When is Freedom of Speech, not? When it potentially damages the republican legend of St. Ronnie of Brain Plaque. Seems the RNC (as a front for, well, every rabid republican) wants to vette the CBS mini-series about St. Ronnie, because (get this)

Republicans have expressed concern that the miniseries, titled "The Reagans," may inaccurately portray the couple.

Gillespie said that if CBS denies the request, he will ask the network to run a note across the bottom of the screen every 10 minutes during the program's presentation informing viewers that the miniseries is not accurate.

While Gillespie -- who acknowledged that he has not seen "The Reagans" and has formed his opinion of it based solely on news reports -- had a number of complaints, he said he was most concerned about a comment attributed to Reagan in one episode. There is no evidence that the president told his wife during a conversation about AIDS patients, "They that live in sin shall die in sin," Gillespie said.

I wonder how the mini-series will treat the real crimes of the Reagan Era...bankrupting the Treasury, Arms for Hostages, Repeated Violations of the Boland Amendment, the mechanics of Iran-Contra, School of the Americas Grads committing human rights violations, The S&L Scandals, Lying to Congress by almost every subpeoned official...and the list goes on. No wonder it's a mini-series.

Slowly the global dawn of awareness breaks; we all know that the media and journalists outside our borders have been perceiving the miserable failure as the engineer of the greatest foreign policy trainwreck since Casey Jones was high on Cocaine...

President George Bush has an exit plan for Iraq. Its blurry outline was revealed this week as the worst violence since the fall of Saddam Hussein exploded in the country.

Mr Bush flagged his strategy on Tuesday. It calls for rapidly increasing the "Iraqification" of the conflict. By Thursday Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, were spelling out what this meant. The idea is to push many more Iraqi police and security officials into the front lines against the insurgency while at the same time declaring political victory on the ground.
...
But in the face of the escalating conflict, Mr Bush, Mr Rumsfeld and Mr Wolfowitz all declared major progress was under way. Indeed, Mr Wolfowitz had gone to Iraq last week to give Mr Bush a progress report on the stabilisation of the country and to speed up "Iraqification". He was brutally interrupted by the rocket attack on his hotel.

Despite this, Mr Wolfowitz came home with a positive report for the President. "There is plenty of good news in Iraq," he said.

In a passionate speech on his return, Mr Wolfowitz drove home one point. Whatever Iraq's future, it is already a huge improvement on the past; therefore the Administration can chalk up the war as a success.

"War is an ugly thing, I agree with that. But butchers like Saddam Hussein are incredibly ugly," said Mr Wolfowitz. "I don't think there's much question here about the morality of having gotten rid of that regime."
...
But Mr Bush has little alternative except to put his faith in the Iraqification plan. If it works, he can begin to welcome home a respectable number of troops before next year's Republican convention.

If not, he can only hope that the good news on the US economy will distract most American voters from the casualties in Iraq.

If the "Iraqification" is run out of the White House by the Mayberry Machiavelli group (Mail stop 666), the last troops will be getting on Air Force transports as the Miserable Failure is giving his acceptance speech. In the final five minutes of the speech, Iraqi TV will show live pictures of a haggard, thin, bearded Saddam Hussein declaring victory and ordering the arrest, and execution of anyone who collaberated, starting with Ahmed Chalabi.

And that's Real Politik, 2004. Let's see if it happens, and hope it doesn't.

Have to love it when the gubmint agency charged with enforcing such minor laws as those that pertain to civil rights and diversity is unable to perform such tasks internally. But then it is the justice department of John "Southern Partisan" Ashcroft.

Seems an internal report on diversity at the Justice Department was posted on their website after being released by that over-worked, underpaid 1600 Crew employee Mr. R.E. Dacted.

An internal report that harshly criticized the Justice Department's diversity efforts was edited so heavily when it was posted on the department's Web site two weeks ago that half of its 186 pages, including the summary, were blacked out.

The deleted passages, electronically recovered by a self-described "information archaeologist" in Tucson, portrayed the department's record on diversity as seriously flawed, specifically in the hiring, promotion and retention of minority lawyers.
...
Another deleted part said efforts to promote diversity "will take extraordinarily strong leadership" from the attorney general's office and other Justice Department offices.

