Is Jon Stewart the only Democrat left with a camera and a mike? via Bartcop, this streaming video will make your day, I hope the link is still working if you don't catch it tonight. From Comedy Central.

Sullivan's piece, "Hubris Ascendant" is an interesting look at the inside of a somewhat distorted (disturbed?) gay man. Andrew Sullivan. He actually believes that somehow, the republicans will somehow love and accept him if he's either a willing lap-dog or a quiet money-donating gay man. BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT. Sorry Sully, don't you get it yet? They hate you, they hate your friends, acquaintances, straight friends who hang out with you (republican or not), and anyone you even remotely know, they probably hate unless they're famous republicans who they can excuse by virtue of celebrity ( i.e. anyone from the Moonie Times).

The final sentences of the piece show Sullivan's willingness to suspend disbelief to remain within the republican party "big tent" where he's more likely to be the cabana-boy joke of Legally Blonde, than taken seriously as a person:

...
The Republican faultlines that helped destroy Bush's father have not, it turns out, disappeared. Bush is going to need every ounce of political capital to keep them from undermining his re-election.

Keep believing that they're going to like you. A rich fantasy life is important to a healthy mind...what's Sullivan's excuse?

C'mon, go scratch that cute and cuddly Talking Dog behind the ears, show him some love...welcome one of my favorite sites, The Talking Dog to the Fish Pond... first pointed out to me by skippy, everyones favorite 'roo. Oh and in case you were wondering...Victorian Bulldog....grrrrrrr.

Not much to say about this jewel from the WaPo:

WASHINGTON - The Treasury Department says the United States could face the prospect of not being able to pay its bills in late May unless Congress raises the government's borrowing authority, now capped at $6.4 trillion.

Treasury's debt managers have taken a number of steps since February to prevent the government from defaulting on the national debt, but "on current projections, the extraordinary measures taken since Feb. 20, 2003, will only be adequate to meet the government's needs until the latter half of May," said a statement released Tuesday.

Fasten your seatbealts, it's gonna be bumpy ride, especially as those highly successful terror-fighters in the administration turn their laser-beam aim on the economy. What are they going to do, invade a blue state?

OK, so it wasn't about Oil, well it really was, but now it looks like it may be about any lobbyist, trade industry bigshot or just rich guy who wants to part with a buck to make 10. Seems that, well there's no reciprocal copyright protection laws between Iraq and the US. And guess who wants to fix that problem; the RIAA. Not being satisfied with pissing off just Americans, now Hilary Rosen wants to rewrite Iraqi Copyright Laws to protect the recording industry here at home. And a US Representative who just happens to have telecommunications pioneer Qualcomm, in his district in the San Diege area has introduced legislation to make Qualcomm's phone technology the standard for Iraq. From the Register:

A month ago Congressman Darrell Issa (R., San Diego) introduced a bill ensuring that Qualcomm, based in his congressional district, be given a foothold in the New Iraq. Europe and the Middle East use the global GSM standard. ®

Imagine that, it really wasn't about Oil. Oh, and I forgot the new Iraqi Agriculture minister, from Cargill. Do they get Jack Welch for their ministry of trade? And perhaps some defense contractor bigshot for their new minister of defense?

Hilary Rosen is just the tip of the iceberg folks. Oh, they'll love us in Iraq soon. Can't the Brits claim the have "been there, done that, got the T-shirt" with this whole empire thing? Perhaps remind the 1600 Crew why this is a really bad idea especially in the middle-east, especially in Iraq (and Afghanistan)?

Oh, my, I forgot, god spoke to smirk and told him to do it.

DemVet's 15,000th visitor was from a search engine looking for information (?) on Richard Feynman (one of my heroes). Thanks everyone! And on a similar note, DemVet has moved up from being an Insignificant Microbe to An Adorable Rodent on the Ecosystem at Truth Laid Bear. Must have been the sharp incisors that fooled him.

Silly Bear. Blogs are for People

Isn't this how blogtopia is supposed to work? via Elayne Riggs at Pen-Elayne on the Web there's a link to a wonderfully written piece by a very brave man Ed Weathers, in the Memphis Flyer. Read, reflect and be happy that there are still some other sentient life-forms out there besides us. The only thing that worries me is that some "good Christian" will do him harm, either economic or physical, which sort of fits his thesis.

Perhaps Resistance is Not Futile.

Digby has a piece that ought to make your skin crawl. On the off chance that you have not been to Hullabaloo in the last day or two, read Digby's take on this then go read the article in Harper's.

Creepy does not even begin to describe this group of ChristoFacists; their leader seems to admire Adolf Hitler in a most, shall we say unique way.

I remembered Paul's letter to the Philippians, which we had begun to memorize. Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded.

"Unity," I said. "Agreement means unity."

Doug didn't smile. "Yes," he said. "Total unity. Two, or three, become one. Do you know," he asked, "that there's another word for that?"

No one spoke.

"It's called a covenant. Two, or three, agree? They can do anything. A covenant is . . . powerful. Can you think of anyone who made a covenant with his friends?"

We all knew the answer to this, having heard his name invoked numerous times in this context. Andrew from Australia, sitting beside Doug, cleared his throat: "Hitler."

"Yes," Doug said. "Yes, Hitler made a covenant. The Mafia makes a covenant. It is such a very powerful thing. Two, or three, agree." He took another bite from his plate, planted his fork on its tines. "Well, guys," he said, "I gotta go."

