Where Hither the Altmouse?

After this and this, I think it Altmouse owes us an explanation for her behavior.

NIMBY Be Gone!

Another one bites the dust.

Cape Wind Associates LLC, a privately funded Boston-based energy company, has
proposed constructing 130 wind turbines over 24 square miles in Nantucket Sound,
within view of the wealthy Cape Cod resort region of Massachusetts.

The project, which would meet the energy needs of some 400,000 homes,
"adequately and properly complies" with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act, said the state environmental affairs secretary, Ian Bowles.

It is good politics, good economics and most of all, good morality.

Abridged Republican Philosophy

Kyle Sampson:

"The distinction between 'political' and 'performance-related' reasons for removing a United States attorney is, in my view, largely artificial," said Kyle Sampson.
The aide, who quit because of the furor over the firings, is to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. A copy of his prepared remarks was obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.
"A U.S. attorney who is unsuccessful from a political perspective ... is unsuccessful," Sampson said.

When a Democrat engages something that could be construed as partisan politics, it automatically is and that is news. When a Republican does something that could be construed as partisan politics, that is not news, so who cares?

Sock Puppetry

George W. Bush.

Elections Have Consequences

GSA scandal.

Doan's defense is hilariously awful.

Watch for the Henry Waxman cameo!

You Keep Saying That Word, But I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means

Taking the 5th.

A party can request a hearing (in federal or state court) to examine whether the party invoking the Fifth has done so properly. Goodling's attorney's letter does not provide a valid basis for invoking the Fifth. You can't invoke the Fifth to avoid perjury charges (or obstructing justice with the selfsame testimony). (I have the cases here, if you want them.) You can't invoke the Fifth because you think the Committee is on a witch hunt. Etc.

Is anybody surprised that this lawyer Bush crony who graduated from Pat Robertson's Regent University does not understand the law?

He Came in Here and Trashed This Place

I think Glenn Greenwald stabbed at the cancerous heart of why the punditocracy loves Republicans and is jealous of any Democrat who could steal their spotlight.

They respect and admire the Republicans who wield power in Washington -- media
elites particularly love Karl Rove (Mark Halperin to Hugh Hewitt: "we say in the
book about Karl Rove, who I respect and enjoy…I enjoy his company . . . Maybe he
did the things he’s accused of, but to have this guy’s image portrayed and
defined by things that are accusations that are unproven, we say in the book is
really outrageous"). They admire and love Rove because he is the embodiment of
the political power which they worship -- and they are angered by the notion
that these figures who rule their world, a world which lavishly rewards them,
should be accused of real wrongdoing, let alone threatened with subpoenas and
prosecution and imprisonment.

They worship at the unholy altar of power and therefore must be cast down.

Be sure to watch the very telling Youtube clip at the link.

Lying Liars

The Bush administration and their cronies:

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales approved plans to fire several U.S.
attorneys in an hourlong meeting last fall, according to documents released
Friday that indicate he was more involved in the dismissals than he has
claimed.

Last week, Gonzales said he ''was not involved in any discussions about
what was going on'' in the firings of eight prosecutors that has since led to a
political firestorm and calls for his ouster.

Bush will not let Gonzales go down because Abu is another piece of chaff protecting Bush. The sooner those go away the sooner people will start focusing their attention on Bush, who bears real responsibility for most of these scandals.

Progress

Slowly but surely.

Bowers.

Thank all your congressmen who voted in favor of the Iraq supplemental. Today we did not end the war, but we began to dismantle it.

Smackdown

"Elections have consequences"

Barbara Boxer to James Inhofe during global warming hearings, in response to Inhofe's attempts at to belittling Al Gore by cutting him off. Boxer was greeted with a very loud applause from the audience.

Inhofe is the senator who has a sign in his office that reads "Global Warming is a Hoax".

Thinkprogress has the video. It's great!

Farewell, Mark, We Hardly Knew Ye

About time.

Mark Halperin, political director at ABC and overseer of its The Note -- a
popular daily Web tip sheet widely read by reporters -- will give up his top
position and become an analyst there. David Chalian of ABC replaces him.

