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.

The Bushies Have to Be Regretting Keeping Tenet Now

After balking in his designated scapegoat role, Tenet (the lone Clinton holdover) is now saying that Cheney is making shit up with regards to Iraqi WMDs. Note: we already knew this, but an administration official is saying it as well. This Knight-Ridder piece sounds very un-sheeplike, particularly in the last 7 paragraphs.

Uncover the deception related program activities! "Doesn't uniquely comport"... hee!

Americans: Not As Hate-filled as Bush/Rove Presumed

According to the latest WaPo poll, Americans now support gay marriage 51-46. See, ignorance and bigotry can be defeated!

Yet another blunder by Bush/Rove. What to do about same-sex marriage is one of those issues that, given any serious thoughts, becomes blindingly clear. It seems as if more people are giving it thought than Bush/Rove wanted them to. Awesome, my people.

Bush Hypocrisy pt. 54021: Biggest Campaign Donors Rewarded with Sleepovers at White House

Remember how the GOPpers attacked Clinton for "selling" sleepovers in the Lincoln bedroom to the Hollywood elite (among others)? Well, Bush is doing the same thing (and the number of invitees is over 540!). I've always thought this was a bullshit issue (big donors receive special attention, news at 11), but if the GOP is going to use it then hoist meet petard, by god.

You know, I really should stop being surprised at the administration's constant hypocrisy, but I can't. Not learning from past experience is a sign of dementia, you know.

Support a Moore Candidacy

Roy Moore, that is. Because if that wingnut actually runs it'll be the best thing to happen to Kerry this whole election cycle. While I'm talking about 3rd party candidates: FU, Nader!

Jack White Pleads Guilty

to assault and battery. Behold, the power of a cocaine- and meth-fueled life!

Want to Know Why Bush is So Worried?

The Dismal Scientist tells all. Basically, it's the economy, stupid.

The jobs situation under the current President Bush is looking more like it did under his father, who failed in his reelection bid in 1992, than in the successful reelection campaigns of Presidents Clinton (1996) and Reagan (1984).

Also note the refutation of the handwaving of the poll numbers by the GOPpers:

According to Gallup, every incumbent since Truman has been ahead of his eventual challenger at this point in the cycle -- all except Gerald Ford, who lost.

Also, according to Gallup, Kerry has the Gore states, the swing states, and is within the MOE in most of the red states. Fuck yeah! Regime change, baby!

BoSox Prove They're Ahead of the Curve, Again

By becoming the second team to try out a combo bench player/bullpen arm guy, in the form of Dave McCarty. In the days of a 12 person pitching staff (phooey!), a guy like this is especially valuable. A bit of pop and some good OBP off the bench... lefty off the mound. It's a low-risk, high-reward kind of move for the 25th guy on your team. Right on.

Your Privacy More at Risk Today Than It Was Yesterday

Because Wisconsin has started using the Matrix. In case you were unaware, the Matrix is a controversial interstate antiterrorism database that holds billions of records of ordinary Americans' activities. Cops can't resist the temptation of this database, only your government can help, and boy, is that a scary thought.

The Paranoid Style of the Wingnuts (AKA Kerry Smear pt. 4)

First making its appearance in the Goldwater days, the paranoid mentality of the far right is nothing new. It is, however, rearing it's ugly head again in the current smear campaign trying to paint Kerry as a Manchurian candidate (for the North Koreans).

Also, do the Bushies seriously think that mischaracterizing a Kerry-sponsored bill from 1995 is going to be a winner?

I'm continually surprised at my continuing surprise of the GOPper idiocy.

Stern's Target Number 1: Bush

Howard Stern, after becoming a post-Janet Jackson victim of the Bush prudery has made Bush enemy #1. Here he talks about the Bush ads that grotesquely use 9/11 in an attempt to bolster his reelection.

You can download the 4 minute audio mp3 from cmoore.com. If you wish, you may also rate the file and provide commentary or feedback.

Today is International Women's Day

In honor of that, MADRE has an analysis of women's rights in post-invasion Iraq. In short, it's not a pretty picture. I don't cover group-specific politics as much as I should, but today we'll make up for that somewhat.

Since the “end of hostilities” in May, ongoing military violence and a spike in violence against women in Iraq has curtailed all aspects of women’s lives, preventing many from leaving home, even for food, water or medical treatment or to go to work or school. Conditions of daily life are deteriorating, rather than improving, with most of Iraq still experiencing power outages for an average of 16 hours a day. Children sleep in the streets between rising piles of uncollected garbage. Drinking water is contaminated and there are 12-hour waits to buy gasoline or cooking fuel. In most of the country, there is no telephone or postal service. As those primarily responsible for meeting the basic needs of the population, Iraqi women have been forced to intensify their work hauling water, preparing food and caring for children traumatized by bombing, disease and malnutrition.

Bush & Co.'s WMD Lies

Here's another good repository.

GOP Threatens, Intimidates Upstarts

In an act I consider systemic behavior rather than an exceptional circumstance, head honchos of the RNC tried to threaten a neophyt politician into abandoning his grassroots campaign for the GOP TX4 seat.

"A few days later, Murphy received another phone call, this time from Larry Telford, whom the NRCC calls its "incumbent retention director." Murphy said Telford told him that running would make Murphy an enemy of the White House and ruin his political career....

Just consider what you're doing now. You don't want to have the freakin' president of the United States mad at you for the rest of your life...If you step off this cliff, gravity never goes up, it goes down."

That's a bit much for a no money, no experience grassroots guy, don't you think? Oh, wait, guess not:

Reynolds dropped plenty of big names, including Karl Rove, chief political strategist for the president. Reynolds promised that, should Murphy put his party first, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay would be made aware and that he "wouldn't forget it."

The GOPpers denied it, of course. Too bad for them, Murphy recorded the conversations.

One word: Owned.

Bush Crashing

I hope this keeps up. Dana Milbank and Richard Morin report that "a majority of Americans -- 57 percent -- say they want their next president to steer the country away from the course set by Bush... Bush's standing hit new lows in crucial areas such as the economy (39 percent support him), Iraq (46 percent) and the budget deficit (30 percent)."

They've got to be shaken up there on Pennsylvania Ave. Remember, the ABC/Post poll has been the one most consistently favorable toward the president. Milbank also notes in a separate article what I consider proof that Bush & co. are running scared: he mentioned Senator Kerry by name. In March. That's unprecedented.

What really makes me want to go kick some fuckers in the nuts is that Nader's still, still!, polling around 3%. You idiots. As if you needed any more proof:

In a bit of good news for Bush, Nader is drawing essentially all of his support from Kerry, who leads Bush by 9 percentage points in a two-way matchup with the president -- an indication Nader could play the spoiler for Democrats in 2004 as he did four years ago. Underscoring that potential, nearly two-thirds of Democrats opposed Nader's decision to run, while nearly half of all Republicans supported his move.

Who are these assholes supporting the megalomaniac Nader? Nader has got to know he's the catspaw of the GOP, but he just doesn't care because he's a narcissist of the highest order. FU, Nader! You überrich, do-nothing-in-the-past-30-years douchebag!

Adventures With Idiots pt. 1

Every morning, I go get my coffee. For the past three or four months it's been from the same place, this little coffee shop downstairs from where I work. For the past three or four months, the same two people work there at the same time that I get my morning coffee, let's call them Cool and Idiot. For the past three or four months, I order the same thing.

You would think that after three or four months Idiot would remember my drink. 'Em remembers who I am, but only gets the drink right about 20% of the time (it's just a goddamn tall drip, medium roast, with extra room). I'm used to this, but today was something special.

I'm watching 'em get my drink before I paid, filling the cup with the wrong blend. Brings the drink back to the counter, I say "wrong blend" and am greeted with confused stare. Goes back to make my drink (that is, to open the nozzle from the coffeepot into the cup) with the right blend but grabs a different size. So now I've got the right blend, smaller cup. It took three tries to pour me the same coffee I've ordered for the past three or four months, and the third time today had to be done by the manager because Idiot had wandered off before I noticed that 'em had changed the size on me.

