Judy

How we missed you.

Judith Miller, the reporter for The New York Times who has been jailed since July 6 for refusing to testify in the C.I.A. leak case, was released on Thursday from a Virginia detention center after she and her lawyers reached an agreement with a federal prosecutor in which she would testify before a grand jury investigating the case, the publisher and executive editor of the paper said.

Her decision to testify was made after she had obtained what she described as a waiver offered "voluntarily and personally" by a source who said she was no longer bound by any pledge of confidentiality she had made to him.

Awoo! So who's the source? Who's the source, Judy?

That source was I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, according to people who have been officially briefed on the case.

Like we didn't see that one coming.

Abramoff, Delay, Libby/Rove/Bolton, this is all coming to a heads very, very soon.

Too Good To Be True

But it is!

A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, forcing the House majority leader to temporarily relinquish his post.

DeLay attorney Steve Brittain said DeLay was accused of a criminal conspiracy along with two associates, John Colyandro, former executive director of a Texas political action committee formed by DeLay, and Jim Ellis, who heads DeLay's national political committee.

This is of course following the news that Abramoff hired mobsters to whack someone.

Today is awesome.

The Establishment Clause

Hey Mr. Preznit! (whose duty is to uphold the Constitution) Ever heard of it?

After weeks of prodding by Republican lawmakers and the American Red Cross, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said yesterday that it will use taxpayer money to reimburse churches and other religious organizations that have opened their doors to provide shelter, food and supplies to survivors of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

FEMA hasn't.

Half-Assed

If the NYT did its homework well enough to get an A, instead of a B, - world's best newspaper jigga-wha? - in addition to running this article about

More than 80 percent of the $1.5 billion in contracts signed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency alone were awarded without bidding or with limited competition, government records show, provoking concerns among auditors and government officials about the potential for favoritism or abuse.

It might have also pointed out Bush's somewhat illegal suspension of Davis-Bacon and allowing the no-bid contractors to pay below minimum wage. I give the NYT a B.

Greenspan Fesses Up

Nevermind that it is partly his fault for keeping interest rates artificially low after the tech bubble burst.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told France's Finance Minister Thierry Breton the United States has "lost control" of its budget deficit, the French minister said Saturday.

Read up.

Putting the PR in President

Just too good.

Cronyism

Brownie's got some people worried.

The homeland security chairwoman, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, says she now wants to inquire further into the qualifications of Julie L. Myers to be assistant secretary of homeland security for immigration and customs enforcement.

Ms. Myers, 36, is on her honeymoon and cannot be immediately called to testify again. She has strong Republican connections and is the niece of Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Before she joined the Bush administration, she was a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn.

I wonder why.

Stupid

E. J. Dionne on Republican economic policy.

What took you so long?

Police State

Get your martial law on in DC.

Sold Out Again

I'm tired of this. Unless Leahy, or any other Democratic senator, has good reason to vote for Roberts based on his convictions or judicial philosophy, then there is no reason to vote yea on Roberts. Problem is no one knows what his convictions or judicial philosophy really are, so there is, in effect, absolutely no reason to vote for him at all.

It boggles the mind why a senator in the minority - opposition - party would vote for a stealth nominee. Realistically there has never been any good chance of stopping Roberts. I understand that, even though I wish for the best I do not ignore reality. However, that is only a tiny bit of what the will to oppose is about. The will to oppose straightens your back, raises your chin and tells your opponent that although he may still win, he's going to have to go into overtime and wear himself out in doing so, as opposed to walking all over you. It's kinda like Rocky. We can debate Sly Stallone's merits as an actor all day - wait, that wouldn't take more than 10 minutes - but the point is that people respect someone who will put up a good fight and try to go the extra few yards. It shows charisma, leadership and integrity. By voting yea on Roberts, Democrats demonstrate that they have none of these.

I have heard the argument that they are saving themselves for Bush's second SC nomination and that they will pull out all the stops then. First off, I'm not really sure that's the case, entirely. It would be really good if they did, but that remains to be seen. Secondly, how is bending over to accomodate Bush now going to help Democrats later? You could say they're counting on shock factor when they come out with their guns blazing, but I don't see that working. If what the Democrats do doesn't fit with peoples' - Repubicans and the media - perceptions, they won't understand it for what it is. They'll discount it as shrill and radical, not as genuinely sound objections. Democrats need to make Republicans afraid of them before they can attempt to gain any leverage over them.

