. Truman, who hit 67 percent during the Korean War, and Richard M. Nixon, who hit 66 percent four days before resigning.

Sweet.

I felt pure, exquisite joy when I read that passage. Now, I am not one to really gloat all that much but I will kick a man when he is down if I feel he deserves it. This is one of those times. I am a loud and proud liberal and I make no bones about it. My ilk has spent the past six years accused by the Right of being unpatriotic, irrational Bush-haters because we refused to believe that W was some sort of brilliant, visionary statesman. In fact, we think he is an incompetent, embarrassing buffoon and kind of a dick to boot. And guess what, we were right.

So, to Rush, O’Reilly, Coulter, et al, I say “ha ha” and (to quote Dick Cheney) go fuck yourselves. The American people have spoken and your team lost. This is cold comfort given what was lost in blood, treasure, and prestige to achieve this state of affairs. But perhaps, at long last, this country has realized that if a Party does not believe government that can work, that Party cannot be trusted to govern.

Oh, and one more thing, Worst. President. Ever.

Things I love about Lo

On the weekend, she almost always has coffee ready when I get downstairs.
I have never once heard her complain about me watching sports on TV.
She tolerates me when I am being a moody bastard.
She is the best mother ever.
Her freckled, red-haired hotness.
I got to marry my best friend.
The way she laughs with her eyes.
She is kind, caring, genuine, and loving.

Happy anniversary darling – love you billions.

Thanks

Sara posted some kind words of encouragement over at her place regarding my effort to quit smoking (much appreciated - thanks). So to return the favor, I give you Revenge by the Dead Boys live at CBGB circa 1977. I know Sara will appreciate it.

Remember people, it was about the perjury and not the blowjob

I recall a time, back in the Clinton days, when Republicans of every stripe where in high dungeon decrying the President. You see, they argued that since he had lied about his sex life, he could no longer be an effective public servant and thus began impeachment proceedings.

Well hello there…

WASHINGTON - Documents indicate eight congressional leaders were briefed about the Bush administration’s terrorist surveillance program on the eve of its expiration in 2004, contradicting sworn Senate testimony this week by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The documents underscore questions about Gonzales’ credibility as senators consider whether a perjury investigation should be opened into conflicting accounts about the program and a dramatic March 2004 confrontation leading up to its potentially illegal reauthorization.

A Gonzales spokesman maintained Wednesday that the attorney general stands by his testimony.

Turnabout is fair play and without sounding too smug about it, I think it is about time that the Left collected a scalp.

Credibility matters

Attorney General Gonzales once again got the shit kicked out of himself at the hands of the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. Seriously, think piñata but less mentally agile and stuffed with deceit instead of candy. It was a truly shameful performance by the AG. He was all over the place, lying like a con man. Chuck Shumer got so upset that I thought he might actually take a swing at Gonzales.

So just how damaged is the Attorney General? Here is what a few Senators had to say:

John D. Rockefeller (D-WVa) - "He once again is making something up to protect himself."

Arlen Spectre (R-Pa) - "I do not find your testimony credible, candidly.”

Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) - "I don't trust you (Gonzales)."

Gonzales is about a popular as Gonorrhea but at least you can get rid of that with visit to the doctor. Thanks the W, this loser is going to be around forever.

Once again, Worst. President. Ever.

One day at a time

I am on my third day without a cigarette and so far, no corpses. That may seem like a minor accomplishment to most but work has been dreadful this week and I could kill a blood relative for a smoke right now.

A law that needs changing

From the AP:

LOS ANGELES - A judge has ordered a man to continue paying alimony to his ex-wife — even though she's in a registered domestic partnership with another woman and even uses the other woman's last name.

California marriage laws say alimony ends when a former spouse remarries, and Ron Garber thought that meant he was off the hook when he learned his ex-wife had registered her new relationship under the state's domestic partnership law.

An Orange County judge didn't see it that way.

The judge ruled that a registered partnership is cohabitation, not marriage, and that Garber must keep writing the checks, $1,250 a month, to his ex-wife, Melinda Kirkwood. Garber plans to appeal.

Does anyone else think this is fair?

That didn’t take long

Via HuffPo, I see that rolling trainwreck Lindsay Lohan was arrested (again) for DUI and Cocaine possession. So I guess it is back to rehab, if not jail.

Book review

At the risk of sounding even nerdier than I am, I just finished the new Harry Potter book and of the series, it is by far the best. Rowling penned a superb finale, truly extraordinary and utterly fitting. I must add that I am sorry the tale has concluded.

A tough call

The lovely and talented Sara asked my opinion about the following: Should the Va. Tech shooting victims’ families receive some sort of payment from the state for their loss?

