Sex Scandals

The Republican Party.

Classic Republicans in Action

Former IL gov. George Ryan.

After more than five months of sometimes complicated testimony in his federal case, and after five weeks of still more tangled deliberations, a jury convicted Mr. Ryan, a Republican, of granting state business to associates in exchange for cash and presents for himself, his family and for his friends.

He faces a sentence of up to 20 years for racketeering, the most serious of the charges brought against him.

That's just the tip of the iceberg for Republican corruption in this country. Read the article, it keeps getting better. Oh, and who was the prosecutor? FITZ!!!!!

On a side note, I will be out of the country on work for the next two weeks, and I'll probably have a cheney-load of it, so posting will be sporadic at best.

The Angry Left

Mwahahah.

Shout Louder

Six generals at once calling for Rumsfeld's resignation? Hahahah, don't even think about it with less than a dozen.

President Bush, brushing aside an intensifying clamor among retired military commanders for Donald H. Rumsfeld's resignation, said Friday his defense secretary enjoys his full support and that Rumsfeld's leadership of the Pentagon was "exactly what is needed at this critical period."

Apparently now that Andy Card is gone only Rumsfeld will be able to rustle up the cheeseburgers needed at this critical period.

Why is this man still President?

Link.

Tax and Spend

Remember back in the 2004 presidential debates when Bush accused Kerry of being a "tax and spend liberal" and Kerry shot back by saying that Bush was a "don't tax and spend Republican?" I think we need to modify that a little bit.

As the Federal Emergency Management Agency wraps up the initial phase of its temporary housing program -- ending reliance on cruise ships and hotels for people sent fleeing by the Aug. 29 storm -- the toll of false starts and missed opportunities appears likely to top $1 billion and perhaps much more, according to a series of after-action studies and Department of Homeland Security reports, including one due for release today.

And that is just the housing program. We need to start calling them "don't tax and squander Republicans" or just "corrupt Republicans."

Let's face it. Republicans are not competent to manage your money and your lives, to care about your security and making life better for you. All they care about is themselves and their own. Such people have no business running the government.

Link.

The Morally Right Party

Democrats.

It's a pretty interesting story.

Projecting

Howard Kurtz.

When Republicans and former military men are ripping the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld handling of the war, I'd say that Houston, we have a problem.

My only question in these matters: What took them so long?

First off, it obviously does not matter when anyone who is not a Republican or in the military criticizes Bush. Their opinions do not matter and will be ignored.

Second, and more importantly, What is taking Howard Kurtz and the media so long? There are mountains of evidence at this point that Bush is screwing the country in every way possible, and, even if you're masochistic you have to say stop at some point, yet the media still isn't hitting him hard and just regurgitating Bush's talking points (see yesterday's post on objectivity). Stop projecting onto others that which you would like to do but are not, and start doing your job.

Shorter WaPo

Bush is a big, fat, stinky liar.

On May 29, 2003, 50 days after the fall of Baghdad, President Bush proclaimed a fresh victory for his administration in Iraq: Two small trailers captured by U.S. and Kurdish troops had turned out to be long-sought mobile "biological laboratories." He declared, "We have found the weapons of mass destruction."

The claim, repeated by top administration officials for months afterward, was hailed at the time as a vindication of the decision to go to war. But even as Bush spoke, U.S. intelligence officials possessed powerful evidence that it was not true.

A little late to the game, but what the hell?

Objectivity

Just caught a newsmedia panel in which Len Downie, the executive editor of the Washington Post, said that you can't be objective, but you can be fair, which means getting all the voices and opinions out there and into circulation.

To that, let me reply... HELL NO. 2 + 2 = 6 is not a valid opinion, no matter how many people fervently believe it to be so. Throwing all opinions into circulation just leads to "he said, she said" journalism in which no one is doing any actual reporting. It's like Steno Sue, vomiting back Bush's press releases and talking points without trying to qualify them or examine their truthfulness (or truthiness). The media's job is to filter out all the lies and bullshit in order to better inform the public, not muddle them even more.

These are the kinds of people who run the newsrooms at the major media institutions. The problem is that the left isn't as partisan as the right. Instead, the left would prefer the liberal idea of objective, fact based journalism, while the right doesn't give two shits and keeps getting wingnuttier and wingnuttier. This works against us in the fair realm of "all opinions are equally valid."

