Sorry about the light blogging - I had to work all day today, and tomorrow doesn't look much better. Plus I may have 4 - 6" of snow to shovel, too!

Gah.

Heh!
"Bush is under fire from atheists who say he uses too many Christian references in his speeches. Today for instance he said, 'Jesus, look at all the big words.'" - Conan O'Brien

Great. I forgot to ping this site all day yesterday - Laurence is gonna kill me.


"President Bush said if Iraq would get rid of Saddam Hussein he'd help with food, clothing, education, whatever they need. So at last Bush has a domestic program, even if it is for another country." - Jay Leno



US public turns to Europe for news
'The American public is apparently turning away from the mostly US-centric American media in search of unbiased reporting and other points of views. Much of the US media's reaction to France and Germany's intransigence on the Iraqi war issue has verged on the xenophobic, even in the so-called 'respectable' press. Some reporting has verged on the hysterical - one US news web site, NewsMax.com, recently captioned a photograph of young German anti-war protesters as "Hitler's children'". - link.


"We've heard a lot of bunk from you."
Bruce S.Ticker's The Bush-led BULLY-A-THON is in full gear, at SmirkingChimp.com.

CBS, White House in Dispute Over Saddam Interview
The White House criticized CBS television today over what Ari 'the Liar' Fleischer said was a spurned offer to rebut comments by Saddam Hussein during an interview to be broadcast this evening.

"This seems odd they wouldn't let the White House have a voice," White House spokes-tool and serial liar Ari Fleischer lied.

He said the White House had offered a representative to counter what he said would be propaganda, lies and irresponsible statements by George W Bush Saddam in the interview, but Ari lied and said CBS replied it was interested only if pReznit Poopypants made the response himself.

When they were through laughing their asses off at the very thought of Squinty McStupid appearing on the program, CBS rejected the charge and said it remained open to providing a forum for a top Bush administration official to respond to Saddam on the air. - link.

Great moments in television, part 2
Gore Vidal: ...We know nothing. You missed the point to my little book which was I was setting up some of the charges that could be brought against George W. Bush when he comes to be impeached by the House of Representatives. He swore on oath to preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States. He swore that as all presidents do. Well the United States is we, the people and Congress assembled. We were not protected at 9/11. He was warned by everybody from Mossad to President Putin in advance. We have stacks of warnings that came in.

Fu Tucker the chicken, totally defeated: OK. Unfortunately. I'm sorry, Mr. Vidal we going to have to end it. We are completely out of time.

...later...

James Carville: According to oil industry executives and confidential United States records, Halliburton held stakes in two firms that signed contracts to sell more than $73 million in oil production equipment and spare parts to Iraq while Cheney was chairman and chief executive officer of the Dallas-based company. Two former senior executives of Halliburton subsidiaries say that, as far as they knew, there was no policy against doing business with Iraq.

Now why in the hell can't I drink a glass of French wine and Dick Cheney can make $73 million in dealing with Iraq? How does that make sense?

Dave Bossie, stupendous dumbass and president of 'Citizens United': I don't really think it has anything to do with our boycott.

James Carville: It doesn't? So, wait, we're supposed to be - we have a national boycott in place against Iraq. They circumvent it and do $73 million worth of business, and you're telling me I'm a bad American because I drink French wine?
...spanked!! - link to transcript of Crossfire.

It's only Wednesday.
I still can't get the parrot to yell "Wolf, you whore!" when I turn on CNN, but he does turn his back to the tv and make farty-noises.
Song playing in my head: Barenaked Ladies' "It's All Been Done."




"John, you clueless Puritan ass"
Bigwig at Silflay Hraka reams the Crisco Kid a new one, with John Ashcroft Fails Another Multiple Choice Exam. I was going to send it to Carnival of the Vanities, but I'm too late, dammit! Next: Ashcroft bans toy submarines in bathtubs....




Darth 'Warboner' Rummy does Baghdad
Nice doin' bizniz with ya, Saddam - now, where can we get some hookers?

