So how do you go from being the "Land of the Free, and Home of the Brave"? Well, take one part nanny-state politics, one part fear-mongering adminstrations and one part just general laziness and look what you get:

Citing a "real and substantial" threat of a terrorist bombing in New York's subways, a federal judge ruled yesterday that random police searches of passengers' bags and backpacks were constitutional because they were effective in helping to prevent an attack.

Rejecting a challenge to the searches by the New York Civil Liberties Union, Judge Richard M. Berman of Federal District Court in Manhattan found that the incursion on subway passengers' privacy was minimal enough to be justified by the deterrent effect on potential terrorists.

So much of the "Home of the Brave", eh? Maybe it needs to be changed to the "Home of the relatively insecure and perpetually terrified", but that's hard to work into a National Anthem, no matter how true it is, I guess.

As for the "Land of the Free" part, hell the 1600 Crew has three more years to take care of that part.

Yeah, really. Scalito is getting to the point where he can't ever lie convincingly anymore. He lied to the senate when he was confirmed as a federal judge about the Vanguard issues, and now he's trying to get everyone to believe his words of 20 years ago were all to suck up for a promotion. Like he's trying to get now ... so, was he lying then, or is he lying now?

Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. yesterday tried to tamp down criticisms of several past statements -- including his assertion that the Constitution does not protect the right to abortion -- by saying they were personal views or an advocate's work and not necessarily indications of how he might rule if confirmed, according to a key senator who quizzed him for more than an hour.

Alito's effort to distance himself from the recently disclosed 1985 documents came as liberal groups said the writings show him to be much more conservative than the newly confirmed chief justice, John G. Roberts Jr. Alito's explanation was meant to lessen the documents' impact, but it may expose him to accusations of insincerity or irresolution, advocates said.

Oh, but now we have features of coming attractions...

Several conservative groups, meanwhile, plan a major push beginning Monday to portray Alito's opponents as anti-God. Talking points for the effort, which will involve ads and grass-roots organizations, were laid out in a strategy memo by Grassfire.org, which opposes abortion and same-sex marriage. Alito's opponents are united by "an agenda to purge any and all references to religion from our public life," the memo says.

The coalition, which includes the Judicial Confirmation Network, plans to send 2.3 million e-mails on the subject and hopes to "flood Senate offices with letters, faxes and phone calls." It will be joined in the effort by Fidelis, a Roman Catholic organization that describes itself as "pro-life, pro-family and pro-religious liberty."

Interesting article about how Murtha's position is playing in his district, the folks who will ultimately send him back for his 18th term. Seems that his predilection for "bringing home the bacon" influences his constituents opinions. A lot. But Murtha's stature as a vet and respected congressman don't hurt. If the 1600 Crew are planning to try and Swiftboat Murtha, they're not going to get the John Kerry no-fight response.

For many who no longer support the war - and all those who never did - Murtha's call for a new direction fits their own conviction that the war is past winning. Others see such talk as a betrayal of patriotism comparable to the backlash against the Vietnam War.
...
"I've been going through this Iraq thing," he told locals at Latrobe. "We missed a window of opportunity.... We have to change direction, and that's going to happen. However [Bush administration officials] try to phrase it, it's going to happen. But I hope they listen to me, because less people will be killed."

It's a message that sets off strong - and mixed - views among his constituents, many of whom have ties to men and women serving in Iraq.

"I feel great about what he said," says Don Carns, a construction worker dropping in for lunch at the Byers-Tosh Post of the American Legion in Ligonier, Pa. "Bring the kids back. It's a millionaire's war, and the poor people suffer."

But combat veteran Chris Williams, in Johns-town, worries that Murtha's call for a pullout will demoralize Americans in Iraq and undermine a war effort that the US can't afford to lose. "It's a shame people are dying. I'm a Vietnam veteran, and it was a shame people had to die there, too. But it's the right thing," he says. "These people are free."

In historical terms, Murtha's stand on the Iraq war could prove to be as important as the late Sen. J. William Fulbright's turn against the Vietnam War in 1966. That move jump-started congressional opposition to the war.