No more groveling at Sean Hannity's feet to stop calling him a liberal and less left bashing out of the note. Cheers!

The War on Global Warming

Makes more sense than one on an emotion.

Al Gore, a Democratic favorite for the presidency despite pronouncements that he's not running, spoke out on his signature issue Wednesday, warning of a "true
planetary emergency" if Congress fails to act on global warming.
In a return he described as emotional, Gore testified before House panels that it is not too late to deal with climate change "and we have everything we need to get started." He urged the Democratic-controlled Congress to adopt an immediate freeze on greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

You can do little things to help reduce, or entirely offset your carbon footprint. It is equally important to get in touch with your congresspeople and make sure they get on board behind the most powerful regulations being offered. This is a crisis of epic proportion. Let's do something about it.

Link.

Be Thankful for Small Miracles

T'was a merry Fitzmas indeed.

While Patrick Fitzgerald was prosecuting the CIA leak case, his name appeared on
a Justice Department chart that was the first step in an effort to identify U.S.
attorneys who should be removed, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The Justice Department ranking of Fitzgerald, which was sent to the
White House in March 2005, listed him among prosecutors who had "not
distinguished themselves" and put him below "strong U.S. attorneys . . . who
exhibited loyalty" to the administration, but above "weak U.S. attorneys who ...
chafed against administration initiatives, etc.," the Post said, citing Justice
documents.

I think we all got very lucky that they did not fire Fitzgerald. I certainly would not put it past the Bush administration to toss aside anyone who got in their way - just look at Carol Lam. The idea that Fitzgerald had not distinguished himself, after prosecuting corruption and organized crime in Chicago up to the highest levels, is flat-out wrong. Then again this is the same Justice Department that issued the following statement.

In a statement accompanying the release of documents to Congress, Scolinos said,
"The department did not remove the U.S. attorneys for improper reasons, such as
to prevent or retaliate for a particular prosecution in a public corruption matter."

Sure, whatever you say.

Joe Lieberman (R-CT)

Sleazebag.

But new data show the extent of the help he got from big GOP donors in the last
weeks of his 2006 campaign, as they poured more than $1.5 million into his final
pre-election push - with subtle but unmistakable help from the White House.
The information was compiled by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive
Politics. Its data are the first detailed look at the sources and amounts of GOP
money that went into the Lieberman campaign.

Not that this is news to anyone who followed the CT-Sen race. Shame on all the establishment Democrats who did not lift a finger to help Ned Lamont beat this sorry hack out of office.

Happy Birthday!

George W. Bush and Dick Cheney's love child, the Iraq War, has turned 4!

Three car bombs and two roadside devices killed 18 people and wounded 37 in the
northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Monday, police said.The blasts happened in
different parts of the city but exploded within a few minutes.One car bomb
targeted the local offices of the secular political party of former prime
minister Iyad Allawi, another one targeted a government building and the third
exploded in a commercial street, Brigadier Sarhat Qader said.The three roadside
bombs targeted Iraqi police and army patrols, Qader said.Kirkuk, 250 km (155
miles) north of Baghdad, is a city disputed by Arabs, ethnic Kurds and Turkmen,
and violence there is common. Settling its final status is one of the most
sensitive issues in Iraq.

Isn't it adorable? OMG, it's so cute when it goes through those growing pains!!!!!

Plame On!

Catch the play by play at FDL.

Moving on Up

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Thursday moved the presidential
primary of the nation's most populous state to February, shaking up the 2008
race and making a one-day, mega-primary increasingly likely.

"Now California is important again in presidential nominating politics ... and we will get the respect that California deserves," Schwarzenegger said during a bill-signing ceremony. California has not played a prominent role in a presidential primary since 1972, when George McGovern beat Hubert Humphrey for the Democratic nomination. Schwarzenegger is hoping that by moving the presidential primary from June to Feb. 5, the state will again play a significant role.