Stephen Green writes: "It was Rumsfeld himself who, as President Reagan's Middle East Envoy, had traveled to the region to meet with Saddam Hussein in December 1983 to normalize, particularly, security relations. At the time of the visit, Iraq had already been removed from the State Department's list of terrorist countries in 1982; and in the previous month, November, Reagan had approved National Security Decision Directive 114, on expansion of U.S.-Iraq relations generally. But it was Donald Rumsfeld's trip to Baghdad which opened of the floodgates during 1985-90 for lucrative U.S. weapons exports - some $1.5 billion worth - including chemical/biological and nuclear weapons equipment and technology, along with critical components for missile delivery systems for all of the above...There were few if any reservations evident in the range of weapons which Ronald Reagan, and his successor George W. H. Bush were willing to sell Saddam Hussein." - from CounterPunch, thanks to Democrats.com.




Great moments in television, part 1
Ari Gets Laughed Out of the White House Briefing Room

From BuzzFlash: A reporter asked about a French report that says Bush is offering a bundle of concessions (and I think she actually said 'buying votes') to Mexico and Colombia, granting worker amnesty and so on. Ari tap-danced. Then she (the reporter) started to press the issue by saying "they (the French) are quoting two US State Dept. Diplomats that Bush intends to give work permits to Colombia and Mexico."

WOW. WOW....Ari just drew himself up with imperious indignation and said something like "you're implying that the President is buying the votes of other nations and that's just not a consideration" or words to that effect.

And guess what happened? The whole press corps, normally sheep, broke out in laughter...sweet, derisive laughter. They kept on laughing as Ari turned on his heels and strode out. Sheesh.

On C-Span, go down to White House Press Briefing (02/25/2003) and click on the video. After it buffers, play from about 28 minutes forward for context, 30 minutes forward to watch Press laugh at Ari's BIG FAT GOP LIE: C-Span, and link to the transcript. I haven't been able to view it - I think I need to download RealPlayer.

More fun with Ari: watch him dance around the "credibility contest" question of pReznit Gameboy wanting to assassinate Saddam Hussein.


"Quit picking on me, Helen!"

South Korea joins the 'axis of independence'
Karl Rove, suddenly stricken with the runs, cuts short his daily afternoon propaganda talking-points meeting/fellatio session with tv reporters.

'Roh Moo-hyun, the incoming South Korean president, is part of a trend that raises the hackles of the administration of US President George W Bush. The United States now has another outspoken and uncowed "ally". Roh joins an axis of independence that includes France's Jacques Chirac and Germany's Gerhard Schroeder. With friends like these, the Bush team laments, who needs an axis of evil? What's bad for Bush, however, is a boon for the rest of the world and particularly for the Korean Peninsula. Roh Moo-hyun is the world's best hope for avoiding war in East Asia.' - from an article posted at the bushmoonie site, so have your disinfectant ready.

Setback for Powell, misadministration on N Korea
From the people that promised a new era of Responsibility...

I can't help it - I love seeing all the 'you broke it, you bought it' comments on this subject today! I can just picture Karl 'n' Unca Dick going "but...but..." while Squinty the Chimp sits happily in a corner playing with his Legos.

"The Bush administration suffered a setback in its North Korea policy on Monday, as officials in China, Australia and South Korea urged the United States to begin direct talks with North Korea about its nuclear weapons programs, a strategy Washington has repeatedly rejected...The Bush administration contends that a group of nations could place far greater pressure on North Korea to abandon its programs than one nation alone. It has also called on Russia, South Korea, Japan and particularly China to play larger roles in pushing North Korea to disarm. But those countries have balked at taking more forceful action against the North Koreans. On Monday, three of the countries the administration had hoped would join a forum said Washington cannot ignore the North's demands and should enter into direct talks with North Korea." - from the NY Times, thanks to BushWatch.

'Threats, promises and lies'
"So it seems that Turkey wasn't really haggling about the price, it just wouldn't accept payment by check or credit card. In return for support of an Iraq invasion, Turkey wanted - and got - immediate aid, cash on the barrelhead, rather than mere assurances about future help. You'd almost think President Bush had a credibility problem. And he does.

"Credibility isn't just about punishing people who cross you. It's also about honoring promises, and telling the truth. And those are areas where the Bush administration has problems. I can't think of anyone other than the hard right and corporate lobbyists who has done a deal with Mr. Bush and not come away feeling betrayed....These days, whenever Mr. Bush makes a promise...experienced Bushologists ask, "O.K., that's the bait, where's the switch?" - Paul Krugman, courtesy of SmirkingChimp.com, where's there's lots of good stuff.

For an 'informal list' of Bush lies, see BushWatch.net.