"Fulbright was the senator who literally pushed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution through the Senate for Lyndon Johnson, then turned against the war," says Julian Zelizer, a congressional historian at Boston University. "With Murtha, it's the drama of a hawk's hawk saying, 'It's not working.' It's very powerful. That's why it's so hard for the administration to stop it."

It's going to be interesting to see how Murtha plays out, and how much support he gets from the Democratic leadership. Right now it's looking pretty strong, and that might begin to drive some of the "cut the baby in half" Dems to finally shit or get off the pot and start talking up Murtha's suggestions. Especially those triangulators who are ginning up "committees", if you know what I mean.

Well, it's started. Now that the thieving republicans are getting caught with their hands in every cookie jar open to them (and since they control everything, that's all cookie jars available), they have to say that, well, Democrat's do this too...gee, that would be what, the first attempt at bi-partisan governance since they took the House and Senate? Here's how Howie (aka Mr. Sherri Annis, republican mouthpiece) spins it:

Is the recent spate of corruption cases a growing problem for the Republicans, or is that just Democratic spin?
...
Of course, the Democrats don't have totally clean hands. Abramoff was friendly with some D's as well. Ohio's Jim (Beam Me Up) Trafficant is in jail on a 2002 bribery conviction. And Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson is under investigation over a telecommunications deal in Niger.

But Kurtz does provide exactly what his republican paymasters so desperately are seeking in this all-news all-the-time world: Cover. Each little bit of crap like what Kurtz puts out there lets someone else point to what he has written as factual, and then it becomes gospel that "All Dems as dirty as All Republicans" in about two news cycles (because heaven forfend, actual journalisism occur).

The best defense at this point seems like a good offense. Reid and Pelosi need to take an aggressive point position, followed by Howard Dean and others, like Bob Kerry and Bill Bradley ... squeaky-clean and utterly vanilla Democrats who are pissed at being tarred with brush of the Rove Blast Fax on corruption just for their party affiliation. We did a great job on Social Security...it's time to mobilize those efforts towards this issue NOW before we are overcome by republican talking head talking spin points

Weeeel, I guess it beats unemployment. But by how much, I'm just not sure. Seems that the Army is looking for about 78,000 "Armies of One", including officers.

The Army this month began contacting 78,000 people who previously served in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps to pitch them on the idea of leaving behind their civilian lives and returning for another stint in uniform, said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon.
...
Unlike in the past, they now can return to the Army without giving up their previous rank or undergo the rigors of basic training, said Hilferty, who described it as the first program of its kind for the Army.
...
Hilferty said the new program, which targets people who left the military within the past five years and particularly those who were in branches other than the Army, is not a sign of recruiting desperation.
...
About 7,000 former officers were among the 78,000 receiving recruiting letters that stated, "There is no higher calling than service in our armed forces, and this is your opportunity to answer the call to duty again."

I love this part of the letter:

"You've served our country before, and maybe you miss the adventure, camaraderie, teamwork and leadership opportunities that the military offers. If so, you can put your previous military experience and skills to work again as a soldier in the active Army," the letter adds.

Wouldja? If they sent you a letter? Serving my country again would be the biggest draw for me (that and flying a slick doing dust-off), serving this incompetant, dickheaded adminstrations foreign policy aims would be the biggest drawback.

The Rumsfeld Bullshit never ends (scroll down), does it?

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, are you concerned over -- and, in fact, is the United States looking into growing reports of uniformed death squads in Iraq perhaps assassinating and torturing hundreds of Sunnis? And if that's true, what would that say about stability in Iraq?

RUMSFELD: I'm not going to comment on hypothetical questions. I've not seen reports that hundreds are being killed by roving death squads at all.

We know for a fact that it's a violent country. We know for a fact that there have been various militias. We know that there have been some militias that have been Iran-oriented. We also know there have been some militias in the north that have been very helpful.
...
QUESTION: Well, sir, that's not a hypothetical, I don't believe. The Sunnis themselves are charging that hundreds have been assassinated, people shot in the head, found in alleys.

RUMSFELD: What you're talking about are unverified -- to my knowledge, at least -- unverified comments. I just don't have any data from the field that I could comment on in a specific way.

Do you, General?

PACE: I do not, sir, although I do know that the Iraqi government has said that they were going to investigate those kinds of allegations.