My experiences with idiot are not atypical of the standard customer experience, by the way.

Amazing.

Krugman Strikes Again

Exposing the lies of the administration's job creation propaganda. Check out this graph:


That's some major league wishcasting. Interesting how the slope of every forecast is quite similar, it's just the intercept that changes.

Krugman, in a three-paragraph essay, let's the graph do the talking for him. He closes with:

Economic forecasting isn't an exact science, but wishful thinking on this scale is unprecedented. Nor can the administration use its all-purpose excuse: all of these forecasts date from after 9/11. What you see in this chart is the signature of a corrupted policy process, in which political propaganda takes the place of professional analysis.

Note that the Bush administration predicted 2.6M new jobs this year, with an unemployment rate of 5.6%. The current reported rate of unemployment is ... 5.6%. So somehow we gain the entirety of the lost jobs with no change in unemployment rate. I'm not understanding the math, here. Maybe you can explain it to me.

SEC Taking an Interest in MS-SCO

It's all unofficial right now, but it's still a development. Microsoft, your days are numbered!

Der Gropenführer Is Losing Interest Already

Like Jesse Ventura before him, Schwarzenegger is losing interest as he discovers that governing is actually hard work. How's he shirking his duties? by agreeing to become editor in chief of Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines.

Hell, at least Ventura tried for a year or two before giving up. I guess Ah-nold is looking to the President "most vacation days in presidential history" Bush for inspiration.

Bush's 'Homeland' Security Department

Yes, the same department that he resisted, then relented but gutted. TNR has a great piece on just what a fucked up mess the whole backwater, dead-end department is. I sure am glad they're the ones in charge of our nation's security from unconventional attacks.

Even allowing for inevitable transition problems, DHS has been a disaster: underfunded, undermanned, disorganized, and unforgivably slow-moving.

Indeed.

Need Another Reason to Hate Wal-Mart?

Why is the company that offers little to no healthcare for its workers (and is thus reliant on Medicare/Medicaid) giving such huge contributions to the (evil, GOP) side that wants to slash these safety nets even more? Oh wait, I forgot, they hate people. The people that work for them, the people that buy from them. Workers are fungible! The Walmartistas are just evil automatons, really. FU, Walton family!

Warren Buffett, Class Warrior

In a letter to Berkshire-Hathaway shareholders, Warren Buffet said:

Corporate income taxes in fiscal 2003 accounted for 7.4% of all federal tax receipts, down from a post-war peak of 32% in 1952. With one exception (1983), last year’s percentage is the lowest recorded since data was first published in 1934. Even so, tax breaks for corporations (and their investors, particularly large ones) were a major part of the Administration’s 2002 and 2003 initiatives. If class warfare is being waged in America, my class is clearly winning. Today, many large corporations – run by CEOs whose fiddle-playing talents make your Chairman look like he is all thumbs – pay nothing close to the stated federal tax rate of 35%.

Who knew Buffett was so even-keeled? Well, I did, actually, but it's nice to have it reaffirmed every now and then.

Courts to Ashcroft: Keep Your Damn Hands Off of Women's Uteruses

9th U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled Friday that an abortion provider's affiliates do not have to turn patient medical files over to the government in a battle over the Partial-Birth Abortion Act. FU, Ashie! I hope that pancreatitis kills you, fucker.

Europe Wants Bush Out

Now! Though this may give the nationalists a reason to vote for Bush, let's be serious, they were going to vote for Bush anyway. Now, according to Lawrence Freedman of Business Day, Europe may be ready to embrace regime change. In his words:

It is hard to overstate the contempt with which Bush is viewed in some circles in Europe. He is regularly portrayed as irrationally belligerent, disdainful of allies, in thrall to special interests and rather stupid.

French President Jacques Chirac knows relations with Washington will not really improve until there is a new administration in the White House. Meantime, Bush's chumminess with German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder last week seemed rather strained. Even Britain's Tony Blair is aware it would be easier for him if Bush were removed by the US electorate before Blair's own voters punish him for being too close.

If you think that's bad, you ought to hear how we feel about him, Larry! Freedman is professor of war studies and vice-principal (research) at King's College in London, by the way. Definitely a commie.

Kerry Crushing Bush

Yeah, yeah, it's early but still... in the latest CNN/Gallup poll, Kerry stomps Bush 52-44! (MOE 3%)

Right the fuck on!

Seattle Finally Joins the Side of Goodness, Sorta

Albeit only partially. Nickels announces that the city will recognize gay marriages by Seattle employees. He can't recognize them citywide, because that's a county function (calling Ron Sims). WA is one of the states with a highly-unconstitutional DOMA statute, btw.

Bush to Bring It On

Ooooh, I'm shaking. In other news, he just figured out how to lace his shoes. As much as I hate to link to a "is God on America's side?" asshat Bumiller article, this one required it. Favorite quote:

"He knows his voting record cold," said the Republican close to the campaign.

Right. Suuure he does. The guy who can't pay attention to detail and is dumber than my dog knows 30 years of Kerry's voting record. Hah!

Democracy in Afghanistan

From the Star:

Afghan President Hamid Karzai offered Afghan men a trade today in an attempt to convince them to let their women vote in upcoming elections.
"Please, my dear brothers, let your wives and sisters go to the voter registration process," Karzai told a gathering to mark International Women's Day. "Later, you can control who she votes for, but please, let her go."

I sure am glad we're encouraging basic human rights.

Supreme Court Agreement Matrix

I couldn't leave Dr. Poole's site alone, and this liberal-conservative Supreme Court analysis is fascinating. To me, anyway.

Kerry's VP Choices

Who do you think it'll be? I think Edwards or Bill Richardson would be awesome choices, but they're not going to happen (for different reasons). What's more likely is Evan Bayh, Bob Graham, or Dick Gephardt (thought it will probably be someone we've never heard of before).

Here's the most interesting possibility: John McCain

Interesting in the "no fucking way" category, because of personality, loyalty, and McCain's far right and that's really not a good idea. "Not good" as in "fucking horrible." McCain's not a populist, he's an ideologue with good PR and a snarl! (while you're there check out Dr. Poole's awesome site)

My more interesting suggestion: Jon Stewart (he's too smart to run, though)

and in News of the Whack, people seem to be calling for, get this, Tom Brokaw to join the ticket. Tom Brokaw?! The WSJ called for it, so you have to know it's a retarded idea.

What do you think?

Confidence Man

Why Bush's campaign actually provides all the reasons you shouldn't vote for him.

President Bush. Strength and confidence. Steady leadership in times of change. He knows exactly where he wants to lead this country. And he won't let facts, circumstances, or the Constitution get in his way.

Well said, Mr. Saletan, well said.

Family Values, Bush Style

... neither George nor Jeb attend brother Neil's wedding. Guess they were too busy destroying the world and rigging votes, respectively.

The Hell? US Mercenaries in Zimbabwe?

What's going on here, people?

Zimbabwean security authorities have impounded a US-registered aircraft that landed at the country's main international airport with military equipment and 64 men aboard suspected to be mercenaries, Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi revealed.

What Liberal Media? pt. 3015

In an article entitled Bush Hindering Probes, Kerry Says , the WaPo goes on at great length about Kerry's attacks on Bush's stonewalling of the 9/11 and how Kerry is doing this, doing that, and here are the GOP counterclaims (which are really just handwaving). Yet the entirety of the substance on Bush's actual actions in re: the 9/11 investigation are, and I quote:

A bipartisan independent commission investigating intelligence failures is expected to release its findings this summer, though some commission members have complained of a lack of White House cooperation in getting documents and open interviews with key officials.

That's it. One sentence. Oh, and those "key officials" are Bush and Cheny who will only talk to the chair and vice chair of the commission and only for one hour. This president can spare 6 hours for a NASCAR event but only one hour for the 9/11 commission and doesn't get called on that behavior?! Unbelievable.

