Kautilyan: Treasury Used to Attack Kerry

The Bush administration keeps having civil servants violate the law by having them work on explicitly political projects. I hate these people.

Senate passes the Unborn Victims of Violence Bill

Make no mistake, this is a direct assault on a woman's right to choose, and if there's a second term for Bush, I can guarantee you that you'll have seen the end of Roe v. Wade.

You can't turn your backs on these assholes for a second.

Just When You Think Bush Can't Get Any Lower

He goes and makes fun of the missing WMDs. You know, those things we were supposed to be finding? Those things that formed the foundation for the entire justification of the war on Iraq? Those things that have led to the deaths of 585 US soldiers and over 10,000 Iraqis (not to mention the wounded and other casualties)?

This is supposed to be presidential?

And to think, Dean was excoriated in the press for giving a pep rally cry.

Oh, THAT Burn!

I'd compartmentalized the humilation, shame, and other negative aspects to working my current job. Then I got put on a new assignment this week. In sum, the task goes something like this: you know that job that solely through our own incompetence you didn't get considered for? yeah, that job that solely through our own sloth and disdain we would not accomodate an interview for you, even though you notified us immediately and acted vigorously to further your candidacy after we had totally screwed you through our own incompetence? Yeah, that job that hired three other people who are all less qualified than you in every way imaginable? Well, guess what?! You get to do exactly what they are doing - and what you would have been doing if you had been hired - for approximately half the money, 1/3rd the office, and an infinte amount less of respect.

Aren't you excited? Aren't you just so happy to be given this opportunity? Aren't you just looking forward to really helping the team out?

I fucking hate this job.

Condi Rice's Negligence Finally an Open Issue

By Richard Clarke, of course. We already knew she didn't read her daily briefings or any of the policy pieces prepared for her, as evidenced by the Nigerian yellowcake deception in the State of the Union address. She refuses to openly testify and she refuses to testify under oath to the 9/11 Commission, yet she hurls slanderous insults and disinformation from behind the protection of her adminstration (what a coward!).

Last night on Larry King, Clarke said:

Clarke said the Clinton administration's approach to a similar threat before the turn of the millennium -- on which top officials held daily interagency meetings and actively sought information from within their own agencies -- shows that a similar approach might have worked to prevent the September 11 terrorist attacks.

He said that prior to 9/11, people within the FBI knew that two of the 19 hijackers were in the country, but that information never made its way up to the highest levels of power.

If Condi Rice had been doing her job and holding those daily meetings the way Sandy Berger did, if she had a hands-on attitude to being national security adviser when she had information that there was a threat against the United States ... [the information] would have been shaken out in the summer of 2001.

No wonder she's looking so pissed.

Her named-by-the-media-but-not-actual "rebuttals" so far have been 1) she did so tell people to be on the lookout for more terrorist activity. Once, on 5 July 2001; and 2) Clarke didn't attend enough meetings.

Tom Delay About to Be Indicted

For tax and finance wrongs. He'll also have to relinquish his post as Speaker. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Why isn't the so-called liberal media discussing this?

Apparently Nixon-esque Tapes Available

As reported on counterspin, there's an interesting revelation that every CSG meeting was taped and transcribed.

Which means we could have perfect knowledge of who said what, when.

Which means that it's going to take years and some court action, but the truth will be known. I'd rather it be sooner than later.

Why are the Bushies so afraid of an open government? Oh yeah, they've got lots to hide.

So, Which is It?

Are we supposed to believe Condi's version:

Ms. Rice painted a distinctly different picture of the involvement of Mr. Clarke, who has prompted furious responses since he asserted in a new book and in testimony on Capitol Hill that President Bush did not heed warnings before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"He was in every meeting that was held on terrorism," Ms. Rice said. "All the deputies' meetings, the principals' meeting that was held and so forth, the early meetings after Sept. 11."

or Scott McClellan's version:

"Dr. Rice, early on in the administration," McClellan said yesterday, "started holding daily briefings with the senior directors of the National Security Council, of which he was one. But he refused to attend those meetings, and he was later asked to attend those meetings and he continued to refuse to attend those meetings." Apparently, some meetings are more important than others.

?

I'm so confused.

Watch Condi Lie, Lie, Lie

and then lie some more. Is their any question that this is the most dishonest administration ever? I think they've surpassed even Nixon at this point.

Bring a Dumptruck

Because the explosion of the Bush-strong-on-terror myth just keeps ballooning:

President Bush's national security leadership met formally nearly 100 times in the months prior to the Sept. 11 attacks yet terrorism was the topic during only two of those sessions, officials say.

Transcript of the Clarke Session

Is now online. Good stuff.

Help Air an Ad About the Truth

MoveOn.org has a great ad cooked up that they want to air nationally, but they need $300,000 to do it.

Here's one way to exert your influence with a more direct control over the outcome of those funds than is typical in donation situations.

Read the story board and tell me that doesn't kick major ass. I hope they have one in spanish as well.

Clarke == Impressive

So I listened to the testimony today. Let me say this: Clarke impressed the hell out of me. This is what will probably get the most coverage tonight and in the papers:

Your government failed you. Those entrusted with protecting you failed you. I failed you. We tried hard, but we failed you...I ask for your understanding, and your forgiveness.

Have we just seen the second defining moment of the Bush presidency?

He has got to be the Bush administration's worst nightmare. High-level insider, competent, career public servant, non-partisan, uncowed, responsible, and the recipient of enormous respect. Too bad only 0.001% of the population will hear this, but for me this naked display of competency is exceedingly impressive.

If you get a chance to read the transcript of today's interviews later, check out Jim Thompson's (former IL gov) questions to Clarke. They're obviously partisan RNC/Bush-fed (UPDATE: it looks to be FOX-fed from the White House, or co-released to FOX, which Bob Kerry later criticized in the open session as reprehensible). The questions (repeated on Thompson's 2nd go round as well, but he got his ass handed to him as the 9-11 families openly applauded Clarke. Thompson's an ass. A partisan ass, at that). Anyway, the questions were designed to a) try to impugn Clarke; and b) blame Clinton. I'm finding it hard to express how impressed I am by Clarke, who handled all the questions ably and with obvious knowledge and attention to detail.

Competency. Who'da thunk it? Just the sheer novelty of it is explosive in the current environment.

Bombshell Answer: after another attack on Clarke's "credibility," he distinguished previous testimony ably (difference: he'd never been asked about Iraq in his previous testimony). He closed with:

[President Bush's invasion of Iraq] has greatly undermined the war on terror.

Bravo!

If you pay attention, the White House can't attack any of the facts, so they're attacking the person (this cartoon captures it quite well). They are rolling out ad hominems left and right, but what's most enlightening, contradictory ad hominems. They can't get their story straight and they can't stop the bloodflow. The one issue on which the nation still gives Bush high numbers for some reason is under direct assault from a guy who was more hawkish than this administration and centrally placed to make an informed criticism. Bush has got to be totally panicking.

Speaking as an agnostic, Clarke is a godsend.

Clarke's a Total Bulldog

Whom the administration is not going to scare or attack into silence. He worked for over 30 years for the government, under Reagan, Bush41, Clinton, and Bush43. I'd probably hate him if I met him, but I still absolutely respect the bastard.

You said on "60 Minutes" that you expected "their dogs" to be set on you when your book was published, but did you think that the attacks would be so personal?

Oh yeah, absolutely, for two reasons. For one, the Bush White House assumes that everyone who works for them is part of a personal loyalty network, rather than part of the government. And that their first loyalty is to Bush rather than to the people. When you cross that line or violate that trust, they get very upset. That's the first reason. But the second reason is that I think they're trying to bait me -- and people who agree with me -- into talking about all the trivial little things that they are raising, rather than talking about the big issues in the book.
...
In the first chapter of your book, which I must say is gripping, you give your account of your actions on 9/11, when great authority was turned over to you [by Cheney and Rice]. Is there an issue of disloyalty or ingratitude there? To be honest, it seemed to me that you saved their asses that day.

Well, that's for other people to say. As regards my loyalty to President Bush, I was a career civil servant. I wasn't loyal to any particular political machine. When the president makes a big mistake -- like he has in the way that he has fought the war on terrorism by going into Iraq -- I think personal loyalty or party loyalty has got to be put aside.
...
Were you concerned about your friendship with Rand Beers being used, as it is now, to suggest that you did this in order to help John Kerry in his presidential campaign?

This is the most interesting charge against me -- that I am a friend of Rand Beers, as if that's some terrible thing. Who is Rand Beers? Until a year ago, he was someone who was working for George Bush in the White House. He worked for George Bush's father in the White House. He worked for Ronald Reagan in the White House. But now it's a terrible thing to be a friend of Rand Beers? He and I have been friends for 25 years. I'm not going to disown him because he's working for John Kerry. He's my friend, he's going to stay my friend, we teach a course together [at Harvard]. He works for John Kerry. I don't.

Remind me not to piss off that guy.

Bob Edwards to Leave Morning Edition

YES!!!!!! This is the best news I've heard in months! Bob Edwards is the worst radio host EVER. I still think he's a robot. Probably just going in to get a lube job and his nuclear reactor cleaned out so he can go on with the speak and spell routine for another 120 years.

