My, Uh, 'Friend' Has a Problem

Richard Cohen.

It's a joke, isn't it? I mean, it was Gore who was universally seen as the
flawed man, uncomfortable in his own skin and, therefore, in this TV age,
incapable of uniting the nation. He was caricatured by some of my colleagues as
a serial exaggerator, a fibber, a pretender -- the guy who invented the
Internet, who was the model for the novel (and movie) "Love Story," who applied
one too many coats of passion to that kiss he delivered to his wife, Tipper, at
the Democratic National Convention in 2000. There were so many reasons not to
vote for him -- none, in retrospect, much good.

And it was his, uh, friend who wrote this:

I am not going to sit here and defend Gore's exaggerations. I wish he wouldn't
make them. I wish he did not say he had been to the Texas fires when he hadn't.
(Maybe he ought to have said concentration camp.) I wish he had not compared his
dog's prescription plan to his mother-in-law's. I wish he had been a bit more
modest about his role in developing the Internet or, way back, in describing his
Vietnam War experience.

Media Matters has more.

Department of No-Brainers

Breast cancer studies funded by drug companies are more likely to yield positive findings than those without pharmaceutical industry backing, according to research published on Monday.
A team led by Dr. Jeffrey Peppercorn of the University of North Carolina School of medicine also found industry-backed studies tended to be designed differently than the others, but he said drug companies may simply be backing the least-risky alternatives.

Wow! In other news, Joe Lieberman's reports more likely to show Iraq a success than those without psychotic delusions.

Conservapedia

Because "reality has a well-known liberal bias". From the front page:

Conservapedia is a much-needed alternative to Wikipedia, which is increasingly anti-Christian and anti-American. On Wikipedia, many of the dates are provided in the anti-Christian "C.E." instead of "A.D.", which Conservapedia uses. Christianity receives no credit for the great advances and discoveries it inspired, such as those of the Renaissance. Read a list of many Examples of Bias in Wikipedia.
Conservapedia is an online resource and meeting place
where we favor Christianity and America. Conservapedia has easy-to-use indexes to facilitate review of topics. You will much prefer using Conservapedia compared to Wikipedia if you want concise answers free of "political correctness".

A.D. instead of C.E. ... reverse political correctness? Christianity deserves credit for the Renaissance?

Wow.

A Good Sign?

If your opponent bring a knife, you bring a gun.

Four years ago, Congress passed legislation authorizing President Bush to
go to war in Iraq. Now Senate Democrats want to take it back.
Key lawmakers, backed by party leaders, are drafting legislation that would effectively revoke the broad authority granted to the president in the days Saddam Hussein was in power, and leave U.S. troops with a limited mission as they prepare to withdraw.
Officials said Thursday the precise wording of the measure remains unsettled. One version would restrict American troops in Iraq to fighting al-Qaida, training Iraqi army and police forces, maintaining Iraq's territorial integrity and otherwise proceeding with the withdrawal of combat forces.
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., intends to present the proposal to fellow Democrats next week, and he is expected to try to add the measure to anti-terrorism legislation scheduled to be debated later this month. Officials who described the strategy spoke only on condition of anonymity, noting that rank-and-file senators had not yet been briefed on the details.

It's time to use the overwhelming mandate that the American people voted to give Congress last fall. Enough with non-binding - we need this action and soon.

Discourse

Dick Cheney:

I think, in fact, if we were to do what Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Murtha
are suggesting, all we'll do is validate the al Qaeda strategy. The al Qaeda
strategy is to break the will of the American people -- in fact, knowing they
can't win in a stand-up fight, try to persuade us to throw in the towel and come
home, and then they win because we quit.

