U.S. surge fails to stem Baghdad violence, general says
By Nancy A. Youssef
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, said Thursday that the surge of U.S. and Iraqi troops into Baghdad hadn't reduced overall violence in the country and that the situation was "exceedingly complex."
"Exceedingly complex" as in "what am I supposed to do, Bush wants us to stay".
421 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 400 of 421 Newer› Newest»Chemtrails!!
MAT did alot of posts about these. Very concerned about that.
Our government is working against us. And this particular government is the worst.
sunshine, at this point my delete key only says "del___" i'm using it so much. ;p
tonid, my dutch friends spend a lot of time talking politics and it got so bad with this guy one night i ended up in the bathroom crying...funny you should mention the french. a friend from dijon who also lives in kyoto and i just had a long talk about getting matching "i'm norwegian" tatoos.
Anothe car bombing in Iraq, in Karbala, with casualties.
Suicide bombing in Pakistan kills 15
Per CNN
though i don't think either one of us could really pass for norwegian ;)
i'm watching the bill moyers program now. (thank you for the link, tonid) moyers just said hulabaloo, which made me laugh. though the whole thing about the patriotic fervor is making me mad all over again.
Jenise, when I was travelling alot in the 80's, the French were known to be haughty and difficult. I think it is now the Americans that have that title. That's why I mentioned the French.
You can let it out, here, about your Dutch friend. Maybe if you get it out here, you will be able to write your article in the way you want to.
Jenise, even here on this blog, politics are difficult. We all have common issues, but we very in who we will back and why we like a particular person. There are nitpicky issues where we differ. But it is those little nitpicky issues that cause arguments.
no, jenise
this blog is not a forum for your dirty laundry
we're a respectable dildo washing company
"There are nitpicky issues where we differ. But it is those little nitpicky issues that cause arguments.
April 28, 2007 11:42 AM "
tonid, it is interesting to watch the little differences escalate into big arguments. my problem wasn't with my dutch friend. he and i disagree about a lot of things, but those disagreements lead to really interesting discussions and we learn a lot from each other, i think. my problem was with this one american friend. he'd probably describe himself as "middle of the road" (whatever that means), but as soon as US policy is criticized, he launches into "the american system is imperfect but still the best system in the world. you just don't understand and if you don't like it, you can fuck off." he was talking to the dutch guys as if they didn't live in a democracy, as well. he actually said "if you don't like the way america does it, why don't you step up? we'll take you on." i understand getting defensive when the US is criticized. i really do. i live with it every day. but his attitude and aggressiveness, coupled with the fact that he has no idea what kind of sociopolitical system the people he's talking to have, seems to me exactly why the US ended up in the list with israel and iran as the most dangerous countries in the world in that last poll.
it was like being in war dog hell. and the really scary part to me is he's not some crazy neo-con.
"we're a respectable dildo washing company
April 28, 2007 11:53 AM "
too late, air-ono. ;)
i say we're all too polite.
there is a time to just hammer assholes into the dirt y'know.
i think we're getting better at the timing, but we "hold back" to our detriment.
There is a "Don't buy gas day" scheduled for May 15. One day of everyone not buying gas would cost these companies billions of dollars. One way to protest.
i'm not a rocket scientist, well actually, i used to be, but this doesn't accomplish a damn thing. why you ask? because everyone who doesn't buy gas on the 15th is still going to have to fill up their tanks on the 13th, or 14th or maybe the 16th or 17th. the only way you hurt the oil companies is if you focus your frustration on a single company and boycott them or you use less gas. now, i don't know about the rest of you, but short of driving less, nothings going to magically cause my car to use less gas.
thats my opinion and if you don't like it, i'll change it...
[the girl from sydney]
it turns out, according to *dianne*, that *dianne* invented the cell phone (as she can see into the future)
this magical quality can be traced using very powerful scientific instruments (that can see back in time) to the time she was bitten by a piranha while swimming in hawaii
I can understand becoming upset when someone criticizes the US as well.
But your American "friend" should keep his mouth shut. He evidently doesn't know how to debate and make your case. I'm not the greatest, but I do listen to other arguments and many times there are things I do agree with but I don't agree with the other person's argument for it. That's not really well said but I hope you get the idea of what I meant.
ono, what's a dildo?
thinking about these record oil company profits, the way i see it, we're getting screwed on the economy. as oil goes up, gas goes up even more. this causes prices across the board to go up. the fed says we have inflation because prices are going up. they raise interest rates which puts more money in the banks hands and less money in our hands. and round it goes.
i think its time to regulate the crap out of a lot of industries. starting with oil, utilities, food, and airlines.
//"middle of the road" (whatever that means)//
it means that he's in the middle of the road
i'm here to help
(whatever that means)
Ono, there are no piranha in Hawaii. Try the Amazon River, and I am sure there are some in Africa as well.
a //dildo// is a thing
like all things
some things you eat, like bananas
a dildo is like a banana
only it's tastier
blah blah blah said...
thinking about these record oil company profits, the way i see it, we're getting screwed on the economy. as oil goes up, gas goes up even more. this causes prices across the board to go up. the fed says we have inflation because prices are going up. they raise interest rates which puts more money in the banks hands and less money in our hands. and round it goes.
i think its time to regulate the crap out of a lot of industries. starting with oil, utilities, food, and airlines.
You can thank Reagan for deregulation. He also caused the air traffic controllers problem and now we have a shortage.
//there are no piranha in Hawaii//
(lol)
nor do they live in the sea
so i told her, well maybe it was a barricuda
but to no avail
(*dianne* is insane)
sunshine, i struggle with that a lot. i agree with hammering assholes in power that are actively directing what's happening. but, in one way or another, we all contribute. i think there's the short-term stopping the immediate destruction, which requires hammering, and the long-term basic change that needs to take place, which requires a quieter approach. not that i'm any good at either one...
tonid, i get what you mean. and i agree. keeping his mouth shut would be a great first step...actually listening to what the other person is saying would be a great second one. (thank you for the maya angelou poem, by the way. i think the best thing clinton ever did was get her to write his inaugural poem.)
I buy gas from Citgo, which is owned by Venezuela. But I don't drive much and my job is only 5 miles from where I live.
Unfortunately, I can't bicycle anymore, but, then again, I fill my tank once a month and get about 350-360 miles to a tank of gas.
bullies are bullies j
you either take em down or they kill you and laugh.
easy choice, the hard part is getting the courage up.
even when ya lose they know it ain't gonna be easy anymore...
repeat if neccessary. every living thing on this planet is at risk.
i'm here to help
(whatever that means)
April 28, 2007 12:05 PM
i can always count on you, air-ono. how the fuck are you anyway? i just sent chubby a postcard written by miho.
HA!
next time borrow his phone and
dial my number and let me talk to him!
and laugh as he smashes his phone on the table.
//written by miho//
LMAO!
that's classic
every living thing on this planet is at risk.
April 28, 2007 12:14 PM
i agree, sunshine. i'm just thinking that after the bullies are taken down, we still have basic changes we all have to make or we'll just start all of this all over again. i realize that's down the road a bit, but...that would be one hell of a conversation :)
//The page cannot be displayed//
sorry, no can bloggie!!!
-|-
(ciao)
eya kiddoo.
theres a judo that works, time to learn it.
if you have skills that others need start trading for ones that you need.
it's ridiculous to think you're alone in this struggle.
sunshine, none of us are alone in this, i know. more than anything, this blog and the last five years have taught me that.
Attorney General Gonzales still hard at work:
For the moment, Gonzales’ days will be spent in much the same way they have been for most of the spring: preparing to defend himself before Congress. With the May 10 hearing before Conyers’ committee fast approaching, the attorney general is certain to face new questions from members of Congress armed with information gleaned from testimony by McNulty, Moschella, Comey and possibly Goodling. As if that wasn’t enough, Gonzales must also prepare for a May 9 Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, in which he’ll be asked detailed questions about his management of the rest of the 110,000-person department.
LINK
Right on j!
say hey to siggie other for me!
gonzo has to be the most superfluous nebbish yet in the bush crime family.
ain't up on what's going on in his own department, has a memory worse than a three day 'down' junkie?
who needs em as other than "W"'zs butt boy?
i should get to bed. it's late. thanks for letting me vent.
one more thing first. i saw a post here a few days ago about world bank officers urging the US to pick another world bank president. WORLD bank. i can't see anything fundamental changing until the US (or any other single country) choosing the president of the world bank is in and of itself considered ridiculous.
good night.
eya j
we on the left coast miss you.
whens your next personal appearance and when are u gonna bring husbot up for a BC visit?
i miss you all too, sunshine. i'll be back in the states in aug, but probably just new york. (another wedding) at this rate, a BC visit for him may not be until after retirement! :(
Sleep Well Jenise.
Talk to you soon.
Even the summer interns were loyal Bushies. “The Justice Department is removing political appointees from the hiring process for rookie lawyers and summer interns, amid allegations that the Bush administration had rigged the programs in favor of candidates with connections to conservative or Republican groups… The decision, outlined in an internal memo distributed Thursday, returns control of the Attorney General’s Honors Program and the Summer Law Intern Program to career lawyers in the department after four years during which political appointees directed the process.”
LINK
The scrubbing of Tobias. The Washington Post reports, via Atrios:
Within minutes of McCormack’s announcement, Tobias’s biography was removed from the USAID Web site.
State Department officials declined to comment further on the reasons for Tobias’s resignation.
“I’m sad today,” said one person close to Tobias. “The president loves him and Condi absolutely loves him.”
Check out his State Department bio page HERE.
LINK
Bush to announce massive new drilling plan. “The Interior Department will announce a proposal Monday to allow oil and gas drilling in federal waters near Virginia that are currently off-limits and permit new exploration in Alaska’s Bristol Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. … The Virginia shore is dotted with barrier islands and lagoons, most of them largely unspoiled. The Virginia coast has been designated a World Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations, and a National Natural Landmark by the Interior Department.”
LINK
GOP lawmaker told of plan to fire attorney. “”The White House told a Republican member of Congress last summer about its plans to fire a U.S. attorney in Arkansas and replace him with a former aide to presidential adviser Karl Rove, but it did not tell Democratic lawmakers, according to a new Justice Department e-mail released yesterday.”
The White House called Rep. John Boozman (R-Ark.) “and pretty much told him what they are doing with this appointment and how they are going about it,” according to a July 6 e-mail from Bud Cummins, then the U.S. attorney in Little Rock. […]
The message indicates that Bush administration officials told Boozman about their plans to fire Cummins at the same time that Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and other Democrats say they were being stonewalled.
