The Noose Tightens

I wonder if Abramoff will be sent to Sing Sing.

Abramoff and Kidan pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud in the case. Each had faced a minimum of five years and 10 months in federal prison and a maximum of seven years and three months under sentencing guidelines associated with their plea agreements.

...

Among the congressmen whose names have come up in the probe are Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio), former chairman of the House Administration Committee, and Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), the former House majority leader.

C'mon Deborah Howell, what are you waiting for? Try and tell me this is a bipartisan problem. There you go. What we have is no Democrats implicated and a purely Republican scandal that reaches into the upper echelons of their House leadership as well as the White House (see missing Bush/Abramoff pictures). Yeah, I would call it a Culture of Corruption.

Spreading Democracy the Bush Way

Do as we tell you. Democracy is what we say it is.

Facing growing pressure from the Bush administration for him to step down, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari of Iraq vigorously asserted his right to stay in office today and warned the Americans against undue interference in Iraq's political process.

I can hardly wait for the next time Bush says that we are spreading democracy.

Fucker.

The Score

Freedom of Speech 1, GOP 0.

Balanced Reporting

How is it possible to write a strategy piece on the shift in public opinion on Iraq and the effect that it will have on the midterm elections in '06 and only quote a Democrat once, in the third to last paragraph for only two sentences?

The NYT has the answer.

I think this is a perfect example of lazy and shoddy reporting on the NYT's part. It is not a Republican love-fest, but the kid gloves have not come off. Republicans are liberally quoted throughout the entitre piece, but are only balanced by the journalists' "unbiased" tone and narrative. I am sure you can see how that affects the overall balance of the piece. This is not even "he said, she said," it is simply Republicans said. An institution with any journalistic integrity should be ashamed of itself.

Oh, and guess who wrote it? Yep, Adam Nagourney.

War?

Oh yeah, that war.

Karl

He's so kute!!!!

Mr. Rove is operating as impishly as ever. At a party at the British Embassy when Mr. Bush and Mr. Card were on their way to India, Mr. Rove was asked by a group of guests how things were going.

"Everybody's away, so I'm running the country," Mr. Rove replied, playing off his caricature as an all-powerful behind-the-scenes puppet master.

Know what's even kuter than having Karl rove play puppet master? Having two NYT reporters lapping at his feet.

Catty

Joementum.

Update: The follow-up is even better than I could have imagined.

Gore

If I was twice as smart as I am, I still wouldn't be half as smart as Gore.

I'd vote for him.

This Will Make Your Day

Science at work.

Glad to see progressives are cool. Conservatives whine.

Funny, I think I used to be pretty whiny as a kid. Oh well, I went right somewhere :)

Pundit vs. Pundit

Kurtz.

For some liberal pundits, it's payback time.
For some conservative commentators, it's time for uncomfortable explanations.
For the rest of us, it's the best show in town.

Fantastic, except that Kurtz somehow lost me when he decided to style himself as "the rest of us," meaning that he is somewhere in between left and right, and that somehow distances him from the uncomfortable explanations certain pundits are being forced to give. This illustrates very clearly what is wrong with the media's "he said, she said" game. If the established media wants to join the favored team by repeating right wing bullshit and slamming the left, that's fine - well, no, not really, but it's better than the pot calling the kettle black - by me, but they cannot then jump back onto the sidelines when they see fit and let the rest of the team take all the heat. The press needs to stop reporting "he said, she said," and start reporting who was right and who was wrong. Until then, it is just like Spy vs. Spy.

Got Reality?

If you're Joe Biden, obviously not.

As the debate continued over where the war is headed at its third anniversary, a leading Democrat, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., called on Mr. Bush to throw himself into an all-out effort to forge a government of national unity in Iraq and to begin planning for a civil war that was likely to follow if the effort failed.

I mean, good effort and all, but he missed the boat. See previous post if you don't believe me.

Got Civil War?

Iraq.

Bush Says Black is White

Another recurring problem with our establishment media. They let Bush get away with saying whatever he chooses to, without qualifying it or doing any real reporting. He could say that night is day, and they would report it as such. For example:

The problems that have plagued Medicare's prescription drug program since its rollout 10 weeks ago are being addressed, and the initiative is already showing signs of lowering drug costs for seniors, President Bush said Tuesday.

Uh, no. Did the Washington Post bother to interview any seniors to see how they've been screwed by Part D - and never mind that the real screw job is not going to kick in until seniors reach the donut hole - the part where they will not be covered until they spend thousands more out of their own pocket - and get some quotes? No. This just demonstrates laziness on the paper's part, for just a little research will show that there's something rotten with the new bill. Instead we get the following title: "Medicare Drug Benefit Works, Says Bush."

Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Bush played guitar while New Orleans was swept away. Now he does PR gigs while senior citizens are unable to pay for their medications. Great resume if you are applying for the job of complete fucking asshole.

Feingold

Chris Bowers has compiled a list of links for several good rants about Feingold's motion to censure Bush that you can find here.

As for my part, I have to agree with all of them. Feingold obviously realizes that there is no way his motion will pass, but he is rightly bringing it up to raise the issue that Bush broke the law back into the public eye, whereas Republicans would like it swept under the rug. Furthermore, it makes zero sense that there is even a single Democrat who does not support this. It's not a motion to impeach, just censure. If you check out the list of Democratic senators who voted to impeach Clinton, who was popular, and then see how many of them are shying away from Bush, who is at 34%, you can't help but wonder what's wrong with them. Feingold isn't grandstanding, he's standing up for what he believes in, and has consistently done so from the get-go, with his opposition to the Patriot Act and the first voice to call for withdrawal from Iraq. It's both good politics and upright morality to call for censure. Otherwise you're a weak, spineless political hack, just like Republicans would like people to think.

Aiding and Abetting the Terrorists

George W. Bush.

President Bush vowed for the first time yesterday to turn over most of Iraq to newly trained Iraqi troops by the end of this year, setting a specific benchmark as he kicked off a fresh drive to reassure Americans alarmed by the recent burst of sectarian violence.

I think the outcome of this disasterous policy will soon become clear - terrorists will become emboldened by the announcement of withdrawal, and the number and severity of their attacks will only increase. Thank you, George W. Bush, for siding with the terrorists against America. What's even funnier - sadder - is this:

Bush, who until now has resisted concrete timelines as the Iraq war dragged on longer than he expected, outlined the target in the first of a series of speeches intended to lay out his strategy for victory. While acknowledging grim developments on the ground, Bush declared "real progress" in standing up Iraqi forces capable of defending their nation.

Let's discuss the less mind-numbing statement first. Real progress? Well, in terms of body count, yes, there has been great progress. What progress? We know the battalions are a far cry from anything remotely effective, even if their numbers have slightly grown. There has been no progress in terms of restoring electricity, water, and order.

Now onto the statement that makes you feel like someone detonated a nuke inside of your skull. Strategy for victory. What the hell could this possibly be. It sure isn't make the world safer by finding and destroying WMDs. It sure isn't set up a viable Democracy. It sure isn't destroy terrorists. At this point Bush is going to call whatever he does a victory. "Well, we didn't lose everyone, so it must be a success. And if we lose everyone, then it will be a noble sacrifice to take more of the enemy down." The Iraq War has only been a victory for profiteering contractors. Everyone else has lost. The only thing Bush's strategy for victory could be is a face-saving way - with the American media, he won't even have to try - to leave Iraq. That is disgusting. But wait, it gets even better, and the WaPo lets Bush get away with it:

But Bush said he saw hope in the fact that the country has not fallen into civil war, as some had forecast. "The Iraqi people made their choice," he said. "They looked into the abyss and did not like what they saw."

Pretty ridiculous, especially when you consider that the next article on the Post's website opens with:

The gruesome civilian body count continued Tuesday with police discovering a total of 56 dead in and around Baghdad, many of them bearing the marks of torture and execution.

Authorities took the killings to be a continuation of the sectarian killings that have shaken the country since the Feb. 22 bombing of a revered Shiite shrine in the city of Samarra.

Three years ago the line to beat into people's heads was "Iraq has no WMDs." Today it is "Iraq has descended into civil war." That is the reality of the situation. George W. Bush has no grip on reality.

Connecting the Dots

SusanG.

Lieberman the Fucktard

I'll let him speak for himself.

Lieberman said he believes hospitals that refuse to give contraceptives to rape victims for "principled reasons" shouldn't be forced to do so. "In Connecticut, it shouldn't take more than a short ride to get to another hospital," he said.

I happen to believe that the Democratic Party should, for "principled reasons," shouldn't be forecd to put up with shitbags like Joe Lieberman. In his political environment, it shouldn't take more than a short ride to get to another party.

Stoller.

Jane.

Start lining up behind Ned Lamont, who just formally announced his candidacy.

Feingold to Censure Bush

Another reason to like Russ. Because he speaks the truth clearly and is not afraid of craven politicians and consultants. He's going to introduce a motion to censure the President for his illegal domestic spying.