California is one of as many as two dozen states that have selected Feb. 5 — or are considering that date — for one or both of their Democratic or Republican primaries or caucuses. Other states that have already set that date for their primary are Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho (Democrats only), Missouri, and Utah. Also, New Mexico Democrats have set their presidential caucus for Feb. 5, and the West Virginia GOP plans to hold its state convention, where selects presidential candidates, on that date.

Good for California. I think its sort of silly that certain states - often the more conservative ones in the Democratic process - have more say than others in choosing the nominee for either party. I support a national primary, although I think it could probably be a little later in the year.

The immediate fallout from such a process is that candidates will have to contend with NH and IA's earlier processes and the momentum they will carry over into the huge day as well as the need for massive fundraising and coordination in order to be competitive in many more states. This may, depending on the returns, move us to a brokered convention, which has its positives and negatives.

Let the candidate who knows how to reach* the most people win.

*That was a cheap plug for people power.

Terrorist Lovers

Surprisingly, not the left.

Here, one of the largest right-wing blog communities which pretends to be opposed to Al Qaeda is expressing support for Al Qaeda murder plots against former U.S. Presidents. The significance is overwhelming and self-evident, and many American journalists have shown how commendably eager they are to transcend partisan differences and rise up in righteous condemnation against this sort of "sick" bile.

Glenn Greenwald delivers a great smackdown.

Department of Lessons Not Learned

Apparently the White House's Department of Lessons Learned - yes, it really exists and is funded on your dime - is not doing its job well. Shocking.

Becaue the 2006 hurricane season was mild, the new pumps were never put to the
test.
The Corps and the politically connected manufacturer of the equipment, Moving Water Industries Corp. of Deerfield Beach, Fla., are still struggling to get the 34 pumps, designed and built under a $26.6 million contract, working properly.
The pumps have been plagued by excessive vibration, overheated engines, broken hoses and blown gaskets.
"You want to build confidence, but you have to tell it like it is," said Gwen Bierria, 65, who is rebuilding her home with her husband next to the London Avenue canal, one of two canals that were breached during Katrina and flooded vast sections of the city.

I lied. It is not shocking at all. It is conservatism at work - let people fend for themselves against problems that non-rich and white cannot solve alone. Bush once said he was a fan of John Locke. Assuming he read Locke - oops, laughed so hard I almost choked on a Cheetoe (tm) - it was probably because of Locke's vigorous defense of private property - also non-rich and white people to Bush - but he seems to have forgotten about Locke's vision of a social contract, where citizens give up some rights in return for others. I am not sure how this translates into a conservative worldview, but in a progressive one it means I am more than willing to pay higher taxes to make sure that a disaster like Katrina - I am not referring to the hurricane - never happens again.

The rejoinder to Locke's contract was that if violated it was permissible to break it. We are far past that point with this Republican administration. Conservatives and Republicans love to run around shrieking about the rule of law... as long as it does not apply to them. When that happens they are always curiously mum. It is time we upheld our convictions about our end of the contract. Impeach.

Decidering

Out of Gonzales' hands.

Embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Wednesday it's up to
President Bush whether he remains in the administration and said he wants to
stay and explain to Congress the circumstances surrounding the firings of eight
U.S. attorneys.

Way to accept responsibility, Alberto. As someone commented in a dkos thread yesterday, when a Republican says "I accept responsibility" what he means is "shut up and move on." Now he has passed the buck to Bush, who, as we all know, has never admitted to making any mistakes and has never held anyone in his administration accountable - with the possible exception of Rumsfeld, but there are no longer any elections to be lost on Bush's watch - for any mistakes he has made. Katrina? Heckuva job, Brownie. Plame? I will fire anyone involved in it. Iraq? Mistakes were made.

Furthermore, Gonzales has been a loyal lieutenant. Unitary executive theory? Check. Torture? Check. Illegal wiretapping? Check. Firing prosecutors who were not partisan enough? Check. After all, Gonzales was only doing the White House's bidding. I have a feeling we will get a "Gonzales is doing a heckuva job" line out of Bush. Once again, it falls to the Democrats to fix another mess created by Republicans.

Red Rover, Red Rover, Can Karl Come Over?

Digby was right, Rove's taint was all over the fired prosecutors from the start.