Scattered thoughout are references to Hitler, and then there's the Youth Corps "manifesto"

But "Youth Corps Vision," which is intended only for members of the Family ("it's kinda secret," Josh cautioned me), is more direct.

The Vision is to mobilize thousands of young people world wide—committed to principle precepts, and person of Jesus Christ. . . .
A group of highly dedicated individuals who are united together having a total commitment to use their lives to daily seek to mature into people who talk like Jesus, act like Jesus, think like Jesus. This group will have the responsibility to:
—see that the commitment and action is maintained to the overall vision;
—see that the finest and best invisible organization is developed and maintained at all levels of the work;
—even though the structure is hidden, see that the family atmosphere is maintained, so that all people can feel a part of the family.

OK I am now officially getting scared. Is Smirky a "Family member"? His behaviour and attitude sure seem to fit the profile.

Jay Garner.

Those three syllable ought to strike fear into the hearts of all middle-east inhabitants. From being a weapons dealer, to making this little, somewhat outrageous statement:

He told the New York Times that "If President Bush had been president we would have won" the Vietnam war (April 15, 2003)

That statment almost made me physically ill.

Jeez, do his teeth fold back and do the knee-pads just put themselves on for him? Let's remind LTGEN Garner about something: his president DESERTED rather than do his service. Any statements about how that fratboy deserting coward would "have won" the war in SE Asia prove nothing more than his lack of judgement and his capacity for whoredom.

Does anyone see the symbolism of this vainglorious arms-dealer moving into one of Saddam's presidential palaces, while the electricity is still off in much of Baghdad?

update

From the Christian Science Monitor:

Uday, Hassan al-Majid, and other close relatives and aides to Saddam held sway until their downfall from a vast walled compound sitting on four square miles of the choicest real estate in Baghdad, along the western bank of the Tigris River.

It was a tree-lined haven of peace and quiet - and security - that could have been a million miles from the chaotic and suffering city whose heart it dominates.

In this neighborhood, Jay Garner, head of the US Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for Iraq, set up his office on Monday. He has not said what he plans to do with the four heads of Saddam Hussein, each 25 feet tall, that sit stop the roof of his new office.

and this from Newsday:

The Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance will establish its offices in a complex of presidential palaces beside the Tigris River, Jones said

Jeebus, the Dow closed up 165, what happened did the Smirkster offer to resign or something?

Oh, sorry, I'm awake now.

The 2004 pre-elections are almost on us. With a field of about a dozen Dems and the unfortunate choice of President Gentleman's "C", how many good outcomes can there be. The republicans are semi, no, completely monolithic and getting more so every day thanks to some of their good little storm troopers like Baby-face Santorum and the ever prick-tastic Tommy-Boy Delay. I keep expecting to see a rerun of 2001: A Space Odyssey with a computer edited monolith with some GOP slogan on it...but I digress.

On the subject of the 2004 elections, this photo was up on the CBS News site with the caption, "You can expect to see this photo and variations of it often in the 2004 presidential campaign."

I'm not sure, but I think that any picture of Smirk at Ground Zero should be fair game for anyone to take issue with the campaign and the GOP. After promising immediate aid to NYC, it never came, after promising to fund the HSA, it sort of got left out of budget discussions and after invading Afghanistan, the administration has done nothing to ensure the stability or security of that country. To the point where, reportedly both the Taliban and their masters, Al-Qaida are making a comeback.

There is a lot that remains to be said before the ballots are counted in November of next year, one of the things that should be reiterated by those opposed to the Smirkster is that true to form, he ran out on the brave men (and women) like this gent he used for a photo-op and no more.

The republican spin machine is putting out nonsense like this already:

Presidential message guru Karen Hughes calls it the defining moment of Mr. Bush's presidency. Aides say that his words "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon," are the Bush equivalent of Ronald Reagan's "tear down that wall."

The reality is that more walls are being built, less freedom is becoming the accepted norm and we are looking more like the Soviets than America, and Bush is totally deaf, he hears nothing except the cash register and the crooning of sycophants. And it's the machinations of HughesRoveCo that are enabling these changes for the worse.

Regime Change in 2004.

The wing-nut republican "Club for Growth" press release/web page thing that has painted Sens. Olympia Snowe of Maine and George Voinovich of Ohio as Francophiles for opposing the Bush tax giveaway (I have not deciphered that particular bit of twisted logic yet) has a statement on their web site that equates tax-cuts with fighting terrorism.

"Now is not the time to cave in to the big spenders in Congress. We must stoke the fires of America's powerful engine of economic growth so that it runs on all cylinders. A strong economy is necessary for a strong America. This is precisely the strategy Ronald Reagan used to win the Cold War. We triumphed against the Soviet Union thanks to a combination of vast military and economic prosperity. The goal of the terrorists is to disable the U.S. economy. Pro-growth tax cuts are a powerful defense mechanism to foil this strategy," said Mr. Moore.(emphasis added)

If this logic held water, wouldn't Israel have the lowest marginal tax rate in the world?

James Landrith has an interesting link out to a CBS Marketwatch story. Amazing that it got into the news at all. I guess CBS does not have this particular skeleton in their closet.

At least the Bush family knows all about trading with the enemy, so the companies in question do have a "friend" in the Oval Office.

A couple of days ago I said that Bush and Kim of North Korea were more alike than not...now an article in the Taipei Times by journalist Liou To-hai makes and validates some of the comparisons. Interesting reading, here's an excerpt:

...
Bush graduated from top universities, with a bachelor's degree in history from Yale and a master's degree in business management from Harvard. Before winning the presidency, he was governor of Texas for two terms (1994 to 2000).