Even complimentary conclusions were deleted, like one that said "attorneys across demographic groups believe that the Department is a good place to work" and another that said "private industry cites DOJ as a trend-setter for diversity."
...
By the time the department posted the theoretically more secure version of the report on its Web site, it was too late. Russ Kick, a writer and editor in Tucson, who operates a Web site named thememoryhole.org, had had already electronically stripped the edited version of the black lines that hid the full text. Mr. Kick then posted the unedited version of the report on his Web site, where it has been copied more than 32,000 times, a near record for site. Justice Department officials said it was unlikely that any action would be taken against Mr. Kick.

Give me a break here, this is a department led by a fascist, racist, religious zealot. The only thing that could be worse is if the miserable failure were to put the nutso AG in Rummy's job. Can you say "Movin' to New Zealand?"

If this particular outrage had happened in the 90s, there would have been hordes of blow-dried brain-dead farts running around inside the beltway decrying the Clenis™ for everything from the extinction of the dinosaurs to the crucifixion of Christ.

Companies awarded $8 billion in contracts to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan have been major campaign donors to President Bush, and their executives have had important political and military connections, according to a study released Thursday.

The study of more than 70 U.S. companies and individual contractors turned up more than $500,000 in donations to the president's 2000 campaign, more than they gave collectively to any other politician over the past dozen years.

Let's ask all the Guard and Reservists who have not only been extended in Iraq to help look out for the 1600 Crew's investors, but are even being kept in the service past the end of their enlistments to make Iraq safe for the 1600 Crew investors. All based on the policies of a miserable failure.

Kurtz admits it...the media for all it's indignant posturing about "objectivity" are really just a bunch of swallowers. Wish I could say I was surprised.

Sometimes, when the candidates aren't playing the negativity game, reporters do it for them. The media crave negativity because it makes for more exciting stories ("Senator Smith slammed Congressman Jones yesterday, calling him a boob and a bozo, as their war of words escalated. . . . "). So much more interesting than the details of Wesley Clark's child health insurance plan.

Seems part of the sun blowed up, and we're the beneficiaries. There have been some of the most spectacular Northern Lights I have seen in years. Go check and see if you can see them in your area...soooo cool.

It's the Officially Designated night for kids to collect Sugary Stuff here in this part of Ohio. If it is where you are too, keep an eye out for the little ones...drive safely and have fun.

Remember, nothing is scarier than what's in the White House right now (he was in Columbus today Trick or Treating for Cash). More later, gotta go give out some candy...

I sure am glad to know that those wayward and errant crewmembers on the USS Lincoln were resposible for putting that banner up. Because with things like this happening,

The United Nations and the Red Cross will scale back their presence in Iraq, officials said Wednesday, responding to the threat of new terrorist attacks after a suicide car bombing at Red Cross headquarters.

Two U.S. soldiers were killed, meanwhile, when their Abrams tank struck an explosive device north of the capital on Tuesday night, the U.S. military said. Seven Ukrainian troops were wounded in a separate incident, the first reported ambush of troops serving in a Polish-led multinational division.

It seems that Donald Luskin is trying to intimidate Atrios. As a good little republican, he hired a attorney and the attorney wrote Atrios an attorney-like letter about Atrios using the word "Stalker" to refer to his client. The Atrios post in question was titled "Diary of a Stalker".

...You chose the unfortunate caption “Diary of a Stalker” for your link. More importantly, your readers, in responding to your invitation to comment, have posted numerous libelous statements regarding Mr. Luskin. Picking up on the theme you introduced, several have made false assertions that Mr. Luskin has committed the crime of stalking. ...

If Mr. Luskin was proudly proclaiming his stalkerhood concerning Paul Krugman, why is he so upset by Atrios applying the same epithet to him?

The good news is that Krugman is clearly shaken by the new experience of having somebody dare to challenge his insouciant lying. He's even starting to get personal — referring to me in his latest posting as his "stalker-in-chief."

If you're talking about the Harvard B-School grad who couldn't make a buck if you gave him two, I would say he's a miserable failure.

If you're talking about the guy who studied real hard for his pee-test, and then got too scared he'd flunk it so he ran away (some might say Deserted), I'd call him a miserable failure.

