Rising Hegemon

Prelude to the new Kent State

2011-10-27T05:40:00.001-05:00

Guy does a couple tours in Iraq and then comes home to get shot in the face when he dares point out assholes got rich and undertaxed while he was serving his country.

It sounds like a story he should be in, but does not involve Dick Cheney.

Ok, the world is strange

2010-08-23T20:46:00.001-05:00

I am just curious about something. If all of the media outlets assume that the Democrats are going to lose and lose big in a super smashing utterly devastating soul crushing way without any possible hope of a smidge of dignity because the public is so angry about the economy:

Why do they never mention that Bush created this stupendous clusterfuck?!

Just asking.

It's fixed...too late

2004-07-20T16:32:00.000-05:00

Go HERE to go to the new website.

Rising Hegemon 2 -- Electric Boogaloo

2004-07-16T20:16:00.000-05:00

For those who have us bookmarked this is the new address for the Blog, same name, slightly different web address. This link will stay up, but no longer posting on it...but the archive will remain. DeDurkheim and I will be here. http://rising-hegemon.blogspot.com/ Thanks for your patience and visiting.

2004-07-16T15:22:00.000-05:00

Taking a Break Until Blogger helps me fix the mess they've created. Attaturk.

2004-07-16T13:32:00.000-05:00

Conundrum No, I'm not talking about Blogger's new tools, which have caused the blog's margins, to become so unattractive. I'm talking about the dilemma for Jerry Falwell and his ilk (is there a better word for snide comments than "ilk"? I don't think it can be bettered -- maybe matched by a "cabal" or a "clique" but not surpassed). Poor Jerry and the fundies, as the NY Times points out they are tools used by the GOP, but failure still makes them happy: Failure on the cultural front serves to magnify the outrage felt by conservative true believers; it mobilizes the base. Failure sharpens the distinctions between conservatives and liberals. Failure allows for endless grandstanding without any real-world consequences that might upset more moderate Republicans or the party's all-important corporate wing. You might even say that grand and garish defeat — especially if accompanied by the ridicule of the sophisticated — is the culture warrior's very object.
So let me completely satisfy the nutjobs by holding up my end of the bargain with ridicule (although my sophistication is definitely in question). While Jerry does his best to flaunt the laws regarding tax-free status, I wonder if he thinks about the Hobsian Dilemma in which God has clearly put the United States according to his own logic train. Jerry infamously said, shortly after 9/11 (like two days) that the attack occurred in large part because God had withdrawn his protection over the United States because of those damned sodomites. Does Jerry ever think that maybe God won't allow the anti-Gay Marriage amendment to pass ... because of all the ass-fucking? Maybe he is punishing us for the sodomy by making sodomy legal? That would really show us who's the boss. "Who is the pitcher and who is the catcher now biatches?" Or, is it the alternative? Maybe God has no problem with the sodomy. "Plug away my randy little creations -- God just wants you to be happy, and if that trips your trigger, enema away!" A real conundrum.

2004-07-16T08:54:00.000-05:00

For those of you who are Wondering? I don't know what the hell BLOGGER has done now. They put up new formatting for posts last night, but as for the margin crap...I did NOTHING and this is what I've got. Sorry for the inconvenience.

2004-07-16T08:42:00.000-05:00

Our [new] Despot? Once upon a time, of course, the CIA had its man in Baghdad works his way into the Baath Party. Eventually that man became Saddam "Fucking" Hussein [Not to be confused with Saddam "Pure as a newborn Lamb" Hussein]. It worked for about 40 years until he turned out to be Noreiga with an army. Never one to just let things go because it didn't work out to well the first time, "Woodrow Wilson-Lite" decided to get back with the program and our newest former CIA agent plant is also reportedly accelerating the whole despot thing. Iyad Allawi, the new Prime Minister of Iraq, pulled a pistol and executed as many as six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station, just days before Washington handed control of the country to his interim government, according to two people who allege they witnessed the killings. They say the prisoners - handcuffed and blindfolded - were lined up against a wall in a courtyard adjacent to the maximum-security cell block in which they were held at the Al-Amariyah security centre, in the city's south-western suburbs. They say Dr Allawi told onlookers the victims had each killed as many as 50 Iraqis and they "deserved worse than death".
Now, in fairness, Allawi denied this story in its entirety just like Saddam denied possessing WMD's. But the informants told the Herald that Dr Allawi shot each young man in the head as about a dozen Iraqi policemen and four Americans from the Prime Minister's personal security team watched in stunned silence.
Wow, now it's getting even better isn't it?

2004-07-16T07:35:00.000-05:00

Yet Another Brilliant Satirical Animation On the heels of Bush/Kerry singing Woody Guthrie, comes this brilliant animation from SF Gate Cartoonist Mark Fiore. It's very very good. Thanks to Meteor Blades at Kos.

2004-07-16T07:02:00.000-05:00

Joe Wilson -- Sorry Rethugs...He's Telling the Truth Like Rick Santorum at an animal shelter; like John Cornyn when he tried to put the moves on the tres sexy Yertle the Turtle; the Right-Wing has struck out again. Granted, Bob Novak's hyponotic teeth are a powerful force to be reckoned with, but when the reaches are so transparent, so desperate, so banal, and so predictable, they lose their potency faster than Mike Ditka and Bob Dole on a saltpeter diet. In Salon today, the Ambassador strikes back, just an excerpt: First conclusion: "The plan to send the former ambassador to Niger was suggested by the former ambassador's wife, a CIA employee." That is not true. The conclusion is apparently based on one anodyne quote from a memo Valerie Plame, my wife, sent to her superiors that says, "My husband has good relations with the PM [prime minister] and the former Minister of Mines (not to mention lots of French contacts), both of whom could possibly shed light on this sort of activity." There is no suggestion or recommendation in that statement that I be sent on the trip. Indeed it is little more than a recitation of my contacts and bona fides. The conclusion is reinforced by comments in the body of the report that a CPD [Counterproliferation Division] reports officer stated that "the former ambassador's wife 'offered up his name'" (page 39) and a State Department intelligence and research officer stated that the "meeting was 'apparently convened by [the former ambassador's] wife who had the idea to dispatch him to use his contacts to sort out the Iraq-Niger uranium issue." In fact, Valerie was not in the meeting at which the subject of my trip was raised. Neither was the CPD reports officer. After having escorted me into the room, she [Valerie] departed the meeting to avoid even the appearance of conflict of interest. It was at that meeting where the question of my traveling to Niger was broached with me for the first time and came only after a thorough discussion of what the participants did and did not know about the subject. My bona fides justifying the invitation to the meeting were the trip I had previously taken to Niger to look at other uranium-related questions as well as 20 years living and working in Africa, and personal contacts throughout the Niger government. Neither the CPD reports officer nor the State analyst were in the chain of command to know who, or how, the decision was made. The interpretations attributed to them are not the full story. In fact, it is my understanding that the reports officer has a different conclusion about Valerie's role than the one offered in the "additional comments." I urge the committee to reinterview the officer and publicly publish his statement. It is unfortunate that the report failed to include the CIA's position on this matter. If the staff had done so it would undoubtedly have been given the same evidence as provided to Newsday reporters Tim Phelps and Knut Royce in July 2003. They reported on July 22 that: "A senior intelligence officer confirmed that Plame was a Directorate of Operations undercover officer who worked 'alongside' the operations officers who asked her husband to travel to Niger. But he said she did not recommend her husband to undertake the Niger assignment. 'They [the officers who did ask Wilson to check the uranium story] were aware of who she was married to, which is not surprising,' he said. 'There are people elsewhere in government who are trying to make her look like she was the one who was cooking this up, for some reason,' he said. 'I can't figure out what it could be.' 'We paid his [Wilson's] airfare. But to go to Niger is not exactly a benefit. Most people you'd have to pay big bucks to go there,' the senior intelligence official said. Wilson said he was reimbursed only for expenses." (Newsday article "Columnist Blows CIA Agent's Cover," dated July 22, 2003). In fact, on July 13 of this year, David Ensor, the CNN correspondent, did call the CIA for a statement of its position and reported that a senior CIA official confirmed my account that Valerie did not propose me for the trip: "'She did not propose me,' he [Wilson] said -- others at the CIA did so. A senior CIA official said that is his understanding too." There is more...much more at the link. It's a take down, but as usual the wingnuts have thrown out their meme (blogger contract fulfilled for July 2004) and little -- nay nothing -- can stop them from spewing it on Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly et al for the next several weeks. Of course the three of them -- and most other wingnuts -- haven't read the actual Senate Report or the matter Wilson addresses, let alone what Wilson writes. No, they read what another wingnut writes -- for example Steno Sue of the incredible reading skills [Iran, Iraq, who cares]. Steve Gilliard has more.

2004-07-16T04:09:00.000-05:00

What a lovely little lie: Bush's BIG Lie that sold the War, Exposed. James Woolsey, former CIA director and unapoligetic neo-con, has been -- as usual -- on the airwaves as much as possible decrying his successors and doing what he can to defend the Republic of FUBAR. Woolsey still insist for example, like Dick Cheney, that there was strong evidence of a Saddam-Al Qaeda connection, a drumbeat he has been pushing so long he is more cult member than policy expert. Via this report from Knight-Ridder comes the story (not discussed by the Senate in its report) of how Woolsey subverted the CIA to take the now thoroughly debunked Chalabi relative known as "Curveball" to the Department of Defense and his fellow neo-cons, through another defector Maj. Mohammad Harith . Curveball & Harith became the Bush Administration's shining piece of intelligence on Saddam's "mobile weapons labs", used so famously by Colin Powell at the UN in the greatest Powerpoint Presentation ever made by a 6th Grader. The fact that Harith & "Curveball's" information was complete bullshit, and as soon became known, palpably so, didn't matter to those determined to have the lovely little war they really wanted. R. James Woolsey's role as a go-between was detailed in a classified Defense Department report chronicling how the defector's assertion came to be included in the Bush administration's case for war even after the defector was determined to be a fabricator.
Again, remember the Bush Administration's contention that "we went to war because we all thought this stuff was true" (which they knew to be false) and how the GOP is trying to cover for them. For example, Pat Robert's statement yesterday: Mr. Roberts said he was "not too sure" that the administration would have invaded if it had known how flimsy the intelligence was on Iraq and illicit weapons. Instead, the senator said, Mr. Bush might well have advocated efforts to maintain sanctions against Iraq and to continue to try to unearth the truth through the work of United Nations inspectors. "I don't think the president would have said that military action is justified right now," Mr. Roberts said. If the administration had been given "accurate intelligence," he said, Mr. Bush "might have said, 'Saddam's a bad guy, and we've got to continue with the no-fly zones and with inspections.' "
This notion that Bush would NOT have invaded is, of course, all unadulterated crap. An apologia from Roberts for that which Bush himself is pathologically unable to offer in any fashion. Hell, Cheney is still leading the charge, which Bush has to follow that all the things disproven are still true -- and Woolsey is one of the more prominent foot soldiers. It all comes down to this: THEY KNEW THEIR PRIME PIECE OF INFO, PUSHED FOR PUBLIC CONSUMPTION WAS WRONG, BUT THEY PUSHED IT ANYWAY!! Colin Powell before the United Nations, February 5, 2003: One of the most worrisome things that emerges from the thick intelligence file we have on Iraq's biological weapons is the existence of mobile production facilities used to make biological agents. Let me take you inside that intelligence file and share with you what we know from eyewitness accounts. We have first-hand descriptions of biological weapons factories on wheels and on rails. The trucks and train cars are easily moved and are designed to evade detection by inspectors. In a matter of months, they can produce a quantity of biological poison equal to the entire amount that Iraq claimed to have produced in the years prior to the Gulf War.
Although Iraq's mobile production program began in the mid-1990s, UN inspectors at the time only had vague hints of such programs. Confirmation came later, in the year 2000. The source was an eyewitness, an Iraqi chemical engineer who supervised one of these facilities. He actually was present during biological agent production runs. He was also at the site when an accident occurred in 1998. 12 technicians died from exposure to biological agents.
By this time, Curveball's information was being used not only by Powell, but by others, including the President. After several meetings, a DIA debriefer concluded that some of Harith's information "seemed accurate, but much of it appeared embellished" and he apparently "had been coached on what information to provide." ...
However, further intelligence assessments in April, May and July 2002 questioned his credibility - including a "fabricator notice" issued by the DIA. Nevertheless, Harith's claim was included in an October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate and cited by Bush in his January 2003 State of the Union message.