LINK
Wolfowitz’s lawyer points fingers. A World Bank committee investigating President Paul Wolfowitz has nearly completed a report “concluding that he breached ethics rules when he engineered a pay raise for his girlfriend.” The bank’s board will consider the report on Monday. Wolfowitz’s laywer, Robert Bennett, charged, “The board, through these unreasonable and unfair actions, can’t create a fake crisis and say he has to leave because he’s hurting the bank. They’re the ones who are hurting the bank. Even those people opposed to Mr. Wolfowitz will see how outrageous this is.”
LINK
Listening to NOVA M Radio...
What a rightwing crap. And it goes completely unopposed.
I *HATE IT* when these lilly livered, rightwing wimps claim victim status.
What a garbage. And this is supposed to be a leftwing radio station?
I'm listening to them for Peter B. Collins and Mike Malloy, but a lot of the rest of their stuff is garbage.
“The president loves him and Condi absolutely loves him.”
April 28, 2007 1:32 PM
toni;
if that included hot oil and a happy ending it would be business as usual.
toniD said...
Bush to announce massive new drilling plan. “The Interior Department will announce a proposal Monday to allow oil and gas drilling in federal waters near Virginia that are currently off-limits and permit new exploration in Alaska’s Bristol Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
sounds like he's givin us plain folk a one fingered salute...
Harry Sternberg, Fascism
Anton Refregier, San Francisco '34 Waterfront Strike, between 1940 and 1948
Anton Refregier, Picnic
*
Among the leaves & the rolls of moonlight,
The moon, which weaves lace on the road-white
Among the winds, & among the flowers,
Our blithe feet wander — life is ours!
— Voltairine deCleyre, excerpt, "Love's Ghost"
*
The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this." -Albert Einstein
"My First Impression of the U.S.A.", 1921
"Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere!" George Washington Note to the gardener at Mount Vernon, 1794 "The Writings of George Washington" Volume 33, page 270 (Library of Congress)
Miss Bibi!!
:)
Goodbye, Baghdad
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/04/28/riverbend/
I'm finally leaving Iraq. But it's hard to decide which is more frightening: Car bombs and militias, or leaving everything you know and love.
Editor's note: Baghdad Burning, the blog written by a young Iraqi woman named "Riverbend," has given readers around the world an intimate, and devastating, look at the situation in Iraq. Salon occasionally runs postings from her blog.
By Riverbend
April 28, 2007 | BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The Great Wall of Segregation is the wall the current Iraqi government is building (with the support and guidance of the Americans). It's a wall that is intended to separate and isolate what is now considered the largest 'Sunni' area in Baghdad -- let no one say the Americans are not building anything. According to plans the Iraqi puppets and Americans cooked up, it will 'protect' A'adhamiya, a residential/mercantile area that the current Iraqi government and their death squads couldn't empty of Sunnis.
The wall, of course, will protect no one. I sometimes wonder if this is how the concentration camps began in Europe. The Nazi government probably said, "Oh look -- we're just going to protect the Jews with this little wall here -- it will be difficult for people to get into their special area to hurt them!" And yet, it will also be difficult to get out.
The Wall is the latest effort to further break Iraqi society apart. Promoting and supporting civil war isn't enough, apparently -- Iraqis have generally proven to be more tenacious and tolerant than their mullahs, ayatollahs, and Vichy leaders. It's time for America to physically divide and conquer -- like Berlin before the wall came down or Palestine today. This way, they can continue chasing Sunnis out of "Shia areas" and Shia out of "Sunni areas."
I always hear the Iraqi pro-war crowd interviewed on television from foreign capitals (they can only appear on television from the safety of foreign capitals because I defy anyone to be publicly pro-war in Iraq). They refuse to believe that their religiously inclined, sectarian political parties fueled this whole Sunni/Shia conflict. They refuse to acknowledge that this situation is a direct result of the war and occupation. They go on and on about Iraq's history and how Sunnis and Shia were always in conflict and I hate that. I hate that a handful of expats who haven't been to the country in decades pretend to know more about it than people actually living there.
'Happy Springtime, Bush is Over' embodies spirit of Lennon RAW STORY
Published: Saturday April 28, 2007
Print This Email This
This week, the non-profit organization Justice Through Music, in conjunction with the musical group Op-Critical and the Harmonic Angels children's choir, released the song "Happy Springtime, Bush is Over," a plea for peace amidst the war in Iraq and the looming influence of the Bush administration.
Using the John Lennon song "Happy Xmas, War Is Over" as a starting point, the musicians composed new lyrics to fit present-day issues, but were careful to retain the music's original message. “Like Lennon more than 30 years ago, we are hoping for a quick end to an era of darkness,” said Storm, a member of the band Op-Critical. “So we are psyched that Justice Through Music worked with us to get this song out so quickly."
In promoting and working with active musicians to relay their message, Justice Through Music attempts to educate and activate young people about the importance of civil rights and voting. “We are making a statement with this song that we will not live in fear and by imagining peace we will create peace," said Craig Gillette, spokesman for the organization. "This is a real tribute to the message and spirit of Lennon, and we want every person on earth to be inspired by the song and video.”
Since being launched, the video has receieved over 8,0000 views on YouTube and enthusiastic support on the band's MySpace page.
The following video is from Justice Through Music.
Video here
I'm holding my own protest rally today. It's a blog rally!
Impeach protests coordinator hopes 'Republicans can see which way the wind is blowing' Michael Roston
Published: Saturday April 28, 2007
This Saturday, April 28 will mark a national day of action as people gather around the country to show their support for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
"The elections last November were in many ways a referendum on the war, and the American people clearly think it's a disaster and should be stopped," said Jacob Park, the National Coordinator of A28.org , explaining what is motivating tomorrow's day of action. "The Democrats have been talking tough but so far haven't changed anything on the ground. I think Americans are increasingly impatient for them to call the administration's bluff and start wielding their newfound power in a way that has real consequences."
Park's group is helping coordinate activities around the country to promote the initiation of impeachment proceedings against the Bush White House. Some of the major activities include:
* Miami: An 'unwelcoming party' to greet George Bush, who will be delivering the commencement address at Miami Dade College.
* San Francisco: Protesters will spell out 'IMPEACH' in a 'human mural' at Ocean Beach, followed by a march to a rally at Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi's house.
* San Diego: Introduction of an impeachment resolution at the California Democratic Convention, coinciding with a rally at Martin Luther King Park, and a human mural at a nearby beach.
* New York: A human mural at Coney Island organized by mothers with sons who served in Iraq, an Impeachment Festival in Central Park, and Impeachment "laser graffiti" in Brooklyn.
* Washington, D.C.: A human mural and picnic at the foot of the Washington monument.
* Boston: A town crier will read articles of impeachment at Faneuil Hall.
* 'ImpeachPlanes' will tow banners over New York City, Los Angeles, Trenton, Atlanta, St. Petersburg, the New Orleans Jazzfest, and the Coachella music festival.
Zeroing in on the San Diego efforts, where Speaker Pelosi will be delivering a Saturday night dinner address, Park slammed the California's stated opposition to impeaching Bush or Cheney.
"It's not a question of what 'George Bush' is worth." he said. "To shrug off the enormous crimes that have been committed by this administration, and to shirk the power that she now has to seek a modicum of justice, is a deeply immoral act."
Park also held out hope that Republicans would be persuaded to sign on with the message that his group and others were promoting.
"The Republicans can see which way the wind is blowing, and know that these two have nothing to offer them except associations with a disastrous and deeply unpopular war. The problem is, they all supported it," he argued. "Bush and Cheney could be the ultimate fall guys for their collective misdeeds."
LINK
Retired Gen.: Bush Should Sign Iraq Bill
Apr 28, 11:12 AM (ET)
By KASIE HUNT
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush should sign legislation starting the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq on Oct. 1, retired Army Lt. Gen. William Odom said Saturday.
"I hope the president seizes this moment for a basic change in course and signs the bill Congress has sent him," Odom said, delivering the Democrats' weekly radio address.
Odom, an outspoken critic of the war who served as the Army's top intelligence officer and headed the National Security Agency during the Reagan administration, delivered the address at the request of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. He said he has never been a Democrat or a Republican.
The general accused Bush of squandering U.S. lives and helping Iran and al-Qaida when he invaded Iraq.
"The challenge we face today is not how to win in Iraq; it is how to recover from a strategic mistake: invading Iraq in the first place," he said. "The president has let (the Iraq war) proceed on automatic pilot, making no corrections in the face of accumulating evidence that his strategy is failing and cannot be rescued. He lets the United States fly further and further into trouble, squandering its influence, money and blood, facilitating the gains of our enemies."
Odom said he doesn't favor congressional involvement in the execution of foreign and military policy, but argued that Bush had been derelict in his responsibilities. This week Congress passed an Iraq war spending bill that would require Bush to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq on Oct. 1.
LINK
Bush also losing drug war:
Cocaine purer, cheaper
Cocaine prices in the United States have dropped and the drug's purity increased, despite years of effort and nearly $5 billion spent by the U.S. government to combat Colombia's drug industry, the White House drug czar acknowledged in a letter to a key senator.
LINK
US Construction Projects In Iraq Are Crumbling
The New York Times | JAMES GLANZ | April 28, 2007 01:12 PM
In a troubling sign for the American-financed rebuilding program in Iraq, inspectors for a federal oversight agency have found that in a sampling of eight projects that the United States had declared successes, seven were no longer operating as designed because of plumbing and electrical failures, lack of proper maintenance, apparent looting and expensive equipment that lay idle.
The United States has previously admitted, sometimes under pressure from federal inspectors, that some of its reconstruction projects have been abandoned, delayed or poorly constructed. But this is the first time inspectors have found that projects officially declared a success -- in some cases, as little as six months before the latest inspections -- were no longer working properly.
LINK
Role Of Saudi Prince With Ties To Bush Family Questioned
The New York Times | HELENE COOPER and JIM RUTENBERG | April 28, 2007 01:23 PM
No foreign diplomat has had a closer relationship or more access to President Bush, his family, and his administration than the magnetic and fabulously wealthy Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia.
Prince Bandar has mentored Mr. Bush and his father through three wars and the broader campaign against terrorism, reliably delivering -- sometimes in the Oval Office -- his nation's support for crucial and sensitive Middle East initiatives requiring the regional legitimacy that Saudi help and approval brings, and keeping the United States apprised of Saudi regional priorities that might appear to be in conflict with United States policies. But now, current and former Bush administration officials are wondering if the administration's longtime reliance on Prince Bandar has begun to outlive its usefulness.