This Can't Go On Forever, You Know

Even military spending can't be kept up any more. Just like in 1985 when the deficit became so gobsmackingly large that even the wingnut GOPpers couldn't support the military budget anymore. Of course, there were fewer wingnut GOPpers back then, or at the least, fewer pure ideologues. Thanks, gerrymandering!

Here's my list, in order, for the next things that should be axed: stop NMD, build no more boomers (SSBNs), build no more mega carriers (CVAs)... and rename the goddamn Reagan and Bush carriers... and mothball the oldest one when the Reagan comes online, stop Osprey production, stop F-22 production at 48, and mothball the current oldest attack subs (SSNs) as the Virginia class comes online.

Thank you, thank you. I'll be standing over here in the not-going-to-get-reelected antimilitary-industrial complex losers corner.

Iraqi Interim Constitution Signed

The Shiites came back to sign, but no one is saying what the concessions made to them were. Because no one walks out on something like that without getting some sort of incentive to come back. So what was it? None of the news reports mention any substantive changes or extra-governmental or other quid pro quo dealings. We need someone on the inside. Maybe it'll come out later today.

Moderately Bad Music Day

You know when you have this sound in your head, but when you try to record it, the actuality doesn't match the imagination? I hate it when my vision outpaces my talents. Feh.

What Does it Take to Impeach Scalia?

Because he's messed up again, this time, by giving a keynote dinner speech in Philadelphia for an advocacy group waging a legal battle against gay rights.

C'mon, people, get! him! OUT!

Zarqawi Threat Blown Out of Proportion?

I wouldn't be surprised, given this administrations attempts to create celebrities out of the bad guys in their almost childish need to create a Manichean narrative.

It turns out, most of the evidence about Zarqawi is exceedingly weak, and I've expressed my reservations about this before. LA Times has the story of just how much wishcasting seems to be going on.

For Those Libertarians Out There

Robert Heinlein would like to have a word with you.

Note: Heinlein became more aquainted with libertarianism in his later life, long after this was written.

Still, if you believe in some libertarian utopia world would be the outcome of a libertarian society, this is a wonderful short story for you to read.

What Liberal Media?

Headline from the NYT today:

Job Data Provides Ammunition for Two Sides in Presidential Race

Excuse me? That's utter horseshit! The only news in the job data is bad news, and there is no possible way that it provides any ammunition whatsoever to the GOPpers. None. Zero. Further, the article doesn't even go on to support the headline at all.

Liberal media, my ass.

More Bad News on the Job Front

Those 21,000 jobs created in February? Yeah, they were all government jobs.

And remember how all the GOPpers were telling us to pay attention to the household survey? Yeah, that one showed a decrease of 258,000.

Embrace Hemp, Save the Planet

Stop the insanity! 6000 years of human use of hemp was not for nothing, and we could really use the weed nowadays.

Man I hate prohibitionists.

Yeah, that 9/11 Ad Campaign May be Backfiring Just a Bit

See, e.g., the he molests the dead column in Newsday.

Or, just these
letters to the NYT editors:

To the Editor:

I can see no reason that the Bush campaign should not refer to the events of 9/11 in election ads (front page, March 4).

All the ads need is a voiceover: "On Sept. 11, 2001, George W. Bush presided over one of the worst failures of intelligence and security in United States history, when 15 Saudis and 4 others (not one of them from Iraq) diverted four American airliners, flying two of them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Immediately thereafter, while United States flights were grounded, President Bush allowed several prominent Saudis to leave the country . . ."

A little fairness in advertising is all that's required.

DAVID SIMS
Durham, N.C., March 5, 2004

and

To the Editor:

Re "Bush Ad Campaign Ready to Kick Off an Expensive Effort" (front page, March 4):

It continues to baffle me that the Republican Party insists on reminding the American people over and over again that George W. Bush's administration is responsible for the greatest security failure in the history of the United States.

SETH APPEL
New York, March 4, 2004

and so on...

Warning: Blogs Can Be Infectious

"Using newly developed techniques for graphing the flow of information between blogs, the researchers have discovered that authors of popular blog sites regularly borrow topics from lesser-known bloggers"

That's totally me! Unoriginal, but a great aggregator! Except for the non-attribution part. I always try to do that.

It's Official: "Bogart" (the verb) Now Passé

Bogart, formerly the sole possession of the cool kids in the know who happen to smoke a lot of weed, has now officially jumped the shark.

I blame this on Jack Black for using the phrase in the closing credits of School of Rock. Damn you, JB!

Tom Hayden: You Gotta Love Her

Hayden writes a remarkably open article about a lot of things; national healing, truth, and Jane Fonda. But really, it's why the chickenhawks should fear Kerry and his band of brothers.

If I were George W. Bush, I would be terrorized by the eyes of those scruffy-looking veterans, the so-called band of brothers, volunteering for duty with the Kerry campaign. They look like men with scores to settle, with a palpable intolerance toward the types who sent them to war for a lie, then ignored their Agent Orange illness, cut their GI benefits, treated them like losers and still haven't explained what that war was about. They know Jane Fonda is a diversion from a larger battlefield. They are the sort who will keep a cerebral United States senator grounded, who have finally figured out who their real enemies are and who are determined that this generation hear their story anew. They are gearing up for one last battle. Chickenhawks better duck.

Two things struck me in particular in this article. The first is Nixon and Kissinger discussing bombing the dikes in Vietnam:

NIXON: We've got to be thinking in terms of an all-out bombing attack.... I'm thinking of the dikes.

KISSINGER: I agree with you.

NIXON: ...Will that drown people?

KISSINGER: About two hundred thousand people.

Jebus!

The second is that there have been no recorded incidents of protesters spitting on veterans (as proven in the book The Spitting Image, which I now want to read).

Wow

Just wanted to say that, as good as yesterday was, this has been an exceedingly pleasant 24 hour news cycle for me - the best one in memory. Microsoft's evil exposed, the Plame affair, Memo thievery, Ashcroft in the ICU, bad job numbers (only good because it hurts Bush), Martha Stewart convicted on all counts, Bush's Iraqi machinations falling apart... fuckin sweet!

How to Spruce Up Your Cell

The title of the forthcoming book from Martha Stewart.

Count 1: Conspiracy to obstruct justice, make false statements, and commit perjury - GUILTY!
Count 2: False statements - GUILTY!
Count 3: False statements - GUILTY!
Count 4: Obstruction of justice - GUILTY!

Now, what goes with prison orange? (she won't go to jail). Oh, schadenfreude, how sweetly you sing!

Of course, for perspective's sake, Bush's insider trading involved sums over four times as great.

It's Unusual to See a Culture War Being Waged from the Top-Down

Oh, wait. No it's not. Sign error!

Anyway, a group of doctors are maintaining a public internet database of plaintiffs who file malpractice claims, their attorneys, and the their expert witnesses. To what purpose? Intimidation? Chilling effect? PR? It's ineffective in any case, except to the extent it provides FUD for the "tort reform." I guess it's not totally ineffective, since it made the pages of the NYT.

Note: this name-the-names behavior is the same tactic as that used by anti-choice groups and the NRA. The forces of evil know no bounds.

Not So Fast

The Iraqi interim constitution was to be signed today, but the shadow gov't (AKA Ayatollah al Sistani) objected to the Kurdish recognition and the presidency parts. See what happens when you try to impose a constitution on others?

Bullshit "Journalism"

It's just sports writers, but still. From the front page of espn.com today: "Power numbers dipped in 2003 and the perceived reason why was due to hitters weaning off of steroids."

Excuse me? Jebus, what retard wrote that?