"Do as you're told or you're irrelevant"
Bush held in contempt in England, while US Midwesterners want to believe "their pension plans are being wrecked for good reason."

"The caricature of the current state of public opinion is that there are these two polarised continents: Europe, where everyone is against a war on Iraq except Tony Blair and some Spanish bloke with a moustache, and America, where everyone is absolutely gagging for it... That is worse than an over-simplification. The polls vary, depending on what question is asked and how it is phrased, but on the whole the same lack of enthusiasm for the venture pervades every set of findings, and the difference between one side of the Atlantic and another is not all that marked. And there is an altogether more mysterious phenomenon: it is surprisingly hard, even in the US, to find people who share their leaders' enthusiasm." - from the Guardian.

Sacre' merde!
A spokesman for Canadian war minister Jacques Poutine told reporters Tuesday that the Cretin of Crawford is a "barbecue-eating war-monkey" with "delusions of grandeur, if not dictator-hood," who has somebody wipe his own a$$ for him because he'd "probably drown in a bidet."

OK, I made that up, but it could've happened.

'Stupid White Men' Wins British Book Award
LONDON (Reuters) - Michael Moore was named surprise winner of Britain's Book of the Year award Monday for Stupid White Men - a satirical anti-war attack on pResident Bush.

"It looks like a very strong anti-war vote both from insiders in the book business and the public," awards organizer Merric Davidson said in a statement. - link.

Great. Now I've got "Whoops, I Did It Again" playing in my head.




'Our way or the highway'
Geezus - I can just picture this administration running across France in tanks right now.
Warmongering, incredibly arrogant, possibly insane, oil-'n'-power-hungry chickenhawks practically challenge France to a duel.

The Bushies "fired a warning shot Tuesday across the bows of France," the leading critic of its Iraq "policy," saying it would view any French veto of a new U.N. resolution authorizing force as "very unfriendly."

The U.S. ambassador in Paris issued the warning after France said it and Germany opposed what it called a shift toward "a logic of war" and circulated a rival proposal that would give U.N. weapons inspectors at least four months to scour Iraq.

Even as he spoke, other members of the decision-making U.N. Security Council added their voices to the chorus of skepticism over the resolution, clouding Washington's hopes of winning the nine votes needed to pass it by mid-March. - link. Heh!




Meanwhile...
"I am ready to conduct a direct dialogue - a debate - with your president. I will say what I want and he will say what he wants," Saddam told Dan Rather in an interview. "This will be an opportunity for him, if he's committed to war, this will be an opportunity to convince the world."

"This is something proposed in earnest. Out of my respect for the people of the United States and my respect for the people of Iraq and the people of the world. I call for this because war is not a joke. As leaders," Saddam said in his invitation to Bush, "Why don't we use this opportunity?"

White House spokes-tool/nanny Ari 'the Liar' Fleischer rejected the debate offer, saying W was shitting in his diapers at the thought of a debate with anybody, much less it was "not a serious statement." - link.

"The goals for this country are ...a compassionate American for every citizen." - the unbelievably too-stupid-to-tie-his-own-shoes Chimpy McSmackhead.

Media Critic Says Bush Gets Easy Ride
....and it's in a chauffeured luxury golfcart, driven by happy little eunuchs of the whore media.
Mark Crispin Miller takes aim at newspapers, in Editor and Publisher.




"Say What?"
'Not since the Johnson-Nixon era has an American president's credibility been so abysmal.' - by P.M. Carpenter, at BuzzFlash:

.... Assuming presidential history is still taught in some high schools, the above, I imagine, is at least the bare minimum that most students are asked to retain into adulthood: Johnson...Vietnam...lies...downfall; Nixon...Watergate...lies....downfall. Future history students, however, shall have an even easier time of it when asked to recall the gist of George W. Bush's downfall: He lied about everything.




Shays finds little support for Crusader Bunnypants' oil/re-election war
"Do we live in a republic or do we live in an empire?" - U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays gets an earful from Westport residents - link.




"Whopping deficit"
The government has run up a deficit of $97.6 billion in the first four months of the 2003 budget year. The latest budget figures, released Monday by the Treasury Department, highlighted the government's deteriorating fiscal situation, where record high budget deficits are forecast this year and next. - the Washington Post. Thank you, Resident Dumbass.

"Support Our Troops: Bring Them Home Now!"
I just read a bit in this week's Time magazine where the troops in the Gulf were upset over the antiwar protests that went on over here. "Are they going to spit on us when we come home?" a Marine asked.