Sometimes the Jokes Write Themselves

Oh. My. (this is in re: Jersey Girl and the role that Michael Jackson wanted to play in it)

Kick the Bum Out!

Zell Miller is a GOPper in all but name. Today, after promising to campaign for Bush and "help him in any way that he can," Miller slammed Kerry. Why is he still allowed in the party?

When You Think About It

It's pretty revealing that the Bushies want to fine every radio station $500,000 for every utterance of "fuck" but they want to limit non-economic tort damages to $250,000.

I hate these people.

Zelikow Needs to Resign from the 9/11 Commission

Because he's a direct party at interest, as the Clarke book shows and upcoming testimony will show. Yet another group called for his resignation today.

That Israel Thing

With the assassination of the Hamas leader, I think Israel has shown that it really has no bounds when it comes to its aggression. The settlers? Bad and wrong. The fence? Naked land grab plus segregation plus control of the water supplies. Assassination of anti-Israel/"terrorist"/terrorist groups? Beyond the pale, particularly when they violated another state's sovereignty to do so.

The Israelis have systematically and purposefully done everything in their power to disenfranchise, segregate, kill, and eliminate the Palestinian people. It's a multi-pronged attack, from bloodshed to jobs to food and water.

The point is, they've gone too far.

Killing Sheik Ahmed Yassin (a quadriplegic, in case you didn't know) is just the most blatant example of their arrogance. It may be justifiable, but I don't think it is wise. To my eyes, the Israeli arrogance and foolhardy, pennywise, offensive action is clear proof that they have a blank check from the US government to do whatever they feel needs to be done. Therefore we, the United States, should bear some responsibility for the increase in deaths that are sure to follow this assassination. A simple, easy word here or there, the withholding of money or military support, or a little backbone encouraging restraint could have saved innumerable lives. Clinton almost had everything right until that shitheel Arafat and Arafat's ego walked away from the deal. Bush walked, no, ran away from the middle ground and into the arms of the pro-Israeli hardliners and in fact uses Israel as a proving ground for doctrines the chickenhawks want to implement.

Israel is to blame, and should take responsibility for their actions, but we helped create this situation and deserve some responsibility - and blame - for the bloodshed that will continue unabated. As the Israelis increasingly become barricaded behind their walls sending missile-laden drones to do their scut work and the Palestinians become more impoverished and think of new ways to turn their children into bombs, I really don't see how anyone wins.

UPDATE: It is now official policy of Israel to assassinate Hamas leadership. Boy, that's heartening to hear.

Why That Lying Prick Jack Kelley is Worse than Blair and Glass

Because he used the most offensive, divisive stereotyps possible (blood-thirsty arabs, vigilante jews, Pakistani terrorists)... and everyone believed him. This asshole, who was called by his god to spread the truth has been doing nothing but spreading lies (which is closer to the true actions of his church, actually).

Yet, where is the outcry from the media? Where is the pampered golden boy affirmative action criticism? Fucking hypocrites.

Why are the Bushies Stonewalling 9-11?

Because they royally screwed up.

White House Spokesman Sean McCormick told the New York Times: "The president and his team received briefings on the threat from al-Qaida prior to taking office, and fighting terrorism became a top priority when this administration came into office. We actively pursued the Clinton administration's policies on al-Qaida until we could get into place a more comprehensive policy."

But Clarke says that's baloney. And he was the one who headed up Clinton's counter-terrorism policies and Bush's. So who are you going to believe?
... (from the NYT)
At the time of the briefings, there was extensive evidence tying Al Qaeda to the bombing in Yemen two months earlier of an American warship, the Cole, in which 17 sailors were killed.

"It was very explicit," Mr. Clarke said of the warning given to the Bush administration officials. "Rice was briefed, and Hadley was briefed, and Zelikow sat in." Mr. Clarke served as Mr. Bush's counterterrorism chief in the early months of the administration, but after Sept. 11 was given a more limited portfolio as the president's cyberterrorism adviser.

This is nothing new, but it bears repeating. It'll be new to a lot of people, since it made 60 minutes.

Another thing to be concerned about: what happened to Zelikow? Oh yeah, he's running the 9-11 commission (operational control, under the co-chairs of the commission).

The Bushies have tried to sabotage this commission since day one, and Zelikow is their trojan horse/last hope. I, for one, hope they burn.

Here's the full 60 minutes transcript, and here are some of the choice Clarke quotes:

Stahl said to Clarke, "They demoted you. Aren't you open to charges that this is all sour grapes, because they demoted you and reduced your leverage, your power in the White House?"

Clarke's answer: "Frankly, if I had been so upset that the National Coordinator for Counter-terrorism had been downgraded from a Cabinet level position to a staff level position, if that had bothered me enough, I would have quit. I didn't quit."

Note: the important part here is that the Bush administration demoted counter-terrorism from cabinet to staff level, not the sour grapes part that Stahl totally blows.

Clarke was the president's chief adviser on terrorism, yet it wasn't until Sept. 11 that he ever got to brief Mr. Bush on the subject. Clarke says that prior to Sept. 11, the administration didn't take the threat seriously.

"We had a terrorist organization that was going after us! Al Qaeda. That should have been the first item on the agenda. And it was pushed back and back and back for months.

"There's a lot of blame to go around, and I probably deserve some blame, too. But on January 24th, 2001, I wrote a memo to Condoleezza Rice asking for, urgently -- underlined urgently -- a Cabinet-level meeting to deal with the impending al Qaeda attack. And that urgent memo-- wasn't acted on.

"I blame the entire Bush leadership for continuing to work on Cold War issues when they back in power in 2001. It was as though they were preserved in amber from when they left office eight years earlier. They came back. They wanted to work on the same issues right away: Iraq, Star Wars. Not new issues, the new threats that had developed over the preceding eight years."

Clarke finally got his meeting about al Qaeda in April, three months after his urgent request. But it wasn't with the president or cabinet. It was with the second-in-command in each relevant department.

For the Pentagon, it was Paul Wolfowitz.

Clarke relates, "I began saying, 'We have to deal with bin Laden; we have to deal with al Qaeda.' Paul Wolfowitz, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, said, 'No, no, no. We don't have to deal with al Qaeda. Why are we talking about that little guy? We have to talk about Iraqi terrorism against the United States.'

"And I said, 'Paul, there hasn't been any Iraqi terrorism against the United States in eight years!' And I turned to the deputy director of the CIA and said, 'Isn't that right?' And he said, 'Yeah, that's right. There is no Iraqi terrorism against the United States."

Record Stores: We're Fine, Thanks

On top of 2003 being a record year for album sales, record stores are doing just fine.

Boy, that P2P sharing really killed music didn't it? The RIAA may point to their lawsuits, but the real correlation to the upswing in sales is that the pigopolists finally decreased their prices (to $10-11/album, though I've noticed it inching back up to $14. I hate those fuckers).

P2P creates music junkies. $10 albums sell. News at 11.

My Review of The DaVinci Code is Up

and since I wrote such an insanely long review, I thought I'd announce it to the world as well. Discuss.

One of the Greatest Things About Firefox

Is the ability to block images from specific servers and built-in popup killer. This is greatly enhanced by the AdBlock ad-in that, when used in conjunction with the flash click-to-view ad-in, effectively makes my browsing an ad-free enjoyable experience. You should download it today.

The thing is, Microsoft can't do this, even though it's a fairly trivial technical task. They are far too beholden to the advertisers to ever implement this trivial functionality. Even their own site uses popups and ads all over the place.

In effect, IE has become a stupid tax, much like AOL; a tax on people too stupid or too lazy to realize that there are better alternatives available. Which is fine by me: if people want to subsidize my internet browsing experience, that's totally acceptable. Hooray for the stupid tax!

The Forces of Evil are Marshalling Their Armies

Like Tolkein's orcs, they're not smart, they're not attractive, and they stink. There are, however, a shitload of 'em. Namely $170M of 'em.

A's Sign Chavez for 6 Years $66M

Good move, good price. Locks up the best AL 3B (assuming ARod is still a SS, and even then Chavez will still be the best defensive 3B) through his peak years and ends before he becomes an albatross. Chavez may hit lefties about as well as I do, but he's still a megastud.

USA Today Fabricated Major Stories

USA Today Fabricated Major Stories
Far, far more than Jayson Blair did. I'm sure we'll see the blogosphere, punditocracy, and television blaze with the questions of why - oh why! - is affirmative action for evangelical, white, christian men still allowed? Followed by weeks of discussion about how the guy's race and religion let him get away with things that other journalists couln't.

Yep.

Any day now.

Right. Soon. No, really. I expect to be reading about it everywhere.

OK, not so much.

"Dr." John Gray, meet "Dr." Derek K. Smart

If you don't know the saga of Derek Smart, check Bill Huffman's site (I was there from day 0, so not only is this hilarious and amazing, it's also historical!). Anyway, the Gray story is the same as the Smart story: both claim to be Ph.D.s, but neither received their degrees from an accreddited university.

In other words, they went to correspondence school, mailed in some checks, and got a Ph.D.

Their work wasn't peer-reviewed, they never had to defend their dissertation, and their work (if any) is not in the public domain. The whole point of a Ph.D. is to recognize a persons contribution to the uplifting of humanity's knowledge.