The Lies of the Bushies: Beyond the Pale and Into Gobsmacking Amazing

Remember those mobile biological factories that Iraq was supposed to have? The ones we had 3D models of and actually found? That the entire administration (including Powell and Bush and Cheney) used as justification for the Iraqi WMD program? That Bush specifically claimed were evidence of the Iraqi WMD program? The trailers that turned out to be for weather balloons? (emphasis added by me in all of the quotes below)

The Bush administration's prewar assertion that Saddam Hussein had a fleet of mobile labs that could produce bioweapons rested largely on information from an Iraqi defector working with another government who was never interviewed by U.S. intelligence officers, according to current and former senior intelligence officials and congressional experts who have studied classified documents.

We didn't even interview the primary source!

Wait, it gets better:

The claims about the mobile facilities remain unverified, however, and now U.S. officials are trying to get access to the Iraqi engineer to verify his story, the sources said, particularly because intelligence officials have discovered that he is related to a senior official in Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress, a group of Iraqi exiles who actively encouraged the United States to invade Iraq.

More failures:

Powell also cited another defector in his speech, an Iraqi major who was made available to U.S. officials by the INC, as supporting the engineer's story. The major, however, had already been "red-flagged" by the Defense Intelligence Agency as having provided questionable information about Iraq's mobile biological program. But DIA analysts did not pass along that cautionary note, and the major was cited in an October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq and was mentioned in Powell's speech, officials said.

If you don't remember the Bush quote about the trailers being proof of the WMD presence in Iraq:

Bush said the trailers showed that the United States had found former Iraqi president Hussein's prohibited weapons. "For those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong," Bush said. "We found them."

Just to drive the point home a little more:

CIA officials reviewing the bioweapons intelligence say that the engineer who provided the original tip never dealt directly with U.S. intelligence agencies, and that he passed along the information through a foreign intelligence service, which they refuse to name. U.S. intelligence analysts did not know his name before the war, relying entirely on foreign officials to vouch for his credibility, according to a former CIA employee as well as administration and congressional sources.

Note that this didn't stop Cheney from repeating the lies well after it was known that the trailers were for making Hydrogen, not WMDs! Cheney is one evil, insane, hate-filled, and hate-worthy mofo.

On Jan. 22, Vice President Cheney told National Public Radio that Hussein had "spent time and effort acquiring biological weapons labs" and that the semitrailers "were, in fact, part of that program." He called the trailers "conclusive evidence, if you will, that he [Hussein] did in fact have programs of mass destruction."

Chalabi played this administration like a violin. The Bushies are a bunch of clueless chumps in the thrall of a foreign despot-wannabe. Where is the outrage?!

Behold, the Power of the Blogosphere

Atrios raised $20,771.28 for John Kerry during his John Kerry Thursday (a plan I'm going to emulate, though it'll be Tuesdays).

Hooray for democracy and small donations! Atrios better get a ticket to the ball. Him and Kos.

Bush Tipsier on North Korea than a Drunken Frat Boy

I hate you, I love you, I hate you, I love you, I haaaaaaaate youououou....

Kevin Drum has the insider scoop, namely:

A foreign policy insider I talked to today says that what happened is that Dick Cheney had another one of his chats with Bush and got him good and riled up. Off went a nastygram to the North Koreans.

Powell then stepped in and reminded everyone that "or else" doesn't mean much unless you can answer the question "or else what?" Bush then backed down. Progress made: zero.

I love insider scoop!

The Memo Thing

I'll have more on this later, after Hatch decides what the hell he's going to do, but in the meantime the Washington Post has a summary up.. From the summary:

Pickle made no recommendations about whether to pursue criminal prosecutions in the case, but he cited several federal laws that might be considered, including statutes involving false statements and receipt of stolen property.

Pickle and his investigators said forensics analyses indicated that 4,670 files had been downloaded between November 2001 and spring 2003 by one of the aides -- "the majority of which appeared to be from folders belonging to Democratic staff" on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) said at least 100 of his computer files were also accessed by the GOP aides.

Most of the files accessed were related to the judicial confirmation process. In case you weren't aware, in that process, GOPpers on the Hill work hand-in-glove with the White House counsel. If this scandal becomes a criminal investigation, the White House counsel is suddenly going to be getting a lot more of the spotlight than it ever has before.

The rest of the report does some handwaving that I don't understand how a reasonable person could not be incredulous. To whit: though 4,670 files were pilfered, and there were systemic security flaws, those flaws had nothing to do with the pilfering. Most ridiculous that Lundell learned the exploits from watching a sysadmin and was aided by Miranda, a senior staff member. Riiiiiight.

Miranda is unrepentant:

Miranda, in an interview, dismissed what he called the 69-year-old Hatch's "antique and anachronistic" belief that "gentlemen don't read gentlemen's mail."

...."The problem," Miranda said, "is with senators who do not understand that there is nothing unethical with accessing anything on your computer."

The problem, I say, is that you are breaking the law.

Like I mentioned previously, hang on to your hats!

The Plame Affair Exploding

Newsday is reporting today that the investigation is far from dying. Hot news, including the subpoena of calls made from Air Force One.

The federal grand jury probing the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity has subpoenaed records of Air Force One telephone calls in the week before the officer's name was published in a column in July

Note also the outing of the previously little-known "White House Iraq Group"

Also sought in the wide-ranging document requests contained in three grand jury subpoenas to the Executive Office of President George W. Bush are records created in July by the White House Iraq Group, a little-known internal task force established in August 2002 to create a strategy to publicize the threat posed by Saddam Hussein.

The WHIG is a group composed of "Karl Rove, the president's senior political adviser; communications strategists Karen Hughes, Mary Matalin and James R. Wilkinson; legislative liaison Nicholas E. Calio; and policy advisers led by Rice and her deputy, Stephen J. Hadley, along with I. Lewis Libby, Cheney's chief of staff." ... now that's an interesting group. Hughes and Matalin had left the Bush administration before the Plame Affair. Scooter Libby, proving that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, is the current prime suspect.

Note, this scandal is wrapped up with the Bushies need to justify the invasion of Iraq, and their attempts to link Iraq to a nuclear weapons program. Josh Marshall has some great coverage of the highly serendipitous timing of the forged Nigerian uranium documents appearance in front of a journalist in Rome.

Things are getting interesting, my people. Criminal proceedings are likely to be recommended against the computer memo thefts by the GOPpers soon as well (for the record, I'm sick of the X-gate nomenclature. It's a pretty lame cliche and it needs to stop. Now.)

If you read the Newsday article closely, I think it's clear that the reporter knows (or thinks he knows) more than he's saying in print.

Ashcroft Ill

They say it's pancreatitis, but I say it's a guilty conscience. Atone for your sins, Ashie, and all will be, well, not forgiven, but at least I won't have a barbeque when you die.

Job Growth Stalls, Surprising Forecasters

... but unsurprising to the people on the ground. 21,000 new jobs = a deficit of 129,000 jobs needed just to keep unemployment flat. Wal-Mart's going gangbusters, though.

Oh, and last month's (already uninspiring) numbers were revised downward as well. And the time-unemployed average has reached 20.3 weeks, the highest since 1984. Brad Delong has all the details you need.

I'm just wondering how many times the press is going to do the "improving job numbers expected "... "jobs for were lower than expected" ... "the number of new jobs for were revised downward" cycle ... and how many times the public is going to fall for it. I feel like Charlie Brown. Are we all just optimists at heart?

Darl McBride is Farking Insane

This is not a new statement by any means, but the dude's totally paranoid.

Darl McBride, chief executive of SCO Group Inc., says he sometimes carries a gun because his enemies are out to kill him. He checks into hotels under assumed names. An armed bodyguard protected him when he gave a speech last month at Harvard Law School.

Seriously, Darl. You're not that important.

Last Night Was a Great Night

Got a lot done, spent quality time with the wife. Overall, it was really just a supremely pleasant evening. Good times, good times.

It's Official: MS Funding for SCO's Frivolous FUD Lawsuits

... and lots more than was previously supposed. This is huge. HUGE. Not only is it proven here that they were behind the Baystar investment, but the previously supposed $11 million investment... turns out to be more. A lot more.

