Reasons to be cheerful

"The GOP just lost all of their Supreme Court talking points. Who in the GOP is going to be able to stand up with a straight face and say 'every nominee deserves an up or down vote'? Kiss that talking point good bye.

"And who is going to be able to argue that there should be no 'litmus test' on abortion and other issues?"

- AmericaBlog.

Woopsies!
Bringing honor and dignity back to Washington, corrupt scumbag Tom "several House ethics investigations" DeLay admits he failed to report fund contributions as required by law.

It ain't over till the fatboy's lady sings
Karl Rove's mistress is leaving him to marry a ranch foreman named "Rhett Hard." Really.

LOLOL

New TPS cover sheets, red Swingline staplers ordered by special prosecutor
TWN reports that instead of wrapping things up, Patrick Fitzgerald is renting more office space:

Fitzgerald's office is at 1400 New York Avenue, NW, 9th Floor in Washington.

What I have learned is that the Office of the Special Counsel has signed a lease this week for expanded office space across the street at 1401 New York Avenue, NW.

Another coincidence? More office space needed to shut down the operation?

I think not. Fitzgerald's operation is expanding.

Think Progress reports:

Time Magazine’s Mike Allen “has some of the best sources in Washington.” Here’s what he had to say about the leak scandal on Hardball:

MIKE ALLEN: A lot of activity happening that we’re not seeing. A likely scenario for what happened today, Patrick Fitzgerald got some indictments from this grand jury. He is now able to go to the…

TWEETY: You think they’re sealed right now?

MIKE ALLEN: Very possible. What I’m told is typically, in a case like this, he could get the indictments and now he can go to the targets and say, you can plead to these or I’ll go back Friday and get more. You have 12 to 24 hours to think about it.

And from the NY Daily News: is Karl copping a plea, the traitorous, puling little chickenshit?

Jittery Bush aides gnawed their nails yesterday as a special prosecutor zeroed in on White House political guru Karl Rove's role in blowing a CIA agent's cover.

In the closing hours of the grand jury probe, special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald paid a visit yesterday to Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, prompting speculation that a plea bargain could be in the works for the deputy White House chief of staff.

Breaking breaking!: Raw Story is reporting Fitgerald has secured an indictment. No details yet.
******

Pic by idle_hands.

Leak indictments will be a sad, sad day for the country, says Joseph Wilson, between gasps for air from laughing so hard.



Breaking news
Bush flip-flops Bunnypants crony Harriet Miers has 'withdrawn' her nomination to be a Supreme Court justice "in the face of stiff opposition and mounting criticism" about her non-qualifications.

Preznit Mindbogglinglystupid Personal Accountability, of course, blamed the Senate:

"Gub! Dur! Uhhhhhh... duh!" Bush said in a statement.

Gawd, if he was cranky a few days ago, he has to be absolutely ballistic today. Good. Spoiled, pompous little git.

The bad news is he's now free to appoint a religious-rightwing firebreathing puritan hack to get back into good graces with his troglodytic base. Swell.

And so we wait...
***************

FEMA #ucks up in Florida
"All that time. This is all we get?"

I was supposed to be in South Florida on Friday, but with no power, no water, and no phone computer service, I just don't think that's going to happen.

Breaking
Fitzgerald is asking the grand jury to indict Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, Raw Story says...

Double standard
Mwaaaaa! The Houston Chronicle lays the smackdown on hypocritical a-hole Kay Bailey Hutchison:

Texas senator who voted to impeach President Clinton on perjury and obstruction of justice now calls such charges 'technicalities.' What a Christless tool.

Public officials such as Sen. Hutchison do not enhance their stature when they seem to support one standard of justice for officials of the opposing party and another for their own. What was good for the Democratic goose in the Clinton impeachment trial should be good enough for the Republican gander in the Plame investigation. So eat it, bitch. And here, have another drink:

“Explosive”
Italy's intelligence chief met with Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley just a month before the Niger forgeries first surfaced.

Neocon pal Nicolo Pollari brought the Niger yellowcake story directly to the White House after his insistent overtures had been rejected by the CIA in 2001 and 2002.

Their secret meeting came at a critical moment in the White House campaign to convince Congress and the American public that war in Iraq was necessary to prevent Saddam Hussein from developing nuclear weapons.

Although Berlusconi's government clearly sought deniability while pushing the Niger uranium claims, the Bush White House went still further by trying to blame its citation of exaggerated and discredited Iraq WMD claims on the CIA, the very same agency that consistently discounted the Niger claims.

The White House's war on the CIA and on the Wilsons --the extent of which has been revealed in recent news reports emerging from the Fitzgerald investigation -- has always had an excessive and almost hysterical quality. Why was the White House so worked up over Wilson and the Niger hoax, when there was so much evidence that the administration had based its drive for war on claims that were so thoroughly discredited from top to bottom? Why did Wilson and his CIA wife become the primary targets, when Wilson was hardly alone in pointing out that the White House should have known better about the Niger claims?

"Zzzzzzzt! Gak! Arrrrghhh!"
****

New York Times' White House propagandist in talks over her job status
Judy Miller: "I know how important it is for the paper to protect its reputation, but I have my reputation to protect also."

Ha ha ha ha ha!

After both the editor and the publisher of the Times expressed regret for their support for her and her fraudulent columns, Judith 'Iscariot' Miller has begun discussing her future employment options with the newspaper, including the possibility of a severance package, a lawyer familiar with the matter said yesterday.

Technicalities
Won't somebody think of the children?

Jane at Fire Dog Lake reminds the rethugs just how important the charge of perjury was.


Eat it, repukes!
***

Indictments in the CIA leak case to be handed out today
Why Karl Rove is two giant steps closer to a prison cell.

Sources close to the lawyers involved in the case said that target letters to those facing indictment were being issued, with sealed indictments to be filed on Wednesday and released by the end of the week.

Those in legal jeopardy may include Scooter Libby, vice-president Dick Cheney's chief of staff, and Karl Rove, Bunnypants' chief nanny and 'The Architect' for the major shitheap we find ourselves in today.

As further proof that Fitzgerald may be closing in on Karl, the special prosecutor was seen at Rove's lawyer's offices on Tuesday.

On Fitzmas Day in the morning...

"Frist keeps lying"
Integritude...

Senate records show sanctimonious hypocrite Bill Frist had been notified for years that he continued to own stock in his blind trusts, contradicting public statements he made in the past about the distance the trusts put between him and his assets.

"He's killing his own political career. Nobody else has to do a thing to him, because he's just imploding."

Pic seen at BartCop and Fark, and hopefully all over the news tomorrow.
***

Breaking
Raw Story and Crooks and Liars both report that target letters went out today.

An uber-insider source has just reported the following to TWN:

1. 1-5 indictments are being issued. The source feels that it will be towards the higher end.

2. The targets of indictment have already received their letters.

3. The indictments will be sealed indictments and "filed" tomorrow.

4. A press conference is being scheduled for Thursday.

The shoe is dropping.

More soon.

Can you feel it?
That 'tomorrow's Christmas!' feeling you had when you were little, before the world turned into a dreary, soulless shitscape of endless, hopeless drudgery?! Yeah, baby! Santa's coming to town - to kick some rethug ass.

I hope I hope I hope

It's beginning to look a lot like Fitzmas...
Sources say Fitzgerald will seek indictments. No story yet, link goes to headline at Raw Story.

Hmmmmm...

"When the year one thousand came, Thorkel Amundason was five years old, and hardly noticed how frightened everyone was."

- King Hereafter, by Dorothy Dunnett.

Shakespeare's Sister asks 'What’s your favorite opening line from a novel?'

Ummmm, do they have to be republicans?!
“Name the Replacement” contest!

The Pensito Review is asking who you think would replace Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, etc. once the CIA leak case is over and Fitzgerald has thrown all their asses into prison.


"I'd make a fabulous vice president!"
***

Heh
The General has a timely new Dick Cheney T-shirt.


"Arrr! Ack! Zzzzztt..."
***

Osama? Check. Health care? Check.
Mr Cheney's copy of Caged Heat? Check...

Having solved all other problems facing our great nation, the Bush misadministration sends a cease & desist order to The Onion.

What goes around...
Or, karma's a bitch, ain't it?

We are on the verge of an extraordinary moment in American politics. The people running our government are about to face their day -- or days -- in court.

Those who thought investigations were a wonderful thing when Bill Clinton was president are suddenly facing prosecutors, and they don't like it.

Clinton's conservative enemies said over and over the Clinton mess was not about sex but about "perjury and the obstruction of justice" and "the rule of law."

The old conservative talking points are now inoperative.

It's especially amusing to see former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay complain about the politicization of justice...

- read more here.

Rule of law! Rule of law!

"My question for today is: Why are contemporary Republicans so full of shit? And a follow-up... How did the party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and General Eisenhower get taken over by such lying, thieving, self-serving scoundrels?"

- Alec Baldwin, at the HuffPo.

Times bombshell explodes near Cheney

[N]otes taken by Scooter Libby show that he learned of Valerie Wilson's employment at the CIA from his boss, Dick Cheney. These notes contradict Libby's testimony to the grand jury that he had first heard of Valerie Wilson from journalists.

[D]id Cheney--or anyone else at the White House (Bush included)--know that Libby was not testifying truthfully to the grand jury to save Cheney? Would that knowledge imply consent? Conspiracy? This scandal just got uglier and even more threatening for Cheney.

If Cheney purposefully did not tell Fitzgerald the truth--even if he was not under oath--he might be vulnerable to an obstruction of justice charge or perhaps other charges. (I am no lawyer.) But this new development raises the possibility of an orchestrated cover-up that reaches the vice president. Remember the "unindicted coconspirators" of the Watergate days? Who would believe the waiting-for-indictments period could become more intense?

-David Corn.

"The CIA leak issue is only the tip of the iceberg."

Congressman Jerry Nadler, along with 39 of his House colleagues, is calling for Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation to be expanded to examine whether the White House - President, Vice-President, and members of the WH's Iraq War Group - conspired to deliberately deceive Congress into authorizing the war.

As Nadler said, lying to Congress is a crime under several federal statutes.

“We are no longer just talking about a Republican culture of corruption and cronyism,” Nadler added. “We now have reason to believe that high crimes may have been committed at the highest level, wrongdoing that may have led us to war and imperiled our national security.”

Mr. Leaker and Mrs. Wilson: A picture story
Or, "You've just been indicted, Karlie Rove!"

I know, here it is, almost Fitzmas, and I'm posting Halloween pics...

Big-time trouble for Big-Time?

Scooter Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, first learned about the CIA officer at the heart of the leak investigation in a conversation with Mr. Cheney weeks before her identity became public in 2003, lawyers involved in the case said Monday.

Lawyers involved in the case said they showed that Mr. Cheney knew that Ms. Wilson worked at the CIA more than a month before her identity was made public and her undercover status was disclosed in a syndicated column by incontinent traitor Robert Novak on July 14, 2003.

That apparent discrepancy in his testimony suggests why prosecutors are weighing false statement charges against him in what they interpret as an effort by Mr. Libby to protect Cheney from scrutiny, the lawyers said.