Now, what miserable failure could I be talking about? This miserable failure?

The fires are still raging, but there are folks who need help now. Is there an organization helping? Donations should go where? Should we start something to help out?

Update, thanks for the info. Here's a link to the San Diego chapter of the Red Cross. I am usually hesitant about the ARC, because of how they 'prioritize' their money distribution, but if this is going to the local chapter, I have to assume it's not going to be used to buy stuff for their offices in DC or something.

Let's do something unique here for a moment and pretend that I find Andrew Sullivan an offensive little twit. Why?

Is it because he's gay? Nope.
Is it because he's HIV+, and has no qualms about sharing the "love". Nope, again.
Is it because he's a republican? Again, no.
Is it because he's a (lapsed) Catholic? Again, I have to answer no.

It's because everytime he opens his yap, touches his keyboard or uses any other form of communcation, he somehow seems to equate the position of being against the war in Iraq with being Pro-Saddam, Anti-Troops, Anti-American and Pro-Communist. It doesn't matter the time or context, all those points seem to pop up, directly or indirectly. He goes to great pains to endorse the viewpoints of those who would call me and others who share my viewpoint "communists". Fuck you Sullivan, said it before, say it again...many of us out here stood lonely vigils against Communism while you were taking it up the ass and living large in the UK and in my country. The blithe assertion that somehow we're all communist sympathizers, communsts-in-fact, or that our loyalties lie somewhere other than to the United States makes me want to take a trip to P-Town and discuss this up close and personal...one American to whatever you are. But I really don't want to waste the price of a plane ticket...I'd rather donate it to some charity that supports folks with AIDS, instead of wasting my time and money on your worthless hide.

All those who find Sullivan a complete waste of time and oxygen, raise your hands. Thank you .

Let's drive a stake through the heart of another sheeple myth...republicans are real 'bang bang law 'n' order' types. Seems that since there was a new sheriff in town (and his name's not Reggie Hammond), well the crime numbers have started to increase.

Crime across the USA continued to tick upward in 2002 for the second straight year after record lows in the 1990s, according to a new FBI report that cites increases in rapes, homicides and burglaries.
...
Kevin Watson, spokesman for the Law Enforcement Alliance of America, sees a building problem in increasing homeland security duties for local police.

"These people are being stretched thin as emphasis is being shifted from policing communities to protecting potential targets in their areas," he says.

On another note though, we can all be proud of all the crimes that have been deterred by the arrest, prosecution and incarceration of Tommy Chong for selling those Bongs. The anti-big gubmint republican hypocrites keeping America safe via Snake-Handler Johnny & Co.

But himself. In what has to be the most disgusting statement (and there's lots to chose from), President AWOL 1st LT blames the crew of the USS Lincoln for "Mission Accomplished". That's right, the men and women of the Carrier are responsible for that statement and all the attendant misfortunes according to The Chimp.

The "Mission Accomplished" sign, of course, was put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished. I know it was attributed some how to some ingenious advance man from my staff -- they weren't that ingenious, by the way. But my statement was a clear statement, basically recognizing that this phase of the war for Iraq was over and there was a lot of dangerous work.

Remember, the action in Iraq was -- to get rid of Saddam Hussein was widely supported by the Iraqi people.

If he's been shilling for the Saudis and hence Islamist Terrorists via Karl Rove, will he still be allowed to hold his Wednesday meetings while awaiting trial for Treason? Just curious.

Have you seen the Virgin Ben's ode to TBogg? Wow, Ben Shapiro is defending Rush Limbaughs lifestyle to beat up on TBogg.

It is scurrilous of Rush's opponents to automatically assume that he began using prescription drugs recreationally (which they did, automatically branding him a run-of-the-mill "drug addict" and referring to OxyContin as "hillbilly heroin" -- the implication being that Rush was using OxyContin for fun). It seems to me a fair assumption that he did not. And lo and behold, it turns out that when Rush did speak, he validated my perspective. I don't expect an apology from TBogg anytime soon.
...
If TBogg had actually read my column, he might have come across this line: "All drug addicts deserve sympathy, but prescription painkiller addicts clearly deserve more sympathy than recreational users."

