Bush, Cheney put finishing touches on SOTU speech
January 31, 2006
"I didn't know there were so many gay people out there"
'Brokeback Mountain' receives 8 Oscar nominations, among them best picture, best actor and best director. Also nominated for best picture were the Truman Capote movie, the Edward R. Murrow story "Good Night, and Good Luck", and the assassination thriller "Munich." George Clooney picked up three nominations, 'the first time ever that a contender was honored with acting and directing nominations for two different movies.' Congratulations, all! And to the freetards, bwwwwwwahahahahahahaha!
And everytime they pan to Alito's wife, shove 2 fingers down your throat
The George W. Bush 2006 State Of The Union Drinking Game
What you'll need:
1. A shot glass per person.
2. Fondue pot with two packages of Li'l Smokies stewing in barbecue sauce. Preferably a sauce from Texas. Surrounded by
3. 100 cocktail toothpicks. The kind with the little American flags wrapped around the top.
4. Drink of choice, + beer
Rules of the Game:
1. Whenever George W. uses the phrases: "national security," "tax relief," "activist judges" or "affordable health care," drink two shots.
2. Whenever George W. mentions the tragic events of 9/11, last person to grab a toothpick, stand and salute must drink three shots. If you stab yourself in forehead with the toothpick, drink two more shots.
3. If George W. actually says, "If Al Qaeda is calling you, we want to know why," first person to finish a whole beer gets to toss Li'l Smokies at any of the others until they finish their beer. Use the toothpicks.
4. If George W. makes up a word like "strategerie" or "deteriorize" drink four shots.
5. If George W. speaks of Hamas and repeats his earlier statement that "it's good to see people are demanding honest leadership," the first person to stop laughing gets to drink one shot then pummel everyone else with empty shot glasses. No head shots.
6. Whenever George W. talks about bipartisanship, the last person to grab his throat in a choking motion has to eat four Li'l Smokies.
7. If either Vice President Dick Cheney or First Lady Laura Bush are caught napping, last person to sing "Wake Up Little Susie, Wake Up," has to drink three shots.
8. Predict the number of applause breaks. Person closest to correct number may then force the others to drink that number of shots in whatever ratio they wish.
9. Three shots if he mentions New Orleans.
10. Whenever George W. quotes the Bible, last person to fall to their knees and cry "Hallelujah!" drinks two shots.
11. Whenever George W. smirks during a standing ovation, take turns drinking shots until the audience sits down. Do it double time if his shoulders shake with silent laughter.
- thanks to MikeD.
On edit: Everyone gets to throw whatever they can find in the cat's litterbox at the TV when the pundits say something up-beat about Alito's brave little wife and isn't she a great woman, didn't she stand up - and then they'll put the camera right on Ted Kennedy and show how he was the guy that molested her basically...
By a vote of 58-42, the Senate has confirmed scAlito to the Supreme Court.
Only one of the Senate's 55 republicans voted against Alito's confirmation - Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island.
The four Democrats Quislings who broke party ranks and voted for Alito are Sens. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Kent Conrad of North Dakota. May you rot in hell.
January 30, 2006
George W. Bush betrays his nation
- Pravda. Yeah.
Plus: DemoUnderground's Top 10 Conservative Idiots is up, and are they pissed.
"A complete hoax on the Senate"
Integrity.
The Senate sat there in 2002 holding hearings on whether FISA should be amended to increase the surveillance powers of the [mis]administration even while the [powermad Bushistas] had decided that FISA was totally irrelevant.
But they let these Senators waste their time and resources holding hearings, calling witnesses, debating these issues, without notifying them that the Administration had freely been eavesdropping for months in violation of FISA and continued to do so.
Unless these Senators have relinquished every last iota of their dignity, how can they not be furious at this complete contempt shown by the Administration towards both the Congress and our nation’s democratic, law-making processes?
- Glenn Greenwald.But they let these Senators waste their time and resources holding hearings, calling witnesses, debating these issues, without notifying them that the Administration had freely been eavesdropping for months in violation of FISA and continued to do so.
Unless these Senators have relinquished every last iota of their dignity, how can they not be furious at this complete contempt shown by the Administration towards both the Congress and our nation’s democratic, law-making processes?
Vomitos, amigos
I've picked up some kind of fluey crud, so blogging may be sort of light today.
"National Security should never be held hostage to a political party, or a political issue or to an election.The American people expect more." - Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, 1/29/06. "Oh, and Karl Rove's a #ucking asshat."
Pants on fire
And no one could've predicted the breech in the levees, either!
In speech after speech, [Preznit Liar McPartyhat] claims that if the National Security Agency could have wiretapped two Al Qaeda operatives living in San Diego, the 9/11 attacks might have been thwarted. "We didn't realize they were here plotting the attack until it was too late," Bush said Wednesday at NSA headquarters.
That's a whopper, critics say.
"It's not true," ex-9/11 commissioner Bob Kerrey told the Daily News. "We knew about those two guys - the CIA lost them."
The two guys were Nawaf Al-Hazmi and Khalid Al-Mihdhar, who hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 and flew it into the Pentagon.
They were identified in late 1999 by the NSA as Al Qaeda agents and tracked by the CIA to Malaysia and Thailand, where they were lost, according to the 9/11 Commission's report. The CIA learned in March 2000 that Al-Hazmi flew to Los Angeles in January, but kept it secret.
That's a whopper, critics say.
"It's not true," ex-9/11 commissioner Bob Kerrey told the Daily News. "We knew about those two guys - the CIA lost them."
The two guys were Nawaf Al-Hazmi and Khalid Al-Mihdhar, who hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 and flew it into the Pentagon.
They were identified in late 1999 by the NSA as Al Qaeda agents and tracked by the CIA to Malaysia and Thailand, where they were lost, according to the 9/11 Commission's report. The CIA learned in March 2000 that Al-Hazmi flew to Los Angeles in January, but kept it secret.
January 29, 2006
Spies, lies and wiretaps
"This is breathtakingly cynical. The nation's guardians did not miss the 9/11 plot because it takes a few hours to get a warrant to eavesdrop on phone calls and e-mail messages. They missed the plot because they were not looking."
A bit over a week ago, President Bush and his men promised to provide the legal, constitutional and moral justifications for the sort of warrantless spying on Americans that has been illegal for nearly 30 years. Instead, we got the familiar mix of political spin, clumsy historical misinformation, contemptuous dismissals of civil liberties concerns, cynical attempts to paint dissents as anti-American and pro-terrorist, and a couple of big, dangerous lies...
Including a whopper from slimy POS Karl Rove, "who emerged from hiding" to smear Dems:
Mr. Rove knows perfectly well that no Democrat has ever said any such thing — and that nothing prevented American intelligence from listening to a call from Al Qaeda to the United States, or a call from the United States to Al Qaeda, before Sept. 11, 2001, or since. The 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act simply required the government to obey the Constitution in doing so. And FISA was amended after 9/11 to make the job much easier...
Mr. Bush made himself the judge of the proper balance between national security and Americans' rights, between the law and presidential power. He wants Americans to accept, on faith, that he is doing it right. But even if the United States had a government based on the good character of elected officials rather than law, Mr. Bush would not have earned that kind of trust.
Mr. Bush made himself the judge of the proper balance between national security and Americans' rights, between the law and presidential power. He wants Americans to accept, on faith, that he is doing it right. But even if the United States had a government based on the good character of elected officials rather than law, Mr. Bush would not have earned that kind of trust.
- from a righteously pissed NY Times editorial.
January 28, 2006
Someone should just put rat poison in her douche
If a rethuglican harpy skank threatens a Supreme Court Justice, does (s)he make a sound?
"Timmeh had better be asking every Republican on his show on Sunday about this quote. If Obama and Colin Powell are the prime candidates for "ask the black man about Belafonte," then all Republicans are fair game about Coulter. Hang her idiocy around the neck of every Rethug and make them either denounce this statement or pay the penalty. Equal opportunity runs both ways -- and its about time the people benefitting from Coulter's excesses had to pay a penalty for it."- ReddHedd.
Would be nice. But I'm pretty sure Mr Russert will be too busy tarring Democrats with his repuke panel buds this weekend.
CNN: we're as fair and balanced as Fox!
Stuff like this #ucking burns my toast -
ED HENRY, CNN's TALKING RECTUM: John Kerry was back on Capitol Hill after a long flight from Switzerland, and tried to cast his Quixotic filibuster of Judge Samuel Alito as a heroic effort.
Well, that started off well.
/sarcasm
SEN. JOHN KERRY: I know this is flying against some of the sort of political punditry of Washington. I understand that. But this is a fight worth making.
HENRY: But as he tried to dodge a pack of reporters, Kerry seemed to vacillate on just how active he is in the filibuster when asked if he's leading the effort.
HENRY: But as he tried to dodge a pack of reporters, Kerry seemed to vacillate on just how active he is in the filibuster when asked if he's leading the effort.
Gee, Ed, he just came off a - what? - six-hour flight after representing the US at the World Economic Forum. Along with Saxby Chambliss, Michael Chertoff and Paul Wolfowitz, you cheap-shot whore.
KERRY: No, I'm just supporting the effort like others. It's -- you know, I'm very supportive of it, obviously.
HENRY: The White House had a field day with Kerry's hasty exit from the World Economic Conference in Davos.
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS-TOOL: I think even for a senator, it takes some pretty serious yodeling to call for a filibuster from a five-star ski resort in the Swiss Alps.
HENRY: The White House had a field day with Kerry's hasty exit from the World Economic Conference in Davos.
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS-TOOL: I think even for a senator, it takes some pretty serious yodeling to call for a filibuster from a five-star ski resort in the Swiss Alps.
The 'liberal media' also had a 'field day' with it. I lost count how many times they replayed that clip of Scott McClellan being a fucking dungheap. Bah.
A discredit to the GOP
What do you expect from a bunch of thugs?
The Bush misadministration's distortion, for political purposes, of the Democratic position on warrantless surveillance is loathsome.
Despite the best efforts of Karl Rove, the slimy WH puffball, and the fabulous RNC headcheese Ken Mehlman to make it seem otherwise, Democrats are not opposed to vigorous, effective surveillance that could uncover terrorist activity. Nor are the concerns that they are expressing unique to their party. Republican Sens. John McCain, Arlen Specter, Chuck Hagel, Lindsey Graham and Sam Brownback have expressed legal doubts about the surveillance program. Do they, too, have a "pre-9/11 worldview," as Mr. Rove said of the Democrats?
Despite the best efforts of Karl Rove, the slimy WH puffball, and the fabulous RNC headcheese Ken Mehlman to make it seem otherwise, Democrats are not opposed to vigorous, effective surveillance that could uncover terrorist activity. Nor are the concerns that they are expressing unique to their party. Republican Sens. John McCain, Arlen Specter, Chuck Hagel, Lindsey Graham and Sam Brownback have expressed legal doubts about the surveillance program. Do they, too, have a "pre-9/11 worldview," as Mr. Rove said of the Democrats?
- from a WaPo editorial. Mostly.
Just cover it up with bullshit and hold up something shiny for the sheeple
Nothing to see here, move along...
"Katrina investigators give Bush White House a free pass saying that 'a fog of war' prevented proper disaster management. Funny, the rest of the country knew exactly what was going on." - BuzzFlash.
The White House was beset by the "fog of war" in the crucial days immediately after Hurricane Katrina, leaving it unable to respond properly to the unfolding catastrophe, House investigators said Friday.
"Fog of war"?? Bush, Cheney et al were on vacation! :: *%$# ::
Spreading the santorum
The good senator is starting to get a bit... frothy...
"I had absolutely nothing to do -- never met, never talked, never coordinated, never did anything -- with Grover Norquist and the -- quote -- K Street Project."
- Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Insane, Thursday, January 26, 2006.
O rly?
"Thank you Grover, and I appreciate your help and support on this and many other issues..."
- Rick Santorum to Grover Norquist at a press conference, 6/28/05.
Crooks and Liars has the video.
January 27, 2006
Hate speech
IOKIYAR
Skanky, poisonous harridan mAnn Coulter told a college audience that liberal Justice John Paul Stevens should be poisoned.
The posterscum for retroactive abortion said Thursday that more conservative justices were needed on the Supreme Court to change the current law. "We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens' creme brulee," the walking venereal disease said. "That's just a joke, for you in the media."
Ho ho, ho.
Corrupt, lawbreaking liars threaten Dems with "looking bad"
And the cowardly, pussy-assed Dems will fall for it.
The White House says a filibuster of scAlito will make the Democrats look bad.
Come again? The White House? We're talking Bush administration officials saying Democrats will look bad? Can a party possibly look any worse than the Republicans do right now with the litany of moral, ethical and criminal charges facing them?- The Ostroy Report.
Majority in US say Bush presidency is a failure
Remainder drooling morons, say polls.
Damage from Bush term 'will last for decades.'
New polls describe the Boy King's second term as a failure and the percentage of Americans who called the straight-shootin' cowpuke "honest and trustworthy'' also fell. At the same point in President Bill Clinton's presidency, 70 percent said they considered it a success. Even with the blowjob.
Enough with the distortions
Is conservative asstool David Limbaugh from another planet? Or is he just insane? Or both?
How's the air on Uranus?
Get it? Your anus? Shit.
We often talk about the Democrats' conspicuous lack of a policy agenda to deflect from the fact that rethugs are morally bankrupt as proof that we don't know what the fuck we're talking abou they are a party in decline. But I think there's even better evidence of the phenomenon: They habitually misrepresent what they stand for and what Republicans stand for {An imperial dictatorship? - Ed.}, and constantly mischaracterize President Bush's actions {What actions were those again? You mean those illegal ones?}. If they had confidence in the salability of their ideas, would they need to play word games, resort to euphemisms, revise history, distort facts and repeat patently false charges {We never met Ken Lay! Those photos with Jack Abramoff were just a coincidence! Hitlery Xlintoon murdered Vince Foster! She was a lesbian! Al Gore invented the internets! John Kerry's got a Purple Heart for a cut! Murtha's a coward!} ?
So Chimpy McFlightsuit is NOT a powermad liar who's bankrupting the country and thinks he's above the law? What?
You light up my life
News anchor engages in mutual masturbation with GOP 'values' maven. Warning: do not read if you have a weak stomach.
WOLF "WETNAP" BLITZER: At the White House today, President Bush has been meeting with security experts about the Patriot Act and his push for a long-term extension of the anti-terror law. The former education secretary, Bill Bennett, was in that meeting in his current role as chairman of the Americans for Victory Over Terrorism. Bill Bennett is with us now. He's wearing yet another new hat. We're happy to welcome him here at CNN as a regular CNN contributor, a participant in our "Strategy Sessions" here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Bill Bennett, welcome to CNN. Smoochies!!
WILLIAM BENNETT, DRUNKEN GAMBLER AND WH TOWELBOY: Glad to be here. Good to be aboard.
BLITZER: Before we talk about what happened at the White House, let's bash John Kerry and his announcement to filibuster the nomination of Samuel Alito.
BENNETT: I just heard it, trying to absorb it, trying to think of what the motivations could be. And the only thing I can think of is this is positioning for the Democratic nomination down the road, in '08. And I think he's trying to step to the front of the line. I think this is the wrong way to go, because I think most of the American people think Alito ought to be confirmed, seems like a reasonable guy. He's conservative, sure, but, you know, we elected a conservative president.
BLITZER: We sure did! Hem. If the Democrats though are divided on this idea of a filibuster, that could embarrass the party, albeit, as you say, it might strengthen Kerry with the base of the party that's very much opposed to Alito.
BENNETT: It might strengthen him with the base, but if he calls for it and nothing happens, it could weaken him.
BLITZER: Because it shows ...
BENNETT: Yes, it shows he's not powerful enough. He's not potent. He's not a leader.
BLITZER: Speaking of potent leaders, let's talk about your meeting with the president. You were there with others who were invited in. What was that about, and just how awesome is he?
BENNETT: It was about national security. It was about the Patriot Act. It was about the NSA. The president spoke. He was very, very earnest, very serious. He talked about the lethality -- he used that word several times -- the lethality of the enemy and his pledge to defend the American people, that he, the president, will defend the American people.
BLITZER: Gosh!
BENNETT: Yes.
BLITZER: Did you emerge smarter in any way? If that's even possible?
BENNETT: Yes, I did. And I can't tell you all the stuff -- some of the stuff I learned, but -- because he wanted it to be off the record.