The facts and the case for censure are clear. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, makes it a crime to wiretap American citizens without a court warrant - which is what the President has admitted doing. Before the program was revealed, he also misled Congress and the American people about the wiretapping that was being done. For example, at a 2004 speech in Buffalo, he said, "Any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires, a wiretap requires a court order." And at a 2004 speech in my home state of Wisconsin, he said that "the government can't move on wiretaps or roving wiretaps without getting a court order."

Go Russ!

Dead Baby Jokes

I have a pretty loose sense of humor, and I don't believe that any topic should be taboo from jokes, even something as touchy as the Holocaust. However, authorship matters to some extent, so that Neo-nazis joking about the Holocaust is a little far over the line. This is not to make a Holocaust comparison - I'm using an extreme example - but this is another situation in which authorship matters, and the jokers are over the line:

Bush pointed out that the vice president's full name is Richard B. Cheney.

"B. stands for bulls eye," Bush said to laughter from the hundreds of reporters and officials from the administration and Congress. The press, Bush joked, blew the matter way out of proportion: "Good Lord, you'd thought he shot somebody or something."

Gee Karl, remember the time Dick shot that guy in the face and almost killed him? That was hilarious!!!! ... nah, that dude will be fine, and if he's not, no big deal. Dick's pretty cool, shooting a guy in the face.

I think it's very different from a dead baby joke because it's personal, and about the VP almost killing a man. It's one thing to crack a dead baby joke; it's another to crack one to a parent who has lost a baby. Let's try these adaptations instead.

Q: How do you make Dick Cheney float?

A: Take my foot off of his head

Q: What's the difference between a lamborgini and Cheney's dead corpse?

A: I don't have a lamborgini in my garage.

See what I'm getting at?

War Reminder

No, it's not peaches and gravy as Cheney and Lieberman - what a couple - would have you believe:

Car bombings and mortar attacks rocked a market in a Shiite slum in Baghdad Sunday, killing at least 37 people and wounding 84, police said.

...

There are now about 132,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. The U.S. death toll since the start of the war in March 2003 exceeds 2,300, in addition to more than 17,000 wounded.

It's only a matter of time until Bush is forced to cut and run. Watch him blame it on the war that is being fought over the airways. Once again, putting the PR in President.

Link.

Backing Down

This was a pleasant surprise on my birthday:

The state-owned Dubai company seeking to manage some terminal operations at six American ports dropped out of the deal on Thursday, bowing to an unrelenting bipartisan attack in Congress that swept aside President Bush's efforts.

That's good. I'm glad that we've taken a step - although it was the company here that took the step, not the Bush administration - towards securing our own ports with our own management.


However, I think the NYT article misses something key:

The action averted a showdown with Congress that Mr. Bush was all but certain to lose, as signaled on Wednesday by a 62-to-2 vote of the House Appropriations Committee to reject the transfer, because it allowed the sale of some terminal operations to an Arab state company.

...

"This was clearly not a business decision made by DP World," a senior administration official said. "It was a strategic decision made by the U.A.E. to avoid further damage."

Well, replace strategic with political and U.A.E. with Bush, and maybe then you have the truth of the matter. Once again we can see that Bush puts the PR in PResident, and the only person he is working for is himself.

Abramoff Sounds Off

In Jack's own words:

“For a guy who did all these evil things that have been so widely reported, it’s pretty amazing, considering I didn’t know anyone,” Abramoff says sardonically. “You’re really no one in this town unless you haven’t met me.”

Vanity Fair has the advance article up on its website.

Abramoff is naming high-profile people with whom he had dealings. They're not going to be able to get out of this scot-free.

Keeping America Safe

Faith based initiatives:

Section 1. Establishment of a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the Department of Homeland Security.

(a) The Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) shall establish within the Department of Homeland Security (Department) a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (Center).

(b) The Center shall be supervised by a Director appointed by Secretary. The Secretary shall consult with the Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (WHOFBCI Director) prior to making such appointment.

This is a good step for America to remain morally upright and provide us with a means by which God will protect us with his divine grace. It is a fact of life that those with faith will be saved, and therefore it is our duty as concerned Americans to ensure that we spread the word of the Lord in order to save everyone. It is only natural that such an initiative should find a place to reside in the Department of Homeland Security. What people really need is the comfort of prayer and faith, not the cold-hearted liberal solution of throwing money at any problem. We must thank President George W. Bush, a man who truly walks with Jesus, for always striving to keep us safe and put us in closer touch with Jesus. People's homes may be destroyed by natural disasters, which the Lord only brings to justly punish sinners in this country, and we may face the abominations of Muslim terrorism, for which the Lord will surely arm us with the necessary means to strike down, but we will always have our faith to keep us warm, feed us, clothe us, comfort us and keep us secure.