Yep, another lie in the Bush State of the Union -- unrelated to the Yellow Cake Lie (and it is a lie Rethuglicans). In January 2003, the "Codpieced Crusader" said the following:

From three Iraqi defectors we know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, had several mobile biological weapons labs. These are designed to produce germ warfare agents, and can be moved from place to a place to evade inspectors. Saddam Hussein has not disclosed these facilities. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

Two of the three, were Harith & Curveball, the other likely an Iraqi from the Iraqi National Congress (Chalabi's organization, maybe the great Conman himself) nodding enthusiastically to Curveball's story. Yeh, real credible.

So there you have it. It's plain for all to see (though some will refuse -- "it's all too complicated" for Professor Reynold's I presume). Remember what Dick Clarke said (never really contradicted) that on September 12, 2001, Bush came up to him and made it clear he wanted whatever evidence he could get to connect Iraq to the attack of September 11th? Well, that seems especially damning in light of this newest evidence.

-- We want to invade Iraq.

-- We need some evidence to invade Iraq.

-- Let's throw out whatever we can now and then hope we get lucky.

-- I'm a War President.

No, You are a:

WAR MONGERER!

2004-07-15T20:42:00.000-05:00

Jacuzzi Lawyer Earlier today over at uberblog Atrios, currently being run, while the master is on vacation, by the Four Guest Bloggers of the Apocalypse (War, Pestillence, Famine, and Pie)[actually they are doing great] we saw bits of a transcript of John Edwards being a recently reformed "Jacuzzi Lawyer". This accusation came from odious bowtie fetishist Tucker Carlson. As the post went on to say, Edwards involvement with Jacuzzi's was focused on representing a young girl and her parents after the former's guts had been sucked out by a defective drain. The Odious Carlson undoubtedly snarled this line with the full blown preppy derision that can only come from those who are from old money toward rich by merit. But what Carlson apparently either forgot or didn't know is that a certain Republican compadre of Chimpy McFlightsuit may have a different impression of "Jacuzzi Lawyers":

By Josh White Washington Post Staff WriterWednesday, June 19, 2002; Page B02The 7-year-old granddaughter of former secretary of state James A. Baker III died when she became trapped in a whirlpool and drowned in McLean, Fairfax County police said yesterday. Virginia Graham Baker of McLean was playing with other children in a friend's whirlpool on Alps Drive during a graduation party Saturday when she accidentally got caught in the pool's drain. She was stuck underwater and was unable to free herself, police said. A family member found her, and it took two adults to dislodge her, authorities said. Several people who were at the party then tried to revive the girl, who was taken by helicopter to Inova Fairfax Hospital and pronounced dead. Virginia was the daughter of James A. Baker IV, who is the son of the former cabinet secretary.

-- Washington Post, June 19, 2002, Page B02

Wonder what James Baker thinks of somebody who represents victims of such a measure. You know very well his grandaughters death is being litigated or has been settled. So Tucker -- you are an Ass.

2004-07-15T05:36:00.000-05:00

Shocker! Really now is this surprising Sully? ALLAWI ON SADDAM: He insists that the old dictator had contacts with al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. Someone tell the New York Times.
Former CIA Operative, Anti-Saddam Insurgent in the 1980s and 1990s, relying upon American Troops to defeat a new insurgency, in all fashions beholden to the current American Administration, proclaims this and we are supposed to swallow it? Well, considering the bunk you've swallowed from Bush himself I guess you would think so. But I'll pass.

2004-07-15T05:04:00.000-05:00

Oh CRAP! Via the Poor Man comes this excerpt from a Hersh speech that will no doubt travel at light speed throughout the blogosphere...as it already has...dammit when Atrios is on vacation you've got to beat FOUR bloggers. Anyhow, it is very, very depressing. Seymour Hersh says the US government has videotapes of boys being sodomized at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. "The worst is the soundtrack of the boys shrieking," the reporter told an ACLU convention last week. Hersh says there was "a massive amount of criminal wrongdoing that was covered up at the highest command out there, and higher." ... "The disaffecion inside the Pentagon is extremeley accute," Hersh says. He tells the story of an officer telling Rumsfeld how bad things are, and Rummy turning to a ranking general yes-man who reassured him that things are just fine. Says Hersh, "The Secretary of Defense is simply incapable of hearing what he doesn’t want to hear." The Iraqi insurgency, he says,was operating in 1-to-3 man cells a year ago, now in 10-15 man cells, and despite the harsh questioning, "we still know nothing about them...we have no tactical information.”
There is video of the entirety of this speech here. Kos has this story too, so does Oliver Willis, undoubtedly more do as well. Criminy I thought posting before 6:00 a.m. would occassionally give me a leg up. Apparently, I'm a lazy bastard. If this is true, all I've got left in regard to Bush is SHAME and ANGER.

2004-07-15T04:58:00.000-05:00

Not a Good Sign A general perusing of right-wingers over the last couple of months leads to one conclusion. It's one thing for the folks out of power to make the case as to why the incumbent has to go. But when your side has the incumbent, and all you ever do is attack his challenger and "hope for the best" in regard to the incumbent's policies what kind of shape is your side really in? That sounds a lot like what Republicans would have been saying in 1932.

2004-07-14T12:50:00.000-05:00

Sweet, Sweet Republican Love Unable to share in that flaming love between a man and the Gamera of his choice, GOP operatives are doing their best to work up a froth over another thing, as Kos notes in this selection from the Dallas News (subscription required). Opponents of John Kerry have hired a Dallas-area private investigator to gather information aimed at discrediting his military service, say several veterans who served with the Massachusetts Democrat in Vietnam. Several veterans who have been contacted in recent days accused the private investigator, Tom Rupprath of Rockwall, of twisting their words to produce misleading and inaccurate accounts that call into doubt the medals Mr. Kerry received for his service. "They're just distorting things," said Jim Wasser, who served with Mr. Kerry. "They have nothing to go after John Kerry for, so now they're trying to discredit him." Mr. Rupprath was hired by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth on the recommendation of Merrie Spaeth, a Dallas public relations executive assisting the anti-Kerry group.
What great guys. Of course, as Kos further says, I guess its easier to try to attack Kerry's war record than defend Bush and Cheney's complete and utter lack of one.

2004-07-14T08:44:00.000-05:00

Attaturk, is No Economist And my lack of interest in economics compounds monthly. But I imagine that if I was the Preznit I would want the economy to be solid in an election year (or a re-appointment year as the case may be). I would imagine I wouldn't want consumer sales to start going down. So this cannot be good news for Chimpy McTaxCut: U.S. retail sales slumped in June, dropping 1.1 percent on lower auto sales, the Commerce Department estimated Wednesday. It was the biggest decline in 16 months. Retail sales thus fell in two of the three months making up in the second quarter. Read the full release. Excluding a 4.3 percent drop in auto sales, retail sales fell 0.2 percent in June, matching April's decline. Economists had been expecting overall sales to fall 0.7 percent, with ex-autos anticipated to rise 0.2 percent, according to a CBS MarketWatch survey. See Economic Calendar.

2004-07-14T08:21:00.000-05:00

A Bonafide Right-Wing Intellectual Abandons the Flock of Flacks Francis Fukuyama, who gained praise in the early-90s for pulling the Hegellian Chestnut out to explain we were really at the end of history (OK, not terribly accurate, but neither was Hegel). Well the Owl of Minerva has flown the Bush Coop. Fukuyama was one of the founders of the Project for the New American Century, but unlike nutjobs like Mylroie, has brains larger than his dogma. Fukuyama began to distance himself from the administration during the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The tension between the two came to a head prior to the invasion of Iraq. Fukuyama opposed the war. Fukuyama is still angry at the Bush administration since they refuse to admit to the mistakes they have made. Fukuyama had warned that after the war, Iraq would be dragged into an internal conflict and would export terror to the world. Fukuyama said that because of those reasons he could not vote for Bush in the upcoming elections. He added that he has an important place among the right wing and could affect the outcome of the elections; however, he explained that he would not carry out any studies in that direction because he is not eager to fight with 'old friends'. In his well-known work of political philosophy 'The End of History and the Last Man', Fukuyama argues that history is directional and that its endpoint is capitalist liberal democracy.

2004-07-14T04:57:00.000-05:00

Obviously YOU PEOPLE Aren't Scared Enough A Message from the Chimp Intelligence Agency: The polls are showing a bump up for the Kerry-Edwards ticket. With that in mind -- nay, because of it -- the CIA would like to remind you, that though the nation's threat level is set at the permanent baseline of yellow -- we are all gonna die if this trend continues. Not that we are going to bump the level up to ORANGE and all. We cannot afford that...so we will just tell you to pay special attention to Pat Boone's Jacket Color. Obviously, we advise all of you to run back to the comforting bosom of our Chimperor in Chief. Otherwise, just spend all of your time being afraid, being very afraid. We will not allow these terrorists to destroy ~~the Reichstag~~ our way of life. Now, watch this drive. But do not get too close to the President all you gay people -- and you black people, if you could get just a bit closer so we can put you up on the "Compassion Page" that would be great.

2004-07-14T04:43:00.000-05:00

Christopher Hitchens...Mind Reader Blow Job by Intern and Whitewater, HUGE scandals. Outing CIA Operative, eh, it was all piffle. So sayeth Christopher Hitchens, divining the minds of all those who alter his predetermined course. Hitchens is as much a contrarian on this as Dubya. But HOW can he read minds? Oh right.

2004-07-14T04:10:00.000-05:00

C'mon Now, it isn't like he read it or anything From today's NY Times: The White House and the Central Intelligence Agency have refused to give the Senate Intelligence Committee a one-page summary of prewar intelligence in Iraq prepared for President Bush that contains few of the qualifiers and none of the dissents spelled out in longer intelligence reviews, according to Congressional officials. Senate Democrats claim that the document could help clear up exactly what intelligence agencies told Mr. Bush about Iraq's illicit weapons. The administration and the C.I.A. say the White House is protected by executive privilege, and Republicans on the committee dismissed the Democrats' argument that the summary was significant.
Now, is it more disturbing they won't hand it over, or that Bush makes WAR DECISIONS by PAMPHLET? What's next? The Wisconsin Dells? -- Damn You, Tommy Bartlett's Watershow! In other news, Bush doesn't like Gay Marriage because he read a Jack Chick cartoon.

2004-07-14T03:27:00.000-05:00

Repressed Sexuality Pics of the Day Pat Boone takes time out from visiting the First-Class section of GITMO to endorse the FMA and give Ricky an "eyefull". Saying that turtles are only good for tyin' fire-crackers to, the President expresses his preference for nuzzling eagles. Lynne Cheney announces that a crestfallen Dick will have to make amends by proofreading her next lesbian novel instead of Mary. Lifelong Bachelor encourages protection of heterosexual marriages...and hiding stashes of child porn better. Meanwhile, in other news. It turns out that President Bush and Kenny Boy Lay are sharing the same lawyer. Oopsy. A picture of said lawyer is found below. You said "Lay", ha, ha, forced double entendre.

2004-07-13T19:07:00.000-05:00

A Little Somethin' for Senator John Cornyn and his speechwriters I know this is supposed to be a fucking family blog, but it's past the family hour where I am so its ... Rising Hegemon after Dark...ok, now, use the "wucka-chuka" porn soundtrack of your choice. Ah, Sexual Release Thanks to Rorschach

2004-07-13T15:53:00.000-05:00

Dear Republicans Given the debate going on in the Senate right now and the proclivities of your base... Are you sure you want the guy on the right running for the Senate? Just wondering.

2004-07-13T12:02:00.000-05:00

Is the Media starting to wake up? Naw... but Chimpy and Trusty are getting a few tough questions. Man, imagine if all of this: starting a needless war that did not focus on real foreign problems, causing serious economic destabilization and shakeups, lying about domestic and military policy on a regular basis, destabilizing the Middle East, creating animosity among almost all our major allies, letting a lion share of the terrorist get away after a terrible attack in New York City and the Pentagon, creating a foreign policy that increases the recruits and sympathy for terrorism and especially those who led the attack in New York City, overlooking and explaining away high oil and gas prices because most of your buddies are involved in that industry, announcing vague yet dire security pronouncements tied to losing the political spotlight, relaxing security at airports while leading a supposed war to make America safer, attacking a decorated war veteran on military issues where you maybe did some national guard service even though people you supposedly served with do not remember you, having led a wild drunk and drugged adolescence that lasted until you passed thirty until a supposed religious conversion where you embraced one of the most extreme Christian sects, taking money, support, and policy advice from questionable corporations and indicted corporate ceos... and more that I have forgotten off of the top of my head... had occurred to Bill Clinton. And they tried to impeach him over lying about getting a blow job? The double standard hurts my head whenever I try to understand how we can have such a gulf between perception and reality. Republicans... wake up and realize the guy who is on your team is a loser. Take a look at this from The New York Times. Justin Hunt, a young man from Wildomar, Calif., about 75 miles east of Los Angeles, was determined to join the Marines. When recruiters pointed out that he was grossly overweight, he spent a year losing more than 150 pounds. Then he signed up and was promptly sent to Iraq, where he was killed last Tuesday in an explosion. He was 22. Three American soldiers, not yet publicly identified, were killed yesterday in two separate attacks on military patrols north of Baghdad. On Saturday four marines were killed in a vehicle accident near Falluja. And five more American soldiers were killed Thursday in a mortar attack on a base in the Sunni-dominated city of Samarra. For what? Even as these brave troops were dying in the cruel and bloody environs of Iraq, the Senate Intelligence Committee in Washington was unfurling its damning unanimous report about the incredibly incompetent intelligence that the Bush administration used to justify this awful war. Hey, its a start, right?