In short: they're both frauds.

Now, this dude Gavin posts this information on his blog 4 months ago where he said "The relationship guru who constantly promotes himself as 'Dr. John Gray' and lists a 'Ph.D.' has only one accredited degree, a high school diploma. Neither his BA nor his MA is from an accredited institution of higher education."

This week, Gavin got a nastygram from "Dr." Phil's lawyers. Pay close attention to the language used:

Dr. Gray received his Ph.D. from Columbia Pacific University ("CPU") in 1982. The school then, and continued to be for the next 15 years, a State of California-approved university

That's approved, not accredited. It's shit like this that gives attorneys a bad name. Gavin's stating the truth and they're trying to scare him silent. Not going to work guys.

Is he telling the truth? Yes. How do I know? Because CPU was never accredited - NEVER! - by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Gray is not, as far as I know, a crazy NPD nutter like Smart, but he's still an asshole. Why is it that those with the least claim to their accolades are the most shrill in defending them? Oh yeah, because they know they are frauds and their egos are wrapped up in having stature but are too lazy or too stupid or otherwise unwilling to go about earning that stature. Also, their mamas dress 'em funny.

Which Foreign Leaders Support Kerry?

How about all of them except al Qaeda? OK, today it's the new Spanish PM, Zapatero.

Not Only Did Aznar Deceive the People of Spain

He also tried to deceive and coerce Spain's equivalent of the FBI:

Its federal criminal bureau said the Spanish authorities intentionally withheld information and misled German officials over the explosives used in the Madrid bombings. The Spanish conservative government had insisted the Goma 2 Eco dynamite for the explosives had been frequently used by Eta, the Basque separatist movement. On Monday, it admitted that was not the case.

They lied to the people and they endangered more lives (in multiple countries!) by lying about the type of explosives and hindering the investigation into the bombings.

I'd say the PP got exactly what they deserved. "Appeasement," indeed.

If Your Name is 'Microsoft', the Future is Not So Bright

Especially not in Europe. No settlement can be reached with the EU. Looks like MS is going to be forced to pay a huge fine and open up the OS.

Karmic retribution? Oh, I think so. Just a tad.

How you like them European courts now, MS? Huh? After forum shopping to pick on Lindows, among other competitors, you had this one coming. Bigtime.

It's Time for The Deception to Stop

Check out this ad from MoveOn.org. I was going to host the video clip, but the ad is far more powerful. Thanks in large part to it's understatement.

Fire these cretins!

Never Forget

Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. This regime has already used weapons of mass destruction against Iraq's neighbors and against Iraq's people. The regime has a history of reckless aggression in the Middle East. It has a deep hatred of America and our friends. And it has aided, trained and harbored terrorists, including operatives of al Qaeda. The danger is clear: using chemical, biological or, one day, nuclear weapons, obtained with the help of Iraq, the terrorists could fulfill their stated ambitions and kill thousands or hundreds of thousands of innocent people in our country, or any other."

George W. Bush, Address to the Nation, March 17th, 2003.

Never forget these lies and intentional deceptions. Never.

Bush Really Shouldn't Have Sleazed McCain in 2000

.. because payback's a bitch, and McCain is, on top of being a hardcore ultra-conservative, a man of honor.

And he hates to see a good man get smeared by the likes of chickenhawk Cheney and chickenhawk Bush. That he can say this and hurt that asshole RoveBush at the same time is just icing on the cake.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Thursday he did not believe Democratic candidate John Kerry, a friend and Senate colleague, was weak on defense or would compromise national security if elected president...

"This kind of rhetoric, I think, is not helpful in educating and helping the American people make a choice," McCain said on "The Early Show" on CBS. "You know, it's the most bitter and partisan campaign that I've ever observed. I think it's because both parties are going to their bases rather than going to the middle. I regret it"...

"The senator from Massachusetts has given us ample doubts about his judgment and the attitude he brings to bear on vital issues of national security," Cheney said in a speech Wednesday.

Asked on NBC's "Today" if he thought Kerry was weak on defense, McCain said: "No, I do not believe that he is, quote, weak on defense. He's responsible for his voting record, as we are all responsible for our records, and he'll have to explain it. But, no, I do not believe that he is necessarily weak on defense. I don't agree with him on some issues, clearly. But I decry this negativism that's going on on both sides. The American people don't need it."

When asked on "The Early Show" if Kerry's election would compromise national security, McCain responded: "I don't think that -- I think that John Kerry is a good and decent man. I think he has served his country."

Yeah, I Don't Feel Like Writing Today Either

So sue me.

Scalia Refuses to Recuse

Because he's a total partisan asshat. Well, I know which side to put my money on in the Cheney-Energy case.

Hey, it only took him 21 pages to give the world the finger. You have to admire his brevity and wit.

His impartiality can't reasonably be questioned? Hey, buddy, even David Letterman did a Top 10 about you, called "Top Ten Signs Your Supreme Court Justice is on the Take".

Oh, and just in case you were (still) wondering whether or not Dahlia Lithwick is a mouth-breathing moron, the answer is yes:

There is a phenomenon that most liberal law students describe as the devastating effect of reading their first Scalia dissent: You read what you thought was a compelling majority opinion in some good, liberal, results-oriented case, and then you read a blistering, flawless Scalia dissent and realize, "Oh my God, he's right."

Scalia's dissents are anything but flawless. Quite the opposite, actually. They are deeply flawed and rely upon tortuous logical pretzel bending that usually ends up contradicting itself or history or both. What Scalia does have is passion and a nice way with words. Think: more like an engaging op-ed writer than the Einstein of justices. In the end, Scalia is a middlebrow justice with an exceedingly narrow ideological view and no shame. The only "liberal law students" who fall for it are those who have no independent judgement or critical reasoning ability. In other words, the Lithwicks of the world.

Coalition of the Bribed Continues to Unravel

... with Poland's first official criticism of the war. Of course, they're not pulling their troops out. Yet.

"That they deceived us about the weapons of mass destruction, that's true. We were taken for a ride," Kwasniewski said Thursday.

Bush == Worst! President! Ever!

Al Qaeda Endorses Bush

At least we know that one foreign leader wants Bush to win.

The statement said it supported President Bush in his reelection campaign, and would prefer him to win in November rather than the Democratic candidate John Kerry, as it was not possible to find a leader "more foolish than you (Bush), who deals with matters by force rather than with wisdom."

In comments addressed to Bush, the group said:

"Kerry will kill our nation while it sleeps because he and the Democrats have the cunning to embellish blasphemy and present it to the Arab and Muslim nation as civilization."

"Because of this we desire you (Bush) to be elected."

OK, So I spent Today Doing More Baseball Stuff

... and not blogging. So sue me. All of the things posted "today," I actually wrote yesterday.

Clinton Stumping for Kerry

Aw yeah, the Big Dog's back in it. It's good to see. I hope he brings shitloads of money in for Kerry.

Kerry Smear pt. 7

Current grassfucker GOP smear campaign (on Fox too): Kerry is to blame for the lax security at Logan, and thus for 9/11. Link has the impeachment of the witness as well as pointing out the ridiculousness of the whole thing.

Responsibility in government? Don't ask the Bushies. The buck stops ... there.

Griffey Coming Back to Seattle?

I hope not, not even with the relatively inoffensive deal apparently being seriously discussed. I think Jon is smoking crack: the deal does not help the team, but it will give them a convenient excuse to not pursue Beltran next year. Who are they going to play CF? Ichiro is the best choice (even now with Winn), but BoMel won't do that. Only way Griff gets more than 250 ABs is if he's really lucky. I could see him as a DH, though.

If it does go down... hey, at least Bavasi will have one arguably worthwhile trade under his belt. That's more than he's got now.

And Another Comp to my As-Yet Unwritten Essay

US:Iraq as Rome:Carthage

The Coalition of the Bribed Fraying

Honduras is now pulling out of Iraq and Nicaragua will not be replacing its troops that are rotating out.

Iraq on the Record

The Henry Waxman-commissioned report is now available. It is an awesome catalog of the administration's lies and deceptions regarding Iraq and the WMD scare tactics.

On March 19, 2003, U.S. forces began military operations in Iraq. Addressing the nation about the purpose of the war on the day the bombing began, President Bush stated: "The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder."
...
Between September 12, 2002, and July 17, 2003, President Bush made 55 misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq in 27 separate public appearances. On October 7, 2002, three days before the congressional votes on the Iraqi war resolution, President Bush gave a speech in Cincinnati, Ohio, with 11 misleading statements, the most by any of the five officials in a single appearance.
...
Between March 17, 2002, and January 22, 2004, Vice President Cheney made 51 misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq in 25 separate public appearances.
...
Between May 22, 2002, and November 2, 2003, Secretary Rumsfeld made 52 misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq in 23 separate public appearances.
...
Between April 3, 2002, and October 3, 2003, Secretary Powell made 50 misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq in 34 separate public appearances.
...
Between September 8, 2002, and September 28, 2003, National Security Advisor Rice made 29 misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq in 16 separate public appearances.

Nice work. If you want to skip the intro, go straight to the 36 page report.