LINK
Tenet and Powell: Pick Up a Bedpan
04.27.2007 Trey Ellis
Tenet and Powell should worry more about the lives that they helped ruin than their precious reputations.
LINK
I'm too pooped for a rally.
Call it a sit-down strike and I'm in.
Impeach
A diversion
Imprison Rove first
We can have a sit-in!! no prob!!
Heh! A Blog Protest.
Good ones Cat Chew!!!
Zoo-Into the Shadowy World of Sex With Animals
Utah Republican Blames 'The Devil' For Immigration
The Seven Deadly Sins - Swan Lake it ain't - the ballet goes raunchy
Naked couple's sssscary snap
Whenever Hans Christian Andersen masturbated, he recorded the episode in his private papers
The Democrats should give Bush enough money for Iraq until September
by John Aravosis (DC) · 4/28/2007 11:36:00 AM ET
Bush just gave us our solution. In the post below, Joe notes that Bush will now not consider whether we're making "progress" with the "surge" until September. Fine. Then here's what we do. After Bush vetoes the Iraq funding bill in the next week or two, Congress should pass a clean bill, giving Bush all the money he needs... until September. That way, when Bush finally starts paying attention to Iraq again in September, when he makes the assessment of whether the surge is doing anything at all, whether Iraq isn't still going downhill, Congress can at the same time revisit whether the American people fund, again, and again, and again, this disaster of a war.
John Murtha has proposed something similar to this. Give Bush the money he needs, enough money to get him through, say, September 30. Then we use Bush's own benchmark-date to revisit just how well the progress is really progressing. Let him veto that.
LINK
Accomplished
Gonzales' effectiveness
Nice ones, Toni. Can't have enough editorial cartoons (btw, liked what Jon Stewart said on Moyers' about the Daily Show functioning rather like one):
Supporting the troops
Jon Stewart is very intelligent. I love the way he took on McCain. And McCain was trying to talk over him.
Bush compromise
It's always interesting watching the reactions of Stewart's guests, especially the ones who are accustomed to talking crap and never getting called on it, not even in a mild way. The jester gets away with more than reporters and advisors ever can.
I found a link to Terry Wilke's site while cleaning up my bookmarks.
Still love that picture :)
Crap! Time to get busy again.
Later...
Thanks for the Terry Wilke link Cat..
I never saw it before!!
Wonder how he is?
Fascist America
Jenise: "...it was like being in war dog hell. and the really scary part to me is he's not some crazy neo-con..."
April 28, 2007 11:55 AM
----------------------------------
I suffer from the same inability to discuss politics with anyone who is not-up-to-snuff on how the game works; ALL of the aspects, not merely single-issue claims (like the failure of the press, as claimed by many people but for many different reasons and in support of their own "poor-us" arguments).
This is why I do not respect anyone who invokes Limbaugh as anything other than a politically opportunistic version of a televangelist. Sure, his existence is a necessary portion of many political discussions, but not because he is a valid political analyst. It's because he rally's the vigilante crowd comprised of the self-righteous. These are people who imagine a perfect U.S. to be filled with people exactly like themselves.
They are shallow thinkers who do not realize that an entire populace in lockstep is a recipe for disaster.
If all Republican/Conservative/Free Market believers died tomorrow, I have no doubt that the Democrat/Liberal/Socialist believers would soon fuck things up with their windfall.
The War Dog-esque shallow thinkers tout capitalism as if it can do no wrong. It can do wrong. The stronger and less fettered that capitalism is allowed to be without some kind of regulatory measures, the more certain it is that capitalism will evolve toward mergers and market control and arbitrage.
It requires real work and long-term investment to invent and market a better mouse trap.
Capitalism hates real work and long-term investment. Allowed to evolve unregulated, capitalism will import labor carrying "work-permits", will support the fossil fuel industry instead of fledgling alternatives and will inexorably extend the gap between the rich and the poor.
If the person with whom I am having a political discussion understands nothing more than that "one size" does not fit all, all of the time and forever, then we can have a productive discussion.
The most important task of the electorate in any country is to foresee the growth of power and short-circuit it...usually by governmental regulation, sometimes by street protest.
If this had been done when the health industry began to show signs of inflation beyond all other sectors, we would not be in the mess we are in now. I can easily remember a time when a citizen worked to acquire a house, a car and retirement money. Health care has surpassed all three, sometimes in one fell swoop.
The same is true of the defense industry during and since the post WWII era. The War Dogs of the nation cannot imagine a military so huge, so backed by big money, that it could become a third political entity. Our military, like so many others before it, is subservient only by a narrow cultural thread that dictates that the military cannot defy the policy makers.
I can imagine it happening. New, outspoken criticism from the military brass and their underlings is already happening. It is easy for me to imagine a profound and awful sea change. But then, I don't get my information from Limbaugh, either.
The Reeds and Brass Have Been Weaving
Often people, usually in the course of needing to explain the almighty power of blogs to people who don't get it, want to describe blogs in terms of specific tangible successful events. You know, "blogs took down Trent Lott," and whatnot. And while there are certainly occasions where I think blogs have played a very important and clear role in defining and shaping events, I always think it's wrong to focus on those events as what's really important about the blogosphere.
Left of center blogs filled various connected vacuums which were created by a triangulating-against-itself-Democratic party, a media with a "no liberals on TV or radio" rule, and the post-9/11 media prostration to the Bush administration and its complete abdication of its responsibility with respect to the Iraq war, all of which followed its campaign 2000 prostration to the Bush candidacy. Overall what blogs have been able to do is create an unfolding political narrative which has been largely absent elsewhere. Sometimes it's about emphasizing different things, sometimes it's about combating DC conventional wisdom, sometimes it's about highlighting things which are being ignored. But taken all together it's about telling the story of politics in a different way.
While there are other elements - fundraising, various types of activism, etc... - day to day the power of the blogosphere is that it offers up a competing version of political reality, in opposition to the Russert/Matthews/Dowd version and in opposition to the Limbaugh/Hannity/Fox News/Heritage Foundation version.
I remember years ago I'd know exactly when the few compelling liberal voices would have their moments. I knew when Joe Conason's column would hit the NY Observer, when Paul Krugman's column would hit the NYT, when Michelangelo Signorile's column would hit the New York Press. There were so few of them, voices in the wilderness, and there weren't enough to sustain a narrative.
As Greenwald suggests, things have changed and are changing. The narrative can be sustained, and it can find its way elsewhere into the media bloodstream. It isn't just blogs, of course, but they're an important part.
Here's Bill Moyers chatting with Josh Marshall. And Bill Moyers chatting with Jon Stewart.
-Atrios 11:44
Hello Folks
==================
Was the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia a War Crime?
From what I understand, it seems that the 'Genocide' claim was way overinflated............
Is anyone familiar with this period?
So I saw McCain sing "Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb Bomb Iran"
How disgusting is that?
I thought these people were supposed to be responsible and mature.....
I wonder how many Vietnamese farmers McCain sent to their deaths
Man, what Gravel said was dead on... about the Mil Ind Complex... It has influenced not only policy but our culture.
Also he pointed out that the other high profile candidates saying that nothing is off the table with regards to Iran si code for offensive nuke usage........
Watching those debates, I lost faith in Obama...... He seems like just another talking head.
We need to drum up support for Kucinich.
I wonder who the Moveon people are supporting?
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1287&cache=1
vacuuming has never been so much fun !!
I kept telling Rush to stop the Crazy Talkin
It's what loses you elections
And now that the Dems have taken control of both Houses
He still keeps Crazy Talkin' !!
and we can have a complete Demo government with Hillary as President in 2008 !!!
Rush won't listen to me...
No one takes me seriously,
Not even my wife and her dog...
I fart for inner peace.
I think that the time is ripe for a Media Matters-type program for AM radio and/or cable television.
The format is a piece of cake: Provide recent quotes from Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly et al, as well as from any politician or corporation, and follow them with sourced facts that refute the quotes.
Sam Seder and others have given the idea a pretty good shot, but they stray from the format.
Perhaps there isn't an audience for this idea? I imagine a show that professes to represent no ideology other than facts supported by professionals within their various areas of expertise. Audiences tend to gravitate to a like-minded and angry voice that supports their viewpoints, the facts be damned.
Is there an across-the-board audience of cynics who want someone to expose crap? Complaints about cautious-speaking politicians would seem to indicate that more people would prefer authenticated frankness than parsed equivocations, or worse.
The trick to attracting a wide audience would be to avoid engaging in opinion and editorializing, focusing instead on bespoken crap that can be unerringly refuted with information sourced from within the requisite communities of professionals.
The epidemic of foot-in-mouth disease should make it easy to fill an hour or two with facts countering fallacious folderol.
Limbaugh's (and other's) claim that human activity cannot adversely affect the planet could be refuted by citing one scientific study or scientist per day, filling years of air time without having to work particularly hard to find solidly-sourced refutation subject matter.
War Dong gets my parody-of-the-week vote.
Disillusioned Dittohead: "So I sez to Rush, I sez 'Stop talkin your crazy talk or the Dems are gonna kick our ass in the midterms,' but did he listen? No-oooo. He kept on with the crazy talk. And what happened? The Dems kicked our ass in the midterms, that's what happened!"
The GOP's cyber election hit squad
by Steven Rosenfeld and Bob Fitrakis
April 22, 2007
(Excerpt)
Did the most powerful Republicans in America have the computer capacity, software skills and electronic infrastructure in place on Election Night 2004 to tamper with the Ohio results to ensure George W. Bush's re-election?
The answer appears to be yes. There is more than ample documentation to show that on Election Night 2004, Ohio's "official" Secretary of State website – which gave the world the presidential election results – was redirected from an Ohio government server to a group of servers that contain scores of Republican web sites, including the secret White House e-mail accounts that have emerged in the scandal surrounding Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s firing of eight federal prosecutors.
Recent revelations have documented that the Republican National Committee (RNC) ran a secret White House e-mail system for Karl Rove and dozens of White House staffers. This high-tech system used to count and report the 2004 presidential vote– from server-hosting contracts, to software-writing services, to remote-access capability, to the actual server usage logs themselves – must be added to the growing congressional investigations.
Numerous tech-savvy bloggers, starting with the online investigative consortium epluribusmedia.org and their November 2006 article cross-posted by contributor luaptifer to Dailykos, and Joseph Cannon's blog at Cannonfire.blogspot.com, outed the RNC tech network. That web-hosting firm is SMARTech Corp. of Chattanooga, TN, operating out of the basement in the old Pioneer Bank building. The firm hosts scores of Republican websites, including georgewbush.com, gop.com and rnc.org.