BLITZER: Oooooh! You're special! Top-secret! Just like James Bond! He's so dreamy. Just like you and the president...
BENNETT: He was speaking very, very freely. But what was clear to me was the president's clear sense of conviction about this. He said there are a lot of issues, and this is the most important one, the protection of the American people.
It was put very well. One thing I can repeat. He said, you know, nothing has changed since 9/11, in terms of people's interest in attacking this country, except they haven't succeeded in going it again. And there's no reason that we should back off on the measures that have kept us safe. He said, I am deadly serious about this. And I will take this all the way. I would've creamed myself if I wasn't such a moral, upstanding republican.
BLITZER (READING SCRIPT): Are you completely comfortable with these wiretaps without warrants?
BENNETT: I am. I am because of presidential power, presidential authority. My own view here is that people have tended to think that because it is a legal issue, that only the courts have legal authority. People forget because of the teaching of Constitutional law, the way it's taught today, Wolf, that the president is an officer of the Constitution. He has a responsibility to execute the law. He is to take the law and execute the law in many occasions.
BLITZER: Listen to what that so-called Republican Senator Arlen Specter said the other day. Listen to this.
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER, BuzzFlash's hypocrite of the week: The initial claim to authority, from the resolution to authorize the use of force, I think is very, very thin. If the president had asked for authority in the Patriot Act, we would have had a determination, as to whether Congress wanted to give it to him. But to say that there was congressional intent in the resolution for force, I think is a stretch. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BENNETT: That's an issue of whether the president has that authority statutorily from that statute. My argument is that the president has it constitutionally. It's not Congress' to give him.
Under his Article II powers, the president has the authority, indeed, the responsibility to defend the people of the United States. I don't think he needs to get that from Congress. What's interesting is that although a number of critics, mostly Democrats, but as you point out, a few Republicans, who they said they're not sure about it, they don't agree with the president's use of it.
No one has moved to curtail his authority. People have been jumping all over themselves, Wolf, saying "If the president needs this, fine, we'll give it to him." And it is interesting, why hasn't anybody stepped forward and said, "Well, if he needs it and we don't think he has it now, we'll introduce legislation to give it to him," because they'd lose the political advantage.
BLITZER: Everybody should support our president! OK, here's where we tell the Demonrats and the liberal media to just shut up already about those hypothetical comments you made that were taken out of context. You were reported as saying that if you go ahead and abort all black babies, there will be a reduction in crime. It caused a huge stir. Since this is the first time you're joining me here on CNN, I want you to explain to our viewers what you were thinking because I've known you were many years. I know you're not a racist. And I just want our viewers to have an understanding of what you were saying.
BENNETT: Well this was -- first, I want to thank CNN for looking past this canard, or through this canard and taking me on. But I've had a number of controversies in my life and some of them, frankly deserved. This one was not deserved.
I was dealing with a hypothetical, talking about lowering crime rate by aborting babies in the black community. And that this was a hypothetical. Obviously it was a matter that had been under discussion in articles and newspapers and in some discussions and books.
But I brought it up as a hypothetical to point out how noxious it was. After having brought up the hypothetical, I said of course that would be a reprehensible and impossible thing to do, direct quote.
Well some of the media that replayed it played the hypothetical, but they didn't play my condemnation of the hypothetical. I'm a college professor, old college professor, I use hypotheticals.
And sometimes you bring up an extreme or ridiculous position in order to show how absurd it is. That was the point of it. So, it was based on a distortion. But more than that, Wolf, it was the whole thing, as it went on, was based on a distortion of my life.
I appreciate what you say about me. I went to Mississippi in 1997, I taught, I taught Martin Luther King letter from a Birmingham jail. I've been committed to civil rights and all anybody has to do is look at my life, my record and the work that we still do.
BLITZER: Bill Bennett, you are a hero. Welcome to CNN. I just love that you'll be spending a lot of time here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Kisses!!!
BENNETT: Thank you very much, great place to be.
BLITZER: Thank you very much. (OFFCAMERA) Ahhhhhh! Tissues, please?
WILLIAM BENNETT, DRUNKEN GAMBLER AND WH TOWELBOY: Glad to be here. Good to be aboard.
BLITZER: Before we talk about what happened at the White House, let's bash John Kerry and his announcement to filibuster the nomination of Samuel Alito.
BENNETT: I just heard it, trying to absorb it, trying to think of what the motivations could be. And the only thing I can think of is this is positioning for the Democratic nomination down the road, in '08. And I think he's trying to step to the front of the line. I think this is the wrong way to go, because I think most of the American people think Alito ought to be confirmed, seems like a reasonable guy. He's conservative, sure, but, you know, we elected a conservative president.
BLITZER: We sure did! Hem. If the Democrats though are divided on this idea of a filibuster, that could embarrass the party, albeit, as you say, it might strengthen Kerry with the base of the party that's very much opposed to Alito.
BENNETT: It might strengthen him with the base, but if he calls for it and nothing happens, it could weaken him.
BLITZER: Because it shows ...
BENNETT: Yes, it shows he's not powerful enough. He's not potent. He's not a leader.
BLITZER: Speaking of potent leaders, let's talk about your meeting with the president. You were there with others who were invited in. What was that about, and just how awesome is he?
BENNETT: It was about national security. It was about the Patriot Act. It was about the NSA. The president spoke. He was very, very earnest, very serious. He talked about the lethality -- he used that word several times -- the lethality of the enemy and his pledge to defend the American people, that he, the president, will defend the American people.
BLITZER: Gosh!
BENNETT: Yes.
BLITZER: Did you emerge smarter in any way? If that's even possible?
BENNETT: Yes, I did. And I can't tell you all the stuff -- some of the stuff I learned, but -- because he wanted it to be off the record.
BLITZER: Oooooh! You're special! Top-secret! Just like James Bond! He's so dreamy. Just like you and the president...
BENNETT: He was speaking very, very freely. But what was clear to me was the president's clear sense of conviction about this. He said there are a lot of issues, and this is the most important one, the protection of the American people.
It was put very well. One thing I can repeat. He said, you know, nothing has changed since 9/11, in terms of people's interest in attacking this country, except they haven't succeeded in going it again. And there's no reason that we should back off on the measures that have kept us safe. He said, I am deadly serious about this. And I will take this all the way. I would've creamed myself if I wasn't such a moral, upstanding republican.
BLITZER (READING SCRIPT): Are you completely comfortable with these wiretaps without warrants?
BENNETT: I am. I am because of presidential power, presidential authority. My own view here is that people have tended to think that because it is a legal issue, that only the courts have legal authority. People forget because of the teaching of Constitutional law, the way it's taught today, Wolf, that the president is an officer of the Constitution. He has a responsibility to execute the law. He is to take the law and execute the law in many occasions.
BLITZER: Listen to what that so-called Republican Senator Arlen Specter said the other day. Listen to this.
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER, BuzzFlash's hypocrite of the week: The initial claim to authority, from the resolution to authorize the use of force, I think is very, very thin. If the president had asked for authority in the Patriot Act, we would have had a determination, as to whether Congress wanted to give it to him. But to say that there was congressional intent in the resolution for force, I think is a stretch. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BENNETT: That's an issue of whether the president has that authority statutorily from that statute. My argument is that the president has it constitutionally. It's not Congress' to give him.
Under his Article II powers, the president has the authority, indeed, the responsibility to defend the people of the United States. I don't think he needs to get that from Congress. What's interesting is that although a number of critics, mostly Democrats, but as you point out, a few Republicans, who they said they're not sure about it, they don't agree with the president's use of it.
No one has moved to curtail his authority. People have been jumping all over themselves, Wolf, saying "If the president needs this, fine, we'll give it to him." And it is interesting, why hasn't anybody stepped forward and said, "Well, if he needs it and we don't think he has it now, we'll introduce legislation to give it to him," because they'd lose the political advantage.
BLITZER: Everybody should support our president! OK, here's where we tell the Demonrats and the liberal media to just shut up already about those hypothetical comments you made that were taken out of context. You were reported as saying that if you go ahead and abort all black babies, there will be a reduction in crime. It caused a huge stir. Since this is the first time you're joining me here on CNN, I want you to explain to our viewers what you were thinking because I've known you were many years. I know you're not a racist. And I just want our viewers to have an understanding of what you were saying.
BENNETT: Well this was -- first, I want to thank CNN for looking past this canard, or through this canard and taking me on. But I've had a number of controversies in my life and some of them, frankly deserved. This one was not deserved.
I was dealing with a hypothetical, talking about lowering crime rate by aborting babies in the black community. And that this was a hypothetical. Obviously it was a matter that had been under discussion in articles and newspapers and in some discussions and books.
But I brought it up as a hypothetical to point out how noxious it was. After having brought up the hypothetical, I said of course that would be a reprehensible and impossible thing to do, direct quote.
Well some of the media that replayed it played the hypothetical, but they didn't play my condemnation of the hypothetical. I'm a college professor, old college professor, I use hypotheticals.
And sometimes you bring up an extreme or ridiculous position in order to show how absurd it is. That was the point of it. So, it was based on a distortion. But more than that, Wolf, it was the whole thing, as it went on, was based on a distortion of my life.
I appreciate what you say about me. I went to Mississippi in 1997, I taught, I taught Martin Luther King letter from a Birmingham jail. I've been committed to civil rights and all anybody has to do is look at my life, my record and the work that we still do.
BLITZER: Bill Bennett, you are a hero. Welcome to CNN. I just love that you'll be spending a lot of time here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Kisses!!!
BENNETT: Thank you very much, great place to be.
BLITZER: Thank you very much. (OFFCAMERA) Ahhhhhh! Tissues, please?
Gawd. I watched that last night and thought I was going to puke. I may yet.
"Mmmmmmmnnnn!"
*****
"Truth no longer matters"
Cable news programs hurting America
"Truth no longer matters in the context of politics and, sadly, in the context of cable news," said Aaron Brown, former anchor at CNN. "Any criticism of the administration is regarded as hatred of the president and hatred of the country itself," he said.
Important issues, such as the prosecution of the war in Iraq at home and abroad, are being clouded over by "mud-wrestling" that skirts substance, he said. Consider what he called "the swift-boating of John Murtha," the Democratic congressman whose war record was smeared when he called for an exit strategy in Iraq. "Cable didn't search for the truth, but engaged in mock debates pitting those making the charges against Murtha's defenders," he said.
Important issues, such as the prosecution of the war in Iraq at home and abroad, are being clouded over by "mud-wrestling" that skirts substance, he said. Consider what he called "the swift-boating of John Murtha," the Democratic congressman whose war record was smeared when he called for an exit strategy in Iraq. "Cable didn't search for the truth, but engaged in mock debates pitting those making the charges against Murtha's defenders," he said.
Whores. Selling their professional integrity for the next little bit of attention, a cute nickname, a hot beef injection from the White House.
Why do you think John Kerry wants to filibuster Samuel Alito?
- this morning's poll at CNN.
Click to enlarge.
****
January 26, 2006
9/11 lie terrists 9/11 protect lie
September 11th changed evr'thing. 'Xept ah'm still a lying fuckwit
Guess who had a press con today!
Q: On the NSA eavesdropping program, there seems to be growing momentum in Congress to either modify the existing law or write some new law that would give you the latitude to do this, and at the same time, ensure that people's civil liberties are protected. Would you be resistant to the notion of new laws if Congress were to give you what you need to conduct these operations?
BUNNYPANTS: The terrorist surveillance program is necessary to protect America from attack. I asked the very questions you asked, John, when we first got going. Let me tell you exactly how this happened. Right after September the 11th, blah blah blah everything changed terra 9/11 death blah
But, John, I want to make sure that people understand that if it -- if the attempt to write law makes this program -- is likely to expose the nature of the program, I'll resist it. {???????} And I think the American people understand that. Why tell the enemy what we're doing if the program is necessary to protect us from the enemy? And it is. And it's legal. And we'll continue to brief Congress. And we review it a lot, and we review not only at the Justice Department, but with a good legal staff inside NSA.
Q: What do you hear or your staff hear about releasing of photographs of Jack Abramoff with you, Mr. President? If you say you don't fear anything, tell us why you won't release them?
THE DICTATOR-TOT: She's asking about a person who admitted to wrongdoing and who needs to be prosecuted for that. There is a serious investigation going on, as there should be. The American people have got to have confidence in the -- in the ethics of all branches of government. You're asking about pictures -- I had my picture taken with him, evidently. I've had my picture taken with a lot of people. Having my picture taken with someone doesn't mean that I'm a friend with them or know them very well. I've had my picture taken with you -- (laughter) -- at holiday parties.
My point is, I mean, there's thousands of people that come through and get their pictures taken. I'm also mindful that we live in a world in which those pictures will be used for pure political purposes, and they're not relevant to the investigation.
Q: Do you know how many?
BUSH: I don't have any idea.
Q: Mr. President, you talked about Jack Abramoff in the context of pictures, but it may not necessarily just be about pictures. He also had some meetings with some of your staff. So you remember, you ran on the idea of restoring honesty and integrity to the White House. So why are you letting your critics perhaps attack you and paint you with maybe a guilt by association? Why not just throw open your books and say, look, here is --
PREZNIT STUPID: There is a serious investigation going on by federal prosecutors, and that's their job. And they will -- if they believe something was done inappropriately in the White House, they'll come and look, and they're welcome to do so. There's a serious investigation that's going on.
Q: But, sir, don't you want to tell the American people look, as I promised, this White House isn't for sale and I'm not for sale?
CHUCKLES THE CLOWN: It's hard for me to say I didn't have pictures with the guy when I did. But I have also had pictures with thousands and thousands of people. I mean, people -- it's part of the job of the President to shake hands and -- with people and smile. (Laughter.) And I do.
Q: Members of your administration have said that the secret eavesdropping program might have prevented the September 11th attacks. But the people who hijacked the planes on September 11th had been in this country for years, having domestic phone calls and emails. So how, specifically, can you say that?
THE LIAR-IN-CHIEF: Well, muh new best friend Michael Hayden said that because he believes that had we had the capacity to listen to the phone calls from those from San Diego to elsewhere we might have gotten information necessary to prevent the attack. And that's what he was referring to.
Q: They were domestic calls --
BUNNYPANTS: No, domestic outside -- we will not listen inside this country. It is a call from al Qaeda, al Qaeda affiliates, either from inside the country out, or outside the country in, but not domestically.
Q: Can I ask you again, why won't you release the photos of yourself with Jack Abramoff?
THE BOY KING: I just answered the question.
Q: Your explanation on the monitoring program seems to say that when the nation is at war, the President, by definition, can order measures that might not be acceptable or even, perhaps, legal in peacetime. And this seems to sound like something President Nixon once said, which was "when the President does it, then that means it is not illegal," in the areas involving national security. So how do the two differ?
NIXON THE DUMBER: Well, I said yesterday that other Presidents have used the same authority I've had to use technology to protect the American people. Other Presidents -- most Presidents believe that during a time of war, that we can use our authorities under the Constitution to make decisions necessary to protect us.
Secondly, in this case, there is an act passed by Congress in 2001 which said that I must have the power to conduct this war using the incidents of war. In other words, we believe there's a constitutional power granted to Presidents, as well as, this case, a statutory power. And I'm intending to use that power -- Congress says, go ahead and conduct the war, we're not going to tell you how to do it. And part of winning this war on terror is to understand the nature of the enemy and to find out where they are so we can protect the American people.
There's going to be -- there will be a constitution -- there will be a legal debate about whether or not I have the authority to do this; I'm absolutely convinced I do. Our Attorney General has been out describing why. And I'm going to continue using my authority. That's what the American people expect.
BUNNYPANTS: The terrorist surveillance program is necessary to protect America from attack. I asked the very questions you asked, John, when we first got going. Let me tell you exactly how this happened. Right after September the 11th, blah blah blah everything changed terra 9/11 death blah
But, John, I want to make sure that people understand that if it -- if the attempt to write law makes this program -- is likely to expose the nature of the program, I'll resist it. {???????} And I think the American people understand that. Why tell the enemy what we're doing if the program is necessary to protect us from the enemy? And it is. And it's legal. And we'll continue to brief Congress. And we review it a lot, and we review not only at the Justice Department, but with a good legal staff inside NSA.
Q: What do you hear or your staff hear about releasing of photographs of Jack Abramoff with you, Mr. President? If you say you don't fear anything, tell us why you won't release them?