How does that happen? By standing together and speaking in a unified voice in simple language. What victories have the Democrats won since Bush has been in office? I can only think of SS. But what did they do there? They sounded the alarm bells and kept unity. People definitely care about SS - if you want to make the argument that they were only doing it for political opportunism - but like so many things with Bush, they could have let it slide under the radar and let it become a non-issue. People care about other things on which Democrats have effectively abandoned them. However, they did right. What makes them think that they cannot do the same with the SC? Since when has the strategy of passively accept defeat become the new success? "Well, it was in line with our expectations so we declare it a victory." I've said it before and I'll say it again. Politics aint the stock market.

If the Democrats want people who aren't the party faithful to seriously consider what they have to say, they need to offer a viable alternative, stand by it and be proud of it. Then people might consider it worthwhile. But as long as they do none of these, people who are not the party faithful will never give Democrats a chance. It's gotta start some time, why not now?

Lovely Rita

Inhofe is leading a more deranged life with each passing day.

Link.

The Veneer of Bipartisanship

Hooray! It's not there! Now Republicans can't say it was bipartisan! Hooray opposition!

Let Bush conduct his own investigation. It's obvious what the results will be.

Link.

Corruption

It's the *cough* new *cough* Republican meme.

Exhibit A and Exhibit B.

Hint hint, MSM, trying to expose all of the corruption in the GOP would be like trying to finish an everlasting gobstopper. You'd never be able to finish it, but it would be so sweet.

War on Porn

Damn porn loving terrorists.

Early last month, the bureau's Washington Field Office began recruiting for a new anti-obscenity squad. Attached to the job posting was a July 29 Electronic Communication from FBI headquarters to all 56 field offices, describing the initiative as "one of the top priorities" of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and, by extension, of "the Director."

It's nice to see this administration has its priorities straight.

Porn kills babies! Terrorists strike because of porn! Porn increases taxes!

Why the Left is Better than the Right

A sense of humor.

Katrina's Silver Lining for the GOP

Even after the contracts for rebuilding NOLA were handed out to Haliburton and Bush declared that Haliburton could pay below minimum wage, I never thought it would come to this:

Amid growing concern among congressional Republicans about the huge cost of the planned reconstruction effort, Bush said the federal government can foot the bill without resorting to a tax increase. "You bet it's going to cost money. But I'm confident we can handle it," Bush said. "It's going to mean that we're going to have to cut unnecessary spending."

This is a clearly telegraphed message that "un"necessary spending such as medicare, medicaid and education are about to be taken to the cutting board.

Of course when I say silver lining for the GOP I mean their social fabric destroying agenda.

Link.

Bush Needs Go Potty

picture.

Roberts Confirmation Hearings

Don't play the slippery eel with me.

Bush is Drowning

Somebody throw the man an anvil:

President Bush said on Tuesday that he bore responsibility for any failures of the federal government in its response to Hurricane Katrina and suggested that he was unsure whether the country was adequately prepared for another catastrophic storm or terrorist attack.

It's about time.

Iraq

In case you forgot.

Link.

Energy

Policy.

Independence

It just occurred to me that there's a major flaw in the current Republican organizational structure - a lack of independence.

Let me congratulate myself by putting my hand between the proverbial hammer and head of the nail. We all know that Republicans march in lockstep with one another and to not do so is to be called a tax increasing, gay, brown people loving librul. It's great for Bush that all his little flying monkeys follow him around and do his bidding, but is it great for them?

As near as I can tell, Americans - progressives and conservatives alike - respect independence. I don't mean independence in the sense of civil liberties or free markets, but in the sense of "I'm my own person." That, in itself, is a form of charisma. I know a lot of people who supported Bush in the election because "he didn't take shit from anyone." I think a lot of us on the progressive netroots like Hackett for the same reason. We get the feeling that he's not lip synching to the party line, but speaking his own mind with his own thoughts on positions.