Kim, after graduating from Kim Il-sung University in 1964, was immediately appointed as an instructor in the organizational instruction department of the Workers' Party. In September 1973, he replaced his uncle as secretary of the party's propaganda department and became the anointed successor to his father, Kim Il-sung. When his father died in 1994, Kim Jong-il took over the reins of government.

Against this kind of background, Bush and Kim both have strong beliefs and almost religious faith in their beliefs. Bush views himself as the savior of Christianity and regards the separation of good from evil as paramount. He insists on not compromising with what he believes to be evil forces and believes that evil must be eradicated to save the people of the world.

Kim, brought up in a society that worships his father and family, is viewed as a god by North Koreans. Nurtured by his father's anti-imperialism and anti-US thinking and his emphasis on self-determination, he has strong self-esteem and the willpower to act out his beliefs.
...

Scary, huh? Too bad the SCLM will never make the connections; it might put the 2004 contest in a whole new light. The only thing that Kim is missing is Howard Fineman doing FReePR for him.

Follow this link to help with the great WMD hunt. Someone should send this to the 1600 Crew, it's the closest they'll get to any clue.

Thanks to Tiger Lily at Brief Intelligence for these quotes:

“If we know Saddam has weapons of mass destruction — and we do — does it make any sense for the world to wait to confront him?” “It (Iraq regime) possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons . . . we know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, and VX gas” - George Bush, October 7, 2002

“His (Saddam Hussein’s) regime has large, unaccounted-for stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and he has an active programme to acquire and develop nuclear weapons”
- Donald Rumsfeld, January 20, 2003

“Every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we’re giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence.
“In fact, they (Iraqi regime) can produce enough dry biological agent in a single month to kill thousands upon thousands of people. “Saddam Hussein has never accounted for vast amounts of chemical weaponry: 550 artillery shells with mustard, 30,000 empty munitions, and enough precursors to increase his stockpile to as much as 500 tons of chemical agents. If we consider just one category of missing weaponry, 6,500 bombs from the Iran-Iraq war. …Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tonnes of chemical-weapons agent. Even the low end of 100 tonnes of agent would enable Saddam Hussein to cause mass casualties across more than 100 square miles of territory, an area nearly five times the size of Manhattan”
- Colin Powell, address to the UN Security Council, February 5, 2003

"We were not lying," said one official. "But it was just a matter of emphasis."

Let's put that on the headstones of all the soldiers killed in Iraq. I'm sure it will make their families feel better.

Updated

Emma Goldman, from the blog Notes on the Atrocities points out one of the biggest Atrocities that has been committed since 9/11, the "arrest" of an US citizen as a so-called "material witness". I think it's time to "just say no" to this shit and start agitating against this behaviour. We have been lied to about many, many things by the pigs in Washington. Giving up our rights should not be one of them. Check out the whole story at Notes.

Just for the record

First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up, because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.
by Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945

guess who he was talking about...and screw godwins law.

As the lying bastard administration tries to come up with a single WMD in now-defeated Iraq, over on the Korean Penninsula, Pyongyang has made a startling (not really) announcement: "We have a nuclear arsenal". I guess that Iraq was the equivalent of the Gentlemans "C" at Yale and running out on his National Guard Service obligation, whereas North Korea requires intelligence, commitment, skill and guts (not other people's) to face the problems that they are presenting.

The unelected head of the lying bastard administration has once again chosen the expedient over the correct, make war and equivocate with spin about the North Korean problem. Maybe Smirk hasn't done anything to North Korea because he idenitifies with Kim, they are both un-elected, meglomaniacal, power-mad simps who are following their Daddys, and running their countries into the dirt.

Back during the Bush I economic miracle, the newly married Mrs. Fish and I and our new baby had to take advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit. More than ten years and one Bill Clinton later, we are doing OK, but I'll never forget how grateful we were for the EITC, especially with an infant child. Well now, the 1600 Crew, who has all those friends who see the working poor as "Lucky Duckies" has a plan to get that additional revenue it might just be missing out on.

Those ever-friendly folks at the IRS, I am sure with some quiet urging by the America-hating administration have decided that there may be folks cheating the guvmint via the EITC. From the NYTimes

The I.R.S., trying to prevent errors and cheating, says it needs greater proof of eligibility months before people claim the credit on their tax returns because its efforts to find errors through audits after the fact have not worked. Treasury officials estimate that $6.5 billion to $10 billion is lost to improper payments each year.

What a shame that we all can't move our residences to a PO box in Bermuda and own a congresscritter or two, especially those pesky working poor.

It's just so ... unAmerican...everyone should own a congresscritter, or at least an administration official.

If anyone believes this NYTimes quote from the guy who threw the switch on more Death-Row inmates than any other Governor of Texas, I have a prime chunk of the Okefenokee with your name on the deed...

Mr. Bush gave a detailed account of how the war looked from his perspective as commander in chief. Mr. Bush said he had some initial concerns about the first blow of the war, his last-minute decision to bomb a home in Baghdad where an agent had reported that Mr. Hussein and his sons might be spending the night

Same agent that perhaps misidentified the Chinese Embassy in another republican-supported (not) conflict? President Deserter-boy probably sat around the fire at Camp David (where he has logged more hours than he ever did in the TANG), and did Karla-Faye Tucker like imitations of Saddam..."oh please mr shrub, don't bomb me, I know I'm a really, really bad guy, but i'm just the sovereign leader of a sovereign nation that can't harm you".

