Friday cat blogging
Glowing orbs near my cat.
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March 31, 2006
Dept. of Homeland Security subsidizes Fortune 500 oil company
Un-#ucking-believable... Your tax dollars at work, keeping you safer --
Via AmericaBlog:
A Fortune 500 refinery received a port security grant in totaling almost $1 million for fencing and surveillance upgrades at a refinery located in a major port. This company recently reported 3rd quarter net income in excess of $1.2 billion.
Now, which Fortune 500 company -- with 3rd quarter net income of $1.2 billion -- needed tax dollars to build a fence?
Now, which Fortune 500 company -- with 3rd quarter net income of $1.2 billion -- needed tax dollars to build a fence?
Between a) our porous borders and b) the energy companies ripping us new cornholes while raking in the dough hand over fist, this is fucking outrageous.
Turning the other cheek
Church fires photographer over photo of Scalia
Peter Smith, who had freelanced for The Pilot - the Archdiocese of Boston’s newspaper - for a decade, lost the job yesterday after the Herald ran his photo on its front page. Smith said he has no regrets about releasing it.
“I did the right thing. I did the ethical thing,” said Smith, 51, an assistant photojournalism professor at Boston University.
“I did the right thing. I did the ethical thing,” said Smith, 51, an assistant photojournalism professor at Boston University.
Indeed. And a big "va fan culo" to the good Christians who fired this guy because another paper ran a photo. Of a US Supreme Court Justice being a total dick. Inside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
Lies - and the lying liars that tell them
...like your righteous, Godfearing preznit.
As the 2004 election loomed, the White House was determined to keep the wraps on a potentially damaging memo about Iraq.
Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser, cautioned other White House aides in the summer of 2003 that Bush's 2004 re-election prospects would be severely damaged if it was publicly disclosed that he had been personally warned that a key rationale for going to war had been challenged within the administration.
Rove expressed his concerns shortly after an informal review of classified government records by then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley determined that Bush had been specifically advised that claims he later made in his 2003 State of the Union address -- that Iraq was procuring high-strength aluminum tubes to build a nuclear weapon -- might not be true, according to government records and interviews.
Then-CIA Director George Tenet swiftly and publicly took the blame for the entire Niger episode, saying that he and the CIA were at fault for not warning Bush and his aides that the information might be untrue.
But Hadley and other administration officials realized that it would be much more difficult to shield Bush from criticism for his statements regarding the aluminum tubes, for several reasons....
"Presidential knowledge was the ball game," says a former senior government official outside the White House who was personally familiar with the damage-control effort. "The mission was to insulate the president. It was about making it appear that he wasn't in the know. You could do that on Niger. You couldn't do that with the tubes." A Republican political appointee involved in the process, who thought the Bush administration had a constitutional obligation to be more open with Congress, said: "This was about getting past the election."
Rove expressed his concerns shortly after an informal review of classified government records by then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley determined that Bush had been specifically advised that claims he later made in his 2003 State of the Union address -- that Iraq was procuring high-strength aluminum tubes to build a nuclear weapon -- might not be true, according to government records and interviews.
Then-CIA Director George Tenet swiftly and publicly took the blame for the entire Niger episode, saying that he and the CIA were at fault for not warning Bush and his aides that the information might be untrue.
But Hadley and other administration officials realized that it would be much more difficult to shield Bush from criticism for his statements regarding the aluminum tubes, for several reasons....
"Presidential knowledge was the ball game," says a former senior government official outside the White House who was personally familiar with the damage-control effort. "The mission was to insulate the president. It was about making it appear that he wasn't in the know. You could do that on Niger. You couldn't do that with the tubes." A Republican political appointee involved in the process, who thought the Bush administration had a constitutional obligation to be more open with Congress, said: "This was about getting past the election."
- more here.
At least we can't be blamed for this one
God hates Iran's gay people too.
Senate panel set to consider bid to censure Bush
John Dean, former White House counsel to Nixon, heads to Capitol Hill today to back the attempt to censure the Dictator-tot.
Dean, author of a book about Bush titled "Worse than Watergate," was to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of a resolution to rebuke Bush for [the illegal, warrantless] domestic spying program introduced secretly after the September 11 attacks.
Lieberman booed at state party dinner
Kos reports: not even Obama's endorsement could spare vichycrat Joemental the embarrassment of being booed at the Connecticut Democrats' annual dinner last night.
Lieberman became Obama's mentor when Obama was sworn into the Senate in 2005. They stayed close at Thursday night's event, too, entering the room together and working the crowd in tandem.
Despite the camaraderie between the two, the crowd was clearly more receptive to Obama's remarks than Lieberman's speech about party unity and the potential for Democratic victories at the ballot box this fall.
In fact, scattered boos greeted Lieberman when he took the podium, and he had to stop three times during his remarks to shush the crowd so he could deliver key points.
Despite the camaraderie between the two, the crowd was clearly more receptive to Obama's remarks than Lieberman's speech about party unity and the potential for Democratic victories at the ballot box this fall.
In fact, scattered boos greeted Lieberman when he took the podium, and he had to stop three times during his remarks to shush the crowd so he could deliver key points.
March 30, 2006
Damn!
I missed Republican Rubber Stamp Day at firedoglake.
Iraq leader warns Bush to stop interfering
Spreadin' freedom an' democracy
In the face of growing pressure from the Bush misadministration for him to step down, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari of Iraq on Wednesday vigorously asserted his right to stay in office and warned the Americans against undue interference in Iraq's political process.Well, it's 1, 2, 3...
The sun rose this morning...
I don't know - is it really news when Bill O'Reilly acts like an asshat?
Stronger than dirt
Archaeologists find hero's palace from Trojan War. Those must've been some condoms.
Among the ruins of a 3,200-year-old palace near Athens, researchers are piecing together the story of legendary Greek warrior-king Ajax, hero of the Trojan War.
Archaeologist Yiannis Lolos found remains of the palace while hiking on the island of Salamis in 1999, and has led excavations there for the past six years.
On a wooded hill overlooking the sea at Kanakia on Salamis' southwestern coast, Lolos' team has excavated a town surmounted by a fortified palace complex.
The site flourished in the 13th century B.C. - at the same time as the major centers of Mycenae and Pylos in southern Greece - and was abandoned during widespread unrest about 100 years later.
Archaeologist Yiannis Lolos found remains of the palace while hiking on the island of Salamis in 1999, and has led excavations there for the past six years.
On a wooded hill overlooking the sea at Kanakia on Salamis' southwestern coast, Lolos' team has excavated a town surmounted by a fortified palace complex.
The site flourished in the 13th century B.C. - at the same time as the major centers of Mycenae and Pylos in southern Greece - and was abandoned during widespread unrest about 100 years later.
Picture of something else entirely.
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No-talent assclown wants Snow replaced
Josh Bolten, the incoming White House chief of staff, wants Treasury Secretary John Snow replaced with someone who can "present the [mis]administration's message more forcefully," the New York Times reports.
On Wednesday, White House spokes-tool Scott McClellan said Bush believes Snow is doing a heckuva job: "The president appreciates the great job that Secretary Snow is doing, he is an important member of our economic team."
Look for Mr Snow to announce he'll be spending more time with his family any day now.
D'oh!!
Rethug Congressional candidate/dumbass who posted a fake picture of Baghdad on his website to show how calm and stable it is replaces it with an actual picture of Baghdad. Unfortunately for him the building in the new picture has since been blown up.
Rethug tranny skank in trouble with the law
Syphilitic ho-bag mAnn Coulter given 30 days to explain why she broke election laws by voting in wrong precinct.
In a registered letter scheduled to be sent to her this week, Coulter is asked to "clarify certain information as to her legal residence," elections boss Arthur Anderson said.
"We want to give her a chance," Anderson said. "She needs to tell us where she really lives."
Or else? He could refer the case to State Attorney Barry Krischer for criminal charges, Anderson said.
"We want to give her a chance," Anderson said. "She needs to tell us where she really lives."
Or else? He could refer the case to State Attorney Barry Krischer for criminal charges, Anderson said.
But because the loathsome, brownshirted QTip lied about her place of residence, the letter 'may be headed to the wrong house.'
"We have to send the registered letter to her address in our records," explained Charmaine Kelly, elections chief deputy. "If it comes back unsigned, we'll deal with that."
Coulter, a constitutional lawyer who relentlessly made fun of Palm Beach County voters after the botched 2000 presidential election, couldn't be reached for comment.
Coulter, a constitutional lawyer who relentlessly made fun of Palm Beach County voters after the botched 2000 presidential election, couldn't be reached for comment.
Oh, the hughmanity...
Conservative gasbag asstool Hugh Hewitt informs Time Magazine reporter Michael Ware - who's been embedded on the frontline of just about every single battle in Iraq - that his radio station studio is just as perilous as the Sunni Triangle.
Photographer: the Herald got it right
‘You’re not going to print that, are you?’ - US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Amid a growing national controversy about the gesture Justice Antonin Scalia made Sunday at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, the freelance photographer who captured the moment has come forward with the picture.
“It’s inaccurate and deceptive of him to say there was no vulgarity in the moment,” said Peter Smith, the photojournalism professor who made the shot. ....
“The judge paused for a second, then looked directly into my lens and said, ‘To my critics, I say, ‘Vaffanculo,’ ” punctuating the comment by flicking his right hand out from under his chin, Smith said.
The Italian phrase means "fuck you.”
“It’s inaccurate and deceptive of him to say there was no vulgarity in the moment,” said Peter Smith, the photojournalism professor who made the shot. ....
“The judge paused for a second, then looked directly into my lens and said, ‘To my critics, I say, ‘Vaffanculo,’ ” punctuating the comment by flicking his right hand out from under his chin, Smith said.
The Italian phrase means "fuck you.”
It certainly does. So does the gesture by itself. My dad would've smacked the living shit out of us if he had ever caught us doing that.
Filling the Karl Rove Chair of Official Truths
Our pick for the next conservative blogger at washingtonpost.com: the lovely and talented General. Email Jim Brady at executive.editor@washingtonpost.com and let him lnow what an asset this fine all-American patriot could be.
Heh
"By pushing his way to the front of the volatile debate over immigration, Senate Majority Leader[/douchebag] Bill Frist has reignited complaints that his presidential ambitions conflict with his leadership duties at times and put him at odds with his GOP caucus."
"Eh? Sorry, I can't hear you - I've got a jackboot in my ear..."
*****
SOB story
I'm all choked up.
In his overly determined pursuit of helping people and charities, Mr. Abramoff spent virtually all of the funds he earned in his various business dealings. Determined to help others, and confident that he could always earn more money if needed, he ignored the guidance of his financial advisors and accountants who repeatedly warned him that he needed to put funds aside into personal savings. Now, Mr. Abramoff is broke.- Morally, ethically, and financially! A trifecta! (Via Crooks and Liars)
Yay
Jon at the Pensito Review says the 5-point-whatever years in FPMITA prison that the GOP's best friend Jack Abramoff just got does not include the sentences he’ll receive for bribing Republi-con congressman Bob Ney and others, such as corrupt, indicted scumbag Tom DeLay.
Cartoons of the prophet Mohammed are so last week, says the Culture Ghost.
Deja doodoo
With poll numbers stuck in the crapper and the midterm elections right around the corner, Bush and the repugs rub their dirty little paws in glee as the UN gives Iran 30 days to comply with demands to stop enriching uranium.
Next: the UN tries to figure out what to do if Iran refuses. Restraining order against the US on shortlist.
March 29, 2006
But... but... Clinton Saddam!
Bush blaming Saddam for Iraq instability
Preznit Stupid O'Liar said Wednesday that Saddam Hussein, not the continued US meddling and firepower in Iraq, is responsible for ongoing sectarian violence that is threatening the formation of a democratic government.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid accused Bush of sending "mixed messages" on Iraq that are hurting Iraq's chances for success.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid accused Bush of sending "mixed messages" on Iraq that are hurting Iraq's chances for success.
Bwwaa! God bless Harry Reid sometimes.
Abramoff sentenced for wire fraud
Via email from CNN: Judge sentences rethug pet lobbyist Jack Abramoff to five years and 10 months in prison in his Florida fraud case, news agencies report.
Isn't that like getting Al Capone for tax evasion? Well, whatever.
wHoward Kurtz is a fucking asshat
But first, from Media Matters: ask washingtonpost.com's executive editor why he hired an unqualified, bigoted conservative pissant --
Ben Domenech's resignation doesn't erase the hard questions about why he was originally hired. Washingtonpost.com still needs to explain why a partisan operative who admits he is not a journalist and who has a history of racially charged rhetoric, homophobic bigotry, and serial plagiarism was given a platform on washingtonpost.com in the first place -- and what steps the paper is taking to ensure that such a fiasco does not happen again.
