Please, for the love of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, go and visit my good friend The Talking Dog. He writes one of the bestest blogs on the intertubes and should be a regular read for everyone.

If only for his awesome interviews with some of the folks who are involved in shaping the headlines of today.

Now, Fetch!!

It does seem that our buddy Abu has a tough time telling the same story twice...I caught this in the CNN article, but forgot to bring it up...

After high school, Gonzales joined the Air Force and was stationed at Fort Yukon, Alaska, where the Texas native passed the time playing midnight softball and enjoying the Northern Lights.

There, he met two Air Force Academy graduates who stoked his interest in the lofty military school. In 1975, Gonzales began attending classes, but he struggled with classes like physics and engineering. (Gonzales preferred English, history and social studies.)

After learning his eyesight would never pass pilot muster, Gonzales decided to enroll at Rice, where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science in 1979 before going to Harvard Law School. He graduated from Harvard in 1982, the same year his father died.

The academic requirements could not have been all that tough, in the 70's when they were screaming for pilot candidates in all the branches of the service, hell, I got in. And I was no academic superstar.

More to the point, Preznit Tortillas K. Bueno! somehow got into Air Force pilot training ... oh, never mind we know how that turned out...

Five-deferments Dick, who had more important priorities during Vietnam inferred the other day that more men and women need to go to Iraq. Because the terrorist bugbear will foller us'ns home if'n we don't clap loud enuff...

Our strategy in Iraq is clear, our tactics will remain flexible, and we'll keep at the work until we finish the job.
...
Ladies and gentlemen, one of the basic truths of the world we live in today is that George W. Bush is a man of his word. (Applause.) The policies of the United States reflect our ideals and the commitments we've made as a nation. And we will be consistent. We will not abandon our belief in democracy. We will not abandon our opposition to terrorism. And we will not abandon our commitment to the security of our friends and allies. Israel can count on the United States of America. (Applause.)

Yeah, so he's in contention with John Mitchell to be Worst Attorney General in well, a long, long time. As they say in the infomercials; "But wait, there's more!".

President Bush has placed a lot of faith in Alberto Gonzales over the last 12 years.

The embattled attorney general's resume glistens with appointments and nominations made by the 43rd president: Texas gubernatorial counsel, Texas secretary of state, Texas Supreme Court justice, White House counsel, attorney general.

...received the Hispanic Salute Award in 1989 from the Houston Metro Ford Dealers for his work in the field of education.

Oh, and let's not forget that Abu the Ghraib has never been a prosecutor, nor held any position as an officer of the court that would qualify him to understand the complexities and subtleties of being an actual prosecutor. His appointments to courts were, as noted, political and not based on any particular judicial philosophy or merit, other than being a full-time ass-kisser.

So yeah...

Solidifying his conservative credentials shortly after joining the White House team in 2001, Gonzales took a shot at affirmative action while conceding it may have gotten him where he is today.

"I know that I've been helped because of my ethnicity," Gonzales told the Los Angeles Times. However, he added, "Hispanics should expect nothing more than an equal opportunity. For us to now say that we should be given an opportunity because of our ethnicity, irrespective of our competence, means that we'll be discriminating against someone else who doesn't happen to be Hispanic."

It's amazing how tone-deaf the 1600 Crew can be. Well, maybe not so much. Beloved Leader, who is finally a "world traveler" (having been outside the US like twice in his life as an adult before his appointment to his current day job by Antonin Scalia and Sandra Day O'Connor) is off to South and Central America, where the beef is GREAT!

The president, for his part, has made a point of appearing focused on the goals of his six-day "social justice" tour, which will end Wednesday.

About 100 young children were stranded at schools and with baby sitters after U.S. authorities arrested hundreds of illegal immigrants in a raid on a factory which held $91 million (€69.3 million) in U.S. military contracts.
...
"We are particularly concerned about the Guatemalan community and the risk that they may be fearful about disclosing the existence or whereabouts of their children given their history with government agencies," Patrick wrote in a letter asking U.S. Representative William Delahunt to ensure U.S. authorities allow social workers access to the detainees.

"We are not aware of anyone who had any children that weren't being cared for," Raimondi said.

Unraveling, unraveling.

Social Justice tour, indeed. I wonder if their "Social Justice Tour '07" t-shirts were made in a Central American sweatshop for them.

To quote me ol' matey Skippy the Bush Kangaroo... Yes! We Coined That Term!

I hate to be blowing my own Horn O'Prescience, because I am sure that there are other bloggers far more worthy than moi who pointed this out back well, several years ago...but Abu the Greasy is no friend of America. Or at least non-republican, non-Bunnypants-lovin' America.

Mr. Bush said he was confident that Mr. Gonzales would be "a steward of civil rights" as head of the Justice Department. He praised Mr. Ashcroft as "a superb public servant" and said Mr. Gonzales, whom he called a personal friend, would be a worthy successor.

President George W. Bush has acknowledged "FBI shortfallings" connected with the disclosure that the bureau improperly used the USA Patriot Act to obtain thousands of business, financial and other records in the United States.
...
The improper use of provisions under the USA Patriot Act has troubled even Republicans in Washington.

"This is, regrettably, part of an ongoing process where the federal authorities are not really sensitive to privacy and go far beyond what we have authorized," said Senator Arlen Specter, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Oh, silly me. I got off the topic of Abu the Ghraib. I guess that the fact that Preznits automatically get deference in their choices for high office, even poor choices of inexperienced "yes men" resonates not at all with the Senate. That Abu has lied and lied again while sitting as a witness resonates with no one in the Senate. Spector let him testify not under oath probably because he knew he would be lying, and accepted it with all the gravitas of his magisterialness as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee after being told the "check was in the mail, and no, I won't cum in your mouth Senator".

Yeah, right.

The unraveling is beginning. Not because the republicans have gotten stupider, but because they have lost two things (1) the power to totally spin the message (although they do try, hard) and (2) the power to control subpoenas. The Democrats haven't necessecarily gotten smarter either (look at how they're dealing, or not dealing with Iraq), they have just managed to snag some airtime in front of cameras and in committee chairs.

So let the Games Continue!!! (and pass the popcorn)

Well, this little item has to make you wonder...

Halliburton Co., the energy services giant and controversial defense contractor, said Sunday it is opening a new corporate headquarters in Dubai in the Middle East.
...
One Washington corporate lobbyist said: "I think it ensures that there will be some interesting oversight hearings," since Democrats have been unhappy with Halliburton's no-bid contracts and what they believe is its poor performance.

The lobbyist, who requested anonymity so he would not jeopardize relationships with his clients, said the move raises several questions, among them how much did Halliburton receive in incentives to move to Dubai and what does it do to the company's tax structure.

"If there's a huge tax shift, then it's taking money from U.S. taxpayers while they're taking no-bid contracts," the lobbyist said.

Another reason VP Dick has earned his stipend... making sure that CheneyBurton screwed everyone to max advantage and then takes the proverbial powder. I wonder how many company records were moved to Dubai as "National Security" documents on the C-17 Darth Cheney rode around the Gulf in?

Just, you know, askin'....

1. A shameless plug...
   
2. One more Gonzo thing...
   
3. Fuck you, Dick Cheney
   
4. More Abu...
   
5. Social Justice?
   
6. Abu Gonzales
   
7. Escaping the Heat?