I'll bet he had the video from the gun-camera flown in for a screening in the WH theatre by Unka Dick and Unka Donnie.

Osama Bin Laden Captured!

Saddam's corpse found floating in Tigris River!

Americans approve of Tax Cuts for the Rich, Love unemployment!

and this one just in:

Santorum proposes bill to rename Pennsylvania interstate "Hershey Highway"

[ reality-bending headlines courtesy of the 1600 Crew Ministry of Information.]

So in the course of my travels, I did my level best not to listen to any Clear Channel stations, but it's tough to know who is and who is not Clear Channel in any market...anyhow, I'm driving around one evening and on comes a song, "Sky Pilot" by Eric Burden and the Animals, not exactly a mainstream playlist song in today's FM environment. Song ends and the DJ comes on "sending that out to all our brave men and women in Iraq". What an idiot. Then comes a promo for Bob and Tom, who suck off the Clear Channel teat pretty exclusively, I think. I'm still in disbelief that the song got on a Clear Channel station, and even more that the idiot-on-the-air thought he was supporting the troops or whatever with the song. I guess it must have been the "smell of gun grease and the bayonets they shine" that fooled him.

In the stupid songs department, have you heard the latest from Lynard Skynard, "Red White and Blue"? It's like four minutes of jingoistic crap, that sounds like it was written by Lee Greenwood and sung by Bert, Ernie or Oscar the Grouch, take your pick. Skynard should have stayed in "retirement" or barring that, stuck with doing the stuff that everyone remembers.

Now I know what 'That Smell' is. That Song.

From the Houston Chronicle:

The Bush administration and the insurance industry told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that a California law to help Holocaust survivors with decades-old insurance claims intrudes on U.S. foreign policy and should be struck down.

We have a foreign policy? Really.

Well, all those whining folks ought to just learn that in Ashcroft's Amerika, they had better just shut up, or else.

Oh, they've been there. Like our fearless leader, I guess I forgot my history...

Will America look better in the dawn of Jan 21st, 2005? I hope so.

Font change: yes or no? Let me know...going back is simple.

So it's been all over blogtopia, and here I am a day late and a dollar short...Republican Child Pornographer, film at six (well maybe not, it is family hour). Gosh and he's one of the Clinton Bashers haters. Why am I not shocked. Here's a quote from Pornographer Delgaudio:

A prominent Republican fund-raiser who once said former President Bill Clinton was "a lawbreaker and a terrible example to our nation's young people" pleaded guilty yesterday in Baltimore Circuit Court to production of child pornography.(italics added)

What I can not believe is that he not only photographed her, but he had sex with her, and he's getting only two years probation?

That's not justice, that's a travesty. I was kind of hoping that Delgaudio would be soon getting a husband named "Bubba", that's justice for a child molester.

Maybe the judge or DA was related to Rick ("they want it, they all want it") Santorum.

Delgaudio, 50, of Burke, Va., is a frequent talk-radio guest and national figure in conservative politics. He is president of the Legal Affairs Council, a group that helped pay the legal bills of former Reagan administration officials Oliver L. North and Caspar W. Weinberger after they were charged in connection with the Iran-contra affair.

Well felons of a feather hang together, any bets on whether the 1600 Crew is already getting lobbied for a pardon after all:

"He acknowledges the acute moral shortcomings of his conduct, and he will continue intense self-examination and professional and spiritual counseling," according to his lawyers

I'm sure that the Sinner-in-Chief in the White House will help out a good fund-raising christian republican...hell, chuck colson got rehabbed, and he raped a whole nation.

Sorry I've been gone, I appreciate everyone who has stopped by in the last week or so...I'll be back to blogging tomorrow. Jet Lag sucks...

Once again from the fountain of net knowledge, Yahoo.

Australian Lt. Col. Mark Elliott said special forces found 51 MiG warplanes at a large airfield west of Baghdad, as well as armored vehicles, anti-aircraft weapons systems and an anti-aircraft missile system. The site also included bunkers capable of withstanding nuclear, chemical or biological attack, he said, and instruction manuals relating to weapons of mass destruction.

Looks like they found Husseins' Tom Clancy novels.

We all know that somehow the one of the nations finest B-schools gave President Big-Keys Calculator a degree. There is no way for us to ever know if he actually did his own work, or somehow got it done for him, or coasted in to the finish line on the coattails of his classmates/study groups. But we can certainly see he must have either slept through or gotten his Econ homework/exams done for him. No one who ever sat through MBA-level Macro could be this stupid. Except someone we all know. From Yahoo:

...The cautious outlook may be political posturing as Bush shifts focus from the war to reviving his beleaguered tax cut plan -- the centerpiece of his economic program -- before campaigning begins in earnest later this year.

Some economists are confident a revival is around the corner.

Yet Republican insiders say the White House is genuinely concerned after the Senate scaled back the president's tax cuts to a level that they see as having little -- if any -- stimulative effect near-term.
...

Gee, those silly fiscally-responsible senators, not wanting to just rollover and then bark on command. I understand that the Wurlitzer is making a point of making a point of senators like Voinovich (R-Backbone, OH) who are showing some spine on the budget/tax cut issue, by making him appear to be --wait for it-- a francophile.

As a show of solidarity all the senators opposed should go to the Statue of Liberty and have their pictures taken there as a group and send a print to the White House, ATTN: Karl Rove/Dan Bartlett, Mighty Wurlitzer Department.

Political Posturing from the 1600 Crew, I'm Shocked, Shocked I tell you!