Contact Jim Brady and ask him why he decided to hire Domenech, a rabidly partisan activist with no real credentials and a history of bigoted comments.
Contact Jim Brady and ask him why he decided to hire Domenech, a rabidly partisan activist with no real credentials and a history of bigoted comments.
The WaComPo's WH whore wHoward Kurtz whores in:
Fuckhead. That would be 'no.' Look it up. And that brings me to the larger question: why the #uck are you still getting paid to do your column?
I hope that more people with conservative, free-market or libertarian viewpoints decide to go into mainstream journalism to balance those of more liberal persuasions.
LAT columnist Tim Rutten picks up on Jim Brady's comment to me "that he hired the commentator because 'we were completely unrepresented by a social conservative voice.' Fair enough, but the fact is that washingtonpost.com also doesn't have a designated blue state voice, which lent a certain plausibility to the liberal bloggers' initial charge that Domenech was recruited to appease conservative critics who have been raging about the alleged liberal bias of [washingtonpost.com] staff writer Dan Froomkin's popular White House Briefing blog.
LAT columnist Tim Rutten picks up on Jim Brady's comment to me "that he hired the commentator because 'we were completely unrepresented by a social conservative voice.' Fair enough, but the fact is that washingtonpost.com also doesn't have a designated blue state voice, which lent a certain plausibility to the liberal bloggers' initial charge that Domenech was recruited to appease conservative critics who have been raging about the alleged liberal bias of [washingtonpost.com] staff writer Dan Froomkin's popular White House Briefing blog.
Certain plausibility. It's also plausible you're a cheap, cocksucking moron.
RNC memo warns GOP not to distance themselves from the Lying DisasterMonkey
"We are now brand W. Republicans"
Republican pollster Jan van Lohuizen, in a memo written for RNC chairman Ken Mehlman, warns that if members of Congress try to drive a wedge between themselves and Pres. Bush, it'd be akin to adding weight to an anchor. GOPers are "W Brand Republicans" whether they like it or not.
Van Louhizen, who has polled (often secretly) for the Bush White House under the RNC aegis for years, is worried about low voter turnout:
Van Louhizen, who has polled (often secretly) for the Bush White House under the RNC aegis for years, is worried about low voter turnout:
"We don't see signs of a depressed Republican turnout yet, but we have every reason to believe Democrats will turn out in high numbers. Anything we do to depress turnout, by not running as a unified party for instance, could very well lead to serious consequences in November."
"It was very clear that George Bush was set on going to war"
"White House Memo" drives a stake into the heart of White House lies
Something remarkable happened Monday: the corporate media finally got sick of Bush's endless lies about Iraq, and started to tell the truth.
The NY Times article [about how Bush told Tony Blair that war was inevitable, and that it didn't matter if WMDs were found] caused White House reporters to challenge Scott McClellan at the morning press gaggle. And in the evening, the "White House Memo" was featured on two key cable shows - Hardball with Chris Matthews and Countdown with Keith Olbermann.
Why is the truth finally breaking through? Because of us - all of us.
The NY Times article [about how Bush told Tony Blair that war was inevitable, and that it didn't matter if WMDs were found] caused White House reporters to challenge Scott McClellan at the morning press gaggle. And in the evening, the "White House Memo" was featured on two key cable shows - Hardball with Chris Matthews and Countdown with Keith Olbermann.
Why is the truth finally breaking through? Because of us - all of us.
March 28, 2006
Democracy an' freedom's on the march!
The American ambassador has told Shiite officials in Iraq to inform the prime minister that President Fuckhead McStupidton does not want him to remain the country's leader in the next government. Did the space-time continuum just implode here? Because it should have.
Ambassador Khalilzad said that President Bush "doesn't want, doesn't support, doesn't accept" the democratically-elected Mr. Jaafari to be the next prime minister.
It is the first time the Americans have directly intervened in the furious debate over the country's top job, the politicians said, and it is inflaming tensions between the Americans and some Shiite leaders...
It is the first time the Americans have directly intervened in the furious debate over the country's top job, the politicians said, and it is inflaming tensions between the Americans and some Shiite leaders...
... even more! Jebus, wtf is he thinking??? Oh. Yeah.
Ha ha ha ha ha!
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! {**cough**diebolt**cough**}
The greater threat to our nation's security comes not from Dubai and its pro-Western government, but from Venezuela, where software engineers with links to the leftist, anti-American regime of Hugo Chávez {Ooooooh! The next Saddam! - Ed.} are programming electronic voting machines that will soon power U.S. elections.
Congress spent two weeks overreacting to news that Dubai Ports World would operate several American ports, including Miami's, but a better target for their hysteria would be the acquisition by Smartmatic International of California-based Sequoia Voting Systems, whose machines serve millions of U.S. voters.
Congress spent two weeks overreacting to news that Dubai Ports World would operate several American ports, including Miami's, but a better target for their hysteria would be the acquisition by Smartmatic International of California-based Sequoia Voting Systems, whose machines serve millions of U.S. voters.
Bwwwwaaaaaaaa! Oh noes! Brrrrrrrrrrr! Ha ha ha ha ha! {**diebolt**cough cough**}
Falafels!
Cranky fuckwit Cal Thomas has called an upcoming film about anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan "a liberal porno film." What do you think right-wing porn would be about?
Hot Karl news
A source close to the repulsive slimeball says that Karl Rove has turned on Scooter Libby, and is "cooperating enthusiastically" with Fitzgerald. At least until Cheney shoots him in the face.
According to several Pentagon sources close to Rove and others familiar with the inquiry, Bush's senior adviser tipped off Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to information that led to the recent "discovery" of 250 pages of missing email from the office of Vice President Dick Cheney.
Pretty interesting stuff, though, seeing the President's closest advisor potentially ratting out the Vice President's former closest advisor. Extrapolate that to their bosses, and you really do have to wonder how long Cheney is going to be around. Clemons also points out that there are still nine months to go before Scooter's trial starts, and that Fitzgerald could very well widen the pool of White House staff and officials charged in the case. There have to be some pretty intriguing names connected to those 250 pages of e-mail.
Pretty interesting stuff, though, seeing the President's closest advisor potentially ratting out the Vice President's former closest advisor. Extrapolate that to their bosses, and you really do have to wonder how long Cheney is going to be around. Clemons also points out that there are still nine months to go before Scooter's trial starts, and that Fitzgerald could very well widen the pool of White House staff and officials charged in the case. There have to be some pretty intriguing names connected to those 250 pages of e-mail.
But TalkLeft says
Rove will still have to plead to making a false statement to federal officials -- but he's now worked himself down to probation and no jail in exchange for his cooperation. Fitz may allow him to remain uncharged until at least Libby's trial is over, and then let him plead to an Information charging a single false statement count.
Then there's this from truthout:
It may seem as though it's been moving along at a snail's pace, but the second part of the federal investigation into the leak of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson is nearly complete, with attorneys and government officials who have remained close to the probe saying that a grand jury will likely return an indictment against one or two senior Bush administration officials.
Bah. Watch that slimy little worm cop a plea. Then be pardoned by his boss.
Bush backs Abramoff-linked senator
Preznit Dumbass expressed support during a fundraiser Monday for craven moron Conrad Burns, who has received $150,000 from corrupt, indicted rethug lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
That made no difference to Smirky McStupid, however:
"He's the kind of person the people of Montana need here. They need somebody who's steadfast when it comes to defending the country, who's wise about how we spend your money,"Jebus. Does he even know what he's talking about? Does he even pay attention to what he's saying? Or does some minion just hand him the talking point and a mic after winding him up for the day?the drooling monkeyBush said.
Fun fact: according to a recent article in Vanity Fair, Abramoff said Burns had been "especially cooperative." I can almost hear the good senator replying "... bitch set me up."
Fun fact II: 'steadfast when it comes to defending the country'? WTF?? The man's an idiotic, racist jerk, not a #ucking Rambo:
In 1991, Burns shocked lobbyists when he invited them to a slave auction after voting for a civil rights bill.
In 1994, Burns told the editorial board of the Bozeman Chronicle that when asked by a constituent, "How can you live back there in Washington, DC with all those niggers?" he replied, "[It's] a hell of a challenge." When he was asked about the use of the racial slur, he said: "I don't know. I never gave it much thought."
In 1997, Burns referred to Yellowstone National Park's superintendent as a "jughead" because of the park's bison management.
On February 17, 1999 Burns referred to Arabs as "ragheads".
In 2000, he offended a Billings woman when he pointed to her nose ring and asked her what tribe she was from.
In September 2005, Burns reportedly told a Northwest Airlines flight attendant worried about losing her job that she could stay at home and be a mother if she lost her job to outsourcing.
On December 21, 2005 Burns stated that "We've got to remember that the people who first hit us in 9/11 entered this country through Canada." Canadian ambassador Frank McKenna demanded an apology.
In late February 2006, Burns said President Bush has a skull of "solid granite."
In 1994, Burns told the editorial board of the Bozeman Chronicle that when asked by a constituent, "How can you live back there in Washington, DC with all those niggers?" he replied, "[It's] a hell of a challenge." When he was asked about the use of the racial slur, he said: "I don't know. I never gave it much thought."
In 1997, Burns referred to Yellowstone National Park's superintendent as a "jughead" because of the park's bison management.
On February 17, 1999 Burns referred to Arabs as "ragheads".
In 2000, he offended a Billings woman when he pointed to her nose ring and asked her what tribe she was from.
In September 2005, Burns reportedly told a Northwest Airlines flight attendant worried about losing her job that she could stay at home and be a mother if she lost her job to outsourcing.
On December 21, 2005 Burns stated that "We've got to remember that the people who first hit us in 9/11 entered this country through Canada." Canadian ambassador Frank McKenna demanded an apology.
In late February 2006, Burns said President Bush has a skull of "solid granite."
Well, he got one thing right.
Heckuva job, Andy
With Bush's approval ratings in the toilet and repugs calling for a shake-up in staff, Andy Card himself "suggested" that he should step down.
Great! Everybody knew that he was the one ruining everything for this administration.
"I've watched as you have kept your oath to preserve and protect the Constitution," Card unexplainably told the dipshit president.
So he's leaving for mental reasons. I see.
Bush pretends to squash Card's head like a grape in this undated photo.
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Breaking WH news
Whoa!
Via email from CNN: White House chief of staff Andrew Card has resigned, will be replaced by budget director/no-talent assclown Josh Bolten, administration official says.
March 27, 2006
Not quite getting the concept
WWJFO?
US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, just minutes after attending mass, flipped reporters the bird.
A Boston Herald reporter asked the 70-year-old conservative Roman Catholic if he faces much questioning over impartiality when it comes to issues separating church and state.
"You know what I say to those people?" Scalia replied, making the obscene gesture and explaining "That's Sicilian."
"You know what I say to those people?" Scalia replied, making the obscene gesture and explaining "That's Sicilian."
Stay classy, asshat.
Dem voters 
Feingold
While only two Democrats in the Senate have have actually grown a pair and embraced Sen. Russ Feingold's call for censuring Bush, the idea is increasing his standing among many Democratic voters.
A Newsweek poll taken March 16-17 found that, among Democrats, 60 percent favored the effort.
"These Democratic pundits are all scared of the Republican base getting energized, but they're willing to pay the price of not energizing the Democratic base," Feingold said. "It's an overly defensive and meek approach to politics."
RNC headcheese Ken Mehlman criticized Feingold, reinforcing an RNC radio ad in which a narrator says, "Call Russ Feingold and ask him why he's more interested in censuring the president than protecting our freedom."
A Newsweek poll taken March 16-17 found that, among Democrats, 60 percent favored the effort.
"These Democratic pundits are all scared of the Republican base getting energized, but they're willing to pay the price of not energizing the Democratic base," Feingold said. "It's an overly defensive and meek approach to politics."
RNC headcheese Ken Mehlman criticized Feingold, reinforcing an RNC radio ad in which a narrator says, "Call Russ Feingold and ask him why he's more interested in censuring the president than protecting our freedom."
Call Ken Mehlman and ask him how it feels to be spurious, oleaginous jerkoff.
Feingold's response, essentially, is bring it on.
"I welcome their attempt to make a campaign issue of the question of whether there will be accountability for the president's breaking the law," he said. "They will remind people every minute that the president thumbed his nose at the law."
"I welcome their attempt to make a campaign issue of the question of whether there will be accountability for the president's breaking the law," he said. "They will remind people every minute that the president thumbed his nose at the law."
Fun fact: Not only has he thumbed his nose, he's also picked it in public.