F*ck.

For what it's worth, a lot of the protesting was due to that smirking, lazy, arrogant AWOL court-appointed oil man, the crusader-in-thief, pReznit Privilege. All of the protesters I know support the troops whole-heartedly. We will pray for them, and when they come home, will cheer them, shake their hands and say "thank you." But your commander-in-chief is a total f*cking bonehead.

Something else to blame "Old Europe" for
Thanks!!

Raised Middle Finger Is Ancient Gesture: Experts who have studied the history of the raised middle finger have found written references to it as far back as ancient Greek and Roman times. The gesture's sexual meaning has always been roughly the same, and it has always been considered rude.

Those findings, the experts say, debunk a common legend that "flipping the bird" got its start at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. As that story goes, the victorious British supposedly raised their middle fingers after the French threatened to chop off the middle digits of captured English soldiers. But experts say there is no written proof of the story. - link.

Updates
There's a new poll up! Now if I could only figure out how to fix the permalinks without destroying my archives.
Was Smirky the Clueless Cokehead speaking just now? The markets just tanked.
It's snowing again.

Yeah, but what about Clinton??
{/sarcasm}

Don Williams, founding editor of New Millennium Writings, on such government lies as the battleship Maine explosion, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, the Iran-Contra scandal, and the first Gulf War:

Are you being duped? Ask yourself that question before condemning those who oppose bombing, invading and occupying Iraq. It wouldn't be the first time your own government, including your president, has lied to justify war. It happens in every other generation.

If you love America as I do, then you owe it to yourself and your children to seek the truth and reject even the lies told with the best of intentions by our own leaders. Governments throughout history have lied, and many folks around the world have become smart enough to know it.

Maybe that explains why, even as talking heads on CNN and ABC gushed over how brilliantly Secretary of State Colin Powell had made the case for war against Iraq - with his photographs of trucks and bulldozers and his little bag of phony anthrax and his weird tape recordings - the world responded with the largest peace demonstration in history against a war that hadn't even started. It's one that doesn't have to if the truth be told.

Blah blah blah
"It's a moment to determine, for this body that we hope continues, to determine whether or not it is going to be relevant as the world confronts the threats of the 21st century." - the incredible raging nincompoop, on the UN, 2/24/03. I guess he means in relation to Iraq and not the Bush misadministration.

Democrats Challenge AWOL's Credibility
Democratic leaders, after receiving a small crate of testicles from the French, circulated "Caught on Film: a photo history of the Bush credibility gap," highlighting "various examples of the Administration making promises at various photo-ops and then slashing funding for the very priorities it stressed." It covered everything from education to programs for the poor.

Several republicans described Emperor Snippy as "peeved" that Tom Daschle and others are questioning his "honesty." - the Washingtoon comPost. Boo-f*cking-hoo. So where are they wrong, you idiot? Quit your damn whining and come clean.

I can just hear the whore pundit response now: Clinton! Monica! Xlintoon! As if a bj can compare to the monumental f*cking we've been getting from pReznit Dumbass and company.




Bush Faces Increasingly Poor Image Overseas
"Leaders feel manipulated and deceived."
The messages from U.S. embassies around the globe have become urgent and disturbing: many people in the world increasingly think the arrogant, court-appointed AWOL Warmongering Wonderboob is a greater threat to world peace than Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Helmut Sonnenfeldt, guest scholar at the Brookings Institution and a staff member of the National Security Council during the Nixon administration, said about the attitudes overseas: "It was antiwar, not anti-American. Now it's anti-Bush, not anti-American." - link.




And he's not doing much to help it here, either
Democrats said Saturday that the White House was taking unprecedented steps to limit conversation at Monday's scheduled policy discussion between governors and pReznit Evil.

With their states' economies in tatters, members of the National Governors Association - who began their four-day winter meeting Saturday - are hoping to win more federal aid to cover soaring costs for health care, homeland security and education.

But the governors have been told that most of them won't be able to directly question the president during Monday's White House gathering. According to Nicole Harburger, communications director for the Democratic Governors Association, "Several of the governors are considering not attending the meeting. The governors are upset and concerned that the White House is not interested in a dialogue."

She said the governors have been told the group as a whole will be allowed just two questions - and must submit them in writing beforehand.