Golly I love being on the road, these hoteliers are such wonderful folks. Jackhammers, fire alarms, no heat....can I come off the road now boss?

Besides, it's really cutting down on my blogging.

From a post over at James Landriths' blog...seems this guy, Don Neddo, was posing as an ex-Paratrooper and telling us all to shut the F*** up. He never served, made up his "combat record" and was organizing pro-war rallies. Fascinating story, I wonder how many more Don Neddo's there are out there?

It's so sad that they (pro-war FReepers) have to lie about their lack of service, that they are so ashamed. As I wrote once before, there is a note on a Medal of Honor website, about people who claim to be MOH recipients who are not even vets. Shame is a terrible thing, too bad Chimpy feels none.

By way of an anwer to your comment from my bloglet on the Reagan Record below:

You said:
Jo. Again your graciousness knows no bounds. Yes, Reagan has Alzheimers. That may make him an unknowing twit. What's your excuse. I know if President Jimmy Carter, (You know him; the peace broker known for the hugely successful Oslo accords, as well as the man who kept North Korea a nuke free zone, along with W.J. Clinton of course) were still in office it would be day 8777 of America held hostage.

Tom -
Day 8777? I think not, since I thnk it's been pretty conclusively shown that Reagan/Bush worked to make sure that the hostages would not be freed on Carter's watch.
Sure Jimmy may have had his faults, but at least he made his own efforts and owned up to his failures, unlike the vast majority of republicans today, who blame everything on either Bill Clinton's Penis or the weather. As I have said before, I got a larger increase as a percentage of gross income under Carter when I was in the Navy, than I ever did under either Reagan or Bush. I also had the opportunity to see Reagan and his obnoxious staffers several times when flying them out to different carriers for "visits". Never flew Ronnie, that was the Marines job, Marine One and all from HMX-1, but his staff and the press. Very annoying folks. But that's off topic.

BTW - I was in the Northern IO, off Iran for most of the "Hostage Crisis" as a first tour pilot. I guess if the Day 8777 scenario were true, I'd still be there, since they extended all deployments until the hostages came home/were released. We were out of homeport about 11 months.

Oh yeah and this:

"Americans will never make concessions to terrorists- to do so would only invite more terrorism- once we head down that path there would be no end to it, no end to the suffering of innocent people, no end to the bloody ransom all civilised people must pay."

Ronald Reagan, June 18 1985 (p189 Out of Control)

I do not mean to be ungracious, but hey, he is/was a senile twit. (I may be too someday, or maybe you think I am now). It does not diminish any (percieved) accomplishments, nor detract from any positive legacy he may leave. That's for our great-grandchildren to decide. But from my POV, he left 240+ dead Marines in Lebanon, massive debt on the books at the end of the 80's and was an absolutely mediocre-at-best President, who helped empower the current chickenhawk neocons running rampant today.

Rummy: Bad things happen.

So what do we say when Iraqi antiquities turn up in Crawford? Sorry?

jeebus

In what is unfortunately a subscription article in Salon, Jake Tapper tells an interesting tale of the strangest of bedfellows, Grover Norquist (not my hero), some of his mondo-conservative buddies and the ACLU and other organizations that are against the USA PATRIOT act, called by even republicans "bad law"

...
By way of explanation of the lopsided vote, the ACLU's Murphy quoted conservative Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who said on a call-in show on Alaska Public Radio that the USA PATRIOT Act was the "worst act we ever passed. Everybody voted for it, but it was stupid, it was what you call 'emotional voting.'"
...

It seems that the Ashcroft Reichsministry of Justice is not amused by this teaming-up of right and left-wingers to assail what it views as just the beginning of what is in their view, a minimalist assault on our rights that is crying out for the expansion via PATRIOT II. A DOJ spokesperson, Barbara Comstock made what has to be the stupidest statement of the year,

...
Comstock rebutted Norquist's logic, saying, "You can't pass laws based on the fact that you think there are going to be corrupt people who misuse the system some day."
...

I guess Barbie missed the whole COINTELPRO, 1960's through the Nixon years, FBI domestic-surveillance thing, what do you think? Or they forgot to include that in her history books in school, because of tax-cuts...

Now don't go thinking that Grover is getting all good-samaritan here, he's worried that someday a Democrat might be Attorney General, and then what would they (he specifically mentions Hillary Clinton, which would of course be like the republicans worst acid-induced nightmare) do with the awesome powers given them by the PATRIOT act...like lock up American Citizens and keep them incommunicado...no republican would ever do that, right?

via Buzzflash

Another blow-by-blow collection of the republican whore brigades' statements that prove that they are as "guilty" of unpatriotic statements as they accuse everyone who does not agree with them of being.

Note the huuuuuge number of Chickenhawks.

Wow. Big Surprise

It seems that some of the "newly freed" Iraqis are stealing everything in sight not nailed down, and in some cases stuff that is. Looting has become so prevalent that there are now cases of vigilantism being reported, with citizens beating looters and shopkeepers shooting them. So much for civilization, eh? Meanwhile the Boy Deserter had this memorable quote:

...President Bush, in remarks to reporters, acknowledged the "chaos,'' but the administration's official position on the disarray was that, while regrettable, it should be seen as a result of an oppressed people suddenly freed...

I guess that after regime change here, on the 20th of January 2005, we can expect to see chaos as the result of an "oppressed people suddenly freed".

Chaos in the form of about a two-week party, and waving Chimpy nah-nah-hey-hey goodbye.