Can I get a R'amen?
The holy book of Pastafarianism to hit the shelves on Tuesday.
The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster ($13.95, $10.74 at amazon.com) contains such revelations as there's a beer volcano in heaven, dinosaur "fossils" were hid underground to "dupe mankind," and heaven has a stripper factory. Arrrrrrr!
Blaming the media
wHoward Kurtz gets his clueless ass handed back to him by Laura Logan, chief foreign correspondent for CBS News:
KURTZ: But critics would say, well, no wonder people back home think things are falling apart because we get this steady drumbeat of negativity from the correspondents there.
LOGAN: Well, who says things aren't falling apart in Iraq? I mean, what you didn't see on your screens this week was all the unidentified bodies that have been turning up, all the allegations here of militias that are really controlling the security forces.
What about all the American soldiers that died this week that you didn't see on our screens? I mean, we've reported on reconstruction stories over and over again… I really resent the fact that people say that we're not reflecting the true picture here. That's totally unfair and it's really unfounded.
You don't think that I haven't been to the US military and the State Department and the embassy and asked them over and over again, let's see the good stories, show us some of the good things that are going on? Oh, sorry, we can't take to you that school project, because if you put that on TV, they're going to be attacked, the teachers are going to be killed, the children might be victims of attack. Oh, sorry, we can't show this reconstruction project because then that's going to expose it to sabotage. And the last time we had journalists down here, the plant was attacked. I mean, security dominates every single thing that happens in this country….So how it is that security issues should not then dominate the media coverage coming out of here?
KURTZ: I want to play for you a piece of tape involving Laura Ingraham, the conservative radio talk show how who was on "The Today Show" earlier this week and criticized "The Today Show" for not doing more from Iraq. Let's listen to what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LAURA INGRAHAM, BRAINDEAD TWAT: To do a show from Iraq means to talk to the Iraqi military, to go out with the Iraqi military, to actually have a conversation with the people instead of reporting from hotel balconies about the latest IEDs going off. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ: What do you make of that comment about reporting from hotel balconies?
LOGAN (paraphrasing): I have two words for that stupid bitch - 'Bob Woodruff.'
LOGAN: Well, who says things aren't falling apart in Iraq? I mean, what you didn't see on your screens this week was all the unidentified bodies that have been turning up, all the allegations here of militias that are really controlling the security forces.
What about all the American soldiers that died this week that you didn't see on our screens? I mean, we've reported on reconstruction stories over and over again… I really resent the fact that people say that we're not reflecting the true picture here. That's totally unfair and it's really unfounded.
You don't think that I haven't been to the US military and the State Department and the embassy and asked them over and over again, let's see the good stories, show us some of the good things that are going on? Oh, sorry, we can't take to you that school project, because if you put that on TV, they're going to be attacked, the teachers are going to be killed, the children might be victims of attack. Oh, sorry, we can't show this reconstruction project because then that's going to expose it to sabotage. And the last time we had journalists down here, the plant was attacked. I mean, security dominates every single thing that happens in this country….So how it is that security issues should not then dominate the media coverage coming out of here?
KURTZ: I want to play for you a piece of tape involving Laura Ingraham, the conservative radio talk show how who was on "The Today Show" earlier this week and criticized "The Today Show" for not doing more from Iraq. Let's listen to what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LAURA INGRAHAM, BRAINDEAD TWAT: To do a show from Iraq means to talk to the Iraqi military, to go out with the Iraqi military, to actually have a conversation with the people instead of reporting from hotel balconies about the latest IEDs going off. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ: What do you make of that comment about reporting from hotel balconies?
LOGAN (paraphrasing): I have two words for that stupid bitch - 'Bob Woodruff.'
Well, DUH During a private two-hour meeting in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2003, Bush made clear to Prime Minister Tony 'Piddles' Blair that he was determined to invade Iraq without the second UN resolution, or even if international arms inspectors failed to find unconventional weapons. Faced with the possibility of not finding any before the planned invasion, Bush talked about several ways to provoke a confrontation, including a proposal to paint a United States surveillance plane in the colors of the United Nations in hopes of drawing fire, or assassinating Saddam Hussein.
The NY Times finally gets around to confirming what we and other blogs reported a few weeks ago:
"No preznit wants war..." - Bunnypants, lying again last week.
Blaming the media
30 corpses found in Iraq on day of extreme violence - headline at Fox News. Oh, and it's up to 40 now.
Tensions high in Iraq after US raid kills followers of Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr - the WaComPo.
New Iraqi school painted, destroyed by car bomb - OK, blame me, I made that one up.
And there you have the GOP strategy for 2006: blame the media (again). See, the problem with Iraq is not that they're on the verge of civil war, or that around 40 people are killed every day in sectarian violence - the problem is that the media isn't reporting on all the good things going on over there.
It's not for want of trying. Two weeks ago Jake Tapper of ABC news attempted to do a lighthearted story on the production of an upcoming Iraqi sit-com called "Me and Layla." Everything was going great until the the head of the entertainment division for Iraqi TV was, uh, assassinated on his way to work.
It's not for want of trying. Two weeks ago Jake Tapper of ABC news attempted to do a lighthearted story on the production of an upcoming Iraqi sit-com called "Me and Layla." Everything was going great until the the head of the entertainment division for Iraqi TV was, uh, assassinated on his way to work.
- from this week's Top 10 Conservative Idiots at DU. And make sure you see number 10.
March 24, 2006
Blaming the messenger
"How can you not trust Bush?" says Chris Matthews after zipping up Bush's fly.
MATTHEWS: Gayle Taylor criticized media coverage of the war in Iraq at the president’s town hall meeting with military families just yesterday. Her husband, Warrant Officer Kent Taylor, served in Iraq for a year with the Army National Guard’s mobile public affairs detachment and was a broadcast journalist for the Army National Guard. Welcome to you, both. I have to start with Gayle. What moved you to make that very strong statement at the meeting yesterday with the president? ...
MS TAYLOR: Braaaaak! I'll believe anything Mr Mehlman tells me! The liberal media hates our dear leader! 9/11!
MR TAYLOR: In some aspects, I believe there could very well be a political motive. I know, for a fact, that there are members of the media who are bitterly opposed to our president, the Christian values that he believes in, the decisions he makes, and even the party he stands for.
MS TAYLOR: Braaaaak! I'll believe anything Mr Mehlman tells me! The liberal media hates our dear leader! 9/11!
MR TAYLOR: In some aspects, I believe there could very well be a political motive. I know, for a fact, that there are members of the media who are bitterly opposed to our president, the Christian values that he believes in, the decisions he makes, and even the party he stands for.
MARU: Oh holy fucking Chr*st. Yeah, that's it. Asshat.
"This is bad"
- the National Review's Stephen Spruiell.
A two-day effort by liberal bloggers to publicize numerous examples of plagiarism committed by new Washington Post blogger Ben Domenech culminated today in calls that he give up his new position - - from some of his conservative supporters. One of them, most dramatically, is columnist and.. who, for a while there, seemed to blame everyone else but Ben for his blatant plagiarism..bigotblogger Michelle Malkin.
"Domenech's detractors, are right. He should own up to it and step down. Then, the Left should cease its sick gloating and leave him and his family alone."Yeah, and I'm sure you felt the same way about Dan Rather.
Conservative blogger Dan Riehl added
"His judgment displays a profound lack of moral and ethical grounding. Ambition is
no excuse for theft. And that’s precisely what plagiarism is."
Great moments in television
CNN"s Jack Cafferty lays the smackdown on the whiny-ass titty-babies* who say the press is too negative in its coverage of Iraq.
WOLF BLITZER: Very briefly, is there any sign of a backlash against the mainstream media because of our coverage of what's happening in Iraq?
wHOWARD KURTZ: Yes, among conservatives, among military family members and others. A lot of people, as we saw that woman from West Virginia, blaming us for the situation there.
CAFFERTY: You know, I just have a question. I mean, part of the coverage, they don't like the coverage, maybe because we were sold a different ending to this story three years ago. We were told that we'd be embraced as conquering heroes, flower pedals strewn in the soldiers' paths, a unity government would be formed, everything would be rosy this -- three years after the fact, the troops would be home.
Well, it's not turning out that way. And if somebody came into New York City and blew up St. Patrick's Cathedral and in the resulting days they were finding 50 and 60 dead bodies a day on the streets of New York, you suppose the news media would cover it? You're damn right they would.
This is nonsense, it's the media's fault and the news isn't good in Iraq. The news isn't good in Iraq. There's violence in Iraq. People are found dead every day in the streets of Baghdad. This didn't turn out the way the politicians told us it would. And it's our fault? I beg to differ.
wHOWARD KURTZ: Yes, among conservatives, among military family members and others. A lot of people, as we saw that woman from West Virginia, blaming us for the situation there.
CAFFERTY: You know, I just have a question. I mean, part of the coverage, they don't like the coverage, maybe because we were sold a different ending to this story three years ago. We were told that we'd be embraced as conquering heroes, flower pedals strewn in the soldiers' paths, a unity government would be formed, everything would be rosy this -- three years after the fact, the troops would be home.
Well, it's not turning out that way. And if somebody came into New York City and blew up St. Patrick's Cathedral and in the resulting days they were finding 50 and 60 dead bodies a day on the streets of New York, you suppose the news media would cover it? You're damn right they would.
This is nonsense, it's the media's fault and the news isn't good in Iraq. The news isn't good in Iraq. There's violence in Iraq. People are found dead every day in the streets of Baghdad. This didn't turn out the way the politicians told us it would. And it's our fault? I beg to differ.
*thanks, Atrios!
****
The hell with the bad news from Iraq!
I blame the media for all the bad news we get about albinos...
Pic from Crooks and Liars.
****
Eat this!
Good: South Carolina's Republican governor Mark Sanford auctions off dinner with him and his wife for charity.
Better: A Democratic senator wins.
Bwwahaha: He invites several other Dems to join him, including the mayor; Sanford's primary opponent for governor; and some of Sanford's sharpest critics.
The redstate-ing of journalism
WH whore wHoward Kurtz, so-called media "critic" at the WaComPo, writes another so-what say-nothing column. This time he notes that some people - and you know who you are, you crazed Bush-haters of the liberal base - are "seeing red" over the hiring of conservative bigot and plagiarist Ben 'tongue-in-cheek' Domenech by the WaComPo.
Jim Brady, executive editor of Washingtonpost.com, said Domenech was hired because "we were completely unrepresented by a social conservative voice." He said his goal "is to provide voices from as many perspectives as possible" and that Domenech is not intended to balance anyone in particular on his staff.And there he left it. Huh. So how does he explain Charles Krauthammer, David Broder and George Will? Oh gee, that's right, he doesn't.
FUBAR fact: Domenech, besides being a frothing mouthpiece for the freetard wing of the rightwingnut base, is also a former Bush misadministration aide and an editor for
Egon.
Blaming the media
Maybe Rush, Sean Hannity and John Gibson should go over there to do some reporting. You know, tell us how long was the electricity on that day, or if the water was running. How many Iraqi troops were trained. How the sanitation problem is going. How much oil was pumped. How many people actually feel safe leaving the Green Zone...
FUBAR fact: headline from Fox News, via RimJob's Circlejerk Central: "Nearly 20 Iraqis Die in Baghdad Attacks"
FUBAR fact 2: 'Eyewitness accounts both by the Bush administration and by journalists on the ground back up the media’s perspective of the chaos' in Iraq.
Journalist for Fox News reports on the progress we're making in Iraq.
****
March 23, 2006
Huh?
Hume: humorous assclown or certifiable fuckwit?
Helen Thomas has an 'agenda' - says Fox News's Brit Hume.
"To some people, it's journalism in its most heroic form. To others, it's tendentious (partisan) and unprofessional and I'll leave it to our viewers to decide which they think it is."
Yeah, I'm pretty sure your viewers would agree with you.
We got snakes on a motherf*cking plane!
More gore, more nudity, more snakes and more death scenes have been added to what might be possibly the best movie evar.
Yeah!
"I was taught that the Congress makes the laws and the president is supposed to sign them and enforce them. He's not supposed to make them up." - Russ Feingold on the Daily Show: Crooks and Liars has the video.
The most trusted name in nooze
Like most of its viewers, Gallup drops CNN.
Yes, Mr Preznit, thanks - what makes you so awesome?!
Ahhhhh, Spring...
Perennial WH whore wHoward Fineman pulls on the garter belt, lubes up and bends over for the "new" George W, as the Smirking Dipwad manfully "wages war against terrorists inside the homeland.” I'll never watch "24" again.