2004-07-13T09:01:00.000-05:00

What is Intelligence, anyway? These days when truth is lies and reality is whatever gets you elected, we need a big dose of forget-the-post-modernism there is truth that can be yelled at the politicians who think they are powerful. Hear those chants against ya Mr. Chaney? The 9-11 and Iraqi-intelligence failures or disgraces of the CIA's Directorate of Intelligence or the so-called DI or these days DIF (for Directorate of Intelligence Fuckups) traces back nearly twenty five years to the days after Ronald Reagan's election when ideological conservatives (neo and otherwise) took aim at the top of the CIA (not to mention the FBI, DEA, BATF, and other fed law agencies) and the agencies supposed historic traditions of objective analysis and persuaded "political realities" to guide CIA analysis. The amazing stories of how the Reagan-Bush administration broke the will of the CIA, CIA analysts, and others in the "Intelligence" industry and why President Clinton refused to address the crisis of right wing ideology that took hold are the prequels to today's disgrace of George Tenet. Maybe the whole damn house of cards will be revealed. Naw, who am I kidding? For the full story -- excerpted from Robert Parry's new book, Secrets and Privilege: The Rise of the Bush Dynasty -- check out our friends at to Consortiumnews.com.

2004-07-13T08:19:00.000-05:00

Need to take a break for a few hours The quips in that last post really hurt something...something deep inside. I think you'll agree with me, it was very painful.

2004-07-13T08:14:00.000-05:00

In a Move certain to Confuse the Jetson's Dog Cialis is guaranteeing free erections. So let me get this straight...no free speech within a mile of Chimpy, free elections may be postponed, free Tibet is a song that died fifteen years ago. But in the land of the free, a promised chubby is a sacred right! Damn. Remember, those with elections lasting beyond four years should consult their bloggers.

2004-07-13T07:26:00.000-05:00

Enabler Sully, Sully, Sully...would you offer cocaine to Robert Downey? Heroin to Courtney Love? Pretzels to the Codpieced Crusader? BUY HITCH A DRINK: I'm not sure this is the best idea, but who am I to object? Instead of paying our favorite writers, why not reward them with Johnny Walker Red?
UPDATE: Commenter Rob at Pandagon had a line I will put here because I wish I had thought of it: So when does the fundraiser to buy Chris Hitchen's a liver start?

2004-07-13T07:18:00.000-05:00

Not the First to Say this but... In one day Chimpy McFlightsuit proclaiming us safer from terror because we invaded Iraq, while his minions talk about how Al Qaeda will attempt to strike before elections and while others talk about delaying them for the first time EVER. Call me unpersuaded Jackass.

2004-07-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

200 Years and all I got was this lousy T-shirt I have to admit, this is pretty funny. It didn't take long for the Burrs to antagonize the Hamiltons. "Honestly, when I started this, I really had no ill will towards the Burr family," said Doug Hamilton, the great, great, great, great, great grandson of the former Treasury Secretary, who participated in the reenactment. "But the Burr people wanted to bring Hamilton down. At one forum, a Burr person said, 'Well, we all know that Hamilton was gay.' I mean, what is that? They said their guy wasn't at fault. Obviously, this whole thing is about making their guy look good. It's gotten really intense."

2004-07-13T06:22:00.000-05:00

Rick Santorum -- Hidden Agenda The most manly heterosexual gay basher since Gary Bauer has centerstage in this week's politically timed derision of "how all the gay people are ruining the country" debate. This, of course, takes valuable time away from muslim jokes and book burnin' but Ricky is up to it. "Bill's Ass, real or surgically enhanced? So firm, so very, very firm" One is never too old to get that special "Santorum" touch to your special place. That's a lovely tractor Farmer Brown but, um, where are your goats? Oh, Oh, that buttplug is coming loose. Look, baldness is a sign of significiant levels of testosterone. Room 1232, 9:30 this evening. Just think about it. Lot of drinking...lot...of...drinking.

2004-07-13T04:14:00.000-05:00

Trouncing the First Amendment Highlights from a Bush slaughter of the english language. When Melissa Zech walked out of her house to post a sign welcoming President Bush to Kutztown, she was dismayed at the messages protesters had already put up near a soldiers memorial across Main Street — ''Indict Bush.'' ''Outsource Bush.'' ''Kerry, take us out of the Bush Leagues.'' ''To say, 'Get rid of Bush' when he's coming to your hometown is obnoxious,'' said Zech, who teaches fifth grade in Reading.
As opposed to starting a war on false pretenses...that isn't obnoxious at all Ms. Zech. Andrea Torcivia, 22, who made a sign saying ''We Luvya Dubya,'' said the president was a role model for her generation. Her grandfather, a World War II veteran, had a deep sense of America. Her generation, Torcivia said, needed someone to look up to. ''President Bush is a man who taught my generation what it means to be an American,'' said Torcivia, a recent Kutztown University graduate. ''He understands the price of freedom, and now, watching him as a leader, I do, too.''
...taught us what is means to be an American? Um, no. ''He's doing a great job,'' declared Donna Lutz, Lebanon County's recorder of deeds. ''Even though no one wants war, we have to finish the job in Iraq.''
As to the second half, perhaps...but for somebody who is supposedly included in "no one wants war", Bush certainly managed to get there soon enough didn't he? ''For the president to come through a town like ours, it's a real special treat,'' said McGonigle, 55, as Lee Greenwood's ''God Bless the USA'' played in Watt's living room. ''I don't really think people in Kutztown really appreciate it.''
Actually Mr. McGonigle -- playing Lee Greenwood repeatedly over a loud speaker would cause me to really appreciate the possibility of living in Canada...well that and the health care coverage. I've heard John Phillip Sousa my whole life and NEVER gotten sick of it, why must our ears be inflicted with Lee Greenwood? ''They're idiots,'' declared Ryan Anthony, 12, in line with his parents from Reading. ''They think they can change people's minds, even though they can't.''
The real Bush constituency...the 12 year old vote. Later Mr. Anthony went home and burned ants to a crisp with a magnifiying glass. Meanwhile the lovely respect for freedom of thought continued from outside: After Bush went into the hall, Jim Wright, one of the protesters, returned to his car and found it had a broken window. Glass littered the back seat, and various items inside were shuffled around. An officer told him the Secret Service broke into the vehicle because two metal military ammunition containers made it look suspicious. Wright said he uses the containers to carry camping gear.
Sweet.

2004-07-12T16:54:00.000-05:00

War Mongers concerned that profiteering might be in jeopardy? With great effort and concern War Mongers have attempted to protect their lucrative contracts with Chimpy, Trusty, Rummy, and the pure as driven snow, brand spankin' new Iraqi government through the efforts of their bestest pals in the hallowed halls of Congress. To recognize these efforts, Mother Jones, has created the Didly Awards to recognize the incredibly important efforts that Congress is focusing upon. With billions in Iraq construction contracts pending last year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) borrowed World War II-era language for an amendment that would criminalize war profiteering. But the Republican leadership not only removed it; they also raised the limit on no-bid contracts from $7.5 million to $200 million, inaugurating a new era of raiding the U.S. Treasury, all of it legal. So, I once spent an hour trying to find a q-tip that I dropped, would that qualify?

2004-07-12T16:49:00.000-05:00

Chimpy and Trusty, Inconsistent? While Chimpy and Trusty are trying to convince the public that it is acceptable to move the date of the election, they are also watering down security at airports? Is this an effort to create a self-fulfilling prophecy? I hate to think about unproven or non-empirical conspiracies but consider what weakening security training and rules at airports a few months before the election might create?

2004-07-12T15:37:00.000-05:00

Mike Ditka -- Rising to the Occasion? In a situation just crying out of double entendres Levitra's prominant spokes-stiff, Mike Ditka, is pulsating in anticipation of being named as a potential Republican Senate candidate in Illinois. "I'm getting excited about it. I'm just thinking about it," Ditka told WGN-TV, Chicago.
Though he hasn't consumated a conquest since January 1986, his supporters are aroused at the possibility of a shot with the Coach in what promises to be a long-hot, sweaty, summer of campaigning. Given these are Illinois Republicans shouldn't they be calling Buddy Ryan?

2004-07-12T06:50:00.000-05:00

Another Week in Stupid Captions But I'm not bitter. Lynne Cheney says that it was out of character for her Husband Dick to use the "F-Word" in conversation. "He is much more likely to take his frustration out in other ways, like drowning kittens, shooting dogs, or biting the heads off gerbils", the Second "Lady" said. Sydney cowered last week under the terror that was flatulent Barney. After introducing the President, Senator Rick Santorum awaits his manly hug and soul kiss. In a campaign snafu, President Bush spoke against Gay Marriage at the Lancaster, Pennsylvania YMCA. The uh, war was justified, um, because...well, there were all those ah, um, no that's not it. Just a another term and it will come to me. Interim CIA Director John E. McLaughlin became the first mime to occupy the post. In a surprise interview on June 20, 2004, Osama Bin Laden tells Al Jazeera how many weeks it will be before he is revealed to be in custody of U.S. military forces. President Bush recreates his favorite scene from his favorite movie. The Death of Spock.

2004-07-12T04:43:00.000-05:00

Lynne Wishes to Maintain Literary License Lynne Cheney, author of SISTERS, has bravely taken on the task of being married to "Mr. Happy" all these years. In a news article she states she opposes her husband's CURRENT position on Gay Marriage prohibitions being the provence of the Federal Government. Dick's current position is otherwise known as a FLIP-FLOP for those keeping score. "I think that the constitutional amendment discussion will give us an opportunity to look for ways to discuss ways in which we can keep the authority of the states intact," Cheney told CNN's "Late Edition."
Um, OK, the best way to keep the authority of the states intact is to attempt to take that authority away. I'll try to wrap my head around that one for a while. Oh, and an update from Mary Cheney held hostage: The Cheneys' daughter, Mary, is director of vice presidential operations for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign. She held a public role as her father's assistant in the 2000 campaign and helped the GOP recruit gay voters during the 2002 midterm elections. She has been less visible this year while traveling with the vice president or working at campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va. As the election nears, she will play a more public role, campaign aides say.
Hey, Mary, may I suggest you formally change your name to Mary "Vidkun Quisling" Cheney?

2004-07-12T04:38:00.000-05:00

You know Ron Reagan Jr. is nice and all Especially since all the GOP can roll out is Michael, who is ... well, the FREEPER child. But Ron Jr. has always been known as a liberal, as has his occasionally unclothed sister turned earth-mother. What I'd really like to see, when Ron Jr. speaks, is a page out of the 1984 GOP Convention and have Nancy on a big screen behind him waving toward him, as St. Ronnie did to her then. Now THAT would be something.

2004-07-12T04:23:00.000-05:00

Look Out NeoCons they are on your Trail The thing that conservatives are currently ignoring is that the report of the Senate Intelligence Committee opens the door to all sorts of questions. Especially the foggy role of the Department of Defense and the Vice President's Office. It looks like the trail to the DOD has been noticed at least: The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday that they want to know whether the Pentagon knowingly withheld information from the CIA and ran a secret intelligence-gathering operation in building a case for invading Iraq... Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," the committee's chairman and vice chairman, Republican Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas and Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, respectively, expressed concern over actions by the Defense Intelligence Agency and Douglas Feith, undersecretary of defense for policy. Roberts cited false information on Iraq that the Bush administration had taken from a source code-named Curveball.
This of course backs up a theory I and many others have had. "Everything Doug Feith touches, smells of manure".

2004-07-12T04:12:00.000-05:00

Nice Summary of the Republic of FUBAR By SWOPA at Needlenose.