The software created for the Ohio secretary of state’s Election Night 2004 website was created by GovTech Solutions, a firm co-founded by longtime GOP computing guru Mike Connell. He also redesigned the Bush campaign's website in 2000 and told "Inside Business" magazine in 1999, "I wouldn't be where I am today without the Bush campaign and the Bush family because the Bushes truly are about family and I’m loyal to my network."
Ohio's Cedarville University, a Christian school with 3,100 students, issued a press release on January 13, 2005 describing how faculty member Dr. Alan Dillman’s computing company Government Consulting Resources, Ltd, worked with these Republican-connected companies to tally the vote on Election Night 2004.
"Dillman personally led the effort from the GCR side, teaming with key members of Blackwell's staff," the release said. "GCR teamed with several other firms – including key players such as GovTech Solutions, which performed the software development – to deliver the end result. SMARTech provided the backup and additional system capacity, and Mercury Interactive performed the stress testing."
http://www.freepress.org/index2.php
Fill me in!
Media Matters Radio show..... Could start out weekly....
However, Conservatives would most likely shrug it off as Liberal propaganda no matter what you cited........
But who cares.
Great Idea Crank
Bob26003 said...
Media Matters Radio show..... Could start out weekly...
-------------------------------
Yes,
this is a good idea.
Bob26003, edna ellen poe,
Don't encourage him. Insufferable has no limits.
That should have been "Insufferability has no limits", mom.
TURKEY IN THE STRAW
April 29, 2007
Rebuilt Iraq Projects Found Crumbling
by James Glanz
Thursday, August 28, 2003
The Promise and the Threat
by Riverbend
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Racist Republican Draws Hillary in Blackface
(Excerpt)
"I just don't even know what to say about this cartoon by Chris Muir who's popular among the right wing bloggers and papers (h/t John Swift).It's almost like it's no longer as shocking to my system as it used to be. It's so gratuitous, racist and insulting, it's hard to
know where to start breaking it down and explaining the many ways in which putting politicians in blackface and using pigeon English is not ok."
See image at:
http://jackandjillpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/04/racist-republican-draws-hillary-in.html
speaking of shows
i was just yakking with Gapper!
he's a mackintosh video editor with lots of hours.
was tellin him how i'd like to make KP's screenplay into a good hdtv.
it's a great story and an easy production.
-----------
Bob26003 said...
Was the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia a War Crime?
From what I understand, it seems that the 'Genocide' claim was way overinflated............
Is anyone familiar with this period?
April 28, 2007 6:41 PM
_________________________
Based on international law, the NATO bombings were not war crimes. Should NATO have waited until additional resolutions were passed in the United Nations?
This does bring up questions about the use of force and violence to stop other forms of violence (in this case -- genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes). Based on international law, it was appropriate to intervene.
Charges of genocide and war crimes were made and documented at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
----------------------
For more information:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/kosovo2/312003.stm
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3225&l=1
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1247&l=1
so i was wandering around and looked at old growth coming down here and in northern cal.
Knob Timber Sale Loses 9th Circuit Appeal
Sat Jun 24 2006
Forest Activists Call for Direct Action
Old-growth forest near Siskiyou County’s wild and scenic Salmon River is headed for the auction block - and the chopping block - after losing a years-long battle in court. The Knob Timber Sale is part of a large scale logging plan that includs the Glassups Timber Sale which was cut in 2003, and the Meteor Timber Sale which is still winding through the courts.
The combined cumulative post-logging effects on the Salmon River and the wildlife that depends on this old-growth forests has activists calling for protests.
“The movement fighting to stop harmful and un-lawful logging is a multi-limbed creature,” said Salmon River Forest Defenders. “When the ‘arm’ of litigation tires…the muscular arm of direct action re-emerges.”
-----------
Bob26003 said...
So I saw McCain sing "Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb Bomb Iran"
How disgusting is that?
April 28, 2007 6:50 PM
___________________________
Speaking of singing, CodePink also had a response to Republican Presidential candidate John McCain when he joked about bombing Iran.
When asked about whether the U.S. should attack Iran last week, McCain began singing Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran to the tune of the old Beach Boys song "Barbara Ann."
Well CodePink was outside McCain's office the next day with a song of their own!
Link:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/26/1355248
"Mr. Bush, do you think that we could have avoided the VA Tech incident? Who do you think was at fault-- can we blame one person for 31 people's murders?"
"Thought yew were gowna ask about the pig... heh heh heh heh."
"Mr. Bush, what do you think about the atrocities in Darfur? Some people claim that your 'freedom' does not extend to places that don't have oil."
"Thought yew were gowna ask about the pig.. heh heh heh heh."
"Mr. Bush, hundreds of thousands of people have died in Iraq--"
"Look, yew gowna ask about that goddamn pig? Yer a real buzzkill, man."
see this:
The Reeds and Brass Have Been Weaving
see this excerpt:
//[The] day to day the power of the blogosphere is that it offers up a competing version of political reality, in opposition to the Russert/Matthews/Dowd version and in opposition to the Limbaugh/Hannity/Fox News/Heritage Foundation version.//
this makes me sick!!!
"competing version"
what fucking "version"
(it's not a cake competition; the best recipe wins)
IT'S the political reality that the msm never reported on...
the lies by ommission, the echoing of the conservative lies, the he/she lazy journalism which only served to give credance to conservative lies
it's NOT a version, mr. atrios
IT'S not my version (my contention) of physical reality that earth revolves around the sun, IT'S an undisputed fact...
(unless we've been betrayed by our rudimentary sences & it's an illusion -- maybe the snakes were correct when they said the earth was a cinnamon pancake)
----------
Good compilation of recent editorials, articles, and cartoons about Paul Wolfowitz on the following blog -
_________________
Wolfowitz Resign!
Link:
http://wolfowitzmustresign.blogspot.com/
At least 66 dead in bombing near shrine. “A car bomb exploded Saturday near one of Shiite Islam’s holiest shrines in the city of Karbala, killing and injuring scores of worshippers headed to evening prayers. Initial accounts from police and health officials said 66 people were killed and 112 were wounded.”
LINK
The truthiness of George Tenet. Former CIA Director George Tenet in his new book:
In a way, President Bush and I are much alike. We sometimes say things from our gut, whether it’s his “bring ‘em on” or my “slam dunk.” I think he gets that about me, just as I get that about him.
Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents Dinner:
We’re not so different, [Bush] and I. We both get it. Guys like us, we’re not some brainiacs on the nerd patrol. We’re not members of the factinista. We go straight from the gut, right sir? That’s where the truth lies. Right down here in your gut.
Colbert video at link
Terrorism stats were inconvenient for Rice. The State Department is set to release its annual report showing a nearly 30 percent increase in terror attacks worldwide in 2006. “Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her top aides had considered postponing or downplaying the release of this year’s edition, due to the extreme political sensitivities, several officials said.”
LINK
Here we go again. Back in December, the guys over at Powerline were having a hard time remembering any Bush Administration officials who had been touched by scandal. It was such a laughable proposition that we decided to help them out and started compiling a rogues gallery of this scandal-plagued administration. You can see the list that readers helped us come up with here. It's a little out of date now, what with Democratic oversight and all.
With such a long list, you wouldn't think Powerline could so easily forget. But I suppose it's easy to forget what you don't really want to know. Here is part of a Powerline post from today, about all of the "faux scandals" being played up by the left-wing media:
The truth is that the Bush administration has been extraordinarily scandal-free. Not a single instance of corruption has been unearthed. Only one significant member of the executive branch, Scooter Libby, has been convicted of anything. Whether the jury's verdict was right or wrong, that case was an individual tragedy unrelated to any underlying wrongdoing by Libby or anyone else.
Funny. Just yesterday we learned that a deputy secretary of state resigned because of his ties to the D.C. madam sex scandal and that the chief of staff to the head of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division had resigned because of his alleged personal ties to the Abramoff scandal. That's not to mention the fallout from the U.S. Attorney purge scandal, the guilty plea of the former No. 2 at the Interior Department, also in the Abramoff scandal, and the list goes on.
If you're a hard-core conservative reading Powerline, does this sort of nonsense make you feel better about yourself or about your beliefs? For the uninformed, maybe it offers the assurance that things are okay. For the semi-informed, maybe it comforts them that things aren't as bad as they may seem. At what point does the internal dissonance of those who read and write such garbage exact a personal toll--morally, emotionally, spiritually?
LINK
Student protesters upset Attorney General's Harvard reunion RAW STORY
Published: Saturday April 28, 2007
Student protesters wearing hoods and Guantanamo Bay garb found their way into the US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' 25th Harvard Law School reunion Saturday.
A release sent by the group to RAW STORY claims Gonzales was "forced to leave through a back door."
Gonzales apparently arrived unnannounced. Students met him and his fellow classmates outside the law library where the class of 1982 had posed for a photo.
As the photographer said cheese, the group said students yelled that "torture," "resign" or "I don't recall" might be more appropriate.
The Justice Department could not immediately be reached for comment.
"When I heard he was on campus, I was stuffing envelopes with letters to Congress in an office two floors above," said Deborah Popowski, a second-year law student, according to the release. "I dropped everything. Gonzales needs to know that after approving poorly-reasoned memos that distort the rule of law and justify torture, he is simply not welcome here."
According the the group, Popowski slipped though the law library's front doors and approached Gonzales from behind as the Attorney General's security detail kept protesters at bay.
"On behalf of many other Harvard Law students," she said, "I'd like to tell you that we are ashamed to have you as an alumnus of this school. And we're glad you're here to be able to tell you that."
Gonzales allegedly thanked the student and offered to shake her hand, but was refused.
LINK
Tenet: CIA warned of 'anarchy' in Iraq By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writer
Fri Apr 27, 7:37 PM ET
The CIA warned the Bush White House seven months before the 2003 Iraq invasion that the U.S. could face a thicket of bad consequences, starting with "anarchy and the territorial breakup" of the country, former CIA Director George Tenet writes in a new book.
CIA analysts wrote the warning at the start of August 2002 and inserted it into a briefing book distributed at an early September meeting of President Bush's national security team at Camp David, he writes.
The agency analysis painted what Tenet calls additional "worst-case" scenarios: "a surge of global terrorism against U.S. interests fueled by deepening Islamic antipathy toward the United States"; "regime-threatening instability in key Arab states"; and "major oil supply disruptions and severe strains in the Atlantic alliance."