I would hardly call any assertion "scurrilous", especially when talking about the Slandah Pandah, Limbaugh, no one in America in modern times has made more scurrilous assertions than the horse-loving junkie himself. Oh and Ben, if they have not mentioned this in your school, a painkiller without a prescription is just an illegal, controlled substance. Just thought I'd mention that, ya over-educated yahoo.

Brave Andy, the Pixel Warrior is in blog-lust mode again. Finding the Big Iraqi Evil-doer Saddam, is Job 1 with her royal highness. Why? Because they don't like us...

This new wave of terrorist violence only underscores how the war is unfinished. It makes it all the more important that we find and kill Saddam Hussein; and that we aim more lethally at the Islamist forces that are desperate to prevent democracy of any kind coming to the Arab world. This is no reason to retreat. It's reason to intensify. These people are testing our will. We have to test their survival skills.

In keeping with the new DoD/1600 Crew policy of "see no coffins/be no coffins", would the 1600 Crew have recognized the returning coffin of Wolfowitz had he been a mort from the rocket attack on his hotel? Would the 1600 Crew have tried to get his sorry ass interred in Arlington?

Just wondering.

I pulled into Washington, was feelin' bout half past dead,
Just need some place where I can lay my Head...

Our favorite Auntie, Donnie R. is getting (1) pushed over the side by the little Mayberry Troll in charge of Order and Goodness or (2) desperately trying to jump ship ahead of all the rats...which is it?

The now famous 'leaked' slog memo sure seems to indicate a guy who has some reservations about the company he's keeping, on the other hand he seems to be spending a lot of time talking about how to fight the War on Terra™ in an op-ed in the Post. Seems he and his 90-nation fanatasy coalition (sort of Auntie Donnies Fantasy Anti-Terra League) are, well, taking the fight to the evil-doers. One at a time. But not without recognition of a key principle:

For every terrorist whom coalition forces capture, kill, dissuade or deter, others are being trained. To win the war on terror, we must also win the war of ideas -- the battle for the minds of those who are being recruited by terrorist networks across the globe.

It's gonna be long war on Metaphors, longer still while Auntie Donnie and his ilk are running the show. Maybe that anonymous Troll at the 1600 Crew will be doing us a favor a getting rid of Auntie Donnie...now how do we get rid of the rest of the neocons?

...and ya took the load, took the load right off me..

You know that it's gotten righteously bad when the biggest Kahuna at CheneyBurton Corp wants to get all the employees to send out thoughtful letters supporting their company.

Such a nice man. Remember, these are the same corporate leaders who will send your job overseas for their own self-interest, and ask you to support giving them a great retirement as they rob the pension funds of your company. Such nice men and women. Will we all be working for Wal-Mart soon or will that be the fate of our returning troops.

One of the talking points in Lesar's memo, sent last Friday, was that "Halliburton makes our troops more comfortable in a difficult environment by bringing shelter, supplies, clean uniforms and mail from home." According to published reports, however, as few as 20 percent of American soldiers in Iraq have access to purified water and entire units are suffering from dysentery. One senior military commander wrote that soldiers were "using hoses from an Iraqi latrine stall to get water enough to maintain their hygienic needs."

From loyal reader Reg, comes an interesting compendium. Go check it out.

Found this in the on-line Chicago Trib...(login gorevidal/gorevidal)

Illinois voters have soured so dramatically on President Bush, his handling of the economy and his Iraq policy that half say they don't want to see him re-elected next year while fewer than four in 10 say they do, a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows.

Bush's nose dive in popularity has been so precipitous that, in just four months, his approval rating among Illinois voters has dropped from 57 percent to 46 percent, the poll found. Over the same time, the share of voters who say they disapprove of the job he's doing as president has climbed from 34 percent to 44 percent.

If the Chimp joins the unemployment rolls next year, will you cry?

Ultra-Neocon Chickenhawk Pauly Wolfywitz was attacked in Baghdad today. To his credit, he did manage not to fly back to Kuwait to RON (Remain Over Night).

At least eight rockets fired on an automatic timer struck the al-Rashid hotel in central Baghdad where Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz was staying early Sunday morning, killing one American soldier and injuring 15 people.
...
Wolfowitz, who is traveling in Iraq, was not injured in the attack on the al-Rashid, which is home to hundreds of American soldiers and civilian reconstruction staff. In a televised statement, he vowed that the terrorist attack would not deter American reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

"There are a few who refuse to accept the reality of a new and free Iraq," he said. "We will be unrelenting in our pursuit of them."

