September 30, 2003

Arianna Huffington has just announced she's dropping out of the CA governor's race - says no to recall on Larry King Live.

Hell freezes over
Noozemax criticizes Bush misadministration over Wilsongate.

I need a drink.

Oh, good
Explosive from airport security drill missing over a month.

NY/NJ Port Authority airport employees using explosives to train bomb sniffing dogs lost track of half a pound of the material.

The exlosive is called Primasheet and in the wrong hands it could easily become a bomb. Half a pound of Primasheet can cause enormous damage - it is a highly explosive material often used by terrorists in letter bombs.

According to sources, even though Port Authority supervisors knew about the missing explosive on September 8, they didn't notify headquarters until September 25th. Only then did headquarters notify the Bureau Of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms that nobody knows where the explosive is or who has it.

Holy crap!
Covertly recruiting kids
David Goodman reports:

"A WEEK before school started this year, I noticed a small advertisement in my local newspaper. It was from my school district, and buried in the ad's fine print was an announcement that the local high school would be sending the names and phone numbers for all juniors and seniors to U.S. military recruiters.

"This is more than a back-door assault on student privacy. It may have life-or-death consequences for unwitting kids who are contacted by recruiters.

"This student information give-away was mandated in a little-known provision of the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush's sweeping education law. The law went into effect in 2002, but many schools only became aware of the obscure military recruiting provision in the last year. Schools risk losing all federal aid if they fail to provide military recruiters full access to their students; the aid is contingent on complying with federal law."

Why the CIA leak is big trouble for Bush
David Corn explains.

"McClellan defended Rove by saying, 'I've known Karl for a long time, and I didn't even need to go ask Karl because I know the kind of person that he is, and he is someone that is committed to the highest standards of conduct.'

'Have you read any book about him lately?' one reporter replied.


Presstitutes
"While the president's press secretary insists that Rove was not involved in this outrage, I can't help wondering how reporters, editors and bureau chiefs in the capital justify their silence. Tim Russert of NBC and Robin Sproul of ABC both said they wouldn't discuss any matter involving sources. That's an ironclad rule of journalism, up to a point. But what should a journalist do when a source commits a serious crime in his or her presence? What if that crime not only threatens to jeopardize human lives, but also harms U.S. national security in the most profound way?"

- - Joe Conason.

Oh, and Mr Novak?
The following notice was sent to all White House employees:
"PLEASE READ: Important Message From Counsel's Office -

"We were informed last evening by the Department of Justice that it has opened an investigation into possible unauthorized disclosures concerning the identity of an undercover CIA employee."

- - via TalkingPointsMemo.com.

Follow-up
Repukes are trying to rewrite history again, squawking that pReznit Dumbass never said "Mission accomplished."

Oh really? Here's Buckeroo Bonehead addressing U.S. troops on 6/5/03:

"Our actions sent along a clear message that our nation is strong and our nation is compassionate. America sent you on a mission and that mission has been accomplished."


Bunnypants goes to Britain
Our humble statesman Unspeakable liar Snippy the Chimp will face a series of embarrassing snubs and potentially violent protests when he makes his first full State visit to Britain, prompting fresh humiliation for British Prime Minister Tony Blair over Iraq.

Downing Street has already begun a damage limitation exercise ahead of the planned trip in November.

Officials have vetoed proposals for Mr Bush to address Parliament, fearing he would face a mass boycott from Labour MPs.

- - It would be funny if it wasn't so shameful. From here.


Rush Limbaugh's ugly insinuations
Why does this man still have a job???

During Sunday's pregame show on ESPN, the Vile Pigboy blithely smeared the accomplishments of Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, suggesting that McNabb gets more credit than he deserves because he is black:

"I don't think he's been that good from the get-go. I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL," Limbaugh said. "The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They're interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well; I think there's a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team, that he really didn't deserve." - - link.


Consulting firm with Bush ties set up in Iraq
Keeping it in the family -
the Bush Cartel crime family.


A consulting firm that specializes in advising clients on doing business in Iraq is staffed by some people with close ties to the pResident, his family or his administration, The New York Times reports today.

Joe M. Allbaugh, head of New Bridge Strategies, had been Bush's campaign manager in 2000 and had directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency until March.

The Times mentioned other directors, including Edward M. Rogers Jr. and Lanny Griffith, both of whom had been assistants to the 'first' President George Bush. - - link.



Traitor in the White House
"What I do have are any number of journalist sources, none of whom I have any reason not to believe, who have said that the White House was pushing this story after the leak, after the Novak article, and including Karl Rove."

Former ambassador Joseph Wilson spoke to vapid WH apologist/Bush cheerleader Paula Zahn Monday on CNN:

Video clip from Crossfire:

Boob Novak, unbelievably trying to cover his repube-massaged ass by impugning everyone else involved: 'According to a confidential source at the CIA, Mrs. Wilson was an analyst, not a spy, not a covert operative, and not in charge of undercover operatives. So what is the fuss about, pure Bush-bashing?'

(End video clip)

Zahn: 'You want to answer that question? Is this Bush-bashing on your part?'

Wilson: Paula, you ignorant slut. 'Let me make a couple of points about that.

'First of all, Novak also said that I was a Clinton appointee. In actual fact, my first political appointee was as ambassador. And I was appointed by George H.W. Bush, the first President Bush. So I really am apolitical in all of this.

'Secondly, somebody with Novak's self-described 46 years experience will know the difference between operative and analyst. And his report clearly says -- his article says operative.'

Meanwhile, the Justice Department has opened a preliminary inquiry into allegations that White House officials violated federal law by revealing the identity of an undercover CIA agent. The White House denied that senior political adviser/vengeful, petty brownshirted sneak Karl Rove or any other top figure - such as Dick 'Chicanery' Cheney, who worked closely with the CIA - was involved.

Democrats, however, charged that the Bush administration could not credibly investigate itself and called for an independent probe, pointing out that not only is Jesus John Ashcroft a right-wing political appointee of pReznit Stupid, who puts loyalty to Bush ahead of the law, but that CIA lawyers sent the Justice Department a notice of the leak way back in July.

Two months after the CIA complained that the identity of an undercover agent had been exposed in apparent violation of the law, the Justice Department's counterespionage section is still conducting a preliminary probe, officials said.
In a spurt of testosterone which may have been induced by viewing the Newsweek cover of General Wesley Clark, Tom 'Isadora' Daschle and Joseph 'woof!' Biden said in a letter to Bush: “We do not believe that this investigation of senior Administration officials, possibly including high-level White House staff, can be conducted by the Justice Department because of the obvious and inherent conflicts of interests involved.”

Fun fact: Boob Novak was not the only journalist that the White House officials tried to interest in the story. A senior administration official cited in a Washington Post report Sunday said two top White House officials called at least a half-dozen journalists and revealed the identity and occupation of Wilson’s wife.