And from firedoglake:

Cheney was interviewed by Fitzgerald last year under oath. That would make it perjury to tell a lie. Although Republican logic tells us that perjury is only a crime if you're getting a blow job in the bargain, a legitimate US attorney might not see it that way.

Cheney lied. Under oath. Put any Republican (and a few DINOs) in the wayback machine, and they will tell you -- this is an impeachable offense.

In a related story...
Busted! Sanctimonious hypocrite Bill Frist is such a goddamned liar. And quite possibly a crook.


"La la la, I can't hear you..."
***

Repuke trash machine already starting up
Remember all those promises of how the rethugs were going to bring ‘character’ and ‘accountability,’ ‘honor’ and ‘dignity’ back to the White House?

Yeah, that was pretty funny!

Washington on precipice as CIA leak storm set to break
DC is braced for a political earthquake over the CIA leak scandal, with the special prosecutor narrowing in on key aides to Preznit Integritude and Vice Preznit GrownupInCharge.

[O]ne report this week in the New York Daily News suggested Cheney himself might be in the frame.

"Reading the tea leaves, it looks like something more is going on now," said Katy Harriger, a law professor at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, who has written two books on previous presidential investigations.

"There is some speculation that it might be that Cheney is in the sights as well and that is very big," she told AFP, noting that Fitzgerald may have moved away from the original scope of the inquiry and be mulling wider charges such as conspiracy or perjury.

Bush critics are salivating, because they at last see hope that the White House will pay for what they see as lies and half truths told to grease the path to war.

Pic via FireDogLake.

Doucheb Colostomybag of Liberty squealed to save his wrinkly, pallid skin

A critical early success for Fitzgerald was winning the cooperation of Robert Novak, the incontinent Chicago Sun-Times columnist who named Plame in a July 2003 story and attributed key information to "two senior administration officials." Legal sources said Novak avoided a fight and quietly helped the special counsel's inquiry, although neither the columnist nor his attorney have said so publicly.

Article bonus: 'Rove, who spoke to the grand jury four times, changed his story after failing to mention that he discussed Wilson and his wife with the Time correspondent.'


Click to open.

"George H. W. Bush, the president's father, was the head of the CIA, and he has said that outing a CIA agent is treason. So basically, what it looks like is going to happen, is that Libby and Karl Rove are going to be executed. Yes, and I don't know how I feel about it because I'm basically against the death penalty." - Al Franken, to David Letterman.



Bunnypants is getting vewwy, vewwy cwanky
An' it's evwybody else's fault!

"The President is just unhappy in general and casting blame all about," said one Bush insider. "Andy [Card, the chief of staff] gets his share. Karl gets his share. Even Cheney gets his share. And the press gets a big share."

[S]ources say Bush, who has a long history of keeping staffers in their place, has lashed out at aides as his political woes have mounted.

Bush is so dismayed that "the only person escaping blame is the President himself," said a sympathetic official, who delicately termed such self-exoneration "illogical."

Accountabilitude.

Bestest governor ever!
Somebody’s got some explaining to do…

SC nominee Harriet Miers collected more than 10 times the market value for a small slice of family-owned land in a large superfund pollution cleanup site in Dallas where the state wanted to build a highway off-ramp.

The windfall came after a judge who received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Miers' law firm appointed a close professional associate of Miers and an outspoken property-rights activist to the three-person panel that determined how much the state should pay.

The resulting six-figure payout to the Miers family in 2000 was despite the state’s objections to the "excessive” amount and to the process used to set the price. The panel recommended paying nearly $5 a square foot for land that was valued at less than 30 cents a square foot.

“Who’s the terrorist? Bush or us Muslims?”
The War Preznit’s public relations chief, former pro wrestler Karen Hughes, lies, pisses off Muslim audience. Again.

Miers supporters are supinely acquiescing rectum-osculators
George Will, attacked by a rampaging Thesaurus, has conniption fit, wallows in own crapulence.

Yoink!

"Scooter" Libby is known for his sarcastic, world-weary and at times dark sense of humor. He once quipped to an aide that he planned to stay as Vice President Cheney's top adviser until "I get indicted or something." - the WaPo.

As Cookie Jill says, I guess he can probably cross that "something" off his list.

Heh. Indeed. Pic from Rox Populi.
******

Do it, you #ucking asshat!
The republican Senator of Alaska threatens to resign if the Senate cuts funding for the infamous bridge to nowhere.

Corrupt scumbag's mugshot taken during oral sex
Smug, shit-eating grin on the indicted face of malevolent fucktard Tom DeLay could also be a ploy to foil Democrat campaign ads.

Here, they can use this one:




Corrupt scumbag seeks new judge in case
Congressman's arraignment postponed because judge in case is a Democrat - and everyone knows only republicans have the lock on fairness and ethical behavior.

Preznit Partyhat's political fortunes provided a windfall for Harriet Miers' law firm
OMG!!11!! Governor Bush paid us $163,000! I am like so never going to use that money!! He is sooooo cool!!1!1!!

Some senators are planning to explore Miers' legal work for Bunnypants, but the White House says it won't release any memos detailing that work.

"I think people across the country recognize the importance of attorney-client privilege," said White House spokes-tool Scott McClellan with a straight face, crossing his fingers behind his back and knocking his stupid wooden head.

Bush critic became target of Libby
Cheney's chief of staff reportedly hated Wilson with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns.

"Libby became consumed," and was so angry about the statements of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson that he monitored all of Wilson's television appearances and urged the White House to mount an aggressive public campaign against him, becoming almost unbalanced on the subject, say former aides.

The grown-ups are back in charge.
********

White House defense shaky in CIA leak case
It wasn't their fault! It was the media! Everyone else was doing it!

Honest! I ran outta gas! I had a flat tire! I didn't have enough money for cab fare! My tux didn't come back from the cleaners! An old friend came in from out of town! Someone stole my car! There was an earthquake, a terrible flood, locusts... it wasn't my fault!!

Yeah... that's the ticket!

Even if White House aides leaked a covert CIA officer's identity, they were simply passing along information they'd already heard from the news media, the administration's supporters maintain in a defense that looks increasing shaky as new evidence accumulates.

Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald now knows that Scooter Libby met three times with New York Times' WH propagandist Judith Miller before the leak of Valerie Plame's identity, that Libby initiated a call to NBC blowhard/Clinton cockhunter Tim Russert and that Libby was a confirming source about the wife of Bush misadministration critic Joseph Wilson for Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper.

Accountability. Character. Values. Integrity.


Oh please oh please oh please...
****

"The wheels are coming off" the Bush misadministration
So says WH apologist David Gergen, who ought to know. Crooks and Liars has the video.

Cover-up is focus in leak inquiry
The accounts given by slimy WH svengali Karl Rove and neocon warmonger Scooter Libby about their conversations with reporters have been under investigation almost from the start, sources say.

As he weighs whether to bring criminal charges in the CIA leak case, Patrick Fitzgerald is focusing on whether Karl Rove, the puffy, flatulent WH adviser, and Scooter Libby, chief brownshirt for Dick Cheney, sought to conceal their actions and mislead prosecutors, lawyers involved in the case said Thursday.

Among the charges that Mr. Fitzgerald is considering are perjury, obstruction of justice and false statement - counts that suggest that the two White House aides sought to cover up their actions, the lawyers said.

Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby have been advised that they may be in serious legal jeopardy. But they may not be the only people at risk...

Yes, we're looking at you, Mr Novak!

Pokey
Repugnant alleged crook Tom DeLay turned himself Thursday in at the Harris County sheriff's office, where he was photographed, fingerprinted and released on bond. TSG has the smug bastard's mugshot.


Former House majority leader/indicted scumbag Tom DeLay demonstrates how big his rectum will be after serving his prison sentence for conspiracy and money-laundering.
***

Sound of the once-proud US Govmint coming to a complete halt?
= toilet flushing

Preznit SpaceBoy: Grand jury investigations over disclosing classified information, SEC investigations over insider trading, grand jury indictments over money laundering are just "background noise."


Goober.

Why help didn't come
"It is very important that time is allowed for Mr. Brown to eat dinner..."

Unbelievable.

Whigging out
The President's Iraq team fought to squelch war critics, the Duh Institute reports.

It was called the White House Iraq Group and its job was to make the case that Saddam Hussein had nuclear and biochemical weapons.

So determined was the ring of top officials to win its argument that it morphed into a virtual hit squad that took aim at critics who questioned its claims, such as Joe Wilson - husband of CIA agent Valerie Plame.

Besides Rove and Libby, the group included senior White House aides Karen Hughes, Mary Matalin, James Wilkinson, Nicholas Calio, Condoleezza Rice and Stephen Hadley. WHIG also was doing more than just public relations, said a second former intel officer.

"They were funneling information to [the WH's New York Times propagandist] Judy Miller. Judy was a charter member," the source said.

- from the NY Daily News.

Miers is asked to redo reply to questions
Urged to rethink whether Jebus or George W is her personal savior.

The Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers suffered another setback on Wednesday when the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee asked her to resubmit parts of her judicial questionnaire, saying various members had found her responses "inadequate," "insufficient" and "insulting."

Their letter also asked her to provide detailed accounts of private reassurances about her views given by the White House or its allies to James Dobson some conservative supporters who have been anxious about her positions on abortion and other social issues.

Fun fact: GOP Senators Lindsey Graham and Sam Brownback have demanded "internal documents related to Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers’ service as White House counsel."

Ha ha ha!
The 'No Spine Zone'!

Hillary opponent certifiable psycho, signs own death warrant
Shrill incompetent mindsplat Jeanine Pirro, the reboob running against Hillary Clinton, may have finally hammered the nails in her own coffin. Continuing her campaign of faux-pas and total fiascos, she went a step further when she told fellow g-pukes "That's a difference between Democrats and Republicans - we don't want [violent sex offenders] next door molesting children and murdering women" during a speech Tuesday night.

Great candidate you picked, guys! Choke!

Rove, Libby discussed CIA operative, reporter info
Rove told grand jury that Libby 'may have been' his source in leak case; talks, farts in his sleep.

Like all of a sudden the Brain has amnesia? Please.

Sources say top White House aides Karl Rove and Scooter Libby discussed their contacts with reporters about an undercover CIA officer in the days before her identity was published, the first known intersection between two central figures in the criminal leak investigation. Rove told grand jurors it was possible he first heard in the White House that Valerie Plame, wife of misadministration critic Joseph Wilson, worked for the CIA from Libby.

And from incontinent traitor Bob Novak, who still remains free.

The criminals are turning on each other
In a great piece of gory political theater, the suspects are starting to go for each other's throats. It's so beautiful -

"Today's big leak, which appears to be from Rove's lawyer, is particularly significant and telling, because it publically positions Rove as blaming Libby for identifying Valerie Plame to him. It indicates that the thieves are falling out and starting to look out for themselves by pointing fingers elsewhere. This is a stunning story, because it reveals that the 'targets' are expecting to be indicted -- and that their lawyers are starting to 'spin' a post indictment strategy."

- BuzzFlash.