To the tune of $86 MILLION dollars!!!

(to $106M!) I think I can quit with the disclaimer about MS not funding SCO's anit-Linux and anti-GPL frivolous FUD lawsuits and extortion now.

Wow. This is quite the smoking gun. I'm still gobsmacked. Have to think on this some more. But one word keeps popping into my head:

Barratry

also

Abuse of Monopoly Power - Restraint on trade, raising barriers to entry

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

SCO: Not Only Are We Idiots, We're Also Incompetent

News.com.com has obtained a document that shows SCO's earlier plans (for the February "we're gonna sue 'em!" date that never occurred) to sue Bank of America to "impound ... all Linux software products in the custody or control of Defendant through the pendency of these proceedings', and to accuse in court 'Linus Torvalds and/or others' of 'inclusion into one or more distributions of Linux with the copyright management information intentionally removed."

Behold, the power of Track Changes!

p.s. How awesome is it that the MS-money-fueled lawsuits embarass (even more) the pawn^h^h^h^h SCO because of poorly designed features in MS' own software?

Want to Be Alarmed?

Bush is gutting the National Emergency Management Association's emergency management operations.

The Emergency Management Performance Grant Program was created during the civil defense era to help provide for the security of the country through a local/state/federal partnership to plan, train, exercise and educate for potential nuclear attacks. The program has evolved over the years to address all of the hazards that threaten communities, states and the country including natural and manmade disasters, terrorism, civil unrest, West Nile virus, Mad Cow disease, other animal disease outbreaks, etc.

The result of this budget? 50% headcount reduction, more burden on the states, and less information sharing. For an organization that is to ensure the safety of and defend our nuclear installations in the country.

Ye gods.

Guess Those Ads Using 9/11 May Not Have Been Such Hot Ideas After All

Because people are going apeshit over them. As well they should. I think the DC GOP is stuck in an echo chamber, reinforcing their own incestuous belief circles. This would explain why they've gone from invincible to clueless since the "Mission Accomplished" aircraft carrier bullshit stunt.

"It's a slap in the face of the murders of 3,000 people," said Monica Gabrielle, whose husband died in the twin tower attacks. "It is unconscionable."

It's not just the victim's families, either: the firefighters are unhappy with the ads as well:

"We're going to be aggressive and vocal in our efforts to ensure that the citizens of this country know about Bush's poor record on protecting their safety and providing for the needs of the people who are supposed to respond in an emergency."

Of course, we could just be disgruntled Democrats.

How do you think the GOP would act if the Dems ran an ad of soldiers coming home from Iraq in bodybags?

Bush: Allows Terrorists to Live in Order to Justify War Against Iraq

Yep. Mr. Preemptive strike against terrorists had Zarqawi in his sites in 2002 and 2003, with full military plans on how to get him, but didn't pull the trigger. Why? That should be obvious: because it would undercut the case for war against Iraq. Zarqawi is a horrible, evil man, responsible for most of the bombings in Iraq (not foreign terrorists, mind), who was in (Kurdish-controlled) northern Iraq, making ricin and bombs for future attacks. He has direct ties to al Qaida, but is considered (by the CIA, amongst others) independent of them.

And Bush refused to pull the trigger.

This, my friends, is serious. And damning. Oh, I hope the media stays on this story.

Here's a key excerpt:

In June 2002, U.S. officials say intelligence had revealed that Zarqawi and members of al-Qaida had set up a weapons lab at Kirma, in northern Iraq, producing deadly ricin and cyanide.

The Pentagon quickly drafted plans to attack the camp with cruise missiles and airstrikes and sent it to the White House, where, according to U.S. government sources, the plan was debated to death in the National Security Council.

"Here we had targets, we had opportunities, we had a country willing to support casualties, or risk casualties after 9/11 and we still didn't do it," said Michael O'Hanlon, military analyst with the Brookings Institution.

Four months later, intelligence showed Zarqawi was planning to use ricin in terrorist attacks in Europe.

The Pentagon drew up a second strike plan, and the White House again killed it. By then the administration had set its course for war with Iraq.

"People were more obsessed with developing the coalition to overthrow Saddam than to execute the president's policy of preemption against terrorists," according to terrorism expert and former National Security Council member Roger Cressey.

In January 2003, the threat turned real. Police in London arrested six terror suspects and discovered a ricin lab connected to the camp in Iraq.

The Pentagon drew up still another attack plan, and for the third time, the National Security Council killed it.

Military officials insist their case for attacking Zarqawi's operation was airtight, but the administration feared destroying the terrorist camp in Iraq could undercut its case for war against Saddam.

Because Bush refused to take Zarqawi out because that would have been detrimental to his bloodlust for invading Iraq, he is now responsible for at least 700 more deaths. May Bush rot in whatever he considers his worst place to be in his presumed afterlife.

Note: there may have been other constraints that the White House was under, none of which I find plausible but they may have existed. Nonetheless, this is a damning report and my conclusion stands pending further evidence to the contrary. I'm also not convinced Zarqawi is behind all of the recent attacks (particularly while the Iraqis are trying to pin everything on Farsi-speaking foreigners (read: Iranians)). Let's just say I have my suspicions there (not the least of which concern unsubstantiated reports that he was killed in April 2003).

Which Vehicle of Communication

...has been more detrimental to language*: Powerpoint or Instant Messaging? Discuss.

* all languages, I assume, but I'm only familiar with english.

p.s. it's really hard to argue with PowerPoint. When the president's entire briefing on social security reform consists of 670 words in a PowerPoint presentation, you just know this country is screwed. ne1 who dis, iz a dam foo! u r wr0ng, f00!

Let the Anti-Kerry Media Bias Begin!

In today's installment, we have Slate weighing in with Kerry's flip-flops. Included in the flips are such things as being opposed to the death penalty... but now he's OK with it for terrorists. Most are old (1996 or earlier - who hasn't changed their opinion in the last 8 years? Is the world the same?) and insignificant differences.

To quote the great economist John Maynard Keynes, whose opinions "evolved" quite frequently, "When the facts change, I change my mind – what do you do, sir?"

At any rate, the Slate article is execrable, right up there with the ridiculous Hitchens pro-Iraq War-because-by-god-there-are-certainly-WMDs from a few months back. To take another example, in re: social security. Kerry is quoted as saying in 1996 on Social Security as saying:

During the 1996 campaign, when I was a Globe reporter, Kerry told me the Social Security system should be overhauled. He said Congress should consider raising the retirement age and means-testing benefits and called it "wacky" that payroll taxes did not apply to income over $62,700. "I know it's all going to be unpopular," he said. "But this program has serious problems, and we have a generational responsibility to fix them."

and the flip-flop is:

Kerry no longer wants to mess with Social Security. "John Kerry will never balance the budget on the backs of America's seniors," his Web site promises.

Say what? That's not even a position, that's an empty statement. Has he refuted a single statement from the 1996 quote? No! Did the author (Michael "I'm too lazy to actually do a good job" Grunwald) get ahold of Kerry('s people) and clarify his current stance vis a vis his previous statements? Hell No!

Hell, the full quote from Kerry's website says

John Kerry will never balance the budget on the backs of America’s seniors
Many politicians have supported major cuts that cause premium increases and cutbacks in benefits. John Kerry won’t.

Which is still not even an answer, much less a flip-flop.

Look, it's fine to note someone's history and if they are hypocrites. The "flip flops" of Kerry don't approach that level on any issue save perhaps his embracing of Edwards' protectionism in the past three weeks. They have 32 years of Kerry voting records and this is all they can come up with? Pathetic.

More to the point, where's the Bush Says v. Does list?

The fact that this is already coming out, and that the article has a sub-head of "Head to head" and contains no information on Bush leads me to be more than a tad worried about the upcoming election. Given the sorry coverage of the media in the last election and the free pass they gave Bush, my warning level is at step 2 (whatever color that is... taupe?).

