If we had a Preznit who actually believed any of this bullshit, it might be different.

"The United States has common ground with countries that promote democracy and freedom and believe in the rule of law,"...

I wonder if Hugo Chavez will ask how that WMD-hunt is going in Mess O'Potamia?

Ol' Brownie, the Arabian Stallion of the sinking 1600 Crew, has an interesting archive of emails that have been released, which will help immortalize him as the biggest Hindquarter of Horse in the history of political appointments.

Tucked into that treasure-trove of self-aggrandizing fashion commentary is this:

From: Worthy, Sharon
Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2005 10:17AM
To: michael.d.brown
Subject: Your shirt

Please roll up the sleeves of your shirt...all shirts. Even the President rolled his sleeves to just below the elbow.

In this crises and on TV you just need to look more hard-working...ROLL UP THE SLEEVES!

Isn't email wonderful?

Seems that the rest of the hemisphere gets it...and slowly, some folks who were ignoring the message here, may be getting it soon too...

A crowd of 10,000 people chanting "Get out Bush!" swarmed the streets of this Argentine resort Friday, hours before the hemisphere's leaders sat down to debate free trade, immigration and job creation at the fourth Summit of the Americas.
...
Chanting "Fascist Bush! You are the terrorist!" the protesters hung from the engine and moved up the sides of the train, trying to shake hands with those inside.

Here on the homefront, if the DNC doesn't make this into a commercial and start doing ad buys to run it continuously at low-volume for the next year, something is seriously wrong...

"The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees," Scanlon wrote in the memo, which was read into the public record at a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. "Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them."

Yeah, I'm guessing that the 'values' card might be a bit harder to pull out of the deck next year ... not even wacko christo-fascists like to be played for the fool 24/7/365. I'm guessing there might be drought of goodwill in Wackotown come next year. Running some ads might just encourage precipitously poor weather for the shearing of that flock don't you think?

Another strange mix...really, really strange.

Jungleland...................Springsteen
Try A Little Tenderness......The Committments
Hypnotized...................Fleetwood Mac
Roll Me Away.................Bob Seger
Lose Yourself................Eminem
Peace of Mind................Boston
Hello Again..................The Cars
1985.........................Bowling For Soup
Free Me......................Foo Fighters
Be My Lover..................Alice Cooper

My iPod is possessed. At least it's not channeling the 1910 Fruitgum Company. eeew, can't believe I just wrote that. Sorry.

Got your attention, did it? Check this out and see if that's all that far off...

Congress will worsen a near crisis of runaway military health care costs if it enacts a Senate-backed provision to open the new Tricare Reserve Select program to all drilling Reserve and National Guard members, the Defense Department's top health official has warned.

In testimony before a House subcommittee, Dr. William Winkenwerder said military health costs have doubled in just the last four years to more than $36 billion, largely because of enhancements in benefits for retirees and their families. But Winkenwerder also blamed a decadelong freeze on Tricare enrollment fees and co-payments, which he suggested DOD will try to raise after consulting military leaders and Congress.

If costs aren't brought under control, he warned, the "sustainability" of the military's "world class" health benefit is threatened. The current $36 billion budget will climb to $50 billion in four or five years, Winkenwerder said. Even the Joint Chiefs, he added, are now worried that health spending is affecting programs of higher priority for the nation's defense.

The of course, there are the conservitards in the House of Representatives who couldn't balance the budget if their lives depended on it:

Congress should do nothing more on reserve health benefits, Winkenwerder said, until TRS has had time to run. He criticized as costly and unneeded a Senate-approved plan to open TRS to all drilling reservists. House Republican leaders removed similar language from the House 2006 defense authorization bill, saying the $3.8 billion cost over five years, was not offset with cuts elsewhere, thus violating House budget rules.

Rep. John McHugh, R-N.Y., chairman of the personnel subcommittee, had supported that decision and invited Winkenwerder to comment on the nearly identical provision alive in the Senate bill.

"We don't support that provision," said Winkenwerder.

Don't you love it when the DoD and by extension the 1600 Crew fights for you? Anymore of this kind of love, and you could be getting billed by collection agencies while you're recuperating from those shrapnel wounds from last weeks IED explosion. Oh, wait, that's already happened. Never mind.