I've mirrored the pdf, just in case it disappears from the house site.

No Correlation Between Tax Cuts and Jobs

This just in from the Obvious Department: the WaPo reports there is no correlation between tax cust and job. On the other hand, there is a correlation between tax cuts and deficits. No, really? Go figure.

Bush: Weak on Terror

Just ask Paul Krugman.

Among other things,

But Mr. Bush's lapses in the struggle against terrorism extend beyond his decision to give Al Qaeda a breather. His administration has also run interference for Saudi Arabia — the home of most of the 9/11 hijackers, and the main financier of Islamic extremism — and Pakistan, which created the Taliban and has actively engaged in nuclear proliferation.

Some of the administration's actions have been so strange that those who reported them were initially accused of being nutty conspiracy theorists. For example, what are we to make of the post-9/11 Saudi airlift? Just days after the attack, at a time when private air travel was banned, the administration gave special clearance to flights that gathered up Saudi nationals, including a number of members of the bin Laden family, who were in the U.S. at the time. These Saudis were then allowed to leave the country, after at best cursory interviews with the F.B.I.

Yeah, I've said all these things before, but it does well to repeat the truth.

The EPA-Lead Scandal

Is there anything more unforgiveable than knowing that there are toxic levels of lead in the drinking water of the populace and doing nothing about it? Lead, which can cause a significant drop in IQ at even low doses, is nasty in all sorts of ways, and which predominantly affects the poor? I hope, but do not expect, that there will be criminal charges stemming from the EPA's negligence.

Alaskan Senatorial Candidate a Strong Progressive

Who knew Alaska could grow such a fine, progressive fellow as Tony Knowles? I certainly wouldn't expect it.

HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN ENDORSES KNOWLES - Tony Knowles was proud this week to receive the endorsement of the Human Right's Campaign, America's largest gay organization. Personal freedoms are so important to me, to Alaskans and to the future of American democracy that I consider this to be a fundamental issue of my campaign, along with jobs, education, health care and national security, Knowles said. Among other excerpts from his remarks before the HRC Board:

# I recognize that HRC is a bipartisan organization. As an independent Democrat, I understand the need to work closely with both parties. Jobs, education, health care, national security and personal freedoms are more important than politics.

# As a U.S. Senator, I will be a co-sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and anti-hate crimes legislation.

# I support funding for HIV/AIDS prevention research to tackle this uncontrolled health problem in our communities and in Africa where it is epidemic.

# I'm against a federal constitutional amendment on marriage - or any U.S. constitutional amendment that limits rights. Amending our Constitution should be done to grant rights, not take them away.

# I am pro job and that means no job discrimination based on sexual orientation. Health care should not be denied to domestic partners. Sexual orientation and marital status should not be obstacles to health care.

# I am against government intrusion into our bedrooms; into our reading habits, our medical records and our personal lives. We need judges and politicians who respect our personal liberties, who will protect our freedoms and who will enforce our rights.

What Did Bush Do When he was AWOL?

Apparently, he trashed the widower's house he was living in and never paid the bill.

"He was just a rich kid who had no respect for other people's possessions," said Mary Smith, whose family found damaged walls, broken furnishings and a chandelier destroyed after Bush left the house. A bill sent to collect the damages went unpaid, the family said.

Kerry and the Foreign Leaders Meme

Though Fox wants to support the White House's smear campaign, the fact of the matter is: Kerry never bragged about "foreign leaders" (note: that's a link to the drudge report, of all places, issuing a retraction).

Subject: FW: Senator Kerry's remark at fundraiser about foreign leaders wanting him to beat Bush

Poolers,

Given the growing attention to Senator Kerry's remark at the Fla. fundraiser about foreign leaders wanting him to beat Bush, and Kerry's subsequent statements that he'd merely "heard from" leaders, I went back to my recording of the event to re-confirm his remarks and put them in context. I wanted to provide that for all of you as well as CORRECT the record on a key word that I mistranscribed.

When Kerry concluded his stump to the Florida fundraisers and donors, Milton Ferrell, Kerry's Florida finance chair, piped up:

MILTON FERRELL: "This is more than just the 50 states. You travel around outside the states, the people are still [inaudible] Europeans and elsewhere, they're counting on the American people. They hate Bush, but they know we're going to get rid of him. They're counting on us. [inaudible] It's a lot more than just [inaudible]-"

KERRY: "I've been hearing it, I'll tell ya. The news, the coverage in other countries, the news in other places. I've met more leaders who can't go out and say it all publicly, but boy they look at you and say, you gotta win this, you gotta beat this guy, we need a new policy, things like that. So there is enormous energy out there. Tell them, whereever they can find an American abroad, they can contribute," a reference to donations, prompting laughter from the crowd.

Transcribing on the bus in Florida, and again on the plane ride to Tampa, I heard "foreign leaders" rather than "more leaders." Listening to the audio recorder now, in the quiet of my house, I hear "more leaders" and I am certian that "more leaders" is what Senator Kerry said. I am very sorry for this screw-up, and please feel free to hold me accountable to your editors and higher-ups.

-- Patrick

_______

Patrick Healy political reporter, The Boston Globe

Way to be a stand up kind of guy, Patrick.

Why this is an issue, I don't know. From the Spaniards to the Brazillians to the Germans to the French to the North Koreans, it is patently obvious that everyone wants Bush out.

Oh, Nothing

Nothing at all...

"God loves you, and I love you. And you can count on both of us as a powerful message that people who wonder about their future can hear."—Los Angeles, Calif., March 3, 2004

(W. was the speaker, natch)

Want to See a Wingnut Have an Aneurysm?

Ask them to explain how the cowardly French are putting themselves in harms way for our marines in Haiti

More News

but it's too late to post. i'll do it all tomorrow in a mega-update. lots of good stuff.

My First Fantasy Draft

I've long been against fantasy baseball, as it measures many things that I don't think are indicative of a true measure of worth on the diamond.

But then I got bored.

This league is a 12-team, 5x5 (AVG HR R RBI SB on offense, ERA WHIP W K SV on pitching), non-keeper, both divisions, draft league. Teams are 23 players and 5 bench spots. The 23 players consist of 9 pitchers, 2 catchers, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, middle infield (either 2B or SS), corner (1B or 3B), utility (anywhere), and 5 outfielders. The bench can be anybody.

I was 11/12th in the draft order. Luckily, we snaked so I had the #11 and #14 picks, then the #35 and 38 and so on.

No one cares but me, but I would like to introduce you all to The Dirty Bombers (parentheticals = positions they can play, or will play this year):

C: Paul LoDuca, LAD (C1O)
C: Victor Martinez, CLE (C)
1: Nick Johnson, MON (1)
2: Jose Vidro, MON (2)
3: Eric Hinske, TOR (3)
S: Orlando Cabrera, MON (S)
MI: Christian Guzman, MIN (S)
COR: Sean Burroughs, SD (3)
UT: Orland Hudson, TOR (2)
OF: Juan Pierre, FLA (O)
OF: Adam Dunn, CIN (O1)
OF: Brad Wilkerson, MON (O1)
OF: Austin Kearns, CIN (O)
OF: Torii Hunter, MIN (O)

P: Pedro Martinez, BOS
P: Eric Gagne, LAD
P: Mariano Rivera, NYY
P: Trevor Hoffman, SD
P: BH Kim, BOS
P: Carl Pavano, FLA
P: Ben Sheets, MIL
P: John Thomson, ATL
P: Ryan Wagner, CIN

Bench:
Desi Relaford, KC (23O)
Brian Schneider, MON (C)
David Wells, SD (P)
Grant Balfour, MIN (P)
Damian Jackson, COL (2O)

No, I did not intend to take 10 of the 14 position players from only 4 teams. Just worked out that way.

Overall, I think I did pretty darn well. I've likely got WHIP, SV, SB, and probably ERA locked up. I should be competitive in the other categories, though BA and W are probably the weakest links. I'll post what my projected stats are for these guys after my next draft (since I'm in two leagues), just in case there are some spies lurking about.

Feel free to share your comments or your fantasy league teams. It'll be fun to share... at least for me.

Jack Valenti Owns California Attorney General

So now the California AG is working for the MPAA, even to the point of regurgitating their briefs as his own? Ridiculous.

A draft letter purportedly circulated by Bill Lockyer to fellow state attorneys general characterizes P2P software as a "dangerous product" and describes the failure of technology makers to warn consumers of those dangers as a deceptive trade practice.
...
However, the metadata associated with the Microsoft Word document indicates it was either drafted or reviewed by a senior vice president of the Motion Picture Association of America. According to this metadata (automatically generated by the Word application), the document's author or editor is "stevensonv." (The metadata of a document is viewable through the File menu under Properties.)

Sources tell Wired News that the draft letter's authorship is attributed to Vans Stevenson, the MPAA's senior vice president for state legislative affairs. MPAA representatives have issued similar criticisms of P2P technology in the past. Stevenson could not be reached for comment.

Un-freakin believable. What's it feel like to be a consigliere, Lockyear?

Want to Know More About Spanish Politics?

Subscribe (or get a pass) to Salon.com. I've only had my subscription for 5 days now and I've already learned more about the new Pentagon Papers, Tom Delay's legal problems, and now contemporary Spanish politics than I ever knew before. Great buy.