While the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies have been widely criticized for being wrong about much of the pre-war intelligence on Iraq, the analysis Tenet describes concerning postwar scenarios seems prescient. Iraq is buffeted by brutal sectarian violence and there are suggestions that the country be partitioned into ethnic zones.
However, Tenet cautions against concluding that the CIA predicted many of the difficulties that followed. "Doing so would be disingenuous," because the agency saw them as possible scenarios, not certainties, he writes. "The truth is often more complex than convenient."
The analysis also presaged an intelligence community conclusion last year that the Iraq war was fueling Islamic resentment toward the United States and giving rise to a new generation of terror operatives.
Tenet's recollection of the memo also comes at a time when Bush and the Democratic-controlled Congress are locked in a high-stakes dispute over war funding and whether to set hard timetables for ending the war.
A copy of the book, "At the Center of the Storm," was purchased by an Associated Press reporter Friday at a retail outlet, ahead of its scheduled Monday release. Tenet served as CIA chief from 1997 to 2004.
The book is highly critical of Vice President Dick Cheney and other administration officials, who Tenet argues rushed the United States into war in Iraq without serious debate — a charge the White House rejected on Friday. Beyond that, he contends, the administration failed to adequately consider what would come in the war's aftermath.
"There was precious little consideration, that I'm aware of, about the big picture of what would come next," Tenet writes. "While some policy makers were eager to say that we would be greeted as liberators, what they failed to mention is that the intelligence community told them that such a greeting would last only for a limited period."
The former CIA director offers a litany of questions that went unasked:
LINK
"To put this in a simple army metaphor, the Commander-in-Chief seems to have gone AWOL, that is 'absent without leave.' He neither acts nor talks as though he is in charge. Rather, he engages in tit-for-tat games.
Lt. General William Odom
Greetings -- just popping in
did ya-all miss this one
==
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 1, 2007
President BushAnnounces Butterfly Initiative in Louisiana
Lil Dizzy's Café
New Orleans, Louisiana
"It is a proven scientific fact that Butterflies start hurricanes."
"In June 2005, President Bush launched the President's Butterfly Initiative,
a five-year $1.2 billion program to combat Butterflies in 15 of the hardest-hit African nations.
Already, PBI is saving lives and spreading hope.
Aid from the American people -- that's the American taxpayers -- has reached more than 6 million Africans.
This year, 30 million more will receive lifesaving medicines, sprays and nets as the program expands.
The Butterfly Initiative also calls on developed countries,
private foundations and volunteer groups to help reduce
suffering and death caused by Butterflies. "
-- President George W. Bush
February 16, 2007
The President's Butterfly Initiative Is Saving Lives.
==
by aka jbenet
Wolfowitz tried to cover his tracks over lover's job
By Robert Verkaik and Mary Fitzgerald
Published: 29 April 2007
The president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, tried to cover his tracks after approving a promotion and substantial pay rise for his girlfriend, it has emerged.
Documents released by the bank's ethics committee show that Mr Wolfowitz, controversially appointed to the World Bank from the Pentagon, where he was a leading architect of the Iraq war, tried to limit access to employee salary information after the bank launched an inquiry into the affair.
If it can be shown that Mr Wolfowitz acted improperly by helping his lover, Shaha Rizi, to a pay rise and a high-earning post in the US State Department, then he is expected to pay with his own job. This month, the bank ordered a committee to advise on Mr Wolfowitz's future, and also to look into appointments of staff to his private office. Today, he is due to meet members of the inquiry committee.
It now emerges that in a letter written in response to a "brief conversation" and dated 13 July 2006, the bank's vice-president, Xavier Coll, told Mr Wolfowitz that it was "virtually impossible" to shut off access to individual salary details, although some staff had had their access "revoked". The news will come as a further blow to the embattled bank chief, who has been accused of acting with "reckless disregard" of his duties and offering "outlandish compensation packages to the people closest to him".
This month, 32 anti-corruption officials said in a letter that Mr Wolfowitz was a liability and called for "clear and decisive actions" to resolve the issue.
LINK
99 US soldiers killed
so far this month
The deaths raised to 99 the number of members of the U.S. military who have died this month and at least 3,346 who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
LINK
Great Moments in Punditry:
LINK
Bill Maher Psychologically Analyzes President Bush
By: SilentPatriot @ 5:03 PM - PDT Bill Maher may not be a doctor, but his diagnosis of President Bush is pretty damn accurate.
Download (2743) | Play (3393) Download (1063) | Play (2098)
"Only a delusional person could watch Alberto Gonzales before Congress last week do everything but say 'no hablo ingles' and rip up a picture of the Pope and conclude that it increased his confidence in the man. That's called disassociation from reality."
LINK
Hey Blog .... If Seder ever fixes his blog I could blog without having to wait forever for a refresh .... until then I am just popping in. Here's Frank Rich's newest ......
FRANK RICH: All the President’s Press
SOMEHOW it’s hard to imagine David Halberstam yukking it up with Alberto Gonzales, Paul Wolfowitz and two discarded “American Idol” contestants at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Before there was a Woodward and Bernstein, there was Halberstam, still not yet 30 in the early 1960s, calling those in power to account for lying about our “progress” in Vietnam. He did so even though J.F.K. told the publisher of The Times, “I wish like hell that you’d get Halberstam out of there.” He did so despite public ridicule from the dean of that era’s Georgetown punditocracy, the now forgotten columnist (and Vietnam War cheerleader) Joseph Alsop.
It was Alsop’s spirit, not Halberstam’s, that could be seen in C-Span’s live broadcast of the correspondents’ dinner last Saturday, two days before Halberstam’s death in a car crash in California. This fete is a crystallization of the press’s failures in the post-9/11 era: it illustrates how easily a propaganda-driven White House can enlist the Washington news media in its shows. Such is literally the case at the annual dinner, where journalists serve as a supporting cast, but it has been figuratively true year-round. The press has enabled stunts from the manufactured threat of imminent “mushroom clouds” to “Saving Private Lynch” to “Mission Accomplished,” whose fourth anniversary arrives on Tuesday. For all the recrimination, self-flagellation and reforms that followed these journalistic failures, it’s far from clear that the entire profession yet understands why it has lost the public’s faith.
That state of denial was center stage at the correspondents’ dinner last year, when the invited entertainer, Stephen Colbert, “fell flat,” as The Washington Post summed up the local consensus. To the astonishment of those in attendance, a funny thing happened outside the Beltway the morning after: the video of Mr. Colbert’s performance became a national sensation. (Last week it was still No. 2 among audiobook downloads on iTunes.) Washington wisdom had it that Mr. Colbert bombed because he was rude to the president. His real sin was to be rude to the capital press corps, whom he caricatured as stenographers. Though most of the Washington audience failed to find the joke funny, Americans elsewhere, having paid a heavy price for the press’s failure to challenge White House propaganda about Iraq, laughed until it hurt......
--MORE--
See Ya
8-)
Oversight: The Coming Attractions (May)
By emptywheel @ 1:00 pm
As a public service last month, I laid out all the known oversight coming attractions. It certainly helped me plan my "calling in to work well" days, so I thought I'd do it again. Here's what our Dems have in store for May.
April 16, 2 PM: Deadline for DOJ to turn over the electronic data from emails and other documents withheld
April 27: Deadline for DOJ to answer questions about previously undisclosed Renzi/Charlton contacts
April 30: Deadline for Condi to admit that BushCo's dreadful policies actually lead to more terrorism, not less
April 30: World Bank hearing at which Paul Wolfowitz begs to keep his job
May 1,
May 1, 2:30 PM: SSCI open/closed hearing on FISA
May 1, 10 AM: Oversight hearing on FDA's mission
May 1, 10:30 AM: House Judiciary hearing on Bankruptcy Law
May 3, 9:30 AM: James Comey testifies before the House Judiciary Subcommittee
May 3, 3 PM: House Judiciary hearing on Immigration Reform
May 4: Deadline for Gonzales to refresh his memory and report back to SJC
May 8: Deadline for RNC to turn over basic information regarding WH use of RNC server, with Chair Mike Duncan to appear
May 9: Gonzales appears before Senate Appropriations Committee
May 10, 10 AM: George Tenet testifies before Oversight on the Niger claims
May 10: Gonzales appears before HJC
May 10: SSCI closed hearing on National Security Lettters
May 10, 10:30 AM: Labor and Education hearing for Margaret Spellings to explain the graft in Student Loans and Reading First programs
May 17: Hearing on the Wilson's lawsuit
May 18: Deadline for 20 agencies to turn over information related to political presentations using government resources
May 18: Deadline for the WH and Pentagon to turn over any documents relating to Pat Tillman's death
Those are the events already scheduled. The items that don't have a deadline, though, will produce the real fireworks. These are:
The Monica Goodling immunity + subpoena deal (I think they're trying to get her testimony before May 10, but I'm still looking for that link)
The subpoena of Sara Taylor to appear before the House Judiciary Committee to explain the USA firings
The Condi Rice subpoena to explain how she let the Niger claim into the SOTU
A negotiated appearance of Andy Card before Government Oversight to talk about the gaping holes in WH security and its inconsistent approach to security breaches
As I predicted last month and since, Condi appears ready to resist all attempts to get her to admit she allowed the Niger claim into the SOTU in spite of the fact that Tenet told her it was bunk. Though I wonder if Tenet will specifically address this question when he stops by Waxman's committee? If so, I wonder whether that will convince Condi to be a little more forthcoming?
The other unscheduled events–Card's testimony (Fielding had ceded enough on this front by Wednesday to forestall a Card subpoena, so I expect Card will testify in some form), Taylor's testimony, and above all Goodling's testimony should be real barn-burners. And there's always the threatened Rove and Miers subpoenas. Though, seeing as how DOJ has not yet turned over the materials Conyers subpoenaed on April 10, I think we won't be seeing Turdblossom before a Congressional committee anytime soon.
Meanwhile Alberto Gonzales still defies the odds of the bookies on whether and when he'll be forced out.
Update: Ah, there it is–I was looking for a link showing Gonzales scheduled before Conyers' committee–and via David Kurtz, I see he appears on May 10. From the same article, we hear that McNulty and Moschella may also appear.
I've also heard that Conyers wants to hear from Goodling before he has Gonzales in, so we may hear from Goodling in the next 10 days or so.