And fellow fellatorian wHoward Kurtz sprays on the Eau de Paris Freedom and spreads 'em for his resolute hero Chimpy McCodpiece, as he manfully wages war "against a left-wing press corps." Why does the press corpse hate America? Everything is going great, but you'd never know it from the damn media.
/snort
And copies of Guns and Ammo, Hot and Horny magazines
Dick Cheney's suite demands include all TVs tuned to Fox News, box of Wet-Wipes, jumper cables.
The Smoking Gun has obtained the "backstage" demands of Dick Cheney's standard "tour" rider. The document is provided to hotels where Cheney will be bunking and lists how the Republican pol's "Downtime Suite" needs to be outfitted.
A comfy 68 degrees and lights already on.
All the televisions need to be preset to the Fox News Channel
Decaf coffee should be ready upon his arrival
Four cans of caffeine-free Diet Sprite.
When Cheney is traveling with his wife, the second family's suite needs an additional two bottles of sparkling water. Mrs. Cheney's H2O should be either Calistoga or, curiously, Perrier, a favored beverage of French terrorism appeasers.
A comfy 68 degrees and lights already on.
All the televisions need to be preset to the Fox News Channel
Decaf coffee should be ready upon his arrival
Four cans of caffeine-free Diet Sprite.
When Cheney is traveling with his wife, the second family's suite needs an additional two bottles of sparkling water. Mrs. Cheney's H2O should be either Calistoga or, curiously, Perrier, a favored beverage of French terrorism appeasers.
LOL. Newspapers to be supplied include the NY Times, the Whore Street Jism, the WaComPo, and the "local paper." What, no Moonie Times??
"Hey, this isn't decaf! Arghh! Zzzzzt! Gak!"
*****
Joemental
President Merkin Muffley: This is preposterous. I've never approved of anything like that.
Russian Ambassador DeSadeski: Our source was the New York Times.
- Dr Strangelove.
"Let me finish! Let me finish!!" Joe Lieberman has been sucking up to Bush for so long that he's now starting to sound like him.
Lieberman: This quote is totally out of context. You might have gotten it from the bloggers, who love to do this. {Huh? What'd WE do?? - Ed.}
The Hartford Courant's Colin McEnroe: No, actually I got it…
Lieberman: Read the whole speech, it’s below your standards.
McEnroe: Senator, actually I got it from the New York Times.
Lieberman: Well, that’s just as bad! Go back and read the speech, be more responsible.
The Hartford Courant's Colin McEnroe: No, actually I got it…
Lieberman: Read the whole speech, it’s below your standards.
McEnroe: Senator, actually I got it from the New York Times.
Lieberman: Well, that’s just as bad! Go back and read the speech, be more responsible.
- more on the Joemeltdown here.
Pic by RogerSandgren.
Post-credibility
Congressman Pete Stark writes a letter to the increasingly embarrassing WaComPo on their hiring of a rabidly partisan, basement-dwelling pimple-faced handjizzer:
Dear Shitheads,
I noted with interest that WashingtonPost.com has just hired a former Bush administration official to write a conservative blog entitled “Red America.”
Balanced coverage and ideologically diverse editorials have long been hallmarks of responsible journalism. If the Post would like to appear evenhanded, I strongly suggest the website launch a similarly partisan liberal blog, “Blue America.”
I recognize that the Post has come under fire for its supposed “liberal bias.” I only wish that were true. The Post’s editorial board has taken numerous positions – in support of a misguided Iraq war, for example – that suggest a conservative tilt.
For years, the right has worked to undermine media objectivity and bias coverage in conservatives’ favor. The Post’s new blog is the latest evidence that the Republican effort is working.
PETE STARK
U.S. Representative (D-CA, 13th)
Washington
Balanced coverage and ideologically diverse editorials have long been hallmarks of responsible journalism. If the Post would like to appear evenhanded, I strongly suggest the website launch a similarly partisan liberal blog, “Blue America.”
I recognize that the Post has come under fire for its supposed “liberal bias.” I only wish that were true. The Post’s editorial board has taken numerous positions – in support of a misguided Iraq war, for example – that suggest a conservative tilt.
For years, the right has worked to undermine media objectivity and bias coverage in conservatives’ favor. The Post’s new blog is the latest evidence that the Republican effort is working.
PETE STARK
U.S. Representative (D-CA, 13th)
Washington
March 22, 2006
Dear Mr. Brady
How's the weather up your own ass?
Just as the time of reckoning approaches and the Washington Post will, like it or no, have to take responsibility for all the flagrant, credulous warmongering it did in a fit of BushCo. access rapture, you guys hire the most thick-witted, mouth breathing home schooled freak you could lay your hands on.- from firedoglake's letter to the WaComPo, after their hiring of racist, "jingoistic feces flinger" Ben Domanech.
Wolverines!
Spot the WaComPo's reputation
*****
September 11th, you terrist-lover!!
"Its a good thing he wasn’t President when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, we’d still be in Argentina." - olephart.
Hero/patriot HELEN THOMAS: I’d like to ask you, Mr. President, your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, wounds of Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime. Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is, why did you really want to go to war?
BUSH: Everything changed on September the 11th! We — we got attacked! You know, we used to think we were secure because of oceans and previous diplomacy. But we realized on September the 11th, 2001, that killers could destroy innocent life. And that’s why I went into Iraq — hold on for a second — Look — excuse me for a second, please. Excuse me for a second. The Taliban provided safe haven for al Qaeda. That’s where al Qaeda trained —
HELEN THOMAS: I’m talking about Iraq —
PRESIDENT LIAR: Helen, excuse me. That’s where — Afghanistan provided safe haven for al Qaeda. That’s where they trained. That’s where they plotted. That’s where they planned the attacks that killed thousands of innocent Americans. I also saw a threat in Iraq. I was hoping to solve this problem diplomatically. An' that's why I pulled all the weapons inspectors out of... what? ... oh, and therefore, we worked with the world, we worked to make sure that Saddam Hussein heard the message of the world. And when he chose to deny inspectors, when he chose not to disclose, then I had the difficult decision to make to remove him.
- more at the Pensito Review.
BUSH: Everything changed on September the 11th! We — we got attacked! You know, we used to think we were secure because of oceans and previous diplomacy. But we realized on September the 11th, 2001, that killers could destroy innocent life. And that’s why I went into Iraq — hold on for a second — Look — excuse me for a second, please. Excuse me for a second. The Taliban provided safe haven for al Qaeda. That’s where al Qaeda trained —
HELEN THOMAS: I’m talking about Iraq —
PRESIDENT LIAR: Helen, excuse me. That’s where — Afghanistan provided safe haven for al Qaeda. That’s where they trained. That’s where they plotted. That’s where they planned the attacks that killed thousands of innocent Americans. I also saw a threat in Iraq. I was hoping to solve this problem diplomatically. An' that's why I pulled all the weapons inspectors out of... what? ... oh, and therefore, we worked with the world, we worked to make sure that Saddam Hussein heard the message of the world. And when he chose to deny inspectors, when he chose not to disclose, then I had the difficult decision to make to remove him.
- more at the Pensito Review.
Excuse me??? What a fucking liar. Saddam, time and time again before the war, reiterated that Iraq had destroyed all of its weapons of mass destruction. Bush and his neocon fascist fuckheads chose not to believe him. Saddam also allowed the inspectors in to prove it. Jebus.
The Scarecrow fights the strawmen
Now, some in this country would say that yesterday's press conference once again showed Liar McLyington's fondness for the old debater's trick of setting up straw men and knocking them down, the result being that you look like you've demolished your opponents' ridiculous argument.
Now, maybe some discount those words as kind of meaningless propaganda. Bush doesn't. He takes them really seriously, some say.
Rethug hypocrites' panties in a wad
Bwwwwaaaaaa! Call the wahhhhhmbulance! This is rich:
Republicans accused Capitol Hill Democrats yesterday of plotting {yes, "plotting," mwaahahaha... - Ed.} to use military bases as props for political press events to criticize President Bush for his handling of the war in Iraq.
"I think that is deplorable," Sen. George Allen said yesterday on Fox 'News.' "It is pitiful. We are at war. This country needs to be unified and realize who the enemy is -- it's not fellow Americans."
Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, dismissed the accusations and pointed to several examples of Mr. Bush and other Republicans using soldiers in uniform and military equipment for what he said was clear political gain. Among them was Mr. Bush's 2003 fighter-jet landing onto an aircraft carrier adorned with a hugecodpiece banner that read: "Mission Accomplished."
"President Bush and Republicans have perfected the art of politicizing our military, and they should think twice before they unfairly accuse Democrats of following in their path," Mr. Manley said.
"I think that is deplorable," Sen. George Allen said yesterday on Fox 'News.' "It is pitiful. We are at war. This country needs to be unified and realize who the enemy is -- it's not fellow Americans."
Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, dismissed the accusations and pointed to several examples of Mr. Bush and other Republicans using soldiers in uniform and military equipment for what he said was clear political gain. Among them was Mr. Bush's 2003 fighter-jet landing onto an aircraft carrier adorned with a huge
"President Bush and Republicans have perfected the art of politicizing our military, and they should think twice before they unfairly accuse Democrats of following in their path," Mr. Manley said.
- from the Moonie Times.
Turkey gives plastic turkee to troops.
*****
Prosecutors want indicted DeLay charges reinstated
Prosecutors will try to persuade a Texas appeals court Wednesday to reinstate some of the criminal charges against the reprehensible and indicted Tom DeLay.
In December, a judge threw out some of the conspiracy and money laundering charges against the indicted, corrupt scumbag, saying the conspiracy law DeLay "allegedly" violated did not exist at the time. Prosecutors say that it did. Both sides will argue their cases before the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals.
Richard Murray, director of the Center for Public Policy at the University of Houston, said the prosecutors' appeal serves to "drag this case out and the congressman really doesn't need that."
"Tom DeLay needs this case to move forward to a favorable resolution before November," Murray said. "Every time he's mentioned in the press, it's 'indicted, indicted, indicted' and that's corrosive."
Richard Murray, director of the Center for Public Policy at the University of Houston, said the prosecutors' appeal serves to "drag this case out and the congressman really doesn't need that."
"Tom DeLay needs this case to move forward to a favorable resolution before November," Murray said. "Every time he's mentioned in the press, it's 'indicted, indicted, indicted' and that's corrosive."
Heh - you betcha.
Indicted scumbag Tom 'indicted scumbag' DeLay.
****
Case in point II
Credibilitude: The WaComPo hires a raving rethug troglodyte blogger with no journalism credentials to "balance their coverage."
March 21, 2006
James M. Brady, Executive Editor
The Washington Post
1150 15th Street NW
Washington, DC 20071
Dear Mr. Brady:
I noted with interest the Post's decision to add Republican operative Ben Domenech to its roster of bloggers.
Presumably, this decision grew out of reported complaints both inside and outside of the Post that online columnist Dan Froomkin is too liberal. It's worth noting that Froomkin himself has argued, "I do not advocate policy, liberal or otherwise. My agenda, such as it is, is accountability and transparency. I believe that the president of the United States, no matter what his party, should be subject to the most intense journalistic scrutiny imaginable."
But even if one were to grant the debatable premise that Froomkin is, indeed, a liberal, he is also a journalist by background and training, having spent 18 years in journalism, working for the Winston-Salem Journal, the Miami Herald and the Orange County Register in addition to nearly a decade with the Post. He is deputy editor of niemanwatchdog.org, the web site of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.
By contrast, while he does claim previous employment as a "political journalist," Domenech is first and foremost a partisan activist -- a Republican operative who has worked for the Bush administration and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), is currently an editor at a conservative publishing house, and who describes himself as "the youngest political appointee of President George W. Bush." He is also a co-founder of RedState.org, which describes itself in nakedly partisan terms -- "a Republican community weblog. RedState is focused on politics, and is dedicated to the construction of a Republican majority in the United States."
You recently wrote of reader comments deleted from the Post blog: "If I had let them, they would have obliterated any semblance of civil, genuine discussion." Domenech's inaugural post on his "Red America" blog for the Post referred to "the shrieking denizens of their [the Democrats'] increasingly extreme base" and "the unhinged elements of their base, motivated by partisan rage." Is that the sort of "civil, genuine discussion" you had in mind? Or do you have one set of rules for your staff and another for your readers, one set for liberals and another for conservatives?
Domenech and Froomkin are simply not comparable. In fact, as far as we can tell, the only other Post blogger with a background in partisan politics is Ron Nessen, who worked for a Republican president and who recently offered a snide and substance-free criticism of the progressive Center for American Progress.
When can we expect the Post to hire a partisan Democratic activist as a blogger to balance Domenech?