Fun fact 2: Sources close to George Bush Sr. say Karl Rove was fired from the 1992 Bush presidential campaign after he planted a negative story with columnist Robert Novak about dissatisfaction with campaign fundraising chief and Bush loyalist Robert Mosbacher Jr. It was smoked out, and he was summarily ousted." Bob Novak is Karl Rove's "go-to" guy in Washington - which is a dead giveaway that Karl Rove "outed" Valerie Plame and should spend 10 years in prison (thanks to talkingpointsmemo.com and democrats.com).

"This administration has played politics with national security for a long time, but this is going too far." - - Gen. Wesley Clark.

September 29, 2003

Bloghopping

  • "Because being a Republican means never having to say that you miscalculated the post-war resistance, and that you are now responsible for an ever worsening occupation" - from Why I Am A Republican, at TBOGG.

  • James alerts us to the new strip at Get your war on.

  • Spade Hammer asks Why does this woman still have a job?!

  • "Because he's a corrupt, illegitimate fraud." - MWO.

  • Treasongate
    "Why doesn't he use everything in his power to smoke them out?"

    Tuna lets us know that Talking Points Memo has the transcript of the press conference up already.

    Eschaton is all over this thing!

    Kerry calls for Special Counsel in Wilson investigation
    "...It is outrageous that the President who campaigned with a promise to restore integrity to the White House refuses to get to the bottom of this. No one should shield criminals who compromise national security for political purposes especially if they are on the President’s staff.

    “This investigation should be immediately removed from the politics of the Department of Justice. Too many serious questions exist to risk allowing any potential for political intervention. The track record of John Ashcroft and this Justice Department do not adequately assure Americans that legitimate questions will be answered fully without any political bias. A special counsel should be appointed immediately so that we can find out how George Bush let this happen and hold those responsible accountable.” - - John Kerry.com.

    Honor and dignity
    ...we join WH spokesliar Scott McClellan as he tries mightily to control his various sphincters....

    CNN's Dana Bash just went on the record that she voted for Bush because he was going to change the tone in Washington.

    "Major, major scandal," - announces Wolf Blitzer.

    David Gregory brought up the standard that was used to trigger the Whitewater Special Proscutor, and asked why that standard applied then but not now.

    - - thanks to the BC Forum and DemoUnderground. If anyone else has any updates, please send them in!

    Chronic liars in the WH deny loathsome brownshirted sneak Karl Rove was involved in heinous, treasonous activity
    The White House on Monday emphatically denied that mendacious clot Emperor Snippy's chief political strategist was involved in revealing the identity of a CIA operative, in possible violation of the law.

    "He wasn't involved," White House WH spokesliar Scott McClellan said of Rove. "The president knows he wasn't involved. ... It's simply not true." - - link.

    Live on CNN: The press hammers McClellan on 'criminal acts,' 'stonewalling,' and 'president doing nothing':

    "Bush promised honesty and integrity in the White House and now someone in his OWN administration leaks - a serious crime?????? What is going on when you say the White House won't do anything??"

    "Why won't the president be pro-active about this? Wilson was on TV and this needs to be investigated....isn't the President concerned when a leak occurs of this magnitude??" - - reporters, to spokes-hamster McClellan.

    Fun fact: Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is calling for a 3 PM press conference to ask for an independent counsel for Wilsongate.

    MIMS
    Time mag cover just begging for a photoshop treatment: Mission NOT accomplished. I'd be more than happy to post any reasonably SFW ones here!

    Iraq, 9/11 still linked by Cheney
    Powermad liar just won't give up lying.


    Quote
    'I have to ask why the Bush administration expects the US taxpayers to [finance] an open-ended financial and military commitment to nation-building in a country that turns around and votes with OPEC to shake down the American consumer with higher oil prices.' - - Edward J. Markey, (D-MA), 9/25/03.

    Free pass for the pResident
    Imagine the response from Republicans—and reporters—if Bill Clinton had been responsible for one of those things, much less all of them. - - Anna Quindlen, in Newsweek.

    President Bill Clinton was impeached by a Republican-controlled Congress for lying about sex. President George W. Bush and aides lied the United States into a stupid, unnecessary colonial war that has so far killed more than 305 Americans and seriously wounded more than 1,400. It has also cost many thousands of Iraqi dead, and $1 billion US weekly.

    Lying about sex is an impeachable offence; lying the nation into war apparently is not. - - Eric Margolis, in the Toronto Sun

    CIA at center of weapons controversy
    The Central Intelligence Agency hit back at criticism of its Iraq weapons evidence after lawmakers attacked the White House information used to justify the Iraq war. "The intelligence community stands fully behind its findings and judgments as stated in the national intelligence estimate on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction," Central Intelligence Agency spokesman Bill Harlow said in a statement.

    "The White House twisted our intel to justify their war, and now they want to f*ck us over on it? I don't bloody well think so. Hey, Karl, are you still a size XXXL?!" - - link.




    Wilsongate
    Traitor in the White House.


    Controversy deepens over inquiry into leak of CIA officer's identity
    Aides to unscrupulous liar Snippy the Chimp promised yesterday to cooperate with a Justice Department inquiry into an administration leak that exposed the identity of a CIA operative, but Democrats said the administration cannot credibly investigate itself and called for an independent investigation.

    White House officials said they would turn over phone logs if the Justice Department asks them to. But the aides said Bush has no plans to ask his staff members whether any of them played a role in revealing the name of an undercover officer who is married to former Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV, one of the most visible critics of Bush's handling of intelligence about Iraq.
    An administration official told The Washington Post on Saturday that two White House officials leaked the information to selected journalists to discredit Wilson.

    The controversy erupted over the weekend, when administration officials reported that Tenet sent the Justice Department a letter raising questions about whether federal law was broken when the operative, Valerie Plame, was exposed. She was named in a column by Robert Novak that ran July 14 in The Post and other newspapers. - - from the Seattle Times.


    Media review conduct after leak
    A senior administration official said TWO top White House officials called AT LEAST SIX Washington journalists and revealed the identity and occupation of Joseph Wilson's wife. John Roberts, a CBS White House correspondent, said that to his knowledge, no administration official had contacted anyone at the network about Wilson.

    If anyone had called him, Roberts said, "I'd immediately have to wonder what the ulterior motive was. We'd probably end up doing a story about somebody breaching national security by leaking the name of a CIA operative." - - WaPo.


    Rice "knew nothing" about CIA agent leak
    National Security Adviser plays dumb, lies about another breach of national security by the misadministration.


    Bush aides say they'll cooperate with probe into intelligence leak
    Intelligence sources said top officials at the agency were very concerned about the disclosure because it could allow foreign intelligence services to track down some of her former contacts and lead to the exposure of agents.

    The disclosure could have broken more than one law. In addition to the federal law prohibiting the identification of a covert officer, officials with high-level national security clearance sign nondisclosure agreements, with penalties for revealing classified information.