Sounds good to me.

and a thank you for the link to Sullywatch... one of my daily reads!

By the way, if you link to me and I have neglected you, please drop me an email and let me know...I appreciate all inbound links and will be happy to update my blogroll accordingly! On that note, please welcome James Landrith to the Fish Pond....visit him now, visit him often!!!

I know that this has been blogged and linked to before. Not new, but worth repeating, William Saletans summary of republican hypocrisy from Slate.

Some Democrats call Republicans who make these arguments unpatriotic. Republicans reply that they're serving their country by debunking and thwarting a bad policy administered by a bad president. You can be sure of only two things: Each party is arguing exactly the opposite of what it argued the last time a Republican president led the nation into war, and exactly the opposite of what it will argue next time.

Oy

Reading all over blogtopia about the horses backside at the Baseball Hall of Fame, Bull Durham and Tim Robbins, I just had to make a quick blog entry....try and guess where these come from, if they don't have an attribution on them. None are from The Onion, unfortunately.
Quote 1:

After the election, Willkie advocated a policy of "loyal opposition" where there would be support for the president in areas crucial to national defense but with partisan criticism in the other fields. He attempted to maintain his Republican Party leadership while supporting the administrations program of assisting the Allies. However, a result of his opposition to isolationists was his lost support in the Republican Party.

Quote 2:

Cooperation But Loyal Opposition

DISCORD AND DISUNITY WILL ARISE IF OPPOSITION IS SUPPRESSED

By WENDELL WILLKIE, Presidential nominee of the Republican Party in 1940

Delivered over the radio, November 11, 1940

Quote 3:

"WE ARE WEAKENING OUR DEFENSE POSITION"

If all the republican apologists, propagandists, back-biters, nail-biters, neo-nazis, neo-cons, real cons and others would remember that once upon a time before the four idiots and one dolt appointed a president we had an actual democracy here, it sure would make me happy. Where was Mr. Bull Durham when the repubs were bitching in congress about Clinton and Kosovo? He was likely bidding for Monicas' dress.

Thanks for being so patient. Have to pay the rent, put shoes on the kids feet and make the VPN work...light blogging for at least another couple of days, thanks for hanging with me. BTW, the link to Barney's site (the Reagan article) seems to be a blogger archive problem, the article is still there if you go and visit Barney...

This is a must read.

I have nothing to add.

If any Democratic president had a record like this, they wouldn't name a landfill after him. Barney Gumble deconstructs Reagan. Read it all, and then wonder why the facist republicans want you to name your first born and anything in the US that doesn't move after the senile twit.

SK Bubba points us to this article in the Maryville, TN DailyTimes. Seems that the seven member school board voted 2-1 to not use textbooks which solely taught evolution, and had no creationist hack inclusions. The four brave abstainers have to be commended for leading Blount County towards the same ignominy that overcame the Kansas Board of Education, which did essentially the same thing.

My only question here is, if the Christers and Fundies can force my kid to learn about "creationism" in school, once the so-called faith-based dollars start flowing to Christer and Fundie churches, can I sue them to teach evolution?

It's sad that what this is really about is that the C & F's want to abdicate parenting to schools, churches, anyone but themselves while pushing a political agenda that is utterly destructive economically and morally...and we all have to live with their intellectual laziness and dishonesty.

I read over the weekend that right-wingnut writers are beginning the B-I-G lie that Mike Kelly is a "combat casualty". No. He was killed in a traffic accident. In a combat zone. He was a civilian. That does not make him a combat casualty, not even remotely a combat casualty. Ernie Pyle was a combat casualty, he spent his career with the troops on the front line and was killed by a sniper. He, like Kelly, knew combat was dangerous but accepted the risks to tell the story. He was a civilian (although likely better known and loved by the troops he covered than Kelly) who died in the war, and I doubt he would have wanted a big deal to have been made of his passing. I would like to think the same of Kelly. It has even been suggested by some female (one?) "writers" that he be interred at Arlington. No, not happening, never. To do that would completely dishonor the men and women buried there now and those to be interred there in the future.

To the female wing-nut who made this suggestion: an old military saying for you --- wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which one fills up first.

Okay you stared me down long enough, it was Nooner who made the suggestion

Michael Kelly went at great peril to be with U.S. troops, and he fell among US troops, while trying to tell the story of U.S. troops. So perhaps his final rest should be with U.S. troops, in Arlington, where we put so many heroes

but you probably guessed by now anyhow. I thought he went for the money, another chance to write about Clinton's Penis (as it related to Iraqi politics or something) and a book deal to be announced. The "he fell among US troops" is a little over the top for anyone but Nooner...doncha think? Sounds like he was in a huge firefight with elite units of the Republican Guard, not a Hummer accident.

A Hummer Accident. And they say irony is dead.

Jimmy Breslins column in Newsday has an interesting last paragraph:

The following is from an immensely interesting transcript of Barbara Bush on an ABC-TV morning show. She was asked if she and her husband, the former president, watch television

"He sits and listens and I read books because I know perfectly well that - don't take offense - that 90 percent of what I hear on television is supposition, when we're talking about the news. And he's not, not as understanding of my pettiness about that. But why should we hear about body bags and deaths and how many, what day it's going to happen, and how many this or what do you suppose? Oh, I mean, it's, not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that? And watch him suffer."

I guess your beautiful mind got passed on to the illegal fraud leading the 1600 Crew. The problem is he would have had to have had a speechwriter do that paragraph for him.

Ahhh, now we know why the Bush Cartel wants to own the media, to keep Bitchy Babs happy.