I am of two minds on this. I feel for the families who lost so much that day. It seems to me that someone should try to make them whole. With the shooter dead, I have no idea who that party is. So perhaps some of the Hokie Spirit Fund should be allocated to the families.

That said, the Commonwealth has zero culpability in the matter - none. In a free society, no amount of security can prevent a crazy bastard from killing a bunch of people. I cannot see how anyone could win a lawsuit claiming that Virginia was somehow negligent in protecting students at the university. Threatening litigation looks like a ploy to force the state to pay the families off – the whole thing is so tasteless.

Compounding that, the lawyer representing some of the families sounds like a complete and total shyster prick.

Thomas J. Fadoul Jr., a Vienna lawyer who says he represents the relatives of 22 slain students, said the fund should be modeled after the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, which Congress created in 2001 to distribute more than $7 billion to victims of the terrorist attacks and their relatives.

Fadoul said he is not sure how large the Virginia Tech fund would need to be. But he said the relatives of the 32 slain students and faculty members are entitled to "at least what the 9/11 people got [emphasis mine]."

At least what the 9/11 people got? 9/11 people… Are you fucking kidding me? This son of a bitch has zero class and even less tact. Seriously, conflating one national tragedy with another for monetary gain is ghoulish and really just awful. There ought to be a special place in Hell for people like this.

Back from vacation

Looks like a missed quite a bit while out but Michael Vick is still an asshole.

RICHMOND, Va. - When a Bad Newz Kennels dog was wounded in a losing fight, NFL star Michael Vick was consulted before the animal was doused with water and electrocuted. That's just one of the gruesome details that emerged Tuesday when the Atlanta Falcons quarterback and three others were indicted by a federal grand jury.

Disgusting.

What else you got?

A hefty 23 percent can't or won't say which candidate they would back, a jump from the 14 percent who took a pass in June.

Giuliani's popularity continued to decline steadily as he faced a spate of headline headaches, came under increased scrutiny and saw the potential entry of Thompson in the mix; his support is at 21 percent compared with 27 percent in June and 35 percent in March.

The former New York mayor is running virtually even with Thompson, who has become a threat without even officially entering the race. The actor and former Tennessee senator has essentially stayed steady at 19 percent. McCain, the Arizona senator who is revamping his nearly broke campaign, clocked in a bit lower at 15 percent, while Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, remained at 11 percent.

Here we are, 6 months away from the primaries, and not one of the top tier Republican candidates has enough support to beat “none of the above”. Ouch.

Busting out the cots

Harry Reid has called the Republican’s filibuster bluff. There will be an extended debate on troop withdrawal measures in an attempt for force cloture on the bills and get an up or down vote on the floor. That’s right people, they are going to go all night. As a political junky, I have to admit that I love this shit. Reid is doing just the right thing here; highlighting the Minority’s intransigence and fealty to President Bush’s Iraq policy.

This is a brilliant strategy on two fronts. First, our Iraq policy is not popular and this debate firmly binds the obstructionists to it. Second, if cloture fails and nothing is brought to the floor, Reid can go to the public (the pissed off anti-war Left especially) and say we tried to end this thing but we just don’t have the votes. The folks on the other side of the aisle will not help us carry out the policy you, the American people, want. Instant absolution…

James Carville once said (paraphrasing here), “When your opponent is drowning, you don’t throw him a line. You throw him an anvil.” To which I say, man overboard Senator.

China tries the Neo-con PR strategy: blame the media

One of the truly infuriating things about this war is watching that son of a bitch Bill Kristol
or some such neo-con imperialist bleating about the media only telling the bad stories in Iraq. They seem to be saying, “So what is 100 people died yesterday in a suicide bombing, we painted a school!” I single out Kristol because he employed the tactic gratuitously but there are many, many others that pulled the same crap. Anyway, that sort of argument is such idiocy that I find myself wanting to throw things at the TV. Furthermore, it insults the intelligence of the viewer (Who are you going to believe – me or your lying eyes?).

Well, the Chinese government borrowed from that playbook in another effort to kill the messenger. With all of the recent bad publicity regarding the safety of its products, China fears that faith in its brands will be undermined and she is lashing out.

"Some foreign media, especially those based in the U.S., have wantonly reported on so-called unsafe Chinese products. They are turning white to black," he said, according to the China Daily on Monday.

"One company's problem doesn't make it a country's problem."

[Snip]

An editorial in the overseas edition of the People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's official paper, said it was inevitable that the country's rising exports would face tighter scrutiny from choosy foreign customers.

But it also blamed foreign forces seeking to undermine Chinese industry.