RUMSFELD: And they should. That's a good thing.

Look, it's a sovereign country. The Iraqi government exists.

There's also a political campaign taking place, and we ought to be aware of that, that there are going to be a lot of charges and countercharges and allegations. And they may very well be timed, as they are in every country in the world that has a free political system, they may be timed in a way to seek advantage.

We also will find in some cases that there will be investigations and that they will prove to have been valid. I just don't know. I can only talk about what I know.

That's life.

Everytime Rumsfeld opens his mouth he just condems these fools to their place on the shit-heap of history. This whole abortion over in Mess O'Potamia has the name "Bush" writ large on it, and "Rumsfeld" writ in just slightly smaller letters. Our leaders, our national disgrace for another century...

Oh, and Iraq is a sovereign country? I think there are alot of Iraqi's who might dispute that point. In fact, many are and violently at that...what an idiot is our SecDef. General Pace has to be so embarrassed to stand up there with him.

Yeah, so ol' reliable rinoDino Joe (who our pet troll seems to admire because he acts like a ...republican, imagine that...)

Time magazine Baghdad bureau chief Michael Ware on Morning Sedition this morning:

I and some other journalists had lunch with Senator Joe Lieberman the other day and we listened to him talking about Iraq. Either Senator Lieberman is so divorced from reality that he's completely lost the plot or he knows he's spinning a line. Because one of my colleagues turned to me in the middle of this lunch and said he's not talking about any country I've ever been to and yet he was talking about Iraq, the very country where we were sitting.

And then he probably wandered off looking for yet another pressitute to impress with his command of Unka Karl's talking points...

IMHO, the best WaPo editorial in a long time. Deserves to be reprinted and stuck up on every member of congresses door, every day until Novemeber of 2006. Remind them who they work for. And why.

No. Jeebus, the republicans who at this time last year were crawling up each others asses to co-sponsor yet another useless flag-burning amendment that the Dukestir had out there. Now they are "shocked! shocked! I tell you!" to find the extent of corruption he was involved with.

Concerned that the stain of former Representative Randy Cunningham's admission that he took bribes and evaded taxes could damage the party's prospects, President Bush and other Republican leaders issued strong denunciations of Mr. Cunningham's actions on Tuesday.
...
Though some Republican officials said Democrats in Congress were equally guilty of questionable behavior, including lobbyist-paid trips and underreporting of campaign contributions, they acknowledged that Republicans, because they control the White House and Congress, are being held to a higher standard by many voters. They also expressed shock and embarrassment at the extent of Mr. Cunningham's wrongdoing, which the president described on Tuesday as "outrageous."

Mr. Bush, answering a question about Mr. Cunningham's resignation from a reporter in El Paso, said members of Congress must take their legal and ethical obligations seriously.

"The idea of a congressman taking money is outrageous," the president said. "And Congressman Cunningham is going to realize that he has broken the law and is going to pay a serious price, which he should."

Why let's look at that:

* Cheney claimed that he supported the U.S. sanctions on Iraq, but the Financial Times of London reported that through foreign subsidiaries and affiliates, Halliburton became the biggest oil contractor for Iraq, selling more than $73 million in goods and services to Saddam Hussein's regime. (See http://gwbush.com/spots/postpage.html for a Washington Post article on the matter.)

Cheney has said publicly that he was unaware of Halliburton’s accounting machinations while he was CEO of the company. His Sgt. Schultz defense has been used before by the likes of Gary Winnick of Global Crossing, Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco, John Regas of Adelphia and Ken Lay of Enron, all of whom have been prosecuted by the Justice Department for cooking the books at their respective companies.

A story in the July 22, 2002 issue of Newsweek sets the record straight and proves that Cheney knew full well that Halliburton was engaging in accounting trickery to boost its stock and standing on Wall Street and he should be held accountable just like those other corporate evildoers.
...
The Washington Post summed up Cheney’s tenure at Halliburton this way on July 16, 2002 following revelations that the vice president made a $35 million windfall from his sales of Halliburton stock, right before the company’s share price crashed on the announcement that it was being investigated by a grand jury related to the company overbilling the federal government for its work at Fort Ord in California (which also took place under Cheney’s watch), an issue that is identical to current charges that the company has overbilled the government for its work in Iraq.