2004-07-12T03:51:00.000-05:00

"I Want to Mess with Texas" And today's most unsurprising story finds Tom DeLay's hoofprint upon a solicitation of a sizeable donation from ENRON back in the Spring of 2001 to enable the sham redistricting effort in Texas. DeLay requested that the new donation come from "a combination of corporate and personal money from Enron's executives," with the understanding that it would be partly spent on "the redistricting effort in Texas," said the e-mail to Kenneth L. Lay from lobbyists Rick Shapiro and Linda Robertson. The e-mail, which surfaced in a subsequent federal probe of Houston-based Enron, is one of at least a dozen documents obtained by The Washington Post that show DeLay and his associates directed money from corporations and Washington lobbyists to Republican campaign coffers in Texas in 2001 and 2002 as part of a plan to redraw the state's congressional districts. DeLay's fundraising efforts helped produce a stunning political success. Republicans took control of the Texas House for the first time in 130 years, Texas congressional districts were redrawn to send more Republican lawmakers to Washington, and DeLay -- now the House majority leader -- is more likely to retain his powerful post after the November election, according to political experts. But DeLay and his colleagues also face serious legal challenges: Texas law bars corporate financing of state legislature campaigns, and a Texas criminal prosecutor is in the 20th month of digging through records of the fundraising, looking at possible violations of at least three statutes. A parallel lawsuit, also in the midst of discovery, is seeking $1.5 million in damages from DeLay's aides and one of his political action committees -- Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) -- on behalf of four defeated Democratic lawmakers. DeLay has not been named as a target of the investigation. The prosecutor has said he is focused on the activities of political action committees linked to DeLay and the redistricting effort. But officials in the prosecutor's office say anyone involved in raising, collecting or spending the corporate money, who also knew of its intended use in Texas elections, is vulnerable.
Looks like there may be some Raid sprayed in the direction of real-life Dale Gribble.

2004-07-12T03:26:00.000-05:00

I Just Received Notice I'm on the Ready Reserve List How can this be? I never even served in the first place? Well, other than working in a restaurant when I was younger. I worked at Dairy Queen, this brings new meaning to the term "soft serve".

2004-07-11T11:02:00.000-05:00

Retread Sunday Link Via Uggabugga, this trenchant point from the LA Times. Ladies and gentlemen, keep your eyes on the unclassified report. Ignore the one the Bush administration had access to. Now go back to whatever you were doing. In the Los Angeles Times we read: (emphasis added) In a classified National Intelligence Estimate prepared before the Iraq war, the CIA hedged its judgments about Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction, pointing up the limits of its knowledge. But in the unclassified version of the NIE — the so-called white paper cited by the Bush administration in making its case for war — those carefully qualified conclusions were turned into blunt assertions of fact, according to the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on prewar intelligence. So, the decision makers at the White House were aware of the CIA's reservations. Initially, we wondered why the report was issued on a Friday, a day when news tends to get lost over the weekend, because it seemed to totally vindicate Bush. But now it's apparent that the report, dispite Pat Roberts best effort, does contain damning information about what the White House knew.
I'd like to thank Uggabugga for saving me work, and doing it better. MEANWHILE, Professional blogger, amateur cat fancier, Kevin Drum notices this also in the L.A. Times about the infamous Chalabi relative Curveball, who apparently was disbelieved by the CIA rep., the ONLY CIA rep. who'd had contact with him -- and was then told to shut his trap: "As I said last night, let's keep in mind the fact that this war's going to happen regardless of what Curveball said or didn't say, and the powers that be probably aren't terribly interested in whether Curveball knows what he's talking about," the CIA official wrote, according to information released Friday by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to support the Senate Intelligence Committee's blistering, 511-page critique of America's prewar intelligence. "However, in the interest of truth," the e-mail continued, "we owe somebody a sentence or two of warning, if you honestly have reservations." No evidence suggests such a warning was given, however. And Curveball — the chief source of repeated U.S. assessments that Iraq had a mobile biological weapons program — turned out to be a fraud.
As Drum rightly points out -- this clearly signifies that the invasion was believed to be a fait accompli.

2004-07-11T06:59:00.000-05:00

Yet More Courage from the Codpieced Crusader President Bush has a courageous basis for not going to speak in front of the NAACP during the length of his full term...a feat unmanaged in three-quarters of a century. Of course, this isn't the real quote but I imagine it comes down to this..."I'm not going to speak in front of that many angry black people". Brave, Brave, Sir George. Mr. Courage said this in reality: "I would describe my relationship with the current leadership as basically nonexistent," Bush said, as reported by Knight Ridder Newspapers. "You've heard the rhetoric and the names they've called me."
Sticks and stones may break his bones, but, OH, here in the land of alleged "free speech" those words can really hurt him. Poor Chimpy, he's an avoider not a uniter.

2004-07-10T20:07:00.000-05:00

2004-07-10T16:19:00.000-05:00

All in the Family Dear Steno Sue, You don't know me, but I know of you and I know there is a reason that you are famed for that nickname. Why? Because instead of doing your own work, you are known for putting in the Washington Post whatever dictation the Republicans give you. Today from either Scooter or Karl you got this idea that somehow the Senate Intelligence Report made Joe Wilson into a liar. Sadly, your own incompetence and laziness has been easily exposed. And one more thing. Like the Preznit, you seem to have difficulty spelling. Iraq is NOT spelled I-R-A-N. That is its neighbor. Thanks for your inattention. Yours in Chimpy, Attaturk.

2004-07-10T10:56:00.000-05:00

The BFuck Stops Here What good is a blog if you cannot post again and again about a question you cannot get your brain wrapped around. Remember the tired, but still relevant Truman saying, THE BUCK STOPS HERE... Well, the Republicans sure pulled that old saw out a bit against Clinton when he demurred on whether an intern gave him the "slurpee of luv", but I don't recall anybody saying it was George Tenet's fault. But in the last two days alone we've gotten the following claims from the GOP: 1. The Dog ate my records when I was in the Nat'l Guard; and 2. The basis I used for taking the country to war pretty much turned out to be a complete crock of shite, but don't look at me, I'm just a simple President, it was Tenet's fault. THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE LEADERSHIP? Remember what a Leader Chimpy McFlightsuit is supposed to be, his steely resolve, his determination... And now not a jot, not a tittle, not an iota is supposed to be laid at the doorstep of this Smirking Cipher? Oy! November cannot get here soon enough.

2004-07-10T10:32:00.000-05:00

Look out ladies, Tractor-Man gets Out The Supreme Court's controversial sentencing decision last week has resulted in the early release of the infamous Washington, D.C.'s "tractor man." The Washington Post reports that Darin' Dwight Watson, still wearing his sexy navy blue jail uniform, was set free, nearly 16 months after driving his tractor onto the Washington Mall. I wonder what his single ad would look like? Let me see... Single, sexy, and angry North Carolina tobacco farmer who singled handedly held off police and beat federal prosecutors as a God fearin' and gun toting domestic terrorist who held off the police in a 47-hour standoff. "If I had to do it all over again, I would only do it with a government hatin' woman at my side."

2004-07-10T10:07:00.000-05:00

Another Election Debacle waiting to happen? Is this an example of more Chimpy and Trusty racist shenanigans in order to win? Especially considering the way the misadministration has been courting the hispanic vote in Florida. Florida election officials used a flawed method to come up with a listing of people believed to be convicted felons, a list that they are recommending be used to purge voter registration rolls, state officials acknowledged yesterday. As a result, voters identifying themselves as Hispanic are almost completely absent from that list. Of nearly 48,000 Florida residents on the felon list, only 61 are Hispanic. By contrast, more than 22,000 are African-American. About 8 percent of Florida voters describe themselves as Hispanic, and about 11 percent as black. In a presidential-election battleground state that decided the 2000 race by giving George W. Bush a margin of only 537 votes, the effect could be significant: black voters are overwhelmingly Democratic, while Hispanics in Florida tend to vote Republican. ... Florida undertook a similar purge of voter rolls in 2000, but that list was shown to include the names of many who were not felons. The new effort at such a purge, begun by Governor Bush's administration in May, was supposed to be free of those problems. But after a state judge last week ordered the release of the current list, it became clear that thousands of felons who had been granted clemency were still on it. Democrats said yesterday that the latest disclosure should be the last straw. "Either this administration is acting incompetently in regard to voters' rights,'' said Scott Maddox, the Democratic state chairman, "or they have ill will toward a certain class of voters. Either way, it's unacceptable.''

2004-07-10T09:49:00.000-05:00

Coalition of the Willing Dropping So, the coalition of the willing to accept Chimpy's money and to be part of his boyhood adventure in Iraq is dropping. The Philippines are still preparing to withdraw troops. This would further destabilize the condition in Iraq since the Philippines assist, albeit in a small way, with civic and humanitarian projects. More disconcerting and destabilizing is whether the 4,000 strong Filipino workers will remain. These workers support all of the US military bases in Iraq by performing necessary basic labor to keep these camps running. What happens if they leave? I guess Chimpy and Trusty will be calling up more national guard troops.

2004-07-10T09:37:00.000-05:00

Caption of the Day I love doing these easy posts where I say "something of the day." Anyhoo, our friends at Zac Attack have a funny caption on the powers of chimpy. This is indisputable proof that we are not the only funny caption makers outside of Fark. Maybe this picture explains how chimpy is able to fool the public? Watch the dancing ball, watch it!

2004-07-10T09:23:00.000-05:00

Trusty and Wolfy lie, lie lie... ...And what is the result? Of course, we were told that: "Our soliders will be welcomed as liberators!" - Paul Wolfowitz. But away from Neo Con fantasy-land, we find that the Iraqi war have created the problem it meant to solve. From The NYT: The 10th-century Imam Ali shrine, one of the most revered sites in Shiite Iraq, where once pilgrims came by the millions to kiss the giant wooden doors, is under the control of his ragtag militia. His men, even after bruising battles with American troops, still guard the checkpoints leading to the old city. His recruits, some too young to shave, stand sentry at the shrine gates, barking at women old enough to be their mothers. At 23, with no more than a primary school education and a short stint as a soldier in Saddam Hussein's army, Mustafa Jabbar says he and his wife stand ready to be martyrs for Mr. Sadr's movement. If need be, he said, they will volunteer their first born as well, a baby boy, now 45 days old. "I will put mines in the baby and blow him up," Mr. Jabbar said. He has named the baby Moktada. I can't wait to see how they lie in the future. Wait a minute, sure I can.

2004-07-10T09:13:00.000-05:00

Quote of the Day "So in conclusion, during a critical time in our nation's history, 18-month period spanning the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, to the invasion of Iraq on March 20th, 2003, the credibility of the intelligence community, which is the spear tip of all actions, and particularly under a doctrine of preemption, was significantly compromised." - Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) Compromised by whom, I wonder. For an analysis of the failure of policy directing and subverting intelligence efforts see William Bowles work.

2004-07-10T06:54:00.000-05:00

The Fingerprints of Warmongering The GOP has done its best to spin the Senate Intelligence Report on the CIA into a document showing how the poor President was duped by his own intelligence agencies. This is primarily because the GOP is the majority and they were able to postpone the investigation of the White House use of intelligence until after the election. Of course, despite what the Committee says and how it is being spun, we were alive in the last two years and know that many had their doubts back then -- you may remember them by the label that FoxNews, CNN, and MSNBC labeled them by in late 2002 and early 2003: "Un-American". Even under the best case scenario for Bush this paints a disturbing portrait. That Bush isn't smart enough to ask the right questions or wonder weather he is getting information he wants to hear, as opposed to what he should hear. Do you really want such a person making decisions on the biggest of all issues, war or peace? But that is, as said above, the "best case scenario". The more likely scenarios are even more profoundly disturbing: In a classified National Intelligence Estimate prepared before the Iraq war, the CIA hedged its judgments about Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction, pointing up the limits of its knowledge. But in the unclassified version of the NIE — the so-called white paper cited by the Bush administration in making its case for war — those carefully qualified conclusions were turned into blunt assertions of fact, according to the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on prewar intelligence. The repeated elimination of qualifying language and dissenting assessments of some of the government's most knowledgeable experts gave the public an inaccurate impression of what the U.S. intelligence community believed about the threat Hussein posed to the United States, the committee said. Dedicating a section of its 511-page report to discrepancies between the two versions of the crucial October 2002 NIE, the panel laid out numerous instances in which the unclassified version omitted key dissenting opinions about Iraqi weapons capabilities, overstated U.S. knowledge about Iraq's alleged stockpiles of weapons and, in one case, inserted threatening language into the public document that was not contained in the classified version.
There are three likely scenarios IMO describing how these changes came about. First, is the point above, CIA incompetence, exacerbated by the "W"incompetence of the President. Bad news all around, but both fixable, the former through internal reform, the latter through the ballot. The second and third are more malevolent, but equally off-putting. Either the CIA was trying to give the Bush Administration what it THOUGHT it wanted to hear, OR it gave the Bush Administration what it was INSTRUCTED to provide. [Note: The Senate Report attempts to resolve the Bush Administration of the latter, I remain unconvinced]. Either scenario portrays incredible recklessness, either implicitly, or explicitly Bush and his confederates took us to war via the *wink* or by fiat.