"In recent years those people churning out the theory of a China threat have grabbed hold of this issue and not let go, treating isolated cases as the whole and maliciously attacking 'Made in China'," the paper said.

The real issue is that China has taken so many shortcuts to become the economic powerhouse that it its today. Food safety is but one of her problems. The nation has a huge hole to dig out of in terms of reaching parity with other food producers and it will cost a fortune to get there. I saw one estimate (I think it was on a CNN food safety special this weekend) putting the figure at $100 billion. Maybe this bad exposure will be the incentive China needs to start spending the money to clean up its act. In the meantime, caveat emptor.

Gilmore is gone

Seeing that the only thing that could save his campaign was if God Himself struck down the rest of the field, Jim Gilmore has dropped out of the race. Given his rampant incompetence as Governor of Virginia and that almost no one outside of the Commonwealth knew much of him, few will miss Gilmore.

North Korea shuts down its reactor

Obviously, this is very good news. Lil’ Kim is an unpredictable superwhacko so anytime he gets testy I tend to get a bit anxious. Ratcheting down tensions in the neighborhood is also a constructive thing. Denuclearizing the North will take some time and come in mostly baby steps, if at all. This first one, however, is huge.

Good news aside, I am going to channel my inner obnoxious bastard for a moment. He would like to point out that, as in this situation, one can get more accomplished through good faith diplomacy rather than being a pugnacious, uncompromising dick. The solution to most issues is sitting down with ones opponent and hashing out a deal. Ego, unfortunately, too often stands in the way. So to our President, my inner obnoxious bastard would like to say:

The whole bullshit pistols at dawn thing went out of fashion with Victorian values and cowboy justice. Pride is easier to swallow than lead. Wise up and learn from the one positive thing your Administration has accomplished lately. We have a lot of fences to mend and apologies to make.

Freedom of religion/Freedom from religion

For the first time in our nation’s history, a Hindu issued today’s Senate Morning Prayer. While I think the prayer tradition is contradictory to Church/State separation, it is the kind of ritual that I can live with. Congresspersons are adults and they are free to choose to participate so whatever. And I must say, I think that having other religions represented in such a fashion symbolically reinforces the Constitutional principle of religious freedom. Proudly highlighting our national tolerance and acceptance can only be good and healthy.

What I found truly appalling about today’s events, however, was a bunch of Christian zealot yahoos that disrupted the prayer with slogans about heresy and the like. Even more ridiculous, the organization behind this protest took issue with Hinduism’s polytheism, as though it is some whacko cult. WTF? There is like a billion Hindus on this planet. By that standard alone, Hinduism is at least as legitimate a religion as the Southern Baptist Convention. These idiots ought to be mortified by their behavior. Protest all you want but be civil and respectful during the prayer and don’t try to shout the guy down.

(Sidebar - This reminds me of the genius rejoinder Gandhi (who was educated in England) once delivered to a moron journalist. The reporter, assuming the Indian leader had never left the Subcontinent, asked him what he thought of Western Civilization. Gandhi said he thought it would be a good idea.)

Anyway, imagine for just a moment if the roles were reversed. What if a group of Hindu activists pulled this same garbage while a Christian delivered the prayer – fire and motherfucking brimstone for sure. The religious nuts would be organizing hunting parties with Indians as the quarry. Pat Robertson would demand that we nuke New Delhi and Bill O’Reilly would call for the boycott all things Tandoori (BTW – my personal fave).

The Constitution says that we are free to practice the religion of our choosing (or none at all for that matter) without fear of reprisal or oppression. Fat Mike from NOFX summarized America’s primary religious attitude brilliantly: I don’t fuck with you, don’t fuck with me. The wingnuts want us to forget that. They want to exchange our republic for their theocracy. Those jerks in the Senate probably share that goal. It is incumbent on the rest of us to thwart those ambitions.

Here ends today’s sermon.

Positive results are rarely accidental

The AP is reporting that teen condom use is way up and the corresponding birth rate in that age group is falling sharply. This is not a coincidence. Teens are not stupid and most will make a responsible decision if they have the tools and knowledge to do so. Teach them how to protect themselves and they will. Make condoms available to them and they will use them. The proof:

Education campaigns that started years ago are having a significant effect, said James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, a Washington-based nonprofit group that focuses on prevention of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

"I think the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the efforts in the '80s and '90s had a lot to do with that," Wagoner said of the improved numbers on teen sex, condoms and adolescent births.

"We need to encourage young teens to delay sexual initiation and we need to make sure they get all the information they need about condoms and birth control," he said.