LINK
Friday, April 27, 2007
Monica Goodling Instructs DOJ Officials to Delete Documents
Another Friday, another document dump from the DOJ. I haven't had time to look through very many of the documents, but one of the first ones I came across was this one from Monica "I plead the Fifth" Goodling. Notice the instruction in boldface type (click on the image to zoom in):
Click the link to see the email
-------------
Infamous quote from John Hinderaker at Powerline:
"It must be very strange to be President Bush. A man of extraordinary vision and brilliance approaching to genius, he can't get anyone to notice. He is like a great painter or musician who is ahead of his time, and who unveils one masterpiece after another to a reception that, when not bored, is hostile."
Link to Hinderaker's blog with the above quote:
http://powerlineblog.com/archives/011183.php#011183
_______________________
A Stroke of Genius?
Please Notice Bush -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwisQkmpqmQ
Hey Blog .... If Seder ever fixes his blog...
Stranger things have happened...
Well, maybe not.
Coachella, Live
Hi! I'm at the 24/7/365 Apple store on Fifth Ave.
- Catharine
Proud is he, and a spendthrift, but his wealth has no limit; bold and free, a prodigal lover, but his heart is great enough for all. He is the heir and viceregent of the Most High and Holy One that is hidden behind his intolerable brilliance. If our eyes could pierce the fiery gates of heaven, we might behold a vaster and more awesome form. Nor should the Sun arise without our meditating upon Him whose representative in matter he is, nor reach the zenith without our thrill of ecstasy in his triumph. At sunset let us pause, and partake of the grand and gloomy mystery of his crucifixion, and even at midnight let us in our silence call upon him, that being, descended into the darkness, who is the herald of our resurrection and ascension. [For the religious practice corresponding to these remarks, see "Liber Resh vel Helios sub figura 200."]
and here i am petting possums...! i wanna live in a city again so i can go to a 24/7/365 anything...
1
2
*
SJ, could you post Chubb's address again please?
Kirk Bowers 302414
Airway Heights Correction Center.
PO Box 2139 Unit TB - 36
Airway Heights Washington, USA
99001 - 2139
The Free Press:
Do It
Cast your vote for Video The Vote!
by Melissa Giraud, League of Young Voters
April 28, 2007
CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 has chosen to feature Video the Vote as one of four pieces in its year ending “Keeping Them Honest” segment. Their Video the Vote piece will be featured on the CNN website in the coming days where viewers LIKE YOU will be asked to go to the internet and vote on their favorite segment. If Video the Vote gets the most votes, Ian Inaba, our co-founder (and one of our hardest working volunteers) will win the chance to represent all of us in an interview with Anderson Cooper on New Year’s Eve. More importantly, if Video the Voters get the most votes, we’ll win an opportunity to highlight the continued problem of voter suppression by broadcasting your videos to the CNN audience.
So please vote for Ian Inaba, for Video the Vote and for doing our part to end voter suppression. Cast your ballot at:
CNN Vote Site
Also, please know that Video the Vote volunteers have continued to work long past election day. We’ve had continued activity in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio and, of course, Florida. Video the Voters Jeannie Dean and Leonard Schmiege have been particularly busy this last month in Sarasota. They have kept focus on the absurd situation in Sarasota, at times when no other cameras were watching. Check out their latest updates at Video the Vote
We’ll continue to update you as your videos are put to good use. We’re working with our partner organizations from Election Protection to add video to their legislative and legal appeals. So if you still have video to submit, please let us know at Email
So also in the course of the Sun in the year, let us study the strange festivals of Egypt and of Chaldæa, of Mexico, Peru, India, Persia, Tibet, Greece, Syria, Scandinavia and Nineveh and Babylon of old. Let us trace their survival in the fasts and feasts of our own day, and thereby understanding what we do, practice them with zeal and with intelligence.
http://www.robrob8.com/pictures/images/halloween-dog-costumes.jpg
http://images.wikia.com/uncyclopedia/images/thumb/f/f7/Burger_king_crucif.jpg/250px-Burger_king_crucif.jpg
In this way, we shall not only harmonize and perfect our natures, but thrill them with the rapture of illumination. We shall lose the petty personal consciousness that is the cause of our selfishness, and so of all our miseries and fears, of all our cruelty and our injustice; we shall regain the cosmic consciousness; we shall be once more one with all things, and the universe will appear in its unsullied glory, freed from the veil of horror and darkness that our own imperfect light has seemed to cast upon its holy and adorable splendour.
http://whatisee.org/mt/archives/images/seaside-clown.jpg
Night...
[catharine runs away from home, but keeps in touch, then changes her mind when she hears wolves] ~April 29, 2007 2:05 AM
//Hi! [mum & dada] I'm at the 24/7/365 Apple store on Fifth Ave. [p.s. pls, come & pick me up]//
//The page cannot be displayed//
this blog saps my gusto
//i wanna live in a city again so i can go to a 24/7/365 anything// ~said alice @ the 7/11
me, too
i pretend i'm a traffic cop
then when real cops turn up, i bolt into a lost crowd of people
"where are we"
"i don't know, we're all lost"
"too bad there's not a traffic cop around"
"well, what about him"
"oh, that's ono... he's hiding from the cops"
A Fun Game.
http://www.thefrown.com/frowners/becomerepublican.swf
here i am in oaxaca
brave & strong, directing the traffic, oppressing the masses
"stop!... you, you can go,... wrong way... slip me 500 pesos & i'll let you go"
(needless to say, it's one of shell's favourites)
Well, I'll be damned.
kos actually banned MSOC.
An ode to the purged:
"First they came for the conspiracy theorists, and I did not speak up, because I did not really give a shit.
Then they came for peeder, and I still did not speak up, because peeder was kind of a wanker anyway.
Then they came for Armando and still I did not speak up, because, well, Armando's an egotistical bastard, and he sort of had it coming.
Then they came for MSOC, and still I did not speak up, because kos vs. MSOC is way too fucking meta for me.
Then they came for me, and since I'm not very interesting, no one spoke up for me."
The End
me in paris
"can i proceed"
"wee" ~ i said non chalantly
[SCREECH!! CRASH!!]
Sacre bleu!
(oh, blimey)
here i am in the punjab region of pakistan
doing undercover work for the cia...
one of those camels is full of al qaeda seamen & loose nukes trying to pass undetected
so please, don't post anything detrimental against the bush admentalisation for fear of being outted
*
FREE LIBBY!!
(oh, blimey)
William Kristol confronted on CSPAN by a caller: “LIAR”
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/04/28/william-kristol-confronted-on-cspan-by-a-caller-liar/
//An ode to the purged//
LMAO
*
Thought you'd like that, ono.
Heavy meta day at the kollective.
(oh, blimey)
here i am in the punjab region of pakistan
doing undercover work for the cia...
one of those camels is full of al qaeda seamen & loose nukes trying to pass undetected
so please, don't post anything detrimental against the bush admentalisation for fear of being outted
*
FREE LIBBY!!
(oh, blimey)
make a diary out of it WFC!!!
-conbo
air ono:Love your pictures.Many disguises.
"Heavy meta" should be properly credited to #, posting at the kollective.
at least post it to an open thread
im going to and I will get all the rec's for it
-conbo
Not after the hive queen posted THE RULES today. My diary would not have the requisite three paragraphs, and I'm probably all tapped out for wit in one night with that effort.
Too bad it wouldn't work as a sig.
air-ono:My Uncle-Inlaw.......
http://www.amazon.com/Master-Disguise-Secret-Life-CIA/dp/0060957913/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-4259875-3542403?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177841614&sr=1-1
Okay, I'm heading to the open thread with it. This oughta be funny.
I have spent waaaaaaay
to much time over there
which is NOT COOL
The cool people over there stay a minute and then leave
until the next day
-conbo
or pretend to
I've never commented in an open thread. I don't even usually bother with the rec'd list, either, though I do read 'em.
don't bother talking to me, guys
"you'll get no reply"
the free-exchange of chat is impossible here
[P.S. this post was written in 2005]
oh man
i have to go to sleep or tommorrow will be hell!
i need to get ready for Jesus Day
later WFC!
-conbo
Ono you silly
XOXOXOXOXOXO
-conbo
"Lead your people out of the wilderness, SEDER!"
~air-ono, c. 2005
---
Night, #!
Think I'll call it in as well.
Many blessings, all!
btw WFC it is gdmnd funny
-conbo
i will feel bad if no else rec's it
like what happened to Shell when I advised her to post
a racist article (that I did not know was racist)
but i think it's funny
-conb0
Whatever. I troll hunted for a little while after I first got TU over there. People just throw MOJO at you when you TR some poor, dumb bastard.
Even if it gets sent to hidden comment land, I'll still be amused.
today is the Sabbath
Sam can't change threads until later
ok
reallly reallly need to get offline
-conbo
er YESTERDAY was the sabbath
but today is the middle of the night!
-conbo
ok gone i hope
imagine that
Huge rally for Turkish secularism
Demonstration - 29/04/07
Tens of thousands of people are rallying in Istanbul in support of secularism in Turkey, amid a row over a vote for the country's next president.
ABC’s Ross: DC Madam’s List Includes White House & Pentagon Officials, Prominent Lawyers »
ABC News’ Brian Ross revealed tonight that the list of customers of an alleged Washington-based prostitution service includes White House and Pentagon officials as well as prominent attorneys.
“There are thousands of names, tens of thousands of phone numbers,” Ross said. “And there are people there at the Pentagon, lobbyists, others at the White House, prominent lawyers — a long, long list.” Ross added that the women who worked for the service, potentially as prostitutes, “include university professors, legal secretaries, scientists, military officers.”
On Friday, Ross broke the news that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias had frequented the escort service. Ross added new details to that story tonight, recounting how he asked Tobias in a telephone interview “if he knew any of the young women, their names. He said he didn’t remember them at all. He said it was like ordering pizza.”
Watch it:
UPDATE: The Washington Post carries a front-page profile of the DC Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, in Sunday’s paper. Palfrey will be interviewed exclusively on ABC’s 20/20 on May 4.
Reminds me of the good ole British sex scandals
Experts: Iraq will be worse for U.S. than Vietnam. “As fighting in Iraq enters its fifth year, an increasing number of experts in foreign policy and national strategy are arguing that the biggest difference may be that the Iraq war will inflict greater damage to U.S. interests than Vietnam did.”
“It makes Vietnam look like a cakewalk,” said retired Air Force Gen. Charles F. Wald, a veteran of the Vietnam War. The domino theory that nations across Southeast Asia would go communist was not fulfilled, he noted, but with Iraq, “worst-case scenarios are the most likely thing to happen.”