A Vote Against Bush == A Vote for Hitler

Damn, Republicans are stupid. There are just so many ways to attack the stupidity, it's difficult to know where to begin. Instead, I'll just put the idiot Cole's statement out there and let you make your own punchline:

A vote against the re-election of President Bush is like supporting Adolph Hitler during World War Two. Or supporting Osama bin Laden now. If George Bush loses the election, Osama bin Laden wins the election.

also

Cole is quoted as asking what Hitler might have thought had Franklin Roosevelt not been re-elected in 1944

:eyeroll: 46% of all voters went for Dewey (a Republican, mind you) in 1944. Were they voting for Hitler?

To quote Atrios: Remember when a certain left-leaning organization unaffiliated with the Democratic Party ran an ad contest? Remember when one ad out of thousands submitted compared Bush to Hitler? Remember howwhen it was brought to the attention of the ad sponsors they removed it? Remember how this story dominated multiple news cycles? Remember how every single Democrat was called on to denounce the evil ad?

Yeah, neither does our media. Then again, everyone and their mother in the blogosphere is talking about this today, so maybe it could hit the media. We'll see.

Update: Cole issued a press release to clarify his statements. They are no less ridiculous or offensive than before.

The Money Gap

In some unsurprising, but still depressing news, Kerry lags Bush in money by $105 million (-$5M to $100M).

Jebus, that's a lot to overcome. If that's not enough reason for you to donate some money or time to the Kerry campaign, I don't know what is. The GOP can't win on message or accomplishments alone, which is why they have to outspend the Dems 10:1 just for parity. And the business-government feedback loop allows them to spend even more next time.

Volunteer or donate today. Your country needs you!

Bush Administration: Let's Roll Back the Clock and Create a Whole New Group of 2nd Class Citizens!

Hmm, No...I can't think of the three-word phrase that pops into my head when I see this:

Administration Proposes Same-Sex-School Option

WASHINGTON, March 3 — The Bush administration has proposed regulations giving public school districts new freedom to create same-sex classes and schools, as long as "substantially equal" opportunities are also provided for the excluded sex.

Can you? Boy, it's on the tip of my tongue. Just can't recall what the phrase is. Hmm. Lemme think. Apart but Equivalent? Divided but not Disharmonious? Something like that.

SCO Names the Mystery Defendants

SCO's scorched earth suicide policy continues. Today, after months of threats and missed deadlines, they finally named two companies that they were suing: AutoZone and DaimlerChrysler. Damn! My money was on google. Yet another bet I've lost lately.

To the extent that the suits are based on Linux usage, they are wholly without merit. SCO knows this. That is why, as Moglen has pointed out, they are not challenging the GPL. Instead they are claiming under a violation of a distribution license where they had a parity relationship. They are asking for an injunction against AutoZone (not going to happen) and big money from a big company.

Wow, MS's $50M FUD money has been well-spent, at least in terms of PR. Of course, there was no relation NONE! between their investment and SCO's lawsuits, even though a better anti-Linux and anti-GPL FUD story has yet to be created.

Though each case will be tried on its own merits, I fail to see how a company who released it's own code under the GPL can sue anyone for distribution of that code later. They make big blustery statements about this ("derivate works! present in the 2.4 and 2.6 kernels!"), but it's not going to happen because it's a lose-lose issue for them. Most of their claims are internal agreement violations where company A ported SCO's code into something else. Whatever. SCO's fucked. They, much like the RIAA, probably know it, but are going to go down with much wailing and gnashing of teeth. If they happen to get the GPL or Linux completely validated by the courts (which will occur, 0.99 probability, if this goes to trial), this will go down as one of the most pyrrhic victories in the history of modern corporations. For MS, that is.

Lessig: All of Entertainment Founded on Piracy

Lessig argues that if P2P == "piracy" then all of Hollywood, radio, cable TV, and the music industry was founded on privacy. I think he's missing the pr0n motivator, but whatever. He also points out what a major league asshole Edison was. T.A. Edison, visionary? No, more like small-minded me-first narcissist whose belief system is anethema to my own.

Volvo: Because We're Idiots

Volvo puts out a concept car ("Designed by Women, For Women" - but I'll save commentary on that for a later rant), where, get this, one of the features is a hood that does not open! Yes, Virginia, the entire front is a one-piece affair that can only be removed by a Volvo mechanic.

Amazing.

OK, first: the open source arguments comparing the difference between open source and buying a car with the hood welded shut no longer exists merely arguendo. Here's a concrete example of why open source rules - you don't have to take it to the company mechanic to refill your goddamn wiper fluid or check the oil.

Second: some of the features are pretty cool (back seats only fold down when someone's in them, like theater seats), but some are just retarded. Like a one-piece, non-openable hood. And seat covers attached by magnets.

Third: "It is all very touchy feely, a mood encouraged by women-friendly Volvo boss Hans-Olov Olsson." Hey, I'm touchy-feely and women-friendly too. Over here, they call that sexual harassment. Also: patronizing.

I feel the chill, grasping hands of Ford all over this one.

And the Winner ...

... of the Bush non-campaign* campaigning two days after a major Dem primary is:

California

Damn! I was betting it was going to be Ohio or Georgia (which would make more sense, since they're swing states. Bush is going to get stomped in Cali, so I really don't see the utility other than that it's a big media state. But then, so's New York.)

In terms of campaign finance laws, how does this work, anyway? How did Bush get away with trips to NH and SC as non-campaign visits, but this one is? Shouldn't there be some $$ accounting going on in order to be in compliance with federal election guidelines? The California trip includes a fundraiser in Los Angeles, so that's probably dispositive toward calling it a campaign stop.

* As predicted (see link, above), two days after a major Dem primary, Bush shows up in that state to make a speech or flick boogers at people or something. The Bush people are actually calling it a "campaign stop" now so it's no longer non-campaigning campaigning.

David Kay to Bush: Quit Your Damn Lies and Obfuscation

In an interview with the Guardian, David Kay said the administration's reluctance to admit that there were no WMDs was delaying essential reforms of US intelligence agencies, and further undermining America's credibility at home and abroad.



Also, it makes Bush look even more like a know-nothing coward.

Oregon Grants Same-Sex Marriages

That's right mofos, Oregon is a right-thinking, fair-minded, decent state. One of the best in the union, and not solely because they recognize that a person's gender or sexual identity does not make them a non-person. It's nice when your state's laws happen to be pretty clear on the gender- and sexual orientation- discrimination thing.

Right the fuck on, Oregon!

This Just In: The Internet is Pretty Democratic

And now the Pew trust has proven it.

Good news. Gives me hope for the future.

What's in a Name?

I don't know, but you could end up being mistaken for a world-renown economics professor and asked to give a talk in Beijing.

You could also be a typical clod of an engineering student and make asshat statements like this:

"I have no idea who they were expecting. Being Chinese, they were inscrutable"

Yeesh.

Send Mary Cheney a Postcard

and ask her why her dad hates her.

Amazingly Poor Decision by Courts Hands Monopolistic Victory to the Telcos

Unfuckingbelievable. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 that "the FCC lacks the authority to delegate responsibility for setting [competitive] rates to the states. The court also ruled the FCC had failed to prove that competitors in the local phone market are "impaired" without government-regulated access to critical parts of the phone network controlled by the regional giants."

Are you kidding me? If competitors are not impaired unless the telcos are required to grant access, can you explain to me why there was no local telco competition in the 80 years prior to the FCC rule? It couldn't be monopolistic practices now, could it? This isn't "a win for real competition"! This is a win for the entrenched monopolies who are now free to close down their wire closets to outsiders, knowing all the while how expensive it is to lay cable. And this bullshit from SBC about how they'll continue to grant access, but prices will be based on "the market" is total horseshit as well. When you're SBC and you own all the wires, it's a monopsony and "the market" is what you set it at. This will inevitably result in monopoly prices.

JFC, this is a horrible decision. Look for your broadband rates to go up and choices to go down. Helloooo wireless!