    Democrats charged that the administration cannot credibly investigate itself and called for an independent probe. - - WaPo.


    WH investigated over leak about ex-envoy who criticized Iraq arms claim
    Some Democrats in the US Congress also have said it appeared to be an attempt to punish Wilson for his remarks, and that the action was in keeping with a White House said to be ruthless with anyone who dares to cross it.

    "Retribution is their method," Senator Jay Rockefeller, the Senate Intelligence Committee's ranking Democrat, said in July.

    "They go after the people they don't like. Wilson's a good example of it," said Rockefeller, who called the tactic "vile." - - link.

    September 28, 2003

    You know what to do
    Do you agree with Wesley Clark that Americans are "embarrassed" by the Bush administration's leadership?
    Vote at CNN.

    Cool!
    Starting Monday, September 29, Take Back the Media will be the official news service of IEAmerica Radio!

    TBTM will assume the network news desk and will provide IEAmerica Network News at the top of the hour effective 12 noon, and the newscasts will run daily from noon to midnight.

    Congrats to stranger and Symbolman!!!


    Quote of the day
    "Pardon me boy, is that the Chickenhawk Escape train?
    Track 61
    You all can die while I run."

    - - samela, at the BC Forum.


    Geebus K F*ck: Bush bids farewell to wife, plays golf
    Actual headline.

    His day began with a goodbye to stepford wife Pickles Bush, who left on a trip to Europe. He then played golf at Andrews Air Force Base with David Hobbs, his chief liaison to Congress; Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., and John Boehner, a R-Ohio — a state Bush plans to visit this week.

    Friggin' clueless lazy bastard. Hey, stranger, here's another golf outing to add to the list!

    Very sad: Donald O'Connor dies
    Donald O'Connor, who combined comedy and acrobatics in the show-stopping "Make 'Em Laugh" number in the classic movie "Singin' in the Rain," died Saturday of heart failure. He was 78.

    'A lot of rumblings'
    Democrats smell excess in billions for rebuilding: from our tax dollars directly to Bush campaign contributors. - - great article in the Chicago Trib (thanks to BuzzFlash!).


    Bush's 'Marshall Plan' comparison to Iraq derided
    "If they want to give money to Iraq to make them a nice democracy, that's OK with me. But we ought not to fool ourselves that we're doing a Marshall Plan," said Larry Bland, a leading authority on the Marshall Plan and editor of the Marshall Papers at the George C. Marshall Foundation in Lexington, Virginia.

    "The economic elite isn't kidded. So it's political spin rather than reality. We're not going to do a Marshall Plan for them. We're going to do a big, expensive influx of money," Bland added.

    "Nice try, Rummy, you insane piece of sh*t," added Sir Hugh Jass of the Royal British Library. "It's more like a get-rich-quick scheme for Bush campaign contributors."

    "The reconstruction of Europe was undertaken in the context of the spirit of internationalism, multilateralism and collective security that led to the formation of the United Nations, NATO, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund," said Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia.

    "The same can hardly be said -- hardly be said -- today. Come on," added Byrd. - - link.




    Has the blazing sh*t started to hit the fan?

    Bush misadministration is focus of inquiry
    CIA agent's identity was leaked to media in treasonous offence

    "Get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs."

    A senior administration official said two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and revealed the identity and occupation of ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife. That was shortly after Wilson revealed in July that the CIA had sent him to Niger last year to look into the uranium claim and that he had found no evidence to back up the charge. Wilson's account eventually touched off a controversy over Bush's use of intelligence as he made the case for attacking Iraq.

    "Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge," the senior official said of the alleged leak.

    Sources familiar with the conversations said the leakers were seeking to undercut Wilson's credibility. They alleged that Wilson, who was not a CIA employee, was selected for the Niger mission partly because his wife had recommended him. Wilson said in an interview yesterday that a reporter had told him that the leaker said, "The real issue is Wilson and his wife."

    A source said reporters quoted a leaker as describing Wilson's wife as "fair game." - - from Josh Marshall (link above), and the WaComPo.


    September 27, 2003

    Pentagon readies fresh troops for Iraq as Bush request falls flat
    The Pentagon has ordered thousands of fresh troops to pack for Iraq this weekend, after liar/bungler Napoleon Bonehead's bid to recruit more international troops fell on deaf ears.

    US officials have said the troops are to remain in Iraq until the country's sovereignty is returned. The White House has said sovereignty will not be handed back to the Iraqis until a constitution has been inked and elections held. - - link.


    Chickensh*t girly-man Schwarzenegger declines debate challenge
    Gov. Gray Davis challenged misogynist action figure Arnold Schwarzenegger to a debate "right here, right now," accusing the actor Friday of distorting his record. The Schwarzenegger campaign declined. "Like that vacuous idiot in the White House, Arnold's not very good at speaking off-the-cuff," stated a former aide. "Let's face it, the guy's a total vacuum." - - link.


    'Saddam was evil! He tried to kill my dad!'
    Chronic liar and powermad oilman Snippy the Lying Chimp used his weekly radio address to reassure Americans Saturday that the invasion of Iraq was appropriate despite the failure to find weapons of mass destruction and with U.S. troops under daily guerrilla attack.

    "The world is safer today because, in Iraq, our coalition ended a regime that cultivated ties to terror while it built weapons of mass destruction," Bunnypants again lied. Yeah? Where are those weapons, anyway, you lying POS?

    'News you won't find on CNN'
    Because His Lips are Moving, by Bridget Gibson, of the Information Clearing House.


    'He is cursed and hated worldwide for this'
    Donald Rumsfeld's "outbursts can not be construed (other) than a desperate shrill cry of a psychopath on his death bed." Oh yeah, and he smells funny. - - KCNA, North Korea's official news agency.

    And speaking of assh*les
    Rush "Limbaugh never hesitates to denigrate Democrats like Clark who served in uniform, although his own chief martial qualification is the 1-Y Vietnam deferment he got due to a persistent boil on his backside."
    - - Joe Conason.

    Reboob strategists eyeing Dennis Miller for CA state politics
    Karl Rove cabana boy and former comedian Dennis Miller is being talked about as a rethuglican candidate for a statewide post.

    Three repuke strategists interviewed in the last week have said they want to draft Miller into politics. One, a prominent gop operative and Schwarzenegger aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that, once the recall election is over, he plans to recruit Miller to challenge Barbara Boxer for her U.S. Senate seat next year.





    CIA seeks probe of White House
    Finally

    MSNBC reports that the CIA has asked the Justice Department to investigate allegations that the White House broke federal laws by revealing the identity of one of its undercover employees in retaliation against the woman’s husband, Joseph Wilson. Wilson, a former ambassador, publicly criticized the lying fratboy's claim that Iraq had sought weapons-grade uranium from Africa.