THE DICTATOR-TOT: She's asking about a person who admitted to wrongdoing and who needs to be prosecuted for that. There is a serious investigation going on, as there should be. The American people have got to have confidence in the -- in the ethics of all branches of government. You're asking about pictures -- I had my picture taken with him, evidently. I've had my picture taken with a lot of people. Having my picture taken with someone doesn't mean that I'm a friend with them or know them very well. I've had my picture taken with you -- (laughter) -- at holiday parties.
My point is, I mean, there's thousands of people that come through and get their pictures taken. I'm also mindful that we live in a world in which those pictures will be used for pure political purposes, and they're not relevant to the investigation.
Q: Do you know how many?
BUSH: I don't have any idea.
Q: Mr. President, you talked about Jack Abramoff in the context of pictures, but it may not necessarily just be about pictures. He also had some meetings with some of your staff. So you remember, you ran on the idea of restoring honesty and integrity to the White House. So why are you letting your critics perhaps attack you and paint you with maybe a guilt by association? Why not just throw open your books and say, look, here is --
PREZNIT STUPID: There is a serious investigation going on by federal prosecutors, and that's their job. And they will -- if they believe something was done inappropriately in the White House, they'll come and look, and they're welcome to do so. There's a serious investigation that's going on.
Q: But, sir, don't you want to tell the American people look, as I promised, this White House isn't for sale and I'm not for sale?
CHUCKLES THE CLOWN: It's hard for me to say I didn't have pictures with the guy when I did. But I have also had pictures with thousands and thousands of people. I mean, people -- it's part of the job of the President to shake hands and -- with people and smile. (Laughter.) And I do.
Q: Members of your administration have said that the secret eavesdropping program might have prevented the September 11th attacks. But the people who hijacked the planes on September 11th had been in this country for years, having domestic phone calls and emails. So how, specifically, can you say that?
THE LIAR-IN-CHIEF: Well, muh new best friend Michael Hayden said that because he believes that had we had the capacity to listen to the phone calls from those from San Diego to elsewhere we might have gotten information necessary to prevent the attack. And that's what he was referring to.
Q: They were domestic calls --
BUNNYPANTS: No, domestic outside -- we will not listen inside this country. It is a call from al Qaeda, al Qaeda affiliates, either from inside the country out, or outside the country in, but not domestically.
Q: Can I ask you again, why won't you release the photos of yourself with Jack Abramoff?
THE BOY KING: I just answered the question.
Q: Your explanation on the monitoring program seems to say that when the nation is at war, the President, by definition, can order measures that might not be acceptable or even, perhaps, legal in peacetime. And this seems to sound like something President Nixon once said, which was "when the President does it, then that means it is not illegal," in the areas involving national security. So how do the two differ?
NIXON THE DUMBER: Well, I said yesterday that other Presidents have used the same authority I've had to use technology to protect the American people. Other Presidents -- most Presidents believe that during a time of war, that we can use our authorities under the Constitution to make decisions necessary to protect us.
Secondly, in this case, there is an act passed by Congress in 2001 which said that I must have the power to conduct this war using the incidents of war. In other words, we believe there's a constitutional power granted to Presidents, as well as, this case, a statutory power. And I'm intending to use that power -- Congress says, go ahead and conduct the war, we're not going to tell you how to do it. And part of winning this war on terror is to understand the nature of the enemy and to find out where they are so we can protect the American people.
There's going to be -- there will be a constitution -- there will be a legal debate about whether or not I have the authority to do this; I'm absolutely convinced I do. Our Attorney General has been out describing why. And I'm going to continue using my authority. That's what the American people expect.
What?
Walking slime-mold draining precious natural resources
Verminous, lying traitor Karl Rove 'has once again proved his ability to obliterate history in the cause of his president.'
"Rove is again playing the patriot game to salvage Bush's political position. This time he is attempting to turn Bush's domestic spying into a false issue of whether Democrats support gathering intelligence on terrorists." - Sidney Blumenthal, in the Guardian.
"I truly am not that concerned about him." - Smirky von Bunnypants on Osama bin Laden, 2002.
"When he says he's going to hurt the American people again, or try to, he means it." - Preznit Polldropping, 2006.
"When he says he's going to hurt the American people again, or try to, he means it." - Preznit Polldropping, 2006.
It's sort of ironic that Bush is using a freedom-hating terrist to defend his program to further erode our freedoms.*
*No, the other one. Bin Laden.
Biased, irresponsible, and offensive
Please visit an Open Letter To Chris Matthews and help boycott pMSNBC until the dye-and-lie-job apologizes for comparing Dems to Osama bin Laden:
we know for a fact that even the association with somebody who compares bush to a famous dictator results in national shunning (the moveon.org = hitler fiasco), it seems not only hypocritical, disingenuous and unfair of you to reverse the bigoted polarity here (liberals are murderous tyrants: ok; conservatives are murderous tyrants, not ok), but it's down right transparent that you are simply a tool of the administration's playbook.- from skippy's letter to damp, Bushkissing idiot Chris Matthews.
For Tweety.
****
Somebody's cranky...
Things starting to get to you a bit, Rick?
It seems a reporter approached [Senator/douchebag Rick] Santorum just as he got off the train and asked Santorum something to the effect of: "Can you tell me about the 'K Street Project'?"
Santorum's response?
He started screaming, according to our source. "It's just a meeting!", Santorum reportedly yelled. "What Harry Reid said Wednesday is a total lie!"
Santorum's response?
He started screaming, according to our source. "It's just a meeting!", Santorum reportedly yelled. "What Harry Reid said Wednesday is a total lie!"
Touch-ee! LOL
"And get this dog off my leg!"
****
"This is huge"
Liars - in 2002, the Bush misadministration opposed legislation to make it easier to wiretap under FISA.
AmericaBlog:
Bush chose to break the law when he had an alternative. And what's worse, this suggests that Bush feared the Supreme Court would never let him spy on Americans the degree to which he wanted, the court would find it unconstitutional, so that's why Bush never sought the change in the law proposed in 2002 - Bush thought it would have been struck down by the Supreme Court. So Bush chose to break the law in order to circumvent the Supreme Court enforcing the US Constitution.If the terrists "hate us for our freedoms" they should be loving the bejebus out of us now.
"Bin Laden determined to attack inside the US"
- Presidental Daily Briefing, August 6, 2001.
GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN, FEARMONGERING, PARTISAN ASSHAT and DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: When you‘re talking to your daughter at state college, this program cannot intercept your conversations. And when she takes a semester abroad to complete her Arabic studies, this program will not intercept your communications. Had this program been in effect prior to 9/11, it is my professional judgment that we would have detected some of the 9/11 al Qaeda operatives in the United States, and we would have identified them as such. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KEITH OLBERMANN: For a reality check on that claim and everything else we heard from the Bush administration today, I‘m joined now by Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies. Ms. Martin, thanks for being with us tonight.
KATE MARTIN: Thank you.
OLBERMANN: That‘s a pretty bold claim there from General Hayden today, obviously an improvable one. What credibility is it given by experts in the field?
MARTIN: Well, you know, Vice President Cheney made the same statement, I think, in an effort to deflect the conversation from whether or not the president broke the law. I mean, what General Hayden said is that we would have detected al Qaeda operatives in the United States before 9/11. But, of course, the 9/11 commission found that they did detect two al Qaeda operatives, two of the hijackers, in the United States before 9/11, they knew they were al Qaeda, and they didn‘t do anything about it.
KEITH OLBERMANN: For a reality check on that claim and everything else we heard from the Bush administration today, I‘m joined now by Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies. Ms. Martin, thanks for being with us tonight.
KATE MARTIN: Thank you.
OLBERMANN: That‘s a pretty bold claim there from General Hayden today, obviously an improvable one. What credibility is it given by experts in the field?
MARTIN: Well, you know, Vice President Cheney made the same statement, I think, in an effort to deflect the conversation from whether or not the president broke the law. I mean, what General Hayden said is that we would have detected al Qaeda operatives in the United States before 9/11. But, of course, the 9/11 commission found that they did detect two al Qaeda operatives, two of the hijackers, in the United States before 9/11, they knew they were al Qaeda, and they didn‘t do anything about it.
Later....
MARTIN: And, you know, telling Congress, of course, doesn‘t matter, because the law says you may not wiretap without a warrant. And whether or not he told Congress doesn‘t make it legal.
Just answer the damn question, Scott
WH spokesliar Snott McClellan: You traitor...
Q: I have two questions that can be dismissed with a yes or no. One, is the President going to seek any legal -- more legal permission from Congress to spy on Americans without a warrant? And b)Are you such a dickhole at home?
McClellan: I've already previously answered this question with reporters and stated our view; the Attorney General stated it earlier today in some interviews. This is an important tool that helps to save lives by preventing attacks.
Q: The law says he has to seek a court warrant.
McClellan: -- it is labeled an international call --
Q: Why doesn't he seek a warrant? What's the big problem?
McClellan: Well, actually, we've walked through this repeatedly over the last few days. It's important for the American people to understand what the facts are. There is a lot of misinformation about --
Q: Why can't you seek a warrant?
McClellan: -- this program. And we do use the FISA tool, as well. That's an important tool, as well. But we have briefed members of Congress more than a dozen times on this. We continue to brief members of Congress in an appropriate manner. This is a highly classified program and it is a vital program to our nation's security. The 9/11 Commission criticized us for not connecting the dots --
Q: Is it vital to go through legal steps?
McClellan: This is helping us to connect the dots in a very targeted and focused way.
Q: Why can't he seek a warrant?
McClellan: It is about detecting and preventing attacks. FISA was created for a different time period. General Hayden walked through that yesterday; the Attorney General talked about it more. This is about moving with speed and agility, not some long-term period of time. It's about detecting --
Q: You can get one retroactively.
McClellan: -- it's about detecting and preventing attacks. And we are a nation at war, and the courts have upheld the President's authority to engage in surveillance. Surveillance is critical to prevailing in the war on terrorism.
Q: He doesn't have a blank check.
McClellan: And we talked with members of Congress about whether or not there needed to be legislation that reflects what the President's authority already is, and the congressional leaders felt that by doing so it could compromise this program. This is a vital program and it's important that we don't show the enemy our play book. And talking about it --
Q: Getting warrants doesn't show the enemy a play book.
McClellan: Okay. Next question.
McClellan: I've already previously answered this question with reporters and stated our view; the Attorney General stated it earlier today in some interviews. This is an important tool that helps to save lives by preventing attacks.
Q: The law says he has to seek a court warrant.
McClellan: -- it is labeled an international call --
Q: Why doesn't he seek a warrant? What's the big problem?
McClellan: Well, actually, we've walked through this repeatedly over the last few days. It's important for the American people to understand what the facts are. There is a lot of misinformation about --
Q: Why can't you seek a warrant?
McClellan: -- this program. And we do use the FISA tool, as well. That's an important tool, as well. But we have briefed members of Congress more than a dozen times on this. We continue to brief members of Congress in an appropriate manner. This is a highly classified program and it is a vital program to our nation's security. The 9/11 Commission criticized us for not connecting the dots --
Q: Is it vital to go through legal steps?
McClellan: This is helping us to connect the dots in a very targeted and focused way.
Q: Why can't he seek a warrant?
McClellan: It is about detecting and preventing attacks. FISA was created for a different time period. General Hayden walked through that yesterday; the Attorney General talked about it more. This is about moving with speed and agility, not some long-term period of time. It's about detecting --
Q: You can get one retroactively.
McClellan: -- it's about detecting and preventing attacks. And we are a nation at war, and the courts have upheld the President's authority to engage in surveillance. Surveillance is critical to prevailing in the war on terrorism.
Q: He doesn't have a blank check.
McClellan: And we talked with members of Congress about whether or not there needed to be legislation that reflects what the President's authority already is, and the congressional leaders felt that by doing so it could compromise this program. This is a vital program and it's important that we don't show the enemy our play book. And talking about it --
Q: Getting warrants doesn't show the enemy a play book.
McClellan: Okay. Next question.
WTF: Ummm, yes, Scott? Why can't he just get a fucking warrant?
Pic from firedoglake.
Senators in need of a spine
Well DUH. Just wake up, did you?
"When someone is threatening to beat you up, you don't hand him a bat." - BuzzFlash.
Judge Samuel Alito Jr., whose entire history suggests that he holds extreme views about the expansive powers of the presidency and the limited role of Congress, will almost certainly be a Supreme Court justice soon. His elevation will come courtesy of a president whose grandiose vision of his own powers threatens to undermine the nation's basic philosophy of government — and a Senate that seems eager to cooperate by rolling over and playing dead.
Jiminey-#ucking-criminey. Look who's talking! :: Insert sound of head banging on desk here ::
It is hard to imagine a moment when it would be more appropriate for senators to fight for a principle. Even a losing battle would draw the public's attention to the import of this nomination. ...
A filibuster is a radical tool. It's easy to see why Democrats are frightened of it. But from our perspective, there are some things far more frightening. One of them is Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court.
A filibuster is a radical tool. It's easy to see why Democrats are frightened of it. But from our perspective, there are some things far more frightening. One of them is Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court.
- Good gravy. From a better late than never NY Times opinion piece.
Meanwhile, incontinent traitor Boob Novak pulls a wrinkled, crusty page six of the GOP talking points out of his adult diaper and warns that 'politicizing' the vote on Alito may hurt Democrats. Har! You senile, drooling old gasbag. They sure aren't doing anything to help themselves, so what difference does it make?
I'm disgusted with everyone.
January 25, 2006
Henry VII's chapel found at Greenwich
I love this kind of stuff...
As muddy holes go, they don't get much more romantic. Beneath four feet of heavy south London clay, archaeologists have uncovered the remains of Henry VII's lost chapel at Greenwich.
The site is where he and a host of his Tudor successors - Henry VIII, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I - worshipped. The archaeologists may also have unearthed the spot where Henry VIII stood during his marriages to Catherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves.
The site is where he and a host of his Tudor successors - Henry VIII, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I - worshipped. The archaeologists may also have unearthed the spot where Henry VIII stood during his marriages to Catherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves.
- more here.
Fun fact: here's how the headline read over at RimJob's Home for Dripping Rectums: "Henry VII's chapel found at Greenwich (England)." Because the ones in Buttefuck, Montana and Moosehung, Ottawa are still missing. To this very day.
Governator: go #uck yourselves, gpukes
Good for him. I've got to give him credit for this one.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said yesterday he wouldn't fire his top staffer, Democrat Susan Kennedy, to appease Republican activists worried about his move toward the middle. "I will hire the people I want to hire because they are the best," he said. "I will keep Susan Kennedy exactly where she is."
Mike Schroeder, a former chairman of the California Republican Party, said conservatives plan to introduce a resolution taking away the party's endorsement unless Schwarzenegger fires Kennedy by March 15. He said the resolution was largely a symbolic move, but it would give a voice to conservatives' disappointment.
"They are just frustrated with him. They've had it," he said.
Mike Schroeder, a former chairman of the California Republican Party, said conservatives plan to introduce a resolution taking away the party's endorsement unless Schwarzenegger fires Kennedy by March 15. He said the resolution was largely a symbolic move, but it would give a voice to conservatives' disappointment.
"They are just frustrated with him. They've had it," he said.
Eat it, you #ucking thugs.
Call the wahhhhhmbulance.
*****
Buk buk buk buk buk
White House refuses to turn over embarrassing Katrina papers to investigators.
"We expect there to be transparency. People who have something to hide make us nervous." - George W. Beetbrains, Alaska, Feb. 16, 2002.
The Bush misadministration, citing panic and uncontrollable defecation and vomiting the 'confidentiality of executive branch communications,' said Tuesday that it would not turn over certain documents about Hurricane Katrina or make senior White House officials available for sworn testimony before Congressional committees investigating the storm response. Heckuva job, guys. Right. What a stupid #ucking excuse. And you have the nerve to tell us that if we have nothing to hide we shouldn't be bothered by the Patriot Act? Eat me.
Accountabilitude.
Earle continues probing asshole
Ronnie Earle, the Texas prosecutor targeting corrupt scumbag Tom DeLay, has issued a second round of subpoenas to businessmen, seeking records surrounding donations to the indicted, unethical slimeball and the disgraced former congressman, Randy "Duke" Cunningham.