Anyway, this article goes a long way towards explaining the why's and how's of Spain's political climate. In particular, it makes the events of the past week much more comprehensible and I don't feel so ignorant anymore.

Here's a sample paragraph:

Aznar won again, and with an absolute majority, which went to his head. He became increasingly contemptuous of the opposition, of his critics in the media, and of civil society. When in 2002 the oil tanker Prestige foundered off the Atlantic Coast in a gigantic ecological disaster, the government refused to accept responsibility for its incompetent management. Aznar's policies in education (a return to obligatory religious instruction, at the limits of constitutional legality), immigration (grudging where not xenophobic), and the economy (systematic deregulation) moved from liberal Christian democracy toward a fundamentalism of the right. He shocked many Spanish sensibilities by using L'Escorial, Phillip the Second's monument to himself, to stage the wedding of his daughter (complete with his friend, the Italian prime minister and conservative vulgarian Silvio Berlusconi in striped pants and a visibly pained royal family as guests.) Spain is a country of old social distinctions with a sense that these ancient inhibitions have outlived their usefulness. Many in the public thought they detected in their prime minister the soul of a parvenu.

Certainly there was something frenetic about Aznar's enlistment of Spain in the "war on terror" and the invasion of Iraq. He had a major role in obtaining the signatures of Tony Blair and Berlusconi for the letter of loyalty to the U.S. drafted by an obliging CIA agent -- a letter that enraged French Prime Minister Chirac and German Chancellor Schroeder and marked a large success for the Bush White House. Europe had been split.

Aznar refused parliamentary debates on the veracity of the claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, denounced his critics as disloyal to the West and to Spain. His U.N. ambassador and his foreign minister read from a Bush script with dogmatic certainty. When on Feb. 15 last year over a million citizens took to Madrid's streets to join the worldwide protest, there was one episode of violence. As the police encircled the protagonists, they were instructed by the Interior Ministry to let them go -- they were, obviously, provocateurs. Aznar's visits to the Bush ranch and the White House, his speech before the Congress (or rather, before congressional staff), meanwhile increased his sense of self-importance. Aznar believed that he had made Spain, through the Bush connection, a major world power. The fact is, he separated his nation from its erstwhile European allies and evoked the suspicions of the Latin American nations. He also threw away, with astonishing casualness, Spain's legacy of close relations with the Muslim nations.

Also note that the withdrawal of troops from Iraq was a campaign pledge and not a reaction to the terrorist attacks. I repeat: withdrawing the troops from Iraq was part of the platform and a campaign pledge of the Socialist party:

The Socialist campaign was doggedly consistent. Party leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero stuck to three themes. Spanish troops would be withdrawn from Iraq and the nation returned to a European foreign policy with a renewal of its close ties to France and Germany. Eleven percent unemployment and underinvestment in the future would be attacked by a comprehensive program of social investment. An open style of governance would be his method of conducting public business. Zapatero was intelligent, conciliatory and focused.

Good stuff.

HP Starts Pushing Desktop Linux

in earnest. It's a mandrake-based distro. They've been doing it for a while, but now they're being, ahem, open about it.

Spain's New PM: Bush and Blair Lied

... and therefore, we are outta here.

"Mr Blair and Mr Bush must do some reflection ... you can't organise a war with lies,"

"The Spanish troops will come back," he added.

New Info (Possibly) on the Bush-AWOL Story

According to the Spokesman review, it looks like Bush may have been unfit for duty and removed from flight status due to concerns about substance abuse.

Some military researchers and a former Texas Guard lieutenant colonel believe the stringent regulations -- known as the Human Reliability Program -- may have been invoked to stop Bush from flying Texas Air National Guard jets in 1972.
...
‘‘The Human Reliability Program, in a nutshell, applied to every U.S. Air Force and Air Guard pilot in any aircraft they would fly,” said Marty Isham, a former Air Force briefing officer.

Now a military historian and researcher, Isham is writing a book about the Air Defense Command, which controlled Air Guard units nationwide, including the Washington and Texas squadrons.

Isham said there is a ‘‘good likelihood” HRP regulations were either applied or about to be applied against Bush and that is why he stopped flying on April 16, 1972.

Records show Bush had a ‘‘secret” security clearance for Cold War fighter-interceptor missions and was certified ‘‘combat-ready” to engage Soviet bombers.

In April 1972, at the same time the military began drug and alcohol testing for the first time, Bush stopped flying the F-102, and according to White House documents, did not take a required physical in May. He was formally suspended in September 1972 for failing to take the test. What followed was a period in which Bush sporadically attended Guard drills, according to White House documents, and spent the summer in Alabama.

Not Going to Be Posting Much Today

Because I'm too busy getting ready for my fantasy draft tomorrow. Peace out.

US Allegedly Torturing Gitmo Prisoners

Now that those five Britons are freed, at least one of them is alleging torture, both physical and psychological, by the US guards there.

He said the guards had tried to get prisoners to confess to things they had not done.

They were shackled and attached to metal rings on the floor during interrogation, Mr Udeen claimed in the newspaper.

But he said: "The beatings were not as nearly as bad as the psychological torture - bruises heal after a week but the other stuff stays with you.

Don't forget: they were also playing Springsteen 24/7, which is a crime against humanity. Maybe against the universe.

Kill Me Now

Lord of the Rings is to be made into a musical in London.

And you thought Tolkien's songs were bad in print... yeesh.

Socialist Party Wins Elections in Spain

As more evidence points towards Islamic fundamentalists rather than the ETA, the people of Spain voted the incumbents out today. Both the initial blaming of the ETA as a political move and the PP's support for the US' invasion of Iraq seem to have played a huge part.

Which is interesting, because if a terrorist attack happened in America two days before an election, I think the initial reaction would be to rally behind the president (because people are only one-step thinkers and don't get past the "we were attacked" to the "because the dude in the White House wasn't paying sufficient attention" part).

Oh, and in other news, Putin won his sham election as well. Gee, that's surprising.

Author of Halloween X Speaks

and he believes that Microsoft has a plan for more disruptive lawsuits up their sleeve. Because, you know, if you're a fading dinosaur and can't win on the merits, FUD and sue! ... only use third parties so you don't get in more antitrust trouble. (I posted earlier about Halloween X)

I suspect Microsoft may have 50 or more of these lawsuits in the queue. All of them are not asking for hundreds of millions, but most would be large enough to ruin anything but the largest companies.

FU, Microsoft!

US Readying a Special Skills Draft

Rumsfeld is adamant that there will be no general draft like in Vietnam. Note the "general" part. What people are thinking is that there will be a targetted draft, aiming for people with special skills.

Basically, a best-and-brightest kind of thing.

They've already made the plans for a medical-skills special draft, and now they're drawing up plans for a computers and foreign language special skills draft.

This is what happens when you begin a war without end.

Boy am I glad that I'm almost past draft age.
Boy am I glad that I didn't get that CS degree.
Boy do I really want to kick the living shit out of this administration come November.

Who's Behind the Madrid Bombings? No One Knows

The government wants to blame ETA, the people suspect al Qaeda, and all of the evidence is pointing in multiple directions.

Today, they arrested 5 people and found a videotape whose authenticity cannot be confirmed (but if the translation is correct, I call "bullshit").

Look, and I'm just talking out of my ass here, the whole thing seems to me to be a local issue, not an al Qaeda one. That would point toward ETA. Local because it was done a few short days before an election. Local because someone would have to know the town pretty freaking well to synchronize with 10-14 packed trains.

A lot of the rest of the terrorist-leaning "evidence" just screams bullshit to me. A van with audiotapes of the Qoran found mere blocks away? Mighty convenient. An email to a London-based Arabic language newspaper claiming responsibility by al Qaeda? Mighty suspicious. A videotape claiming that this is retribution for cooperating with the US in Iraq, oh and that the speaker is the head of "military operations" of al Qaeda for Europe? Mega bullshit (one, talking about Iraq is a pretty dead giveaway, to me, that this is not al Qaeda linked. They hated Iraq. two, head of military operations? yeah, right). But still, the scale and the method of setting off the bombs (via cell phone) is a common tactic of groups like the Hezbollah.

In the end, and again, I'm talking out of my ass here, it feels more like a plan to confuse and frighten the Spaniards than any sort of directed attack. If I had to chose, I would pick a third party that is neither ETA (too convenient, wrong MO) nor al Qaeda (too tenuous, too convenient). More like Steven Hatfill, the right-wing ideologue in America who was the guy sending the anthrax all over America. Which is to say, it feels like a setup. A setup for what, I don't know.

If it was al Qaeda, where was our intelligence? Sigint or humint, it doesn't matter. Where was the radio chatter? Where were the warning signs? Assuming everyone wasn't tied up in Iraq (which would be yet more evidence that Bush is soft on terror), how the hell could al Qaeda have achieved this with no one having any inkling of it coming. If it was al Qaeda, the most-watched organization by the world's only hyperpower, how safe do you feel knowing that our government is throwing billions at missile defense but only a few million at port defense? If it is al Qaeda, I suddenly got a lot more scared: my workplace is within the likely blast radius of a nuke detonated at the major NW shipping hub of the United States.