I think this idea of fairness will become increasingly irrelevant as people turn to alternative media and news consumption. If the major papers want to neglect their duties and dig their own graves, it's fine by me. We'll start looking elsewhere for nourishment.

Scary

If I articulate this I think I'll go into conniptions.

Fuck.

Fitzmas

The gift that keeps on giving.

Mr. Fitzgerald's filing talks not of an effort to level with Americans but of "a plan to discredit, punish or seek revenge against Mr. Wilson." It concludes, "It is hard to conceive of what evidence there could be that would disprove the existence of White House efforts to 'punish Wilson.' "

I think that's pretty damning impeach-worthy evidence.

SCLM

The Washington Post editorial board.

PRESIDENT BUSH was right to approve the declassification of parts of a National Intelligence Estimate about Iraq three years ago in order to make clear why he had believed that Saddam Hussein was seeking nuclear weapons. Presidents are authorized to declassify sensitive material, and the public benefits when they do. But the administration handled the release clumsily, exposing Mr. Bush to the hyperbolic charges of misconduct and hypocrisy that Democrats are leveling.

...

The material that Mr. Bush ordered declassified established, as have several subsequent investigations, that Mr. Wilson was the one guilty of twisting the truth. In fact, his report supported the conclusion that Iraq had sought uranium.

As many commenters on post.blog point out, that last sentence is entirely bogus and contradicted by one of the Post's front page articles published on the same day. Jane Hamsher has a vitriolic rebuttal of Hiatt's bullshit. The media is as guilty as Bush for passing along his lies and not defending this country.

When Is a Security Leak a Good Leak?

When President Bush orders it.

A senior administration official confirmed for the first time on Sunday that President Bush had ordered the declassification of parts of a prewar intelligence report on Iraq in an effort to rebut critics who said the administration had exaggerated the nuclear threat posed by Saddam Hussein.

All of Bush's bluster about prosecuting leakers is just a reflection on his own crimes. Republicans are really the party of putting themselves above the nation, and Bush had no problem politicizing national security and hurting the country to cover up his own lies and deceits. This man has the moral character of a serial killer. He must be stopped. If half the things we're hearing about Iran are true, we need to depose King George before this country can no longer return from the brink.

Fuck.

Harry Taylor

Patriot.

And the Walls

Come tumbling down.

President Bush authorized White House official I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to disclose highly sensitive intelligence information to the news media in an attempt to discredit a CIA adviser whose views undermined the rationale for the invasion of Iraq, according to a federal prosecutor's account of Libby's testimony to a grand jury.

Crumbling, tumbling down.

We have it now. Bush is finally placed at the center of this disgrace to our country. He is a man who sold out our national security for political purposes - to cover up that he started a war on false premises - and has weakened America. His consistent lies, false accusations and willingness to sell out others for his own benefit speak to his moral character. His actions are beyond the pale, and he needs to be impeached and locked up in prison for life.

Link.

Limbaugh on Rape Victims

They're ho's.

CALLER 2: Rush, did you just call those young ladies "hos" on the nationally syndicated program?

LIMBAUGH: Yes.

CALLER 2: Do you know something about them that perhaps we don't know?

LIMBAUGH: Yes, yes I did.

CALLER 2: Oh, you --

LIMBAUGH: It was a, it was -- hang on -- now, what, what did you say there, [caller]?

CALLER 2: I said, because -- and if they are hos, it doesn't mean that they can still -- you can do to 'em whatever you want.

LIMBAUGH: No.

CALLER 2: Well, why would you call them hos on the national --

LIMBAUGH: Well, because, because I'm running on fumes today, [caller], and I felt terrible about it. And I knew somebody was gonna call and give me a little grief so I'm takin' the occasion of your call to apologize for it. That was, it was a terrible slip of the tongue. I'm sorry. But it wasn't the worst one that has been said recently. You want -- do you know who Keanu Reeves is?

CALLER 2: Yeah, I know who he is. He's an actor.

LIMBAUGH: Well, he's, he's, he's an actor.

CALLER 2: Yeah.

LIMBAUGH: He's a whacko. He's, he's an -- an actor and, he -- what was he doing? He was -- the Women Against Domestic Violence group was already in a dither because Keanu Reeves told an interviewer he learned something filming a rape scene with Hilary Swank for a movie called The Gift. And he said was, what he learned was that some of these ladies don't mind it.

...