Bush the Incompetent
The Chimpy McFlightsuit Legacy:
Incompetence is not one of the seven deadly sins, and it's hardly the worst attribute that can be ascribed to George W. Bush. But it is this president's defining attribute.
Historians, looking back at the hash that his administration has made of his war in Iraq, his response to Hurricane Katrina and his Medicare drug plan, will have to grapple with how one president could so cosmically botch so many big things -- particularly when most of them were the president's own initiatives.
In numbing profusion, the newspapers are filled with litanies of screw-ups.
How could a president get these things so wrong? Incompetence may describe this presidency, but it doesn't explain it. For that, historians may need to turn to the seven deadly sins: to greed, in understanding why Bush entrusted his new drug entitlement to a financial mainstay of modern Republicanism. To sloth, in understanding why Incurious George has repeatedly ignored the work of experts whose advice runs counter to his desires.
Historians, looking back at the hash that his administration has made of his war in Iraq, his response to Hurricane Katrina and his Medicare drug plan, will have to grapple with how one president could so cosmically botch so many big things -- particularly when most of them were the president's own initiatives.
In numbing profusion, the newspapers are filled with litanies of screw-ups.
How could a president get these things so wrong? Incompetence may describe this presidency, but it doesn't explain it. For that, historians may need to turn to the seven deadly sins: to greed, in understanding why Bush entrusted his new drug entitlement to a financial mainstay of modern Republicanism. To sloth, in understanding why Incurious George has repeatedly ignored the work of experts whose advice runs counter to his desires.
- from a WaPo op-ed.
Great moments in television
"I think President George W. Bush, I think Cheney, I think Rumsfeld, I think all of these people have lost any moral integrity."
Harry Belafonte embarrasses WH whore and chronic masturbator Wolf "wetnap" Blitzer.
They're so poor - and so Jewy…
BLITZER: And you think that what the Department of Homeland Security is doing to, you know, some US citizens suspected of terrorism is similar to what the Nazis did to the Jews?
BELAFONTE: Well, if you're taking people out of a country and spiriting them someplace else, and they're being tortured, and they're not being charged, so they don't know what it is that they have done, it may not have been directly inside the Department of Homeland Security, but the pattern, the system -- it's what the system does. It's what all these different divisions have -- have begun to reveal in their collective. I mean, my phones are tapped. OK? My mail can be opened. They don't even need a court warrant to come and do that, as we once were -- were required to do. All of these things...
BLITZER: But -- but no one has taken you or anyone else, as far as I can tell, to an extermination camp, and by the tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, even millions, decided to kill them, which is what the Nazis did.
BELAFONTE: Well, Mr. Blitzer, let me say this to you. Perhaps, just perhaps, had the Jews of Germany and people spoken out much earlier and had resisted the tyranny that was on the horizon, perhaps we would never have had...
BLITZER: Well, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Are you blaming -- are you blaming the Jews of Germany for what Hitler did to them?
BELAFONTE: No, no, no, no, no. What I'm saying is that if an awakened citizenry -- if an awakened citizenry, begins to oppose the first inkling of the subversion of government, of the subversion of our democracy, then, perhaps, an early warning would have saved the world a lot of what we all experienced. I'm not accusing the Jews at all.
BLITZER: Well, I just heard you say perhaps if the Jews of Germany had done something earlier, then, that might not have happened. That's what -- what I thought you were getting at.
BELAFONTE: Well, what I was getting at really was that, if all citizens, the Jewish community, the Christian community and all else, had taken a very early aggressive stand, rather than somehow suggesting or thinking or feeling that this would have gone away, we might have found that the -- Germany would have been in a far different place than it wound up in.
BELAFONTE: Well, if you're taking people out of a country and spiriting them someplace else, and they're being tortured, and they're not being charged, so they don't know what it is that they have done, it may not have been directly inside the Department of Homeland Security, but the pattern, the system -- it's what the system does. It's what all these different divisions have -- have begun to reveal in their collective. I mean, my phones are tapped. OK? My mail can be opened. They don't even need a court warrant to come and do that, as we once were -- were required to do. All of these things...
BLITZER: But -- but no one has taken you or anyone else, as far as I can tell, to an extermination camp, and by the tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, even millions, decided to kill them, which is what the Nazis did.
BELAFONTE: Well, Mr. Blitzer, let me say this to you. Perhaps, just perhaps, had the Jews of Germany and people spoken out much earlier and had resisted the tyranny that was on the horizon, perhaps we would never have had...
BLITZER: Well, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Are you blaming -- are you blaming the Jews of Germany for what Hitler did to them?
BELAFONTE: No, no, no, no, no. What I'm saying is that if an awakened citizenry -- if an awakened citizenry, begins to oppose the first inkling of the subversion of government, of the subversion of our democracy, then, perhaps, an early warning would have saved the world a lot of what we all experienced. I'm not accusing the Jews at all.
BLITZER: Well, I just heard you say perhaps if the Jews of Germany had done something earlier, then, that might not have happened. That's what -- what I thought you were getting at.
BELAFONTE: Well, what I was getting at really was that, if all citizens, the Jewish community, the Christian community and all else, had taken a very early aggressive stand, rather than somehow suggesting or thinking or feeling that this would have gone away, we might have found that the -- Germany would have been in a far different place than it wound up in.
BELAFONTE: Mr. Blitzer, you have access to a lot of information. And you have decided to ignore it in order to resort to all-out whoring for the WH instead. May God have mercy on your tiny, shriveled, blackened soul. You #ucking tart.
"Harry handled it much better than I know I would have. I'd have been forced to stop my discussion and explanation to ask Blitzer when he expected to be reading and comprehending on a 2nd grade level, then give him a patronizingly slow, condescending lesson in basic rhetoric, probably using any writing utensils and paper to draw pictures for him."- Jeff, commenting at Brad Blog.
"Nnnngghhhhhh!"
****
Look! I have new genitals!
A Washington Post editorial actually calls on the White House to come clean about Preznit Integritude's meetings with indicted criminal Jack Abramoff.
[A]sking about Mr. Abramoff's White House meetings is no mere exercise in reportorial curiosity but a legitimate inquiry about what an admitted felon might have been seeking at the highest levels of government. Whatever White House officials did or didn't do, there is every reason to believe that Mr. Abramoff was up to no good and therefore every reason the public ought to know with whom he was meeting.
[WH spokesliar Snott] McClellan dismisses requests for the information as an effort to play "partisan politics" - but Republicans wouldn't stand for this kind of stonewalling if the situation were reversed. We can say that with confidence because history proves it. During the 1996 scandal over foreign fundraising in the Clinton White House, Republicans demanded -- and obtained, though not without a fight -- extensive information about White House coffees and other meetings, including photos and videotapes.
[G]et all of Mr. Abramoff's dealings with the Bush White House and the Bush administration out in the open -- now.
[WH spokesliar Snott] McClellan dismisses requests for the information as an effort to play "partisan politics" - but Republicans wouldn't stand for this kind of stonewalling if the situation were reversed. We can say that with confidence because history proves it. During the 1996 scandal over foreign fundraising in the Clinton White House, Republicans demanded -- and obtained, though not without a fight -- extensive information about White House coffees and other meetings, including photos and videotapes.
[G]et all of Mr. Abramoff's dealings with the Bush White House and the Bush administration out in the open -- now.
There he goes again
9/11 fear fear terra 9/11 fear death 9/11 fear terra death 9/11 you'reallgonnadie
There may be depths to which Karl Rove wouldn't sink, but it's difficult to imagine what they might be.
Mr. Rove, President Pinhead's slimy chief political adviser, defended the administration's domestic eavesdropping program last week by saying that "President Bush believes if al-Qaida is calling somebody in America, it is in our national security interest to know who they're calling and why. Some important Democrats clearly disagree."
What rubbish. Once again, when this administration is challenged, it lashes out at the patriotism of its critics.
Mr. Rove (who is being investigated by a federal grand jury for possible involvement in the unpatriotic act of leaking the name of a CIA operative) would not be able to identify a single "important Democrat" who opposes monitoring all al-Qaida communications. He didn't even try.
Mr. Rove, President Pinhead's slimy chief political adviser, defended the administration's domestic eavesdropping program last week by saying that "President Bush believes if al-Qaida is calling somebody in America, it is in our national security interest to know who they're calling and why. Some important Democrats clearly disagree."
What rubbish. Once again, when this administration is challenged, it lashes out at the patriotism of its critics.
Mr. Rove (who is being investigated by a federal grand jury for possible involvement in the unpatriotic act of leaking the name of a CIA operative) would not be able to identify a single "important Democrat" who opposes monitoring all al-Qaida communications. He didn't even try.
- from an editorial here. Mostly.
January 24, 2006
9/11! 9/11! 9/11!
If you're not with us, you're treasonous, anti-'Merican traitors who love terrists.
Karl Rove: President Bush believes if Al Qaeda is calling somebody in America, it is in our national security interest to know who they're calling and why. Some important Democrats clearly disagree {Name one. - Ed.}.
John Kerry (mostly): You know, Osama bin Laden is going to die of kidney failure before he’s killed by Karl Rove and his crowd. And all he does is divide America over this issue and exploit it. And what he’s trying to pretend is somehow Democrats don’t want to eavesdrop appropriately to protect the country. That’s a lie.
We’re prepared to eavesdrop wherever and whenever necessary in order to make America safer. But we put a procedure in place to protect the constitutional rights of Americans. And what I believe, and I believe it deeply, is you can protect the United States of America without ignoring the Constitution of the country, you lying #ucksack. By the way, how's that Fitzgerald investigation going, dipshit?
John Kerry (mostly): You know, Osama bin Laden is going to die of kidney failure before he’s killed by Karl Rove and his crowd. And all he does is divide America over this issue and exploit it. And what he’s trying to pretend is somehow Democrats don’t want to eavesdrop appropriately to protect the country. That’s a lie.
We’re prepared to eavesdrop wherever and whenever necessary in order to make America safer. But we put a procedure in place to protect the constitutional rights of Americans. And what I believe, and I believe it deeply, is you can protect the United States of America without ignoring the Constitution of the country, you lying #ucksack. By the way, how's that Fitzgerald investigation going, dipshit?
I'd rather be golfing
Fat Tony Scalia says "#uck you" to SCrOTUS headcheese John Roberts, goes off on junket to play tennis at "one of the country's top resorts" with his Federalist Society buds.
Heckuva job, III
Newly released documents show the White House got detailed warnings 48 hours before Katrina hit, including descriptions of flooding, breached levees, Bush being an oblivious dickhole.
Heckuva job, II
Oh, isn't he cute! What an engaging, personable guy! Whore media replays Bunnypants' "Brokeback Mountain" clip over and over and over. Well, they certainly weren't going to show this one, where he comes across as an absolute stump...
Heckuva job
Pakistani Prime Minister brands as "bizarre" WH claims that airstrike killed members of Al Qaeda despite an overwhelming lack of evidence. Why does he hate America?
Roxxxxxxxxanne - why don't you turn on the red light
CNN WH WHore and chronic masturbator Wolf "pussy galore" Blitzer freedom-creams all over Paul Begala's new asskicking shoes while conservative harridan has conniption.
BLITZER: Here's an argument that was made today in a major speech {"Major speech"?? - Ed.} by General Michael Hayden. The former director of the National Security Agency for a long time, he's now the deputy national intelligence director. And he says - this line that jumped out at me as I read his speech: "Had this program been in effect prior to 9/11, it is my professional judgment that we would have detected some of the 9/11 Al Qaeda operatives in the United States, and we would have identified them as such." That's a strong statement that General Hayden makes. Squee!
BEGALA: But he doesn't back it up. I listened to part of that speech today on the radio, and I was struck when he said that because he doesn't make the case as to how or why. We've had the authority, you just have to go to a judge. It's been done tens of thousands of times. So it's not like they didn't have the authority. They just had to go to a judge. But also, look, we had lots of warning signs. The intelligence community went to the president on August 6th of 2001. They said, "bin Laden has an a plan to attack America, Mr. President." And he went on vacation and played golf. He did nothing. So there's no reason to believe that if General Hayden had the authority that President Bush would have done anything different.
BAY BUCHANAN, Kool-aid drinking harpy: We're at war, you lily-livered commie! War! War without end! Terrist-lover! Why do you hate America?! 9/11!
BEGALA: But he doesn't back it up. I listened to part of that speech today on the radio, and I was struck when he said that because he doesn't make the case as to how or why. We've had the authority, you just have to go to a judge. It's been done tens of thousands of times. So it's not like they didn't have the authority. They just had to go to a judge. But also, look, we had lots of warning signs. The intelligence community went to the president on August 6th of 2001. They said, "bin Laden has an a plan to attack America, Mr. President." And he went on vacation and played golf. He did nothing. So there's no reason to believe that if General Hayden had the authority that President Bush would have done anything different.
BAY BUCHANAN, Kool-aid drinking harpy: We're at war, you lily-livered commie! War! War without end! Terrist-lover! Why do you hate America?! 9/11!
Fun fact: the illegal, warrantless domestic spying that has caught ZERO TERRORISTS is now to be called the "terrorist surveillance program". America-hater.
"Mmmrlghhh!"
****
Breakin' the law, breakin' the law
Impeachment hearings: the White House 'prepares for the worst': "Our arithmetic shows that a majority of the committee could vote against the president," the source said. "If we work hard, there could be a tie."
Bush WH braces for possible impeachment proceedings in February by terrist-loving cowards who've forgotten 9/11.
Sources said a prelude to the impeachment process could begin with hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee in February. They said the hearings would focus on the secret [illegal, warrantless domestic spying] program and whether [the Dictator-tot] violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Administration sources said the charges are expected to include false reports to Congress as well as Bush's authorization of the National Security Agency to engage in electronic surveillance inside the United States without a court warrant.
Administration sources said the charges are expected to include false reports to Congress as well as Bush's authorization of the National Security Agency to engage in electronic surveillance inside the United States without a court warrant.
- from conservative rag Insight into Whoredom.
January 23, 2006
Yes, Mr President - what makes you so awesome?
Mr President, why do your critics hate America?
Mr.President, your administration seems to have the momentum of a runaway freight train... why are you so popular?
Mr President, are you a great President or the greatest President?
Mr President, Leviticus 55.5 says it's OK to kill Democrats. When can we start?
Smirky McStupid to field unscripted questions from an audience... a hand-picked, invitation-only audience.
Mr. President, I have a multiple choice question for you. Which of the following do not damage your credibility?
a. The Downing Street Memo
b. The disappearance of records related to your National Guard service
c. The discrepancy between your predictions of the outcome of the Iraq War and reality
d. The fact that you championed privatization of Social Security even after confessing it wouldn't help
e. Changing your stance on consequences for persons involved in disclosure of Valerie Plame's identity
f. Changing your stance on the importance of bin Laden
g. Difficulty in defining the word "sovereignty"
h. Appointing a former head of the Arabian Horse Association to be head of FEMA
i. Claiming to want a "culture of life" while championing the death penalty
j. Photos taken of yourself with Jack Abramoff
k. Your longtime friendship with Ken Lay, former CEO of Enron
l. Harken Energy.
m. Use of anti-homosexual bigotry in every election in which you've been a candidate
n. Replacement of a small budget surplus with the largest budget deficit in history (in Texas and at the federal level)
o. Reading My Pet Goat while America was under attack.
- Cowboy Spencer.a. The Downing Street Memo
b. The disappearance of records related to your National Guard service
c. The discrepancy between your predictions of the outcome of the Iraq War and reality
d. The fact that you championed privatization of Social Security even after confessing it wouldn't help
e. Changing your stance on consequences for persons involved in disclosure of Valerie Plame's identity
f. Changing your stance on the importance of bin Laden
g. Difficulty in defining the word "sovereignty"
h. Appointing a former head of the Arabian Horse Association to be head of FEMA
i. Claiming to want a "culture of life" while championing the death penalty
j. Photos taken of yourself with Jack Abramoff
k. Your longtime friendship with Ken Lay, former CEO of Enron
l. Harken Energy.
m. Use of anti-homosexual bigotry in every election in which you've been a candidate
n. Replacement of a small budget surplus with the largest budget deficit in history (in Texas and at the federal level)
o. Reading My Pet Goat while America was under attack.
Mr. President, what are those guys with submachineguns doing i.... ack! Gahhhhh! Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
"Undue and improper influence"
Where there's smoke... Photos of the Boy King with disgraced, indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff threaten to embarrass Bush as he attempts to distance himself from the corruption scandal.