News Flash here: Xanax does the same thing, and we get to keep the First Amendment, bitch.

Over on the RNC site, they are asking all the crypto-facists in the republican party to fill out a form criticizing several prominent Dems (and Lieberman) who have dared speak out against the war and the policies of this illegal administration.

Here's what I put in there:

Regime Change = constitutionally mandated elections. What's the problem?
From the Constitution of our Great Country, which I am sure you have read (or maybe not...)

Article II Section 1 (1):
Section 1- President: his term of office. Electors of President; number and how appointed. Electors to vote on same day. Qualification of President. On whom his duties devolve in case of his removal, death, etc. President's compensation. His oath of office.
1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold office during the term of four years, and together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term...

Are you all suggesting that we become a dictatorship or something? Seems like it...

John Kerry got it right this weekend, when he said he did not need to be lectured by the likes of Delay, Hastert & Co. on patriotism or what he should (or should not) say. I guess that every republican candidate who ever spoke out or campaigned against an incumbent Democratic President during a war/conflict/"police action" should be retroactively branded a traitor, and if deceased, have their remains exhumed, ground into powder and disposed of ignominiously.

I am sure that that would greatly excite the Eisenhower and Nixon families, among others.

Jeb Bush (R-Chickenhawk) went to speak at West Point, the US Military Academy. He was actually cheered by the cadets. Are they high? I would think that they would be asking, "What the Fuck is this moron talking about?". Seems Jebbie related tales of his arduous, hazardous leadership as Governor (and Bush Family Court Jester) in doing things like this:

...
The governor also cited his own leadership experience in helping his tourism-dependent state rebound from the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Bush said he called in experts, empowered workers in the field and tried to relieve public anxiety through novel moves like promoting Disney World during a visit to a Disney store in Chicago.
...

Excuse Me? Visiting a Disney Store constitutes leadership? Only in BushLand. These cadets, who are part of a sad tradition of shunning the likes of General Benjamin Davis, and heirs of the legacy of George Marshall, Omar Bradley, Douglas MacArthur, Benjamin Davis, and Eisenhower should have thought about what a fucking moron they were listening to, and shunned him too. It's sad that all their "cheers" were likely more related to the modern cult of celebrity than any critical thought on their part, which is really scary considering they are future military leaders.

Seems the suspicious white powder found in Iraq was some sort of explosive, not WMD-type compound (I guess that depends on your definition of WMD's). When it was revealed that the white powder was not a politically-useful pharmaceutical, a loud "damn, man!" was heard from the Oval Office. Seems the dollar bills were already being rolled up, and the mirrors taken out of storage in anticipatory glee.

On the other side of the reflecting pool, Clarence Thomas thought that he needed to write an affirmative opinion for White Power, and was halfway through his opinion when he discovered he had misunderstood the reporter from Faux News, whose story on the discovery followed a piece on the UMich case. Thomas then had a coke and a smile, and went back to sleep.

Much blogged about. Sad for wife and kids. I hope his kids grow up remembering he died covering a conflict he helped incite. Never liked his writing, but hey, not everyone likes mine.

That's war, senseless waste and carnage. Now he's not a writer, father or husband, he's a statistic. And that's what war does.

Bye, Mike, I won't miss you. But your kids will. Forever.

Molly Ivins, one of my personal heroines, has a great column in WorkingforChange

... Here's a lovely item: Australian Broadcasting Corp. reports U.S. soldiers in Iraq are being asked to pray for President George W. Bush. Thousands of Marines have been given a pamphlet, put out by In Touch Ministries, called "A Christian's Duty." It is a mini prayer book that includes a tear-out card to be mailed to the White House pledging that the soldier who sends it has been praying for Bush.

"I have committed to pray for you, your family, your staff and our troops during this time of uncertainty and tumult," says the card. "May God's peace be your guide."

That's special. ...

I'm surprised the card doesn't have a fill-in-the blank section for how many "evil" muslims they have killed for jesus and the oil companies.

I wonder why In Touch Ministries never seemed to getting around to passing those out to our troops in Kosovo? Or maybe they did, but we missed the story...somehow I doubt it. More likely, they sent out pamphlets asking for the troops to pray that Clinton burn in the inner-most circle of hell.

Sean Hannity should crawl back into whatever hole he emerged from and pick lint from his navel or something. Charlie Rangel, (D-NY) , Korean War Vet and guy with cojones, tells Hannity where to stick it. via Buzzflash.

Rangel Rocks!!!

Sean Hannity, a cable TV talk show host, recently challenged my patriotism, twisting my words to allege that I had said our troops were "deliberately bombing women and children" in Iraq.
...
Those who oppose the war will continue to be vilified by some for their principled beliefs. I will continue speaking out for peace and on behalf of my constituents in name of the U.S. Constitution. I will not be intimidated.

Hannity is truly a gutless coward, but hey, at least he's safe in the studio...not much more danger than a shock from the blow-dryer shorting out.

Did you wince when the Chimp-in-Chief used the word Crusade back after 9/11? Remember the stories in history class about the Crusaders in the Middle East? Well, there are a whole bunch of good christians who want to go to Baghdad and Basra and other "liberated" Iraqi cities and the surrounding countryside bearing "band-aids and bibles" and perform the "lords work" bringing christianity to the poor ignorant evil followers of Islam (the Crusaders words, not mine; I have no problem with Islam and the followers of the Prophet).