The president did not call for the removal of any specific United States
attorneys, said Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman. She said she had “no
indication” that the president had been personally aware that a process was
already under way to identify prosecutors who would be fired.
But Ms Perino
disclosed that White House officials had consulted with the Justice Department
in preparing the list of United States attorneys who would be removed.

...

The idea of dismissing federal prosecutors originated in the White House more than a year earlier, White House and Justice officials said Monday.

The White House can keep playing its ponzi game, but these facts together too nicely. Rove has demonstrated that he cannot govern; all he can do is further amass Republican power and slime the opposition. This is a perfect example of the kind of sleazy thing he would do to win elections.

I hope John Conyers will be calling Rove over soon.

Link.

Supporting the Troops

Republican-style.

"This is not right," said Master Sgt. Ronald Jenkins, who has been ordered to
Iraq even though he has a spine problem that doctors say would be damaged
further by heavy Army protective gear. "This whole thing is about taking care of
soldiers," he said angrily. "If you are fit to fight you are fit to fight. If
you are not fit to fight, then you are not fit to fight."
As the military
scrambles to pour more soldiers into Iraq, a unit of the Army's 3rd Infantry
Division at Fort Benning, Ga., is deploying troops with serious injuries and
other medical problems, including GIs who doctors have said are medically unfit
for battle. Some are too injured to wear their body armor, according to medical
records.

I have nothing to say. People who treat other people without any regard for those people's well-being should be locked up, not running the country.

About that Inconvenient Truth

Europe is leading. Will the U.S. follow?

European Union leaders agreed a full package of binding measures on Friday
to build a common energy policy and fight climate change, challenging the world
to follow suit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

...

The deal set targets for slashing greenhouse gas emissions, developing
renewable energy sources, promoting energy efficiency and using biofuels.

Probably not as long as Bush is in office. As long as Lee Raymond and other petroleum company CEOs funnel significant amounts of money to faux respectable think tanks like AEI and Cato, and the media continues to not put two and two together, we will never get out of this.

The U.S. will take its stance of "Europe's plan sucks! It doesn't do jack!" but will not offer any credible alternative that is different from the status quo. Maybe we can do with some more emissions / GDP ratio. That sounds like an uber-successful idea for curbing emissions. While we are at it, we should chop down some more forests so emissions will not have any place to hide and we can destroy them with some nukes. Sweet.

Running with the Ball

Good job, Democrats!

Fitzgerald, a good prosecutor - unlike a run-amuck partisan named Ken Starr - has concluded Libby's trial and passed the ball onto Congress. In a move that gives me hope for the 110th Congress, Henry Waxman (D-CA) is running with it.

Valerie Plame, the former covert CIA agent whose cover was blown after her
husband accused the White House of manipulating prewar intelligence, will
testify before a congressional committee next week, the committee chairman
said on Thursday.
Plame will testify about the disclosure and how the White House handled it in an appearance before the House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform, Chairman Henry Waxman said in a statement.

Cheney's involvement in this sordid affair has been known from the beginning and something should be done about it. National security should not be a political tool, but Republicans used it as one to help their power grabs. Corruption must end in order to make this country stronger and safer. Republicans demonstrated that they are incapable of doing that. Democrats are showing us otherwise.

Whitewater All Over Again

What Digby said.

We are also seeing some similar reporting begin to emerge on Obama, much of it
generated by hometown political rivals, just as we saw in the Clinton years. Today
the LA Times implies that Obama is exaggerating his activist past. A couple of
weeks ago we saw a truly egregiously misleading report on a deal he made to buy some land from a supporter.

These are patented Whitewater-style "smell test" stories. They are based on complicated details that make the casual reader's eyes glaze over and about which the subject has to issue long confusing explanations in return. They feature colorful and unsavory political characters in some way. They often happened in the past and they tend to be written in such a way as to say that even if they aren't illegal they "look bad." The underlying theme is hypocrisy because the subjects are portrayed as making a dishonest buck while pretending to represent the average working man. Oh, and they always feature a Democrat. Republicans are not subject to such scrutiny because a craven, opportunistic Republican isn't "news." (Neat trick huh?)