"The President does not know him, nor does the President recall ever meeting him," [WH spokesliar Snott] McClellan said.
The President's memory may soon be unhappily refreshed. TIME has seen five photographs of Abramoff and the President that suggest a level of contact between them that Bush's aides have downplayed. While TIME's source refused to provide the pictures for publication, they are likely to see the light of day eventually because celebrity tabloids are on the prowl for them.
White House counselor Dan Bartlett said Monday that Bush's photographs in the company of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff amount to a coincidence and shouldn't be interpreted any more seriously than that.
Pressed for particulars about Abramoff's White House contacts, McClellan said with brio, "People are insinuating things based on no evidence whatsoever."
The President's memory may soon be unhappily refreshed. TIME has seen five photographs of Abramoff and the President that suggest a level of contact between them that Bush's aides have downplayed. While TIME's source refused to provide the pictures for publication, they are likely to see the light of day eventually because celebrity tabloids are on the prowl for them.
White House counselor Dan Bartlett said Monday that Bush's photographs in the company of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff amount to a coincidence and shouldn't be interpreted any more seriously than that.
Pressed for particulars about Abramoff's White House contacts, McClellan said with brio, "People are insinuating things based on no evidence whatsoever."
Sure. And Hillary Clinton killed Vince Foster, with whom she was having a {lesbian} affair.
Fun fact: Abramoff was honored in 2004 as a major fund-raiser for Bush's 're-'election campaign.
January 22, 2006
Ken Mehlman can't be gay! He's a republican!
When you're not getting the news...
pMSNBC has deleted the part of the transcript of FucTucker Carlson's Conservative Circlejerk that mentioned RNC headcheese Kenny Mehlman's gayitude.
It's weird how the MSM will just scrub some things like they never even happened but it's perfectly OK to compare Michael Moore to a terrorist who killed 3000 people.
Nutty. Kind of makes you wonder what else they're covering up.
Please welcome...
Smelling the Coffee, a new blog by our friend Dave of Seeing the Forest. Mmmmmmmm, coffee...
From here.
WH accused of spying on those who disagree with Bush
A Florida peace activist and several Democrats in Congress accused the Bush misadministration on Friday of spying on Americans who disagree with [the Dictator-tot]'s policies.
Richard Hersh, of Boca Raton, Fla., director of Truth Project Inc. of Palm Beach County, told an ad hoc panel of House Democrats that his group and others in South Florida have been spied upon despite having no connections to terrorists.
"Agents rummaged through the trash, snooped into e-mails, packed Web sites and listened in on phone conversations," Hersh charged. "We know that address books and activist meeting lists have disappeared."
The Truth Project gained national attention when NBC News reported last month that it was described as a "credible threat" in a database of suspicious activity compiled by the Pentagon's Talon program. The listing cited the group's gathering a year ago at a Quaker meeting house in Lake Worth, Fla., to talk about ways to counter military recruitment at high schools.
Richard Hersh, of Boca Raton, Fla., director of Truth Project Inc. of Palm Beach County, told an ad hoc panel of House Democrats that his group and others in South Florida have been spied upon despite having no connections to terrorists.
"Agents rummaged through the trash, snooped into e-mails, packed Web sites and listened in on phone conversations," Hersh charged. "We know that address books and activist meeting lists have disappeared."
The Truth Project gained national attention when NBC News reported last month that it was described as a "credible threat" in a database of suspicious activity compiled by the Pentagon's Talon program. The listing cited the group's gathering a year ago at a Quaker meeting house in Lake Worth, Fla., to talk about ways to counter military recruitment at high schools.
God bless America.
January 21, 2006
Word!
Well, OK, toons! BobGeiger has the Saturday funnies posted. Read 'em and weep.
PSM
The General's review of Fred Barnes' new 'half-hearted sycophancy,' Rebel Without A Clue, is up at amazon.com.
CNN: we're just like Fox News!
The most trusted name in news blindly follows the gpuke party line. Disgraceful.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN WHORE: Let's talk about Osama bin Laden. We now have a new audiotape from the al Qaeda leader. He makes some specific, direct threats against the United States, says they're planning another attack right here in the United States. To a lot of Americans, this will justify the extraordinary measures the president has authorized, including those warrantless wiretaps. Do they?
HOWARD DEAN, DNC CHAIRMAN: {sotto voce} Jesus Christ... No. The warrantless wiretaps are totally unnecessary. In fact, you can go listen in on any conversation you want. If you think it's an emergency, you can get a warrant after the fact. The president just broke the law for reasons that are not clear to me, because this doesn't have anything to do with national security. "A lot of Americans"? Which #ucking poll is that? Right. You fucking brainless twit. You call yourself a reporter? You pathetic weasel.
BLITZER: If -- if you believe that, what's the remedy? What should be the punishment be? And I -- I refer specifically to impeachment. Would you believe -- do you believe impeachment is justified?
DEAN: Duh. Well, actually, interestingly enough, regardless of what I believe, 52 percent of Americans apparently believe that, if the president broke the law, that should be the remedy. I think the president, at minimum, should come clean with the American people. There was no reason for doing what he did. He keeps claiming this is a security initiative. It's not. You could tap the phone of any American today if you believed it was an emergency and it had something to do with terrorism, and then go and get the warrant after the fact. The president deliberately broke the law. Fuckwit.
BLITZER: Please don't kill me
HOWARD DEAN, DNC CHAIRMAN: {sotto voce} Jesus Christ... No. The warrantless wiretaps are totally unnecessary. In fact, you can go listen in on any conversation you want. If you think it's an emergency, you can get a warrant after the fact. The president just broke the law for reasons that are not clear to me, because this doesn't have anything to do with national security. "A lot of Americans"? Which #ucking poll is that? Right. You fucking brainless twit. You call yourself a reporter? You pathetic weasel.
BLITZER: If -- if you believe that, what's the remedy? What should be the punishment be? And I -- I refer specifically to impeachment. Would you believe -- do you believe impeachment is justified?
DEAN: Duh. Well, actually, interestingly enough, regardless of what I believe, 52 percent of Americans apparently believe that, if the president broke the law, that should be the remedy. I think the president, at minimum, should come clean with the American people. There was no reason for doing what he did. He keeps claiming this is a security initiative. It's not. You could tap the phone of any American today if you believed it was an emergency and it had something to do with terrorism, and then go and get the warrant after the fact. The president deliberately broke the law. Fuckwit.
BLITZER: Please don't kill me
Later....
BLITZER: We are almost out of time. But I have to ask you this question, since it's exactly two years since your famous scream, which you remember very, very well. You often think about that?
DEAN: I actually don't often think about it, you stupid fuck. You know as well as I do that that was mostly the cable stations that did it.
BLITZER: Well, wait a minute. You say the cable nation -- the cable stations did it. We didn't scream. We just replayed it a lot of times.
DEAN: For the love of... Yes. But the truth is, none of the reporters thought it was very unusual. They had seen that speech before. And the version on cable stations, as you well know, and as ABC News and Diane Sawyer reported later, was that, in fact, you cut out all the crowd noise, that you could only hear me on the stuff. And it was -- you had a lot of fun with it. But that's done with. And now we have got to move on and make sure that this country goes back to the Democratic Party, where it belongs..
DEAN: I actually don't often think about it, you stupid fuck. You know as well as I do that that was mostly the cable stations that did it.
BLITZER: Well, wait a minute. You say the cable nation -- the cable stations did it. We didn't scream. We just replayed it a lot of times.
DEAN: For the love of... Yes. But the truth is, none of the reporters thought it was very unusual. They had seen that speech before. And the version on cable stations, as you well know, and as ABC News and Diane Sawyer reported later, was that, in fact, you cut out all the crowd noise, that you could only hear me on the stuff. And it was -- you had a lot of fun with it. But that's done with. And now we have got to move on and make sure that this country goes back to the Democratic Party, where it belongs..
Good one, Wolf, you cocksucking whore.
C'mon, Dems... fight! Fight!
ED HENRY, CNN WH APOLOGIST: Congressional Republicans believe bin Laden's latest broadside should be a wake-up call that al Qaeda is still dangerous and the NSA program will help keep America safe. But Democrats are not about to back down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice-over): At a mock hearing on Capitol Hill, Democrats stepped up their attacks on the president's domestic spying program.
REP. ROBERT WEXLER (D), FLORIDA: The administration has groundlessly circumvented judicial review and taken America down a frightening path, which
preys on a culture of fear while casually disregarding existing civil liberties.
HENRY: But the new Osama bin Laden audiotape has given Republicans a political opening to make the case for the surveillance program and other anti-terror tools. Republican Senator Jon Kyl said, "We cannot bind our hands in this fight. If we do, and terrorists launch more takes against us, opponents of security tools such as the Patriot Act and NSA surveillance will have to answer for their opposition." A point Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman tried to hammer home Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice-over): At a mock hearing on Capitol Hill, Democrats stepped up their attacks on the president's domestic spying program.
REP. ROBERT WEXLER (D), FLORIDA: The administration has groundlessly circumvented judicial review and taken America down a frightening path, which
preys on a culture of fear while casually disregarding existing civil liberties.
HENRY: But the new Osama bin Laden audiotape has given Republicans a political opening to make the case for the surveillance program and other anti-terror tools. Republican Senator Jon Kyl said, "We cannot bind our hands in this fight. If we do, and terrorists launch more takes against us, opponents of security tools such as the Patriot Act and NSA surveillance will have to answer for their opposition." A point Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman tried to hammer home Friday.
Jebus. Repeat after me: it's not the NSA program, it's the fucking warrantless spying, you fucking asshole.
KEN MEHLMAN: Do Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean really think that when the NSA is listening in on terrorists planning attacks on America, they need to hang up when those terrorists dial their sleeper cells inside the United States?
HENRY: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who will give a Tuesday speech on domestic spying, this week issued a new 42-page legal justification of the program to congressional leaders.
REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D), MARYLAND: Making their argument longer did not make it any better, and I have to say that any first-year law student would, after reading this, quickly conclude that the arguments were specious.
HENRY: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who will give a Tuesday speech on domestic spying, this week issued a new 42-page legal justification of the program to congressional leaders.
REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D), MARYLAND: Making their argument longer did not make it any better, and I have to say that any first-year law student would, after reading this, quickly conclude that the arguments were specious.
I need a drink.
Pic via BartCop.
Followup
A Congressional research arm reports that your misadministration broke the law at least twice in relation to wiretapping.
Do you
a) Apologize and say it will never happen again
b) Vow to make better use of the FISA court
c) Hang the Constitution in the executive washroom stalls and declare warrantless wiretaps legal
or
d) Label everyone who disagrees with you as frightened, unhinged pussies who are soft on terror, plus (c).
Repost:
Bill O'Reilly: We do not feel our rights are being violated by the NSA eavesdropping or the Patriot Act.
Andrew Napolitano: Would you feel this way if Hillary were president?
Andrew Napolitano: Would you feel this way if Hillary were president?
January 20, 2006
Whatever
"It is no accident that we haven't been hit in more than four years." - VP Dick Cheney, yesterday.
It is no accident that this planet has not been hit by a giant meteor in the past four years.
It is no accident that sabretooth tigers have not rampaged through our towns and cities devouring our children.
It is no accident that black holes have not formed in our atmosphere, sucking out our oxygen or our precious bodily fluids.
It is no accident that the Martian fleet has not attacked to kidnap our women these past four years.
It is no accident that in his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.
It is no accident that ... gak! ack! :: thud ::
Pompous gasbag in no rush to wed CNN anchor
Would rather golf, do drugs, jerk off to self-portait than get laid by human female on regular basis.
Are Daryn Kagan and [portly, cyctic druggie] Rush Limbaugh on the rocks?
There was speculation that Limbaugh, who was separated from third wife Marta, would be getting married to Kagan once his divorce came through. But Kagan's colleagues at CNN have been buzzing about the absence of an engagement ring, and now I hear that the high-profile pair is going through a rough patch.
"Politically, they were not a good fit," reports a source. "She broke it off. She is heartbroken. He is playing golf."
Limbaugh, at the Bob Hope Classic in Palm Desert, Calif., had no comment. Ditto Kagan.
There was speculation that Limbaugh, who was separated from third wife Marta, would be getting married to Kagan once his divorce came through. But Kagan's colleagues at CNN have been buzzing about the absence of an engagement ring, and now I hear that the high-profile pair is going through a rough patch.
"Politically, they were not a good fit," reports a source. "She broke it off. She is heartbroken. He is playing golf."
Limbaugh, at the Bob Hope Classic in Palm Desert, Calif., had no comment. Ditto Kagan.
They're both nuts.
If I wanted to watch Fox News I'd just watch... oh never mind
The Conservative Nutsucking Network hires another right-wing hack.
CNN has found a new conservative commentator: former Republican congressman and [rethug] strategist J.C. Watts Jr. "will join CNN as a regular contributor to offer analysis on politics and policy for programs throughout the network," Jon Klein announced today.
Klein said: "J.C. is one of the most respected and effective conservative communicators in the nation's capital. We are glad to welcome him to the CNN team and look forward to his insightful contributions to our network."
Klein said: "J.C. is one of the most respected and effective conservative communicators in the nation's capital. We are glad to welcome him to the CNN team and look forward to his insightful contributions to our network."
Swell.
And this is news how?
Bush rules out Senate run for zomboid helpmeet Pickles Stepford! screamed major dailies yesterday.
"She's not interested in running for office. She's interested in literacy," Smarty McGeniusson said with a straight face. Yeah, now that's funny.
"Meep!"
*****
Insider trading in Frist and Delay's offices story growing
Rethugs already ensnared in the Abramoff probe may have also possibly engaged in "day trading."
House Democrats are pushing the ethics committee {Yeah, good luck with that. - Ed.} to investigate allegations that "the offices of" Senate Majority Leader/douchebag Bill Frist and indicted, corrupt scumbag Tom DeLay had aided Wall Street investors by passing on information on votes that affected large companies, and thereby their own wallets.
Fun fact: outside law-enforcement agencies may soon become involved, dkos reports. Let's hope, anyway.
Is Harry Reid turning pussy??
All signs point to yes. Jebus Christ, you spineless patsy, man up.
Pathetic #uckweasel... After the rethugs made a stink, the Senate Minority Leader on Thursday caved and apologized to the 33 repuke senators he named as ethically-challenged Jack Abramoff buttboys in a report ironically titled "Republican Abuse of Power."
Thank God it's Friday and I can start drinking heavily.
There go all our readers!
A Congressional research arm reports that your misadministration broke the law at least twice in relation to wiretapping.
Do you
a) Apologize and say it will never happen again
b) Vow to make better use of the FISA court, or
c) Hang the Constitution in Executive washroom stalls and declare warrantless wiretaps legal?
Pic from cuteoverload.com.
Q: Scott, with bin Laden still out there taunting, threatening and commanding as much attention as he apparently still can, can you legitimately claim to be winning the war on terror?
Tweety caught in flagrante delicto in Rovian boudoir
Yesterday, Hardball blowhard Chris Matthews actually compared Michael Moore to Osama Bin Laden. Thank God I was doing something meaningful, like emptying the litterbox.
John Kerry's new testicles responded:
"You'd think the only focus tonight would be on destroying Osama Bin Laden, not comparing him to an American who opposes the war whether you like him or not. You want a real debate that America needs? Here goes: If the administration had done the job right in Tora Bora we might not be having discussions on Hardball about a new Bin Laden tape. And how dare Scott McClellan tell America that this administration puts terrorists out of business when had they put Osama Bin Laden out of business in Afghanistan when our troops wanted to, we wouldn't have to hear this barbarian's voice on tape. That's what we should be talking about in America."
"Sorry, I can't hear you - I have Karl Rove's dick in my ear..."
****
January 19, 2006
On the plantation
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) tried to secure time this week to speak on the Senate floor about Samuel Alito, but Senate Majority Leader/douchebag Bill Frist is blocking any speeches until a day after the Senate votes on scAlito's nomination.
Instead of speaking, Senator Leahy should reach across the aisle to give Senator Frist a vigorous UFIA and call him 'Nancy.' If Frist won't allow Senators to speak before the Alito vote, then Senators should not allow a vote to take place. Fuck 'em.
Uhhhhh, ah don't know jack...