Between this and the possible spectacle of Tom DeLay's arrest - hauled off in handcuffs! photographed and fingerprinted! - I can barely contain myself! All we need now is Bill Frist indicted for insider training to complete the trifecta.

A view of the beach at the resort town of Cancun in Mexico's state of Quintana Roo as Hurricane Wilma approaches October 19, 2005. REUTERS/Daniel Aguilar. 'Quintana Roo' sounds like a great name for a kitten.


Dems question Bush-Rove meeting on CIA leak before going back to sleep
What did Preznit Integritude know and when did he know it?

Senator Chuck Schumer, Rep. John Conyers and other Democrats asked the White House on Wednesday for details of Preznit Character 'n' Values' private conversations in 2003 with Karl Rove, after reports surfaced that Bush was aware of Rove's role in the outing of a covert CIA operative. This ought to be interesting.

So Bush knew - doesn't that mean that he lied to Fitzgerald? Is that still perjury even though he wasn't under oath? Isn't that worse than lying about a #ucking blowjob, for petessake??

Ronnie Earle issues arrest warrant for repugnant scumbag
Yep, an arrest warrant has been issued for vile puke Tom DeLay. I just want to say that again: an arrest warrant has been issued for vile puke Tom DeLay. Oooooooooooohhhh.

Corrupt slimeball Tom DeLay has been ordered to appear at a Texas county jail Friday for booking on conspiracy and money-laundering charges, and will face the humiliation of undergoing not only fingerprinting, but also posing for a mugshot.

Mwwaahahahahahaha!

Second Cheney aide cooperating with special prosecutor
Whoa!

John Hannah, a key aide to Vice President Dick Cheney and one of the architects of the Iraq war, was cooperating with Fitzgerald after being told that he was identified by witnesses as a co-conspirator in the leak. Sources said Hannah was not given immunity, but was likely offered a “deal” in exchange for information that could result in indictments of key White House officials.

Now, those close to the investigation say that a second Cheney aide, David Wurmser, has agreed to provide the prosecution with evidence that the leak was a coordinated effort by Cheney’s office to discredit the agent's husband. Wurmser likely cooperated because he faced criminal charges for his role in leaking Wilson's name on the orders of higher-ups, sources said.

- more at Raw Story.


"You're dead! I'll kill you and eat your children!"
***

Baghdad Bob's baby bro is the new WH press secretary
Q: Is it true that the President slapped Karl Rove upside the head a couple of years ago over the CIA leak?

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Are you referring to, what, a New York Daily News report? That liberal partisan rag? Two things: one, we're not commenting on an ongoing investigation; two, and I would challenge the overall accuracy of that news account.

Q: That's a comment.

SCOTT McCLELLAN: No, I'm just saying -- no, I'm just trying to help you all.

Q: So what facts are you challenging?

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Again, I'm not going to comment on an ongoing investigation.

Q: You can't say you're challenging the facts and then not say which ones you're challenging.

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Well, there's an ongoing investigation, and as you know, our policy is not to comment on it. So that's where we are.

Q: You just did.

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Did not.

Q: Did too!

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Not!

Q: Too!

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Not!!

Q: That's a comment right there! pwnd!!

SCOTT: :: sob! what could have been... ::

Impeachable offense?
'Bush knew Rove was the leaker in 2003. Lied in 2004 when he said he didn't know who leaked. Obstruction of Justice.'

So:

1. We just had a two year investigation costing a ton of taxpayer money to find out something that the president knew all along?

2. Bush has kept Rove on staff even though HE KNEW Rove was the leaker.

3. It was June 10 of 2004 that Bush said he'd fire anyone involved in the leak. This was AFTER he already knew that Karl was the leaker, Bush knew that in 2003. So Bush lied when he told the public in June of 2004 that he would fire the leaker because he already knew who the leaker was.

4. Bush's comments border on obstruction of justice. He went public and made clear that he didn't know who the leaker was - he said he'd fire anyone found to have been involved, he hadn't yet fired Karl, so clearly he was saying that he had no evidence that Karl was involved. Bush was trying to cover up the fact that Karl was the guy. That's obstruction.

- AmericaBlog.

"You're doing what to me??"

Milo and Effie are at the vet getting fixed today.

No final report seen in CIA leak case
Which may or may not be a bad thing.

Patrick Fitzgerald has told associates he has no plans to issue a final report about the results of the investigation, heightening the expectation that he intends to bring indictments, lawyers in the case and law enforcement officials said yesterday.

A final report had long been considered an option for Mr. Fitzgerald if he decided not to accuse anyone of wrongdoing, although Justice Department officials have been dubious about his legal authority to issue such a report.

By signaling that he had no plans to issue the grand jury's findings in such detail, Mr. Fitzgerald appeared to narrow his options either to indictments or closing his investigation with no public disclosure of his findings, a choice that would set off a political firestorm.

If he does nothing, you'll hear my head explode all the way to Uranus...

It's Wednesday, 10/19. Do you know where the unindicted co-conspirators are?

Bush "furious" with Rove for screwing up attack on Joe Wilson
An angry Bunnypants supposedly 'rebuked' Karl Rove two years ago for his role in the Valerie Plame affair, sources say. Not because Rove was involved, but because he got caught.

"He made his displeasure known to Karl," a presidential counselor told the NY Daily News. "He made his life miserable about this." :: wink wink nudge nudge ::

As special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald nears a decision on whether to issue indictments in his two-year probe, Bush has already circled the wagons around Rove, whose departure would be a grievous blow to an already shell-shocked White House staff and a President in deep political trouble.

Asked if he believed indictments were forthcoming, a key Bush official said he did not know, then added: "I'm very concerned it could go very, very badly."

"Karl is fighting for his life," the official added, "but anything he did was done to help George W. Bush. The President knows that and appreciates that."

Bush did not feel misled so much by Karl and others as believing that they handled it in a ham-handed and bush-league way," the source said.

'Bush-league.' Heh. In other words, to Preznit Honor 'n' Integrity - President 'Character Counts' - it was OK to out a covert agent in time of war in order to trash someone critical of the misadministration, but not OK to get caught. Good one. :: blowjob! blowjob! ::

Mwaaaaa!
Did you know this is National Character Counts Week?

Yellow Dog Blog reports that on October 14 Preznit Lying WarMonkey issued a presidential proclamation making this week National Character Counts Week.

"During National Character Counts Week and throughout the year, I encourage children and all Americans to make good choices in life, set high standards, and serve as leaders," says the president in his proclamation. "By working together, we can all contribute to a culture of good citizenship and responsibility that strengthens our nation."

Maybe he should let Scott McClellan, Bill Frist, Tom DeLay, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, and the vice preznit know right away…


Ha ha ha ha ha!
***

"We're doomed... doomed!"
As Harriet Miers pastes glitter and sparkly hearts 'n' unicorns around photos of George W Bush in her scrapbook, the remaining members of the GOP go into panic mode.

Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, said he expects indictments this week in the CIA leak case involving White House advisers Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. Kristol said "the mood is bleak in the White House today,” and said the environment surrounding the federal grand jury testimony is "pretty grim.” Cool!

Follow-up: Dick Cheney should be very, very afraid.

Cheney resignation rumors fly
Bush could elevate Condoleezza Rice to VP if Dick leaves to spend more time with his family. His crime family. In FPYITA prison.

The rumor spread so fast that some Republicans by late morning were already drawing up reasons why Rice couldn't get the job or run for president in 2008.

"Isn't she pro-choice?" asked a key Senate Republican aide.

"Whoa, never mind that - isn't she a black woman? A gay black woman?" screeched another.

OK, I made that last bit up, but who's to say it didn't happen?


"Arrrggghhh! Ack! Phththpt!"
***

Ours is the former House majority leader!
Mr. Floatie, a brown, smiling lump of feces, is running for mayor in Victoria, Canada.

Hillary opponent out-stupids herself

Recently, Jeanine Pirro sent out letters to potential donors in her campaign to unseat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton next year. But there is very little chance that she will get any help from one recipient of her appeal: Mrs. Clinton herself. In a potentially embarrassing gaffe, one of the Aug. 19 fund-raising letters that Ms. Pirro's campaign sent out was addressed to none other than Mrs. Clinton. It would have been bad enough if the letter had been addressed to, say, Mrs. Clinton's home in Chappaqua. But this one was sent to her previous residence: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

- from the NY Times.

Speaking of toast
Harriet Miers' paper trail shows she opposes abortion, thinks Dumbya is "cooler than Jebus."

Bush's job rating continues to drop
Another record low for Chimpy McFuckwit.

Preznit Partypants' job approval rating continues to plummet, with 39 percent surveyed in the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll supporting his performance - the lowest recorded during his presidency - and 58 percent expressing disapproval. And if you think it can't possibly get any worse, just wait till this winter when heating prices go through the roof!


"Ah don't pay attention to polls."
***

CIA leak probe moves from Karl Rove to Vice President Dick Cheney. If this keeps up, we're going to have Bush running the country.

Cheney may be target of probe
'Any attempts to discredit Joseph Wilson would almost certainly have been known to the vice president. "Scooter wouldn't be freelancing on this without Cheney's knowledge," a source said.'

"If top officials are indicted, it could seriously erode the administration's credibility and prove yet another embarrassment to President Bush." Heh.

A special prosecutor's intensifying focus into who outed a CIA spy has raised questions whether Vice President Cheney himself is involved, knowledgeable sources confirmed yesterday.

At least one source and one reporter who have testified in the probe said Patrick Fitzgerald is pursuing Cheney's role in the Valerie Plame affair.

In addition, at least six current and former Cheney staffers - most members of the White House Iraq Group - have testified before the grand jury, including Scooter Libby and two top Cheney national security lieutenants.

Cheney's name has come up amid indications Fitzgerald may be edging closer to a blockbuster conspiracy charge - with help from a secret snitch.

Crap. I was really hoping to see Karl Rove's pasty, sweaty phiz all over the news as he gets frogmarched from the WH in disgrace.

Best magazine covers ever


This article is useless without pics this pic.

Bush's Brain likely to face perjury charge, assreaming in prison
Will resign if indicted.

Fitzgerald appears to be seriously weighing a perjury charge for [presidential nanny Karl] Rove’s failure to tell grand jurors that he talked to Time correspondent Matt Cooper about Plame, according to a person close to Rove.

A former White House official says Rove’s break with Bush would have to be clean — no “giving advice from the sidelines” — for the sake of the [mis]administration.

Yeah. Good luck with that.


"Psssst! Karen! Write this down..."
***

Well, he blew it spectacularly

"What's a president to do when faced with growing public discontentment and crashing poll numbers? If you're George W. Bush, the answer is clear: try to focus the nation's attention away from what a jackass you are..."

- from this week's Top 10 Conservative Idiots at DU.

New questions in CIA leak probe
Such as "why hasn't Judith Miller been fired?" and "who the #uck does she think she's kidding with that 'I can't remember' bullshit?"

New details about amnesiatic neocon playmate Judy Miller's decision to cooperate in the CIA leak case are raising questions about whether Dick 'Chicanery' Cheney's chief of staff Scooter Libby and his defense lawyer tried to steer the New York Times' WH propagandist's testimony.