For this reason, I damn near go ballistic when I hear the sex police whining that "abstinence only" sex education is the morally correct method to combat teen pregnancy. That approach is dumb, irresponsible, and, in my view, immoral. Look, teens are going to have sex. Their hormones are commanding them to do so. Practicing abstinence swims against the current of nature and will result in a high degree of failure. Teaching only abstinence needlessly endangers that entire population when they become sexually active. Knowing that, does it not make sense to give teens the information they need to protect themselves?

The answer is yes Joe, of course it does, and this study confirms the effectiveness of a comprehensive strategy.

From the “We can’t do anything right” files

The AP has a piece up entitled “Al-Qaida has rebuilt, U.S. intel warns” that leads off thusly:

WASHINGTON - A new threat assessment from U.S. counterterrorism analysts says that al-Qaida has used its safe haven along the Afghan-Pakistan border to restore its operating capabilities to a level unseen since the months before Sept. 11, 2001.

Um, what the fuck?

Al-Qaida is "considerably operationally stronger than a year ago" and has "regrouped to an extent not seen since 2001," the counterterrorism official said, paraphrasing the report's conclusions. "They are showing greater and greater ability to plan attacks in Europe and the United States."

So I guess the whole Global War on Terror thing is not going so well. Could someone please let the President know because this might be a problem?

UPDATE: Not to pile on here but the Post is reporting that last November, Michael Hayden, Director of the CIA, met with the Iraq Study Group and revealed that he thought Iraq was pretty much hopeless. Naturally, the President was Mr. Happy Talk.

Early on the morning of Nov. 13, 2006, members of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group gathered around a dark wooden conference table in the windowless Roosevelt Room of the White House.

For more than an hour, they listened to President Bush give what one panel member called a "Churchillian" vision of "victory" in Iraq and defend the country's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. "A constitutional order is emerging," he said

Later that morning, around the same conference table, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden painted a starkly different picture for members of the study group. Hayden said "the inability of the government to govern seems irreversible," adding that he could not "point to any milestone or checkpoint where we can turn this thing around," according to written records of his briefing and the recollections of six participants.

"The government is unable to govern," Hayden concluded. "We have spent a lot of energy and treasure creating a government that is balanced, and it cannot function."

This shit just makes my head hurt. And please stop invoking Churchill when referring to Bush as it gravely insults the former and unwisely encourages the latter.

Felony indeed

Josh Marshall, over at the Talking Points Memo, points out that by compelling Harriet Myers to disregard a subpoena, President Bush may have committed a felony. High government officials who commit felonies are, of course, subject to impeachment.

Anarchy

Three guards for a Baghdad bank stole $282 million in US currency from same yesterday. You have got to be kidding me…

(hat tip to the HuffPo)

Obvious

A new study finds that women are the dominant partner in marriages.

A study, which was just released, finds that wives have more power than their husbands in making decisions and dominating discussions.

[Snip]

Wives were more demanding—asking for changes in the relationship or in their partner—and were more likely to get their way than the husbands. This held regardless of who had chosen the issue.

Well, no shit. My house, just like many, many others, operates upon the following principle: If momma ain’t happy, then no one is happy. To put it another way, I have learned, just like countless other husbands, to pick my battles. That may seem simplistic but it has worked for me so far.

More of the same

We know that in the Bush Administration, politics ranks above policy, competence, or anything else really. FEMA, Justice, DHS – you pick an agency and these bastards have corrupted it for the greater good of the Republican Party. The mark left on these places is Karl Rove’s slug trail. Now we have news that they leaned on the Surgeon General as well:

WASHINGTON, July 10 — Former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona told a Congressional panel Tuesday that top Bush administration officials repeatedly tried to weaken or suppress important public health reports because of political considerations.

The administration, Dr. Carmona said, would not allow him to speak or issue reports about stem cells, emergency contraception, sex education, or prison, mental and global health issues. Top officials delayed for years and tried to “water down” a landmark report on secondhand smoke, he said. Released last year, the report concluded that even brief exposure to cigarette smoke could cause immediate harm.

Dr. Carmona said he was ordered to mention President Bush three times on every page of his speeches. He also said he was asked to make speeches to support Republican political candidates and to attend political briefings.

I find it just plain weird that they specified the number of Presidential name drops per page. Talk about micromanagement. And it bears mentioning once again that this is the Worst. President. Ever.

44 years in the wilderness

The Commonwealth has not supported a Democrat for President since Johnson blew out Goldwater in 1964. The Post is reporting that that might change in 2008 and cites a new poll in which 46% of Virginia indies name Bush as the worst President since 1960. Furthermore, only 17% of those independents plan to vote Republican in the coming election. Wow.

This is the home of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. The Old Dominion has been as reliably Red as just about any other state in the Union. If this polling holds, we will witness the most dramatic political reversal since Johnson sacrificed the Democratic South, much to his credit BTW, in support of the Civil Rights movement.