2004-07-09T21:22:00.000-05:00

Can I have a sword with that sandwich? Bye son, see you when I get back from conquering Asia! London Restaurant offers a DNA test to see if you are related to Genghis Kahn. What's next a genetic test to see if you are related to William the Conqueror? Or Chimpy? I wonder how randy he was in his youth? Maybe his love for 'Merica is a love for 'Merica.

2004-07-09T20:28:00.000-05:00

File under Oh My God! In another example of how crass, craven, and desparate Chimpy and Trusty are on the campaign trail, apparently they are willing to use any dirty trick like saying that Kerry is a supporter of violence against women. When will this end? Hopefully in November. And I thought that only Rising Hegemon wrote funny photo captions! From The San Francisco Chronicle President Bush is using Laci Peterson's name in a campaign commercial that premieres today. The San Francisco Chronicle says the ad criticizes Democratic opponent John Kerry for missing Senate votes while on the campaign trail, yet returning to oppose a measure that made it two separate crimes to harm a pregnant woman and her fetus. The 30-second spot says Kerry has missed over two thirds of the Senate's votes while campaigning for president, yet he "found time to vote against the Laci Peterson law that protects pregnant women from violence. Kerry has his priorities. Are they yours?" The Kerry campaign responded with a six-page rebuttal that documents Kerry's prosecution of rapists and support for victims as a Massachusetts prosecutor 25 years ago. It quotes a Washington Post article that claims Bush has spent 43 percent of his time in office on vacation or at a vacation spot. Peterson and her unborn son were discovered dead in the San Francisco Bay last year. Her husband, Scott Peterson, is on trial for the killings. The law cited, which applies only in federal cases, became an issue in the abortion debate by recognizing a fetus as a separate victim. Peterson is being charged under state laws.

2004-07-09T17:08:00.000-05:00

Transcriptions Released Senators Pat Roberts (Repugnicrat from Kansas)and Jay Rockefeller (Democrat from West Virginia) speaking at a press conference during the release of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report. These findings speak for themselves. Now, the debate over many aspects of the U.S. liberation of Iraq will likely continue for decades, but one fact is now clear: Before the war, the U.S. intelligence community told the president, as well as the Congress and the public, that Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and if left unchecked would probably have a nuclear weapon during this decade. Well, today we know these assessments were wrong. And, as our inquiry will show, they were also unreasonable and largely unsupported by the available intelligence. ROBERTS: The report the committee is releasing today seeks to explain how that happened. And I want the American people to know — we both want the American people to know that the committee’s 12-month inquiry into the U.S. intelligence community’s prewar assessments with regard to Iraq is without precedent in the history of the committee. The committee has looked behind the intelligence community’s assessments to evaluate not only the quantity and quality of the intelligence upon which it has based those assessments, but also whether or not those assessments themselves were reasonable. The report contains a detailed and a meticulous recitation of the intelligence reporting and the evolution of the analyses. From the details, a report emerges that is very critical of the intelligence community’s performance. This has not been a pleasant task, but it is based on fact. Now, while criticism is never easy to accept, I think professionals understand the need for self-examination. And let me emphasize the men and women of the intelligence community are, first and foremost, true and dedicated professionals. Now, this report is long in detail. I encourage all of you to take the time to digest as much of it as you can. Obviously, while it is too large for either one of us to summarize, I can point out some of the highlights. First of all, most of the key judgments in the October 2002 national intelligence estimate on Iraq’s WMD programs were either overstated or were not supported by the raw intelligence reporting. Here are some examples of statements from the key judgments. ROBERTS: ”Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear program. Iraq has chemical and biological weapons. Iraq was developing an unmanned aerial vehicle, a UAV, probably intended to deliver biological warfare agents. And all key aspects, research and development and production, of Iraq’s offensive biological weapons program are active, and that most elements are larger and more advanced than they were before the Gulf War.” Now, these are very emphatic statements. Simply put, they were not supported by the intelligence which the community supplied to the committee, and they should not have been included in the NIE. Second, in the committee’s view, the intelligence community did not accurately or adequately explain the uncertainties behind the judgments in the October 2002 national intelligence estimate to policy-makers, both in the executive branch and here on Capitol Hill. Intelligence analysts are charged with interpreting and assessing the intelligence reporting and with clearly conveying to policy-makers the difference between what they know, what they don’t know, what they think, and then making sure that the policy-makers understand that difference. As the report details, they did not do this with respect to the October 2002 NIE. Third, the committee concluded that the intelligence community was suffering from what we call a collective group-think, which led analysts and collectors and managers to presume that Iraq had active and growing WMD programs. This group-think caused the community to interpret ambiguous evidence, such as the procurement of dual-use technology, as conclusive evidence of the existence of WMD programs. ROBERTS: While we did not specifically address it in our report, it is clear that this group-think also extended to our allies and to the United Nations and several other nations as well, all of whom did believe the Saddam Hussein had active WMD programs. This was a global intelligence failure.

2004-07-09T16:53:00.000-05:00

Is Ralph Nader in the Right-Wing Pocket? Apparently Nader is getting a great deal of money and, more importantly, support from the Repugnicrats. The GOP is begging republicans in Michigan to help Nader get on the ballot. Claiming the Democrats will try "every dirty trick possible" to win this election, the republican alert is thick with irony and paints the republicans in neon shades of hypocrisy. ----- Original Message ----- From: "MIGOP Activist Alert" To: Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 6:27 PM Subject: Mich. GOP Alert: Help get Ralph Nader on the ballot! ***ALERT***ALERT*** TO: Republican Leaders FR: Greg McNeilly Executive Director Your help is needed in the next five days to ensure that Michigan voters are not disenfranchised. Michigan Democrats are trying to block an independent candidate from having access to the ballot in Michigan. More specifically, they want Nader off the ballot. In 2000, Ralph Nader got 1.8% of the vote in Michigan. According to Detroit News pollster Steve Mitchell (6/30/04) Ralph Nader is currently pulling 4% among Michigan voters. Those voters deserve the option and choice! Michigan Democrats today announced that they fear Ralph Nader's access to the ballot will prevent John Kerry from winning Michigan. In 1992 and 1996 Ross Perot was on the Michigan ballot. Many Republican strategists believed this hurt Republican candidates. It may have. But the Republican Party never tried to deny access nor disenfranchise voters by opposing ballot access for Perot. This election will be close. Michigan Democrats are going to try every dirty trick possible. While the Michigan Republicans are expending no funds to assist Nader's efforts, we are seeking volunteer help to ensure Nader's ballot access.

2004-07-09T13:40:00.000-05:00

Plame Game Update I'm not making a guess on the Valerie Plame thing, which will almost certainly announce whether there will be indictments or not before the Summer is over, other than to say, I don't see anyway it will help Bush while at the same time it could utterly politically destroy him. If no one is indicted, it isn't like the GOP is going to crow about it now is it? After all the original story is embarrasing enough. But if Scooter Libby or Karl Rove are indicted, well that's bad. Libby and its a real hit, Rove or higher and its massive and we might as well swear in Kerry early. The only card they could play is the never particularly effective "whiner card". This from today's the WaPo's Daniel Froomkin brings more teasing on the subject to light. Investigative reporter Murray S. Waas, writing on the American Prospect online, has some slightly dated but still intriguing scuttlebutt about the Justice Department's investigation into who leaked the identity of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame. Plame's identity was leaked to journalists in an attempt to counter allegations by her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, that the White House had exaggerated the potential nuclear threat posed by Iraq. Waas writes that before a special counsel was appointed to lead the investigation in December, Attorney General John D. Ashcroft was getting frequent, detailed updates "relating to the potential culpability of several close political associates in the Bush administration." Waas's sources tell him that, for instance, "Ashcroft was provided extensive details of an FBI interview of Karl Rove, President George W. Bush's chief political advisor." "In addition, sources said, Ashcroft received a briefing regarding copious notes maintained by I. Lewis Libby, the chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney." Waas writes that some of Libby's notes describe efforts to discredit Wilson by the mysterious cabal known as the White House Iraq Group. Little is known about that group beyond what Barton Gellman and Walter Pincus wrote in The Washington Post last August. But it included Rove, Libby, adviser Karen Hughes and other top White House players. Anyway, once Ashcroft bowed to political pressure and appointed U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald as a special counsel, the briefings ended. And as Waas writes, "Fitzgerald's intentions currently remain one of the most tightly held secrets in Washington."
Wow, could MANHANDS be in on it too? All I know is that most political junkies, I'm really wanting to know what the hell is going on.

2004-07-09T11:46:00.000-05:00

Today's Reading, "1984: Chapter 4" What is the surprise within today's reading? What happened in the unseen labyrinth to which the pneumatic tubes led, he did not know in detail, but he did know in general terms. As soon as all the corrections which happened to be necessary in any particular number of The Times had been assembled and collated, that number would be reprinted, the original copy destroyed, and the corrected copy placed on the files in its stead. This process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers, but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound-tracks, cartoons, photographs -- to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance.

2004-07-09T09:51:00.000-05:00

Tennet Falls upon his Sword This just in: Senate Intelligence Committee report slams CIA for failures in the run-up to the Iraq war. Apparently the report blasts Tennet for the CIA's repeated failures to analyze intelligence and respond to terrorist threats. George Tennet responses: "Phhhhhttzp! I am leaving office in a few days. Talk to Chimpy and Trusty!" Death toll in Iraq reaches 1,000. Damn you Chimpy and Trusty.

2004-07-09T09:43:00.000-05:00

Terrorist Alerts, Terrorism, and Politics Are the repugnicans trying to equate democrats with terrorists? Not only is God on the Republicans' side but now Americans are being made to believe that terrorists and democrats are in cahoots somehow. I wonder if there will be a small attack around or on the republican convention to try to influence the election. That would be something wouldn't it? Imagine the sympathy, the quickie investigations, the assertions on talk radio, the essays by the 101st Keyboarders, the nut wing (let alone Ann Coulter's screaching), and the efforts of The Washington Moonie Times all directed toward creating the perception that the republicans are feared by the terrorists? Or worse. If a terror attack were as certain and as imminent as Ridge is making out, wouldn't he raise the color-coded terror threat immediately? He's leaving it at yellow, right where it is. And when he was asked straight out yesterday, Ridge could only shrug. "Mr. Secretary, do you have any specific credible intelligence that terrorists are targeting either the Democratic Convention or the Republican Convention?" "We do not," he had to admit. Watch carefully now. Something cynical is happening here. With each new pointless warning, with each new breathless plea, those around George W. Bush are trying to link the terrorists with the Democrats. Al-Qaida wants to "influence the American election," we are told. The terrorists hope to "pull another Spain," where the ruling party was voted out after the Madrid subway was bombed. The implication isn't accidental, and it gets real ugly real fast: A vote for John Kerry, we are supposed to conclude, is a vote for Osama bin Laden. Now this is preposterous, of course. Kerry's terror-fighting plans are at least as tough as Bush's. Across a long public career, he has never been soft on terrorism. And honestly, no one has a clue what Osama thinks of the U.S. election, if he thinks anything at all. Osama doesn't endorse, whatever Karl Rove might imply. Plus, you'd have to say that al-Qaida hasn't done too badly under George W. Bush, and not just because Bush was president during the 9/11 terror attacks. Bin Laden is still a free man. So is bin Laden's chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri. And so is Mullah Mohammed Omar, the supreme Taliban leader and bin Laden's most important ally. And the war in Iraq has turned that country into a hotbed of terrorists from across the Middle East. The war and the occupation have been a rhetorical bonanza for al-Qaida and like-minded groups. American soldiers, controlling an oil-rich Muslim country! Killing innocent civilians, leaving embittered relatives behind! The Abu Ghraib prison-torture photos! Can't you hear the terror recruiters now? Leave it to New York to bring some sense to all this. At police headquarters yesterday, Commissioner Ray Kelly came out of his office after Tom Ridge was done in Washington. Kelly didn't pretend to know what the terrorists are planning - or who they'd vote for if they could. He said the only thing a big-city cop can ever say at such a time: His department will be ready at the end of August when the Republican National Convention comes to town. Then, without being impolite to anyone in Washington, the New York police commissioner scoffed at the notion that al-Qaida has a candidate for U.S. president. "No," Kelly said plainly, "the information is not that they are trying to influence the election in a certain way."