Sincerely,
David Brock
President & CEO
Media Matters for America
James M. Brady, Executive Editor
The Washington Post
1150 15th Street NW
Washington, DC 20071
Dear Mr. Brady:
I noted with interest the Post's decision to add Republican operative Ben Domenech to its roster of bloggers.
Presumably, this decision grew out of reported complaints both inside and outside of the Post that online columnist Dan Froomkin is too liberal. It's worth noting that Froomkin himself has argued, "I do not advocate policy, liberal or otherwise. My agenda, such as it is, is accountability and transparency. I believe that the president of the United States, no matter what his party, should be subject to the most intense journalistic scrutiny imaginable."
But even if one were to grant the debatable premise that Froomkin is, indeed, a liberal, he is also a journalist by background and training, having spent 18 years in journalism, working for the Winston-Salem Journal, the Miami Herald and the Orange County Register in addition to nearly a decade with the Post. He is deputy editor of niemanwatchdog.org, the web site of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.
By contrast, while he does claim previous employment as a "political journalist," Domenech is first and foremost a partisan activist -- a Republican operative who has worked for the Bush administration and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), is currently an editor at a conservative publishing house, and who describes himself as "the youngest political appointee of President George W. Bush." He is also a co-founder of RedState.org, which describes itself in nakedly partisan terms -- "a Republican community weblog. RedState is focused on politics, and is dedicated to the construction of a Republican majority in the United States."
You recently wrote of reader comments deleted from the Post blog: "If I had let them, they would have obliterated any semblance of civil, genuine discussion." Domenech's inaugural post on his "Red America" blog for the Post referred to "the shrieking denizens of their [the Democrats'] increasingly extreme base" and "the unhinged elements of their base, motivated by partisan rage." Is that the sort of "civil, genuine discussion" you had in mind? Or do you have one set of rules for your staff and another for your readers, one set for liberals and another for conservatives?
Domenech and Froomkin are simply not comparable. In fact, as far as we can tell, the only other Post blogger with a background in partisan politics is Ron Nessen, who worked for a Republican president and who recently offered a snide and substance-free criticism of the progressive Center for American Progress.
When can we expect the Post to hire a partisan Democratic activist as a blogger to balance Domenech?
Sincerely,
David Brock
President & CEO
Media Matters for America
According to E and P, firestormality ensued.
Fun fact: Domenech is implicated in the Jack Abramoff scandals.
Pic from firedoglake.
****
Case in point
Squee! Squeeee! Squeeeeee!!
[That dreamy piece of manmeat, our Warrior President] should hold more news conferences. In his hour-long exchange with reporters at the White House yesterday, he was considerably more effective in explaining and defending his commitment to the war in Iraq than in the three carefully worded speeches he has delivered in the past week. In his sometimes blunt, sometimes joking and sometimes unpolished way, he sounded authentic.- from a WaComPo fellitorial.
Jizzum Criminey. Excuse me while I vomit. He sounded like an authentic lying goober. An authentic lying goober who couldn't actually answer the questions posed, you imbecilic whore.
Pic from cuteoverload.com.
US media wallows in amnesia, Bush-spooge
Except for Helen Thomas, the White House steno corps{e} continues to let Bush get away with being a brazen, pathological liar.
Short of calling tens of millions of people in the most wired culture in the world stupid and/or ignorant, how does one explain such a discrepancy between reality and propaganda?
It's not the message; it's the media. Right from the beginning, the pundits waved the flag, while their organizations shut out dissent.
[W]hen the hard realities have to compete with yet another unfiltered Bush radio address or another truthy-ish speech by Vice-President Dick Cheney, followed (sometimes) by "analysis" consisting of partisan bickering, then it's pretty clear which side tips the scales of positive coverage.
- the Toronto Star.
It's not the message; it's the media. Right from the beginning, the pundits waved the flag, while their organizations shut out dissent.
[W]hen the hard realities have to compete with yet another unfiltered Bush radio address or another truthy-ish speech by Vice-President Dick Cheney, followed (sometimes) by "analysis" consisting of partisan bickering, then it's pretty clear which side tips the scales of positive coverage.
- the Toronto Star.
March 21, 2006
There are known knowns and unknown unknowns, and there are known morons
“We all recognized that there is violence, that there is sectarian violence. But the way I look at the situation is the Iraqis looked and decided not to go into civil war.”- Smirky McStupidson, 3/21/06.
Bush denies he always wanted war
Bunnypants, whose dad was almost killed by Saddam Hussein, "bristled at a suggestion that he wanted to wage war against Iraq from the beginning."
“I didn’t want war. To assume I wanted war is just flat wrong ... with all due respect,” he told a reporter. “No president wants war.” To those who say otherwise, “it’s simply not true,” Bush said.Oh really?
'F*ck Saddam! He's going down!'
Later that month, [American terrorism expert Imad] Hage met with Gen. Habbush in addition to Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. [Hage] was offered top priority to US firms in oil and mining rights, UN-supervised elections, US inspections (with up to 5,000 inspectors), to have al-Qaeda agent Abdul Rahman Yasin (in Iraqi custody since 1994) handed over as a sign of good faith, and to give "full support for any US plan" in the Arab-Israeli peace process. They also wished to meet with high-ranking US officials.
A few days later, [head of the Defense Policy Board Richard] Perle informed Hage that Washington refused to let him meet with Habbush to discuss the offer (Hage stated that Perle's response was "that the consensus in Washington was it was a no-go"). Perle told the Times, "The message was 'Tell them that we will see them in Baghdad."
- Wikipedia.
A few days later, [head of the Defense Policy Board Richard] Perle informed Hage that Washington refused to let him meet with Habbush to discuss the offer (Hage stated that Perle's response was "that the consensus in Washington was it was a no-go"). Perle told the Times, "The message was 'Tell them that we will see them in Baghdad."
- Wikipedia.
“There are memos. One of them marked, secret, says, ‘Plan for post-Saddam Iraq,’" adds Suskind, who says that they discussed an occupation of Iraq in January and February of 2001
“From the very beginning, there was a conviction, that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go,” says O’Neill, who adds that going after Saddam was topic "A" 10 days after the inauguration - eight months before Sept. 11.
“From the very first instance, it was about Iraq. It was about what we can do to change this regime,” says Suskind. “Day one, these things were laid and sealed.”
- Paul O'Neill interview.
“From the very beginning, there was a conviction, that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go,” says O’Neill, who adds that going after Saddam was topic "A" 10 days after the inauguration - eight months before Sept. 11.
“From the very first instance, it was about Iraq. It was about what we can do to change this regime,” says Suskind. “Day one, these things were laid and sealed.”
- Paul O'Neill interview.
Holy shit. Talk about rewriting history. Unbelievable. The #ucking nerve of these guys.
FBI agent warned of hijacking before 9/11
No one could have anticipated terrists flying planes into buildings...
An FBI agent said his bosses repeatedly disregarded warnings that September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui was a "very dangerous" terrorist who could hijack an airliner.
Agent Harry Samit testified at Moussaoui's death penalty trial that he became "desperate" after "criminally negligent" superiors blocked his probe into what he thought was a wider plot.
"You wanted the people in Washington to know that because you were concerned that Moussaoui was going to try to hijack a plane?" defense counsel Edward MacMahon asked Samit.
Samit also said he pleaded with his supervisors to warn the Secret Service after learning Moussaoui had planned trips to New York and to look at the White House in Washington.
That revelation was especially alarming, because he discovered Moussaoui had told his flight simulator instructor to show him how to complete a flight between London Airport and New York.
Agent Harry Samit testified at Moussaoui's death penalty trial that he became "desperate" after "criminally negligent" superiors blocked his probe into what he thought was a wider plot.
"You wanted the people in Washington to know that because you were concerned that Moussaoui was going to try to hijack a plane?" defense counsel Edward MacMahon asked Samit.
Samit also said he pleaded with his supervisors to warn the Secret Service after learning Moussaoui had planned trips to New York and to look at the White House in Washington.
That revelation was especially alarming, because he discovered Moussaoui had told his flight simulator instructor to show him how to complete a flight between London Airport and New York.
Dear diary, he is soooooo manly...
I bet she keeps a pic of him next to her pillow.
"President Bush talks 'kerfuffle'": Another hard-hitting article by the AP's Nedra Pickler, if that really is her name.
/puke
Jebus. What won't he lie about??
VP Dick 'dick' Cheney, yesterday: "I made sure both in 2000 and 2004 that the president had other options. I mean, I didn't ask for this job. I didn't campaign for it. I got drafted. And delighted to serve."
'Drafted' - that's a good one, coming from Mr Five Deferments.
WTF? Does he really think we're all retarded? Or does he just not give a shit? Chimpboy put him in charge of the VP search in 2000. He chose himself. Good crap almighty.
Pic by Huy Tran.
Makin' progress
Bush "upbeat" as 28 are killed when insurgents storm an Iraqi jail, seven policemen are killed by a roadside bomb, there is political deadlock on the formation of the new national government, rampant lawlessness reigns, the threat of civil war hangs over the country, and the US probes new charges that troops killed Iraq civilians. And their pets.
Why does Fox News hate the president?
**LOL**
March 20, 2006
Bush OKd illegal physical searches of American citizens
"An apparent violation of the Fourth Amendment"
White House lawyers, in particular, Vice President Cheney's counsel David Addington (who is now Cheney's chief of staff), pressed Mueller to use information from the NSA program in court cases, without disclosing the origin of the information, and told Mueller to be prepared to drop prosecutions if judges demanded to know the sourcing, according to several government officials. Mueller, backed by Comey, resisted the administration's efforts. "The failure to allow it [information obtained from warrantless surveillance] to be used in court is a concession that it is an illegal surveillance."
Giant talking forehead gets sand in his vagina
Brit Hume blows a gasket on Fox News Sunday - Crooks and Liars has the video.
You better believe it, b!tch!
For some liberal pundits, it's payback time.
For some conservative commentators, it's time for uncomfortable explanations.
For WaComPo staff writer wHoward Kurtz, it's time for another cowardly wallow in whoredom.
Olbermann!
The War on O’Reilly:
[Bill] O’Reilly has been playing O’Reilly so successfully for so long, and has developed such a substantial library of hooks, tics, and subplots, that he sometimes seems to be parodying himself, or parodying Stephen Colbert’s parody of him.Bill O’Reilly is having a hard time getting liberals to appear on his show because he's not only bigger than them; he’s also smarter, handsomer, better spoken, better groomed, and more sophisticated.
Falafel! :: giggle ::
Where's your God now?
Karma's a bitch: South Dakota Governer's approval rating plummets after signing anti-abortion law.
An "alcoholic Mr. Danger"
Giggle Hugo Chavez blasted Bush as a "donkey," a coward, a murderer, and a "drunkard" after a White House report called the Venezuelan president a "demagogue" on Sunday. Now I've got this playing in my head:
There's a man who's led us into danger
To everyone he meets he's even stranger
Be careful what you say - he'll call the NSA
Odds are you'll be in Gitmo by Friday.
Drunken danger man!
Drunken danger man!
I'm on his crap no-fly list, but he's with the UAE.
GOP struggles to define its message for 2006 elections
Here's one - the Rethuglican party: driving this country into fiscal and moral bankruptcy!
The gpukes, after spending these past five years joyfully passing just about every one of the Boy King's proclamations, are now pissing themselves in fear:
Anxiety over President Bush's Iraq policy, internal clashes over such divisive issues as immigration, and rising complaints that the party has abandoned conservative principles on spending restraint have all hobbled the effort to devise an election-year message, said several lawmakers involved in the effort.Oh please. And after saying the same thing about the Dems! So, how's it feel, assholes? How's the rectum now, Kenny Mehlman? You've been blowing the WH wang ever since your boy got {s}elected and now your little red dresses are getting all stained. Well guess what: you can cry me a fucking river, you fucking crybabies.
'Incompetence': the new label used by America-hating White House critics
The war in Iraq, the budget deficits, the skyrocketing debt, the indictment of Scooter Libby, the eight-year prison sentence of rethug congressman Duke Cunningham, the misadministration's fiasco in managing the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the high energy prices, the damaged case against Zacarias Moussaoui, the port security debacle -- all the bad news "that is sapping American morale and undercutting President George W. Bush's popularity" comes from one source: incompetence. So let's blame the Democrats.
"I'm popular!"
****
Mmmmmmm, someplace warm.....
"If this is not civil war, then God knows what civil war is." - Iraq's former interim prime minister Ayad Allawi.
"Civil war fears grip Iraq on 3rd anniversary"
Makin' progress
As bodies continue to pile up in the streets, Bush and Cheney remain upbeat, see success in Iraq.