One might almost argue that Dr Winkenwerder is trying to be a good guardian of our tax dollars at work...except he's trying to make sure he guards them for the next round of tax cuts for the Friends of the 1600 Crew.

While everyone is focusing on Scooter, Judy, Big Time and the other players in the immaculate birth of Mess O'Potamia, there's this intersting little bit of information about how some of this all got started. And trust me, it's a real three-penny opera, complete with bad Italian actors, forgeries and low-lifes run rampant.

As Washington braces for the possible indictment of some of its most powerful officials, Italy is reliving its own small but significant role in "Niger-Gate," the scandal that surfaced as the Bush administration made its case for war in Iraq.

If all roads lead to Rome, so do the rumors: Washington's problem with the leak of a CIA officer's identity has tentacles here.

Former U.S. diplomat Joseph C. Wilson IV, whose wife was the covert CIA operative whose identity might have been leaked by White House officials, was dispatched in February 2002 to investigate a claim that Iraq was attempting to buy uranium from Niger after documents asserting exactly that surfaced in Rome.

The documents were determined to be forgeries, and Wilson said he found little evidence to back the claim.

Yet the claim was used in late 2002 by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and in early 2003 by President Bush to illustrate the threat posed by the Iraq of Saddam Hussein.

Who forged the documents, which included letters and purported contracts, remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of the affair.

Speculation about how the papers were produced in Rome, and complaints that the Italian government has done little to find out or to come clean, dominated political debate here this week, especially in the left-leaning newspaper La Repubblica, which has dedicated page after page of breathless prose to the matter.

Among its claims, La Repubblica has suggested that the head of Italy's military secret service, Nicolo Pollari, disseminated the false information to the Bush administration on orders from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a loyal ally eager to give Bush a helping hand.
...
The murky saga involves one Rocco Martino, an occasional Italian spy and businessman who initially peddled the documents. He has told reporters over the last few years that he obtained the papers through a contact at the Niger Embassy in Rome (which, incidentally, was burglarized in 2001) with the help of another officer from Italian military intelligence, and that he sold them to a French intelligence agency with which he occasionally traded.
...
Martino is a problematic figure. La Repubblica described him as a "failed carabiniere [policeman] and dishonest spy" and a "double-dealer" who plays many sides of every fence and was fired from his job in the Italian secret service.

In 2002, the documents came into the hands of an Italian reporter, Elisabetta Burba, working for the magazine Panorama, which is owned by Berlusconi, the prime minister.

Burba has not publicly identified her source, except to say he was a usually reliable "security consultant," and she declined to do so again Thursday in an interview. But news reports have said Martino was her source. On orders from her editor, she handed copies of the documents over to the U.S. Embassy in Rome. Separately, she traveled to Niger to check out the claims herself, notably that Iraq was attempting to buy 500 tons of yellowcake uranium from the African country, and concluded the report was not reliable.
...
"I am very mad," Burba said. "I was used. And the documents have been used to justify a war where people are being killed. This makes me very uneasy."

So if the papers that were sent through the intelligence channels resembled something closer to a Ludlum first-draft than actual intelligence, who's going to be surprised?

Remember, Secret Intelligence without real Oversight means Never Having to Say "I'm Sorry". The proof is in Mess O'Potamia tonight.

ps...where is Osama?

One of the loyal readers, an active duty soldier sent me an interesting link to a story about a Catholic Army chaplain who was recently convicted of yeah, guess what? Sodomy and assorted other military crimes.

A Bamberg Army chaplain received a five-year prison sentence Tuesday for sodomizing three soldiers and committing several other offenses stemming from two encounters over a 13-month period.

Earlier in the day, Chaplain (Capt.) Gregory A. Arflack pleaded guilty to forcible sodomy, indecent acts, fraternization and conduct unbecoming an officer. The crimes touched the lives of six servicemembers, three of whom were sodomized and physically assaulted.

“To these [six] soldiers, I’m so sorry,” Arflack said as he choked back tears during the sentencing phase of the general court-martial. “You placed your trust in me, and I failed you.”

In the case of former CPT Arflack, how long until he's excommunicated by the Vatican? Or will he get to take over the diocese of Ft Leavenworth ... after all, the Army will pay his moving expenses to Kansas. A sodomizing priest moved to a new parish...gee, how ... familiar.