On its face, this is but one state but if the Commonwealth is sincerely in play, the Republicans are well and truly fucked in 2008. Happy day!

Cue the fat lady

John McCain’s moribund candidacy is broke, foundering, and hemorrhaging staffers. Today, the campaign manager and chief strategist resigned. McCain can’t raise money and has alienated too many voting blocs for this campaign to be viable. He infuriated the nativist conservatives with his support of the immigration bill. The religious Right never trusted him so getting their full support was a long shot anyway. And the thing that made a McCain bid so daunting, his ability to garner support from Independents and conservative Democrats, has been destroyed by his blind support for the war in Iraq. At this point, there is no way he can bring those voters into the fold. The Straight Talk thing is just not working anymore.

This campaign is done, over, fini. Someone just needs to tell the candidate.

UPDATE: It looks like the staffers were fired and his chief of staff left as well.

Complete failure

According to the AP, the interim progress report on Iraq will state that the government missed all of its reform targets.

WASHINGTON — A progress report on Iraq will conclude that the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad has not met any of its targets for political, economic and other reforms, speeding up the Bush administration's reckoning on what to do next, a U.S. official said Monday.

On the bright side (and I had to look hard for one), no one can argue that Iraq is anything but a total fucking disaster. The denial thing is over and done. Maybe now we can stop arguing about the facts and start to figure out where to go from here…

Liars

The Post is reporting that Roberto Gonzales lied to Congress. Now, I know what you are thinking: “No fucking way, Joe. We are talking about the Attorney General here. He is a straight talking fellow who has never told a lie.” Alas dear readers, that is not the case.

As he sought to renew the USA Patriot Act two years ago, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales assured lawmakers that the FBI had not abused its potent new terrorism-fighting powers. "There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse," Gonzales told senators on April 27, 2005.

Six days earlier, the FBI sent Gonzales a copy of a report that said its agents had obtained personal information that they were not entitled to have. It was one of at least half a dozen reports of legal or procedural violations that Gonzales received in the three months before he made his statement to the Senate intelligence committee, according to internal FBI documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Is there anyone in this Administration capable of telling the truth? Deceit is damn near pathological with this crowd.

Bummer

Eugene Robinson’s Post op-ed is a bit depressing today.

Don't think it's over, folks. Even though Republican senators are coming to their senses about George of Arabia's tragic war in Iraq, and even though Democrats seem to have remembered why voters put them in charge of Congress, no one should be lulled into thinking there's any guarantee that sanity will prevail.

This is the Decider we're talking about, after all.

Sad but true.

The wages of sin and all that

It looks like Louisiana Republican Senator and all around douchebag David Vitter is the first big time politician named in the DC madam scandal. But do not fret friends because Vitter claims that his wife has forgiven him his indiscretion. Uh huh, sure she has. I will bet she was doing cartwheels when she saw the headlines this morning…

$12 billion

That is what the war costs the United States per month in real dollars. It is a striking sum on money. While it pales in comparison to the cost in life and limb that the men and women in uniform pay everyday, it is a figure we must contemplate. How much healthcare can $144 billion a year purchase? How much of our nation’s crumbling infrastructure could have been upgraded or replaced? How much research into low emission energy generation does that buy? Katrina? Education? I could go on for a while here.

Unfortunately, the Commander Guy has blown $600 billion on death, destruction, and a failed state. If Bush bitches one iota about the Democrats’ spending priorities, somebody had better bring him the pain. Hard.

Sick

The recent scandals concerning tainted Chinese foodstuffs were pretty scary but Newsweek is reporting that the problems are more widespread in China’s domestic market.

The problem is especially pressing at home. Bad as the export scandals have been, conditions are even worse inside China. Factories that produce domestic goods often have far lower standards than those that produce and export clothes, consumer electronics or microchips. Zhou Qing is the author of "What Kind of God," an exposé whose sense of social mission could easily be compared to Sinclair's epic. In it, Zhou spins one hair-raising tale after another. There's seafood laced with additives that lower men's sperm counts, soy sauce bulked up with arsenic-tainted human hair swept up from the barbershop floor and hormone-infused fast food that prompts 6-year-old boys to sprout facial hair and 7-year-old girls to grow breasts.

That is just vile.

The Imperial Presidency

Bush is claiming executive privilege to prevent two former aides from testifying before Congress; no word yet on the date of his coronation.

Seriously, can we start to talk impeachment?

Finally

The New York Times editorial board, formerly of the pro-war cheerleading cadre, demands withdrawal from Iraq. It is about goddamn time.