Damn malcontents.

Major Network issues last night. Still working on it. So much good stuff, like the 1600 Crew Fund Drive...NPR has nothing on them. Damn. Be old news by the time we fix this.

Sleep (whenever), then blog...

And the Times is just getting around to figuring out that the 1600 Crew puts happy labels on it's programs to fool the dumber-than-dogshit Faux Viewership?

They honestly all need to be unemployed for a while...punitively unemployed.

Under the phony banner of "tort reform," this act is a legislative gift to wealthy special interests. It would make it harder for Americans to win redress in court for corporate violations of state civil rights, health, consumer and environmental protection laws. The act's core provisions would permit big polluters and other companies to delay justice, or even escape justice entirely, by moving most class-action lawsuits from state courts to the overburdened federal courts, which are less familiar with the disputed legal and factual issues. The act would also impose new litigation hurdles and burdens on plaintiffs.

President Bush backs the bill, and the House has passed an even more egregious version, which would be applied retroactively to all pending class-action cases. The central question today is whether the lawmakers with the courage to stand up to this bill can hang onto the votes they need to sustain a filibuster in the Senate.

They need to hire Molly Ivins, one of the best decoders of 1600 Speak in the US, or just get new jobs. Jeebus.

In the Giving Away the Store department: Seems President Hump-a-Lump might have been humping more than Lauras leg. In fact is looks like he was humping the entire Street of Wall in ol' Nuevo York:

A day after a chilly reception at the United Nations last month, President Bush received a warmer greeting from a New York group that he had been keeping at arm's length: about a dozen leaders of the biggest firms on Wall Street.

That private meeting at the Waldorf-Astoria, to discuss the economy, is just one illustration of how the president and Wall Street seem to have grown on each other.
...
After winning Congressional approval for cuts in taxes on dividends, capital gains and for certain business investments, and after navigating a raft of corporate accounting scandals that shook the investment community, President Bush seems to have won over many financial executives, who are now strongly supporting his re-election campaign.

A study to be released today shows that the financial community has surpassed all other groups, including lawyers and lobbyists, as the top industry among Mr. Bush's elite fund-raisers. The list of those generating $100,000 and $200,000 now includes chief executives like Henry M. Paulson of Goldman Sachs, John J. Mack of Credit Suisse First Boston and Stanley O'Neal of Merrill Lynch, whose firm has already raised twice the amount for Mr. Bush's re-election that it did during the entire 2000 campaign cycle.

[ring ring]
Yes.
Terrible about the buildings and all those people.
Yes.
Can you kill that EPA report so we can re-open?
Yes.
Checks are on their way.
Yes.
[click]
(fist pumping) YESSSSS.

The senate is interested in regulating Spam. How long before the SPAM trade association has a sentor-for-hire in their back pocket? Let's see...SPAM = Free Speech? Tick Tock.

The Senate agreed Wednesday to impose tough new limits on the irritating but lucrative business of e-mailing unwanted sales pitches to millions of people in the United States.
...
The Bush administration supports the bill, although similar legislation has stalled in the House. Sens. John Edwards, D-N.C., John Kerry, D-Mass., and Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, missed the vote.

"Kingpin spammers who send out e-mail by the millions are threatening to drown the Internet in a sea of trash, and the American people want it stopped," Wyden said. Acknowledging problems with e-mails originating overseas, he urged other countries to approve similar limits.

"Kingpin Spammers"? Of course, silly me, we just hunt down all the Pablo Escobars of SPAM and lock'em up! So really simple...except don't most of them live off-shore? Hope they like GITMO. Sic'em Snake-Handler...they might be advertising Bongs!

The words of the Blog-Queen...I had to read it twice to see if my eyes were failing me

A very striking finding in a recent poll on Democratic party activists in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Given a list of issues and asked to say which ones they cared about most, almost none said terrorism. In Iowa a full one percent said they wre concerned about terrorism - less than three years since 9/11. The base wanted a candidate with credibility on national security - but didn't seem to care about the issue as such. A combination of cynicism and amnesia. I'm not a Republican. But polls like these make me realize I'm even less of a Democrat.