If this is the case then I think this is a point that needs to be hammered home more often, not brushed aside by sighing "progressives are decentralized, conservatives are authoritative." Maybe the way conservatives do things isn't just the way they do things. Maybe it's wrong too. Wrong both ideologically - people should think for themselves, not receive marching orders, and maybe politically - people don't respect lapdogs. We should not accept the status quo when we have something to gain by challenging it. This could be especially useful in the current political climate where Bush is becoming more toxic than New Orleans. If a Republican gets up and starts heaping praise on dear leader and talking about Bush's vision - for the apocalypse - we should hit home and question what that Republican thinks about those issues and why.

I'm not saying that this is foolproof. We're bound to run into conservatives who think for themselves - either more moderate or the crazy wingnuts - but it will help root out the difference between those who have thought things through and those who are just along for the ride. The real difference between personal and civil servants. Of course this goes both ways. If a Democrat wants to be a shill for the DLC or some other organization and play Simon - or Will Marshall - Says, that Democrat should be prepared for the consequences.

That's the real difference between conservatives and progressives. Conservatives only know how to follow orders and for the most part they're mindless. Progressives will not and cannot imitate that kind of infrastructure. We can't pass ourselves off as monolithic, but we can pass ourselves - and the Democratic party - off as a group of like-minded individuals who are largely independent. To accomplish this we need to do two things: 1. Elect people who are independent minded and 2. Elect people who are more like minded than not. At the same time we should hit Republicans as hard as we can for not being their own persons.

Come on, who didn't want to punch Mel Martinez in the face when he said he'd probably vote for Roberts - and you know he hasn't really thought about it and is just doing what has been strongly suggested for him to do?

The Inquisition

Let's begin.

Fuckwit

John Tierney.

Another Justice?

Bye bye civil liberties, it's been swell knowing you.

In an opinion written by Judge J. Michael Luttig, who has been considered by President Bush for a nomination to the Supreme Court, the panel said Mr. Bush had the right to detain Mr. Padilla as an enemy combatant under the powers granted the president by Congress after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and at the Pentagon.

Luttig is a possible candidate to replace O'Connor.

Link.

FEMA Internment Camps

This is absolutely disgusting. This is no different than the Japanese during WWII, and while we are not trying to kill them we are taking away their lives.

Read this entire post.

I'm sure somewhere Michelle Malkin is guzzling champagne, and I hope she chokes on it.

Cronyism

This would be shocking if I was not so used to things like it.

Link.

Confirm This

Roberts should not be confirmed on the sole grounds that the administration is keeping his records locked up - I suppose that gives them time to shred and burn them - and not revealed to the public. Enough with this up or down vote bullshit. If you withhold information that is required to construct a somewhat objective opinion, then Senators cannot be asked to make a decision because that decision needs to be based on facts that are being withheld. If that means Roberts gets filibustered, then that is what it means.

Oh, and Washington Post, since this administration is not complying with the law by refusing to release Roberts' records, you could be a little more critical of it instead of glossing over that point.

Katrina's Third Disaster

This disaster is going to be much more difficult and costly to get under control.

It was not clear how widespread the forced evacuations were. But earlier in the day the city's police superintendent said that while his department would concentrate first on removing those who wanted to leave, the hazards posed by fires, waterborne diseases and natural-gas leaks had left the city with no choice but to use force on those who resisted.

Even assuming that the conservative, macho, "I rule nature" mentality had a point, and the environment did not matter, you cannot help but notice how nature seems to always bite that mentality in the ass. I guess the only solution for macho conservatives would be to kill natu... shit.

The Disaster President

The frame behind this:

Buffeted by criticism over the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, President Bush said Tuesday he will oversee an investigation into what went wrong and why _ in part to be sure the country could withstand more storms or attack.

Bush also announced he is sending Vice President Dick Cheney to the Gulf Coast region on Thursday to help determine whether the government is doing all that it can.

"Bureaucracy is not going to stand in the way of getting the job done for the people," the president said after a meeting at the White House with his Cabinet on storm recovery efforts.

Is so Bush can make it seem like he's in control (giggle) and actually cares (giggle giggle). I say best situation some paper pusher in FEMA gets the axe, not FEMA director I-have-no-experience-with-emergencies-and-it-shows Michael Brown, or DHS secretary I-choose-what-to-selectively-ignore-and-like-frolicking-like-a-little-bunny-while-people-starve-in-a-superdome-and-I-don't-pay-attention Michael Chertoff. What will probably happen is this 'investigation,' whose findings have already been decided upon, will reveal that it was the locas government's fault, but that still does not warrant greater federal oversight. They will just have to live with those pesky hurricanes because that's what they deserve for living there.