Although White House spokesliar Scott McClellan claims lobbyist/crook Jack Abramoff only met with administration staff two or three times, the scandal ridden buyer of influence enjoyed frequent private meetings with President Bush, who referred to Abramoff as “one of this administration’s greatest friends.”
McClellan [also] fails to mention Abramoff’s frequent visits to the President’s home in Crawford, Texas, the private meetings that the lobbyist arranged with the President on the 2004 campaign trail and at the Republican National Convention that year, and the origin of his nickname 'Floffy-moffy.'
Abramoff kept a photo of himself with Bush, shot at Crawford, in his office in Washington. The autograph from Bush said “to my great friend Jack.”
Dale Knally, a campaign worker in the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, recalls a meeting between Bush and Abramoff during a campaign stop in Florida.
“He put his arm around Abramoff and told us that ‘this man is one of this administration’s greatest friends,’” Knally recalls.
“That campaign taught me that I never wanted anything to do with the Bush administration or politics again,” Knally said. “No matter how many showers I took, I couldn’t wash away the stench.”
McClellan [also] fails to mention Abramoff’s frequent visits to the President’s home in Crawford, Texas, the private meetings that the lobbyist arranged with the President on the 2004 campaign trail and at the Republican National Convention that year, and the origin of his nickname 'Floffy-moffy.'
Abramoff kept a photo of himself with Bush, shot at Crawford, in his office in Washington. The autograph from Bush said “to my great friend Jack.”
Dale Knally, a campaign worker in the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, recalls a meeting between Bush and Abramoff during a campaign stop in Florida.
“He put his arm around Abramoff and told us that ‘this man is one of this administration’s greatest friends,’” Knally recalls.
“That campaign taught me that I never wanted anything to do with the Bush administration or politics again,” Knally said. “No matter how many showers I took, I couldn’t wash away the stench.”
Obama: #uck you, whitey
Black Dems back Hillary's criticism of GOP
"There's been a consolidation of power by the Republican Congress and this White House in which, if you are the ordinary voter, you don't have access," Sen. Barack Obama said. "That should be a source of concern for all of us." Under GOP control in Washington, "what one has seen is the further concentration of power around a very narrow agenda that advantages the most powerful."
New York Rep. Gregory Meeks also defended Clinton: "There was no race card played here. If any card was played here it was a joker, because that's who seems to be running the House right now if you look at the leadership," said Meeks, a black Democrat.
New York Rep. Gregory Meeks also defended Clinton: "There was no race card played here. If any card was played here it was a joker, because that's who seems to be running the House right now if you look at the leadership," said Meeks, a black Democrat.
"He'p me, mammy!"
****
It must be nice being a rectum
Damp, toesucking squeege Dick Morris: Americans "strongly support" the Dictator-tot's warrantless wiretap program - the new Fox News poll says so!
Humorless asshole alert
Mel Gibson is threatening to sue Mel Gibson's blog? Outrageous!
I can't hear you! La la la la la...
Washington Post ombudsperson gets called on not doing her job... then says she's going to do even less of her job.
Unless it's a blow job.
Deborah wHorewell, under fire for repeatedly fellating the misadministration, has apparently told the Post that, contrary to her job description, she will no longer answer to critics: "From now on, I don't reply."
Well la-de-da, c*nt. What are they paying you for again? Oh yes.
I sense a theme today...
****
Drop everything!!
"Bin Laden threatens another US attack."
Oh gee. What - a - surprise.
Next up: massive jizz explosion at MSM threatens water supply.
CNN's Wolf Blitzer had an exciting day today...
****
January 18, 2006
White House silent on Abramoff meetings
Expresses shock - shock! - that he was actually let into the building.
Doing the people's business?
Repukes' pet indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff had "a few staff-level meetings" at the Bush White House, presidential spokes-tool Scott McClellan admitted Tuesday. But he would not say with whom Abramoff met, which interests he was representing, how he got access to the White House, when he got access, or if he used the Oval Office john.
McClellan said he would not discuss the private staff-level meetings. "We are not going to engage in a fishing expedition," he said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with my lawyer..."
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, along with the three other Democratic senators with balls, wrote Bush a letter Tuesday asking for an accounting of Abramoff's personal contacts with Bush misadministration officials and acts that may have been undertaken at his request. "The American people need to be assured that the White House is not for sale," they wrote.
Boy King's power grab threatens rule of law
Whoa - the USA Toady posts an opinion piece critical of the misadministration:
The administration's power grab has reached such brazen heights that President Bush now claims he is above the law. For any brainless, drooling troglody American who thinks presidents should have the power of czars and kings, this is good news. For the rest of us, it should raise deep concern.
[The Dictator-tot's] "the law is what I say it is" attitude threatens the rights of all Americans and the constitutional system of checks and balances. In the words of former representative Bob Barr, a conservative Republican from Georgia: "President George W. Bush has dared the American people to do something about it. For the sake of the Constitution, I hope they will."
[The Dictator-tot's] "the law is what I say it is" attitude threatens the rights of all Americans and the constitutional system of checks and balances. In the words of former representative Bob Barr, a conservative Republican from Georgia: "President George W. Bush has dared the American people to do something about it. For the sake of the Constitution, I hope they will."
Ha ha ha ha ha!
New poll shows .... sorry, ha ha ha ha ha! ... DeLay's .... hee hee! .... poll numbers in toilet
:: snicker ::
The poll, commissioned by the Houston Chronicle, shows that indicted, corrupt scumbag Tom DeLay has "fallen appreciably behind" his Democratic challenger, former US Congressman Nick Lampson. The poll found that if the general election were held today, Lampson would get 30% to DeLay's 22%.
Fun fact: Lampson was one of several Congressmen who lost their seats as a result of DeLay's 2004 redistricting scheme.
Why do I do this to myself?
I was over at RimJob's Circlejerk Central and came across this piece from FrontPageMagazine: (cue outrage!)
"Since [the Dems] could not condemn Alito’s competence, they did what liberals normally do: spew ad hominems. They implied Alito is a racist, sexist, homophobe... "Xuse me, but aren't these the same people who called Hillary Clinton a lesbian, said that Bill raped her, and that between the two of them they had 20 or so people killed? Including Vince Foster? Fuckwits.
Damn liberal media!
CNN Headline News has signed conservative radio host Glenn Beck for an hourlong talk show.
The same Glenn Beck who uttered these heartwarming statements:
"And that's all we're hearing about, are the people in New Orleans. Those are the only ones that we're seeing on television are the scumbags."People who tortured prisoners in US custody.
"Hang on, let me just tell you what I'm thinking. I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out -- is this wrong?"
"[T]his is horrible to say, and I wonder if I'm alone in this -- you know, it took me about a year to start hating the 9-11 victims' families? Took me about a year."
"I've got to tell you, I appreciate your service. ... Good for you. Good for -- I mean, good for you. Is it because you did it for the country? ... I have to tell you, when all is said and done, I'm glad people like you are on our side."
This comes right on the heels of a recent report that CNN hired chronic gambler and repuke "values" hypocrite Bill Bennett, who said in September, "[Y]ou could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." Sigh.
O rly?
Seen at BartCop:
Bill O'Reilly: We do not feel our rights are being violated by the NSA eavesdropping or the Patriot Act.
Andrew Napolitano: Would you feel this way if Hillary were president?
Andrew Napolitano: Would you feel this way if Hillary were president?
Ba-dum-bum.
Yassuh, boss, ah done read them talkin' points!
Hypocritical repukes, media "outraged" over Hillary's plantation comment.
"I think the official transcript had it more along the lines of 'The massahs in they’s whites house, dems runnin the country like itsa plantation. They don give no nevermind to us niggers. Can you feel me, y’all? Holla!'” - Chris.
Last night in the Situation Room, Wolf Blitzer was about to have a major wetdream. Then Paul Begala's spine made a surprise appearance:
BLITZER: That's on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as well. Those are strong words. And she said, "And you know what I'm talking about." Oooooooooooh!!!
BEGALA: Yes, and you know what she said...
BLITZER: She wasn't talking about quail hunting.
BEGALA: The very next sentence, though... Wait a minute, Wolf, get your hand out of your pants and pay attention, you miserable squat. This is where the media has been unfair to Hillary. The very next sentence -- I got her staff to send me the speech -- it was this: "It has been run in a way so that nobody with a contrary view has had a chance to present legislation, to make an argument, to be heard."
Now also, Hillary said the same thing in November of '04 on this network, and nobody said boo. Now, why is it when the senator is speaking to a white anchorman, they don't get their panties in a wad.
BLITZER: We said that in Mary Snow's report. Mary had that.
BEGALA: She did. But when she said that in '04, my Republican friends did not have a hissy fit. So they want her to speak differently in a black church than she does on CNN. She didn't do that. I think that's just terrific. And frankly, Newt Gingrich compared the House Democrats to running a plantation in 1994. [W]hy is there no reaction? A year ago she says the same thing to a white anchorman or maybe anchorwoman, and nobody says boo. But in a black church she's supposed to muzzle herself?
BLITZER: It's a politically charged word on Martin Luther King Day, the word "plantation," given the history of our country.
BEGALA: Sure, and it speaks for the powerlessness and the very next sentence -- it is interesting that no one in the media, not just us, no one in the media runs the next sentence of the speech, where she talks very specifically about how Democrats have not been given the opportunity to present legislation in the House. That's true.
BLITZER: All right. Let's rip into Al Gore, because I've obviously lost this argument...
BEGALA: Yes, and you know what she said...
BLITZER: She wasn't talking about quail hunting.
BEGALA: The very next sentence, though... Wait a minute, Wolf, get your hand out of your pants and pay attention, you miserable squat. This is where the media has been unfair to Hillary. The very next sentence -- I got her staff to send me the speech -- it was this: "It has been run in a way so that nobody with a contrary view has had a chance to present legislation, to make an argument, to be heard."
Now also, Hillary said the same thing in November of '04 on this network, and nobody said boo. Now, why is it when the senator is speaking to a white anchorman, they don't get their panties in a wad.
BLITZER: We said that in Mary Snow's report. Mary had that.
BEGALA: She did. But when she said that in '04, my Republican friends did not have a hissy fit. So they want her to speak differently in a black church than she does on CNN. She didn't do that. I think that's just terrific. And frankly, Newt Gingrich compared the House Democrats to running a plantation in 1994. [W]hy is there no reaction? A year ago she says the same thing to a white anchorman or maybe anchorwoman, and nobody says boo. But in a black church she's supposed to muzzle herself?
BLITZER: It's a politically charged word on Martin Luther King Day, the word "plantation," given the history of our country.
BEGALA: Sure, and it speaks for the powerlessness and the very next sentence -- it is interesting that no one in the media, not just us, no one in the media runs the next sentence of the speech, where she talks very specifically about how Democrats have not been given the opportunity to present legislation in the House. That's true.
BLITZER: All right. Let's rip into Al Gore, because I've obviously lost this argument...
Whore.
*****
AG of the US a lying SOB
Bringin' honor an' integrity back to the White House
Monday night on Larry King's CNN Suckjob, Bush towelboy and party stooge Abuto Ghraibzales defended the presidential crimes of spying on US citizens and crapping all over the Constitution, blamed Clinton.
VP Al Gore replies:
There are two problems with that shameless, pandering little fuc the Attorney General's effort to focus attention on the past instead of the present administration's behavior. First, as others have thoroughly documented, his charges are factually wrong. Both before and after the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was amended in 1995, the Clinton/Gore Administration complied fully and completely with the terms of the law.
Second, the Attorney General's"but Clinton!" defense attempt to cite a previous administration's activity as precedent for theirs - even though factually wrong - is laughable ironically demonstrates another reason why we must be so vigilant about their brazen disregard for the law. If unchecked, their behavior would serve as a precedent to encourage future presidents to claim these same powers, which many legal experts in both parties believe are clearly illegal.
The issue, simply put, is that for more than four years, the executive branch has been wiretapping many thousands of American citizens without warrants in direct contradiction of American law.Asshat
Second, the Attorney General's
The issue, simply put, is that for more than four years, the executive branch has been wiretapping many thousands of American citizens without warrants in direct contradiction of American law.
Doesn't anyone else have a problem with the country's Attorney General lying to the country??
Senate Vichycrat backs Alito for US Supreme Court
Quisling Ben Nelson of Turncoat, Nebraska yesterday became the first Democrat to announce his support for conservative Supreme Court nominee Samuel scAlito, who is expected to be confirmed later this month by the full Republican-led Senate and most of the spineless, sheeplike Dems.
"Gub! Durr! Nehhh!" Nelson said during a private spoonfeeding/cornholing session with Karl Rove.
January 17, 2006
Speaking of sacrilege
Via the Moonie Times: zombie-robot Pickles Stepford says "One of the songs on my iPod that I love is Dolly Parton singing 'Stairway to Heaven'."
Moral values
"I need to start humping in corporate accounts!"
Rethuglicans behaving badly, part MCXLII
Ralph Reed, hypocrite and former head of the Christian Coalition, is in trouble. No, besides his involvement in that whole Jack Abramoff thing.
"After reading the e-mail, it became pretty obvious he was putting money before God. We are righteously casting him out."
LOL. See you in Hell, you slimy little twerp.
Loaded diapers
Pathetic, ineffectual doughboy Denny Hastert remains silent as the Republican corruption scandal becomes a full-blown epidemic.
Values and integrity.
As details emerged about the unethical dealings between lobbyists and lawmakers -- including his boss, the indicted, corrupt scumbag Tom DeLay -- the House speaker stood on the sidelines. As DeLay's legal peril mounted, Hastert backed him at every turn, attempting to change House rules to allow an indicted leader to stay in power and even altering the leadership of the ethics committee, which had been exposing misconduct by the majority leader.
Although Hastert's job appears safe for now, there are rumblings among some lawmakers and aides that he waited too long to act, and now some watchdog organizations have said Hastert deserves scrutiny.
Although Hastert's job appears safe for now, there are rumblings among some lawmakers and aides that he waited too long to act, and now some watchdog organizations have said Hastert deserves scrutiny.
Just don't hold your breath waiting for the House Ethics Committee to do anything. It's still owned by Tom DeLay.
Santorum's war
Not so fast, terrist-enabler!
This is unbelievable. I shouldn't be surprised - his antics always make my jaw drop - but this really takes the cake.
Flaming asshat and senator Rick Santorum, in a frothy mixture of indignation and stupidity, wants to downplay the freedom bodies casualties in Iraq.
In a speech Thursday the Pennsylvania Republican really went off the deep end, attacking the media for drawing the public's attention to the deaths of American servicemen and -women in Iraq. To focus attention on the "tragic consequences" of the war, he said, was "helping Islamic fascism win the battle."
Yeah! We should focus on the fun aspects! Like ....uhhhh.... and ....ummmmmmmmm..... wait, we did find WMDs, right? Oh.
For Sen. Santorum to suggest that we and other American media should not report about the tragic loss of American lives -- a death toll that now stands above 2,200 -- is to sell our readers short and to suggest that they do not need to know, nor do they want to know, how many brave Americans are dying there.
For Sen. Santorum to cite national security and the claim that knowledge of US losses might encourage America's enemies, as reasons for not telling the public the truth, is insulting to the American people.
For Sen. Santorum to cite national security and the claim that knowledge of US losses might encourage America's enemies, as reasons for not telling the public the truth, is insulting to the American people.
- the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Jebus. You don't even have to make this stuff up.
Oh gee, they lied again
But at least it wasn't about a blowjob.
"I would always wonder, what does 'suspected' mean?"
'In bureau field offices, the NSA material continued to be viewed as unproductive, prompting agents to joke that a new bunch of tips meant more "calls to Pizza Hut."'
Preznit Lying Disastermonkey has characterized the eavesdropping program as a "vital tool" against terrorism; Dick 'chicanery' Cheney has said it has saved "thousands of lives." But virtually all of the NSA "tips," current and former officials say, led to dead ends or innocent Americans. Imagine that.
Either impeach the guy or give him a balloon to play with, so he stops bothering everybody.
January 16, 2006
I'd hit me
Thanks to Biomes Blog, I tried that celebrity face-matching thing.
Evidently I look like Hugo Weaving, Fay Wray, and Sophie Marceau. I have lovvvvely bone structure. Either that, or I can pass as a guy.
"Rule of law
Presumption of innocence
Constitutional rights
"The law is king." Not some shitforbrains powermad chimp in a flightsuit.