    The CIA has asked Jesus John Ashcraft's Justice Department to investigate whether White House officials blew Valerie Plame’s cover in retaliation against Wilson. Revealing the identities of covert officials is a violation of two laws, the National Agents’ Identity Act and the Unauthorized Release of Classified Information Act.

    September 26, 2003

    'You lied, they died,' US parents tell Bush
    The father of a soldier killed in Iraq accused lying fratboy George Bush yesterday of being responsible for his son's death.

    Fernando Suarez, whose 20-year-old son was one of the first fatalities, said: "My son died because Bush lied."

    Also, a father of two soldiers serving in Iraq used a full page advertisement in yesterday's New York Times to demand the sacking of the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld.

    The ad accused the fascist punk and his misadministration of misleading the public about weapons of mass destruction.

    "Donald Rumsfeld Betrayed My Sons and Our Nation. It's Time For Him to Go," said the headline of the ad, which was signed by Larry Syverson from Richmond, Virginia. - - from the Guardian.

    LOL

  • Political Operating Systems, by Bigwig at Silflay Hraka.

  • Eschaton and Blah3 remembered today is Talk Like Bill O'Reilly Day!

  • Are the media whores?
    "The Fox claim is a con on the public ... the network is blatantly unbalanced," Robert MacNeil, former host of The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour said, adding that the network has used patriotism to promote the right wing and Bush misadministration.

    While journalists are often accused of having a liberal bias, "most media are owned by Republican conservatives, so there is a healthy balance and tension" within the news operation, Tom Curley, CEO of the Associated Press, said.

    "We're not going to turn the clock back. The tough questions have to be asked of political figures," Judy Woodruff of CNN said. "But only if they're Democrats!" she squealed.

    Chickensh*t choo-choo
    Reminiscent of Montgomery Burns' emergency escape pods, unspeakable gutless fraud pReznit Privilege had his own special escape train, kept idling under his NY hotel "in case of a terrorist attack."

    The Secret Service arranged for a Metro-North train to be parked at an abandoned platform under the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, and kept it running and ready for instant departure throughout the lying bungler’s stay at the hotel on Tuesday and Wednesday.

    U.S. issues recall for Segway scooters
    Does not make GW Bush any less of an ineffectual, incompetent spazzola.

    Segway announces recall of scooters due to riders falling off, injuring themselves. Pretzal makers drop everything to fight for do-not-call registry.

    The angry left
    "That's the all-purpose putdown that conservatives have started to use to describe folks who believe that President Bush is an unelected fraud, a moron and perhaps the worst president in our history.

    "Never mind that this phrase has originated from the same folks who screamed for the urgent delivery of the heads of the Clintons on any available platter for over a decade. Hypocrisy aside, this new round of name-calling is a good thing. It shows that our right-wing friends are taking notice of the growing opposition to the ruinous policies of President Bush. They're starting to realize that with each passing day it's looking more likely that Bush will be a one-term president.
    "Poll after poll indicates that a majority of Americans don't believe President Bush is doing a good job and that they would rather see someone else in the White House.

    "The corporate press is finally starting to discover that there are a lot of pissed off people in this country who would sooner vote for a steaming pile of horseshit than vote for George W. Bush in 2004."

    - - Randolph T. Holhut, SmirkingChimp.com.

    George Plimpton dies
    Plimpton died Thursday night at his Manhattan apartment, his longtime friend, restauranteur Elaine Kaufman, said Friday. He was 76. - - link.

    Robert Palmer dies of heart attack
    Rock singer Robert Palmer died Friday in Paris of a heart attack, his manager said. He was 54.

    Known for his GQ sense of style, Palmer was named best dressed male artist by Rolling Stone in 1990.

    The "Addicted to Love" video, with its miniskirted models strumming guitars as Palmer sang, became one of MTV's most-played clips. - - from here.

    134,000 lost jobs in August 'mass layoffs'
    About 134,000 workers lost their jobs in 1,258 mass layoffs nationwide last month, up from the 128,103 employees who were fired in 1,248 such actions in August 2002.

    "We've got a sort of despair," said Harry Payne Jr, chairman of the NC Employment Security Commission. "Whatever resources the state has in terms of being able to help people are being greatly taxed."


    The only smoking guns were those the Bushies pointed at our soldiers' heads
    "We went to war over a threat that didn’t exist, plain and simple. Hundreds of American soldiers have died as a consequence.

    "The American people did not agree to sacrifice American lives and many tens of billions of taxpayer dollars for regime change. They believed Bush that Iraq posed a serious threat to the security of the United States and the world. That is proving not true. Don’t let the Bush administration weasel out of this one." - - from an editorial in the Star Tribune.


    'The shame of American journalism'
    "September 23rd's news was already due to be tilted in a direction possibly unfavorable to the Bush administration. A story on a major 'War on Terrorism' breakthrough, one that hits the wire simultaneously with Bush's UN speech. Why do I see the hidden hand of Karl Rove behind this?

    "My problem is not with the Bushies, at least not here. My problem is with the national-media guppies, who swallowed yesterday's Al-Halabi gambit hook, line and sinker. This is nothing new, of course. The national news media has been following the administration's lead at every step of the way with its Iraq war coverage." - - from Kenneth Neill (publisher/CEO of Contemporary Media, Inc)'s editorial in the Memphis Flyer.




    The Bushies' latest Friday Surprise
    Here we go again: the Bush misadministration is trying to hide bad economic news by releasing the government's latest estimates of poverty in America right before the weekend.

    The Census Bureau data, which is scheduled to be made public at a Friday morning news conference, will show that incomes declined in 2002, while more people fell into poverty. In previous years, the estimates were released either on a Tuesday or Thursday.
    "Sounds like they're trying to bury the numbers where people won't find them," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York. "This is another clear example of political manipulation of data by the Bush administration to avoid the glare of public scrutiny about the country's worsening economy." - - link.




    I do not have financial relations with that company, Halliburton
    A congressional report concludes that, under federal ethics standards, Dick 'Chicanery' Cheney still has a financial interest in Halliburton, the energy services company he "used" to run.

    The report, by the Congressional Research Service, came at the request of Sen. Frank Lautenberg, NJ-D.

    "As this CRS report shows, the ethics standards for financial disclosure is clear. Vice President Cheney has a financial interest in Halliburton," Lautenberg said. "And it's high time that damned pissant stopped lying to the American people." - - CNN.




    Colin Powell caught lying about the Bush case for the war with Iraq
    So, in typical Bush Cartel fashion, he lies some more

    Colin Powell tried yesterday to explain away remarks on Iraq dating back to the beginning of the Bush misadministration, before the United States decided to invade Iraq.

    Speaking in Cairo in February 2001, on his first Middle East trip, Powell said that Iraq had not developed "any significant capacity" in weapons of mass destruction and was not able to attack his neighbors with conventional weapons.