Miller said her lawyer Floyd Abrams told her of a conversation Abrams had with Libby's lawyer, Joseph Tate: "He was pressing about what you would say. When I wouldn't give him an assurance that you would exonerate Libby, if you were to cooperate, he then immediately gave me this, 'Don't go there,' or, 'We don't want you there.'"

Fitzgerald is also focusing on whether the Vice President was involved, according to those familiar with the probe, questioning current whether Cheney was behind the effort to discredit the agent's husband, Iraq war critic and former U.S. diplomat Joseph Wilson

Fun fact: 'there is a growing sense among knowledgeable observers that the outcome will involve serious criminal charges. "Fitzgerald is putting together a big case,'' Washington attorney Robert Bennett, who represents Miller, said on the ABC program This Week'' yesterday. White House officials and Bush supporters are fearful that recent developments spell legal jeopardy for [smarmy brownshirted POS Karl]Rove.

Heartwarming family-values story turns out to be a drag
:: snicker ::

Who wants to tell Pat Buchanan that one of the women featured in his conservative magazine's cover photo about New Orleans flood victims is a famous drag queen?

"Democracies are peaceful countries." - WarMonkey McStupidhead, on the day more than 70 people were killed in Iraq. Most of them by US forces.



Won't somebody think of the children??
Criminalizing politics:

So, why isn't character on the table this time?

Character, we were all so piously told seven years ago, was what elevated Bill Clinton's lie about an bl*wjob to an issue of national gravity and justified his impeachment.

In rode a new administration and party promising to raise the bar on character. As I see it, they've splintered that bar into toothpicks.

- from a Miami Herald editorial.

They must've meant "raze" the bar.


Seen at skippy's.
***

It's Bush-Cheney, not Rove-Libby
Well, shit. But Bush = Rove as much as Rove = Bush. I don't think that smirking fuckwit can tie his own shoelaces, much less think up something that doesn't involve marshmallows and party games.

That stonewall may start to crumble in a Washington courtroom this week or next. In a sense it already has. Now, as always, what matters most in this case is not whether Mr. Rove and Lewis Libby engaged in a petty conspiracy to seek revenge on a whistle-blower, Joseph Wilson, by unmasking his wife, Valerie, a covert CIA officer. What makes Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation compelling, whatever its outcome, is its illumination of a conspiracy that was not at all petty: the one that took us on false premises into a reckless and wasteful war in Iraq. That conspiracy was instigated by Mr. Rove's boss, George W. Bush, and Mr. Libby's boss, Dick Cheney.

-Frank Rich at the NY Times, via DKos.

Whatever

This could have more people listening to a boob than Rush Limbaugh.

Smarmy POS pressed on conflicting accounts, source says
In his fourth appearance before the grand jury yesterday, WH svengali Karl Rove answered questions for 4 1/2 hours, including explaining discrepancies between his testimonies and why he did not initially tell federal agents about a July 2003 conversation about Valerie Plame with Time magazine's Matthew Cooper, the source said.

Lawyers in the case say Fitzgerald could be trying to establish that a group of White House officials violated the Espionage Act, which prohibits the disclosure of classified material, or that they engaged in a conspiracy to discredit Wilson in part by identifying Plame.

Another possibility, the lawyers say, is that Fitzgerald could charge Rove or others with perjury or providing false testimony before the grand jury.

I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing this picture.
***

Key participant in Bush's scripted, rehearsed PR stunt was a ringer, not a grunt
Catapulting the propaganda:

Reporting on the Bush-Iraq video-op, the Village Voice's Ward Harkavy finds that it involved an actor - "The soldier on the left side of the front row was actually a flak herself, though she didn't reveal it during the regime's 24-minute infomercial."

The soldier in question is Master Sgt. Corine Lombardo, whose only first-hand knowledge is in spreading propaganda. David Axe, the Village Voice's reporter in Iraq, told Harkavy: "Her job when I was with the 42nd Infantry Division included taking reporters to lunch. She lives in a fortified compound in Tikrit and rarely leaves. Many public-affairs types in Iraq never leave their bases, and they're speaking for those who do the fighting and dying."

- more at MediaCitizen.

F*ck that!
Some douchebag thinks Americans are getting ruder.

Brownback pressured to back Miers
The White House is sending out its swiftboaters in Iowa and New Hampshire to pressure GOP senators with presidential hopes to support Supreme Court nominee/Bush groupie Harriet Miers. Or else.

As the White House seeks to reassure conservatives skeptical about Miers' qualifications, efforts are largely aimed at turning up the heat on Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, WH aides acknowledged on Thursday.

Conservatives call on Preznit GameBoy to withdraw new bestest fwend Miers
Nomination "a stupid, stupid mistake"

Conservatives have stuck with Chimpy McFlightsuit through the bloodiest and gloomiest days of the war in Iraq, held firm as administration officials are investigated for revealing a CIA operative's identity and given him a pass on the galloping federal spending. But blowing the historic opportunity to replace a swing vote on the Supreme Court is unforgivable, conservatives say.

- the Moonie Times.

Except for one or two koolaid-drinking sheep, most of the denizens of fretardville are not very happy with Bush's choice:

What is so bad about the White House pushing her religion is it is going to be impossible to put that genie back in the bottle. All future nominees are going to be asked about their religion and have it held against them if they are Christian and it will be called "The Miers Rule."

Deeper down in this story, it mentions how the White House has been showcasing Miers' religious beliefs in what has turned out to be an insulting attempt to woo conservatives.

I'm afraid you're right. It's disturbing how the White House started playing up her religion just weeks after not wanting Roberts' religion to be a factor at all. But I guess it's also disturbing that Bush nominated his own lawyer for the U.S. Supreme Court right after the mess with his FEMA crony. It's like Bush has suffered a complete loss of short-term memory.

STAY THE COURSE MR PRESIDENT!! YOU ARE RIGHT.

LOL, and what "course" would that be? The Roberts course? The Miers course? The blank-slate course? The avoid-a-fight-at-all-costs course? The don't-offend-Ted-Kennedy course? The crony course? Hey, how about the Scalia/Thomas course we heard about on the campaign trail?

Why should we even bother to win Senate elections if we're just going to nominate question marks for the Supreme Court?

This isn't about the conservative base abandoning the President, it's about the President abandoning the conservative base. W blew it.

Cheney's office opposed Miers nomination
Dick Cheney and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tried to block the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, Raw Story reports.

[E]ven internal advice was shunned. [WH chief-of-staff Andy] Card is said to have shouted down objections to Ms. Miers at staff meetings. A senator attending the White House swearing-in of John Roberts four days before the Miers selection was announced was struck by how depressed White House staffers were during discussion of the next nominee. He says their reaction to him could have been characterized as, "Oh brother, you have no idea what's coming."

A last minute effort was made to block the choice of Ms. Miers, including the offices of Vice President Cheney and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. It fell on deaf ears.

"Christ. I can't leave that little fuckwit alone for one minute."
***

Appointment with destiny
WH svengali faces fourth grand jury appearance today, possible bass taping in FPMITA prison tomorrow.

Karl Rove is getting a fourth and likely final chance to convince grand jurors he did nothing criminal in the CIA leak case, and prosecutors are warning him there is no guarantee he will not be indicted.

Defense lawyers increasingly are concerned Fitzgerald might pursue charges such as false statements, obstruction of justice or mishandling classified information.

The White House has shifted from categorical denials two years ago that Rove or Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Scooter Libby, were involved in the leak of a covert CIA officer's name to "no comment" today.

Jitters at the White House over the leak inquiry
The prospect of a White House without Rove has some allies of the president in a near panic.

[A]dministration officials and friends and allies on the outside who speak regularly with them [say there is] a mood of intense uncertainty in the White House that veers in some cases into fear of the personal and political consequences and anger at having been caught in the snare of a special prosecutor. And given how badly things have been going for Mr. Bush and his team on other fronts - a poll released Thursday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center put his approval rating at 38 percent, a new low - they hardly have deep reserves of internal enthusiasm or external good will to draw on.

- the NY Times.

And now, for your entertainment, WH spokes-tool Scott McClellan will dance around questions from the press corp!

Q: Scott, why did the administration feel it was necessary to coach the soldiers that the President talked to this morning in Iraq?

McCLELLAN: I'm sorry, I don't know what you're suggesting.

Q: Well, they discussed the questions ahead of time. They were told exactly what the President would ask, and they were coached, in terms of who would answer what question, and how they would pass the microphone.

McCLELLAN: I'm sorry, are you suggesting that what our troops were saying was not sincere, or what they said was not their own thoughts?

Q: Nothing at all. I'm just asking why it was necessary to coach them.

McCLELLAN: The event was set up to highlight an important milestone in Iraq's history, and to give the President an opportunity to, once again, express our appreciation for all that our troops are doing when it comes to defending freedom, blah blah blah.

Q: But we asked you specifically this morning if there would be any screening of questions or if they were being told in any way what they should say or do, and you indicated no.

McCLELLAN: I don't think that's what the question was earlier today. I think the question earlier today was asking if they could ask whatever they want, and I said, of course, the President was -- and you saw --

Q: And I asked if they were pre-screened.

McCLELLAN: You troop-hater! You're almost as bad as Helen! She hates the war on terra!

Q: All right. Let me get back to the President's encounter with the troops, if I can. You said that the choreography of this was because of a technological challenge involved in the satellite feed. Well, what does that mean?

McCLELLAN: No, I'm just saying that there -- you have delays and things like that when you have a satellite feed, and so, obviously, there's going to be some coordination going on when you're setting up an event like this.

Q: So the choreography --

McCLELLAN: I think you're missing the broader point of what this event was about.

Q: So you're saying this was not a staged conversation for PR purposes?

McCLELLAN: Blah freedom blah! The stakes are high in Iraq. This is right up there at the top of our list of priorities. As the President said in the remarks, his most solemn duty and the most solemn duty of our men and women in uniform, like those he was talking to, is the safety and security of the American people. I just don't know if some are suggesting that what our troops were saying was not their own thoughts, because it clearly was.

Q: Now, we all saw the event, so without getting into what the President said and what the troops said, can you just talk specifically to the choreography? Did the soldiers know what questions they would be asking? Did they --

McCLELLAN: No, I really can't, because we coordinate this with the Department of Defense, and you might want to direct questions to the Department of Defense, because when we do these events -- we appreciate all the help that they provide -- the Department of Defense takes the lead in terms of pulling some troops together so that we can do events like this. Q: So you, personally, do not know if those soldiers rehearsed their answers before they were on air, live?

McCLELLAN: Well, my understanding is that someone from the Department of Defense was talking to them ahead of time. But I don't know -- I was with the President, so -- It's their fault! Blame the DOD!

Q: Can you find out what the answer is?

McCLELLAN: Yes. Shit. Just three years ago, the Iraqi people were under a brutal, oppressive dictator, a dictator that killed thousands and thousands of people...

Q: How many have we killed?

McCLELLAN: We've liberated 25 million, both in Iraq and in Afghanistan.