Benedict Lieberman

If Holy Joe wants to vote Republican in ’08 because he is scared of the terrorists, that is his prerogative, but the Democratic leadership in the Senate should strip him of his Chairmanships double pronto.

What a dick...

The wheels are officially off this Administration

The results from Scooter’s pardon are in and the American people are not happy. From Swampland:

* 45% favor "the US House of Representatives beginning impeachment proceedings against President George W. Bush;" 46% oppose.

* 54% favor "US House of Representatives beginning impeachment proceedings against Vice President Dick Cheney;" 40% oppose.

We are coming for you Dick…

UPDATE: Forgot to add that Newsweek has Bush at a positively Nixonian 26% approval.

Albums I want but don’t own yet

I am planning on buying some music this weekend and here is my shopping list thus far:

Tim Armstrong– A Poet’s Life
This is Tim’s latest and it is kind of a requirement for me. Rancid is maybe my favorite band ever, so enough said.

Orange – Welcome to the World of Orange
I have heard bits and pieces of this band’s debut album for about six months and every time their stuff comes on the radio, I have to stop and listen. They are already that good and I don’t think a single member of the band is old enough to vote. Needless to say, I am impressed.

Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker – Town Hall, New York City, June 22, 1945
This recording was found just a couple of years ago and from what I hear, it is marvelous, Diz and Bird at the top of their game.

Is it Rolling Bob?: A Reggae Tribute to Bob Dylan
A reggae tribute to Dylan – are you kidding me? I am so down with this.

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes – Love their Country
I would buy this album for the cover to the Dixie Chicks “Goodbye Earl” alone. “Jolene” and “On the Road Again” are icing on the cake.

So, does anyone have any other suggestions?

Scathing

E. J. Dionne is usually a pretty mellow and rational voice on the Left. Libby’s pardon, however, has truly pissed him off. His column today is a searing indictment of Bush’s actions and a call to arms:

Notice the pattern: When the heat was on in the CIA leak case, Bush issued a strong pledge to fire anybody involved in leaking. He didn't. When Libby was indicted, Bush ducked comment until Libby was at prison's door. Now, by keeping Libby free, Bush can conveniently postpone a full pardon until after the 2008 election. In the meantime, Libby has no incentive to tell prosecutors anything new about what happened in this case. As liberal blogs have noted, since he was not pardoned outright, he can use the pending appeal of his conviction to avoid testifying before Congress

It's an airtight coverup made possible by the administration's willingness to bend the law. We spent months talking about Clinton's pardon of the fugitive financier Marc Rich. This commutation is an even greater outrage because it involves the administration taking steps to slip accountability for its own actions. Are we just going to let this one go by?

Are we just going to let this one go by? It is an excellent question. If I had to answer, I would say yes. Congress essentially has only two options, censure and impeachment, and unfortunately, I doubt there is much appetite for either. That said, in a just world, they impeach Cheney first.

Catching up with our new Senator

The Pilot has a pretty good article on Jim Webb and the role he is playing in the Senate.

I would rather watch, thank you

Spain’s annual trampling of the drunk and/or suicidal begins tomorrow. I cannot for the life of me imagine why someone would risk, for no good reason mind you, being gored or crushed under the hooves of a hundred running bulls. Seriously, I never want to participate in any activity where winning constitutes avoiding grievous injury. On the other hand, the party sounds like a blast:

Sara Newey, 23, and Rene Armstrong, 25, from Perth, Australia, recounted everything they had to drink in the past twelve hours: a bottle of Jack Daniels, several bottles of sangria, six beers each.

"You just have to keep going," Newey said with a carton of sangria in one hand and a bottle of sparkling wine in the other. They came on a tour with 600 other Australians.

Spoken like true Aussies, God bless ‘em.

Sacrifice

Paul Krugman unloads with both barrels today. People, it is awesome…

(Thanks Atrios)

Yet another Bush failure

Al-Zawahri has released another of his taped rants. Any competent administration would have exterminated him five or so years ago.

Bush redux?

The AP is running on Fred Thompson entitled “Thompson strong on style, not substance” and it is eerily similar to some of pieces on W circa 1999. Extolling his folksy charm, questioning his intellectual heft and business career; I swear, if you substituted Thompson’s lobbying with Bush’s oil interests, the articles would be interchangeable. That scares the bejeebus out of me. The last thing this nation needs is another charming faux country boy featherweight.