2004-07-09T09:36:00.000-05:00

Clarke calls American Treatment of Prisoners a "War Crime" Richard Clarke is calling attention to the depth of the prison abuse scandal. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Former White House terrorism czar Richard Clarke called the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib a "war crime" and again blasted the Bush administration for actions that he said are intensifying the threat of terrorism. "We have a major problem and we have not improved it over the last three years," Clarke said Thursday at the annual conference of the American Civil Liberties Union. "It, in fact, has gotten worse." An unlikely medley of speakers, including former Republican congressman Bob Barr and FBI whistleblower Coleen Rowley, joined Clarke to talk about the increasing tension between civil liberties and national security. Later Thursday, Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, a Republican, debated former Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean on the same issue. I wonder if some of the abusers will write some tell-all books?

2004-07-09T08:43:00.000-05:00

Some people have all the luck, I guess From Pammie.com: The former Senate aide, who serviced inside-the-Beltway players and blogged about it Jessica Cutler's THE WASHINGTONIENNE, to Kelly Notaras at Hyperion, in a significant deal ($251,000 - $500,000), for publication in summer 2005, by Michael Carlisle and Pilar Queen at Carlisle & Company (NA). The author will also pose for Playboy. If this is true it is sad. I guess everyone gets to write a book these days? I suppose she is in the po' house now because she's not making tens of thousands of dollars a day working the congress? (forgive me, I just could not help myself).

2004-07-09T08:12:00.000-05:00

The Criticism of Cosby Keeps Rolling It appears to me that much of the criticism of Bill Cosby centers around Cosby's own shortcomings rather than the validity of his remarks. While I am not defending Cosby, don't we need to keep on target with the issues. Apparently Dr. Martin L. King violated his marriage vows -- surely he is not disqualified as an African American, or as a spokesman for African Americans. Yes, his behavior does resemble those stigmatized lower class behaviors -- and a lot of non-stigmatized upper class behaviors. Jesse Jackson, too, had a child out of wedlock; however, most blacks have not painted him as "white" or as "lower class." As for Cosby's comments inviting white racists to say the same things -- they already are saying the same things and they are saying them gleefully, not remorsefully. We have not questioned the freedom of speech of the hatemongers – why should we question Cosby’s right to express his views? The analogy drawn between Cosby's remarks and Malcolm X's experience seem to point in a very different direction. Malcolm X, when confronted, accepted the fact that he was a thief and made the commitment to do something about it. There is one undeniable fact -- white America is not going to come to the aid of black America anytime soon. In the final analysis, only black America can do that. That, too, was the message of Malcolm X, Elijah Muhammed, and other black cultural nationalists -- reflecting a tradition in black philosophy. The issue is not Cosby's own personal failings as a human being. A meaningful critique of the issues, whether it comes from the left, the center, or the right, whether it comes from blacks or whites, should be first an empirical consideration of the facts not name calling or personal attacks (a favorite tactic of the right). There are empirical reasons for behavioral characteristics in any class in society and for any racial or ethnic category. The first task is to determine if there is empirical validity to Cosby's assertions. If not, the issue should be a dead issue. If there is, then we need to ask the tough question, WHY? But aside from rational critique, the pragmatic and applied question still remains. If there is a problem and if it is to be confronted and resolved, WHO is going to do it? White America? Given US history, not likely!

2004-07-09T05:09:00.000-05:00

Yet more lies, do dah Look Bush blowers, it is time to fess up and admit that relying upon Stephen Hayes and Cliff May is not exactly the route to go for reliable info. After claim after claim from the Bushies and their little PNAC loving tarts, despite claims of finding whoa, two whole Iranians in Baghdad, it is clear that the insurgency is NOT primarily the work of Al Qaeda or foreigners, it is this: The developing intelligence picture of the insurgency contrasts with the commonly stated view in the Bush administration that the fighting is fuelled by foreign warriors intent on creating an Islamic state. "We're not at the forefront of a jihadist war here," a US military official in Baghdad said. The official and others told The Associated Press the guerillas have enough popular support among nationalist Iraqis angered by the presence of US troops that they cannot be militarily defeated. The military official, who has logged thousands of kilometres driving around Iraq to meet insurgents or their representatives, said a skillful Iraqi government could co-opt some of the guerillas and reconcile with the leaders instead of fighting them. "I generally like a lot of these guys," he said. "We know who the key people are in all the different cities, and generally how they operate."
The good thing in the article is there may be hope...what would also be nice is if the Bush Administration played it clean with us and admitted the actual nature of the problem, rather than the one that they are using to justify their craven mistake post-hoc.

2004-07-09T04:40:00.000-05:00

Swallow this America The Bush Administration expects us all to be Monica now. Military records that could help establish President Bush's whereabouts during his disputed service in the Texas Air National Guard more than 30 years ago have been inadvertently destroyed, according to the Pentagon. It said the payroll records of "numerous service members," including former First Lt. Bush, had been ruined in 1996 and 1997 by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service during a project to salvage deteriorating microfilm. No back-up paper copies could be found, it added in notices dated June 25. The loss was announced by the Defense Department's Office of Freedom of Information and Security Review in letters to The New York Times and other news organizations that for nearly half a year have sought Mr. Bush's complete service file under the open-records law. There was no mention of the loss, for example, when White House officials released hundreds of pages of the President's military records last February in an effort to stem Democratic accusations that he was "AWOL" for a time during his commitment to fly at home in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. Dan Bartlett, the White House communications director who has said that the released records confirmed the president's fulfillment of his National Guard commitment, did not return two calls for a response.
Gee, I suppose Mr. Bartlett was too busy smearing somebody at the time. Cat fancier Kevin Drum was all over this before he became Political Animal, with a story alledging that Bush's National Guard records in Texas' possession had were scrubbed (a crime by the way). Time to ask the Preznit directly if he was arrested for having a problem with the magic powder.

2004-07-08T21:16:00.000-05:00

All My Smirks Yes, the smug smile of satisfaction devoid of shame. The look you get when you know you can rip off taxpayers, or investors; expose CIA Operatives; and/or and invade whatever damn nation you please and STILL get at least 45% percent of the vote. The Bush Administration and its Allies give you the one, the only, the look of Chimpy: The Age of the Smirkeror. The "Appointed By the Jeebus" Smirk The "Check It out She's got it goin' on" Smirk The "Sure I Didn't get the most votes but I don't care" Smirk. The "I Don't Drink Anymore *wink* *wink*" Smirk. The "Go Fuck Yoursmirk" The "Ever Changing War-Rationale" Smirk The "Let the Eagle Smirk", Smirk The "I just Waterboarded an Islamic Guy and saved a lot of money at Geico" Smirk Smirk Classic The "Sorry about Your Portfolio, Where's my Pardon?" Smirk The "Ah, What Could have Been" Smirk The "Oh, I'm Sorry was that YOUR Cat I just Vivisected?" Smirk The "NY Posts High-Placed Source and I'm Your Media Operative" Smirk The "I Just Sucked My Comb" Smirk' The "Have You Seen My Good Reputation?" Smirk The "I'm Campaigning for Four More Years" Smirk. Ah, That's Good Smirk! *Thanks to today's news, here is a special "Where's my nose candy supplier at? And you'll never know after I have the records scrubbed -- ha! ha! picture's too big to fit caption-boy" Smirk.

2004-07-08T19:57:00.000-05:00

More information about Bush-Lay Linkage Our friends at Buzzflash have an insightful reader's commentary about the deep money and personal connections between Ken "I did nothing wrong except be an incompetent manager" Lay and George "I never ran a successful company" Bush. The essay is short and sweet. Do read it.

2004-07-08T19:10:00.000-05:00

Why we vote the way we do An acquaintence who does national polling for political parties told me his most recent poll showed that 16% of likely Bush voters indicate they will support him because they are voting against Kerry. On the other end, 54% of likely Kerry voters are doing so--they say--because they are against Bush's re-election. It would seem to me the general discomfort with Kerry, as well as the desire for regime change in the United States, is driving many people this election cycle. The "common" citizen is no more enthralled with Kerry than most people on this list, yet it would appear at least half of Kerry voters are really members of the Anyone But Bush club...and harbor no illusions about what they are getting in Kerry. Perhaps viewing Moore's film will firm up that 54%, and bring more people into that camp who are no "undecided" in the polls... we can only hope so.

2004-07-08T15:50:00.000-05:00

Prezinidential Hissy Fit US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) walks away from a briefing with the media, refusing to answer questions after he was asked about Enron and the reported indictment of former CEO Kenneth Lay, who was a close adviser and fund-raiser for Bush and his father, earning him the presidential nickname of 'Kenny Boy.'(AFP/Paul J. Richards) I believe he is off to tell Tom Ridge to throw out the "terrorists disrupting election" card for the 239th time in case people in Pago Pago didn't hear about it yet.

2004-07-08T14:26:00.000-05:00

Freedom of Speech....phhhhhhht! It appears that Bush is now at the point where he cannot even deign being near those who do not grovel at his manly stuffing. Just a few examples, thanks to the Donkey. -- Of course, we know of the refusal (again) to go to the NAACP which may not be enthusiastic supports -- plus the compassion page is now full of Bush "touching" black people not named Condi or Colin. But there are others. The Charleston Gazette - Jul 08, 2004 - A worker with the Federal Emergency Management Agency who wore an anti-Bush T-shirt...and her husband, Jeff, were removed from the Capitol grounds in handcuffs shortly before Bush’s speech... AP - Jul 05, 2004 - ... Two Bush opponents, taken out of the crowd in restraints by police, said they were told they couldn't be there because they were wearing shirts that said they opposed the president. ... Madison Independent Media Center - May 09, 2004 - ...as soon as she saw the writing on the tshrt, she hollered for security...He looked at my shirt and asked how did I get tickets these tickets...He said "We don't want people like you here and ripped my tickets in half... St Petersburg Times (via CommonDreams.org) - Jun 17, 2004 - ... Inside, on the stadium field, his small sign reading "June is Gay Pride Month," was dwarfed by the sea of large pro-Bush signs...a Tampa police officer arrives, and a man in a business suit with no discernable authority directs the officer to the three counterdemonstrators by pointing and saying, "This one, this one and this one." According to Rosas, the suited man told him, "Get rid of the gay sign, take a Bush sign and you can stay...

2004-07-08T13:21:00.000-05:00

"This Just In from the Department of Please Don't Pay Attention to Kerry What with the bad news out of Iraq, the story of their attempt to stage the capture of Bin Laden just in time for the elections, the dissapointing job figures, the arrest of Bush's buddy Kenny-Boy, the naming of Edward to be Kerry's running mate the Bush Administration needed to try to steal back the headlines. "Our three weapons are fear, ~~and surprise, and ruthless efficiency~~...and an almost fanatical devotion to the dope" As one can expect, each and every month between now and November the Bush Administration will roll out Ridge (or Ashcroft) to say something like this: The United States is tightening security in the face of a steady stream of intelligence indicating al-Qaida may seek to mount an attack aimed at disrupting elections, the White House said.
So remember, the White House wants you to know, on the first Tuesday in November when you exercise your right to vote -- it's only fair that you give their vote to them...on pain of death.

2004-07-08T12:40:00.000-05:00

Matty Boy, Mr. Homo-Eroticism Apparently, the new certified official talking point of the day out of the substantive, optimistic, they think like I do campaign that is Bush/Cheney 2004 is that Kerry and Edwards are too affectionate with each other. You know folks anytime you want to actually talk about substantive stuff, rather than this jackassary we'll be ready for you.

2004-07-08T10:06:00.000-05:00

Duck and Cover It is always nice to have friends in high places who can protect you when your ass is in a sling. WASHINGTON, July 7 - A bipartisan Senate report to be issued Friday that is highly critical of prewar intelligence on Iraq will sidestep the question of how the Bush administration used that information to make the case for war, Congressional officials said Wednesday. Chimpies people are also attacking Edwards on a lack of experience. I wonder if Bush's lack of experience when he ran unsuccessfully for president is a campaign issue (remember he was appointed)?

2004-07-08T08:14:00.000-05:00

A Picture that Needs No Caption Other than its nice to see Alexandra Kerry arrest Kenny Boy Lay. Nice Smirk though, that really is the "W" era calling card isn't it? Thanks to Atrios, special guest Blogger, Holden.