The soldier who sent me the link tells this story:

I am a servicemember and I'm so sick of the constant proletyzing and the power chaplains have. Last year I went with a buddy to see a chaplain, she had been raped and needed counseling very badly. All he could do was tell her to find comfort in Jesus and not to have anger in her heart...

Likely to be the first words out of Scalito's Yap if he's confirmed. A judge who wants to perpetuate the All-American White Boyz Klub, make sure that wimminz is barefoot an pregnint and that Korporations Rule!

Scalito...the choice for the Dark Ages.

Scalito.

And someone please tell Ben Nelson to remember which party supports him...it does not have a prevaricating pachyderm as it's icon.

In the really stupid motions department:

Attorneys defending Republican U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay told a judge today that Democratic state district Judge Bob Perkins should be removed from DeLay's criminal trial to avoid an appearance of bias.

Prosecutor Rick Reed countered that DeLay's attorneys must prove, not speculate, that a member of the public would have a "reasonable doubt that the judge is impartal" in order to get Perkins removed from the case.

"Judges are presumed to be impartial," Reed said.

Unless of course a "partisan judge" send him there....

Why is it that the press manages to make some of the utterances of Preznit Eternal Liar seem like they are straight off the mountain on stone tablets? Seems that the missle-man has gone all steely-eyed on the Avian Flu trail...

President Bush outlined a $7.1 billion strategy Tuesday to prepare for the danger of a pandemic influenza outbreak, saying he wanted to stockpile enough vaccine to protect 20 million Americans against the current strain of bird flu as a first wave of protection.

The president also said the United States must approve liability protection for the makers of lifesaving vaccines. He said the number of American vaccine manufacturers has plummeted because the industry has been hit with a flood of lawsuits.

But wait. Preznit Action Figure has called for immediate Avian Flu Action...release the hounds, just like these examples...

The Bush administration has missed dozens of deadlines set by Congress after the Sept. 11 attacks for developing ways to protect airplanes, ships, and railways from terrorists.

A plan to defend ships and ports from attack is six months overdue. Rules to protect air cargo from infiltration by terrorists are two months late. A study on the cost of antiterrorism training for federal law enforcement officers who fly commercially was supposed to be done more than three years ago.
...
Thompson said the government has yet to develop a comprehensive plan to protect roads, bridges, tunnels, power plants, pipelines, and dams. He said a broad plan to protect levies and dams might have helped prevent the New Orleans levies from being breached.

Oh, wait. First we have cut taxes again, then we need to sign the new, improved Patriot Act, and protect Big Pharma from litigation, then we need to cut taxes again, then we need to swagger around and threaten either Syria or Iran, then cut taxes again.

Avian Flu? Whazzat? Fuck it, we'll just cut taxes. Again.

If the 1600 Crew proposes, then its up to America to dispose...will that be the fate of the next round of tax-cutting for the wealthiest Americans by the Super-Crony Administration? Because remember, if you're not a Pioneer...you ain't shit.

Chosen to find a simpler way to tax the nation, a presidential panel on Tuesday recommended two designs that would rewrite virtually every tax law for individuals and businesses. Treasury Secretary
John Snow called the propoposals "bold recommendations" but he did not indicate what ideas the administration would embrace.

Under the panel's plan, most deductions, credits and other tax breaks would be eliminated along with much of the paperwork and equations that baffle taxpayers under a drastically simplified income tax.
...
Drawing particular criticism, the panel determined that tax breaks for homeownership be changed to spread their benefits to more middle-income families.

The panel would convert the home mortgage interest deduction into a credit equal to 15 percent of mortgage interest paid. The $1 million limit on mortgages eligible for the tax break would shrink to the average regional price of housing, ranging from $227,000 to $412,000.

But here's the real sop to the Pioneers...just what the Grovel Nosetwist wing of the North American Fat-Cat party has been waiting for so patiently all these years:

Under one plan, individuals would pay no tax on dividends paid by U.S. companies and exclude 75 percent of their capital gains from taxation. Under the second plan, all investment income would be taxed at 15 percent.

Who doesn't want to have simpler tax forms? The question is, how many Sheeple will clamor for simplicity at the risk of causing further economic ruin to themselves and our country so that the richest of the rich get more tax breaks?