So who might these morons be? Well some of the usual suspects, Rev Donald Wildmon (shocker), Franklin Graham (Billy's son, who couldn't get a real job, I guess), and some whack job from Canada.

How long will it be after these morons start getting offed in Iraq before the Bush Geheime Statespolizei cracks down on the citizenry there? After all Graham the Younger is a buddy of smirky's and I am sure has a direct line to whine if his people started getting slaughtered by the heathens.

...and in later years it became purely a Beltway joke to refer to Rove, Perle, Wolfowitz, Adelman and Feith as The Republican Guards.

Picture if you can a universe of rockets and explosions, of war and death. Now picture the man who made it all possible, his face contorted by the exertions of the elliptical trainer. Shattered bodies of little children lying under the blazing sun, and he makes one of the most difficult descisions an executive can face. To give up sweets or not?

Shuffling through this universe, the players on this stage are unaware of the outcome of the drama where they play their unwilling part. As they move from each sunrise to each sunset, they know only that they are glad that their leader has chosen to give up sweets. How much more awful it would have been for them in their universe for him to have given up cocaine now.

via Buzzflash. I don't think that even TBogg could have made this up...and he's pretty damn good. If I see Peggy Noonan praying for an Eagle, I'l have to wonder if she's looking for the bird or Phyllis Schlafly.

Alaska Senator Ted Stevens (R-Full of It) has proposed that New York City Police and Firefighters work for free. Using the rationale that our servicemen and women do not get paid "overtime" for being in Combat, then all civil servants should adopt a spirit of "volunteerism" and just fageddabout those hours they need to pay bills, support their families etc...

After all, if it helps keep essential services going, while lowering the tax burden for the top 1%, well then that's the best of things, right Grover?

Maybe it's time for a new blog...'republicans hate america'.

Once again, the media whores have proven their reliability to be effective mouthpieces for the neocons and the 1600 crew. A story about an Iraqi deserter has to have the Chickenhawks creaming in their jeans. This is exactly what they wanted us to see/hear from day one of this conflict, now they finally have their story...a grateful, liberated Iraqi soldier.

MSNBC reports that Private First Class Jessica Lynch, 19, from Palestine WV has been freed from Iraqi captivity. She turns 20 later this month. Welcome home Private Lynch, you're a hell of a soldier.

It's ironic that she can't even have a beer when she gets home, even if she wants one. She's not old enough.

Victoria "Bad Clothes" Clarke today:

The coalition continues to make good progress toward ending the Iraqi regime, freeing the Iraqi people and disarming the country of weapons of mass destruction

Huh?

I must have missed the finding of (any of) the WMD's, freeing the Iraqi people and ending the Iraqi regime parts to date.

In a little known neighborhood in South East Washington DC Secret Service agents fanned out throughout the area looking for the missing Veep. "We were in the motorcade" said an agent who asked not to be identified, "When all of a sudden, there was a traffic light that turned red, and whoosh, his Suburban was gone through the light". The agents acting on phone calls from the 1-800-492-TIPS line in the DC area started looking for the Veep after it became known that he beat a red light at an intersection to avoid afternoon gridlock in the district. Many of the phone tips started pouring in after it was announced that the Secret Service was looking for a little Dick in the District, which led them to Southeast. "Well" said the agent, "we have been to a good many bars in the area, and met some really nice ladies, at least I think they were gals, my partner is taking one to dinner tonight if we get lucky and find a little Dick".

In other DC area news, Lynne Cheney is suing herself for being married to a little Dick. "Hey, if that little putz had had good Christian spermatozoa, I would not have a Lezbo kid, and I'd be a normal housewife" said Lynne, as she signed her latest book deal for a tome titled "Love America" (or I'll send the mob after your ass). The lawsuit alleges that the litigant was mentally incapacitated at the time of the wedding, and deserves financial compensation for "severe emotional duress". Ralph Edwards Productions has expressed an interest in putting the case in front of some TV judge or another, if they'll sink to that level.

I have to wonder if the fucking Chairman of the Joint Chiefs has read the Constituition of the United States, has an ossified brain, or his press releases and statements are being done for him by the 1600 Crew. He actually said:

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Myers said those who question the U.S. military campaign in Iraq are "absolutely wrong" and their comments are "not good for our troops."

No, what's not good for our troops is staging "preemptive war", having a deserter in the Oval Office, a bunch of Chickenhawks making stupid policy decisions and the Chairman of the JCS acting like a toady.

And quit yer bitching about what the press is saying. All those ill-informed Chickenhawk comments like this one are coming back to bite you in the ass:

Kenneth Adelman, Defense Policy Board member and personal friend of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, has repeatedly declared that the coming war will be a "cakewalk." Richard Perle, Defense Policy Board Chairman, expresses no less confidence as he promises that Iraq will serve as the bridgehead for democracy across the Middle East. ... (quote courtesy of WarInContext).

Hey, General Myers if you hate America, the constitution and freedom, you must be a rush republican. Dittohead Asshole.

Well, it could have been Karl Rove's blog instead of LoTR.

Is this a bad Blogger week or what? Maybe it was a good thing I was gone.

Wuz I wrong, blogger has cursed me too...

1. Brilliant

   
   

2. Sullivan is an Idiot

   
   

3. New in the Pond

   
   

4. Preview of Coming Attractions

   
   

5. The Whores head to Iraq

   
   
6. DemVet's 15,000th visitor was from
   

7. One more for blogtopia

   
   

8. A cult by any other name...

   
   

9. stopjaygarner.com

   
   
10. Jeebus, the Dow closed up