--snip-- Bush closed to the press Sunday's formal dinner with the governors; in years past, it had been open. The White House has even set limits on Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton's toast at the dinner. - link. I wonder how many questions Jeb! was "allowed."

1. How come you can give billions away to Turkey and other countries and do nothing to help out America?
2. When are you leaving? - Warrior, at the BC Forum, asks his own 2 questions.

Grammy antiwar statements will be allowed
Despite a report that CBS executives had considered blocking politically outspoken rockers, the network said last night it would not pull the plug on anyone protesting a war against Iraq.

"There will be no restrictions on artistic expression or opinions expressed during acceptance speeches," said CBS spokesman Chris Ender. - NY Daily News. Now if only the Grammys themselves didn't suck so bad!

View from my window: heavy rain, spring birds, deer looking for something to eat under a couple feet of snow.

Still trying to wake up after a bizarre night of listening to the cats use the litter box as a test-firing range. I better look into buying a different brand of cat chow.

A huuuuuuuge thank you to Jim Capozzola of The Rittenhouse Review for buying out the WTF page ads and for his very kind words. I'm still speechless.



"militaristic innuendo, bigotry and xenophobia"
From K.P. Nayar's piece in the Calcutta Telegraph, courtesy of SmirkingChimp.com:

One of the more dangerous aspects of the current countdown to war with Iraq is the role of the US media. With rare exceptions, American television has taken upon itself the task of selling president George W Bush's war against Saddam Hussein.

In this propaganda effort for the White House, it does not offer readers any adequate choice of views or news. It openly dismisses those who speak up against the coming conflict even on the few occasions when they are called to appear on television screens. It long ago gave up the pretence that as a free media, it was offering viewers enough balance and variety so that they could independently make up their minds on the question of overthrowing Saddam Hussein through an invasion.

[T]he American media, which takes pride in having brought down a president over Watergate, has been unwilling to investigate the hysteria whipped up by the state, presumably because it suits the administration's war plans.

Because America's mass media, by and large, has abdicated the responsibility to report the truth and gone along willingly with the administration's plans for war, there is confusion in the minds of Americans what the conflict with Iraq is all about.

getting dicked
Yeah, but what kind of job?
"...when a person has more money in their pocket, they're likely to demand somebody to produce them a good or a service....And, therefore, the cornerstone of good economic policy recognizes that the money in Washington, D.C. is not the government's money, it's the people's money. And the more of it you have in your pocket, the more likely somebody is going to find a job." - pReznit Privilege, 2/20/03, in between golf games with Zell Miller (D-INO).

{.....}
"It's important - it's very important for our citizens to understand the significant change that took place on September the 11th, 2001. Obviously, it changed a lot of people's lives and we still mourn for the families who lost life. But it used to be that oceans - we thought oceans could protect us, that we were guarded by the oceans; and that if there was a threat overseas, as a result of the protection from the oceans, we could decide whether to be involved or not. It might affect us overseas, but it couldn't affect us at home. And therefore, we have the luxury of kind of picking and choosing gathering threats." - Like North Korea. The Cretin of Crawford, Kennesaw, Georgia, 2/20/03, regarding, I'm guessing, either smokin' out those damn evil oilfields that terrized our country on 9/11, or the oceans that abetted them.


Meanwhile, in an alternate universe
"America and our allies are called once again to defend the peace against an aggressive tyrant, and we accept this responsibility."
"If war is forced upon us, we will liberate the people of Iraq from a cruel and violent dictator." - Squinty the Coked-up Crackhead, Kennesaw, 2/20/03, in between video games.

Bwwaahahahaha
Chickenshits.
CBS EXECUTIVES WANT NO 'ANTI-WAR' STATEMENTS DURING GRAMMYS
Top CBS executives are deeply concerned that Sunday night's Grammy Awards may turn from a celebration of music into an anti-war politically rally - developing, at drudge.

Let them eat cake
It's good to be the Dictator-tot.

Last week, Bush said he didn’t care if a majority of Americans thought he should wait and let the United Nations finish its work before invading Iraq.

“Sometimes you have to ignore popular opinion and do what’s right,” Bush said in a speech to a group of cheering veterans. “The President must govern, not be governed.”

Say what? Excuse me, King George, but this country was founded on the belief of “government of the people, by the people and for the people.” Taking that Oath of Office didn’t suddenly endow you with great intellect or the ability to ignore the voice of the people you are supposed to represent. As I recall, your grade point average in school wasn’t that hot anyway. - Doug Thompson at Capitol Hill Blue.