In an address delivered in Washington to multiple standing ovations, Vice President Al Gore repeatedly attacked the Bush misadministration for wiretapping its own citizens without legal authority.
Crooks and Liars promises to have some clips up soon, since the SCLM couldn't be bothered covering it.
Popular war preznit's numbers in crapper
Again.
The Boy King's job approval nosedived to 39% in the new Zogby poll, which 'almost mirrors the percentage of respondents who said the nation overall is headed in the right direction.'
Turn left here
Chile elects a socialist, divorced agnostic woman as president. Somebody pre-emptively gag Pat Robertson, please.
If you don't, you must be a traitor!
First Lady Pickles Stepford, who speaks for all of us, says that all good Americans expect their government to spy on them.
In other news...
Bush wakes up, opens eyes; significance unclear - headline at WTF.
Impeach #ucking everybody
"Americans of almost every stripe don’t want a President wiretapping their phones or snooping on their e-mails without warrants. Americans of almost every stripe don’t want a President who puts a crown on his head."
The Dwarf Judas: You know, if the president did break the law or circumvent the law, what’s the remedy?
Repug Arlen Specter: Well, the remedy could be a variety of things. A president — and I’m not suggesting remotely that there’s any basis, but you’re asking, really, theory, what’s the remedy? Impeachment is a remedy. After impeachment, you could have a criminal prosecution, but the principal remedy, George, under our society is to pay a political price.
Repug Arlen Specter: Well, the remedy could be a variety of things. A president — and I’m not suggesting remotely that there’s any basis, but you’re asking, really, theory, what’s the remedy? Impeachment is a remedy. After impeachment, you could have a criminal prosecution, but the principal remedy, George, under our society is to pay a political price.
And let's not stop there. ReddHedd explains why the Vichycrat Dems, on top of growing a set, need to get a #ucking clue.
GOP hopes Ney removal will take the heat off them
A desperate Denny Hastert has finally gotten corrupt Rep. Bob Ney, who was been 
implicated in one of the many burgeoning GOP scandals, to "temporarily" step down from chairing the powerful House Administration Committee.
"There's a lot of people that are having some heartburn with all the publicity and if they have heartburn I can be the Rolaids," Ney said in an interview.
I guess better that than a #ucking suppository.
****
Makin' progress
Last Memorial Day, Vice President Dick "dick" Cheney said the Iraqi insurgency was in its "last throes." Let's see...
Another US helicopter was shot down near Baghdad on Monday in the second attack of an aircraft in three days, and violence is expected to escalate as we continue to make progress spreadin' freedom an' democracy in Iraq.
"We expect a hike in attacks in the next days because the multinational forces have destroyed many al Qaeda positions," Brigadier General Phil McCavity, chief propagandist for the Fightin' Doublespeak Division in Iraq, told reporters on Sunday.
Fun fact: "Stability is nowhere in sight."
Bush WH to criminalize protesters under Patriot Act as "disruptors"
"There is a little-known codicil in the Faber College Constitution which gives the Dean unlimited power to preserve order in time of campus emergency. Find me a way to revoke Delta's charter." - Dean Wormer, Animal House.
A "little-noticed provision" in the new 'n' improved Patriot Act would allow the Bush misadministration to charge people as "disruptors" for protesting at presidential appearances. Charged, and jailed for the crime of "disruptive behavior."
The brownshirted goons Secret Service would also be empowered to charge persons with "breaching security" and for "entering a restricted area" "where the President will be temporarily visiting."
So how far away will the "1st Amendment Zones" be now?
Let freedom ring! The terrists hate that! Let's roll!
****
January 15, 2006
I'm still grumpy
Going nowhere
Fact-based reporting is the lifeblood of a democracy. It gives people shared information on which to make political choices. But as people in new democracies risk their lives to gather such information, in this country fact-based reporting is under more relentless assault than at any time in my more than 40 years in Washington.
On the radio, on the Internet, on cable television and in print, partisans on both sides attack any news reporting that fails to advance their agendas or confirm their biases. Zealous partisans in both major parties have adopted a "with us or against us" attitude. It's not only unhealthy but also, I believe, dangerous.
On the radio, on the Internet, on cable television and in print, partisans on both sides attack any news reporting that fails to advance their agendas or confirm their biases. Zealous partisans in both major parties have adopted a "with us or against us" attitude. It's not only unhealthy but also, I believe, dangerous.
- from Knight-Ridder's explanation of how the GOP attack machine discredited an accurate analysis of scAlito's judicial record.
No one took responsibility
Heads need to roll: let's start by firing all the Dems.
Or at least give them all a good swift kick in the nads. That includes the pussyassed commentators and "strategists" you see all over CNN, and the few so-called 'liberal' columnists that are left. Stop being so fucking civil, for petessake.
*****
January 14, 2006
Fun with wildlife
Snow-writing penguins!
Warning: with music. Thanks to Biomes Blog for the link!
RNC headcheese Ken Mehlman: kids! throw a SOTU house party on January 31! How about one at Walter Reed hospital, you flaming asshat?
Start making your party plans for the 2006 State of Denial the Union speech, with some handy suggestions from Arianna.
Remember, it's 2 shots every time Preznit aWol says "protectin' the American people."
Blah
It's one of those days I wake up thinking wtf's the point? Can we win? Does anything we do matter? Is anybody listening? Do I just need more coffee??
"This, then, is the reality: progressive bloggers and online activists - positioned on the front lines of a cold civil war - face a thankless and daunting task: battle the Bush administration and its legions of online and offline apologists, battle the so-called “liberal” media and its tireless weaving of pro-GOP narratives, battle the ineffectual Democratic leadership, and battle the demoralization and frustration that comes with a long, steep uphill struggle." - Peter Daou .
Blah.
January 13, 2006
Oh beautiful...
The Greedy Oil Party has decided to open close to 400,000 acres of 'Alaskan lakes, tundra and shoreline to oil exploration, reversing an eight-year-old compromise intended to protect the habitat of hundreds of thousands of migratory birds and the hunting grounds of Inupiat natives who live near the Beaufort Sea.' - the NY Times.
Republican cries about civility are laughable
Two words: swift boating.
Three more words: go fuck yourself.
Is it really necessary to chronicle the Republicans’ grotesque rhetorical excesses over the last 15 years in order to remind people how they have turned vile character assassination into a sport and, in the process, have dragged our political dialogue into the lowest and most odorous depths of the sewer?
These Paragons of Civility who are oozing sermons today about how such attacks prevent "good people" from entering public service are the same political lowlifes who spent the 1990s screaming that Hillary Clinton had Vince Foster murdered in order to cover up their affair (even though she’s a lesbian) and that Bill Clinton is a serial rapist who oversaw a drug-running operation from an Arkansas airstrip...
These Paragons of Civility who are oozing sermons today about how such attacks prevent "good people" from entering public service are the same political lowlifes who spent the 1990s screaming that Hillary Clinton had Vince Foster murdered in order to cover up their affair (even though she’s a lesbian) and that Bill Clinton is a serial rapist who oversaw a drug-running operation from an Arkansas airstrip...
- from Crooks and Liars.
Jesus Christ
Someone purporting to be Mel Gibson has a blog:
"Take it from me, Canucks (after all, I am a celebrity): when you elect a right-wing government which promises to restore integrity, they keep their word. Just ask George W. Bush. And all that stuff about the surplus disappearing, the economy slowing down, etcetera, etcetera: it's plain lies. Outrageous!"And then it gets even funnier.
"I don't understand why the Liberals want to ask Judge Alito all these questions. Is it because he is Catholic and Italian? Outrageous!"
You gotta wonder - if he's so christian, why does he mention what his astrological sign is?? This is obviously the work of some pagan Godless Frenchman. Kudos.
(Link via Biomes Blog)
Gag! Tastefully, though!
Are you effing kidding me? This is some kind of joke, right?
It was a dark and stormy night when hapless wifey-poo Martha-Ann Boohooner sidled her matronly backside into the third circle of Hell that was the confirmation hearing...
"There was something charmingly awkward about [Martha-Ann Boomgartner-scAlito's] blue cardigan. A cable-knit cardigan! At a Senate hearing! The sweater has all those connotations of Dan Rather informality, softness, ease and grandmotherly coziness. It is the antithesis of power and strength. The sweater was also baby blue. That isn't clothing as armor, but clothing as security blanket. Remember Linus? It was as though the nominee's wife had quietly brought her own binky into the room. But then, who couldn't use a little comfort during such a public ordeal?"- Robin Givhan, who was actually paid by the WaComPo to write such fucking tripe.
Send in the clowns.
Around blogtopia
y!sctp!
January 12, 2006
Oh good
Via email: scAlito just said US law is unclear as to whether Preznit aWol McFlightsuit could launch a military invasion of Iran or Syria without congressional approval.
Fun fact: breaking on CNN - emergency meeting of the UN Security Council called to discuss Iran, nuculer talks at 'dead end.'
Irresponsible debate emboldin' the terrists
They hate us for our freedoms.
"By attempting to smash dissent, Bush must be bringing a lot of comfort to the likes of bin Laden, who would undoubtedly like nothing better than to see the greatness of America so diminished. If the terrorists truly do 'hate our way of life,' they must be getting a lot of joy out of seeing our president and the GOP doing their best to destroy it."- Bob Geiger.
I've viewed the ultrasound and...
Tomorrow's news today -
Senators Frist, Santorum find new cause: defending blastocyst-Americans from the culture-of-death librals of the DMV.
But officer, the pro-life people told me it counted as a person!
Investigate surveillance, see if I care, Bush says
... an' good luck doin' it, you terrist-loving America-haters, 'cause I rule!
The Dictator-tot Wednesday dropped his opposition to upcoming Senate hearings into his program of spying on American citizens without warrants. He now says he welcomes such hearings:
"Good for democracy. Heh heh," Bush said during a town-hall-style meeting filled with supporters and interrupted often by applause. "Just so long as the hearings, as they explore whether or not I have the prerogative to make the decision I made, doesn't tell the enemy what we're doing. See, that's the danger."Terrists. 9/11. Traitors. Smirk smirk.
Idiot.
CREW: choice of Santorum to create ethics package a load of santorum
Senator’s corrupt behavior disqualifies him for task, says ethics watchdog.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has sent out a press release decrying insider trader/douchebag Bill Frist's naming of Rick "one of the 13 most corrupt members of Congress" Santorum to head the ethics and lobbying restrictions charge in the Senate.
"With that smarmy little pusbag’s history of unethical behavior he's more likely to undercut any real ethics reform than he is to toughen the rules,” Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, should have said.
It's not just you. Alito's wife was also bored to tears by [yesterday's] hearings - intarweb headline.
Or maybe she was upset that repuke Senator Cornyn referred to her husband as "Scalito." Twice.
Senator suggests scrapping handjobs hearings
Supreme Court nominees are so mum about major legal issues at their Senate confirmation hearings that the hearings serve little purpose and should probably be abandoned, Democratic Sen. Joe "look at me!" Biden said Thursday.
"They tell the rethugs everything during their pre-hearing circlejerks anyway," he might have said. "Plus, by the time us Dems get to the lotion, it's all gone!"
SOB story
Boohoo. My poor husband has to answer questions during the biggest job interview of his life. Those evil democrats have gone too far!
Oh please.
The wife of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito left his confirmation hearings in tears Wednesday.
... after being coached to by Karl Rove, Ed Gillespie et al.
Martha-Ann Bomgardner, who had sat behind her husband for hours of questioning over several days, left as her husband was being air-fellated by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
... who also had a hand in coaching Strip-Search Sammy before the hearings began.
"Judge Alito, I am sorry that you've had to go through this. I am sorry that your family has had to sit here and listen to this," said Graham.
Why, oh why can't the opposition party just join us in giving you a nice warm handjob?
Moments earlier, the senator had asked Alito, "Are you really a closet bigot?" The nominee said no, and Graham said, "No sir, you're not."
Of course you're not, you gorgeous hunk of pulchritude! We don't need to ask you any more questions! Love you! Numnumnumnumnum!
Graham's exchange with the nominee came after withering* questions from several Judiciary Committee Democrats.
... concerning Alito's past membership in the Concerned Alumni of Princeton, or CAP, a conservative group that opposed admitting women and minorities to the university.
Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah suggested that Alito's wife was upset with the comments of Democrats. "She's sick and tired of the mistreatment of her husband," Hatch said.
How very impartial and dignified of you, Orrin. Or maybe she was upset seeing how much better the repugs were at blowing her husband than she was.
*There's that SCLM again!
January 11, 2006
Divine retribution
Israel refuses to sign a $50 million deal with Pat Robertson after realizing that Pat Robertson is f*cking batshit crazy.
Birds of a feather
Representatives Roy Blunt of Missouri and John Boehner of Ohio have been key intermediaries between rethugs and lobbyists since 1995. Now, with both men vying to succeed corrupt scumbag Tom DeLay as House majority leader, those ties may loom as an issue...
The election to replace indicted, criminally dirty pusbag DeLay comes as the GOP is reeling from poor standing in opinion polls, the wake of Jack Abramoff's guilty pleas on federal conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud charges in a congressional influence-peddling investigation, and the increasingly x-treme flatulence by a distraught Denny "yes, Mr DeLay" Hastert.
Some Republicans have grumbled that both Blunt and Boehner are too close to Washington's lobbying community and that neither has the fresh, untainted scent that the GOP needs in the wake of DeLay's many ethical problems and the Abramoff scandal.
House GOP aides say pressure is mounting on Blunt to vacate the whip post regardless of whether he becomes the majority leader.
"Guy smells worse than five-day-old blowfish," said Rep. Mike Okhurtz.
Alito's coaches may have violated Senate ethics code
Gee. There's a surprise.
Bad: Sen. Lindsey Graham joined a moot court session with other republicans at the White House to coach their boy "Little Sammy" scAlito.
Worse: Graham is on the Judiciary Committee.
Worst: Dems are folding faster than last week's doritos.
Pic by Glenn Traver.
Texas river mysteriously turns reddish-orange, which is the sign from Gozer the Traveller that he will take the form of a Texas idiot.
- headline at Fark.
Watch what you say
Bringin' freedom an' democracy to.... ah, forget it.
Suggesting we went to war on false premises is now "irresponsible." No word yet on how responsible it is to go to war on false premises.
Idiot.
*****
January 10, 2006
Around the intarwebs
"When did you stop licking Clinton's cock?"
*****
Freedom
The United States Government now has the right to open your mail. Oh, and they've raised stamp prices, too.
Fitzgerald focuses on slimy, traitorous assworm
OK, anybody who's been cleared in the CIA leak case, please sit down....
Uhh, not so fast, Karl.
From TruthOut.org: Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is said to have spent the past month preparing evidence he will present to a grand jury alleging that White House svengali Karl Rove knowingly made false statements to FBI and Justice Department investigators, and lied under oath while he was being questioned about his role in the leak of Valerie Plame's identity more than two years ago, according to sources knowledgeable about the probe.
Oh please oh please oh please...
"A fine upstanding person"
... and a great kisser!
House rethug and brain-transplant hopeful Dana Rohrabacher defends indicted crook Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty last week to federal conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud charges.
"They're portraying Jack as a monster. I see him more as a good person who's done bad things and has to be punished for doing bad things," Rohrabacher, a longtime friend of Abramoff, said in an interview. "I think that a lot of other things that have been characterized as corruption on the part of Abramoff are actually standard operating procedures for lobbying in Washington, DC."
Fun fact: Dana's longtime friend Jackyboy has agreed to tell the FBI about the 'alleged' bribes to as many as 20 repuke members of Congress and their aides.
Great moments in television
We rejoin Jack Cafferty and Wolf Blitzer in the Situation Room:
CAFFERTY: All right. Let's go back to this Alito thing. Because the good stuff starts tomorrow. There will be a lot of questions about his stand on Roe v. Wade. But I would like to see one question answered. And the question is, Judge Alito, based on your knowledge of the law, is it legal or illegal for President Bush to authorize the NSA to wiretap Americans' telephone conversations without a warrant? Without a court order? Yes or no.
It's either against the law or it's not. And I would love for these senators to pin this guy down and make him answer that question. Say if you want to leave these hearings in one piece, you're going to give us an answer on whether or not the NSA eavesdropping against Americans without a court order is against the law.
You want to bet 10 bucks it doesn't happen? That would be the easiest $10 I ever made. But it sure would be nice to see if they could get him to answer that question.