Q: How many have we killed?

McCLELLAN: Helen -- :: sputter :: troop-hater!!

Q: Scott, earlier you defined total victory in Iraq as a free and democratic Iraq. Is Iraq now not free and democratic?

McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?

Q: Is Iraq now not free and democratic?

McCLELLAN: I hate you guys.

And then it got worse.

Bush teleconference with soldiers staged
Bush thanks soldiers in rehearsed talk
- AP/Yahoo News/Fox News/SF Chronicle/liberal media headlines

You know this White House is in trouble when they can't even pull off a photo-op -

It was billed as a conversation with US troops, but the questions President Bush asked on a teleconference call Thursday were choreographed to match his goals for the war in Iraq and Saturday's vote on a new Iraqi constitution.

A brief rehearsal ensued...

The soldiers all gave Bush an upbeat view of the situation.

The president also got praise from the Iraqi soldier who was part of the chat.

"Thank you very much for everything," he gushed. "I like you."

Good grief.

Poll: Bush presidency judged unsuccessful
The Bush Legacy: total #ucking disaster. LOL

For the first time, more people say Preznit DisasterMonkey's presidency will be judged as a failure, according to the new Pew Research Center poll. A megaflop. A fiasco. A botched abortion of a major cock-up. A #ucked-up beyond all recall bloody sinkhole of iniquity and incompetence.

Participants said Bush's policies have made things worse on a wide range of issues such as the federal budget deficit, the gap between rich and poor, health care, the economy, relations with US allies, the tax system and education.

Yeah, that about covers it.

Around the internets

One high crime and two misdemeanors: Attytood lays out the grounds for impeachment of Preznit Lying DisasterMonkey.

If you do the crime, you must do the time. Unless you get a special deal for ratting out your co-conspirators. Atrios explains.

Georgie wuvs Harriet

Tild posts a terrific Halloween poem!

skippy shows us the billboard Clear Channel doesn't want you to see.

‘The Pretend President’ at Why Now.

Ha ha ha ha ha!

Yellow Dog Blog's Senate Weasel Meter for October

Welcome back to Bohemian Mama!

Tom DeLay: corrupt, sweating attention whore.

Dave at Seeing the Forest explains 'Why the Right Is Focused on MoveOn'

Crony Jobs!

At last, the stars are finally right... Cthulhu news, via Chapel Perilous.

Do Democrats need their own Gingrich? One that isn't a crooked weasel?

Where the hey is Jim Capozzola??

Please welcome firedoglake!

Ha ha ha ha ha!

Popular Wartime President. Snicker.

Crooks and Liars has the video of today's press conference, where a)Helen Thomas bitchslaps Scott, and b)Scott tries to explain away Bunnypants' scripted and staged photo-op with the troops to the troop- and America-hating liberal media scum.

Ronnie Earle subpoenas corrupt scumbag Tom DeLay's home phone records!

Catapulting the propaganda
President Bush's video conference with 10 "randomly-picked-yet-extraordinarily-photogenic-and-articulate" US soldiers in Iraq today was indeed the staged, thinly-veiled farce we all believed it to be.
- headline at Fark.

The exchange was carefully choreographed.

Before it began, a Pentagon official coached the troops, telling them the president planned to ask questions on three topics: The overall security in Iraq, how they were preparing for the vote on Saturday and how much progress had been made in the training of Iraqi troops.

Allison Barber, a Pentagon official, said Bush would ask them specifically, "In the last 10 months, what kind of progress have we seen?"

She asked who was prepared to answer the question. "Master Sgt. Lombardo," one said.

After Bush asked just that question, Master Sgt. Corine Lombardo responded: "Over the past 10 months, the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces are improving. They continue to develop and grow into a sustainable force."

- USA Toady.

Fun fact: the number of Iraq combat-ready units have dropped from 3 to 1.

A true hero
... who evidently hated America.

Last wishes of a WWII veteran: "In lieu of flowers, please send acerbic letters to Republicans."


We can do both.
***

Sanctimonious hypocrite subpoenaed in probe of stock sales
Sources have told the WaPo that Senate majority leader/douchebag Bill Frist has been subpoenaed to turn over personal records in the investigation into possible insider trading.

Fun fact: The SEC issued the subpoena about two weeks ago, but Frist, I guess, forgot to mention it.

Fun fact 2: Bill Frist has been subpoenaed by the SEC. LOLOL


"Here's my subpoena! Here! Now... go away! :: sob ::"
***

39 percent
"Any way you slice this data, I think these are just terrible sets of numbers."

NBC News/Wall Street Journal: lowest... poll numbers... ever.

Popular wartime president's numbers going down faster than Jack Abramoff's credit rating :

Bush’s approval rating has sunk below 40 percent, while the percentage believing the country is heading in the right direction has dipped below 30 percent. In addition, with 13 months until the 2006 congressional elections, 48 percent say they prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress.

- pMSNBC.

Zing

"If they want a poster boy for the Energy Hog, they can put President Bush's mug up there for jetting around the country for useless photo ops to try to bring his poll numbers back up."

- Jerry Taylor, energy expert at the Cato Institute.

Well, like, she's like so totally awesome...
"People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers," Bush told reporters at the White House. "Part of Harriet Miers' life is her religion."

Oh that. Religious. Great...

Heh
"Isn't this just an empty photo op?" asked Matt Lauer shortly before being shipped off to Guantanamo.
- headline at Fark.

Video at Crooks and Liars.

It's good to be the king
Dick Cheney's non-existent Halliburton stock rose 3,281% last year, and is now valued at more than $8 million.


"Mehhh. It'll help pay for my upcoming legal expenses."
***

Oh just STFU already
Corrupt scumbag Tom DeLay, attention whore.

Frist in even more hot water

Outside the blind trust he created, Senate majority leader/douchebag Bill Frist accumulated stocks and earned tens of thousands of dollars, documents show.

Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert at the St. Louis School of Law, said she doesn't believe the Senate trusts or the Tennessee trust insulated Frist from a conflict because the senator or his brother were advised of transactions and could influence decisions.

"What I find most appalling is the Senate calls it a qualified blind trust when it's not blind," Clark said.

Bush flipflops on taking responsibility for Katrina fiasco
Accountabilitude.

Bush now says that if a congressional investigation finds the federal government was at fault in the initial response to Katrina, then he would accept responsibility.

Photo op bites back
Preznit Partypants has an "unusually testy interview" with NBC's Matt Lauer.

Matt: "So in other words, if someone says to you, okay, you're moving a wall today and it's a photo op, but if that inspires someone else in another community to move a wall and grab a hammer, then that's mission accomplished?"

Whoa - LOL

Preznit DisasterMonkey: "I do my job as best I can. One of the things that we do is we respond to crisis. And as I told the people, if I didn't respond well enough, we're going to learn the lessons. If there's any mistakes made at the federal level, I, of course, accept responsibility for them."

If he didn't respond well enough? Is he out of his mind?? Oh wait...


"Ah wuz on vacashun! It's hard work! Brownie did a heckuva job!"
***

Where is Dick?
New revelations surface regarding chief of staff Libby in CIA leak case

In two appearances before the federal grand jury investigating the leak of a covert CIA operative's name, Scooter Libby, the chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, did not disclose crucial conversations that he had with New York Times ho-bag Judith Miller in June 2003 about Valerie Plame, according to sources with firsthand knowledge of his sworn testimony.

In recent days [special prosecutor Patrick] Fitzgerald has expressed significant interest in whether Libby may have sought to discourage Miller - either directly or indirectly through her attorney - from testifying before the grand jury, or cooperating in other ways with the criminal probe

A senior Justice official added that even in the absence of hard evidence of an obstruction, "a prosecutor is going to want to know why a subject of (the) investigation did not want a witness to co-operate, and why they would allow someone to linger in jail for more than eighty days, unless they had something to hide. That is going to lead many prosecutors to redouble his efforts."

"Where's the fucking crashcart!!?!!"
***

Where's Dick?
Restoring honor and dignity to the White House?
And hopefully creating a new national holiday in October when he's #ucking indicted...

From the HuffPo:

The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg are working on stories that point to Vice President Dick Cheney as the target of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation into the leaking of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name.

Developing...


"Who can I blame for this one... let's see..."
***

Christian Defense Coalition calls for the White House to stop negatively labeling Miers' critics
Mwwwahahahahaha! It just keeps getting better and better!

The majority of those questioning the nomination of Harriet Miers are grass roots supporters who admire and helped elect the President but are dismayed by the lack of qualifications, experience and depth of Ms. Miers.

"For the White House to now turn around and label these grass roots supporters as 'elites' or 'sexist' is both insulting and offensive. Instead of name calling, the Bush Administration should be reaching out the very people who helped elect the President."

- from the CDC press release bitchslapping the misadministration.

Liars make the Baby Jebus cry

"Karl Rove didn’t tell me anything about the way Harriet Miers would vote on cases that may come before the Supreme Court."

- rightwing 'christian' crackpot James Dobson, changing his story yet again (via NewsMax, so no link).

Body language
The president is really a cranky, snivelling two-year old, who, in trouble, badly needs to go potty.

But this much could be seen watching the tape of NBC's broadcast during Bush's 14-minute interview, in which he stood unprotected by the usual lectern. The president was a blur of blinks, taps, jiggles, pivots and shifts. Bush has always been an active man, but standing with Lauer and the serene, steady first lady, he had the body language of a man wishing urgently to be elsewhere.

The fidgeting clearly corresponded to the questioning. When Lauer asked if Bush, after a slow response to Katrina, was "trying to get a second chance to make a good first impression," Bush blinked 24 times in his answer. When asked why Gulf Coast residents would have to pay back funds but Iraqis would not, Bush blinked 23 times and hitched his trousers up by the belt.

When the questioning turned to Miers, Bush blinked 37 times in a single answer -- along with a lick of the lips, three weight shifts and some serious foot jiggling. The presidential fidgeting spiked when Lauer mentioned the Democratic accusation that Bush was performing a "photo op."

"Poopie-heads!"
****

Revised Miers strategery raises new questions
By emphasizing Harriet Miers' affiliation with the evangelical church, the misadministration has ignited new controversies. Among republicans. Ha ha ha ha ha!

Cry me a river

'There has not been a moment since October 3 when I have not felt sick and sad about this Miers battle, but today may have been the worst day yet. This morning, the president mobilized Laura Bush to join him on national television and accuse critics of the Miers nomination of "sexism."'

- David Frum. Yeah, now your 'honor and integrity' manly 'values' president is having his wife lie for him... too fucking bad, isn't it, you gpuke-sucking asstool. I hope you're fucking choking on it. But that's just me.

Indeed
"Ok, I think I just peed my pants." - John Aravosis, AmericaBlog.

"What were the guys in the Oval Office thinking?"
That they could get away with it?

White House staff in civil war over spongy traitor Karl Rove

The Bush political family is at war with itself inside the White House. It‘s Andy Card, the chief of staff, and his people against Karl Rove, the brain... There are people are out for Karl Rove inside that White House.

- WH whore wHoward 'Mulva' Fineman.