The Madrid bombings are a tragedy, no matter how you look at it. I just want to see more evidence before any rush to judgement about any particular groups of people. Somos todos los Espiañoles.

Bush: Strong on Security? Uh, not so much.

Let's frame the debate a bit more appropriately. What happened on Bush's watch?

1. Bush took power
   
2. Bush ignored the threat of terrorism
   
3. 9-11 occured
   
4. Bush waited for more than an hour after being notified of the attack to leave the kindergarten classroom
   
5. Bush then hid out in Nebraska while his staff invented a "threat" to Air Force One to justify his absence. Rather than appear in front of people or the danger, Bush records and broadcasts a videotaped message of indecision (cf. R. Giuliani)
   
6. Bush went to war against Afghanistan (OK on this one)
   
7. But instead of finishing the job, he let Bin Laden, Omar Mullah, and lots of Taliban and Al Qaeda to escape
   
8. Why did they get away? Because they diverted intelligence and military assets to fight a non-threat in Iraq
   
9. And how do we know Iraq was a non-threat? Because they invented evidence to justify the war and lied to Congress and the American people
   
10. They botched the occupation of Iraq, and close to 700 allied and countless Iraqis have paid the ultimate price, and more continue to do so
    
11. They botched the occupation of Afghanistan, as the US-backed government controls nothing more than Kabul, and the rest of the country is a haven for terrorists, religious fanatics, opium producers, and regional warlords
    
12. And now, over two years after 9-11, the administration is finally training all of our intelligence and military resources toward capturing Osama Bin Laden.
    

and that's just foreign affairs. Don't forget, Bush also

• Fought against and stonewalled the Kean 9/11 Commission at every turn. He can spend a full day at a rodeo or a Nascar race, but only one hour with the people trying to figure out what happened.
  
• Opposed the creation of a Homeland Security department, and then gutted it when he couldn't stop it
  
• Provides twice as much funding to the unproven boondoggle National Missile Defense than he does to Homeland Security, leaving our ports, chemical manufacturing facilities, and nuclear plants undefended.
  
• Cut the benefits of soldiers and their families
  
• Renegged on his promise to help fund NYC's cleanup and security costs
  
• Cut first-responder funding
  
• Refuses to allow footage of dead Americans coming home to their final resting places
  
• Does not attend a single funeral of any soldier killed in Afghanistan or Iraq
  

George W. Bush spent 200 billion of America's dollars, destroyed hundreds of Coalition and thousands of Iraqi lives, and two precious years of the world's War on Terror preventing Saddam Hussein from giving weapons he didn't have to terrorists he didn't know.

This is responsible leadership?

If you want to be shocked, angered, and saddened, here's one critical examination of 9/11/2001, including what Bush knew, when he knew it... but can't answer why he took no action.

FBI, DOJ Seek Expanded Wiretap Power

... and the Justice Dept. and FBI Want Consumers To Pay the Cost.

of course they do!

Law enforcement agencies have been increasingly concerned that fast-growing telephone service over the Internet could be a way for terrorists and criminals to evade surveillance. But the petition also moves beyond Internet telephony, leading several technology experts and privacy advocates yesterday to warn that many types of online communication, including instant messages and visits to Web sites, could be covered.

Of course they're overreaching. The FBI, et. al., know that the PATRIOT act is not going to be renewed now, so they'll have to get their sneak and peeks another way.

And what better way than through FUD about new technology?

This has been a consistent MO of theirs throughout recorded history. Remember the Clipper chip?

Congratulations Moonawalla

You are now free! Time to par-tay!

NY, WI Pull out of the Matrix

As previously reported, Wisconsin joined the privacy nightmare known as The Matrix (essentially, a gigantic law enforcement database... run by a private firm). After examinging the cost and privacy concerns, Wisconsin and New York pulled out today. Good for them.

Trade Deficit Shmade Deficit

So the US set a new record for the largest trade deficit ever. I'm too well-versed in economics to care. It doesn't really matter which way the money is flowing, we benefit either way. If we're exporting more, then the manufacturers prosper. If we're importing more, the consumers prosper. So pardon me for not getting all worked up about what I consider a faux issue. Sorry, liberal blogosphere!

Does W Believe in the Xian God?

I think W. believes he is Jesus or, at the least, a Messianic figure. He uses "Chosen one" language regularly to refer to his role, placement in history, and position as leader of the world's only hyperpower. From his point of view, I can see how it would be easy to think that there *has* to be reason everything seems to break his way, right? And nepotism would be too crass and self-defacing to countenance.

I think W. believes that there is a deity of some sort that has imbued him with his special properties of dub-ness and has anointed him for his leadership role and certified with a stamp of approval every decision he has ever made and every thought that rattles in his head. Whether or not this would match what a 3rd party would consider to be the god of the Bible (old or new), I don't know. Probably not; W.'s god plays favorites and seems to exist solely as an enabler for W.'s actions (then again, the Old Testament God is a majorly fickle bitch too). Seriously, he's probably borderline delusional, but I think that of most born again wingnuts. YMMV.

Kerry, I don't know so much about. My money would be on a pragmatic belief, typical of the majority of non-pentecostal/baptist/born again form, but I really don't know. Vietnam turned my dad into an atheist, FWIW, but what it did to Kerry, I don't know. Dean was obviously an agnostic who was faking it, but I can't recall anything Kerry has said either way that makes me think much of anything. He's Jewish/Catholic/Protestant, so he's got his bases covered enough to make it a non-issue, but I don't think he's a zealot by any means.

NMD: Boondoggle of the Highest Order

Newsflash - NMD is a complete sham. The system doesn't work, has no chance of working (we're talking physics here, not just tech), is deployed against a non-existent threat, and will, at best, lead to a massive new arms race. Even worse, we're flying into this shit blind (as the Onion so aptly coined it: it's Bush's Faith-based Missile Defense). Want to really understand the scale of the NMD boondoggle?

the $10.7 billion that Bush is spending for fiscal year 2005 is more than the entire U.S. Army is spending on research and development. More to the point, it's nearly twice as much as the Department of Homeland Security is spending on customs and border patrol.

It does however, provide an excellent photo op.

Which is why the initial deployment is, quite obviously, designed to coincide with the 2004 presidential election.
Even the guy in charge knows, and admits, as much:

Ever since the president made his decision, the priority of the program has been on deployment, not on understanding whether the system works," said Mr. Coyle, now a senior adviser at the Center for Defense Information, a private research group. "Most people don't appreciate how complicated this system is, nor how much all of the tests so far have been artificially scripted to be successful

The cynicism of this administration knows no bounds. The science of it all just doesn't play out. It's a sham. It's paper maché. The administration's game is simple, really. Depending on whether or not they want to pursue a particular action, they adjust the scientific standards accordingly. It's ridiculous.

Woman Refuses Surgery, Is Charged With Murder

I read about this outrage earlier this morning and am outraged and shocked and the blatant war being waged on women, but I'm too tired to actually want to write much about it right now. In short: woman, pregnant with twins. Doctors say she has to have a C-section. She refuses. One baby is stillborn. Charged with murder.

It's an audacious - not to mention unconscionable, unsupportable, and vile - legal concept. It needs to be fought against vigorously and defeated.

But just think about it: what will the world look like when you can be forced to undergo physical injury against your will? Particularly when the preferential outcome is determined by a third party? Contemplating such a horrible future is depressing, so let's make sure that doesn't happen, alright?

Bush Not Looking So Hot

Have you seen pix of W. lately? I think he's put on like 30 pounds. Looking bad. You know how Clinton aged about 30 years in the last half of his second term? Yeah, like that. I think it began when he had the knee operation and couldn't jog anymore, but the stress can't be helping. Uneasy lies the head that bears the crown and so on. Unfortunately, I can't find the pic that really made me think that (it was on the WaPo a few days ago).

Whatever. Die, fucker!

Howard Stern Declares Jihad on Bush

While Air America is still getting its feet off the ground, we've got newly-incentivized Howard Stern lambasting Bush on a daily basis and calling for an anti-Bush jihad. He's seriously pissed off, and he's got a loyal following of 8 million listeners or so. Who needs Al Franken when you've got Howard Stern?

Stern's torrent of Bush barbs came in the wake of Clear Channel Communications' move in late February to pull Stern off six of its stations, condemning his program as "vulgar, offensive and insulting." Following the controversial Super Bowl halftime show featuring Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson, Clear Channel, like most major broadcasters, was under scrutiny over allegations it broadcast indecency. Clear Channel's radio chief was scheduled to testify before Congress where he was sure to face hostile questioning. On the eve of that congressional appearance, Clear Channel, which had never raised serious concerns about Stern's show before, suspended the program from its radio outlets.

OK, back to the non-political slacker day.

I'm a Little Politick'd Out for the Day

Think I'll take it easy from here on out. At least until I find something interesting. Let's talk about boob jobs or Hollywood or something.

Trickery and Deceit, Yep, That's the Bush Way

Bush gave a speech to a packed house, filled with cheering crowds of supporters yesterday. Or maybe not.

Security people kept reporters from interviewing the workers at U.S.A. until the president was on the way to his next stop.

But when workers were finally interviewed -- these people who made up the bulk of the president's cheering audience in New York -- Bush's performance turned out to be, if anything, even more impressive.