    A former Democratic congressional aide dug out his remarks this week and has circulated them to the media.

    Asked why he changed his assessment, Powell said: "I didn't change my assessment... I did not say he (Iraqi President Saddam Hussein) didn't have weapons of mass destruction. He was a threat then. The extent of his holdings were yet to be determined. It was early in the administration and the fact of the matter is it was long before 9/11." - - Habbida habbida habbida... link, and thanks to BuzzFlash for the headline!




    In GOP, concern over preznit's Iraq price tag
    "We're not talking sanity here." - check out the shopping list so far:

  • A new curriculum for training an Iraqi army for $164 million.
  • Five hundred experts, at $200,000 each, to investigate crimes against humanity.
  • A witness protection program for $200,000 per Iraqi participant.
  • A computer study for the Iraqi postal service: $54 million.
  • $100 million to build seven planned communities with a total of 3,258 houses, plus roads, an elementary school, two high schools, a clinic, a place of worship and a market for each
  • $10 million to finance 100 prison-building experts for six months, at $100,000 an expert
  • 40 garbage trucks at $50,000 each
  • $900 million to import petroleum products such as kerosene and diesel to a country with the world's second-largest oil reserves
  • $20 million for a four-week business course, at $10,000 per student
  • $400 million to build two 4,000-bed prisons at $50,000 a bed

    These numbers, buried in Fraudy McFundraiser's $87 billion request for "the war on terrism," have made some congressional Republicans nervous, even furious. Although the GOP leadership has tried to unite publicly around its president, cracks are beginning to show. - - WaComPo.

    Meanwhile the United Nations has pulled more staff out of Iraq following two suicide bomb attacks.


  • September 25, 2003

    Over my dead body!
    Actor Tony Randall has a fantasy: when he dies pResident Bush and Dick Cheney show up to pay their respects but they're turned away - because his family knows he didn't like them.


    Tucker, I got your number
    I need to make you mine...
    Tucker, don't change your number...
    867-5309.

    Ho ho!
    Oklahoma judge Lee R. West's telephone has not stopped ringing since he sided with telemarketers seeking to block a popular national do-not-call list.

    Egged on by talk show hosts and angry Web sites, people have flooded West's office and home with calls and faxes, apparently trying to show him why they wanted to ban unsolicited sales calls.

    The phones at the federal courthouse were jammed Thursday morning and voicemail boxes were stuffed with messages blasting West's ruling that the Federal Trade Commission lacked authority to create and operate the registry.

    The do-not-call registry appears that it will go forward after all. The House approved legislation Thursday intended to ensure the list goes into effect next week. After less than an hour of debate, which included potshots at West from both parties, House members voted 412-8 to approve the bill. - - link.

    "Judge West? Can I interest you in a can of whoopass?"

    The presidential bubble
    Out of touch - with the people, and with reality.

    But it is worrisome when one of the most incurious men ever to occupy the White House takes pains to insist that he gets his information on what the world is saying only in predigested bits from his appointees.

    Mr. Bush thinks of himself as a man of the people, but carefully staged contacts with groups of supporters or small children does not constitute getting in touch with the people. It is in Mr. Bush's interest, as well as the nation's, for him to burst the bubble he has been inhabiting, and take a hard look at the real world.
    - - from a NY Times editorial.

    pReznit Pretzal's pal Pooty-poot pans Pinhead on 'Potamia
    "Only direct participation by the United Nations in the rebuilding of Iraq will enable its people themselves to decide on their future," he said. "And only with the active — and I want to stress this — practical assistance by the United Nations in its economic and civil transformation, only thus will Iraq assume a new worthy place in the world community." - - Toronto Star.

    If there are no WMD in Iraq, does it matter?
    The poll question of the day at MSNBC. I dunno...over 300 of our troops killed, thousands wounded, a resurgence of terrorists, thousands of civilians dead, $87 billion dollars down the crapper...what's the big deal?

    Geebus.

    Heston gets 'Heston' award
    Charlton Heston has been given the first Charlton Heston Award, a new prize handed out by the American Film Institute (AFI) saluting acting talent.

    The Hollywood actor, 79, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, received the award at his home on Tuesday. He then proceeded to use it as target practice for colostomy-hose skeetshooting.


    "Ehhhh! Get off my lawn!"

    While Bush fundraises:

  • Iraq Leader's Murder, Bombing Deepen U.S. Woes
  • Bomb Kills Guard at Baghdad Hotel for U.S. Media
  • Draft Report Said to Cite No Success in Iraq Arms Hunt
  • Deadly Bombings on Rise in Iraq; 1 Killed in Baghdad Blast
  • Bush Fails to Gain Pledges on Troops or Funds for Iraq
  • U.N. Finds More Weapons-Grade Uranium in Iran
  • Taliban Vow Attacks After Meeting with Mullah Omar
  • Hamas Founder Says Bush Has Declared War on Islam, Rejects Cease-Fire
  • OPEC Members Agree to Cut Oil Production By 900,000 Barrels a Day.

    Oh, and did we mention that David Kay's report will reveal there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?????!


  • Audience unmoved during Bush's address at the UN
    Except for yawning, shadow-puppet-theatre, butt-scratching and eye-rolling.

    Steven Weisman of the New York Times:

    UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 23 - A president who has led his forces to victory, ostensibly on behalf of the United Nations, would in theory deserve a hero's welcome. But that was not what President Bush encountered in an icy chamber here today, almost five months after he declared an end to major hostilities in Iraq.

    [I]f the United States gets the resolution it desires, the money and troops may not be forthcoming in a way that the Bush administration had hoped. If the goal today was to cajole other countries and persuade them to be more forthcoming with their assistance, it failed to produce any immediate results.
    And although pReznit Poopypants and Gerhard Schroeder kissed and made up, Bunnypants walked away without the promise of more international troops or funds for Iraq. An aide later said it could take months to achieve a new U.N. resolution backing the U.S. occupation.





    Hotel California
    No big winners or losers in last night's debate, though word is is that McClintock made a much better showing than toilet-bowl plunger/misogynist Steroidnegger.


    Watch Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity's heads explode
    Cable Ratings for Tues Sept 23, 2003:

    MTV - Not music videos 2.3
    FOX - O'Reilly 2.2
    BRAVO - Queer Eye 2.2
    FOX - Hannity & Warm Bag of Pus 1.6

    FOX - Sheppard 1.2
    FOX - Greta 1.1
    CNN - Larry King 0.9
    CNN - Aaron Brown 0.6
    MSNBC - Joe 'dead intern' Scarborough 0.5
    CNN - Anderson Cooper 0.4
    CNN - Paula Zahn 0.4
    MSNBC - Hardball 0.4
    MSNBC - Abrams 0.3
    MSNBC - Olbermann 0.3
    (Via drudge)

    September 24, 2003

    Dismal effort at United Nations
    "President Bush, the folly of his administration's Iraq policy more in evidence by the day, is hardly in a position to lecture the United Nations. But lecture the U.N. General Assembly he did yesterday, and until the president concedes that the U.N. must be allowed to lead the stabilization and rebuilding of Iraq, the United States will continue to bear the burden, in manpower and dollars, of this punishing task." - - read more here.