CALLER 2: Oh, OK. Well, but, I -- it definitely offended me to hear you say that on the national program. The world's largest -- as you say.

LIMBAUGH: Yeah, well --

CALLER 2: But maybe you should take half your brain from behind your back next time.

LIMBAUGH: You know, I'm thinking what I ought to do, [caller], is something that I used to do in the early days of this program and that is spank myself.

CALLER 2: Well, I don't know if that's gonna work. The apology would be good.

LIMBAUGH: I just -- how -- you want me to apologize again? I'm sorry.

CALLER 2: Oh, no, I'm saying -- the apology was good.

LIMBAUGH: I regret that you heard me say it.

So much good stuff today on how crazy and stupid Republicans are. No holding back for me today.

How can anyone listen to this pathetic, coked-out, sack of lying, hateful shit? You are responsible for the consequences of your actions. Let's even say the girl was wearing next to nothing and flirting, or as ho-ish as a ho can get. Let's see she was queen ho - no, the ho from which all other, lesser ho's came from. Doesn't fucking matter. If a guy forces a girl to have sex, no matter the circumstances - unless you can tell me that he would have died if he hadn't raped her, and I'm sure someone out there can, to which I will repeatedly smash your face in with a lead pipe - against her will, he is transgressing on someone else's body, rights, territory, and he needs to be held responsible. He is solely at fault, not her.

Hear that Rush? If you can't control yourself and respect others, you can leave society. I'm sure there's a nice prison cell with a 'ho' named Bubba who'd gladly give the rapist a reacharound. Let him have fun there.

By respect others I mean you can't treat a woman like she's property, or inferior, or just some object. A person is a person. Everyone is equal. Treat others like you'd like yourself to be treated. That is the right way to live.

/rant.

Tom, We Will Miss You

And your mob tactics to forcibly silence your opponents and assault little old ladies.

I'm not kidding.

Come on Republicans, keep saying DeLay's a man of faith and of Jesus. WWJD? Tar and feather everyone who disagreed with him and break their knees? If Tom DeLay were Jesus that's what he'd do. He'd start a religion that would violently deal with anyone who disagreed with what he said. Oops, I guess that's already happened.

Besides, what's up with that 'de' in 'DeLay?' Sounds like 'de Lay,' which is kind of French. We had a Frenchman for a majority leader? WTF, Republicans! WTF!

Oh, wait, I guess he's not Mexican....

Distribution of Wealth and Growth

Don't have time to expand on this now, but read Jerome's diary. It's really dead on.

Basically, a country with taxation that drives towards a more equitable distribution of wealth will have higher growth than a country with no taxes. That dead weight loss triangle you see in econ 101 isn't the entire picture. If you don't understand why, think about it for a while.

Hypocrite

(n.) - George W. Bush.

While President Bush vows to transform Iraq into a beacon of democracy in the Middle East, his administration has been scaling back funding for the main organizations trying to carry out his vision by building democratic institutions such as political parties and civil society groups.

The administration has included limited new money for traditional democracy promotion in budget requests to Congress. Some organizations face funding cutoffs this month, while others struggle to stretch resources through the summer. The shortfall threatens projects that teach Iraqis how to create and sustain political parties, think tanks, human rights groups, independent media outlets, trade unions and other elements of democratic society.

Bush does not give a damn about anybody besides himself and his shooting people in the face buddies. His rhetoric in the run-up to the war and for the past two years was always about "freedom is on the march," "spreading democracy" and "ponies," but it is clear that he did not mean a word he said. You cannot trust someone when he does not do what he says he will, and you cannot trust George W. Bush. It is clear that he has had his fill of Iraq - either it was too costly to get the oil, or he realizes his plan has failed and he will have to cut and turn tail before it gets even worse - and is looking to pull out, but it will not help, because she is already knocked up and has a whole lot of problems on her hands. Way to go, Bush. Like any good conservative, I am sure he will blame the victim and deny any responsibility. If he tries to pull any of this shit with Iran we need to place a restraining order on him and give him a big bag of pretzels.

I have Bush's pony for him right here.

By the way, Kerry has a plan that sets deadlines and a withdrawal from Iraq. This is a plan, and one we should follow through.

Iraqi politicians should be told that they have until May 15 to put together an effective unity government or we will immediately withdraw our military. If Iraqis aren't willing to build a unity government in the five months since the election, they're probably not willing to build one at all. The civil war will only get worse, and we will have no choice anyway but to leave.