There is a difference

Ron Fournier’s AP piece on the Libby commutation is some of the worst piece of shit “journalism” that I have seen in a long, long time. In true inside the Beltway evenhandedness, Fournier blasts Bush for letting Libby walk and in the very next breathe unloads on Hillary for blasting Bush for letting Libby walk, because Bill pardoned Marc Rich. (Sidebar – Scooter represented Rich and argued for Rich’s pardon. Oh the irony.) The difference of course is that Clinton’s pardons were not acts of self-preservation or attempts to cover up a breach in National Security initiated by the White House. According to Fournier, that is not really relevant or something because they are all hypocrits.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the senator said Bill Clinton's pardons were simply a routine exercise in the use of the pardon power, and none was aimed at protecting the Clinton presidency or legacy. "This," she said of the Libby commutation, "was clearly an effort to protect the White House."

Indeed, there is ample evidence that Libby's actions were fueled by animosity throughout the White House toward opponents of the president's push to war against Iraq.

But Hillary Clinton will have a hard time convincing most voters that her brother-in-law would have gotten a pardon in 2001 had his name been Smith. Or that Rich's pardon plea would have reached the president's desk had he not been a rich Mr. Rich.

Fournier seems to argue that the President can never pardon anyone with whom he is connected. That seems pretty stupid. Who cares if Bill did a favor for some family? Does that equate to a conspiracy to cover up the outing of a covert spy? Hell no.

I think that it makes a difference if the pardon is intended to cover up criminal acts perpetrated by White House officials. So did James Madison (hat tip to KagroX @ DailyKos):

[I]f the President be connected, in any suspicious manner, with any person, and there be grounds [to] believe he will shelter him, the House of Representatives can impeach him; they can remove him if found guilty...

‘Nough said.

Olbermann

You knew that Keith would issue a Special Comment on Libby and it is a piece of work. Crooks and Liars has the video. Watch it – consider it your patriotic duty.

Our generation’s willingness to state “we didn’t vote for him, but he’s our president, and we hope he does a good job,” was tested in the crucible of history, and far earlier than most. And in circumstances more tragic and threatening.

And we did that with which history tasked us.

We enveloped “our” President in 2001.

And those who did not believe he should have been elected — indeed, those who did not believe he had been elected — willingly lowered their voices and assented to the sacred oath of non-partisanship.

And George W. Bush took our assent, and re-configured it, and honed it, and sharpened it to a razor-sharp point, and stabbed this nation in the back with it.

Preach it brother.

Hamas secures the release of kidnapped BBC reporter

Alan Johnston, held captive for 16 weeks, was released today. I did not think this story would have a happy conclusion. At times like this, I am thrilled to be wrong.

On a side not, (and I don’t want to read too much into Hamas’s efforts to get Johnston released) perhaps this may signal a new willingness within the militia to work with Western interests. Gaza and Hamas are isolated as never before. Donors are pouring money and support into Fatah and the West Bank. Maybe freeing Johnston was a public relations move to get a piece of that action or maybe not. Either way, this is the first time in recent memory that Hamas has done something pleasing to the West.

Happy Fourth of July

I hope everyone has a safe and sane holiday.

Joe attempts satire

Los Angeles area police, cocaine dealers anxious for Lohan’s release

by joestrummerlives

Los Angeles, CA. – Local police and cocaine dealers have found an unlikely common cause; both organizations are chomping at the bit for the release of Lindsay Lohan from her current stint in the Promises Rehab Center. Since the initial announcement that celebrity coke hound Lohan would enter rehab, the street value of powder cocaine has plummeted, leading to falling profits for both street level and wholesale dealers. The problem was further exacerbated when the actress extended her stay in the treatment facility.

“Man, it is killing my bottom line”, said David Williams, actor, director, small time retail dealer, and short order cook at Cal’s Diner on Wilshire. Smoking a cigarette next to the diner’s dumpster, Williams continued, “Normally, I can get $250 to $300 bucks an ounce. Now, I am lucky to get $100. Since Lindsay went to rehab, the demand has cratered, supply is up, and prices are down”. After stubbing out the cigarette, he added, “I know it is simple economics, really, but people are hurting out here. Look, I gotta cut this short, my break is almost over and I need to do a read through with Roberto the dishwasher”.

The new economic reality has alarmed many officers of the LAPD. Detective Martin Pinkowsky, a 12 year veteran of the Narcotics division, says that the current cocaine prices are the lowest he has ever seen.

“We used to worry that marijuana was the gateway drug but it seems those days are long gone. When Lindsay Lohan went into rehab and the asking price of cocaine collapsed, well, what can I say”, said Pinkowsky at his desk at Central Processing.

“Kids are the most price-sensitive segment in the drug market; they look for value. And they know they are paying upwards of three times the price per ounce for pot than they are for coke right now. The problem we are having”, he continued, "is that the kids are not doing enough blow to match the demand generated by Lohan. Until demand grows organically and drives up coke prices or Lindsay picks up her old habits, this is the new normal.”