Bush Lied Again: Will Use 9/11 Imagery in Ads

The multimillion ad blitz beginning tomorrow contains imagery of 9/11 and linking that to Bush. The panicky Bush who didn't respond for four hours and disappeared on a plane for more than 12. The Bush who said he would not politicize 9/11, but then scheduled the nomination ceremony for September in NYC and tried to block the Kean Commission. Yeah, that Bush.

From the Center for American Progress:

CLAIM:

"I can't believe he said that. They are playing politics with a national tragedy."

- Bush-Cheney spokesman Kevin Madden refuting charges that the Administration is using 9/11 for political gain, Newsday, 2/20/04

FACT:

"President Bush's re-election team unveiled his first campaign advertisements on Wednesday and they in part use the events of Sept. 11, 2001...Two ads refer to the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001...One ad, entitled 'Tested,' shows, among other images, a damaged building from the World Trade Center ruins."

- Reuters, 3/3/04

Note this choice lie from RNC chair Ed Gillespie:

"Well there's not really a money advantage when you look at the outside groups, and the fact is that these organizations like the AFL-CIO, Moveon.org, Americans Coming Together -- the George Soros funded organization -- they've said they'll spend between $560-$620 million to defeat the President this year," Gillespie said. "And I'm not sure that's legal, but that's what they said. And if that's the case, then those who seek to defeat the president in 2004 will outspend those of us who seek to reelect him."

That's a flat-out lie. Bald faced. No sugar. The best estimates are that the GOP has something on the order of 2-8x as much money as the Dems.

Fight the power! Do not let our country go (further) into the hands of the top 1%!

(ed. note: Josh Marshall thinks that the apparent theme of the ads is: it's not my fault! while Kevin Drum thinks it's a ripoff from the Reagan message)

Spitzer Says NY Law Bans Gay Marriage

Spitzer, my official Hero of 2003, said today that NY Law, because it is gender-specific, does not allow for gay marriage. Therefore, state officials should not solemnize it. Unlike the Haters, and showing yet another reason why he was my official Hero of 2003 and should be the next Attorney General, Spitzer notes that NY law raises Constitutional questions that should be decided by the courts. For those playing along at home, this is code for "I believe the gender-specific language is of questionable legality, probably on Due Process grounds." Spitzer's way cool.

Eisner Sucks

And 43% of Disney shareholders agree. Disney sucks extra hard because of that guy.

Mariners == Ca$h Cow

According to the Deloitte & Touche, the M's are the fourth richest sports franchise in the U.S. They still say they can't afford more than a $92M salary. :eyeroll: What a bunch of filthy, rotten liars they are! Poopyheads! They are dead to me. Dead, I say!

The Passion is Anti-Semitic? No Way!

From the LAT letters to the editor:

I am a high school teacher and the daughter of Holocaust survivors. Monday morning, Period 1, a student, age 17, comes into my room. She asks me if I had seen the film "The Passion."

I answer, "No."

She continues, "It was so sad. I cried so much. I hate the Jews."

Very, very sadly, that tells the whole story, Mr. Gibson.

Anna Paikow

Los Angeles

FU, Gibson!

Cincinatti Rolls Out Broadband Over Power Lines

Cinergy is offering 1Mbps synchronous over regular power lines. Now that's pretty sweet. The technical hurdles were large, but it's nice to see another competitor, even if it is the power companies. Every house is already wired for electricity, so this should be a big hit, so long as they price it reasonable. Wireless is still the future, but in the absence of telco or cableco activity, here's another option.

Is Dick Cheney Going to be Dropped from the Ticket?

In a word: No. In three: No fucking way. In five: Not on your fucking life.

Still, doesn't stop Tagorda from a lot of discussion on the subject. Much like Ridgway with the death penalty: if Dan Quayle doesn't get dropped from the ticket, then who?

Three final words: Evil never dies.

OK, I Admit It

I was wrong about The Passion.....'s financial prospects. It's still an awful, violent anti-Semitic movie made by a schismatic nutjob.

It has also nearly destroyed 7 years of work on my HSX account, wiping out $16 million of my hard earnd HSXbucks. Oh well.

9/11 Commission to Bush: Stop Playing Games

Apparently even the Kean-lead (he's a GOPper) commission can't take any more of the Bush lies and stonewalling, telling el presidente that he needs to quit playing games, rejected the one hour time limit, and requested (again!) that the president's and vice president's interviews be done publicly. They also push on Condoleezzzaaa Rice's refusal to testify and other key issues.

There's no escaping this one, Bushies.

We already know, I believe, the majority of things that the Bush administration did wrong. I'll detail this in a later post, but in sum: ignored general warnings from allies and other countries, did not implement a Clinton anti-terrorism plan that would have focused on al Qaeda in particular, and knowingly allow the Saudis to keep on with their despotic rule and support of terrorists in a quid pro quo agreement.

The Bushies' excuses are wearing thin. "National security!" they cry. "No precedent for staff members to testify!" they moan. Their intransigence is directly harming our country, something which cannot be said for the former administration:

"We have held firm in saying that the conditions set by the president and vice president and Dr. Rice are not good enough," said Timothy J. Roemer, a former Indiana congressman who is one of five Democrats on the 10-member commission.

Mr. Roemer said that former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore had agreed to meet privately with the full bipartisan commission, and that Samuel R. Berger, Ms. Rice's predecessor, would testify in public.

"It's very important that we treat both the Bush and the Clinton administrations the same," he said.

Whatever happened to the "era of accountability"? Oh, right. That was just another lie.

Arrest der Gropenführer

For violating campaign anti-intimidation laws (in addition to the previously mentioned cigars).

Just Desserts

... this just in from the You Reap What You Sow file: Poacher dies after becoming tangled in own ropes. Bye. (p.s. you just know a guy is an asshole when the best people can come up with to humanize him is that he "brought fresh half and half" to others for their morning coffee)

Bush at the Whim of the Devil He Helped Create

Dana Milbank (with Robin Wright here) keeps up the only reportage worth reading nowadays, this time an examination of just how subject Bush is to random events in the world - particularly Iraq. Of note is that yesterday Cheney - and stop me if you've heard this one before - said that the bombing of the Shiites yesterday (death toll: 143+ at the time, 271 now) were "acts of desperation." Yeah, that doesn't sound familiar at all.

The US, in an immature, irresponsible, and politically-motivated act, may pull out of Iraqi governance by 30 June... but that country will be in the midst of civil war shortly thereafter. Will the civil war balance out the October Surprise of bin Laden?

Just for perspective's sake, Iraq has a population of roughly 25 million, or about 1/12th of the American population. To get a feel for yesterday's death toll, multiply the dead by 12 for an equivalent American impact of approximately 3,252 dead - or approximately the death toll of the WTC attacks. And yet our media outlets bury the carnage behind horse races and gay marriage and breasts. Grr.

Another Good Music Night

... last night. One, for the same reason as the 29th (I laid some good tracks down, Mistake only needs one more taste guitar, backup vox/keys, and lead vox) ... and I went to the Crystal Method concert. It was cool, the crowd was a lot older than I expected it to be (probably because The Crystal Method appeals to... my demographic. Large gay contingent, a bunch of trendsters, even a bunch of greyhairs. Seriously.), but it was a fun to just dance for a few hours. I actually liked the DJ better than tCM because he was more consistently uptempo and kept the feet moving better. tCM makes, you know, songs, so dancing isn't necessarily their primary concern, but as a concertgoer, dancing was my primary concern. The whole thing felt like a rave scene from some movie; I kept expecting the vampires to start showing their fangs or something.

Still, it's kinda funny to see two dudes hammer on their synthesizers, playing their patches and preprogrammed loops and beat, and have that considered to be a "live" band. Heh.