The Martial Plan
Turkey has reportedly been offered the right to occupy much of Iraqi Kurdistan. Yes, that's right: as we move to liberate the Iraqis, our first step may be to deliver people who have been effectively independent since 1991 into the hands of a hated foreign overlord. Moral clarity!

Some observers also point out that the administration has turned the regular foreign aid budget into a tool of war diplomacy. Small countries that currently have seats on the U.N. Security Council have suddenly received favorable treatment for aid requests, in an obvious attempt to influence their votes. Cynics say that the "coalition of the willing" President Bush spoke of turns out to be a "coalition of the bought off" instead. - Paul Krugman.

Duct 'n' cover!
The Moron of Midland will be hosting Prime Minister Jose Aznar of Spain at the Lazy W, his bogus Texas "ranch" Friday and Saturday.




Inspectors: U.S. Tips Total Bullshit
U.N. arms inspectors are complaining about the quality of U.S. intelligence and accusing the Bushies of not only sending them on wild-goose chases, but flat-out lying. In fact, the U.S. claim that Iraq is developing missiles that could hit its neighbors – or U.S. troops in the region, or even Israel – is just one of the claims coming from Washington that inspectors here are finding increasingly unbelievable. They've become so frustrated trying to chase down unspecific or ambiguous U.S. leads that they've begun to express that anger privately in no uncertain terms.

The inspectors have become so exasperated that one source has referred to the U.S. intelligence they've been getting as "garbage after garbage after garbage." In fact, news correspondent Mark Phillips says the source used another cruder word. - CBS News.

"If you're talking about bringing democracy to the Iraqi people, this administration doesn't even like us to have it here." - Janeane Garofalo.


Great moments in television, cont.
Who watched Ms Garofalo and later Vic Kamber kick Tucker's pasty, clueless ass on Crossfire the other night? I've been listening to him and other rightwing blowhards disparage "Hollywood celebrities" for their opinions on the upcoming War for Oil and Larger Genitalia for weeks now. But something...strange happened yesterday: I was carpooling to a computer course with a repug coworker, listening to the sanctimonious Bill Bennett being interviewed on Fox and Friends on the radio, when I heard him say he was going to LA to get some celebrities to speak out for war. I almost peed my pants.




Repug strategist Alex Castellanos: I think the president suffers from several disadvantages. One is the Democratic candidates are out there now. They're launching their campaigns, they're raising their special interest money, they're attacking the president. Meanwhile, he's busy leading and protecting the country.

Paul Begala: How's that working out so far?




The French remember all too well
Molly Ivins writes, "George Will saw fit to include in his latest Newsweek column this joke: 'How many Frenchmen does it take to defend Paris? No one knows, it's never been tried.' That was certainly amusing. One million, four hundred thousand French soldiers were killed during World War I. As a result, there weren't many Frenchmen left to fight in World War II. Nevertheless, 100,000 French soldiers lost their lives trying to stop Hitler. On behalf of every one of those 100,000 men, I would like to thank Mr. Will for his clever joke. They were out-manned, out-gunned, out-generaled and, above all, out-tanked. They got slaughtered, but they stood and they fought. Ha-ha, how funny... And for eighteen months after that execrable defeat, the United States of America continued to have cordial diplomatic relations with Nazi Germany" - link.
- and Grandpa Bush was getting rich financing them.

Working on the 'cheer up' thing

Pippin and Merry suddenly realize that, just as their mothers
had feared, they did indeed forget to bring clean underwear.
- http://www.ninecompanions.net/



Quote
"Someone needs to tell Bush and Rove to be careful invading Iraq. The Iraqis are not Democrats and will probably fight back." - Denny, in the BuzzFlash mailbag.

Plastique Jesus
"George W. Bush's faith offers no speed bumps on the road to Baghdad; it does not give him pause or force him to reflect. It is a source of comfort and strength but not of wisdom." - from The Blinding Glare of His Certainty, by Joe Klein.




Update
MikeD wrote in to remind me that pReznit Stupid, though he derided deciding "policy based up on a focus group," actually used a focus group to prepare the 'duct tape and cover' answer to terrorism. He wins a cigar, which I'll smoke tonight in his honor. Thanks, buddy.