Well, there‘s a bunch of people in this state who will tell you he can play tough, because he‘s ruined their careers, Chris.

Every part of his entire career has been about vengeance, going after people who somehow crossed him or his candidates and destroying them from the battlefield. So, the fact that he‘s accused of this surprises nobody down here who has watched him forever and ever. What surprises me, though, is this whole notion of bad memory on the part of Karl. His memory is astounding, his historical ability to recall information.

You‘re talking about a guy who can still recall precinct results from 1890 elections. And to tell the grand jury or Fitzgerald or anyone that he doesn‘t recall meeting with Matt Cooper is just beyond the pale in terms of believability.

- James Moore, co-author of 'Bush's Brain.'

- from an interesting Hardball segment. Take it with a grain of salt, though: Tweety and Mulva are not only both enthusiastic Bush c0cksuckers, they're also inveterate attention whores. But still...

Conservatives desert war campaign
The mood among Washington's most influential conservative think-tanks is "decidedly sombre."

Even among the strongest advocates in Washington of the war in Iraq there is a sense of alarm these days, with harsh criticism directed particularly at the draft constitution, which they see as a betrayal of principles and a recipe for disintegration of the Iraqi state.

Expressions of concern among conservatives and former Iraqi exiles, seen also in the rising disillusionment of the American public, reflect a widening gap with the Bush administration and its claims of “incredible political progress” in Iraq.

Where’s Dick?
Don't Dick Cheney and Dumbya like each other anymore? Is Dick tired of Bush's screw-ups? Is he gravely ill? Is he an 'unindicted co-conspirator'? Is he just too busy arranging contracts for Halliburton?

Apparently, according to two journalist sources of [Joe Wilson], when Rove learned that he might have violated the law, he turned on Cheney and Libby and made it clear that he held them responsible for the problem they had created for the administration. The protracted silence on this topic from the White House masks considerable tension between the Office of the President and the Office of the Vice President.

- more at Attytood .


"Where's the crashcart?!"
***

Subway plot a hoax, the Duh! Institute reports
Informant in Iraq Al-Karlif Rhov admits information about a terror plot against New York subway was a hoax, sources tell CNN. Details soon.

Moral values
Last week it was Bill Bennett, author of The book of Virtues and Moral Compass: Stories for a Life's Journey, proposing aborting black babies in order to reduce crime. Yesterday, we heard about the Christian Coalition leader accused of molestation and incest. Today, there's news about a Republican congressman being arrested and charged with drunken driving.

And don't get me started on this guy...

Run away! Run away!
Rethugs start distancing themselves from Preznit DisasterMonkey.

Back when President Bush was riding high - before the public turned sour on Iraq, before conservatives got mad about his lavish federal spending and his Harriet Miers nomination - it was widely assumed that the 2008 Republican presidential candidates would vie amongst themselves for the right to proudly carry their leader's torch. Up their ass!

But that's not happening. [T]he woes plaguing Bush - including the scandals involving indicted corrupt scumbag Tom DeLay and lobbyist Jack Abramoff (a GOP conservative activist when he first came to town), as well as [Senate majority leader/douchebag Bill Frist, under investigation for insider trading] the legal cloud hovering over Bush strategist/greasy prison bitch^* Karl Rove - are playing havoc with the traditional GOP respect for fellating their president hierarchy.

"This President is becoming weaker by the day."

^*Hopefully.

Republicans 'fear the worst' of a White House without presi adviser Rove
"Ah!"
- Homer Simpson.

The president's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb! Bush, calls Mr. Rove "invaluable to the misadministration." Others say his combination of brains, conservative commitment, and a quarter-century relationship with Preznit Partypants would make it harder to replace him than any other senior administration official. Still others say he is a "Nixonesque" figure without an "ethical compass." A grotesque asshat. A venal, flatulent boor with a penchant for vacuum-cleaner attachments and small rodents. A ...

{:: smack! :: - Ed.}

The White House declined requests for an interview with Mr. Rove.

The evolution of Mr. Bush's statements on the CIA leak case indicate how loath he is to lose the man he has described as his political "architect." Early on in the controversy over the disclosure of Ms. Plame's identity, the president vowed to fire anyone involved. Later, after testimony implicating Mr. Rove became public, Mr. Bush expressed a looser standard, saying he would remove aides who committed crimes. Last week, amid speculation that Mr. Rove might face charges from special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, Mr. Bush wouldn't say whether he would remove an aide under indictment.

- the Wall Street Journal.

From a pic by G Steve.


Documents, old panty-liners show Miers's close ties to Bush
"Texas has a very popular governor and first lady! I was struck by the tremendous impact you have! You are such a studmuffin!!! Keep up all the great work! The state is in great hands! XXXXOOOOO!!1!1!!!"

"You are the best governor ever - deserving of great respect," Harriet Miers wrote to George W. Bush days after his 51st birthday in July 1997. She also found him "cool," said he and his wife, Laura, were "the greatest!" and told him: "Keep up the great work. Texas is blessed."

The documents, including many minutes of meetings of the Texas Lottery Commission which Ms. Miers headed, shed little light on her legal thinking, but underscore her wet, stinky devotion to her pwecious, dreamy widdle wuvnuffy Mr Bush. Because of their closeness and her lack of a judicial record, some critics have dismissed Ms. Miers as a crony unworthy of nomination to the court but for her confidential service as the president's lawyer.

- from the NY Times, Tiger Beat.

Reasons to be cheerful

As one of the premier fake journalists on the planet, Stephen Colbert is struck by the reaction of those he mercilessly ridicules.

"The most common thing that real reporters say to me is, 'I wish I could say what you say.' What I don't understand is, why can't they say what I say, even in their own way?"

"The Colbert Report" debuts next Monday, following The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

PSM
I'm sorry I'm so lame today.

Republican cracks beginning to show

Eewwwww.

To make matters worse for the Bush misadministration, it emerged last week that the White House, which has portrayed itself as the guardian of national security, may have been penetrated by a spy.

A US marine working in Vice President Dick Cheney’s office has been arrested on suspicion of stealing classified documents and passing them on to opposition figures plotting a coup in the Philippines.

And adding to the whiff of scandal around the White House, officials announced that government contracts for relief projects in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina are being cancelled and reopened for bidding amid allegations that companies were given cosy, lucrative deals at the expense of local firms in the New Orleans region.

- the Sunday Herald.


"I dare you to find Halliburton's name in there! Arrrrrrrr!"

Accountability
The death of outrage...

Sanctimonious hypocrite Bill Bennett blames the news media for "distorting" his remark that "if you wanted to reduce crime, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down."

Quit your damn whining and take it like a man, you racist, inhuman asshole.

Quote

"[W]e know that Harriet Miers thinks that George W. Bush is 'the most brilliant man she had ever met.' Which ought to disqualify her right there."

- from this week's Top 10 Conservative Idiots, at DU.

Christmas in October

Criminal defense lawyers I’ve spoken to who are friendly to the administration are very worried that there will be one or more indictments in the next three weeks of senior administration officials, just looking at what Fitzgerald is doing and taking him at his word, you know, being a serious prosecutor here. And I think it’s going to be bad for the Bush administration.

- Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol on Fox News Sunday.

Someone like Bill Kristol doesn’t get information like this by accident. It’s being fed to him so, if there is an indictment, he can prepare the base.

- Think Progress.

Republican pols to pass on '06 Senate run

A senior Republican familiar with the recruiting process agreed that the climate has shifted for the GOP because of a confluence of problems from Iraq to Hurricane Katrina and high gasoline prices: "Looking at polls from June or July and then looking at them now, the deterioration is really bad."

- the WaPo. Don't forget all those ethic lapses! And those tax breaks for the rich!

Bush, who's never vetoed anything, will veto anti-torture law
Preznit Liar McDeathmonkey says Congress is attempting to tie his hands in the war against terrism.

WWJD? The Bush misadministration pledged yesterday to continue torturing prisoners even after an overwhelming and almost unprecedented revolt by republicans, one of the largest and best supported congressional revolts during President Quality-of-Life's five years in office and one which shocked the White House.

Too bad the Singing Senators have broken up!
The Daily Show to start featuring musical guests, starting with the White Stripes on Dec 1st. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Maybe it'll be cool.

Skoal!
Viking longboat containing coffee grounds discovered on the bottom of Loch Ness. Mmmmmm, coffee...

White House faces spy scandal over stolen documents
As if traitorously outing a CIA agent's name in time of war wasn't bad enough, Dick Cheney has some explaining to do over how classified documents were stolen from his office.


"Arrrrrrrrr!"

It takes an idiot
Harriet Miers' nomination has already had one positive effect: it has forced Sen. Rick Santorum to finally shut his pie-hole.

Coffee!! I need some coffee!!!!!

Groups unhappy with Bush performance
And by "groups" we mean the rethuglican base.

Democracy's on the march!
Iraq Sunnis are grateful for the free elections the US invasion brought them so they can vote against the hated US-backed Iraqi constitution.

Better watch your speed
Preznit Partyfavor is riding the white train to Flakeville. With help from Jim, Johnnie, and Old Granddad. Nightmarish skankho mAnn Coulter agrees - but I'm still not linking to her.

Bush humiliated by Nobel Peace Committee
LOL

Mohamed ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear watchdog agency he heads, won the 2005 Nobel Prize for Peace today (thanks to BuzzFlash for the headline).

"Someone should invent a Freedom Prize. Especially now when there's a man who richly deserves one." - one of RimJob's chronic self-abusing troglodytes.


?????

WH spokes-tool Scott McClellan defends Bunnypants' ravings of terrorists taking over the world
Whoa - WH press corpse jumps all over Scott on this one -

Q: Scott, all this talk about a radical Islamic empire stretching from Europe across to southeast Asia, even some Republicans are saying that it has the appearance of the President trying to cover up bad policy in Iraq by unduly alarming people.

McCLELLAN: I haven't heard any Republicans say that. Do you have one in mind?

Q: A couple in mind, yes.

McCLELLAN: Well, do you want to share them with me?

Q: What the fuck difference does it make who said it, Scott? What's your response to the allegation that you're trying to cover up bad policy in Iraq by unduly alarming people?

McCLELLAN: Terrists hate our freedom. September 11th. Thank you.

Q: Jesus Christ....

Poll: Bush ratings hit new low
Preznit Partyhat's approval ratings are at their lowest point ever.

A mere 37% now approve of the job he is doing as president. Only 45 percent see him as a 'strong leader,' down significantly from previous points in his presidency, and the lowest number ever in the CBS poll.

And for the first time, fewer than half approves of the way he is handling his signature issue, the campaign against terrism.

Rove ordered to talk again in leak inquiry
Let's reiterate: Turd Blossom 'ORDERED,' not 'offered' to testify. Huh.

The special prosecutor in the CIA leak case has summoned pasty asshat Karl Rove, the president's brain, liver and nutsack, to return next week to testify to a federal grand jury in a step that could mean charges will be filed in the case, lawyers in the case said Thursday.

The prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, has also asked neocon playmate Judy Miller to meet him next Tuesday to further discuss her conversations with Scooter Libby, the vice president's chief of staff.