I can't wait for Prezint Bidness Failure to go out on the road and start selling this to his prescreened audiences. Maybe instead of Mommy Bar, he'll get Princess Sedation to come and talk about the new, simpler tax forms that even Beloved Leader can figure out. Blind Drunk. And Stupid.

It's funny that the republicans always talk about how Democrats "have no ideas". Well, that's really not true, it's just that none of our ideas involve ruining the economy, pissing off our friends and allies and being criminals. So, I guess from a certain jaundiced point of view, they're correct in a playground sort of way.

So it continues. More US soldiers charged with more prisoner abuse in Afghanistan. Let's for a moment pretend that we will let these guys off with a "traffic ticket" of an Article 15 hearing for bad behavior, and go for the real culprits in this case ... gee, where would you look. Perhaps in the Oval Office? The dehumanizing rhetoric about Islamic prisoners flowed from the very top of the Chain of Command. Two goobers, however ill-intentioned, were not going to go whaling on prisoners if they did not believe that they had some justification or cover... from somewhere for their misbehavior...

Two U.S. soldiers have been charged with assault for allegedly punching two detainees in the chest, shoulders and stomach at a military base in
Afghanistan, the military said Sunday.
...
The charges against the two soldiers include conspiracy to maltreat, assault and dereliction of duty. The allegations, if substantiated, could lead to disciplinary action, the statement said, adding that neither detainee required medical attention.

Prosecution of these misguided souls is the only way to ensure "good order and discipline" in the ranks...but somewhere, someone has to be keeping a tally of all this bullshit, because someday there's going to be an accounting by the 1600 Crew for their willful ignorance of the Geneva Conventions...and that's the day these folks will get their real day in court, as spectators watching the protagonists of this war being dragged before the bar for their real bad acts... the ones that have cost us our collective soul as a Republic.

Inside the Fristian Spaces in the Senate:

BF: So, you're comfortable with being the next Scalito? Gonna help us to do those Political Pelvic Exams on whorish and unseemly women who have turned their faces from Dr. Dobson?

SA: Sure, Senator anything you want. My vision for America is set around Salem, 1692. You know, they had it right back then: any backtalk, you just burn'em. You know, no chatter from the chattel...

BF: We'll get along great Sammy, mind if i call you Sammy? Now, we'll get you confirmed. We already have a plan to get you through. You need to just do me one favor...

SA: What's that?

BF: One day I may come to you and ask a favor. Any paperwork ever crosses your desk with my name on it and referencing the SEC and some Doctor'n bidness of mine...

SA: Absolutely. I saw the Godfather. (kissed the Fristian ring, exits walking backwards)....

So Bunnypants just couldn't wait to move the focus off of Scooter and get on with Harriets replacement killer. This Alito guy is a real piece of work looks like. Judicial views right from the beginning of the dark ages.

Ted Kennedy has it right...

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), another member of the Judiciary Committee, said the nomination was "based on weakness, not on strength." In a statement, he said Bush "picked a nominee whom he hopes will stop the massive hemorrhaging of support on his right wing."

Does anyone else have the feeling that Preznit Priestly Whipped got an earful since mid-week last week from the Gott mit Uns crowd out of Colordo Springs? Let's face it, with the way the republicans are going right now, it's gotta make them drop down on their knees and pray to Political Jesus that the mid-term elections are not tomorrow...because even though they're a year off, they are still likely to get an ass-kicking that they sorely deserve.

The Alito nomination is going to be some old-style hardball politics inside the beltway. The difference is that now the 49% who voted for Kerry are vindicated in their knowledge that the only straight fact in the 1600 Crew is that Mehlman is probably not. Anyone want to bet that the scandals and bullshit from Schiavo to Frist to Scooter are not slowly starting to register in the dimly aware brains of those sought-after "swing voters"? And that doesn't even count the Nekkid Emporer's Mess O'Potamian ClusterFuck.

1. Another uh-huh moment
   
2. Nutshell
   
3. Preznit Lovin' Fascisti
   
4. Friday 10
   
5. DoD hates the Military
   
6. Backstory
   
7. Jesus of Chaplainia
   
8. "All your uterii belong to the state"
   
9. Bi Ass
   
10. Busted!