Well, it's sure hard to top this opening sentence:
On the third anniversary of a war that they once expected to be over by now, President Bush and senior officials argued Sunday that their strategy was working despite escalating violence in Iraq, even as a former Iraqi prime minister once favored by the White House declared that a civil war had already started.VP Dick "dick" Cheney, interviewed from his secure redoubt/human hunting preserve on Fantasy Island, was asked about his statement three years ago that "we will be greeted as liberators" and his assertion 10 months ago that the insurgency was in its "last throes."
He insisted that in both cases his facts were right, but that the news media had "created a different perception" by focusing on stuff like car bombs and explosions, the stretches of ruined cities, the continued attacks, the lack of water or electricity, the lack of jobs or security,
"My statements reflect reality," he told Face the Nation. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to blow your goddamned head off if you're still here in 60 seconds."
March 19, 2006
Democrats need a lot more than just a message
Yeah, they need a huge swinging sack, for crying out loud. Pussies.
As midterm election years go, 2006 should be a sweet one for Democrats. Instead of seizing this opportunity to reclaim control of Congress, however, Democrats are pathetically wringing their hands and babbling about not having a message.- from an editorial in the St Pete Times.
Can't come up with a message? Are they blind and deaf - or just political cowards?
Here's the message: The country is in a mess because of Republican policies and incompetence. Most Americans have soured on the Iraq war and the president who started it. They are disgusted with ethics rot on Capitol Hill exposed by the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal that has Republicans running for the hills. And they have little confidence in the competence of the Bush-Cheney administration when it comes to waging war, protecting the homefront against terrorists, responding to a hurricane disaster or reining in runaway spending....
Democrats also have rarely missed a chance to criticize Bush for conducting warrantless domestic surveillance. But when Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, last week introduced a resolution to censure (not impeach) the president for illegal wiretapping, he was treated as an embarrassment to his party. His fellow Democrats wanted no part of his effort to hold Bush accountable.
Forget about a message. A lot of voters are wondering on what big issue, if any, are Democrats willing to stand up to George W. Bush?
March 18, 2006
Not just yeah, but HELL YEAH
From Digby, via firedoglake:
Feingold stepped up and spoke for millions of Americans who see this administration's abuse of power as a very serious matter for which this president should be held to account. We are desperate for such leadership and we care nothing about the lack of political politesse with which it was raised. The president and his party are held in very low esteem by two thirds of the country. If not now, when?Indeed. It's the accountability, bitches.
March 17, 2006
Must reads
skippy proves that the "wartime president" defense is inconsequential - no - make that outright "lame".
"Give me liberty. Give me accountability. Give me my Constitution back." - ReddHedd at firedoglake.
Press-ganging
WH spokes-tool Scott McClellan gets own ass handed to him
Q So, Scott - how does the president feel about his low poll numbers? {snicker}
Q That's how much you know: our dear leader doesn't pay attention to polls! {LAUGHTER}
Q Scott, Scott! Has the mission been accomplished yet?
McCLELLAN: Terrist-lovers! {sob...}
Q That's how much you know: our dear leader doesn't pay attention to polls! {LAUGHTER}
Q Scott, Scott! Has the mission been accomplished yet?
McCLELLAN: Terrist-lovers! {sob...}
Sorry. As it turns out, Preznit Playstation had nothing to do with the huge air strike in Iraq yesterday: it was all the military's idea. {snort}
Q But my question -- I'm sorry, but you aren't done with my question, which is, beyond the merits of this particular operation, we are coming to the three-year anniversary of the war. Support for the President is at rock bottom; support for this war is at rock bottom in this country. Does the President think it's important as a show of US and Iraqi force to mount these kinds of operations, to try to change public opinion in this country?
McCLELLAN: I can't accept the premise of your question because this was a decision made by our commanders. And it's important that the commanders have the flexibility to make these type of tactical decisions in order to prevail --
Q But does the President have an opinion on it?
McCLELLAN: -- and --
Q Does the President know that he's in violation of international law when he advocates preemptive war? The U.N. Charter, Geneva, Nuremberg. We violate international law when we advocate attacking a country that did not attack us.
McCLELLAN: Helen, I would just disagree with your assessment. First of all, preemption is a longstanding principle of American foreign --
Q It's not a long-standing principle with us. It's your principle.
McCLELLAN: Have you asked your question?
Q It's a violation of international law.
McCLELLAN: First of all, let me back up, preemption is a longstanding principle of American foreign policy. It is also part --
Q It's never been.
McCLELLAN: And it's important what September 11th taught us --
Q The heavy emphasis of your paper today is war and preemptive war.
McCLELLAN: Can I finish responding to your question, because I think it's important to answer your question. It's a good question and it's a fair question. But first of all, are we supposed to wait until a threat fully materializes and then respond? September 11th --
Q Under international law you have to be attacked first.
McCLELLAN: Helen, you're not letting me respond to your question. You have the opportunity to ask your question, and I would like to be able to provide a response so that the American people can hear what our view is. This is not new in terms of our foreign policy. This has been a longstanding principle, the question that you bring up. But again, I'll put the question back to you. Are we supposed to wait until a threat fully materializes before we respond --
Q You had no threat from Iraq.
McCLELLAN: September 11th taught us --
Q That was not a threat from Iraq.
Q Are you warning Iran that it has consequences as you did Iraq?
McCLELLAN: 9/11! 9/11! Mushroom clouds!
McCLELLAN: I can't accept the premise of your question because this was a decision made by our commanders. And it's important that the commanders have the flexibility to make these type of tactical decisions in order to prevail --
Q But does the President have an opinion on it?
McCLELLAN: -- and --
Q Does the President know that he's in violation of international law when he advocates preemptive war? The U.N. Charter, Geneva, Nuremberg. We violate international law when we advocate attacking a country that did not attack us.
McCLELLAN: Helen, I would just disagree with your assessment. First of all, preemption is a longstanding principle of American foreign --
Q It's not a long-standing principle with us. It's your principle.
McCLELLAN: Have you asked your question?
Q It's a violation of international law.
McCLELLAN: First of all, let me back up, preemption is a longstanding principle of American foreign policy. It is also part --
Q It's never been.
McCLELLAN: And it's important what September 11th taught us --
Q The heavy emphasis of your paper today is war and preemptive war.
McCLELLAN: Can I finish responding to your question, because I think it's important to answer your question. It's a good question and it's a fair question. But first of all, are we supposed to wait until a threat fully materializes and then respond? September 11th --
Q Under international law you have to be attacked first.
McCLELLAN: Helen, you're not letting me respond to your question. You have the opportunity to ask your question, and I would like to be able to provide a response so that the American people can hear what our view is. This is not new in terms of our foreign policy. This has been a longstanding principle, the question that you bring up. But again, I'll put the question back to you. Are we supposed to wait until a threat fully materializes before we respond --
Q You had no threat from Iraq.
McCLELLAN: September 11th taught us --
Q That was not a threat from Iraq.
Q Are you warning Iran that it has consequences as you did Iraq?
McCLELLAN: 9/11! 9/11! Mushroom clouds!
Bush's "town meeting" 1st amendment zone
"I felt like I was in a police state."
A woman who went to hear the Bubble-Boy talk about health care says not only were the audience not allowed to ask any questions of the Dictator-tot, but they weren't even allowed to talk to the press afterwards.
"[The security guard] kept saying ‘move along’ and kept blocking my way and I kept saying, ‘I’m a US citizen I have a right to answer some questions,’” she said. “It felt like if you were out of order at all, someone was going to take you away. It was very threatening.”God bless Amurka.
Still not getting it
Nancy Pelosi, idiot
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has rebuffed the call by Sen. Russ Feingold to censure Bush, arguing that the current impeachment/censure talk is just a pointless distraction from the party’s message.Whatever that is.
“I think that things are going well for the Democrats right now,” Pelosi told reporters Thursday, alluding to recent data showing that a plurality of poll respondents would prefer a Democratic-controlled House. So why, she implied, should Democrats risk spoiling the mood?Fucking brainless stupid bitch. Accountability, for one. To show us all your not a bunch of spineless, deballed patsies. Because you fucking well can. Jebus...
Time for facts, not resolutions
Censuring too good for the Boy King
We understand the frustration that led Senator Russell Feingold to introduce a measure that would censure President Bush for authorizing warrantless spying on Americans. It's galling to watch from the outside as the Republicans and most Democrats refuse time and again to hold Mr. Bush accountable for the lawlessness and incompetence of his administration. Actually sitting among that cowardly crew must be maddening.
Still, the censure proposal is a bad idea. Members of Congress don't need to take extraordinary measures like that now. They need to fulfill their sworn duty to investigate the executive branch's misdeeds and failings. Talk about censure will only distract the public from the failure of their elected representatives to earn their paychecks.
We'd be applauding Mr. Feingold if he'd proposed creating a bipartisan panel to determine whether the domestic spying operation that Mr. Bush has acknowledged violates the 1978 surveillance law, as it certainly seems to do. The Senate should also force the disclosure of any other spying Mr. Bush is conducting outside the law. (Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has strongly hinted that is happening.)
The Senate Intelligence and Judiciary Committees should do this, but we can't expect a real effort from Senator Pat Roberts, the Intelligence Committee chairman, or Senator Arlen Specter, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. They're too busy trying to give legal cover to the president's trampling on the law and the Constitution. Senator Harry Reid should not be afraid to shut down the Senate.
Still, the censure proposal is a bad idea. Members of Congress don't need to take extraordinary measures like that now. They need to fulfill their sworn duty to investigate the executive branch's misdeeds and failings. Talk about censure will only distract the public from the failure of their elected representatives to earn their paychecks.
We'd be applauding Mr. Feingold if he'd proposed creating a bipartisan panel to determine whether the domestic spying operation that Mr. Bush has acknowledged violates the 1978 surveillance law, as it certainly seems to do. The Senate should also force the disclosure of any other spying Mr. Bush is conducting outside the law. (Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has strongly hinted that is happening.)
The Senate Intelligence and Judiciary Committees should do this, but we can't expect a real effort from Senator Pat Roberts, the Intelligence Committee chairman, or Senator Arlen Specter, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. They're too busy trying to give legal cover to the president's trampling on the law and the Constitution. Senator Harry Reid should not be afraid to shut down the Senate.
- from a NY Times editorial.
Keepin' us safer
The tough-on-terrizm rethugs are still blocking funding for port security.
The self-emasculation of a weak Congress
Take my tiny shriveled balls, I'm not using them anyway!
Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, thinks President Bush broke the law with his secret program to eavesdrop on Americans, and he wants Congress to censure Bush. He's right about the lawbreaking but wrong to think censure is the answer. That might give Americans the impression that Congress is something more than a supine slave of partisan interests. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Republicans on Capitol Hill, presented with the censure resolution, practically trampled each other to prove their slobbering devotion to the president.
The idea was that each branch would jealously guard its powers against the others. But in this case, Congress passed a law, the president ignored it, and Congress applauded him for doing so. Stalin's Politburo could not have been more compliant.
Republicans on Capitol Hill, presented with the censure resolution, practically trampled each other to prove their slobbering devotion to the president.
The idea was that each branch would jealously guard its powers against the others. But in this case, Congress passed a law, the president ignored it, and Congress applauded him for doing so. Stalin's Politburo could not have been more compliant.
- from an editorial in the Chicago Trib.
GOP irritation at Bush was long brewing
After such total fiascos such as the Dubai port deal, the Iraq war, the boneheaded plan to restructure Social Security, the Katrina debacle, the confusing Medicare bullshit, the backstabbing policy decisions, the huge and growing national debt, the
Japanese sub incident
The Chinese spy plane incident
Seeing into Pootie-poot's soul
Falling off a segway
Biking into a policeman
Choking on pretzals
Falling off his couch
Falling off his bike
Falling off his bike again
Ignoring the Aug 2001 PDB 'Bin Laden to attack inside the US'
Continuing to read My Pet Goat after Bin Laden attacked the US
'Lucky me, I hit the trifecta'
Letting Bin Laden escape at Tora Bora
Opposing the 911 Commission investigation
Opposing the creation of the DHS
NYC air 'fine' after 9/11
Stiffing the first responders
'Fuck Saddam! He's going down!'
'Let's roll'
'Weapons of mass destruction program related activities'
You're either with us or with the terrists
Abu Ghraib torture
Gitmo torture
Outsourcing torture
Outsourcing jobs
Outsourcing jobs a 'good thing'
Favorite Philosopher? Jesus
'Need some wood?'
Calling the Constitution a 'Goddamned piece of paper'
'If I were a dictator it would be a hell of a lot easier'
'Catapulting the propaganda'
'Oh, do you have blacks too?'