Democrats = Al Qaeda supporters. Hooray. I guess even as long as you give money to Republicans you can get out of that category, but support a Democrat and you're screwed. Couple points:

1. This isn't some wingnut 101st fighting keyboarder, this is the vice president of the United States. It is vile and disingenuous for him to characterize the opposition in such a manner
2. I never want to hear anyone on the right complain about the left's lack of civility. We've seen them shed these crocodile tears for decades while they simultaneously make us out to be terrorist sympathizers. That they even have the faux self righteous indignation to call us intemperate if we ever call them on it speaks to how craven and contrived they are
3. [Again,] where's the press? If someone on the left made this kind of comment that person would be hounded and news stories would run night and day about how awful and damning that comment was - see Kerry's troop gaffe, which, even if he fumbled the joke, still got his point across - and there would be incredible pressure for that person to resign. Similar pressure on the right? Never

Something that may be even more damning for our prospects in Iraq is what Cheney revelation of how he thinks about strategy. He knows they can't win in a stand up fight, and they know they can't win in a stand up fight, so they won't fight us in a stand up fight. Therefore, why does Cheney continue to think we can win on our terms when they won't fight us on them? It's like a football coach who can only guarantee a win provided the other team just stands around and doesn't do anything. If heaven forbid they do, then it's their fault for not playing fairly. Well. Please excuse my intemperance, but no wonder this entire thing* has been one colossal clusterfuck from the start.

*the Bush administration

Guess Who?

"Some people may be running who may tell you that we don't face a real threat
from terrorism," ... "I am not one of those."

Bush? Wrong!

Hillary. Yes, she's referring to Democrats. Way to go.

Get Your War On

Even Tommy Franks has said otherwise.

President Bush said today he is certain that elements of the Iranian government
are supplying deadly roadside bombs that kill American troops in Iraq, even if
the innermost circle of the government is not involved.

Mr. Bush said it had been established beyond a
doubt that a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps known as the Quds
Force is supplying Shiite groups inside Iraq with particularly deadly,
Iranian-designed weapons known as explosively formed penetrators, or
E.F.P.s.
“We know that,” Mr. Bush said at a White House news conference.

Impeach the fucker. I give up.

Media Matters

Unfortunately...

Now think about applying Chris Wallace's critique to the media in general.

...

Ugh, I need to take a cold shower.

Alright Already!

Top 5 stories on my Google Reader (mostly world and business news):

1. Newsweek Cover: The Hidden War with Iran
2. U.S. Led Forces show evidence of Iranian arms in Iraq
3. Iran wants to stay within nuclear rules
4. Accord proves elusive at North Korea talks
5. U.S. officer: Iran sends Iraq bomb parts

Haven't we had enough of this already? Does it not bother anyone in the media that we are almost exactly repeating the same events of 5 years ago? Back then the news items would have read:

1. Newsweek Cover: Saddam daring U.N. for war
2. Investigators show evidence of biological weapons trailer factories
3. Iraq reconstituting WMD programs and centrifuges, trying to obtain uranium
4. Accord proves elusive at North Korea talks
5. U.S. officer: Iraq aiding Al Qaeda

Aside from the fact that point 4 is exactly the same - way to actually solve any problems, Bushie! - has no one in a position of authority picked up on what's happening? The focus should be on how the government is recycling the same old false Iraq propaganda with the Q crossed out and the N sloppily pasted on over it. Get with the program.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Writing on the Wall

Gates, February 2, 2007:

"Nobody is planning, we are not planning for a war with Iran,"

Gates, February 9, 2007:

Serial numbers and markings on explosives used in Iraq provide "pretty good"
evidence that Iran is providing either weapons or technology for militants
there, Defense Secretary Robert Gates asserted Friday.

The first statement should have set off alarm bells in everyone's heads last week, especially since Rumsfeld used almost the exact same words five years ago. Now the Bush administration is going to push all buttons in order to justify expanding the conflict into Iran.

We are ruled by lying psychopaths.

Fair and Balanced

Fox News:

Asked if his News Corp. managed to shape the agenda on the war in Iraq, Murdoch
said: "No, I don't think so. We tried." Asked by Rose for further comment, he
said: "We basically supported the Bush policy in the Middle East…but we have
been very critical of his execution."

Come on, Papa Bear! Bring it!

I wonder if Colbert will cover this...

Get Your War Off

Feingold.