Anyone know if there is a line in Vegas on Rush and Recidivism? I mean they'll bet on anything, right? So what are the odds he stays clean and sober...two previous failures, a tough drug to kick...could be a money-maker. I guess maybe they don't take the bets that are a sure thing against the house.

Is it just me, or should we men not involved in a personal way just STFU about the whole issue of abortion? Personal way = your significant other is involved in the procedure and you are some percentage of the decision-making process.

Abortion has become the Christo-Fascist hot-button issue of the last 30 years. The religio-wingnuts for some reason, and I can't figure it out want to send women back to back-alley abortionists to get this procedure done. Then lock up everyone who has it "done" or "does" it. Reproductive rights...someone elses problem. Suddenly not pregnant? Suddenly eligible for Prosecution. Wife/Mom/Sister dies in an unlicensed, unregulated, unsanitary butcher shop. Too bad, they were not holy enough to be brave and carry that unborn, unwanted life in to the world. Tough shit...oh, and if they live, we'll arrest'em.

It's not women writing these laws. although many are involved in this lunacy. It's maniacally raving men like Rick "dead fetus" Santorum, who really think that (his interpretation of) great church law is public policy so horrific, it will take us back to midevil times. Thanks man-on-dog.

Last weekend, The Talking Dog who is an attorney (I'm pretty sure) had a post on the case in Florida of Teri Schiavo, who has been in a strange sort of coma for about a decade. Her husband has for whatever reason has moved on with his life, her parents for a lot of reasons have not, and being a parent I can understand that. Apparently Ms. Schiavo left no instructions as to what to do in the event something tragically unforseen happened to her. How many of us do?

But just so that their hard-core republican base would get the idea that they were not doing something to "protect" Ms. Schiavo, the Floridat Lege and Jeb! have imposed their collective will in the matter. Good or bad, not really for me to decide. I'm not really in favor of a legislative body or a politician getting involved...is their involvement out of genuine concern, or is it (more likely in my opinion) Grandstanding?

Although the Legislature acted swiftly, even some who supported the bill expressed concern about it.

"I hope, I really do hope we've done the right thing," said Senate President Jim King, a Republican. "I keep on thinking 'What if Terri didn't really want this done at all?' May God have mercy on all of us."

I think it's time to go see an attorney and get a living will made out. This is a special kind of hell no family needs to go through. And my familiy needs no legislative intervention to guess my intention.

Oh, it must be Sullivan. Sullywatch makes an excellent point in response to a post that they term as a "semi-fisking". You can't argue the points about all the "good outcomes" of the war in Iraq, after the war is "done" other than those points that fit the original premise of the War (i.e. WMDs, imminent threats). Making those arguments now is intellectually dishonest, since they are based on known outcomes, not on pre-war 'intelligence'. I agree, unfortunately, Sullly needs to read a bit more Sullywatch and get his head out of his backside. Here's his argument:

This applies also to the post-war debate about the pre-war. It is relatively easy to criticize the Iraq war, the intelligence behind it, and the post-war reconstruction. It's another thing to say what you would have done instead. Memories are astonishingly short, but the notion that 9/11 did not and should not have impacted our entire defense doctrines is absurd. How we pro-actively tackle the problem of Islamist terrorism, and the morass of the Middle East from which it comes, is an urgent question.
...

Apparently not all of what the good General said was released by the Pentagram, here's the rest of the statement that was speaking of Chimpy being selected by god to be president:

• "I believe that God intervenes in the affairs of men, to include nations, as Benjamin Franklin so eloquently stated. Yes I believe that George Bush was placed in the White House by God as well as Bill Clinton and other presidents."

Seems that many of the same folks outraged at the Clenis™ really have no real problem with the subversion of Army Regulations, the Constitution or really much else as long as it falls somewhere within their worldview. But that's not really news. Some of the Brave Members of Congress are taking up for LGEN Billy "Jay-zus Loves Me" Boykin, saying such brave things as this:

Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., drafted a letter Monday asking Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld not to discipline Boykin, saying that elected officials and military leaders have talked about God and spiritual matters throughout U.S. history.