    U.S. Iraq policy: the day the roof caved in
    "As top Bush administration officials come before Congress this week to justify the annual $80-plus billion being pumped into Iraq to try to contain a worsening insurgency, new questions have arisen about why the United States invaded that country in the first place. In the wake of remarkable statements by the president, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice that no evidence exists that Saddam Hussein was involved in the September 11th attacks, the last pillar holding up the administration’s justification for invading Iraq has crumbled." - - from the Independent Institute. Oh yeah, and about that imminent threat from WMDs....

    Bush interview dead last in broadcast TV ratings
    "On Monday night, the American public was apparently far more interested in new comedies and a blowout football game than their president's take on the state of the international effort to rebuild Iraq." - - eat it, fretards.



    And speaking of bombs, have we mentioned that no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq?? That's right: NONE.


    Irony's a bitch
    One of the WH's main apologists, the Wall Street Journal, will cut 12 editor jobs.

    Can you use that in a sentence? Uhhhhh....
    The 11th edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary has sh*tcanned record changer, pocket-handkerchief, poke bonnet, vitamin G, lantern pinion, frutescent, impudicity, wool stapler, long play, retirant, sheep-dip, ten-cent store and traffic manager. wool stapler?? Did Rick Santorum have anything to do with this?

    Strangely, monkey in a man suit was left out yet again.

    There IS a god

  • Traficant committee announces end of Presidential bid. "The former lawmaker, who is not allowed to take phone calls that haven't been approved in advance, could not be reached for comment. " LOL

  • The first trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King debuts this weekend.


  • PSM
    MWO announces Talk Like O'Reilly Day, Friday, September 26th. See site for helpful tips.

    Well, I have some good news...
    ...and some bad news.

    Best...album...ever?
    According to Zagat Survey's Music Guide -

    The guide lists the top 1,000 albums of all time, according to ratings from more than 10,500 music aficionados. Topping the guide's most popular list is Springsteen's "Born to Run," with the Beatles' "Abbey Road" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" taking second and third places, respectively.

    Rounding out the "most popular" top 10 list are U2's "The Joshua Tree," the Beatles' "The White Album," Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue," Springsteen's "Darkness on the Edge of Town," The Beatles' "Revolver," Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" and U2's "Achtung Baby."

    My picks:



    Rethug liar watch
    The Tom McClintock campaign dead pool begins in earnest.


    Bite me! Bush's tame U.S. media may yet have teeth
    "The American media, notably the sycophantic White House press corps and flagwavers at Fox, treated President George Bush and his entourage with adulation and fawning servility similar to what the Soviet state media once lavished on Communist Party Chairman Leonid Brezhnev.

    "So long as Bush was riding high in the polls, the media fawned on him. But now that many Americans are beginning to sense they were lied to or misled by the White House, Bush's popularity is dropping, and the media's mood is becoming edgy and more aggressive. The muzzles may soon be coming off." - - snipped from Eric Margolis' column.

    US-led team finds no WMD in Iraq: report
    "It appears the only evidence the US has that Iraq had chemical weapons is the fact that the US gave Iraq chemical weapons."* - - link

    *headline at Fark.


    Thousands Died,
    Damn it

    A box of Padrones, and one of those fuzzy things, please...
    Cute pic of the almiqui, a Cuban insectivore believed for years to be extinct. Of course, as you read this, it now MAY be, since the one in the photograph has been stuffed.


    Stone Age bones show cave is Britain's oldest cemetery
    Human bones found in a cave in southwest England date from before 8000 B.C., making the site one of Europe's most important cemeteries from the Middle Stone Age, scientists said Tuesday.

    Radiocarbon dating of samples from 800 human bone fragments from Aveline's Hole in the Mendip Hills has shown they are between 10,200 and 10,400 years old, scientists from the conservation group English Heritage said.

    The bones, deposited in the cave over a 200-year period, are the largest group of Mesolithic - or Middle Stone Age - remains in Britain. - - link.


    US may send more soldiers to Iraq
    Mission accomplished, the sequel

    The Pentagon may be forced within several weeks to alert a large number of additional National Guard and Reserve troops for duty in Iraq, a senior general said Wednesday.

    Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said more reservists could be called upon if other countries do not soon pledge thousands more troops to become targets form a third multinational division in Iraq. - - link.

    Bowle 'em over
    Erskine Bowles, former chief of staff for Bill Clinton, plans to announce his entry into the U.S. Senate race Thursday, for the seat now held by fellow Democrat John Edwards.

    Edwards had said he would not seek re-election and concentrate instead on his run for the presidency.

    Bowles ran in 2002 but lost to Republican Elizabeth Dole. Republican U.S. Rep. Richard Burr of Winston-Salem is the presumed GOP nominee. - - link.

    Bullsh*t!
    A federal judge, Lee R. West, has ruled that the Federal Trade Commission overstepped its authority in creating a national do-not-call list against telemarketers.

    The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by telemarketers who challenged the list, comprised of names of people who do not want to receive business solicitation calls. The immediate impact of Tuesday's ruling was not clear.

    The list was to go into effect Oct. 1. - - great. The name again is U.S. District Judge Lee R. West, Oklahoma, in case anyone would like to give him a call. Around dinnertime.

    I sense a theme here
    "Last week, the Republican Women's Caucus in California endorsed a gubernatorial candidate who as recently as July had gloried in the prospect of shoving a woman's head into a filthy toilet bowl. The GOP women rationalize that Arnold Schwarzenegger 'supports family.' Mark that endorsement the death knell of Republican claims to represent traditional family values." - - Robert Scheer.

    Miller's latest tale questioned
    Judith Miller: the Geraldo Rivera of the NY Times.


    PSM
    Rectum? Damn near killed 'em!

    Experts say putting ice cubes up the rectums of unconscious people has no physiological benefit and can even lead to seizures and stroke.
    (thanks to MikeD)


    Quote of the day
    "Limbaugh's full of shit." - - hero/patriot Wesley Clark.

    Houston exec gets top Iraq energy post
    What a surprise.

    Robert E. McKee III, a former ConocoPhillips executive, has been appointed the new senior adviser to the Iraqi Oil Ministry.

    His selection as the Bush/Cheney Oil Cartel's energy czar in Iraq already is drawing fire from Capitol Hill because of his ties to the prime contractor in the Iraqi oil fields, Halliburton Co.

    "The administration continues to create the impression that the fox is in charge of the hen house," said Rep. Henry Waxman of California, ranking Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee.