McCain's black baby
Terri Schiavo
'Mission Accomplished'
Looking for Iraq's missing WMDs under his sofa
'No one could have imagined terrorists flying planes into buildings'
'No one could have anticipated a breach in the levees'
'Now watch this drive'
The bathroom break note to Condi at the UN
'Bring 'em on'
No armor for troops
Botched anthrax investigation
The Moussoui trial
'You work three jobs? Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that." - to a divorced mother of three.
Gas prices
Home heating prices
We'll be greeted as liberators
Most vacation time ever
Jeff Gannon
Armstrong Williams
Judith Miller
Fake news videos
Aluminum tubes, yellow-cake from Niger
Censoring NASA scientists
Our vanishing liberties
Spying on the Quakers
Secret energy meetings
'Saddam involved in 9/11'
Swift-boating critics
Hiring incompetent cronies
Being wired during debates, press conferences
First Amendment Zones
'There ought to be limits to freedom'
'Wow! Brazil sure is a big country!'
'Pussy'
Plastic turkey photo-op
Fake teleconference interview with troops in Iraq
Birthday cake with John McCain during Katrina fiasco
Playing guitar during same
Lying about firing any leakers
'Major league asshole'
Plot to bomb Al Jazeera
Chalabi
No-bid Halliburton contracts
Conducting illegal NSA wiretaps
Raising terror alert status when poll numbers dropped
Rebuilding Trent Lott's house after Katrina
Kenny-boy who?
Abramoff who?
'Heckuva job, Brownie!'
Met with Michael Creighton to discuss global warming
Stem cells
Harriet Miers
No-talent assclown John Bolton
Iran-Contra criminal John Negroponte
'Slam Dunk' Tenet's Medal of Freedom
Dick 'dick' Cheney
Wiretapping the United Nations
'Were you the only black man in Salt Lake City?'
Calling Pakistanis 'Pakis'
Calling Pakistanis 'Arabs'
'Suiciders'
Trying to escape press conference through locked door
The hypno-tie
Human-animal hybrids
Switchgrass
Mars, bitches
Nooculer
Supporting teaching 'Intelligent Design' in public schools
Flipping the bird on tv
Picking his nose on tv
Arsenic in drinking water
Kyoto
'Clear Skies'
'Healthy Forests'
Stiffing No Child Left Behind
Stiffing troops and veterans
Stiffing the poor and middle-class
Stiffing homosexuals - well, you know what I mean
Firing everyone who disagreed with him
Those stupid backdrops
Karl Rove still under investigation, still has security clearance
Arrest/charging of WH Procurement Chief David Safavian
Arrest/charging of Cheney chief of staff Scooter Libby
Arrest/charging of Claude Allen
'You forgot Poland!'
and
Bringing honor and dignity back to the White House
the "non-responsive and arrogant" Bush White House is finally facing a rebellion of sorts from congressional rebooblicans, reports Jim VandeHei of the WaPo.
Oh please. Reboobs are finally facing the wrath of their disillusioned constituents, and like rats on a sinking ship they're scrambling to jump. How very unpatriotic what with a war going on. What will that say to our enemies?
- with help from here and here.
March 16, 2006
Grate president, or...
Pew!
This is too funny:
The single word most frequently associated with George W. Bush today is "incompetent,"and close behind are two other increasingly mentioned descriptors: "idiot" and "liar." All three are mentioned far more often today than a year ago.In a related story, AmericaBlog is asking for help in putting together a list of every idiotic thing Bush has done over the past 5 years: "every idiocy, every scandal, every mistake, everything."
Man.... how much space does he have??
Yeah, and?
Evidently, David Gregory is ripping Scottie a new one at the WH briefing, saying that Bush has authorized today's "bloody attack" on Iraq to raise his poll numbers. Developing...
Dems couldn't Hackett
The Daily Show's Ed Helms' interview of Paul "not ball-less enough for the Democratic party" Hackett is here. Pretty funny stuff.
Makin' progress
Good: Newly formed Iraqi Parliment meets for the first time ever.
Bad: For 30 minutes.
Worse: US will send 700 more soldiers to Iraq in anticipation of increased sectarian violence.
Gah!: As you read this, all hell is breaking loose.
Clicky.
*****
Reboobs frustrated when starlet stiffs Bush
Jessica Simpson turned down a invitation to meet with Smirky McStupid during a rethug fund-raiser and even passed on dinner at one of the head tables with House Majority Leader John Boehner.
/giggle
Pathetic
21 Democratic Senators support censure motion.
Against Bill Clinton.
You know, I have just about had it up to here with that bunch of cowards. Yo, asshats! What part of 33% approval rating or Bush losing his grip on governance or a majority of Americans think Bush a total fucking bonehead don't you understand??
Bush to restate terror strategy
- actual WaPo headline.
Here we go again. Tanking in the polls and with his party crapping their pants in fear as the midterm elections approach, popular warrior president Chimpy McFlightsuit says Iran may pose 'the greatest challenge to the United States' - and though 'diplomacy must prevail,' reaffirmed his doctrine of preemptive war:
In a 49-page national security report, the president reaffirmed the strike-first, or pre-emptive policy he first outlined in 2002.And we all know how well that works out.
"If necessary, however, under long-standing principles of self-defense, we do not rule out the use of force before attacks occur — even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack," Bush wrote.
I got sent this last night - if it's yours, please let me know!
"Bush administration releases unsubstantiated documents supporting Iraq war. Dan Rather kicks dog." - headline on intarwebs.
Great moments in television
CNN's Jack Cafferty unloads on the US Congress:
CAFFERTY: How are you doing, Wolf? On a much lighter note, do you want to laugh out loud? Listen to this. House Republican leaders announced their plans for lobbying reform today. They're calling for a temporary ban -- temporary -- on privately funded travel by lawmakers and for lobbyists to disclose the gifts they give to House members. That's real draconian stuff, don't you think? House Speaker Dennis Hastert says these recommendations will, quote, "sustain the integrity of the Congress as we move forward," quote. Note to Mr. Hastert, the Congress has no integrity.
There was no immediate reaction from Democrats, who accused Republicans of creating a culture of corruption. The Senate is working on its own legislation. But, as you may recall, the Senate Committee recently rejected a proposal for an independent ethics office. This whole thing is a joke. They must think we're all absolute retards of some kind. They pay lip service to this stuff. There's no teeth in any of it. It's meaningless. And then they put out a press release saying, look what we did. We're preserving the integrity of the Congress. Unbelievable. Here's the question. What will the end result of ethics reform be on Capitol Hill? Email us at Caffertyfile@cnn.com or go to CNN.com/caffertyfile. Temporary ban on private trips, Wolf. That ought to clean it up, don't you think?
WOLF BLITZER: I remember when you showed us the roll call of that vote in that Senate committee. You probably got some reaction to that.
CAFFERTY: I don't remember. No, I don't think so. I mean, we got reaction from the viewers who are fed up to the gills with these clowns, but, no, none of the worms who voted against that thing had nerve enough to write to us because I would have read the letter on the air.
There was no immediate reaction from Democrats, who accused Republicans of creating a culture of corruption. The Senate is working on its own legislation. But, as you may recall, the Senate Committee recently rejected a proposal for an independent ethics office. This whole thing is a joke. They must think we're all absolute retards of some kind. They pay lip service to this stuff. There's no teeth in any of it. It's meaningless. And then they put out a press release saying, look what we did. We're preserving the integrity of the Congress. Unbelievable. Here's the question. What will the end result of ethics reform be on Capitol Hill? Email us at Caffertyfile@cnn.com or go to CNN.com/caffertyfile. Temporary ban on private trips, Wolf. That ought to clean it up, don't you think?
WOLF BLITZER: I remember when you showed us the roll call of that vote in that Senate committee. You probably got some reaction to that.
CAFFERTY: I don't remember. No, I don't think so. I mean, we got reaction from the viewers who are fed up to the gills with these clowns, but, no, none of the worms who voted against that thing had nerve enough to write to us because I would have read the letter on the air.
Later...
CAFFERTY: ... announced their plans for lobbying reform today. They've called for a temporary ban on privately funded travel by lawmakers -- temporary -- and for lobbyists to disclose the gifts they give to members. That'll happen. The question is, what will the end result of ethics reform be on Capitol Hill? Here's some of what you've written. I personally read a couple of hundred letters the last 40 minutes. Didn't see one -- not one -- that expressed any confidence in these people to do anything meaningful in the way of reform. Pretty sad commentary.
William in Huntington, West Virginia: "You assume those in Congress know what ethics are. How do you pick a bicycle when you've never seen a bicycle?"
Peter in Perry, Georgia: "There'll be no change. It'll be business as usual. You can't put crooks in charge of reforming all the other crooks. What you end up with is no change at all."
Bruce in Wisconsin: "There'll be no reform because Congress and the Senate have no ethics. There's one sure way to minimize this disgrace. Term limits, term limits, term limits." That's actually three ways, Bruce.
O. writes, "Concerning Congress' ethics, we have no one to blame but ourselves because we either voted for them or did not vote. The damage has been done. The solution is obviously to vote them out of office."
Jim writes, "I don't think there'll be any reform enacted by Congress, but you can be sure if one is enacted, it'll have loopholes big enough to drive Duke Cunningham's yacht through."
And Dan in Randolph, Maine, writes, "Come on, Jack. You don't really think those crooks and thieves are going to do anything to police themselves. They are collectively the single biggest group of overpaid losers on the planet."
Those are lovely comments about the United States Congress. They ought to be a ashamed of themselves. But they're not, are they?
William in Huntington, West Virginia: "You assume those in Congress know what ethics are. How do you pick a bicycle when you've never seen a bicycle?"
Peter in Perry, Georgia: "There'll be no change. It'll be business as usual. You can't put crooks in charge of reforming all the other crooks. What you end up with is no change at all."
Bruce in Wisconsin: "There'll be no reform because Congress and the Senate have no ethics. There's one sure way to minimize this disgrace. Term limits, term limits, term limits." That's actually three ways, Bruce.
O. writes, "Concerning Congress' ethics, we have no one to blame but ourselves because we either voted for them or did not vote. The damage has been done. The solution is obviously to vote them out of office."
Jim writes, "I don't think there'll be any reform enacted by Congress, but you can be sure if one is enacted, it'll have loopholes big enough to drive Duke Cunningham's yacht through."
And Dan in Randolph, Maine, writes, "Come on, Jack. You don't really think those crooks and thieves are going to do anything to police themselves. They are collectively the single biggest group of overpaid losers on the planet."
Those are lovely comments about the United States Congress. They ought to be a ashamed of themselves. But they're not, are they?
March 15, 2006
Nightmarish harridan's campaign in turmoil
Freakish painted head stumbles in senate run. Again.
Even as word spread that repuke hagbeast Katherine Harris was about to pump millions of her own money into her Senate campaign, evidence of disarray mounted.
I wonder if she'll use the thousands in illegal contributions she took.
Plans for a "major campaign announcement" today were suddenly scrapped as Harris flipflopped reportedly decided to announce her plans on national TV rather than face questions from Florida reporters.
And late Tuesday came reports that one of Harris' top advisers, pollster Ed Goeas, was the latest to quit her campaign.
And late Tuesday came reports that one of Harris' top advisers, pollster Ed Goeas, was the latest to quit her campaign.
Hating us for our freedoms
Rightwingers want to censure Russ Feingold because he "damaged the unity" of America by wanting to censure a president who gets job approval ratings in the 30s.
From MoveOn.org:
Since yesterday afternoon when we launched the petition, over 200,000 of us signed up to support Senator Russ Feingold's call to censure President Bush for his illegal wiretapping. Now, Republicans are on the attack - Senator Wayne Allard (R-Jerkoff) even accused Feingold of "siding with the terrorists," and the Republican National Committee is mounting a petition against him.
We've got to work quickly to show other senators and the media that hundreds of thousands of us support Senator Feingold and the rule of law. So, we're increasing our goal: we want to get 350,000 signers by the end of the week. Can you sign our petition asking Congress to censure President Bush for his illegal wiretapping?
We've got to work quickly to show other senators and the media that hundreds of thousands of us support Senator Feingold and the rule of law. So, we're increasing our goal: we want to get 350,000 signers by the end of the week. Can you sign our petition asking Congress to censure President Bush for his illegal wiretapping?
- please sign here!
WH to Norm: you traitor
Though they've been sucking wet monkey balls like there's no tomorrow, the White House has rejected Norm Coleman's call for a staff shakeup.
Press Secretool Scott McClellan said President Partyhat has a "smart" and "experienced" team that is "doin' a heckuva job fully capable."
Incredible misbehavior
And that goes for you too, mainstream media whores.