2004-07-08T07:59:00.000-05:00

We're missing a Horseman -- is it Famine? Because Death, War, and Pestilence are all contained in one frighteningly deranged post from Crazy Andy today. "Mickey Kaus opines that Peggy Noonan "has done the Democrats a big favor by coming up with [a winning message for Kerry]. The message is that America wants a respite from all the headstrong history-making of the past four years." Noonan argues in her recent WSJ column that...I just have a feeling this sort of thing may have some impact this year. "A return to normalcy," with Mr. Kerry as the normal guy. I agree - but then I wrote something almost identical last February in Time"
Cannot stop shuddering...waiting for vortex to Hell to develop...only the appearance of Ann Coulter in that ~~pentagram~~ post is between us and utter doom. It is like H.P. Lovecraft started blogging.

2004-07-08T07:36:00.000-05:00

Hey, I already have 5 Black Voters, who needs more? "Let's see; Condi, Colin, though I think Alma is out. Then I have Clarence, that black guy in the Fedora that looks like Paul Winfield, and that Armstrong Williams guy. Why should I speak to those people then, the have nots and the never wills?" President Bush, a uniter not a divider, and, as we all know a brave, brave, man. President Declines NAACP Invite to Speak PHILADELPHIA - President Bush (news - web sites) declined an invitation to speak at the NAACP's annual convention, the group said. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (news - web sites) expects more than 8,000 people to attend the convention opening Saturday. Democratic challenger John Kerry (news - web sites) accepted an invitation to speak next Thursday on the final day of the convention, the NAACP said. Bush spoke at the 2000 NAACP convention in Baltimore when he was a candidate. But he has declined invitations to speak in each year of his presidency, the first president since Herbert Hoover not to attend an NAACP convention, John White, a spokesman for the group, said Wednesday. The NAACP received a letter from the White House three weeks ago declining the invitation because of scheduling conflicts and thanking the it for understanding. It was signed by presidential scheduler Melissa Bennett. White House spokesman Jim Morrell said Wednesday that the president has spoken about "equal opportunity and equal rights for all Americans" in many public places.
Like yesterday in North Carolina when he said "I'm going to carry the South because the people understand that they share — we share values." He forgot the word "white" before "people" but then again he is a craven simpleton.

2004-07-08T07:24:00.000-05:00

For Those on your Knees Voluntarily Bush-Apologists, you are all Monica now biatches!! It would take a mighty stupid person, and we all know who they are, to think that things are getting better in Iraq. Here is another example of "W"incompetence in action. American and Iraqi officials say that a decision in April to pull back American forces from Falluja inadvertently created a safe haven for terrorists and insurgents there. But officials are reluctant to send American troops back into the city for fear of touching off another uprising. The officials say they are unsure how to proceed, but agree they merely postponed the problem when the Americans halted an attack in April, brokering a deal to keep Americans out of Falluja and allow local Iraqis to police the city instead. Iraqi officials say they vehemently opposed the agreement that turned over Falluja to the insurgents, yet concede that they lack the resources to take control of the city on their own. Late last month, Mr. Zarqawi issued a statement in which he said he would try to kill Iyad Allawi, the prime minister. "Our intelligence says that Zarqawi is in Falluja," said Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the national security adviser. "Our intelligence also says they are constructing bombs in the city and sending them into Baghdad. There is a regular traffic. We are going to have to go back in."

2004-07-08T06:13:00.000-05:00

A Brief, "I Haven't Seen It", Movie Review: King Arthur First of all, am I the only one who thinks that Peter Jackson has forever ruined these type of movies? Not because LOTR is bad, but because it could not be bettered. Second, I don't know about you, but I have a hard time getting excited about the 1,249th movie made about the King Arthur myth. Third, and this is the real point, it is an improvement to place the myth in its actual context, the 5th Century, than to make it like the 14th, however, ONLY Dungeons & Dragons geeks (i.e. VIRGINS) and Boris Vallejo think that women wear these kind of outfits into battle.

2004-07-08T05:24:00.000-05:00

Oh, Oh. That's not a good thing from the Archives I think we all have seen this lovely picture from the memory hole: Well, if you have Realplayer...this from MSNBC cannot be good...1997 Enron Party...Jeff Skilling making jokes about fudging accounting, and Poppy Bush thanking the outgoing President of Enron (was that Ken Lay he retired the first time about then?) and including specifically the support of Dubya. Yet another lovely video. Oh, and by the way, from JANUARY 17, 2001: One powerful name to keep an eye on during this energy crisis is Kenneth Lay, chairman and CEO of Texas-based Enron Corp., and a close buddy and contributor to President-elect George W. Bush. Enron has been one of the prime movers behind California's energy deregulation and continues to be a significant player in the state as an energy marketer... All this comes amid speculation that Lay will serve as the new president's key adviser on energy policy -- even being described as a "shadow" energy secretary. In fact, Lay had been widely mentioned as the possible energy chief until Bush's recent nomination of Spencer Abraham. [Me: Ah, those Cheney Energy Policy Documents...the one's we will not be able to see until well after this November]. "The governor knows (Lay) has Bush's ear, and we know where he's coming from," says Davis' press secretary, Steve Maviglio. "He's the head of a billion-dollar corporation that's owed a significant amount of money (from the utilities) -- it's no secret," Maviglio said. And how about Lay's long political and financial ties to Bush? For starters, Enron -- which posted revenues of more than $40 billion in 1999 -- was the single largest contributor to Bush's presidential campaign, giving no less than $555,000, according to published reports. Lay even sent top executives a memo on his personal stationery asking them to contribute $1,000 each to the Bush campaign, says the New York Times. And according to the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics, Lay -- along with Enron President Jeffrey Skilling -- each contributed $100,000 to Bush's forthcoming inaugural. But the Lay-Bush connections run deeper than money. Lay hired two of Bush's father's Cabinet members and family confidants -- James Baker and Robert Mosbacher -- after they left office. And just last April, Lay played host to George W. and his dad at the Houston Astros' first home game at the team's new stadium . . . Enron Field. Three weeks later, according to Tongue Magazine, Lay joined George W. in Washington for a Republican fund-raiser that brought in a staggering $21.3 million, easily the biggest one-night haul for any political party in history. What's more, the magazine reports, the Bush campaign borrowed Enron's corporate jets eight times last year to fly aides around the country, although the cost of the trips was later reimbursed as required by law.
This was from JUST before we inaugurated our Chimperor, we spent how much on Whitewater...and we've all but ignored this? Oh, and here is something on the pen-pal's that Dubya and Kenny-Boy were. Someday their correspondence may be addressed by inmate numbers. SCLM.

2004-07-08T04:46:00.000-05:00

We'll Show you Optimism I just cannot help but think the Bush/Cheney Ticket is going to score a lot of points when they claim how optimistic they are.

2004-07-08T04:41:00.000-05:00

Majority Rules Need a reason to vote against your Republican Incumbent? OK...another one? A bipartisan Senate report to be issued Friday that is highly critical of prewar intelligence on Iraq will sidestep the question of how the Bush administration used that information to make the case for war, Congressional officials said Wednesday.
You have to hand it to the author from the Times however, for hedging against admitting the obvious. The effect may be to provide an opening for President Bush and his allies to deflect responsibility for what now appear to be exaggerated prewar assessments about the threat posed by Iraq, by portraying them as the fault of the Central Intelligence Agency and its departing chief, George J. Tenet, rather than Mr. Bush and his top aides.
Gee, you think?

2004-07-07T19:02:00.000-05:00

I'm a ~~War~~ Craven President' Well, well, well, July surprise out of the bag. As Josh Marshall and New Republic make clear, Chimpy McFlightsuit wants Pakistan to save his sorry ass from the ignominity of abandoning Al Qaeda for his Iraq shithead adventure. Laced with sourcing. A third source, an official who works under ISI's director, Lieutenant General Ehsan ul-Haq, informed tnr that the Pakistanis "have been told at every level that apprehension or killing of HVTs before [the] election is [an] absolute must." What's more, this source claims that Bush administration officials have told their Pakistani counterparts they have a date in mind for announcing this achievement: "The last ten days of July deadline has been given repeatedly by visitors to Islamabad and during [ul-Haq's] meetings in Washington." Says McCormack: "I'm aware of no such comment." But according to this ISI official, a White House aide told ul-Haq last spring that "it would be best if the arrest or killing of [any] HVT were announced on twenty-six, twenty-seven, or twenty-eight July"--the first three days of the Democratic National Convention in Boston.
Craven jackasses.

2004-07-07T16:41:00.000-05:00

Finally From CNN: Ex-Enron chairman Ken Lay indicted, high-level source familiar with case says. Indictment to be unsealed Thursday. So, now we will see if you did anything wrong Ken.

2004-07-07T15:45:00.000-05:00

The Best Hair Pair Comes to Dayton These are my early thoughts. I left the rally just a few minutes ago. I have to tell you that it was a large turnout (early estimates were 10,000 but more were turned away and spilled onto surrounding streets, some people waited for over seven hours!) for one of the first rallies of Kerry-Edwards. I must be honest, I was impressed. I have been to several political rallies over the years and there was something happening at this rally. There was a lot of emotion and passion among the crowd. People in the crowd kept looking around and smiling at each other. There was an electricity that has been missing among the Dems since the Clenis left office. Before the candidates even showed up though, several of Chimpies supporters showed up and yelled and jeered at the crowd. These desparate idiots, repeatedly called us "stupid" and that we were "supporting a losing candidate." Ah, how desperate must the flightsuiters be? I wonder what the 101st Keyboarders would make of such high-minded supporters of Chimpy and Trusty? To the strains of Tina Turner's Simply the Best, John Kerry and John Edwards bound up the stairs to the platform after a rousing introduction by former senator John Glenn. Clearly they are interested in showing energy and enthusiasm. Kerry pumping his fist into the air and faux punching at the air around the audience. Ok, that's a little silly, someone should tell Kerry to stop doing that. John Edwards waved and shook hands and damn if he didn't look presidential. Although don't we all look more presidential than Chimpy and Trusty? Teresa Heinz-Kerry spoke first. Is there any doubt that she is far more intelligent, articulate, and charismatic than Laura Bush? I still harbor the suspicion that Laura took a lot of special Ed classes. Teresa made a point about the strength of America with several jabs against the anti-free speech activist Chimpy McFlightsuit. She gave an impassioned plea for the peace corp and social activism. She talked about the possibilities of the future and need for democracy abroad and at home. Hell, I can't remember when a potential first lady gave such speech. Elizabeth Edwards made several points (a little too fast) about her husband's Two America's speech as well as calling for several needed investments in health care and infrastructure. She will clearly do well on the campaign trail as she calms down but her ideas were solid. John Kerry took the microphone next. He referred to his campaign as the "Campaign to make America stronger here at home and respected around the world." While many commentators have talked about Kerry as a poor speaker. Here he did a great job. Boy, Alexandra and Vanessa Kerry looked good too. Hmmmm... I would have to say they are far more attractive than Barbara and Jenna. Kerry summed up his ideas as "better priorities, better values, and better hair"... which led to chants among the crowd of hair! Hair! Hair! Kerry energized the crowd by calling Chimpy and Trusty what they are interested in helping their friends and corporations not taking care of the children of America. "Tired of political words, tired of broken promises... this is a country of possibilities." "We are going to live up to the dreams of average Americans." While these are clearly rhetoric... what does Chimpy and Trusty have for rhetoric? Nothing. They simply attack and pursue negative campaign ads. Sad, really. Kerry attacked the health care plan of Chimpy and Trusty and promised that he would help average Americans. Ok, lets cut through the bull... most of his slogans are slogans but Kerry and Edwards seem to believe them. I have to ask based on Kerry's speech: What's Chimpy and Trusty got that they believe in besides oil and Iraq? And how has the Iraq war helped any of us? Is your gas and oil cheaper? Is your food bill going down? Is your health care gotten less expensive? What has Chimpy and Trusty done for you? Wow, Edwards is good. Really good. He captivated the crowd. Love the accent. Man, listen to Edwards versus Trusty or Chimpy? Sure is nice to hear someone be able to complete an entire sentence without five or six ums, ahs, pregnant pauses while Chimpy waits for Rove feed him his lines. Edwards captures a strong orators ability to connect to his audience. The only thing that Chumpy connects with is the office. I can't wait to see Edwards vs. Trusty in a debate. Being at this rally, I wondered is Chimpy and Trusty really the best that the republican party can offer?