Where is Bush's plan?

Interesting

Broder muses about the possibility of Democrats routing Republicans. Broder's a pretty good bellweather for the conventional wisdom, and if he's willing to say as much, maybe we've got a real narrative going here.

War?

Oh yeah, that war - I mean civil war.

Despite President Bush's repeated denials, the figures are clear: 900 sectarian killings in a single month in Iraq means a civil war is well under way.

Iraq is a nation of 25 million people. In the United States, that level of killing would proportionately equal almost 11,000 people killed in riots, reprisal killings and sectarian clashes in a single month.

By comparison, the 30 years of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland from 1968 to 1998 saw 3,600 people killed in a small population of 1.5 million. Proportionately, that would equate to 60,000 dead over 30 years in Iraq, or 2,000 killed per year. Instead, if the current Iraqi violence simply stays at the current level and does not escalate any further, it will take 10,800 Iraqi civilian lives this year. That rate would be more than five times the average rate of the Northern Irish conflict.

Read the whole thing.

And fuck the Bush administration and their aiding and abetting media whores.

So Long, Tom

That's it, DeLay is gone.

"I'm going to announce tomorrow that I'm not running for reelection and that I'm going to leave Congress," DeLay, who turns 59 on Saturday, said during a 90-minute interview on Monday. "I'm very much at peace with it."

On a matter of principle? Hell no. Unless it's the principle of self-preservation:

The surprise decision was based on the sort of ruthless calculation that had once given him unchallenged dominance of House Republicans and their wealthy friends in Washington's lobbying community: he realized he might lose in this November's election. DeLay got a scare in a Republican primary last month, and a recent poll taken by his campaign gave him a roughly 50-50 shot of winning, in an election season when Republicans need every seat they can hang onto to avoid a Democratic takeover of the House.

By the by, I will gladly put money down against anyone who thinks DeLay won't become a lobbyist the second his term ends. If you're still considering betting against me, maybe this will help you come to your senses:

DeLay said he is likely to leave by the end of May, depending on the Congressional schedule and finishing his work on a couple of issues. He said he will change his legal residence to his condominium in Alexandria, Va., from his modest two-story home on a golf course here in the 22nd District of Texas.

Goodbye, Tom DeLay. For all the pain you caused this country with your medicare and energy bills, for all the corruption and bribery you created and grew strong off, for all your efforts to be as ruthless as possible and undermine our democratic system of government, we are glad to see you go. I hope you soon find yourself sitting next to your best buddy Jack Abramoff in prison.

Burn.

So Long, Tom

That's it, DeLay is gone.

"I'm going to announce tomorrow that I'm not running for reelection and that I'm going to leave Congress," DeLay, who turns 59 on Saturday, said during a 90-minute interview on Monday. "I'm very much at peace with it."

On a matter of principle? Hell no. Unless it's the principle of self-preservation:

The surprise decision was based on the sort of ruthless calculation that had once given him unchallenged dominance of House Republicans and their wealthy friends in Washington's lobbying community: he realized he might lose in this November's election. DeLay got a scare in a Republican primary last month, and a recent poll taken by his campaign gave him a roughly 50-50 shot of winning, in an election season when Republicans need every seat they can hang onto to avoid a Democratic takeover of the House.

By the by, I will gladly put money down against anyone who thinks DeLay won't become a lobbyist the second his term ends. If you're still considering betting against me, maybe this will help you come to your senses:

DeLay said he is likely to leave by the end of May, depending on the Congressional schedule and finishing his work on a couple of issues. He said he will change his legal residence to his condominium in Alexandria, Va., from his modest two-story home on a golf course here in the 22nd District of Texas.

Goodbye, Tom DeLay. For all the pain you caused this country with your medicare and energy bills, for all the corruption and bribery you created and grew strong off, for all your efforts to be as ruthless as possible and undermine our democratic system of government, we are glad to see you go. I hope you soon find yourself sitting next to your best buddy Jack Abramoff in prison.

Burn.

Conventional Wisdom

Still stupid.

Democrats eyeing a 2008 presidential bid heard a pointed warning from New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) last week: Dis the New Hampshire primary, and you can expect to pay a price.

Hmm... the governor of a state that would lose its prominence is warning Democrats to keep him on his throne. That's like Republicans saying that it would be a bad move for Democrats to harp on any of their repeated failures.

Wake up!