What I think is happening is that the Washington consultants, particularly those
who were part of the previous Democratic administration, come in to a room with
the leadership and tell them, "Look, if you propose a timeline or if you try to
cut off the funding Republicans will tear you apart. So I think it comes from
the other side. I think it comes from the Washington inside crowd that sets the
parameters of this debate. This Washington inside crowd was for this war and
they can't figure out how to get out of this situation. . . . So this assumption that somehow it's Democratic Senators coming in saying you know this is a tough vote for me--I don't think that's where it's coming from. I think it's coming from the power structure in Washington that's desperately trying to figure out how to explain how they made one of the biggest mistakes in the history of our country. And that's why you have to go right at them. The people of this country want this over. Washington consultants supported this. So it's us versus them on this issue.

Emphasis mine. Thank you, sir. It definitely explains the actions of the media and power brokers. For them the only real crisis is if we do what Feingold suggests we do.

That Global Warming Thing

The game is on. Temperatures are rising and sooner or later everyone will be doing the opposite of rats scurrying away from a sinking ship. Weather patterns have already become more erratic this early out. This should not come as a surprise to any reality-based person, but it is still depressing. It took them long enough, but the bigwigs are finally starting to get their act together.

"The degradation of the global environment continues unabated ... and the
effects of climate change are being felt across the globe," Ban said in a
statement after last week's toughest warning yet mankind is to blame for global
warming.

In comments read on his behalf at the start of a week-long Nairobi
gathering, Ban said all countries would feel the adverse effect of climate
change.

"But it is the poor, in Africa and small island states, who will suffer
the most, even though they are the least responsible for global warming."

You can say that again. The poor are the least capable of helping themselves and will be hit hardest by food shortages - maybe we can stop burning our excess grains now - and natural disasters for which the rich bear most of the blame. They and their conservative surrogates will no doubt say things reminiscient of Katrina such as "Who would live in that kind of place anyway? They were asking for it" and "Why didn't they leave? They knew it was coming" without taking into account the harsh reality that they are incapable of doing so. This is akin to the rapist's excuse of "She was asking for it" or "She didn't say no."

That is exactly what these conservatives are. Rapists and psychopaths who have no empathy for their fellow man. Such people are the first who deserve to be thrown to the wolves, not those who happen to be victims of other people's circumstances.

Nobody Likes a Cheney

Indeed.

A Bribe by Any Other Name

Is still a bribe.

Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group
funded by one of the world's largest oil companies to undermine a major climate
change report due to be published today.

Letters sent by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), an
ExxonMobil-funded thinktank with close links to the Bush administration, offered
the payments for articles that emphasise the shortcomings of a report from the
UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Travel expenses and
additional payments were also offered.

The UN report was written by international experts and is widely
regarded as the most comprehensive review yet of climate change science. It will
underpin international negotiations on new emissions targets to succeed the
Kyoto agreement, the first phase of which expires in 2012. World governments
were given a draft last year and invited to comment.

The AEI has received more than $1.6m from ExxonMobil and more than 20
of its staff have worked as consultants to the Bush administration. Lee Raymond,
a former head of ExxonMobil, is the vice-chairman of AEI's board of
trustees.

This is disgusting. The legs that global warming skeptics are standing on could not be any more transparent and rotten. The IPCC report states the following:

there is a 90% chance that human activity is warming the planet, and that global
average temperatures will rise by another 1.5 to 5.8C this century, depending on
emissions.

It makes me really sad to think about it. This is something that has been evident for at least the last 20 years - just ask Al Gore - but anyone who said so was marginalized in the - corporate bought and owned - media. Moreover, this collective denial was orchestrated by those who stood to gain the most from hurting the most and furthered by those who believed them. The impact is now irreversible.

As a people, we are too far past the time when we put stock in blind faith and refused to examine and learn from reality. Let us study facts. Let us study people. Let us study the world around us and cast off false assumptions. Let us grow. It is all too clear what will happen if we do not.

(sorry, guess the bribe story touched off a bout of self righteousness)

Let the Laughter Begin!

Al Franken is entering the MN Sen race against Norm Coleman.

Comedian Al Franken has decided to run for the U.S. Senate from Minnesota in
2008, a senior Democratic official from Minnesota said Wednesday.

Franken told the official, who did not want to be identified because
Franken has not made an announcement, that he had decided to run in a recent
conversation.

How do we know Franken is a good candidate?

Because he's good enough, he's strong enough, and gosh darn it, people just like him.