    "Given Mr. McKee's close relationship with Halliburton, he's an odd choice to hold them accountable for the billions of dollars they are charging American taxpayers."

    Iraq sours relations in the Senate
    Reboobs jumped all over Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) for his comments at a committee hearing Monday, when he referred to war in Iraq as “the president’s war,” and charged that it has created a “cauldron of contempt for America.”

    “I hate to say it,” Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Puckeredasshole) whined Tuesday, “but a lot of senior colleagues who should be statesmen are playing cheap politics right now.”

    Yeah. I bet you said the same thing to President Clinton, too.

    “This is about trying to tag the war on a sitting president, so they can run against him in the ’04 election,” Sen. Larry Craig (R-Nothinggetsbyhim) said. Well, duh.

    Sen. Tom 'Isadora' Daschle (D-Neutered), asked about the Kennedy and Byrd statements, said, “I support their right to speak their minds. Whether or not I agree with them is not the issue.”

    Pussy.

    - - link.





    Bush’s UN fiasco
    Napoleon Boob-apart’s message: If you don’t want to help us, you’re on the side of the terrorists.

    Sept. 23 - Has an American president ever delivered such a bafflingly impertinent speech before the General Assembly as the one George W. Bush gave this morning?

    The speech seemed cobbled from the catchphrases of last year’s playbook - without showing the slightest recognition that the old words have grown stale and sour. - - Fred Kaplan, MSNBC.


    Bush’s NY poll numbers plummet
    September 23, 2003 - Partying fundraiser Snippy the Chimp's approval rating has taken a double-digit drop among New York voters in five months and about one-quarter of republicans now say they will vote against him, a statewide poll reported Tuesday.

    The lying bungler's approval rating now stands at 44 percent, down from 58 in April and a high of 79 in December 2001. In the latest Marist poll, 48% of NY voters surveyed, including 23 percent of republicans, said they definitely planned to vote against Bush in the 2004 election.

    "There is some erosion at his base, not just an overall alienation among Democrats," Marist College's Lee Miringoff said. Economy and jobs were the top issue for them while just 41 percent said that about the war on terrorism. - - NY Newsday.


    Bush’s macho facade goes limp
    The illusion of Viagra; the reality of impotence: by BuzzFlash columnist Maureen Farrell. Good piece, but all that talk about the Chimp-in-Chief's bulging "sock drawer" left me a bit queasy.


    September 23, 2003

    Man in women's underwear hid bomb
    John Ashcroft has private orgasm

    The Crawford County, Arkansas sheriff's office said that when he arrived at the site, he found a man sitting asleep at the wheel of a sport-utility vehicle. The man was wearing a bra and women's thong panties, but pulled up a pair of jeans shorts - which had been around his ankles - when he was awakened.

    The deputy, Daymon Blount, spotted a large plastic bottle wrapped in duct and electrical tape inside the front-seat console. A fuse about 13 inches long extended from a hole that had been drilled through the lid.

    Blount said he asked the man what the item was.

    "That's just a thing filled with gunpowder," was the response.


    Bush's UN speech gets scathing reviews on Capitol Hill
    ...says David Stout of the NY Times. The comments sounded pretty lukewarm to me - it's not like anyone came out yelling "miserable failure!" or "Jesus, what a putz!"

    Damned liberal media.

    Tornadoes hit New Jersey this morning
    Two weeks ago, same area, it was an earthquake. God's revenge on Christie Whitman?

    The National Weather Service said reports put two tornadoes in Flemington and Ewing. A barn about the size of a two-car garage blew off its foundation and onto Route 579 in Delaware Township, Hunterdon County. The weather service was investigating whether a tornado also struck an area along the Delaware River in Gloucester County. Parts of the northwestern New Jersey had as much as 3 inches of rain between daybreak and 9 a.m. - - CBS.


    Yeah, tell me about it
    "As all of us have said, the French plan, which would somehow try to transfer sovereignty to an unelected group of people, just isn't workable." - - Condoleezza Rice.
    (via Atrios)

    O' really?
    The most ridiculous item of the day

    "Defamation and smear tactics are not part of mainstream America. They are the work of extremists, people who hate people with whom they disagree. Fair-minded Americans respect honest differences in the political arena."

    Yeah! Tell that to Max Cleland, Al Gore, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, the Dixie Chicks, anti-war demonstrators...!

    - - - Faux Nooze gasbag and hypocrite Bill O'Reilly, who was caught on tape verbally abusing Al Franken.

    US soldiers in Iraq shrug off Bunnypants' UN blather
    U.S. soldiers in Iraq shrugged their shoulders after listening to the prevaricating partyguy's speech to the UN today, saying he said nothing new and did not address their main concern: going home.

    "I wasn't particularly impressed with anything he came up with," said Staff Sergeant Jason Dungan.

    "We've been out here for six months, and it looks like we're going to be here for another six months more. That's it. It's a done deal, so nothing he (Bush) says makes a blind bit of difference to us," said one soldier. "F*cking lying AWOL pissant."

    - - from here, mostly.

    Repuke smear machine
    More on the Wes Clark/Karl Rove phone flap.


    "Hey Karl, is your refrigerator running? You lying POS?"

    What??
    The lying bungler rewrites history addresses the United Nations:

    "The regime of Saddam Hussein cultivated ties to terror while it built weapons of mass destruction. It used those weapons in acts of mass murder, and refused to account for them when confronted by the world. The Security Council was right to be alarmed. The Security Council was right to demand that Iraq destroy its illegal weapons and prove that it had done so -- The Security Council was right to vow serious consequences if Iraq refused to comply. And because there were consequences -- because a coalition of nations acted to defend the peace, and the credibility of the United Nations -- Iraq is free, and today we are joined by representatives of a liberated country."

    - - from the Chimp 'n' Crashcart '04 website.

    This just in
    Federal appeals court reinstates California's Oct. 7 recall election, overturning ruling by three-judge panel.

    Arms-control group calls for firing of Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz
    Amid growing concerns that hawks in the Bush administration may have lied, dammit! misled the U.S. public about the war in Iraq , a prominent U.S. arms-control group has called for Donald Rumsfeld and his chief deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, to be 'summarily fired.'

    The Washington-based Council for a Livable World, which has long charged that administration officials exaggerated the threat posed by Iraq to the US and its allies, said the Pentagon's senior leadership had also failed to anticipate and plan adequately for post-war Iraq and the problems faced by U.S. troops there.

    'Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz should be summarily fired,' the group said Thursday. 'The Bush admininstration needs to be held accountable for its mistakes.' - - from here.

    Geebus
    Check out the pic of the Chimp-in-Chief over at drudge!

    Clark calls for a 'New American Patriotism'
    Sept. 22 — Gen. Wesley Clark called today for "a new American patriotism" that would encourage broader public service, respect domestic dissent even in wartime and embrace international organizations like the United Nations.