Mr. Fitzgerald has focused on whether there was a deliberate effort to retaliate against Joe Wilson for his criticism of the Bush misadministration's Iraq policy. Recently lawyers said that they believed the prosecutor may be applying new legal theories to bring charges in the case.

Meanwhile, incontinent cranky traitor Bob Novak somehow remains free, though in disgrace.

Republicans swim for their lives in the wake of the Iraq/Katrina/gas prices/highway bill/Harriet Miers/Bill Frist/Bill Bennett/Tom DeLay/Karl Rove/Dick Cheney/Scooter Libby/Jack Abramoff/Brownie/Safavian disasters.


New York subway, Penn Station 'may be targets of terrorist attack'
Right on time! NYC boosts security after threat to Harriet Miers/Bill Frist/Bill Bennett/Karl Rove/Tom DeLay/Dick Cheney/Scooter Libby/Jack Abramoff....

Around the internets
“First, Bush has no right to say ‘Trust me.’ He was elected to represent the American people, not to be dictator for eight years.”

- #uckin’ DUH, b!tch. The Sideshow links to harpy skank mAnn Coulter so I don’t have to.


The Tom DeLay/Roy Blunt money laundering allegations reminds jimmymac at the BartCop Forum of something… hmmm…

Senator Pat Geary: Mr. Cici, was there always a buffer involved?

Willi Cici: A what?

Senator Pat Geary: A buffer. Someone in between you and your possible superiors who passed on to you the actual orders.

Willi Cici: Oh yeah, a buffer. The family had a lot of buffers!

LOL. Indeed.

Is Bunnypants amped on candycane again? AmericaBlog says all signs point to yes.

"Federal prosecutors have accepted an offer from presidential adviser Karl Rove to give 11th-hour testimony in the case of a CIA officer's leaked identity but have warned they cannot guarantee he won't be indicted, according to people directly familiar with the investigation.

“What this means is Rove's lawyer, Bob Luskin, believes his client is defintely going to be indicted.”

Bonus quote: "...at least three high level Bush Administration personnel indicted and possibly one or more very high level unindicted co-conspirators.”

- Lawrence O’Donnell – who broke the Rove-as-source story back in July – in the HuffPo.

Yellow Dog Blog reports that a new Quinnipiac poll has Bush’s NY approval rating at 29%. Boy, that sounds good… twenty-nine percent. Twenty-nine percent twenty-nine percent twenty-nine percent twenty-nine percent

More trouble for Karl: You Reap what you Rove, at Crooks and Liars.

Mail
Which I'm still trying to catch up on from last week...

Bill Christofferson sent us this link, to the Blame Game board game:

The Blame Game board game sells for $10 plus shipping at www.zzzingers.com, with all the money going to Hurricane Katrina victims.

When you play the game, it works pretty much the same way things worked for the poor schleps stuck in New Orleans.

No matter what you roll, you are screwed.

LOL

Breaking news
Karl Rove has to testify
Doo dah, doo dah...

Ride 'im, cowboy!
Gaping, greasy little WH wHore wHoward Fineman wears stained chaps.



Update
At this time, both traitorous self-abuser Karl Rove and corrupt, indicted scumbag Tom DeLay still are not getting raped in prison.



Heh
Find the Brownie

Strategery
Bush ties Iraq to 9/11. Again.

Bush this morning delivered what the White House said was a "major" speech on the struggle against global extr war against humanity war on terror, but seemed to be the same old tired bullshit: Terra, terra, 9/11. Freedom, democracy, terrists. It's hard work when we resolve to stay the course. But we're makin' progress! 9/11.

I could only catch bits and pieces of it at work, but he really didn't say that bin Laden is a man of wealth and privilege that doesn't actively participate in his own wars, did he? Or that Islamic radicalism is elitist, led by a self-appointed vanguard that presumes to speak for the masses? Because, dude... jebus, get a fucking clue.

Bunnypants obeys voices in his head, thousands killed
God told me to invade Iraq, Bush tells Palestinian ministers
Also told him to eat the whole boxa cookies, slaughter a few thousand Jebus-haters, stop playing with himself.

"President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, "George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan." And I did, and then God would tell me, "George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …" And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, "Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East." And by God I'm gonna do it.'"

- Nabil Shaath, Palestinian Foreign Minister.

Rove ‘very involved’ in Miers pick

Yesterday, we suggested that the nomination of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court was an attempt by the Bush team - particularly Vice President Cheney and Karl Rove - to plant a crony inside the court because they knew indictments were imminent, and therefore they might need an operative on the court should the ensuing congressional investigations move toward impeachment.

Last night, we learned that the Capitol is awash in rumors on two fronts related to the CIA Leak investigation. First, there is word that the special prosecutor will soon issue 22 indictments in the matter; and secondly, Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin, refused to confirm or deny whether Rove had received a letter from the prosecutor naming him as a target of the investigation, which is significant because Luskin had earlier categorically denied that Rove was a target....

Read more at the Pensito Review!

Conservatives confront Bush aides
Anger over Miers nomination boils over during private meetings

Conservatives "openly distrustful of the president."

The conservative uprising against Preznit Doofus escalated yesterday as Republican activists angry over his nomination of his personal counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court confronted the president's envoys during a pair of tense closed-door meetings.

A day after Bush publicly beseeched skeptical supporters to trust his judgment on Miers, a succession of prominent conservative leaders told his representatives that they did not. Over the course of several hours of sometimes testy exchanges, the dissenters complained that Miers was an unknown quantity with a thin résumé and that her selection -- Bush called her "the best person I could find" -- was a betrayal of years of struggle to move the court to the right.

At one point in the first of the two off-the-record sessions, according to several people in the room, White House adviser Ed Gillespie suggested that some of the unease about Miers "has a whiff of sexism and a whiff of elitism." Irate participants erupted and demanded that he take it back.

Gillespie and [RNC head Ken] Mehlman came in for rough treatment: "They got pummeled. I've never seen anything like it."

Mwwwwaaaaaaaaaaa!

Tom Tancredo on Wednesday became the first Republican in Congress to oppose President Bush's choice of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court, saying in scathing comments that she lacks credentials and ability. "She is apparently not the intellectual powerhouse that we could have put on the court," said Tancredo. "I do believe it was a mistake."

I love the smell of repuke brains frying in the morning...
************

WH braces for decisions in CIA leak case
Rumor on the internets: "more than a dozen indictments" coming down. My stomach hurts, I'm so excited.

'Twas the night before Christmas...

And all of a sudden, pasty svengali Karl Rove's lawyer isn't talking.

The federal prosecutor investigating who leaked the identity of a CIA operative is expected to signal within days whether he intends to bring indictments in the Valerie Plame case, legal sources close to the investigation said on Wednesday.

The inquiry has ensnared President PlayStation's top political adviser, Karl Rove, and Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, "Scooter" Libby. The White House had long maintained that Rove and Libby had nothing to do with the leak but reporters have since named them as sources.

Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, declined to say whether his client had been contacted by Fitzgerald. In the past, Luskin has said that Rove was assured that he was not a target. Libby's lawyer was "not immediately available" to comment.

After initially promising to fire anyone found to have leaked information in the case, Bush in July offered a more qualified pledge: "If someone committed a crime they will no longer work in my administration."

Update: Rove's lawyer will no longer deny that his client is a target

President Bush's most trusted adviser, Karl Rove, has been absent from recent White House events, leading those close to a CIA outing case to speculate that he has been told he is the target of an investigation, RAW STORY can confirm.

The buzz on Capitol Hill is that Rove has received what sources called a "target letter," or a letter from the prosecutor investigating the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson telling him that he is now a target in the investigation. To date, no reporters have been able to confirm this account. One lawyer says that at this point in the investigation it would be more likely any letters would normally be notifications of an indictment.

More here.

Oh please oh please oh please...

Frog march Frog march Frog march Frog march Frog march Frog march Frog march Frog march

Baked Alaska
First a $23 million bridge to nowhere, now a $500,000 paint job. Good one, dickheads.

Just when you thought we couldn't go any lower...

"We have finally reached rock bottom in George W Bush's quest to pull this nation down to his level of stupidity and incompetence."

- Link. And that's just today.


Bush nominates Mr Hanky to head Federal Reserve
"I believe I picked the best person I could find," the president said. "He thinks just like me. I haven't actually sat down with him, but I understand we share the same philosophy. Poop is funny. Heh heh."

President will reject requests for Miers documents
You've got to be fucking kidding me.

'Asked at a news conference whether he would release some or all of her legal work as White House counsel, Mr. Bush said that the principle of executive privilege was important, and that any Senate request for documents would be a distraction from considering Ms. Miers's qualifications.'

"Trust me! Have ah ever steered you wrong?!"

PSM
An anonymous e-mailer reminds us:


(Click to enlarge)

Scary
Indiana Republicans go back in time.

Cool
Mysterious glowing spot the size of Connecticut appears in satellite images of Indian Ocean.

Bioluminescent bacteria? Or undersea alien city?

Meanwhile, in the Situation Room...

JOHN KING (filling in for Wolf Blitzer): I'm maybe a contrarian here, but I think this president is suckering the Democrats, that he sees Scalia and Thomas on the court, sees them as intellectual powerhouses for his cause, sees Roberts to manage the court, and now wants not someone to go in there and be the intellectual powerhouse, but to be a damn good conservative vote and the Democrats saying oh, she's nice.

BILL PRESS: Let me tell you, John, I'll take your point but I'll up you one. I think he's conning the Democrats and I think he's conning the conservatives like Pat Buchanan. Look, this is one of the slickest con jobs I've ever seen. He wants an extreme conservative on there. He's not going to take one everybody knows is an extreme conservative. He takes a Scalia in sheep's clothing. He puts, you know, Harriet Miers up there.

Nobody knows anything about her. And I'm afraid the Democrats are going to fall for it just like they fell for John Roberts and say we don't know much about her, she seems like a nice person, and therefore, she's got to be maybe another Sandra Day O'Connor. Karl Rove and George Bush would not have nominated her if they didn't know here well, and know where she stands on the issues.

"[I]f the Democrats don't raise that issue in the confirmation hearings, they will continue their record, as a whole, with some luminous exceptions, as a whole, of being a party that is spineless, gutless, hapless, clueless and now leaderless." - Ralph Nader, 10/4/05.

Yep, pretty much.

Pic by James Wages.


"My job is to lead and to solve problems." - Bunnypants, 10/4/05.
Well, you suck at both.



"A political disaster"
No, besides former House majority leader Tom DeLay's second indictment.
No, not the SEC's investigation into Senate majority leader Bill Frist's alleged insider trading.
Ummm, no, not VP Cheney's office being named in the CIA leak probe.
OK, not Iraq, either. Geez.

'ABC's Terry Moran asked [WH spokes-tool Scott] McClellan if Bush appointing his personal lawyer, someone with no experience on the bench, is "not the definition of cronyism, what is?"'

She's a a trailblazer! She served as counsel to the president's gubernatorial committee in '93! She represented him in a fishing dispute!