"As elected officials serving in the United States Congress, we recognize the vital importance our personal faiths play in helping us make decisions," Tiahrt wrote. "We ask that any actions taken in response to Lt. Gen. Boykin's remarks not, in any way, intimidate the free religious exercise of his faith."

Just another sad chickenhawk with a huge beak. [sigh]

He could get a job as a "consultant". I guess if his family tree has a branch somewhere near "K" Street, he might anyhow. Seems that this college kid not only left the forbidden materials on the aircraft, they were there a month, he told them what planes they were on and the TSA Rocket-Scientists still never did anything.

Heatwole told authorities that he left packages on four of the six planes, according to U.S. Attorney Thomas DiBiagio. Other packages were found on April 13 and April 14 in planes in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Tampa, Fla., but it was unclear when they were planted.

The TSA, which received Heatwole's e-mail, did not send it to the FBI until last Friday. FBI agents then located Heatwole and interviewed him.
...
The e-mail provided details of where the plastic bags were hidden — right down to the exact dates and flight numbers — and even provided Heatwole's name and telephone number.

How dumb has this whole process gotten, when they have explicit knowledge of a 'threat' and can't find their asses with both hands in a well-lit room? Simply Amazing. TSA=Transportaton Slacker Association? Perhaps. I mean other than make up rules, and make the screeners enforce them, what do the senior TSA officials do besides play power politics and try to get more money?

Not much apparently. Certainly not read their email.

David Blaine is no longer thinking inside the box. I hear Siegfried may be looking for a new partner.

From Bartcop

Quotes

"The administration strongly opposes efforts to convert any portion of this assistance to a loan mechanism. Doing so would slow efforts to stabilize the region and to relieve pressure on our troops, raise questions about our commitment to building a democratic and self-governing Iraq, and impair our ability to encourage other nations to provide badly needed assistance without saddling Iraq with additional unsustainable debt."

--White House statement, Senate Defies Bush On Iraq Assistance

Translation: A bank robber doesn't ask for a loan.

Compare and contrast: Heres the story's opening paragraph...

Deadly ambush teams struck U.S. Army targets from west to north in the arc of resistance around Baghdad, and the interim Iraqi leader called Sunday for an immediate mobilization of the old Iraqi army to help the harried Americans.

American officials blame the insurgency largely on die-hard Baathists, but many here believe other Iraqis resentful of the U.S. military presence have joined in the hit-run attacks.

In an opinion-page piece in Sunday's New York Times newspaper, Allawi, head of the 25-member Governing Council for the month of October, said the decision by U.S. occupation officials to dissolve the 400,000-man Iraqi army after the war's end in April produced a "security vacuum that let criminals, die-hards of the former regime and international terrorists flourish."

"I don't think there's a vast swath of people out there who want to serve in the Iraqi army," said this official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Americans are slowly rebuilding a new Iraqi army, having trained only a 700-man battalion thus far.

Banking on polls that most of the folks in the US are convinced that the media are either too liberal or a bunch of whores for the republican party it seems that the 1600 Crew has decided to start (or continue) the intimdation of any journalist not spewing the party line...

An AFP photographer and a Reuters cameraman were detained in Fallujah for several hours by Iraqi police who said they were acting on orders from the US military.
...
"Police told us they could not release us until American officers come here," Baz said by telephone from the Fallujah police station.

He said the police officers, none of whom would reveal their names, explained that the Americans were looking for someone who allegedly filmed the attack that caused the explosion of a vehicle apparently carrying ammunition.

Really, how stupid do they figure the average American is? I guess I really don't want to know the answer...as for the journalists as word gets around that the "Army" can yank you in at will, I guess it'll start to seem like the qWagmire that is is going so much better, don'tcha think?

The Doper is into his meds again...he's pimping the "Clark is a Republican" theme...again. If Clark wins the Democratic Nomination, will Sully finally start doing real reporting again? Sure, just like Bill O'Rielly will "never trust the administration for not finding WMDs", and Rush is a clean and sober, temperate individual.

Sometimes you have just know in your heart that the smartest most honest mammal in the house is the beagle...after all, how bright could boyfriend be having to put up with Dan'l Boone the Bar-Hunter?