"No speak English," said the first worker, smiling apologetically.

"No speak English," said the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth workers way-laid in the crowd.

But you think the tax cuts should be made permanent, as he says?

"Sorry, no English," said another.

More Bad Economic News

Consumer confidence down, and below expectations (natch. Have the Bushy forecasts ever been right?). If demand drives the economy, and it does, we're even more fucked than I thought.

S. Korean President Roh Moo Hyun Impeached

and people are going apeshit including violence among the legislators. Kuh-razy!

Roh appears to have pissed off the businesses, the US, and the wealthy - in other words, the former human rights attorney is on the side of good (though corruption charges are rampant as well). Whatever the cause, when a nation is in turmoil, the politician has failed.

Still, he was impeached for saying "I want to do everything within legal boundaries to support the Uri Party" and there were actual fisticuffs in Parliament yesterday. I'm telling you, they're the 19th century US Congress all over again!

Check this out:

Bush Lies and Threatens His Own People Too

The American Progress Report has more, in particular on the medicar sandbagging, but also on the past history of Bush's retaliatory steps and lies about anyone who steps out of line. For example: General Anthony Zinni when he said Iraq should be sixth on our Middle East priority list, or when Larry Lindsey was fired when he told the truth about the costs of an Iraq invasion, and, of course, the Plame Affair.

But if you say that your god is bigger than their god and that you are fighting a war against 'Satan', you don't even get reprimanded.

Damn, I hate this administration.

Evidence Still Mixed on the Madrid Bombing

... but, just as I suspected, more and more of the evidence is pointing to ETA, the Basque separatist group, and all that Islamic fundie scare is just more chicken littling.

UN Finds Rwandan Black Box in Closet

In response to allegations that it was stonewalling, the UN is launching an investigation as to why the black box for the plane crash that sparked the Rwandan genocides was unexamined and forgotten for 10 years... in a closet at the UN. You're kidding me, right?

Bush: Racist Asshole, Unveils Ahmad al Horton ads (AKA Kerry Smear pt. 6)

As Ryan Lizza points out, the "100 days" ads for Bush which say that Kerry is, essentially, pro-terrorist and anti-American feature a swarthy-looking dude meant to be the "terrorist."

Oh, hi there, Mr. Horton. I thought you disappeared back in 1988. Guess not.

Racist? Oh yeah. Offensive? Uh huh. Uniter-not-divider? No way.

Here's the image from the ad, just so you know what I'm talking about here:

Bush administration ordered Medicare plan cost estimates withheld

Stop me if this sounds familiar:

The government's top expert on Medicare costs was warned that he would be fired if he told key lawmakers about a series of Bush administration cost estimates that could have torpedoed congressional passage of the White House-backed Medicare prescription-drug plan.

What's next, the expert's wife's secret career as a CIA agent will be outed by a conservative columnist?

For those that don't remember, the Bush adminstration dissembled, that is, lied about the cost of the Medicare plan, to the tune of $120 BILLION dollars or so.

Work Wants Us to Work More

Like back to 60-hour weeks more.

To which I say: fuck you. No overtime pay, no workee. After busting ass for two months of 60-hours non-stop (and 6 months of 50-hour before that) - for no overtime, with no benefits, taking no vacation or days off (at least, I didn't), and having the 60-hour weeks come during the holiday season - the vast majority of my coworkers were then laid off in the first week of January (they could just bring back some people who are still unemployed rather than ask for more hours. Is that thought entertained? Hell no).

Oh we got xmas gifts, mind you, so it wasn't like we were unappreciated. I mean, who wouldn't feel respected and loved when you get a piece of shit discontinued, corporate-branded squeeze ball and a fucking corporate-branded PENCIL from the "discontinued and remaindered" bin in the warehouse of your largest client? This was just the final straw on top of 10 months of being treated like a fungible, valueless peon. An event happened about a month ago which actually ratcheted up my seething anger and hatred exponentially. I'm not ready to talk about it publicly yet, though. Suffice it to say that I meditated on this on my birthday and have successfully defused the immediacy of my anger. It's not gone, but it's no longer killing me.

I have never hated anything as much as I hate this workplace and the managment here.

The horrible part is the numbers of my coworkers who accept this bullshit and actually believe they are worthless. The worst ones are the Uncle Toms, trying hard to be a house nigger instead of a field slave (and I don't make this comparison lightly, but if this environment does not harken back to the antebellum south or feudal Europe then I'm a GOPper). They're pathetic, and I have nothing but contempt for them. At least when I walk out of here, I'll still have my dignity. At least when I walk out of here I'll be able to hold my head up high. Money may be tight, but I'm still a worthwhile human being who didn't kotou (that's "kowtow" to all of you stuck in the Wade-Giles system). At least when I walk out of here, I'll be able to look myself in the mirror without flinching.

So again I say: fuck you.

The GOP is Using a Government Website for Partisan Attacks (AKA Kerry Smear pt. 5)

Check this shit out. A federal website (the House Resource Committee) is, essentially, using their official government website for a blatant partisan attack on John Kerry.

This is an outrageous misuse of government resources. The piece may be a valid slime attack in a campaign, but it has no business being on an official government website. This chaps my hide like little else.

Write or call your legislators today to complain. We must not allow our government turn into a mirror Putin's Russia. This outrage will not stand!

The New Pentagon Papers

OK, this was the article that finally convinced me to get a subscription to Salon.com. In this remarkable expose, a woman on the inside of the Office of Special Plans (Rumsfeld's pet group for gathering and slanting intelligence on Iraqi to a pro-war tilt, or as they put it "A high-ranking military officer reveals how Defense Department extremists suppressed information and twisted the truth to drive the country to war."

This is the opening of the piece:

In July of last year, after just over 20 years of service, I retired as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force. I had served as a communications officer in the field and in acquisition programs, as a speechwriter for the National Security Agency director, and on the Headquarters Air Force and the office of the secretary of defense staffs covering African affairs. I had completed Air Command and Staff College and Navy War College seminar programs, two master's degrees, and everything but my Ph.D. dissertation in world politics at Catholic University. I regarded my military vocation as interesting, rewarding and apolitical. My career started in 1978 with the smooth seduction of a full four-year ROTC scholarship. It ended with 10 months of duty in a strange new country, observing up close and personal a process of decision making for war not sanctioned by the Constitution we had all sworn to uphold. Ben Franklin's comment that the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia had delivered "a republic, madam, if you can keep it" would come to have special meaning.

In the spring of 2002, I was a cynical but willing staff officer, almost two years into my three-year tour at the office of the secretary of defense, undersecretary for policy, sub-Saharan Africa. In April, a call for volunteers went out for the Near East South Asia directorate (NESA). None materialized. By May, the call transmogrified into a posthaste demand for any staff officer, and I was "volunteered" to enter what would be a well-appointed den of iniquity.

The education I would receive there was like an M. Night Shyamalan movie -- intense, fascinating and frightening. While the people were very much alive, I saw a dead philosophy -- Cold War anti-communism and neo-imperialism -- walking the corridors of the Pentagon. It wore the clothing of counterterrorism and spoke the language of a holy war between good and evil. The evil was recognized by the leadership to be resident mainly in the Middle East and articulated by Islamic clerics and radicals. But there were other enemies within, anyone who dared voice any skepticism about their grand plans, including Secretary of State Colin Powell and Gen. Anthony Zinni.

From May 2002 until February 2003, I observed firsthand the formation of the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans and watched the latter stages of the neoconservative capture of the policy-intelligence nexus in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. This seizure of the reins of U.S. Middle East policy was directly visible to many of us working in the Near East South Asia policy office, and yet there seemed to be little any of us could do about it.

I saw a narrow and deeply flawed policy favored by some executive appointees in the Pentagon used to manipulate and pressurize the traditional relationship between policymakers in the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies.

I witnessed neoconservative agenda bearers within OSP usurp measured and carefully considered assessments, and through suppression and distortion of intelligence analysis promulgate what were in fact falsehoods to both Congress and the executive office of the president.

While this commandeering of a narrow segment of both intelligence production and American foreign policy matched closely with the well-published desires of the neoconservative wing of the Republican Party, many of us in the Pentagon, conservatives and liberals alike, felt that this agenda, whatever its flaws or merits, had never been openly presented to the American people. Instead, the public story line was a fear-peddling and confusing set of messages, designed to take Congress and the country into a war of executive choice, a war based on false pretenses, and a war one year later Americans do not really understand. That is why I have gone public with my account.

It's an amazing read and well worth the price of admission.

What, You Need Another Reason to Despise Nader?

How about his potentially devastating impact on the 2004 election, even with fewer than 2% of the vote.

Kerry's Certainly No Dukakis

"I have no intention whatsoever of apologizing for my remarks," Kerry told reporters as Senate Democratic leaders stood behind him. "I think the Republicans need to start talking about the real issues before the country."

Give 'em hell, Kerry! (tm, me)

p.s. check out how the GOPpers are describing Kerry, e.g.: Rep. "Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) described Kerry as "Ted Kennedy on a South Beach diet." Oh, those cute and cuddly conservatives!

