Ah, with Preznit A Crony Too Far, there's never enough to say about the patently unqualified. Except to make shit up.

In his weekly radio address yesterday, Bush praised Miers as "a remarkable woman and an accomplished attorney"

Well, if there are any cases that come before the Supreme Court that involve deadbeat tenants and fishing shacks, then she is The Woman. Conversely, she was last seen wandering around the West Wing looking for a woman named Miranda who wanted to talk to the police.

Because you know, you can never be unqualified enough to be a 1600 Crew Crony Appointee. Right?

Hi all. Been on a road trip for the last few days, and I've been too tired to do much writing...I'll be back off the road in a few days.

Meanwhile, have you been checking in where all the non-slackers hang out? Over at Main and Central? Drop by and visit them. It's the best show you can get for free, and to a man, they're all smarter than me.

Trust me.

What a shame that this quote applies to more than just Born-Again Harriet Meirs (which seems to be her chief qualification, besides utter sycophancy).

I picked the best person I could find.

Well, at least he didn't say "I didn't have sex with that woman". That we know of.

Eeew.

Liar Liar Pants On Fire!

Joe Biden is forming an "exploratory committee" to gauge his chances for a presidential bid in 2008. Here's why his committee will find that his chances of having sex with a polar bear are better.

Two weeks before a new, more restrictive national bankruptcy law goes into effect, financially strapped Americans are rushing to file for protection from their creditors, with filings climbing to an unprecedented average of 13,000 a day last week.

Week after week records are toppled. Last week's 68,287 filings surpassed the record set the week before by 24 percent, and this week's total is likely to be higher, according to data released yesterday by Lundquist Consulting Inc., a financial research firm. Daily filings averaged 10,367 in September, compared with an average of 6,079 in September 2004.

In the macabre irony sweepstakes, the republicans who crawled up and had cash inserted into their asses by the banking industry lobbyists to get this bill passed, piously proclaim that people should not get themselves into a position where they need to declare bankruptcy.

Unfortunately, those good god-fearin' souls forgot to exempt or allow any leniency at all for folks who are forced into bankruptcy because of medical bills or even, hmmmmm, natural disasters. Imagine that. CongressCriminals who have run our country into massive debt for generations to come, lecturing penniless Americans on "Personal Responsibility".

Just think what would happen if every American went and filed bankruptcy on October 16th before the close of business, whether they needed to or not. One word: Chaos. I guess that the banking industry could say "Missed it by that much".

If all spam, and I'm guessing that's what this is, were this good many of us might have different feelings about spammers.

Guilty Prediction on Criminal Conspiracy Charges? How About Money Laundering? B****.com Posts Odds World’s Most Comprehensive Online Sportsbook, Casino and Poker Site Leads Trend for Wagering on Pop Culture Events

October 04, 2005 – After seeing an unprecedented amount of betting action on whether Texas Republican Representative Tom DeLay, the House Majority leader, would be found guilty on conspiracy charges, B****.com has now released odds on whether DeLay will be found guilty on charges of conspiring to commit money laundering and money laundering.

“We are seeing such a drastic increase in the volume of betting action on political proposition wagers that we have set up a separate team to specifically handle this type of wagering activity,” says Calvin Ayre, Founder and CEO of B****.com. “We are happy to offer an exciting and entertaining medium in which the general public can test their predictions.”

DeLay, one of the highest-ranking members of the Republican Party, was re-indicted on conspiring to money launder and money laundering charges a few days after being charged with conspiring to have corporate contributions funneled through his political action committee to help fund the campaigns of Republican state candidates.

A majority of B****.com bettors have placed their money on Tom DeLay being found guilty on charges of criminal conspiracy. With the two new charges, B****.com anticipates a large amount of betting action.

Last week, DeLay temporarily stepped down as House Majority leader, abiding by the Congressional House rules, which dictate that any member in a position of leadership must resign if charged with criminal activity. With the new charges, DeLay could possibly face up to life in prison.

DeLay will remain in Congress while he fights the charges. The Texas congressman vehemently denied the charges, saying the indictment was sparked by political retribution.

Among a host of other political proposition wagers on B****.com, bettors can wager on the outcome of the Iraqi Constitution, which is scheduled to be announced in mid-October, and on whether Harriet E. Miers will be confirmed as Supreme Court Justice by the US Senate?