Iraq is worse than Vietnam “in so many ways,” agreed Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr., a retired Army officer and author of one of the most respected studies of the U.S. military’s failure in Vietnam. “We knew what we were getting into in Vietnam. We didn’t here.”
Also, President Richard M. Nixon used diplomacy with China and the Soviet Union to exploit the split between them and so minimize the fallout of Vietnam. By contrast, Krepinevich said, the Bush administration has “magnified” the problems of Iraq by neglecting public diplomacy in the Muslim world and by not developing an energy policy to reduce the significance of Middle Eastern oil.
LINK
Most Katrina Aid From Overseas Went Unclaimed
By John Solomon and Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, April 29, 2007; A01
As the winds and water of Hurricane Katrina were receding, presidential confidante Karen Hughes sent a cable from her State Department office to U.S. ambassadors worldwide.
Titled "Echo-Chamber Message" -- a public relations term for talking points designed to be repeated again and again -- the Sept. 7, 2005, directive was unmistakable: Assure the scores of countries that had pledged or donated aid at the height of the disaster that their largesse had provided Americans "practical help and moral support" and "highlight the concrete benefits hurricane victims are receiving."
Many of the U.S. diplomats who received the message, however, were beginning to witness a more embarrassing reality. They knew the U.S. government was turning down many allies' offers of manpower, supplies and expertise worth untold millions of dollars. Eventually the United States also would fail to collect most of the unprecedented outpouring of international cash assistance for Katrina's victims.
Allies offered $854 million in cash and in oil that was to be sold for cash. But only $40 million has been used so far for disaster victims or reconstruction, according to U.S. officials and contractors. Most of the aid went uncollected, including $400 million worth of oil. Some offers were withdrawn or redirected to private groups such as the Red Cross. The rest has been delayed by red tape and bureaucratic limits on how it can be spent.
In addition, valuable supplies and services -- such as cellphone systems, medicine and cruise ships -- were delayed or declined because the government could not handle them. In some cases, supplies were wasted.
The struggle to apply foreign aid in the aftermath of the hurricane, which has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $125 billion so far, is another reminder of the federal government's difficulty leading the recovery. Reports of government waste and delays or denials of assistance have surfaced repeatedly since hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck in 2005.
LINK
Let Gravel Speak! Sign the Petition.
April 28, 2007
In a pre-emptive statement issued on March 16, CNN, WMUR TV and the New Hampshire Union Leader declared their intention to exclude Democratic Presidential candidate Mike Gravel from their tri-sponsored debate on June 3rd. This petition seeks to change that. In the wake of the debate on April 26, Sen. Gravel deserves to be heard. I address this petition to the Publisher of the Union Leader as I feel it will make the most impact there.
Please copy and paste the url below.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/283054100
CNN showing the protest in Turkey. A sea of people protesting the soon to be new president who wants to make the country an islamist state.
The protest is against this and wants to keep the country secular.
Baghdad rocked with loud explosions By THOMAS WAGNER, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 40 minutes ago
U.S. forces fired an artillery barrage in southern Baghdad Sunday morning, rocking the capital with loud explosions, while the death toll from a suicide car bomb attack in the Shiite holy city of Karbala rose to 68.
The blasts in Baghdad came a day after the U.S. military announced the deaths of nine American troops, including four killed in separate roadside bombings south of Baghdad and five in fighting in Anbar province, a Sunni insurgent stronghold west of the capital.
The size and the pattern of the explosions, which began after 9 a.m. and lasted for at least 15 minutes, suggested they were directed at Sunni militant neighborhoods along the city's southern rim. Such blasts have been heard in the evenings but are rare at that time of day.
In a brief statement to The Associated Press, the U.S. military said it fired the artillery from a forward operating base near Iraq's Rasheed military base southeast of Baghdad, but provided no other details.
Iraqis in the southern region of the city said American and Iraqi forces had stepped up their operations in the Dora area of southern Baghdad starting Saturday night.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad confirmed Sunday that his government will attend a major regional conference on Iraq set for this week in Egypt, the Iraqi prime minister's office said.
A statement from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office said Ahmadinejad telephoned the Iraqi leader and told him Tehran would participate in the meeting Thursday and Friday in the resort of Sharm El-Sheik.
The call was made as top Iranian envoy Ali Larijani flew to Baghdad for talks with Iraqi leaders.
LINK
Here's the Sunday Talking Head line-up (Some via the Arizona Daily Star.)
C-Span's "Washington Journal" — 7:45am - Mike Glover, Associated Press, Chief Political Writer; 8:30am - Newspaper Articles & Viewer Calls; 9am - Said Hakki, Iraqi Red Crescent, President; 9:30am - James Collins, Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia (1997-2001).
ABC's "This Week" — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Sam Brownback, R-Kan., presidential candidate; actress Natalie Portman.
CBS' "Face the Nation" — Rice; Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa.
NBC's "Meet the Press" — Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., presidential candidate.
CNN's "Late Edition" — Rice; Reps. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., and Jane Harman, D-Calif.; Hoshyar Zebari, Iraqi foreign minister; European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
"Fox News Sunday" — Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and wife Cindy McCain.
Don't know about you, but it's an awful lot of Condi Rice to deal with first thing in the morning. I'm going to need way more coffee…although I'm sure hanging out in the Green Room with Jack Murtha will do wonders for her, too, today. Will Blitzer ask Adam Putnam about his comment that AG Gonzales should resign? That could make for a fun interview moment with the Representative from Howdy Doody.
LINK
Tenet and Ledeen
by BooMan
Sat Apr 28th, 2007 at 01:04:33 PM EST
Scott Shane reports on George Tenet's forthcoming book. Tenet will be on 60 Minutes tomorrow night and will be ubiquitous next week as he shills for himself and his version of history. Take a look.
In January 2002, George J. Tenet, the man who oversaw all American spy agencies, was asked by a visiting Italian intelligence official what he knew about United States officials making contact with exiled Iranian opposition figures.
“I shot a look at other members of my staff in the meeting,” Mr. Tenet writes in his newly published memoir. “It was clear that none of us knew what he was talking about. The Italian quickly changed the subject.”
The embarrassed Mr. Tenet, then director of central intelligence, had stumbled upon a quixotic effort by a few Pentagon officials working closely with a conservative Middle East specialist, Michael A. Ledeen, to meet with Iranian dissidents living abroad. It was neither the first nor the last time he would be surprised by intelligence efforts inside the Bush administration but outside official channels.
Not to question the honesty of George Tenet, but how does this square with the timeline Josh Marshall, Laura Rozen, and Paul Glastris laid out back in September 2004?
The first meeting occurred in Rome in December, 2001. It included [Larry] Franklin, [Harold] Rhode, and another American, the neoconservative writer and operative Michael Ledeen, who organized the meeting. (According to UPI, Ledeen was then working for [Douglas] Feith as a consultant.) Also in attendance was [Manucher] Ghorbanifar and a number of other Iranians. One of the Iranians, according to two sources familiar with the meeting, was a former senior member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard who claimed to have information about dissident ranks within the Iranian security services. The Washington Monthly has also learned from U.S. government sources that Nicolo Pollari, the head of Italy's military intelligence agency, SISMI, attended the meetings, as did the Italian Minister of Defense Antonio Martino, who is well-known in neoconservative circles in Washington.
Alarm bells about the December 2001 meeting began going off in U.S. government channels only days after it occurred. On December 12th 2001, at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, America's newly-installed Ambassador, Mel Sembler, sat down for a private dinner with Ledeen, an old friend of his from Republican Party politics, and Martino, the Italian defense minister. The conversation quickly turned to the meeting. The problem was that this was the first that Ambassador Sembler had heard about it.
According to U.S. government sources, Sembler immediately set about trying to determine what he could about the meeting and how it had happened. Since U.S. government contact with foreign government intelligence agencies is supposed to be overseen by the CIA, Sembler first spoke to the CIA station chief in Rome to find out what if anything he knew about the meeting with the Iranians. But that only raised more questions because the station chief had been left in the dark as well. Soon both Sembler and the Rome station chief were sending anxious queries back to the State Department and CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia, respectively, raising alarms on both sides of the Potomac.
So, Ambassador Sembler learned about the meeting on December 12th and contacted the CIA station chief in Rome. The ambassador and the station chief 'soon' sent 'anxious queries back to the State Department and CIA headquarters'. What is 'soon'? A month later George Tenet and his staff still had no clue? I plan on reading Tenet's book but we should all be very careful about citing it as if it is chapter and verse. Tenet is a professional liar.
LINK
The Washington Post scrapes the bottom of the barrel to find people who think the war isn't "lost."
-- Greg Sargent
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/04/washington_post_3.php
Sunshine said...
Kirk Bowers 302414
Airway Heights Correction Center.
PO Box 2139 Unit TB - 36
Airway Heights Washington, USA
99001 - 2139
The fat bastard finally got what he deserved.
Sunshine:Whose Kirk Bowers?
---Fun With Homophones---
mmrules: "Whose Kirk Bowers?"
Bait: "Your Kirk Bowers."
toniD wrote: On Friday, Ross broke the news that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias had frequented the escort service. Ross added new details to that story tonight, recounting how he asked Tobias in a telephone interview “if he knew any of the young women, their names. He said he didn’t remember them at all. He said it was like ordering pizza.”
April 29, 2007 7:34 AM
---------
"I want mine with extra sauce."
"Hold the sausage."
(So many jokes, so little time.)
"Hey, wait a minute. I didn't order this thin crust!"
Morning Crank.
Sunday show are about to start.
mmrules Kirk Bowers was a poster here using the nic Chubby Bubba.
There are certain trolls who didnot like him.
He's kind of crusty.
"This pizza smells like anchovies!"
Mornin gang!
overcast this AM
looks like it'll clear.
"I pledge allegiance to the flags of the Americas (but not Venezuela) for which it stands."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T74VA3xU0EA&NR=1
Kirk Is a dear friend,
cranky, ornery, smart and funny.
got pushed for months and snapped at a ripoff.
i watched the whole thing go down, tried to head it off too.
personally i think a smashed face for messing with a guys finances for three months balances out.
the buddhist monk in me knows better, the biker part of me was impressed that he let the puke live.
This guy on Reliable Sources, Howard Kurtz, is a real spin master. He even spoke about Halberstam. He said Halberstam wrote during the Viet Nam war, when the Media was more respectful of the President and the government.
the buddhist monk in me knows better, the biker part of me was impressed that he let the puke live.
April 29, 2007 10:59 AM
you can spin it a little better than that.
Kirk Bowers was a TROLL.
Kirk Bowers was a TROLL.""