* to the tune of "Daisy"

Seems everyone's favorite Christo-Fascist lieutenant general Billy (Ah Loves me some Jeee-zus) Boykin has issued a half-assed apology for actions he knew he should not be participatiing in to begin with.

Boykin claims that the statements he made to a captive Osman Otto dealt with idolatry. Here's the rationale of a three-star general:

"I am not anti-Islam or any other religion," Boykin said. "I support the free exercise of all religions. For those who have been offended by my statements, I offer a sincere apology."
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A decorated veteran of foreign campaigns, the three-star general said of a 1993 battle with a Muslim militia leader in Somalia: "I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol." After the man was captured, Boykin said he told the man, "You underestimated our God."

Boykin's statement said that comment was misinterpreted.

"My comments to Osman Otto in Mogadishu were not referencing his worship of Allah but his worship of money and power; idolatry," Boykin said. "He was a corrupt man, not a follower of Islam."

I'm kind of liking that...should we sent questions to the Idolatry Division, 1600 Crew in the future?

More tapes from Osama bin Forgotten

The Arabic television station Al Jazeera broadcast two audiotapes on Saturday said to be made by Osama bin Laden, vowing more suicide attacks inside and outside the United States and demanding that the United States withdraw from Iraq.

The speaker on the tapes urged Iraqis to wage a holy war against American "crusaders" in Iraq until an Islamic government was set up in Baghdad.

Despite the "flypaper filosophers" obvious incoherence on the subject "terrorists" in Iraq, bin Laden is using conflict shrewdly to shore up his standing among hard-core muslims and recruitng others to his cause, who before the invasion might have paid lip-service at most to the ideals he espoused. The longer the qWuagmire exists, the more "ammunition" we are providing our "enemies", and creating new ones every day...so I have to say again: Thanks a lot, ya fucking idiot.

Tossing herself onto President Intellectually Incapable like a two-dollar hooker, the president of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo spent a good part of her day making the Chimp feel all virile and macho.

Clueless Leader dropped by the PI on his 2003 World Tour of Unpronounceable Countries, to let them know that they could have more support in the War of Metaphors he has stirred up. Down payments for the Philippines includes 20 used Huey helicopters and empty promises for a non-existant threat that Arroyo keeps whining about every time her military revolts.

In an eight-hour visit, Mr. Bush for the first time drew explicit comparisons between the transition he is seeking in Iraq and the rough road to democracy that the Philippines traveled from the time the United States seized it from Spain in 1898 to the present day.
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But the comparison has less power to reassure, given that the Philippine government did not gain full autonomy for five decades.
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Mr. Bush said the United States had "liberated the Philippines from colonial rule," using the same verb he often uses to describe American action in Iraq, but he skipped past Washington's own 48-year-long occupation of this archipelago of 7,000 islands.
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"Murder has no home in any religious faith," Mr. Bush said, "and these terrorists must find no home in the Philippines." He vowed to "bring Abu Sayyaf to justice,"

Once again, our internationally-handicapped intellectually-challenged bought and paid for Fearless Leader has managed to make us all look like idiots. Taking a "whirlwind" tour through the Philippines because the Secret Service said to make it short...yeah, right. Looks like the Tinhorn Terrorists are still winning; President Runnin' Away is still a...ba-caaawk Chickenhawk.

Der Volkischer Beobachter The Washington Post has a story on Wes Clark, right from Karl Rove's word processor to the front page. I guess that they must be trying to keep their seats in the pressroom, and not be sent to Helen Thomas Hell for not loving Junior.

To old friends and new supporters, he is a beloved and admired military hero who can protect the nation in troubled times. But to a fervent group of military detractors, the former NATO supreme commander, who led the allies to victory against the Serbs in Kosovo, was so unpredictable in his interpersonal dealings and overbearing in pushing his agenda that then-Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen had no choice but to relieve him of his command.
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In interviews, people from throughout Clark's life made it clear that he always stood out -- a critical thinker of exceptional talent and drive. He is held in awe by his high school classmates, respected for his intellect by West Point peers, and liked by his 1975 White House fellows class. Evaluations from commanding officers over 30 years, which his campaign released last week, offer a lexicon of superlatives.

In an institution filled with ambitious men, some viewed Clark as over the top, someone who would do or say anything to get ahead -- and get his way.