2004-07-07T13:11:00.000-05:00

"It terrifies me in terms of what we are up against" Iraqi insurgents have begun making commemorative videos. "Something in the last few months has got them filming the most intimate, graphic attacks -- like up-close and personal," Ware said. "It's like they are embedding combat camera units, who are there on the front line with them, knowing they are going to have propaganda value in time to come." The other purpose for the videotapes, Ware said, is to terrorize Westerners. "They're trying to tell the Western public: 'This is what your boys are dying for, this is what they are up against,' " he said. "They are letting us know that, 'We can kill your boys, and we are not going away.' "
It get's scarier, as Ware, who as a reporter has had extensive contacts with these groups says: "Maybe I am too close to all of this. I've been this close, and it terrifies me. It terrifies me on a personal level and it terrifies me in terms of what we are up against. This is far more serious, far more organized, committed, than many of us realized." Ware denies he's being used by terror groups and said he filters what he learns, regardless of the source. ''This kind of thing is never easy or comfortable," he said. "It doesn't sit well with you as a human being on many levels. But that's what covering a war is like: It has two sides. I feel an obligation to discover as much as I can about both sides. I feel that's what we're here to do." He is concerned that he may be getting too close to the insurgents and that one day they may decide to shoot the man who helps them get their message out. "I worry about that every waking moment and every sleeping dream," he said. "It terrifies me. Terrifies me on a personal level and it terrifies me in terms of what we are up against."
Ugh!

2004-07-07T12:43:00.000-05:00

That HTML sucks for a reason Fedora Boy may know how to throw gossip around and understand the power of film, but he's no Rocket Scientist. This is a totally new level of expertise and skill and cunning," he said. He even compared Mr. Moore to H.L. Mencken. "I should stress that I’m not endorsing what his premise was—I couldn’t even follow the premise," he said. "It was more the images and the drama."
Couldn't follow the PREMISE? Here's the premise Matty, Chimpy Incorporated has lied its way into a War we shouldn't be fighting. And you are their first-class enabler.

2004-07-07T09:16:00.000-05:00

A Promised Report I am enroute to the Kerry-Edwards campaign stop in Dayton, Ohio and will report my findings to you dear Hegemon readers tomorrow. So stay tuned!

2004-07-07T09:07:00.000-05:00

What is that wacky Nader doing now? Charismatic Politico Ralph Nader's run for Preznet Chimpy McFlightsuit's job apparently has brought him some very strange right and nut-wing bedfellows such as Citizens for a Sound Economy. This is not small news, the CSE has been working hard to place Nader on the presidential ballot in Oregon, Wisconsin, and other states. The group describes itself as 'a conservative anti-tax organization.' Common Dreams reveal much more about CSE in their book Banana Republicans: How the Right is Turning America into a One-Party State. Take a look. And by the way, Ralph, what has happened to you?

2004-07-07T08:53:00.000-05:00

A Short Departure I had to share this with all of you dear readers. I found that it can pay to be a Chimpy McFlightsuit supporter. I do not know how long the link will be good but I find that $13,576.50 (of course, that's after 30% savings) for a Patrick Swayze DVD must be a payback for supporting chimpy.

2004-07-07T07:37:00.000-05:00

The Bush Administration's Reelection Strategy We are all being PUSH-POLLED. Push-polling is the usually known as having some volunteer call for some ostensible neutral polling organization and saying something like: "Are your feelings toward Candidate A changed by the allegation he likes sleeping naked with small children?" Whereupon the naive caller believes that Candidate A is a first class pervert and will never vote for the guy. This is a battle-tested formula for the Bush Campaign...ask John McCain about that "black child he fathered" as opposed to the reality of adopting a kid from Bangladesh. Stories coming out of Iraq by groups like World Nut Daily, the NY Post, or FoxNews, Cheney's constant harping on the Al Qaeda-Saddam connection ... or Rummy talking last week about the Poles finding sarin missiles (which turn out not to actually contain sarin) are examples of this. The just throw crap out there they know to be false in the hope it sinks into your impressionable brain never to be pried out by the non-covered truth. It's more than just disturbing. This is a Presidential Election year and the incumbent is push-polling all of us -- and all the right-wing does is reaffirm the fact that plainly the Bush Administration is lying to you (yes Nick Kristoff L-Y-I-N-G).

2004-07-07T06:05:00.000-05:00

Tort Refort Advocates: Lawsuits for me, but not for Thee Tom Paine has examples of more hypocrisy from some of our more prominent advocates for tort reform. Typical criticism from Chimpy is to whine about frivolous lawsuits (as opposed to the first 40 years of frivolous living he engaged in). But about those frivilous suits: As Texas Governor, George W. Bush was one of the "tort reform" movement?s biggest proponents. One of Bush?s first acts as governor in 1995 was to meet with representatives of nine Texas Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) chapters in a salsa factory outside of Austin, after which he declared a legislative "emergency" on "frivolous lawsuits." Over his two terms, Bush signed a series of brutal bills that severely reduced injured consumers' rights to go to court. However, when it comes to solving problems involving his own family, Bush heads straight to court. In 1999, Bush sued Enterprise Rent-A-Car over a minor fender-bender involving one of his daughters in which no one was hurt. Although his insurance would have covered the repair costs, making a lawsuit unnecessary, Bush sought additional money from Enterprise, which had rented a car to someone with a suspended license. In this case, Bush seemed to understand one of the most important functions of civil lawsuits -- to deter further wrongdoing. The case settled for $2,000 to $2,500.
Or there is "no monkey sex" man Rick Santorum, when his wife sued her chiropractor for mistreating her back [hey that missionary position can be dangerous]: In December 1999 Santorum supported his wife?s medical malpractice lawsuit against her chiropractor for $500,000. At trial, the Senator testified that his wife should be compensated for the pain and suffering caused by a botched spine adjustment, claiming that she had to "treat her back gingerly" and could no longer accompany him on the campaign trail. After the verdict, Santorum refused to answer phone calls asking what impact the case had on his views of "tort reform." According to his spokesman Robert Traynham, "Senator Santorum is of the belief that the verdict decided upon by the jury during last week?s court case of his wife is strictly a private matter. The legislative positions that Senator Santorum has taken on tort reform and health care have been consistent with the case involving Mrs. Santorum." In January 2000, a judge set aside the $350,000 verdict, deeming it excessive, and offered a reduced award of $175,000 or a new trial on damages only.
There's more examples from the hypocrites as well as whiny corporations as well. Go read.

2004-07-07T05:45:00.000-05:00

It's Not a Real FUBAR until the Extremist make Threats Against the Extremist As the Iraqi Quislings announce their plan to declare not quite Marshall Law (can we call it Eminem Law?) the militant groups are pumping up the volume. Apparently ~~Emanuel Goldstein~~ Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is now longer the new hotness -- he is now old-n-busted. ...the Arabic language TV network al-Arabiya said it received a taped statement from a group that calls itself the Rescue Group threatening Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most-wanted terror suspect in the country. The group denounced the actions by al-Zarqawi and his followers as hurtful to Iraq, particularly the kidnapping of foreigners. The previously unknown group has called for the killing of al-Zarqawi if he doesn't leave Iraq. Coalition officials blame al-Zarqawi for dozens of attacks on coalition forces and Iraqi civilians. The United States recently raised the bounty on his head to $25 million. Al-Zarqawi is also believed to be behind the beheading of two hostages in Iraq, an American and a South Korean.
I tend to agree that Al-Zarqawi is now looking at his 15 minutes being up. I believe he is no longer rumored to be seeing Christian Aguilera so obviously his cache is gone. I mean when you cannot even maintain a relationship with someone who's 15 minutes was up before yours, you know you are so over.

2004-07-07T05:33:00.000-05:00

Meanwhile, on the FoxNews-Chickenhawk Continuum Not content to allow only the NY Post to stick its neck out and be outrageously wrong, yesterday Rupert's flagship FoxNews, "We Report, Why Decide?" came a report of the capture of a pair of Iranian intelligence agents working in Baghdad. Meanwhile, few, if any, other news sources have confirmed. But of course...like any item that somehow may be used to support the NeoCon agenda the story spreads like bubonic plague at a flea circus and the 101st Keyboarders are there. General Instacracker; General Sully; General Hewitt. Is it true? A big maybe...but given a little history here, right-wingers make a big proclamation in the wake of FoxNews or the even more dubious World Nut Daily, it spreads throughout the right-hand side of the blogasphere, the trolls come to Atrios and Political Animal and then eventually it is shown to be a totally bogus story. Fooled more than once, says our Preznit, "won't get fooled again". Of course, this is another lie. When are they NOT fooled? UPDATE: Friendly commenter Anonymous points out that the AP is now confirming they are Iranians, but the conclusions drawn by the righties still seem to go beyond what is being reported here.

2004-07-07T03:33:00.000-05:00

A Thoroughly Deserved Intellectual Ass-Kicking Smooth, Debonaire Juan Cole, juxtaposes how he, as an academic gets a publication and how a hack like Laurie Mylroie manages to get influence through boogeyman theories. In the academic world, we don't get to publish our books at academic presses without peer review. When Princeton University Press considered my book, written out of the Egyptian National Archives, on the 19th century Urabi Revolt, the editor sent the manuscript to eminent experts in 19th century Egyptian history. Now, I lived in the Arab world for 6 years, have a degree in Arabic studies from Cairo, and had a Fulbright grant for my research. I spent a year working almost daily in the archives in Cairo. I had an academic position in a major department at a major university. But Princeton University Press did not trust me. They still had the book refereed. In contrast, the American Enterprise Institute publishes anything Mylroie hands into them, no matter how fantastic. She does not speak Arabic, has never been in any Iraqi archive, and has no standing in the Middle East field. Her books don't have to be refereed, apparently. The poor lay reader who finds her book in Borders has no way of distinguishing it from the trade paperbacks of Princeton University Press. And then the mere fact of the book's existence can become a reference-point in political debate. No university press would have published Mylroie's pablum, because academic researchers would have shot it down for poor evidence and bad reasoning.
And this woman was a central influence on the Neo-Cons and their desire to use Iraq to kick a little ass and assert American Hegemony. Don't believe me? Check out the PNAC site.

2004-07-06T18:10:00.000-05:00

9/11 Commission tells Dick "You're Wrong"....what did you think I was going to say they said? Oh Dick, why must you be such a putz? This last week, while on the campaign trail giving shudders to women and scaring children, Cheney continued to sell the Iraqi-Al Qaeda connection, the week before he said he "probably" had access to information that the 9/11 Commission did not have. Well, the verdict is in, and like most other Bush Administration errors this has the odious smell of a lie (I hope Nick Kristof won't cry too much about this). From Reuters: The Sept. 11 commission, which reported no collaborative links between Iraq and al Qaeda, said on Tuesday that Vice President Dick Cheney had no more information than commission investigators to support his later assertions to the contrary. The 10-member bipartisan panel investigating the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington said it reached its conclusion after reviewing available transcripts of Cheney's public remarks asserting long-standing links between the former Iraqi president and Osama Bin Laden's Islamist militant network. "The 9-11 Commission believes it has access to the same information the vice president has seen regarding contacts between al Qaeda and Iraq prior to the 9-11 attacks," the commission said in a statement. The vice president's office had no immediate comment on the commission statement. Assertions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and could be prepared to provide chemical or biological agents to al Qaeda for attacks on the United States were a main justification for President Bush's decision to invade and occupy Iraq. No such weapons have been found. Soon after the Sept. 11 commission said in staff report last month that there was no evidence of a collaborative relationship between the two sides, Cheney continued to assert that long-standing links existed.
Dick Cheney is a lyin' SOB (sorry again Nick) but he fits in well with the Bush Administration at large. Barring an indictment he'll stay on the ticket. And as a Democrat, I think that is great.

2004-07-06T17:57:00.000-05:00

Should we think like this? Is this something we should be reading?

2004-07-06T17:11:00.000-05:00

Could it be true that even McCain likes Edwards? From our loud friends at buzzflash: John McCain abandoned his integrity in endorsing Bush and, allegedly, appearing in a Bush campaign commercial, even after Karl Rove and Bush allowed McCain's Vietnam record and family to be slandered and defamed in the 2000 South Carolina primary. But McCain did have praise for John Edwards when Edwards released his book "Four Trials": "In Four Trials, John Edwards has written movingly of people who were terribly wronged, and whom he helped seek some measure of justice with great skill, determination, and genuine compassion. He shows a perceptive appreciation in these accounts for the strength of his clients' character. And, in the loving portrait of his son, Wade, and the deeply touching account of his loss, John reveals the strength of his own character and gives the reader a look beyond a political biography into the heart of a good man." -- Senator John McCain