“The developments at Halliburton since Cheney's departure leave two possibilities: Either the vice president did not know of the magnitude of problems at the oilfield services company he ran for five years, or he sold his shares in August 2000 knowing the company was likely headed for a fall.”

Either way, the more evidence that surfaces related to Cheney’s role at Halliburton the more it becomes clear that the vice president is unfit to serve a second term in the White House.

35 million? As Amy Poehler said on SNL the other night: millions with an "M", that's so cute....

The new 1600 Crew motto? "Sunshine? Fuck no...that's what Undisclosed Locations are for...next question?"

Wait a minute...

"Quitting is not an exit strategy," he said in opening remarks at a news conference. "It would be a formula for putting the American people at still greater risk. It would be an invitation for more terrorist violence.

"Rather than thinking in terms of an exit strategy, we should be focused on our strategy for victory," he added.

Why didn't I immediately recognize the inherent genius of this simple plan. I'm so going to have to ride the short bus to the unemployment office tomorrow.

Now, what was that Strategery for Victory™© again?

So, Preznit Onion-Thin Skin is cruising over to a boo-free zone to give us all his speechwriter's (and Unka Karl's) view of the War on Terra™ (WJWT? - Who Jesus Would Torture?).

What does it say about the president of the United States that he won't go anywhere near ordinary citizens any more? And that he'll only speak to captive audiences?

President Bush's safety zone these days doesn't appear to extend very far beyond military bases, other federal installations and Republican fundraisers.

Tomorrow, Bush gives a speech on the war on terror -- at the United States Naval Academy. Then he attends a reception for Republican party donors.

Today, he visits a U.S. Border Patrol office, then attends a Republican fundraising lunch.

Yesterday, he spoke at an Air Force base and a Republican fundraiser.

MATTHEWS: I like him. Everybody sort of likes the president, except for the real whack-jobs, maybe on the left -- I mean -- like him personally.

R Preznit...he's just an All-American...

Fuck-up.

Our first-ever fill in the blank day here at DV. Not amazingly, surprisingly or even in the realm of the unexpected, the Preznit of Vice is not gonna tell us about his travel expenses, even though he has to by law. Fuck laws, those are for the rest of America, not the ruling 1600 Crew Klaven...

Open-government advocates say that Vice President Cheney is to executive branch secrecy what darkness is to the night.
...
More recently, a government watchdog group has called attention to less noticed records that Cheney has sought to keep private: travel costs.

In a report this month, the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity said Cheney and his staff have sidestepped regulations that require annual reporting of travel expenses of more than $250 received from outside groups. The center, which focuses on ethics and public service issues, said previous vice presidents routinely disclosed such payments for lodging, travel and food when the veep and his staff made appearances at colleges, think tanks and trade associations.
...
Cheney's office says nothing is amiss. In three letters since 2002 to the Office of Government Ethics, which collects the travel reports, David S. Addington, then Cheney's general counsel, noted that the reporting requirement applies to the "head of each agency of the executive branch."

"The Office of the Vice President is not an 'agency of the executive branch,' and hence the reporting requirement does not apply," wrote Addington, who this month replaced I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby as Cheney's chief of staff.
...
Yet, according to the center's research, Cheney has given 23 speeches to think tanks and trade organizations and 16 at academic institutions since 2001 -- apparently all at taxpayers' expense.

"[I]t appears that his office labels them 'official travel,' " the center said. "As a result . . . the public is kept largely unaware of where he and his staff are traveling, with whom they are meeting and how much it costs, even though tax dollars are covering the bill."

You know, it's never the big things that bring 'em down...it's the smallest details that sometimes get'em. The problem with a government-by-stealth is that the hide all the details, and it's not until years later we find out the extent of their criminality.

You would think someone so fired up about "honesty" in government would behave differently. Well five years of raw power have proven only one thing to The Dick...he thinks he can get away with anything. Maybe not for much longer.

In the years after Watergate Congress could not pass legislation to prevent this crap from happening fast enough. Over successive years and administrations and congresses, they were stripped away as "cumbersome", "unnessecary" yadda yadda...maybe the only good thing about the 1600 Crew criminals from Delay to Preznit My Guts Their Blood will be a recognition that not all legislation has to only benefit special interests and big money. Some can benefit Americans as well.

Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a Navy "ace" so close to being booted out of the Navy for being a piss-poor officer, before he shot down his last MiG is finally reaping the fruits of his own stupidity. Met Duke as a passing acquaintance when he was the (no shit) senior pilot in his squadron flying Phantooms off the Coral Maru. He was a legend in his own mind. A hell of a pilot though...unfortunately for him, being a hell of a stick is not always enough to build a successful Navy career on...

So now he's pleaded guilty to that crap from last summer...

Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy and tax charges and tearfully resigned from office, admitting he took $2.4 million in bribes to steer defense contracts to conspirators.

Cunningham, 63, entered pleas in U.S. District Court to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud, and tax evasion for underreporting his income in 2004.

Cunningham answered "yes, Your Honor" when asked by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns if he had accepted bribes from someone in exchange for his performance of official duties.

Later, at a news conference, he wiped away tears as he announced his resignation.
...
After the hearing, Cunningham was taken away for fingerprinting and released on his own recognizance until a Feb. 27 sentencing hearing. He could receive up to 10 years in prison.

He also agreed to forfeit to the government his Rancho Santa Fe home, more than $1.8 million in cash and antiques and rugs.

In a statement, prosecutors said Cunningham admitted to receiving at least $2.4 million in bribes paid to him by several conspirators through a variety of methods, including checks totaling over $1 million, cash, rugs, antiques, furniture, yacht club fees and vacations.

I guess you can say this about Duke ... he'll probably be "born yet again" in prison, and have a felony conviction in common with his son...

In Boston,Todd Cunningham, 29, the son of U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA),
was sentenced on November 17 to 2-1/2 years in federal prison for marijuana smuggling. Rep.
Cunningham, who has supported the death penalty for drug traffickers, made a tearful plea to
U.S.Judge Reginald C. Lindsay for leniency for his son. Prosecutors supported the sentence, which is
half the mandatory five year term for such an offense, because Cunningham provided information about
other offenders involved in the smuggling operation. It was Cunningham's first conviction. (Bill Murphy,
"Son of lawmaker sentenced to prison," San Diego Union Tribune, November 18, 1998.)

At least he's got his Navy Pension...

Interesting...there are nine veterans of Mess O'Potamia planning runs for congress next year, and eight of them are Democrats.

Over the din of a bustling downtown coffee shop, the 41-year-old infantry officer and lawyer leans across the table, and outlines his latest mission.

''You either have to buy into the rhetoric or stand up. I am standing up."

Lentz, who as a major in the 82d Airborne helped to rebuild the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, is running for Congress. He is one of at least nine veterans vying to become the first soldiers of the post-9/11 military to be elected to the House of Representatives, according to party leaders.

They say their experience makes them well-suited to help successfully extricate the United States from Iraq and to more effectively fight the war on terrorism, which they fear is being lost in the Muslim world's court of public opinion.

Eight of the nine are running as Democrats. At least three are lawyers. Most went to the front lines from the Reserves or the National Guard. Some have been recruited for office by party leaders; others say they are trying to get the national parties to pay attention to them.

If the status quo seat holders are feeling a little threatened by these folks, fuck 'em. Perhaps it's time to look for new blood, men and women who are already proven to be unafraid of a fight and a little adversity in reaching their goals and taking care of their troops and now the folks "back home".
...
Regardless of political party, most say they are running against the current political order, which they believe has failed to collaborate on a unified strategy.How do we get these guys to talk to us so we can start spreading the word that we want to help? I really, really, have no problem tossing out a Democrat who has sucked up to the 1600 Crew for their personal gain/access/whatever and supported all the policied of Mess O'Potamia without question if they are going to be challenged by someone who has been there and bought the T-shirt.

I do read my email...

1. American the chicken-hearted
   
2. Scat Lito
   
3. Murtha's Base
   
4. The Smear Campaign is Underway...
   
5. Gee, sign my ass up....
   
6. Boggled again...
   
7. Der LieberMonkey Chronicles:
   
8. Read it...
   
9. Do they get it?
   
10. Dumbshit Donald