With their two-man setup and less-than-Hollywood looks and bods, Crystal Method made me think a lot of Tenacious D. Only without the humor, but with danceable music and songs that are longer than 2 minutes.

also: every now and then it's good to be reminded of all the people that you don't know but would like to meet, even in this small town. Just a thought I had, since people were chill and it's a totally different crowd than your typical rock show (except for the racial demographics, which were identical).

double also: i don't need to smoke again for a couple years, i think. didn't even have to buy any last night. just had to breathe.

triple also: this woman got busted (busted!) for lighting up a joint. Jeez, if you can't toke up at a freakin concert - a Crystal Method concert, no less - where can you?

quadruple also: more on the audience demographics - almost totally whitebread (some urban whitebread, but whitebread nonetheless). I know this is Seattle and all, but still... depressing. Yet another reason to like NYC is the diversity.

trend spotting: in case you are interested in what the bellwethers of style are doing nowadays, apparently that formal sleeve is making a comeback (you know, the thing that covers the back of your hand and goest ot the elbows? No gloves, just the cover with a loop for the middle finger. There may have been a slot for the thumb as well. That thing.)

Meet the Next President of the United States: John F. Kerry

MoveOn.org to Counter Bush's Ad Blitz

With Kerry the Dem nominee, the $200M Bush fund now comes into play. Beginning Thursday, the evilBushdoers will air ads in 17 states plus another $5M on cable aimed at the base (that's a lot of 700 Club adverts).

MoveOn.org will be combatting the evildoers in every state.

The Republicans are convinced that Clinton won in 1996 because he used early TV ads to "define" Dole before Dole could define himself. They aim to replicate that strategy this year -- paint Kerry as a puppy-kicking baby-eating radical before Kerry can rally the Dems around him and raise the funds needed to strike back. So donate if you can afford it. $200M is a lot to overcome, and democracy deserves better than C+ Nero (why people use Augustus, I don't know. Caligula or Nero are far closer to what Bush actually is than Augustus).

I love MoveOn.org (and not just because I applied for a job as a Geek Organizer). I love George Soros. We can do this!

Kerry to be the Dem Nominee

Well, poo. It's official. Kerry was #3 out of the 9 on my list, but he'll still get my full support. Bye, Edwards.

After all, what's not to like about a decorated Vietnam Vet with a 96.9 progressive rating (highest in the senate!)

Cheney Hates His Daughter

In the same round of interviews as mentioned previously, Cheney states that he supports the Hate amendment. His endorsement isn't enthusiastic ("The president's taken the clear position that he supports a constitutional amendment, I support him."), but it is support.

Heh. Cheney's an Idiot

Also, he's got to be disassociative, no? As he said in his spate of interviews today:

If the Democratic policies had been pursued over the last two or three years, the kind of tax increases that both Kerry and Edwards have talked about, we would not have had the kind of job growth that we've had.

That's a pretty serious disconnect between reality and his statements. The Kerry-Edwards repeal would not be a tax increase but merely a return to the status quo ante.

Seriously, Cheney's totally in the incestuous info bubble. Or does he really mean to say that the Bush tax cut is responsible for the loss of 2.3 million jobs (maybe more)? (Bush has a negative job growth, for those playing along at home).

An Out is an Out is an Out

Going back to baseball for a second, I get tired of having the same damn conversation with everyone raised on retarded beat writer cliches. One of which is that a strikeout is a particularly bad outcome. They're not, as Ryan Wilkins explains (with math, even). There is no difference between a weak dribbler to second and a whiff. None.

An out is an out is an out. Get it into your heads, people!

Is God on America's Side?

What the fuck kind of question is that? How does Bumiller still have a job at the NYT (while stringers who volunteer for ACT UP get canned. I guess people who write books about female sexual dysfunction are OK but homosexuality is unacceptable?)? How does she get a seat at that table asking asshat questions like that? Key-rist, it's reporters like these that give reporters a bad name.

Really, what proper response could you give? The whole thing is unknowable, and is the kind of thing only a pompous narcissistic teenager with delusions of grandeur and parental hatred would ask (probably with a smirk on her face). Logically, the answer is (assuming the God in question is the Xian omnipotent, omnipresent "God") that God is on everyone's side, all the time... just like John Kerry! Sorry, Kaus moment there.

That's (yet another reason) why I'd make a bad politician. Someone asked me that at an interview and I'd say "I'm not answering that! That's the stupidest fucking question I've ever heard, and I've heard a lot, Bumiller."

The Economy as a Rorschach Test

Either the glass is half empty or half full, depending on how you look at it, according to Chen. Really, though, unless you are in the top 1% or are enjoying your new management powers to work your employees to the bone, I really don't see an improving economy. Combine that with the Bush administration's constant fudging with the numbers (e.g., burger flipping = a "manufacturing" job), and I think the case for a "good" or even "improving" econmy is more difficult than the "poor" or "stagnant" one.

Workers unite! Goodness knows, my particular job market's been dead for going on three years now. I could use a good union.

Just Wondering

So which state that just coincidentally has a Dem primary today (CA, CT, GA, MD, MA, MI, NY, OH, RI, VT) do you think Bush will make a "non-campaign" campaign appearance at on Thursday? My money's on OH or GA.

Getting A Wee Bit Ahead of Ourselves, Aren't We?

In yet another unprecedented move, Bush wants $1M to prepare new appointees for his next administration. Congress provides every four years an amount of money for transition. Not only is this presumptuous, but (and I'm sure Rove knows this) if granted and Bush loses, President Kerry would be $1M short on his transition funds.

Patty Murray had a good, and quick, reply:

It's unbelievable that the same budget proposal that asks Congress to cut money for education, veterans and port security would propose to set aside $1 million to take care of themselves.

Not bad for a "dim bulb" huh?

Impeach der Gropenführer!

If Arnold's so big on the rule of law, what's up with those Cuban cigars, huh?

Fear of a Hot Gay Sex Planet

Dr. Paul Cameron is the guy most frequently cited by homophobic bigots looking to justify their hate-filled view of the world. Why? I'm not quite certain. I do know, however, that Cameron has said the following:

"Untrammeled homosexuality can take over and destroy a social system," says Cameron. "If you isolate sexuality as something solely for one's own personal amusement, and all you want is the most satisfying orgasm you can get- and that is what homosexuality seems to be-then homosexuality seems too powerful to resist. The evidence is that men do a better job on men and women on women, if all you are looking for is orgasm." So powerful is the allure of gays, Cameron believes, that if society approves that gay people, more and more heterosexuals will be inexorably drawn into homosexuality. "I'm convinced that lesbians are particularly good seducers," says Cameron. "People in homosexuality are incredibly evangelical," he adds, sounding evangelical himself. "It's pure sexuality. It's almost like pure heroin. It's such a rush. They are committed in almost a religious way. And they'll take enormous risks, do anything." He says that for married men and women, gay sex would be irresistible. "Marital sex tends toward the boring end," he points out. "Generally, it doesn't deliver the kind of sheer sexual pleasure that homosexual sex does" So, Cameron believes, within a few generations homosexuality would be come the dominant form of sexual behavior.

I know, it sounds like a parody, but it's not. I wish that I could write comedy that good.

The Downward Spiral

The latest Bush approval ratings are in, and they're not pretty if you happen to have been AWOL, had a DUI, snorted coke, did some insider trading, owe your entire success to nepotism and your family name, or have the IQ of a turnip.

In other words: it's beautiful! I hope it continues, but I'm thinking the $200M can buy more than a few % points of goodwill.

Here's the summary (Approve/Disapprove/Don't Know, N, MOE (+-%)):

CBS News Poll 47/44/9, 1545, 3
Newsweek Poll 48/44/8, 1019, 3
FOX News/Opinion Dynamics Poll 48/41/11, 900, 3
CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll 51/46/3, 1016, ?
Pew Research Center 48/44/8, 1500, 3
The Harris Poll 51/48/1, 1020, 3
ABC News/Washington Post 50/47/2, 1003, 3
Time/CNN Poll 54/42/4, 1000, 3.1