Besides, in this pass the buck administration Bush will probably go back on vacation to make up for the 3 days he lost and pass the work off to someone else. There's no way he'll actually do anything.

Asshole.

Blame Game

Anti-Federalism proving Anti-Federalism does not work:

It orchestrated visits by cabinet members to the region, leading up to an extraordinary return visit by Mr. Bush planned for Monday, directed administration officials not to respond to attacks from Democrats on the relief efforts, and sought to move the blame for the slow response to Louisiana state officials, according to Republicans familiar with the White House plan.

If it takes Katrina to make people realize that more, not less, federal control is needed to deal with problems of a magnitude bigger than any local government or private corporation, then great. However, for the White House to lambast the blame on Louisiana, which, after having 40% of their national guard and 50% of their national guard's equipment shipped off to Iraq, could not handle this disaster by themselves is nothing short of blaming a cripple for not being able to walk out of NOLA before Katrina hit.

This disaster brought to you by the people who keep cutting federal budgets for important things and lining their own pockets with the difference, your friendly, racist, blameless GOP.

Justice For Whom?

I'm not saying I liked Rehnquist, but the man's logic was fairly sound. Now we've got to worry about Bush trying to shove a second crazy into the courts in the coming month.

My vote goes for Gonzo. He might be a Bush puppet for the next 3 years, but once Bush is gone I get the feeling he might surprise us.

Liars

Unsurprising.

Too Awful To Be True

Except it is.

Bush faked his photo-op. To hell with relief for those suffering when he can look good.

Johnny Full-of-It

WaPo:

"It's as if the entire Gulf Coast were obliterated by the worst kind of weapon you can imagine," Bush said at another point. As he left New Orleans, Bush said: "I'm going to fly out of here in a minute, but I want you to know that I'm not going to forget what I've seen. I understand the devastation requires more than one day's attention."

That is exactly the point many of us have been worrying about. What if a nuclear weapon or dirty bomb had hit NOLA? Would the government's response have been any better? All evidence points to "no." What does Bush do? Flies in for a photo-op to make like Jesus, kissing victims' foreheads, and then gets out of there as soon as he can turn tail. Now he understands. Now, 5 days after Katrina hit. Condoleeza Rice told us that we cannot wait for that smoking gun to show itself, because it would be too late at that point. Well after 4 years that gun showed itself and Bush was caught on vacation with his nose next to a line of blow.

Bush's actions speak louder than his words and they betray his true personality.

Johnny Come Lately

Military vehicles bearing food and supplies sloshed into the drenched heart of this humbled and stricken city on Friday, while commercial airplanes and cargo planes arrived to lift beleaguered hurricane survivors from the depths of a ghastly horror.

After the hurricane hit on Monday. Sorry Bush, you missed the boat, and posing for photo-ops with national guardsmen and helicopters that could be off helping the situation, instead of making you look official, does not help anything.

Link.

Red Cross Not Allowed Into NOLA

Believe it.

Shock and Anarchy

Hunter, over at kos, has been dead on with his assessments of the Katrina disaster, and his latest piece continues to hit home.

Link.

I'm Impressed

Props to the NYT editorial board for publishing great editorials today.

Now if they would only own up for Judy.

Accountability

I understand the argument that Bush should be given a free pass for Katrina because it was a natural disaster, but I do not buy it. Apart from being on vacation when the hurricane hit and taking guitar lessons, he systematically cut FEMA's budget, the army corps of engineers' budget, and forced the national guard into Iraq where they cannot help Americans.

Now Bush says that the breach of the levees could not have been anticipated. I call that absolute bullshit. Bush can be held accountable not only for creating a situation where our response capabilities were weakened, (nevermind Homeland Security is not letting Canada deliver aid) but also for attempting to shirk his responsibilities. Furthermore, he has publicly denounced looting, even though people are stealing food and water to survive.

If Bush wants to hold people accountable for trying to stay alive, he can damn well be held accountable for letting them die.