Woman Accused of Spying for Iraq

It's too early to tell the merits, but something doesn't feel right about this. The claims made against her are exceedingly weak on their face. We'll know more later.

Also note: part of the indictment quoted their uses, once again, the "assassination attempt" on Bush as evidence. The problem is, there is no actual evidence of any such assassination attempt, and the US has never been allowed to interview the people supposedly responsible.

Hypocrisy, Thy Name is GOP

Compare

Sen. John F. Kerry called Republicans "the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever seen," in remarks to Chicago factory workers on Wednesday. John Kerry.

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), said Kerry should apologize for a comment "outside the bounds of where people who want to hold the highest office in this country should be making." Rick Santorum, Washington Post, March 11th, 2004

to

Bush, standing on a stage outside of Naperville North High School, pointed reporter Adam Clymer out to his running mate, former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney. Then Bush described Clymer using a common obscenity.

"There's Adam Clymer, major-league asshole from the New York Times," Bush said.

"Oh, yeah, he is, big-time," Cheney responded. Houston Chronicle September 5th, 2000

FU, Santorum.

Contribute to the Kerry Campaign

Facing a 10-1 money disadvantage is a huge obstacle for Kerry to overcome. I urge you to donate today (and tell 'em I sent ya!) or volunteer your time. Your country needs you!

Bush Really in More Trouble than he Thought

Bush's support is so low that the only way for him to win now is to bring Kerry's negatives up. Apparently, Rove thinks 'the sooner, the better' and initiated the negative ads today. They're your typical smear and bullshit story, but with the added twist of these radical's bald-faced lies (e.g. in Kerry's first 100 days, he will raise taxes by "$900 billion dollars").

Kerry's response:

After losing nearly 3 million jobs, watching health care costs rise out of control, turning record surpluses into record deficits, and breaking his own promises on everything from improving schools to making America secure, this President has now decided to launch a negative advertising campaign against me.

What’s most interesting about this new ad is what’s not in it. This President can’t talk about his positive vision for America, because at each turn he has put this nation on the wrong track. It’s time he pays attention to that old saying, when you’ve dug yourself into a ditch, stop digging.

I am running for President because I want to change the direction of this country. If I’m elected, we’ll create new and better jobs, lower the cost of health care, and get Bush’s runaway deficits under control.

What you’re seeing is the last gasp of air from the failed Bush Administration that has no record to run on and nothing but more of the same failed policies to offer the American people.

Well said, sir.

I knew Michael Dukakis, Mike was a good friend of mine, and you, sir, are no Michael Dukakis.

Bush in More Trouble than he Thought

The Senate voted today 51-48 to require 60 affirmative votes in order to pass any tax cuts in the next five years. This says nothing about removing the sunshine clause of the current cuts, but still, it's a rebuke. 4 GOPpers (Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, John McCain of Arizona and Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, both of Maine) crossed over. The lone Democrat against the measure was Zell Miller, natch. Why is he allowed in the Dem party, again?

Feeding People Their Own Words

"I'm a firm believer in feeding people their own words back to them, when it's appropriate."
– Trent Lott

and with that, Truth Out.org introduces an awesome collection of quotes, all of which should be brought back to the attention of the person who uttered them.

Bush is a "Straight Shooter"?

Well, he's certainly straight and pro-gun, but I don't think that's what Ken Mehlman was referring to:

"There is a big stylistic difference going forward,” said Mehlman, “between a president who is a straight shooter, who when he says something you can put it in the bank, and an opponent who has consistently shown through this campaign that he says one thing and does something else."

Excuse me? Bush is the most consistent serial dissembler of a president - AKA liar - this country has ever known. He even outstrips Nixon, particularly in terms of words v. deeds.

As Eric Alterman, and now Josh Marshall, say: if the Dems can't win on this, they need a new country to run.

Bush Team's Creative Use of Ellipses

as caught by Ryan Lizza. What the Bushies said:

"In My First Hundred Days In The White House, I Will Roll Back George Bush's Tax Cut..." (Sen. John Kerry, Remarks In Manchester, N.H., 12/27/03)

What Kerry actually said:

In my first hundred days in the White House, I will roll back George Bush's tax cut for the wealthiest so that we can invest in education and health care.

I dealt with this kid in elementary school (Brian Agar, for those keeping track) who tried to use me in a similar manner. Knowing that I was good at drawing, he asked me to draw a couple things for him. Being a nice guy who happens to enjoy helping others and enjoys drawing, I obliged him. Then I found out he was taking my drawings to the teacher and giving them to her as a gift and taking credit for them. So the next time he asked, I put "by [me]" on the picture and handed it back, thinking I had outsmarted him. Turns out, he got out his scissors, cut out the part where I had put my name and gave it to the teacher. Boy was I steamed (I had directly confronted him on his behavior twice now, not just passively). The next time, it was a spaceship he wanted me to draw, so under the canopy, and right in the middle of the picture, I put "by [me]." He didn't turn that one in and he never asked me to draw anything for him ever again.

The point is that Brian Agar's theft of my work reminds me a lot the Bushies use of ellipses above, and how the only way for John Kerry to combat such use is to never construct or utter a sentence that can be chopped in so detrimental way again.

Because sometimes, you learn everything you need to know about someone in the third grade.

New Jobless Numbers Announced

Congratulations to the 341,000 new jobless and the 2,000 we missed last week. Prosperity is just around the corner!

FBI Withholding Evidence from Terry Nichols

Back to my favorite conspiracy theory - the OKC bombing (seriously, does anyone really believe that low-grade explosive on one truck did that much damage? Evidence points to multiple bombs and multiple people). Anyway, Terry Nichols' lawyers say state and federal prosecutors did not provide them more than a dozen FBI documents that raise the possibility of additional accomplices in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

Legal maneuvering or governmental intransigence, you be the judge.

Stop the Madness!

From Article 17 of the new provisional Iraqi Constitution:

Article 17.

It shall not be permitted to possess, bear, buy, or sell arms except on licensure issued in accordance with the law.

Does Heston know Bush has sold the Iraqis out of their inalienable right to shoot the shit out of things?

Just to Show They're Not Biased: Impeach Ginsburg!

Because she gives speeches to advocacy groups too (namely, NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund). The Scalia outrage is real as to the ex parte contact with advocates before his court. The outrage for giving speeches is trumped up, as is this supposed "balance" here. The only time the speeches should have an impact is when the justices receive recompense for them or take a position on an issue that comes up before the court later (see: Scalia, Pledge of Allegiance case).

Really, is it necessary to add the adjetive "liberal" in front of NOW?

Bush's Choice for Head of Manufacturing Office Opened a Factory in China

Oh, man. That's priceless!

In late afternoon, the administration announced that the new assistant secretary of commerce for manufacturing and services would be named at a ceremony this morning. Industry officials were told that the job would go to Anthony F. Raimondo, chairman and chief executive of a Nebraska company that makes metal buildings and grain silos.

But Kerry's campaign, tipped off about the impending nomination several hours earlier, hastened to distribute news reports that Raimondo's firm, Behlen Manufacturing Co. of Columbus, Neb., had laid off 75 U.S. workers in 2002, four months after announcing plans for a $3 million factory in northwest Beijing.

Bwa! Hahahahahaaaaaa! Genius!

When Does Sports Roughhousing Become a Crime?

When you try to kill someone. No question, this is a criminal act. Hitting a guy from behind and driving his head into the ground? He should be kicked out of the league and put behind bars.

Somos todos los Españoles

Someone bombed a train, killing more than 170. Notice that Spain, which has long been dealing with this problem, treats it as a police issue not a military one (even today, their PM said that the people responsible would be "arrested"). That's because they've learned the hard way what the current resident of the White House has not.

Early suspicions focused on the Basque separatist group ETA. Later reports have an al Qaeda-linked group taking responsibility. We'll see what plays out, it's still too chaotic to tell the wheat from the chaff yet, news-wise. Still, if you're England, Poland, or Japan, you've got to be more than a bit concerned.

If you don't get the reference in the headline, post a comment and I will explain.

No, Seriously

Today is really fucking boring.

This Just In: Florida Cops Are Racist, Privacy-Intruding Bastards

In other news, dog bites man.

Is it Just Me

... or is today the Most! Boring! Day! EVER!?

Not Your Everyday Headline

Democratic, GOP Groups Target Bush in New TV Ads

The Log Cabin (read: gay) Republicans are coming out against Bush. Bravo. Why they're still with the Republican party, I'll never know.

The RNC's Fearless Leadership: On a Roll!

Ed Gillespie is a Moron:

The head of the Republican Party angered 9/11 families again yesterday by saying only a "small segment ... who are very anti-war" objected to President Bush's use of Ground Zero scenes in his reelection ads.

I really don't think that I need add anything to that.

The full quote is:

[those who objected to the ad are] "a small segment of those who are very anti-war, not only anti-war in Iraq but were opposed to the military removal of the Taliban from Afghanistan."

Genius!

More on the Mercenaries in Zimbabwe

US Mercenaries with government backing? Intended to assist in the (supposed) coup against Equatorial Guinea?

Who knows, but it looks extremely suspicious, and likely that something fishy was going on. Josh Marshall has done all the grunt work. Amazing stuff. Hope he follows up on it.