    "We've got to have a new kind of patriotism that recognizes that in times of war or peace democracy requires dialogue, disagreement and the courage to speak out," General Clark said. "And those who do it should not be condemned, but be praised."

    "I'm running for president because I could not stand by and watch everything that we fought for, everything our nation had accomplished and become, unravel before our eyes," General Clark said.


    Shorter Dick Morris
    Bill Clinton! Hillary! Toe jam! - - link.


    PSM
    Dick 'Fluffy' Gephardt's A Miserable Failure. Take it the way you like.


    Sheriff Saphead, statesman
    "And the -- but in terms of advice on how to make decisions, the best advice to get is from people like Rice and Powell and Rumsfeld and Cheney and Tenet and Snow and Evans and Card." An' Barney, an' an' an' Wolfie, an' my dad...Saddam tried to kill him, ya know!

    - - the Faux Nooze transcript of Brit Hume spoonfeeding pReznit Poopypants.





    Bush calls Kennedy's Iraq criticism 'uncivil'
    Yeah - tell it to Max Cleland, for one. - - blah blah blah.


    Cheney's problem with the truth
    'On Meet the Press recently, Vice President Dick Cheney said, "Since I left Halliburton to become George Bush's vice president, I've severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interests. I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had now, for over three years."

    'That is the latest White House lie.

    'Dick Cheney's continuing salary from the top profiteer of an invasion fueled by his sexed-up claims of Saddam Hussein's weapons is the creation of a new, mad reality. Cheney has said in so many words, "I did not have financial relations with Halliburton." Americans must determine whether that lie is as sexy as lies about sex. With nearly 300 American soldiers dead, one would hope so.'

    - - Derrick Z. Jackson, in the Chicago Trib.


    Relevance
    pReznit Privilege meets to harangue and chastise the UN today.

    "So far, the president has called on allies to provide cash and cannon fodder." - - David Malone, of the UN think-tank the International Peace Academy, BBC News.

    September 22, 2003

    Supporting the troop. Or whatever
    "Obviously, I think they're going badly for the soldiers who lost their lives, and I weep for that person and their family. But no, I think we're making good progress." - - see above link.

    Kin we start talkin' 'bout pussy now, Brit, ya big foreheaded f*ck, ya?

    Fair and balanced
    "I appreciate people's opinions, but I'm more interested in news. And the best way to get the news is from objective sources, and the most objective sources I have are people on my staff who tell me what's happening in the world." - - the incredible raving nincompoop Snippy the Chimp, to fawning bootlicker Brit Hume, in the Fux interview.

    Bush details spending plan
    The administration wants $100 million for an witness protection program, $290 million to hire, train and house thousands of firefighters, $9 million to modernize the postal service, including establishment of ZIP codes - in Iraq.

    - - yeah, Iraq.

    Shorter Bill O'Reilly
    Waahhhhh! Weeehhhhhhh! Whiiiiiine!

    - - link.

    "He's a real Hummer dinger"
    Dumbass.
    Arnold Schwarzenegger's environmental speech Sunday was marred by protesters - and by the fact that he drove up in a large SUV.


    New must-have toy for reboob toddlers!
    From the Karl Rove Collection of Propaganda Playthings

    "On the front lines of Freedom with Faithful Fuzzies...

    "Prepared to defend their beloved country, America's troops answer the call of freedom. To honor our U.S. Armed Forces, The Hamilton Collection proudly presents this Faithful Fuzzies™ collectible figurine tribute to all who serve our nation.

    "Look at all the authentic details and this handsome bear's boundless courage and fierce commitment to his country - it will fill your heart with pride." From here, with pic.

    Hospital meals sold separately...

    In other news

  • Pentagon: Operation Sitting Duck a success

  • Grasso resigns to spend more time with his money

  • Schwarzenegger: killing Gray Davis an option

  • Rumsfeld promises to leave Iraq 'just as we found it'

  • Bush: No Proof Saddam Played Role In 9/11
    Can't understand why anyone would think that.

  • Constitution, Bill of Rights in New Display in Nation's Capital
    First stop on Farewell Tour.

  • U.S. Finds Iraq's Nuclear Weapons
    In North Korea.

  • Forbes 400 Ten Percent Richer This Year
    In a conference call, they thank President Bush.

    News Quiz: When Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) said recently that "making people struggle a little bit is not necessarily the worst thing," he was referring to:

    A ) Making the top 1% of Americans scrape by without the latest Bush tax cut.
    B ) Making the administration explain where the extra $87 billion they want for Iraq is going to come from.
    C ) Making top foreign policy advisors pass high school history tests about the countries they want us to invade before devising battle plans.
    D ) Making welfare mothers take minimum wage jobs without providing child care for their young children.

    - - Ironic Times.


  • Crayola Crayons retiring four colors
    The company plans to add four new colors to its collection and retire four others at its 100th birthday celebration next month.

    Crayon fans voted in an online campaign to spare one of five colors -- Burnt-toast Biden Burnt Sienna, Teal Blue, Pasty-white Cheney Blizzard Blue, Yellow-bellied AWOL Liar Mulberry and Brown-nose Lieberman Magic Mint -- that the company had selected to be eliminated. A spokeswoman says Crayola officials chose five colors that they considered redundant or unattractive on paper.

    The winning color of the "Save the Shade" campaign will be announced at a party on Oct. 11. The company plans to unveil the new Crayola colors, and also the world's largest crayon. - - link.


    Cool: Missouri cave a time capsule to Ice Age
    SPRINGFIELD, Missouri - Paleontologist Matt Forir expected to find another 50-foot trash-filled pit when he went to investigate a cave unearthed by construction workers in southwest Missouri. He could not have been more wrong.

    The dynamite that blasted into limestone for a new road in Greene County unveiled proof that 1,400-pound short-faced bears roamed the Ozarks during the Ice Age, and they struggled with arthritis and gout.

    Forir and other researchers are also investigating the possibility that herds of peccary - piglike animals - sought shelter in caves thousands of years ago, as opposed to being dragged in by predators for food. - - from here.


    Reboobs and their fawning media presstitutes
    Repube strategist and pollster Arnold Steinberg faults the conventional political press for not finding more aggressive ways to pose tough questions. He pointed out that while most of the candidates were debating in Hollywood this week, Arnold Schwarzenegger was virtually across the street taping Larry King's show at CNN's Sunset Boulevard studios.

    "None of the reporters and camera crews there for the debate even bothered to go across the street and hassle him with shouted questions," Steinberg said.

    "Schwarzenegger's strategy requires a docile news media, and he's getting one." - - from the LA Times.


    Supporting the troops
    And other Bush lies

    How's this for screwed up priorities? We've can afford to give a massive tax cut to the rich, but the Pentagon is making wounded soldiers pay for their meals while they're in the hospital. - - this week's Top Ten Conservative Idiots.