Let us say Amen in honor of our righteous and wise President, who is very much close to God.

Chris Matthews Loves Cock

er, Boehner.

When Danger Looms Over the Economy

Quick! To the Bat-fuck-the-poor-mobile!

Senior aides say the conservatives' plan would wring about $350 billion from Medicare, Medicaid and other social programs and save $300 billion partly through a major reorganization of the Education, Commerce and Energy Departments.

Instead of considering the other side of this equation - raising taxes, way to bring up the issue and support it with some simple math, NYT - all Republicans want to do is reduce any constraints on their already unfettered spending power. These people do not realize that civil society breaks down when the bonds that tie us together and prevent people from falling into destitution break down. We are really dealing with people who do not care about anyone other than their own greedy, bloated selves.

"We are putting our money where our mouth is," said one of the officials, who would discuss the proposal only without being identified because it was still being prepared for release Wednesday by leaders of the Republican Study Committee.

Apparently my last comment can be understood in a literal sense as much as it can be understood in a figurative one. That unidentified official - way to go with quoting anonymous sources who will only screw you later, NYT - is being completely forthcoming. He would like to do nothing more than take his money and put it back in front of his own mouth, as opposed to feeding, clothing and educating someone who does not have the economic prosperity to do so by himself.

Republicans hate you.

Crashing the Gate

and other reviews, by Mark Schmitt.

I received the book about a week ago, and I will get around to reading and reviewing it soon.

WTF

Today's WaPo:

An overwhelming majority of the public believes fighting between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in Iraq will lead to civil war and half says the United States should begin withdrawing its forces from that violence-torn country, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll.

It is beyond me how the paper can even pose that kind of question, considering that Iraq has already descended into a civil war. I mean, I'm glad that there's more public proof that Bush's war is both stupid and unpopular, but the Post is completely dodging reality by asking that type of question.

The question should be: Should the U.S. draw down its troop levels now that Iraq has descended into civil war. Or: How does Iraq's civil war speak to President Bush's leadership?

Try that, liberal media!

It's That Time of the Month Again

The Democrats in disarray meme:

Interviews with Democratic challengers in contested districts suggest that the party is far from settling on an overarching theme that will work as well in central Connecticut as it does in central Colorado.

And while Democrats have no shortage of criticism to offer, they have so far not introduced a strategy for governing along the lines of the Republican Party's Contract With America, the 1994 initiative that some Democrats hold up as their model for this year's elections.

Doesn't Adam Nagourney - who wrote the last one of these articles I blogged about - have anything better to do with his time? Like report about actual politics?

Furthermore Democrats need to stop talking about lack of clarity and vision, stop using "process" talk, i.e. "we should do this," instead of actually doing it, and stop talking to Adam Nagourney.

Liberal Media my ass.

If at Frist You Don't Succeed

Change the rules so you can:

Frist specifically threatened that if the Committee holds NSA hearings, he will fundamentally change the 30-year-old structure and operation of the Senate Intelligence Committee so as to make it like every other Committee, i.e., controlled and dominated by Republicans to advance and rubber-stamp the White House’s agenda rather than exercise meaningful and nonpartisan oversight.

Hey, it worked for DeLay... for a little while. This is a perfect example of the how the Republican party works - putting their own livelihood above democracy's and the country's.

Mars, Bitches!

How are we going to get to Mars if we can't even send a probe to asteroids?

NASA on Thursday canceled a mission to visit two asteroids, five months after the program was put on hold because of cost overruns and technical problems.

I'm so glad Bush is committed to actually funding programs and making a difference as opposed to just trying to look good.

Link.

Tip of the Iceberg

Culture of Corruption.

Former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a decorated fighter pilot in Vietnam who admitted taking $2.4 million in bribes from two defense contractors, was sentenced Friday to eight years and four months in federal prison for selling his office.

I'd like to point out that the only reason he's a "former" congressman is because he resigned in the face of the charges against him. His colleague and friend, Rep. Doolittle (R-CA) has bravely - stupidly? - stood by him and denied all the charges against Cunningham. I'm sure Doolittle is as corrupt as Cunningham to try and defend those charges.

The ice is getting thinner.

Reality?

No, no, no. Fantasy. FANTASY!!!!

Hat tip to Atrios for the link.

Guess When?

Tom Tomorrow on the Iraq War.