No single story will bring down a candidate because they have no substance to them. It's the combined effect they are looking for to build a sense overall sleaziness. "Where there's smoke there's fire" right?

Get your slime detectors out, because the Democrats are back in power and the Republicans and the media are going to party like it's the 1990s all over again.

The Spin, the UnSpun and the Media

Christy.

The fact that a British newspaper can see the broader political and ethical issues more clearly than their American counterparts is not surprising. Looking afar at the machinations of the Bush Administration and how it has clawed its way through the upper echelons of the Blair government has become something of a journalistic sport in the UK.
But the fact that an American newspaper, located in the nation's capitol, which made its journalistic bones twenty times over only a few short decades ago digging into the meat of a scandal that shook the very foundations of power — a newspaper which now has an editorial page that begs at the knees of Dick Cheney's sycophants like just another lap dog hoping for a few, paltry scraps?

Congratulations to the entire FDL team on a trial well-covered. I am very grateful.

War?

Oh yeah, that war.

A double suicide attack on Shiite Muslim pilgrims in the southern city of Hilla killed as many as 77 people and wounded another 170. It was the worst single bombing since Feb.3, when 130 people died in an attack in the Sadriya neighborhood of Baghdad.
The pilgrims were walking to the holy city of Karbala as part of a religious celebration that marks the 40th day after the massacre in the 7th Century of Imam Hussein and his family. Shiite men and women throughout Iraq walk from their homes to Karbala every year to reach the tomb of Imam Hussein, where they believe the severed heads of Hussein and his family are buried.

But we need to not do anything about it so Joe Lieberman can continue to work in peace.

Merry Fitzmas!

It's finally here!

Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has been found guilty on four
of five counts in his perjury and obstruction of justice trial.
Libby, 56, faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a fine of $1 million.
The five-count indictment against the former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney
alleges perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements to the FBI
and a grand jury investigating how Valerie Plame was outed as a CIA operative.
Libby is not accused of exposing Plame. He resigned in 2005 after the grand
jury indicted him.
Prosecutors contended Libby disclosed Plame's covert profession to reporters as part of a plan to discredit her husband, Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador who alleged that the Bush administration twisted some intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war.

Dick Cheney needs those blood thinners more than ever.

The Belly of the Beast

Max Blumenthal at CPAC.

Proud to Be a Progressive

Jerome.

Yes, government is a force for good.
Yes, taxes are useful. Yes, the rich must be taxed.
Yes, trade unions are necessary and a force for progress.
Yes, many journalists are incompetent or lazy, and some are whores.
Yes, the left has always been better at creating real prosperity for all.
Yes, there is more than money to life.

We have to say these loudly and proudly. And often.

Amen.

Our Nation's Greatest Threat

The U.S. Senate began debating legislation to bolster America's security on Wednesday with the White House threatening a veto because one part would extend union protection to 45,000 airport workers.

President George W. Bush's administration charged that the Democratic-backed provision to provide workers limited collective bargaining rights would curb needed flexibility at the U.S. Transportation Security Administration and diminish traveler safety. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent and a chief sponsor of the overall bill, disagreed. He said he would urge Bush to support the provision as a way to bolster spirits among a largely demoralized workforce.

Bush will veto the 9/11 bill that will implement many of the commission's recommendations because it would allow 45,000 workers to unionize. WTF. How sick does this get. Our country is run by petulant children who throw temper tantrums when they get their two pound chocolate fudge sundae with 3, instead of 4, cherries. Bush does not care about national security or anything besides getting his way all the time. That is a sociopathic quality. Bush is refusing to make things safer for all Americans because 45,000 workers need to unionize. Period, stop. Unionize! I was not aware, but that would mean the end of the world as we know it. Unions are even more evil than terrorists. It is about time the White House rolled out its new product - in the spring, nonetheless - a new Axis of Evil (tm). This one can include Terrorists, Unions and all People who Disagree with Bush (PDBs).

By the way, Lieberman is about to find out how far his 'working across the aisle' position will get him and how little clout he has. Watch him blame the Democrats.