BLITZER: Here is what he is going to say, Jack. You don't have to be a brain surgeon to know this. {... gropes down pants, surreptitiously checking payoff from RNC...} He is going to say, with all due respect, senators, this is an issue that's likely to come before the Supreme Court, and if I'm confirmed, I would have to adjudicate on this matter. As a result, I can't answer that question.
CAFFERTY: And Senator Cafferty would say, I want you to address the question in the abstract, Judge Alito. I'm not interested in what may or may not happen. If you're confirmed. You're not on the Supreme Court yet. Let's consider this issue in the abstract.
If you were standing before a law class at Harvard University, and a student asked this question, how would you answer it? Don't tell me about what may happen down road. I want it in the abstract. You tell me what the answer is.
BLITZER: All right. Don't hold your breath waiting for the answer.
CAFFERTY: Be the easiest 10 bucks I ever made. Want to make the bet, you pandering cocksucker?
BLITZER: {taps earpiece} :::
It's either against the law or it's not. And I would love for these senators to pin this guy down and make him answer that question. Say if you want to leave these hearings in one piece, you're going to give us an answer on whether or not the NSA eavesdropping against Americans without a court order is against the law.
You want to bet 10 bucks it doesn't happen? That would be the easiest $10 I ever made. But it sure would be nice to see if they could get him to answer that question.
BLITZER: Here is what he is going to say, Jack. You don't have to be a brain surgeon to know this. {... gropes down pants, surreptitiously checking payoff from RNC...} He is going to say, with all due respect, senators, this is an issue that's likely to come before the Supreme Court, and if I'm confirmed, I would have to adjudicate on this matter. As a result, I can't answer that question.
CAFFERTY: And Senator Cafferty would say, I want you to address the question in the abstract, Judge Alito. I'm not interested in what may or may not happen. If you're confirmed. You're not on the Supreme Court yet. Let's consider this issue in the abstract.
If you were standing before a law class at Harvard University, and a student asked this question, how would you answer it? Don't tell me about what may happen down road. I want it in the abstract. You tell me what the answer is.
BLITZER: All right. Don't hold your breath waiting for the answer.
CAFFERTY: Be the easiest 10 bucks I ever made. Want to make the bet, you pandering cocksucker?
BLITZER: {taps earpiece} :::
Later....
CAFFERTY: All right. The senators, the good stuff on the Alito thing, Wolf, starts tomorrow. That's when the senators can ask him about Roe v. Wade and about this decision by the president to authorize the NSA to wiretap Americans. The question we are asking is how should Judge Alito respond to questions about domestic spying?
Janice writes: "If they don't ask Alito about the NSA ruling, they might not have jobs in Congress after the next election.
Bruce in Austin, Texas: "That's exactly the question I'd like to have answered. Judge Alito said, no one is above the law. Does this include King George?"
Ken in Yuma, Arizona: "He should say exactly what Bush, Cheney and other right-wing leaders have told him to say. That's how it works. Isn't it? The sooner this circus is over the better. We already know how this movie ends."
Gary writes from Butte, Montana, where my dad was raised, coincidentally, "Someone should ask the judge what's the rule of law? Does it apply fairly and equally to all citizens and should the courts be independent of all branches of government regardless of the administration points of view? Whatever answer, we should hold him to it if he's selected to sit on Supreme Court."
And Patrick writes from South Bumfuck, Idaho: "Careful, Cafferty. You might be disappointed in the answer you get. Supposedly they'll answer that the president is within the law. You will have wasted a perfectly good Bush bashing tirade on your segment." Whatever, you moron. Wolf?
BLITZER: I'm sorry, Jack, you lost me after you said "Butte." What?
Janice writes: "If they don't ask Alito about the NSA ruling, they might not have jobs in Congress after the next election.
Bruce in Austin, Texas: "That's exactly the question I'd like to have answered. Judge Alito said, no one is above the law. Does this include King George?"
Ken in Yuma, Arizona: "He should say exactly what Bush, Cheney and other right-wing leaders have told him to say. That's how it works. Isn't it? The sooner this circus is over the better. We already know how this movie ends."
Gary writes from Butte, Montana, where my dad was raised, coincidentally, "Someone should ask the judge what's the rule of law? Does it apply fairly and equally to all citizens and should the courts be independent of all branches of government regardless of the administration points of view? Whatever answer, we should hold him to it if he's selected to sit on Supreme Court."
And Patrick writes from South Bumfuck, Idaho: "Careful, Cafferty. You might be disappointed in the answer you get. Supposedly they'll answer that the president is within the law. You will have wasted a perfectly good Bush bashing tirade on your segment." Whatever, you moron. Wolf?
BLITZER: I'm sorry, Jack, you lost me after you said "Butte." What?
January 9, 2006
The man who bought Washington
There's a cancer on the presidency.
No no no, that's a freedom cyst.
- from the Fark comments section.
Integrity:
Republican officials say they are so worried about the Abramoff problem that they are now inclined to stoke a fight with Democrats over the confirmation of Samuel scAlito in an effort to turn the page from the lobbying investigation.
Doing the peoples' business...
Weird news
Prehistoric metrosexual, beer holder unearthed in Irish bog.
"A seamy abuse of the legislative process"
If it's [insert date here!], it must be a new rethug scandal -
'In a case that echoes the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal, two Republican congressmen - John Doolittle and Richard Pombo - joined forces with corrupt, indicted scumbag Tom DeLay and used their official positions to stop a federal investigation of a wealthy Texas businessman who provided them with political contributions,' the LA Times reports.
Bush: ah never had relations with that man Jack Abramamoff
This is rich: the White House is attempting to round up all photos of Dumbya with disgraced rethug crook Jack Abramoff.
'Bracing for the worst, misadministration officials obtained from the Secret Service a list of all the times Abramoff entered the White House complex, and they scrambled to determine the reason for each visit,' Raw Story reports.
VP in for oil change
Country in limbo.
Update: Cheney renews pact with Satan, leaves hospital.
Mmmmmmm, puppy blood. Must... eat... warm... puppies...
*****
January 8, 2006
Wolf, you ignorant slut
Howard Dean rips Wolf Blitzer a new one:
BLITZER: Should Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, who has now pleaded guilty to bribery charges, among other charges, a Republican lobbyist in Washington, should the Democrat who took money from him give that money to charity or give it back?
DEAN: There are no Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, not one, not one single Democrat. Jesus, Wolf, what the fuck's wrong with you? Are you a journalist, or just another greased-up whore getting assfucked by the White House? Every person named in this scandal is a Republican. Every person under investigation is a Republican. Every person indicted is a Republican. This is a Republican finance scandal. There is no evidence that Jack Abramoff ever gave any Democrat any money. And we've looked through all of those FEC reports to make sure that's true.
BLITZER: But through various Abramoff-related organizations and outfits, a bunch of Democrats did take money that presumably originated with Jack Abramoff.
DEAN: That's not true either. There's no evidence for that either. There - is - no - evidence. What, does the RNC have photos of you blowing goats or something? Jesus Christ.
BLITZER: What about Senator Byron Dorgan?
DEAN: Get a fucking grip, you ball-less patsy. Senator Byron Dorgan and some others took money from Indian tribes. They're not agents of Jack Abramoff. There's no evidence that I've seen that Jack Abramoff directed any contributions to Democrats. I know the Republican National Committee would like to get the Democrats involved in this. They're scared. They should be scared. They haven't told the truth. They have misled the American people. And now it appears they're stealing from Indian tribes. The Democrats are not involved in this.
BLITZER: Unfortunately Mr. Chairman, we got to leave it right there.
DEAN: I bet we do, Wolf, you incredible whore. Here's a hanky. Wipe up, for God's sake.
DEAN: There are no Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, not one, not one single Democrat. Jesus, Wolf, what the fuck's wrong with you? Are you a journalist, or just another greased-up whore getting assfucked by the White House? Every person named in this scandal is a Republican. Every person under investigation is a Republican. Every person indicted is a Republican. This is a Republican finance scandal. There is no evidence that Jack Abramoff ever gave any Democrat any money. And we've looked through all of those FEC reports to make sure that's true.
BLITZER: But through various Abramoff-related organizations and outfits, a bunch of Democrats did take money that presumably originated with Jack Abramoff.
DEAN: That's not true either. There's no evidence for that either. There - is - no - evidence. What, does the RNC have photos of you blowing goats or something? Jesus Christ.
BLITZER: What about Senator Byron Dorgan?
DEAN: Get a fucking grip, you ball-less patsy. Senator Byron Dorgan and some others took money from Indian tribes. They're not agents of Jack Abramoff. There's no evidence that I've seen that Jack Abramoff directed any contributions to Democrats. I know the Republican National Committee would like to get the Democrats involved in this. They're scared. They should be scared. They haven't told the truth. They have misled the American people. And now it appears they're stealing from Indian tribes. The Democrats are not involved in this.
BLITZER: Unfortunately Mr. Chairman, we got to leave it right there.
DEAN: I bet we do, Wolf, you incredible whore. Here's a hanky. Wipe up, for God's sake.
Introducing the new fun size!
Via our friends at AMCGLTD:
The classic Clone-A-Willy allows you to make a copy of your Johnson, and with the optional motor you can even turn it into a vibrator. The latest version is the Chocolate Clone-A-Willy which lets you make a real chocolate copy that is 100% edible and, apparently, quite tasty.Insert your own dark chocolate joke here!
"I have always acted in an ethical manner"
Good one.
Corrupt, indicted scumbag Tom DeLay, assfucked by his own party, withdraws from the leadership post to try his slimy hands at stand-up comedy. Which may or may not help him in FPMITA prison:
Having secured a guilty plea from republican crook Jack Abramoff, prosecutors are entering a new phase of the corruption investigation in Washington and are focusing on a lobbying firm that has even closer ties to Tom DeLay.
January 7, 2006
You are SO going to get a spanking when your father gets home...
Pic by JP Patches, from a Fark photoshop contest.
******
GOP petitions to block indicted, corrupt asshat
DeLay and his gpuke buddies are starting to pay the price for their arrogance and greed. It's such a beautiful thing to see...
A coalition of conservative and moderate Republican lawmakers launched a revolt Friday against revolting slimeball Tom DeLay, petitioning for a House GOP leadership election that would block the corrupt scumbag's hope of reclaiming the post of majority leader.
The move indicated how quickly DeLay's broad and deep support among Republicans had collapsed following this week's guilty pleas by rethug crook Jack Abramoff, once a close DeLay associate, in a federal probe into possible congressional corruption.
Several Republicans expressed dismay that DeLay did not give up his quest for his former post.
"People are worried about the other shoe waiting to drop," conservative Rep. Jeff Flake said yesterday. DeLay has "become the public face of a culture gone bad in Washington."
The move indicated how quickly DeLay's broad and deep support among Republicans had collapsed following this week's guilty pleas by rethug crook Jack Abramoff, once a close DeLay associate, in a federal probe into possible congressional corruption.
Several Republicans expressed dismay that DeLay did not give up his quest for his former post.
"People are worried about the other shoe waiting to drop," conservative Rep. Jeff Flake said yesterday. DeLay has "become the public face of a culture gone bad in Washington."
Congressional report: Bush's spying was illegal
Domestic action's legality challenged
"And although I hate to judge before all the facts are in, it's beginning to look like General Ripper exceeded his authority." - General Buck Turgidson, Dr Strangelove.
The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service's report rebuts the central assertions made recently by the Liar-in-Chief and Attorney General Abuto Ghraibzales about the president's authority to order secret intercepts of telephone and e-mail exchanges between people inside the United States and their contacts abroad.
The report also concluded that Bush's assertion that Congress authorized such eavesdropping to detect and fight terrorists does not appear to be supported by the special resolution that Congress approved after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which focused on authorizing the president to use military force.
The report also concluded that Bush's assertion that Congress authorized such eavesdropping to detect and fight terrorists does not appear to be supported by the special resolution that Congress approved after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which focused on authorizing the president to use military force.
AP poll: Democrats favored, if they can only find some genitalia
In an ominous election-year sign for Republicans, Americans are leaning sharply toward wanting Democrats to take control of Congress, an AP-Ipsos poll finds. Democrats are favored 49 percent to 36 percent.
The poll was taken this week as disgraced Rethug lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to tax evasion, fraud and corruption charges and agreed to aid a federal investigation of members of Congress and other government officials.
Preznit Smirky McFuckwit's job approval also remains low - 40 percent in the AP-Ipsos poll. About as many approve of his handling of Iraq, wherelast throes violence against Iraqis and U.S. troops has been surging.
The poll was taken this week as disgraced Rethug lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to tax evasion, fraud and corruption charges and agreed to aid a federal investigation of members of Congress and other government officials.
Preznit Smirky McFuckwit's job approval also remains low - 40 percent in the AP-Ipsos poll. About as many approve of his handling of Iraq, where
"I don't think anyone is hitting the panic button yet," said Ben Dover, former Republican National Committee chairman. "But we could be seriously fucked."
Supportin' the troops
aWol McFlightsuitboy and the neocon chickenhawks are murdering our own soldiers:
A secret Pentagon study has found that at least 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to their upper body could have survived if they had extra body armor. That armor has been available since 2003 but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection, according to military officials.
Those shameless turds... Now, let's have another photo-op explaining how things are going so great in Iraq, you incompetent lying assholes!
January 6, 2006
Even more agita for the GOP
This is the most embarrassing thing to happen to the Republicans since... well, this morning...
Disgraced congressman wore a wire.
No, the other one.
Rethug Duke Cunningham, who pleaded guilty in Nov. to taking $2.4 million in bribes, wore a wire to help investigators gather evidence against others just before copping his own plea, Time magazine reports:
The identity of those with whom the San Diego congressman met while wearing the wire remains unclear, and is the source of furious — and nervous — speculation by congressional Republicans.- (via Blah3.) Boy, the fun never stops with these guys! Though I guess it will when they're all finally put in #ucking prison.
"This is the most embarrassing thing to happen to the Republicans since yesterday"
- Jay Leno, in between making Clinton's cock jokes.
"There are two types of House Republicans: Those who are in trouble, and those who don't know it yet."- Heh. From the National Review's love letter to corrupt, indicted scumbag Tom DeLay, asking him to please recuse himself from the House leadership position in perpetuity.
IRS tracked taxpayers’ political affiliation
The Internal Revenue Service has collected information on the political party affiliations of taxpayers in 20 states, in what a Democratic member of the appropriations subcommittee said was an “outrageous violation of the public trust.”
IRS officials acknowledged that party affiliation information was routinely collected by a vendor for several months.
“The bottom line is that we have never used this information,” said John Lipold, an IRS spokesman. “There are strict laws in place that forbid it.”
“The bottom line is that we have never used this information,” said John Lipold, an IRS spokesman. “There are strict laws in place that forbid it.”
So, ummmm, as long as we don't actually use it for anything... or the preznit says to, it's OK...
According to Murray’s office, the 20 states in which the IRS collected party affiliation information were Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.
The misadministration is sending mixed messages and enabling the terrists!!
Weaselly #ucking anti-merican traitors...
al-Qaida's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, said in a videotape aired Friday that the United States' recent decision to withdraw some troops from Iraq represented "the victory of Islam."
Al-Zawahri was referring to comments last month by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who said President Bush had authorized new troop cuts below the 138,000 level that prevailed for most of last year.
Al-Zawahri was referring to comments last month by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who said President Bush had authorized new troop cuts below the 138,000 level that prevailed for most of last year.
Why do Bush and Rumsfeld hate America???
Jeb!
Presidential bro Jeb Bush whips out large black penis as he makes a point to recalcitrant school board.
Twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!
"Fox News has been spinning this story so hard they had to give the staff Dramamine today." - Jimmy Kimmel.
Can anyone - anywhere - explain, just a little bit - just one time - how "national security has been damaged" by revelations that the Administration was eavesdropping without FISA-required warrants and judicial oversight rather than with them?
One can tell when a message is powerful when the messengers are attacked. The fact that Bush defenders have resorted to vicious attacks on the New York Times and its sources as criminals and traitors is yet more evidence that this scandal is a serious threat to the Administration, and its supporters know that.
One can tell when a message is powerful when the messengers are attacked. The fact that Bush defenders have resorted to vicious attacks on the New York Times and its sources as criminals and traitors is yet more evidence that this scandal is a serious threat to the Administration, and its supporters know that.
-Glenn Greenwald.