Ya think?
if he was, he was certainly more entertaining than you, you gutless puke.
if he was, he was certainly more entertaining than you, you gutless puke.
Is that the Biker or the Buddhist Monk in you?
so,
morning coffee,
a good donut, a defense
of a good, slightly flawed friend.
feels like a cop's breakfast,
without the diner crew.
neither,
maybe the frustrated blogger...
whaddya say,
we all admit we're
all totally FUBAR and
just continue without the hypocrisy?
Kirk Bowers was a bully troll
hee! PJ lays it down!
"Another Sunday, another batch of talking heads. I can hardly wait.
First off, on Press the Meat, it’s an MBNA kinda day, as Timmy Potatohead hosts Joe Biden as part of Timmuh’s “Meet the Candidate” series. An hour of Joe and Tim. Oy.
Over at CBS, Bush Buddy Bobby Schieffer hosts the Lizard Queen, Condi Rice, (no time to answer Congressional subpoenas, but plenty of time to spread the *BS) plus Jack Murtha. I hope they’re on together, and Murtha smacks her. Just don’t hit her in the hair, Jack, or you’ll break every bone in your hand.
On Fux News Sunday, Weaselface Wallace hosts the soulless John McCain, and his Stepford wife, Cindy, on to talk about McCain’s illegitimate black baby.
Over at the Goebbels Network, George Snufalufagus gets himself a little lizard action (maybe Congress should have her appear on Sunday, when she apparently has all kinds of time to appear), Kansas nutjob, Sam Bareback Brownback, and Russ “the man” Feingold. At the roundtable, it’s Fareed “Token” Zakaria editor, graduate of the NPR school of hackery, Martha Raddatz and the ever-smug yet dull George Will. And then Natalie Portman will be on to talk about micro-loans.
Wolf Blitzer’s Late Emission includes a little lizard action (between all the talk shows and going down on dubya in the presidential limo, it’s no wonder she doesn’t have time for Congress), Iraqi Foreign Minister Hose yer Zebra Hoshyar Zebari, Democrat Adam Putnam of Florida, pseudo-Democrat Jane Harman of California, Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and a few assorted CNN hacks.
Later, on 60 Minutes “Slam Dunk” George Tenet hawks his book with Scott Pelley, and Steve Kroft ponders whether someone who has been deemed an imminent danger to himself (like Seung-Hui Cho) be allowed to own a gun? Must people would probably answer “duh,” but apparently “advocates” for the mentally ill say yes.
Then there are new episodes of the Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad, plus episode 4 of 9 of the last season of the Sopranos. Have a good Sunday."
Kirk Bowers was a bully troll""
so what?
and you're the epitome of responsible comment?
Just watched Biden on "Press the Meat". Heh!
Biden is good at turning it back on timmeh. I don't totally agree with everything Biden said but he really handled Russert today.
I do agree with his idea to seperate the areas of Iraq and distribute the oil equally to the different states. I don't see any other solution at this time, though there could be problems with this also.
Condi was on Stephanopoulos show. George put her on the hot seat about not testifying at the House Committee and said she would be held in contempt. She said so be it, that she said everything she had to say about that issue, but George, in his way, showed that she was lying.
I'd like to see Waxman hold her in contempt!!
She will be at the meeting of the regional Arab meeting in Egypt that Iran says they will attend. George asked her if she will engage them in talks. She said she would try but the meeting is about how to handle Iraq so she would ask them to stay out of Iraq and not suppy them with IEDs and other weapons. George asked her if she would try to negotiate with Iran.
She said if the opportunity arrose, she would.
I say, make the opportunity to negotiate!!
If you want to hear the real truth about Zimbabwe, neoliberalism, neocolonialims and the world, listen here.
Brendan Stone interviews Stephen Gowans.
Ohhhh! Blitzer is asking the hard questions!!
He's giving it to that little Red Headed pipsqueak!!
Good on Blizer!!
This Putnam was trying to say there was too much pork in the bill and Blitzer said when the repubs were in control the Iraq funding was leaded with pork. Does that mean it's okay for the repubs to do but not the dems?
HIGH NOON!
Have a toke for peace on Earth!
toniD said...
mmrules Kirk Bowers was a poster here using the nic Chubby Bubba.
There are certain trolls who didnot like him.
He's kind of crusty.
Tonid;Thanks.
Sorry for opening a can of worms.I really didn't know who K.Bowers was.......
Sorry I asked Crank Bait,Blow me!
mmrules: "Sorry I asked Crank Bait,Blow me!"
April 29, 2007 12:00 PM
---------------------------------
I have a Language Nazi image to maintain. It's work. It's hard work.
Blitzer just said the the parliament of Iraq is ready to take a two month recess and have not settled any of the issues that are in front of them now.
He is talking to the Foreign Minister of Iraq.
A two month recess? Now?
Lets just get out of there. They don't seem interested in helping themselves.
Crank Bait said...
mmrules: "Sorry I asked Crank Bait,Blow me!"
April 29, 2007 12:00 PM
---------------------------------
I have a Language Nazi image to maintain. It's work. It's hard work
Whatever.......
tonid said:A two month recess? Now?
Lets just get out of there. They don't seem interested in helping themselves.
Agree!
Rice: ‘I Don’t Know What We Were Supposed To Preemptively Strike In Afghanistan’ In July 2001 »
This evening, 60 Minutes will air its discussion with former CIA Director George Tenet. In one exchange, Tenet elaborates on a briefing that he and his former aide Cofer Black delivered to then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice in July 2001 warning of an “urgent threat” from al Qaeda. In the 60 Minutes interview, Tenet says this is the message he delivered to Rice two months prior to 9/11:
We need to consider immediate action inside Afghanistan now. We need to move to the offensive.
On CBS’s Face the Nation, a perplexed and stunned Rice said, “The idea of launching preemptive strikes into Afghanistan in July of 2001, this is a new fact.” Rice then said, “I don’t know what we were supposed to preemptively strike in Afghanistan. Perhaps somebody can ask that.” Watch it:
Note to Rice: The intelligence community was trying to tell you to take the action President Clinton took — that is, make an effort to kill this guy:
LINK
Murtha Floats Impeachment As ‘One Way To Influence The President’ »
This morning on CBS’s Face the Nation, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) expressed frustration with the White House’s public rhetoric about wanting to reach a compromise over Iraq funding. “They say we’re willing to compromise,” he said. “And then we don’t get any compromise.”
“We’ve already compromised,” Murtha said. “And we need to make this president understand, Mr. President, the public has spoken. There’s three ways or four ways to influence a president. One is popular opinion, the election, third is impeachment and fourth is the purse.” Host Bob Schieffer followed up, pressing him on whether impeachment was a serious option on the table. Murtha responded, “I’m just saying that’s one way to influence a president.” Watch it:
LINK
(April 29, 2007 -- 10:36 AM EDT)
How common is this? (from the Times ...)
A few nights after he resigned his post as secretary of state two years ago, Colin L. Powell answered a ring at his front door. Standing outside was Prince Bandar, then Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, with a 1995 Jaguar. Mr. Powell’s wife, Alma, had once mentioned that she missed their 1995 Jaguar, which she and her husband had traded in. Prince Bandar had filed that information away, and presented the Powells that night with an identical, 10-year-old model. The Powells kept the car — a gift that the State Department said was legal — but recently traded it away.
As my friend who sent me the link put it: Is it time to review all such give to former and present administration officials?
-- Josh Marshall
Fired US Attorney David Iglesias on “Real Time”
By: SilentPatriot @ 9:02 AM - PDT Fired USA David Iglesias joins the "Real Time" panel to talk about the purge scandal and swiftly dispels all the right-wing rumors. If the Bush administration thought they could fire people of such integrity and expect them not to be irate and speak out, they were sadly mistaken.
Download (620) | Play (714) Download (239) | Play (501)
LINK
I'd Just Like To Say Hello To My Uncle!
Rice Falsely Claims U.N. Inspectors Thought Saddam Hussein Had WMD »
In his new book, former CIA Director George Tenet alleges that there was “never a serious debate that I know of within the administration about the imminence of the Iraq threat,” suggesting the administration had made up its mind to go to war from an early stage.
On CNN’s Late Edition, Condoleezza Rice responded, “We all thought that the intelligence case was strong,” adding that even “the U.N weapons inspectors [thought] Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.” She concluded, “So there’s no blame here of anyone.” Watch it:
Rice would like the public to believe that no one is to blame because everyone was misled by the intelligence. In fact, U.N. weapons inspectors declared weeks before the invasion that Hussein did not possess WMD. The inspectors publicly lambasted consistently false and misleading U.S. intelligence leading up to the war:
[On March 7, 2003], the head of the IAEA, Mohamed El-Baradei, reported that there was no evidence that Saddam Hussein had any nuclear weapons or was in the process of acquiring them. Mr Blix said: “By then, Mohamed ElBaradei revealed that Niger was not authentic.” British intelligence falsely claimed Iraq had been trying to acquire uranium from Niger. [4/28/05]
So frustrated have the inspectors become that one source has referred to the U.S. intelligence they’ve been getting as “garbage after garbage after garbage.” … The inspectors find themselves caught between the Iraqis, who are masters at the weapons-hiding shell game, and the United States, whose intelligence they’ve found to be circumstantial, outdated or just plain wrong. [2/20/03]
Chief United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix told the U.N. Security Council that his inspection teams had not found any “smoking guns” after visiting some 125 Iraqi sites.
LINK
WHO FOTTID?
When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her out to some place expensive. So I took her to a gas station !!!!!!!
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Martin Short is hilarious when he plays the corporate hack.
The Sidney Morning Herald:
For all the razzle-dazzle of Rice's first year as Secretary of State, it is hard to think of any real and substantial achievements. Her "transformational diplomacy" in the Middle East has achieved virtually nothing. None of the region's leaders, it seems, takes her seriously. Bush's democracy project, which Rice embraced so enthusiastically, is virtually dead and buried.
And there are no good signs that any peace talks of any kind between Israel and the Palestinians are likely in the foreseeable future, despite Rice's frantic shuttle diplomacy in the region last month. Her decline mirrors the disintegration of the Bush Administration. Her biggest battle right now is to work out how she can defy a subpoena from a key congressional committee demanding she testify about how it was that the Administration, in the months before the invasion of Iraq, used a "fabricated claim that Iraq sought uranium from Niger".
Perhaps that's the real reason why she has remained silent as Bush has tried in vain to sell Americans on an Iraq policy that a majority of them are convinced cannot succeed.
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