I'm not really into giving these guys free advertising, so I blanked out the name of the site. But damn, that's some good Spam.

Deafness defined: the 1600 Crew.

NCLB

No Crony Left Behind.

Right on the heels of hiring Mr. Arabian Horses Ass to investigate himself.

Interesting article on the trial in Pennsylvania over teaching Unintelligent Fairy Tales in HS biology. But the most interesting part of the article was about the founder of the Thomas More Law Center, Richard Thompson. Here's Thompson:

Mr. Thompson's major argument in defending the board is that intelligent design is not religion, but science. He is, however, absolutely open about his own religious motivations.

During the lunch break on Thursday, Mr. Thompson said he founded the law center to defend Christians who he thought were losing the culture wars. The center was initially financed by Thomas Monaghan, the founder of Domino's Pizza. Both men are Roman Catholics.

"There are two worldviews that are in conflict," Mr. Thompson said. "I do feel that even though Christians are 86 percent of the population, they have become second-class citizens."

Then and only then will he be spared the nagging fear of becoming the next meal for the lions in the coliseum, I guess. Haven't we heard this tune before?

So Preznit Incredibly Lazy pulled another Dick Cheney out of his ass, literally. Cheney, as we all recall was in charge of "finding himself" to be the VP candidate for Preznit Tippling TeaTotaler. Now, our Beloved Leader, so lazy that he can't pull his dick out of his pants to pee without help from Laura or Condi has let Harriet Miers, the "head" of his SCOTUS search committee select herself.

Her qualifications? Stating that Preznit Brain Damaged is the "most brilliant man she'd ever met" or words to that effect. Which do not make me think she's exactly the best-qualified candidate for the job. Senate Democrats are already lining up behind her, presumably because she's not Janice Rogers Brown or Priscilla Owens. We'll see. The one thing that worries me, and will for a long time to come, is the fact that Preznit Fundie Swallower says she's in favor of "judicial restraint" which is republican-speak for "I got mine, screw you" politics.

It might be fun to watch the republicans self-destruct over this, if that happens. But on the flipside, after the 1600 Crew managed to successfully avoid releasing all the papers that French Fry had written in his various tenures in all the past Wingnut Administrations, I suspect any requests for papers that Mier has written will be met with blank stares and the phone being held up to the running shredder so that every member of the Judiciary Committee can hear the big "Fuck You" from the Oval Office.

You did it to yourselves boys and girls of the Senate. Now we have to live with it. Thanks. Thanks a lot.

Read this and then ask yourselves a question: and if it's "Huh?", that's ok.

In gunbattles and air strikes, US forces killed at least eight insurgents while sweeping through a village near the Syrian border in an offensive aimed at rooting out al-Qaeda militants in the region, the military said yesterday.

About 1,000 US troops, backed by attack helicopters and warplanes, began the offensive in the western village of Sadah on Saturday morning, also hoping to close insurgent supply routes and stem violence ahead of Iraq's crucial vote on a new constitution this month.

Is there something fundamentally wrong with this picture, or is it just me?

From Scooter to Judy:

Dear Judy,

Your reporting, and you, are missed. Like many Americans, I admire your principled stand. But, like many of your friends and readers, I would welcome you back among the rest of us, doing what you do best - reporting.

Geez, I just hope old Scooter isn't throwing Judy Judy a curveball here.

Okay, next year when it comes time for the Koufax Awards I want everyone to think of one name for best series: Firedoglake. Jane Hamsher has truly been a Woman on Fire over the whole Judy Miller "I'm a Martyr" schtick.

Go over there. Read Everything (if you haven't already). Jane is finding almost every hole in the "Cover-me-Judy" story that the Times has perpetrated (and perpetuated), and managed to skewer every aspect of Judy Millers' nonsensical claims to "privelege" all while sipping a latte and playing with her enormous poodles.

If I could be so forward, I'm thinking we should just nominate Jane Queen of Blogtopia for the rest of the year. Second?

1. Mo' Miers
   
2. Out to Lunch
   
3. Quote of the Decade
   
4. Shorter George Will
   
5. Thanks Joe, but No Thanks
   
6. Absolutely the best SPAM ever
   
7. Ahhhh....
   
8. The Professional Victim Class
   
9. Harriet Who?
   
10. Balance?