Kelly O'Donnell: To what extent did the President's personal friendship with Harriet Miers have an impact on his ultimate decision? And those who say that it is sort of the appearance of cronyism, that -- did this relationship give her an advantage, and the fact that she was heading the search committee?

McCLELLAN: Well, the President knows her well. He has known her for some time now. But the decision was based on who was the best person to fill this vacancy. And she has the qualifications and experience needed {????? -Ed.} to do an outstanding job on the United States Supreme Court, and that's why the President selected her.

Q: Was he rewarding a friend?

McCLELLAN: I'd say look at her record. She helped clean up the Lottery Commission!

George W. Bush has just rung the death knell for his presidency, says a Star-Trib editorial:

For the Supreme Court of the United States, a president under fire for cronyism has chosen the ultimate crony.

Now the Ted Kennedy left will have a field day portraying Miers as an unqualified crony while the political right remains unenthused and silent -- because they, too, consider her an unqualified crony.

And those are just some conservatives. The blogosphere Monday was full of other conservatives who weren't silent, but outspokenly angry...

Preznit PlayStation holds a press con
"An' there should be no doubt in anybody's mind what I believe a judge -- the philosophy of a judge. And Harriet Miers shares that philosophy."

Ohhhhh.... kayyyyyy....

Q: You've taken time to express that you know her heart, her character, you've emphasized your friendship. So it seems reasonable that over the course of the years you've known her, perhaps you have discussed the issue of abortion. Have you ever discussed with Harriet Miers abortion? Or have you gleaned from her comments her views on that subject?

Bunnypants: I don't have a litmus test for judges. I want judges who are qualified and blah blah blah. But I do not have a litmus test.

Q: Sir, you've already said there was no litmus test --

The Doofus-in-Chief: Correct. And I'll say it again: There is no litmus test.

Q: But she is not someone you interviewed for the job that you didn't know. You've known her a long time. Have you never discussed abortion with her?

Preznit Stupid: In my interviews with any judge, I never ask their personal opinion on the subject of abortion.

Q: In your friendship with her, you've never discussed abortion?

Bunnypants: Not to my recollection have I ever sat down with her. John...

Q: Mr President, how are you going to pay for everything? You know, the war, Katrina, your tax-giveaways to your rich buddies?

Knucklehead: First, let me remind people that we are at war. Ah'm a war president. We're trackin' down the Zarqawis....and we're gettin' 'em... as you recall, we got that fella in Baghdad. We're makin' progress. In the war on terra. I mean the war on global extremism or whatever the heck we're callin' it today... Now, when it comes to discretionary spending, non-security discretionary spending, the budget I submitted to the United States Congress actually reduces non-discretionary -- discretionary -- non-security spending. And as a matter of fact, if you look at the trend line for non-security discretionary spending, I think...what the heck wuz I just sayin'? Let's see. April.

Q: Thanks. How are you going to bridge the divide of poverty and race in this country beyond economics and home ownership, after Hurricane Katrina and also the Bill Bennett statements?

Preznit Stupid: Ownership. People gotta own stuff. An' edumacashun.

Q: What if you don't own anything?

Bunnypants: Yore head is shiny. Heh heh.

Q: What about 2008 and the Republican Party trying to gain more of the black vote?

The Doofus-in-Chief: I am really disappointed I didn't get more votes with African Americans because I have tried to put black people in the cabinet, in the sub-cabinet... not just in positions, but in positions that affect people's lives. I gave a black guy a job!

Q: Are the response results from Katrina acceptable yet, sir?

Bush: I think it worked pretty good. But then there was the reaction about, how about getting this debris removed. And there was some bureaucracy, some rules that prevented the debris from getting removed right off the bat. And I'll explain why, if you're interested. Okay, now that you're interested, I'll tell you. Because they didn't want to be moving federally-paid dozers on private property. Imagine cleaning up the debris and a person shows up, and says, where's my valuable china?

Q: WTF? Dozers? Mr President, when Laura told you "It's Jim Beam or me," did you switch to Jack Daniels?

- Transcript.
*******

Huh
Boy, are there a lot of people pissed off at the Harriet Miers nomination. And by "a lot of people" I mean "mostly republicans."

Wtf is WH stenographer Miller playing at?
A lawyer for Scooter Libby, Vice President Cheney's flatulent chief of staff, said yesterday that neocon playmate Judith Miller and her attorneys are responsible for Miller's time in jail, reiterating that she was given permission to talk to prosecutors a year ago.

Classy
The grown-ups are in charge...

Hey Cheney - go fuck yourself, you big-time major-league asshole.

Cleaning up Washington
Grand jury indicts scrofulous, morally vacant POS Tom DeLay on new charges, regrets that 'raving asshattery' isn't illegal in Texas.

The money laundering charge, a first-degree felony, carries a penalty of up to life in prison. The conspiracy to launder money charge carries a punishment of two years probation to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The charge to launder the former majority leader's undies: priceless.

But the loathsome, powermad brownshirted DeLay - who has been admonished five times since 1997 by the House ethics committee - may not have seen the worst of it yet, say new reports.

Follow-up
Bwwwaaaahahahahahahahaha!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Ahem. Linky.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
***

Breaking news
Corrupt, indicted scumbag and former House majority leader Tom DeLay has just been hit with a second criminal indictment, this time for money laundering.

Fabulous!

America's Mayor^™ Rudi Giuliani may run for president in 2008. I can't wait to see the campaign posters.
*****

Disappointed, depressed and demoralized
"It smacks of cronyism."

"We passed up Gonzales for this?": Conservatives, unhappy about the Miers nomination, ponder a filibuster.


***

It's raining Mehlman
Just how far up Bush's ass is RNC chairpuke Ken Mehlman's dick?

“President Bush has once again,..' - huh? Lost at Frogger? Misspelled 'and'?
"... after thoughtful deliberation and consultation,..." - yoink!!!! LOL. As if!
"... nominated an outstanding person in Harriet Miers..." - who? Outstanding how, exactly?
"... to serve on the Supreme Court. Harriet Miers has had a trailblazing career..." - wuzzah?
"... as one of the top lawyers in the country and is extraordinarily well qualified to serve on the Supreme Court." - dude, wtf's wrong with you??

Fun fact: "She apparently was on the board of Exodus Ministries, the convert-the-homos group." - one of RimJob's fretards this morning.


Ken Mehlman, swallowing the santorum for the misadministration.
***

"Last week it was announced that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land) would henceforth be known as Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Shit Creek)." - from this week's Top 10 Conservative Idiots, at DU.

Mwwwwwwaaaa. Or as 'corrupt, indicted scumbag Tom DeLay (R-Prisonbitch).'




Harriet Miers pulls a cheney and selects herself as Supreme Court nominee
Preznit Poopers has chosen Harriet "no prior judicial experience" Miers, "a loyal member of Bubble-Boy's insular world of sycophants, cronies and minders the president's inner circle," to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court.

The daughter of a turd-miner and the granddaughter of a goat ball-licker, Miers rose to become Bush's personal lawyer in Texas, working hard to keep both his nose and his ass clean. She became his staff toady secretary in Washington, was promoted to deputy chief of staff, told him bedtime stories over Ovaltine and animal crackers, and has never been a judge.

"She's just extremely devoted to the president."

"In the White House that hero worshipped the president, Miers was distinguished by the intensity of her zeal: She once told me that the president was the most brilliant man she had ever met."

Miers has been an enthusiastic supporter of the misadministration on a broad of initiatives including tax cuts for the wealthy, ruining Social Security, restrictions on federal spending on embryonic stem cell research, national insecurity, edumacation reforms and fighting porn terrism.

In hosting an "Ask the White House" interactive forum on the Internet before the 2004 elections, Miers lavished praise on a litany of Bush misadministration initiatives, then gushed, "I could go on and on."

Good God.

"I believe that senators of both parties will find that Harriet Miers' talent, experience and judicial philosophy make her a superb choice to safeguard the constitutional liberties and quality of all Americans," Bush bleated this morning. "An' she makes neat balloon animals!"

"She'll do a heckuva job!" - Michael Brown.
****

Opus

Oh please oh please oh please
Source: Preznit PlayStation directly involved in leak scandal.


Oh please oh please oh please...
****

Contract on America
Bringing honor, integrity and moral values back to Washington...

Washingtonians with long memories were barely able to suppress their grins. If [corrupt, indicted scumbag] Mr. DeLay and his supporters grasped the irony of the occasion, they gave no clue. Eleven years ago this past week, Republican congressmen and candidates unveiled their "Contract With America." Their proposals came just in time for the 1994 midterm elections, which brought the Republicans to power after a 40-year stint in the minority. Back then, Mr. DeLay and other Republicans promised "a new order." They pledged to drain the swamp that was Washington. Just over a decade later, they find themselves up to their necks in the muck.

What goes around comes around for indicted scumbag Tom DeLay
IOW, karma's a bitch. Asshat.

Despite his readiness to condemn others, DeLay deserves the presumption of innocence. Even if the corrupt, venal piece of shit IS guilty as hell.

When Florida state and federal judges failed to order the prolonging of Terri Schiavo's vegetative state, DeLay said, "The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior." The time has come for DeLay sooner than for the judges.

[F]ew politicians are as fiercely partisan, and no one was more insistent that President Bill Clinton be impeached...

- from the Houston Chronicle.


Rep. Tom DeLay, whom a grand jury indicted on conspiracy charges.
***

Senior misadministration officials could be charged with criminal conspiracy
Perjurers make the Baby Jeebus cry.

The public defense of both Karl "the fixer" Rove and VP mechanic Scooter Libby in the CIA leak scandal have focused on the specific claim they didn’t know Valerie Plame’s name. Even if that’s true, it doesn’t mean anyone is off the hook.

If Patrick Fitzgerald is unable to prove a violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, Rove, Libby and others could still be charged with perjury if they lied to investigators. Today’s Washington Post floats another possibility:

But a new theory about Fitzgerald’s aim has emerged in recent weeks from two lawyers who have had extensive conversations with the prosecutor while representing witnesses in the case. They surmise that Fitzgerald is considering whether he can bring charges of a criminal conspiracy perpetrated by a group of senior Bush administration officials. Under this legal tactic, Fitzgerald would attempt to establish that at least two or more officials agreed to take affirmative steps to discredit and retaliate against Wilson and leak sensitive government information about his wife. To prove a criminal conspiracy, the actions need not have been criminal, but conspirators must have had a criminal purpose.

The White House Iraq Group could be in trouble.

-from Think Progress.

DeLay dirtier than a $3 crack whore, says grand juror
"Ample indications of the congressman's involvement."

Grand jurors were presented a load of evidence, including testimony and phone records, that led them to believe corrupt scumbag Tom DeLay should be tried on a conspiracy charge, then smeared with honey and tied to an ant-hill, the leader of the Travis County grand jury that indicted the dirty, unethical slimeball said Friday.

"It was not one of those sugarcoated deals that we handed to [District Attorney] Ronnie Earle," William M. Gibson said.

"Mr. Earle has stacks and stacks of papers – evidence of telephone calls from Mr. DeLay and everybody," he added. "This asshole's going down."