'Propagandists for the Establishment'
From 'War, protest and the press: The failure of American journalism:' Like bloodied Christian penitents, the media repeatedly flagellate themselves, citing polls that say the public is losing respect for and confidence in the media. Inevitably, the response to these polls is for editors to yank even harder on the leashes constraining their reporters to the "objective" reporting of stories. Yet this is precisely why the American public has lost confidence in the mainstream corporate media.

As the line between entertainment and news has blurred, Americans, long adept at spotting snake-oil salesmen and deconstructing advertising, have realized that they are getting fed a line by the newsmedia. - Dave Lindorfof CounterPunch, courtesy of SmirkingChimp.com.





"Some of you may die, but it's a price I'm willing to pay."
We've been told we're going to war to eliminate weapons of mass destruction we haven't located yet; to retaliate for links to al Qaeda that are historically tenuous; to eliminate a man for actions he might take some day; to liberate an oppressed people we didn't care about before Sept. 11.

Which is it? It doesn't matter to the Bush administration, as long as you accept any of the above. - from Robert Steinback's column, here.

Great moments in television
"Tucker, you ignorant slut."

Tony Coelho bitchslapped Rovian boytoy Tucker 'Squee!' Carlson on last night's Crossfire. And though he didn't use the exact words in the quote above, he came pretty damn close.





Unca Dick has another oily wet dream
After we're done bombing you to smithereens, you can pay for your own reconstruction.

I'm kind of incoherent today - the cats decided to spend most of last night playing tag on the bed, when they weren't using it as a trampoline.

"I would say this about this president, is that he wants to go to war with Iraq in the worst possible way. And so far as I can see, he's succeeding." - James Carville, 2/18/03.




Dueling headlines
Powell: Anti-War Camp 'Afraid of Responsibility'
US, UK Ponder Resolution to Placate Anti-War Camp
- seen at Yahoo News this morning.



Hey hey, goodbye
'Coalition of the Willing' heading for the crapper

"The so-called willing coalition is collapsing. Bush's chicken hawks who drone on about some 30 countries supporting the war will soon have to face the fact that many of these nations will soon join France, Germany, Russia, Canada, and Mexico in opposition... Bulgaria's monarchist-based conservative government is on the verge of collapse and will be replaced by one opposed to Bush's war plans. A newly resurgent Dutch Labor Party is now within striking distance of the conservatives... Spain's pro-war conservative government has united the opposition against it with 65% of Spaniards opposed to a war... Only 24% of Czechs favor Bush's war, while 62% of Slovenians and Poles are against their governments' support for Bush... Italy's scandal-plagued Silvio Berlusconi may soon be voicing his support for Bush from an Italian prison." - Wayne Madsen, at CounterPunch, courtesy of Democrats.com.



GOP threats halted GAO Cheney/energy task force suit
Threats by republicans to cut the General Accounting Office (GAO) budget influenced its decision to abandon a lawsuit against Dick 'Chicanery' Cheney.

Sources familiar with high-level discussions at the GAO said Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Oilpig), chairman of the Appropriations Committee, met with GAO Comptroller General David Walker earlier this year and “unambiguously” pressured him to drop the suit or face cuts in his $440 million budget. - link. Isn't there a law against that??

'Axis of Weasels' list grows!
Woohoo!!

The Bushies' preparations for war with Iraq suffered a new setback today when Turkey dug in its heels in negotiations over its role as a launch pad for an invasion, and close ally Saudi Arabia warned it that bypassing the United Nations would make military action look like a "war of aggression."

And the New York Times Karl Rove steno pool reported that senior Bush officials were for the first time openly discussing what could go wrong both during an attack on Iraq and in the aftermath, including concerns that Baghdad could use human shields or explode oil fields. - link. I bet they haven't even gotten to who the hey is going to pay for it, either.

Update: Canada says, in a delightful accent, I'm sure, "no f*cking way, you imbecile!"

What I've been doing
Shovelling snow.
Watched Black Hawk Down on dvd. Good movie, and yes, Orlando Bloom was in it.
Snow shovelling.
Watched Bean - what a sick f*ck.
Shovelled snow.
Watched Planet of the Apes. The original, with Mr NRA in a loincloth. Wuh.
Shovelled more snow.
Right now I'm heating up some soup for lunch, then I'll have to go out and do some snow shovelling. I'm quickly running out of places to put it, though.