While the police and their low-level adversaries are concerned, the large wholesalers are beginning to ponder their options. Carlos Manuel Mendez, Los Angeles area spokesperson for the Juarez cartel, has recently had to halt shipments due to the sudden glut of illicit powder.

“There is simply too much product in the pipeline and no foreseeable surge on the demand side of the equation.”

Mr. Mendez, dressed in a sharp khaki suit, dark sunglasses and a look of resignation, had been counting on Lohan’s release from treatment for her July 3rd birthday.

“Last week, we had high hopes that Mrs. Lohan’s 21st birthday celebration would have absorbed some of the excess supply, but that is not to be. When we received word that she would remain in treatment for the event, what little upwards price pressure there was evaporated”. That has caused problems up and down the supply chain.

“Market forces have required that we halt imports from our Columbian suppliers. As you can well understand, we are troubled by the current state of affairs, as are our well-armed associates to the South. My people want to see the cocaine market returned to balance, if for no other reason than to avoid, shall we say, contractual disputes”.

Furthermore, the cartel is looking into other enterprises to supplement lagging cocaine profits.

“We are exploring some interesting new avenues, methamphetamine, illegal aliens, exotic animals. We are confident that our cartel will bounce back from this poor second quarter result and meet our fiscal year goals.”

As Mendez stepped into his convertible Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, he said “we hope that Mrs. Lohan steps in to stabilize the current situation but if not, we are committed to our trademark customer service and will continue to meet the needs of our loyal clientele”.

Dumb

In his infinite wisdom and bountiful compassion, President Bush commuted the prison sentence of Scooter Libby, concluding that Libby’s proscribed 30-month stretch was excessive. It would be all too easy (and kind of fun) to focus on the (un)ethical aspect of the President’s decision and to be sure, it is one more step on the path to Nixonland. I mean seriously, is this not obstruction of justice?

But rather than dwelling on yet another of the Administration’s criminal acts, I prefer to reflect on just how fucking stupid Bush was for commuting the sentence instead of pardoning Libby outright. I suppose Bush and more probably, Cheney, had to keep Scooter out of jail, if for no other reason than to cover their collective ass. So, if they knew they had to commute or pardon and either option would invoke a chorus of criticism, why not go all in and lay down a pardon? With poll numbers around 30% and the flaming wreckage of his Presidency in plain view, Bush had nothing to lose. But ever the fool, he chose a course that would not really satisfy those on the Right demanding pardon while still angering the Left. Dumb.

UPDATE: I was so wrong about this being a dumb move (thanks to emptywheel for the education). By commuting Scooter’s sentence, Bush prevented Libby from flipping for a reduced sentence while allowing Libby to retain his right to take the Fifth while the matter is on appeal. Libby stays out of jail and keeps quiet. Two birds, one stone – very, very clever. And evil. But you already knew the evil part.

Barak Obama is kicking much ass

Holy cow! Obama pulled in a cool $32.5 million in the last three months and expanded his donor base to over a quarter of a million people. That folks is nothing short of breathtaking. Such broad support so early in a contested primary is unheard of, especially for a fellow that has only a few years of political experience. If he can keep this pace, his campaign may be transformed into a full-fledged movement. So while I am still not sold on him, Obama’s performance thus far is damn impressive.

God's work? Not so much...

Atrios kindly points out that 4 years ago today, the Worst President Ever cockily taunted the Iraqi insurgency with his moronic “bring ‘em on” comment. Happy Dumbass Chutzpah Day everyone!

He also links to Peter Baker’s Post article in which he delves into Bush’s unsinkable optimism in the face of so much bad news. Baker quotes one Michael Novak, a theologian that has worked with Bush, as saying Bush believes he is doing God’s work. To me that sounds somewhat delusional when you consider the list of “accomplishments”, thoughtfully provided in the piece, which this Administration can claim.

The polls reflect the events of Bush's second term, an unyielding sequence of bad news. Social Security. Hurricane Katrina. Harriet E. Miers. Dubai Ports World. Vice President Cheney's hunting accident. Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay and Mark Foley. The midterm elections. I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Alberto R. Gonzales and Paul D. Wolfowitz. Immigration. And overshadowing it all, the Iraq war, now longer than the U.S. fight in World War II.

That is some fucking list. No wonder a majority of Americans, not to mention the rest of the planet, loathes him. More to the point, if this is indeed God’s work, then the Almighty is on a thirty month pisser of Biblical proportions; a serious, Old Testament style, turn your wife to a pillar of salt, rampage. With hurricane season starting up, it might be a good time to build an ark.