Every second-term presidency tends to get tired and falter a bit. But these days, when so many big things are going so very wrong, smaller errors seem like an echo of overall ineptitude. And since President Bush has convinced Americans that we live in a permanent state of threat from evildoers abroad, the bumbling takes on a more ominous note. Minor flare-ups of bad news are also much more disturbing when they remind us of the administration's history of rewarding party loyalists and campaign workers with jobs that are far above their level of competence.
The administration seems determined to cut off legitimate court scrutiny, and the Republicans who dominate the House and Senate generally intervene only to change the rules so Mr. Bush can do whatever he wants. (If the current Congress had been called on to intervene in the case of Claude Allen, who recently resigned as the president's domestic policy adviser, it would probably have tried to legalize shoplifting.)
The administration seems determined to cut off legitimate court scrutiny, and the Republicans who dominate the House and Senate generally intervene only to change the rules so Mr. Bush can do whatever he wants. (If the current Congress had been called on to intervene in the case of Claude Allen, who recently resigned as the president's domestic policy adviser, it would probably have tried to legalize shoplifting.)
- from a NY Times editorial.
Makin' progress
Bush optimistic on Iraq as the country edges closer to open civil war.
Iraqi authorities discovered at least 87 corpses -- men shot to death execution-style -- as Iraq edged closer to open civil warfare. Twenty-nine of the bodies, dressed only in underwear, were dug out of a single grave Tuesday in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad.
The wave of dirty killings seems to undermine the American government's insistence that Iraqi security forces can deliver the rule of law. Less than a month after an assault on a Shiite shrine in Samarra nearly plunged the country into civil war, the blood continues to flow, just as freely. The majority of the killings seem to have happened in the same areas where Shiite militiamen rampaged after the shrine attack, implying that no one is able — or willing — to stop them.
The wave of dirty killings seems to undermine the American government's insistence that Iraqi security forces can deliver the rule of law. Less than a month after an assault on a Shiite shrine in Samarra nearly plunged the country into civil war, the blood continues to flow, just as freely. The majority of the killings seem to have happened in the same areas where Shiite militiamen rampaged after the shrine attack, implying that no one is able — or willing — to stop them.
Wartime preznit.
****
Rethug to Bush: fire the #uckwits
Saying that the White House is sucking wet monkey balls, Sen. Norm Coleman called on the popular President Stupid to bring in a new team of loyalistic unqualified cronies.
"I have some concerns about the team that's around the president," said Coleman, a Republican with close ties to Bush. "I think you need to take a look at it."Coleman cited the White House's incredible ineptitude in handling the response to Hurricane Katrina; the failed, jawdropping nomination of aged teenybopper Harriet Miers; and more recently, the mindboggling stupidity of offering to sell our ports to the UAE.
"I think it's obvious to those on the Hill -- and it's got to be obvious to those at the White House -- that we're skipping too many beats nowadays. We're not operating at the highest level of political sensitivity that you need."Why does he hate America?
Feingold to Dems: stand up, you #ucking spineless pussies!
Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold rightfully accused the ballless, pathetic Dems on Tuesday of cowering rather than joining him on trying to censure the popular warrior presi the Dictator-tot for secretly ordering illegal wiretaps of American citizens.
"I'm amazed at Democrats, cowering with this president's numbers so low. The administration just has to raise the specter of the war and the Democrats run and hide. Too many Democrats are going to do the same thing they did in 2000 and 2004. In the face of this, they'll say we'd better just focus on domestic issues... [Democrats shouldn't] cower to the argument, that whatever you do, if you question the administration, you're helping the terrorists."Fucking cowards. What the hell are they waiting for?? He's at #ucking 34%, for petessake!! What the holy hell are they so afraid of?! Ooooooooohhh, we might be seen as soft on terrism! I've got news for you, you seem pretty damn limp right now anyway! Boneless fucktards.
March 14, 2006
Who's the bigger asshole?
'Through the challenges, the President has kept his human touch.- from pg 69 of Fundie Fellato magazine.
'Touring New Orleans last week, he met a man who had survived for days on canned goods before being evacuated to Utah.
'"Were you the only black man in Salt Lake City?" Bush asked.'
Bringing integrity back to Washington
Citizens for Responsibility in Ethics in Washington (CREW) is going after priggish rethug gerbil-abuser Grover Norquist for alleging using his non-profit companies to launder money. Launder money from Indian casino clients of convicted felon Jack Abramoff.
In other news
Chef: 'suck my chocolate salty balls'
Isaac Hayes quits "South Park" citing the show's "inappropriate ridicule" of Scientology. Christian- and Jew-bashing still OK.
Bunnypants bike rides as WH burns
Senior White House aides are 'physically and emotionally exhausted, battered by scandal and drained by political setbacks,' according to sources who spoke anonymously to the WaComPo. But... but... but... Clinton!
Bush delegates most issues, focuses only on Iraq, '06 campaign, bubblegum card collection
The Responibility Prez incompetent, vacuous Bubble-Boy just can't be bothered, say White House aides.
"Lots of important issues that deal with national security are never brought to the president because he doesn't want to deal with them," a source familiar with the White House said. "In some cases, this has resulted in chaos."Duh!
The sources said Preznit GameBoy's lack of involvement on most issues has "led to numerous errors in judgment," such as the Dubai ports fiasco. Of course, when he does get involved, things like the Harriet Miers debacle, the staggering deficit and ummmm, the war in Iraq happen. And when he sorta gets involved, we get the Hurricane Katrina fiasco. Frankly, we're fucked either way.
Flaming wingnut crackpot opens stupid gob again
Man o' God Pat Robertson finds radical Muslims 'Satanic,' can't find own dick with both hands.
Pic by Guillermo Morgana.
War drives Bush's rating to yet another new low
Bunnypants on the road with latest "we're makin' progress" Iraq cheerleading tour, but public not buying it.
Growing dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq has driven the popular War Presi Preznit Stupid's approval rating to a new low of 36 percent, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday. Nearly half of those polled hate America said they believe Democrats would do a better job of managing the war, and 51 percent believed the misadministration deliberately lied to the public about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Which, of course, they didn't.
In a related story, nearly half of Americans still lack brains, common sense, or even a functioning notochord.
March 13, 2006
God, can't they do anything right??
Moussaoui trial halted as Bush team royally #ucks up. Again.
An angry federal judge considered Monday whether to dismiss the government's case against confessed al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui after it was discovered that a federal attorney coached witnesses in violation of the rules, Constitution.
Nookin' puh nub
Tom Daschle, bored at home, wants to don the pink tutu again.
"I feel pretty, oh so pretty..."
****
Hag to make 'major announcement'
Reports of illegal contributions dog Senate candidacy of crooked, unsightly harridan.
Rep. Katherine Harris fueled already rampant speculation about the status of her campaign for the Senate when she released a statement Saturday promising a "major announcement" about her future this week.
The [freakish painted head]'s campaign is barely stumbling along after revelations that she took thousands in illegal contributions from a defense contractor who bribed a California congressman.
The [freakish painted head]'s campaign is barely stumbling along after revelations that she took thousands in illegal contributions from a defense contractor who bribed a California congressman.
Word
"Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You didn't place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."
Feingold: censure Chimpboy McLiar for illegal spying
Democratic Senator Russ Feingold is proposing censuring the Dictator-tot for authorizing illegal domestic eavesdropping, saying the Boy King "repeatedly misled the public" when he lied to the American people about using court orders to wiretap in the US.
"The president has broken the law and, in some way, he must be held accountable," Sen. Feingold said.
Senate majority leader and flipflopping, brownnosed douchebag Bill Frist, R-Rectum, called the proposal "a crazy political move" that would "weaken the US during wartime."
Frist, appearing on ABC's "This Week" armed with the gpuke talking points and absolutely no shame, wiped the Bush-skank off his brow and said that he hoped al-Qaida and other enemies of the US were not listening to the infighting.
"The signal that it sends, that there is in any way a lack of support for our commander in chief who is leading us with a bold vision {Gawd - Ed.} in a way that is making our homeland safer, is wrong," Frist said, his panties growing moist with faux-outrage. Oh please. What a douchebag.
"I can't hear you - I have Karl Rove's dick in my ear."
***
Pic from here.
Profiles in courage
"Squee! Squeee! Squeeeee!" - Senate majority leader/douchebag Bill Frist. Why does he hate America?
March 12, 2006
La la la
Sorry for the light posting. I've been playing Bejeweled. And when I haven't been playing that, I've been playing Splash-back. Level 21!
You know, I'm staring at this keyboard going Jebus, is this thing filthy... What should I use to clean it? And, on a related note, how often do you have to clean cat hair out of your computer?
March 11, 2006
Criminey, I'm practically choking on my own vomit
Bitchslapped pussy John McCain urged republicans to vote for President Stupid in a straw poll for their preference for the 2008 presidental nominee at their 'leadership' conference in Memphis yesterday.
Interior Secretary Gale Norton to resign
Before she can do any more damage.
Fun fact: she has ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff's Indian deals.
Ex-Bush White House adviser arrested
No, not for that
Former top Bush aide accused of Md. thefts: Claude A. Allen, who resigned last month to spend more time with his family may, in fact, be spending even less time with his family. The former top domestic policy adviser to Jebus's Favorite Preznit was arrested this week on felony theft charges for allegedly swindling Target and Hecht's stores out of more than $5,000 in approximately 25 refund schemes.
March 10, 2006
Word II
The Mahablog's satisfying I told you so to the Bush-haters disillusioned republicans and the 'Merican sheeple.
We're all going to die
Meet Doug Hoelscher, 28, previous RNC intern and White House staffer who arranged presidential travel. He's the new executive director of the Homeland Security Advisory Commitee, the lead federal agency in the event of a flu pandemic.
Pic of the day
Vice President Dick Cheney speaks during his keynote address to the US Labor Department's 2006 National Summit on Retirement Savings at the Willard Hotel in Washington March 2, 2006. REUTERS/Larry Downing.
Man who may someday have his finger on the button throws hissy-fit
Call the wahhhhhhmbulance: craven, petulant crybaby douchebag and presidental hopeful Bill Frist suspends Senate ethics debate after losing on the Dubai vote.
"Bah! I'm taking my Enzyte and going home!"
***
On edit: Crooks and Liars has a video of Frist turning his back on reporters asking about the port deal. What a fucking baby.
****
A stunning defeat for Bush
I don't think I'll ever get tired of reading those words.
ABC News' midget quisling George Stephanopoulos learned two very important facts today: 1) that so many Republicans in Congress said they were holding the White House in contempt, and 2) the White House asked Dubai Ports World to give up the port deal to save Preznit GameBoy "from the politically difficult position of vetoing a key piece of legislation to protect America's ports."
Incontinent traitor Bob Novak: GOP congress hates Bush
When Democrats criticize President Bush, Republicans accuse them of hating the president, which is the same as hating America. Writing for the ultra-rightwing website Human Events Online, GOP propagandist Robert Novak chronicles the growing tide of Bush-hatred among Republican members of Congress:
Republican congressmen are tired of being bullied and ignored by a heavy-handed executive, and they are playing hardball with their President. Given his unpopularity, many of them find it useful to distance themselves from Bush anyway. In short, Bush has little leverage left within his own party, and his transformation to lame-duck status is all but complete.Republicans in Congress is are arraying themselves against their Dear Leader across the board.
- more at the Pensito Review.
As if. Loser.
*****
Last week President Bush flew to New Orleans. There was an awkward moment when the president looked around and said 'Oh my god, what the hell happened here?'" -- Conan O'Brien.
Bush's approval rating falls to yet another new low
Just when you think Dumbya's approval rating can't go any lower... it does: 63% of Americans now hate America.
Rethugs running scared as Chimpy McLiar's numbers are now measured in nanocytes.
More and more people, particularly Republicans, disapprove of the popular, straight-shootin' war preznit's performance, question his character and no longer consider him a strong leader against terrorism, according to an AP-Ipsos poll documenting one of the bleakest points of his presidency.
The poll suggests that most Americans wonder whether Bush is up to the job. The survey, conducted Monday through Wednesday of 1,000 people, found that just 37 percent approve of his overall performance. That is the lowest of his presidency.
Personally, far fewer Americans consider Bush likable, honest, strong and dependable than they did just after his re-election campaign.
The poll suggests that most Americans wonder whether Bush is up to the job. The survey, conducted Monday through Wednesday of 1,000 people, found that just 37 percent approve of his overall performance. That is the lowest of his presidency.
Personally, far fewer Americans consider Bush likable, honest, strong and dependable than they did just after his re-election campaign.
Fun fact: President Clinton enjoyed public approval numbers in the mid 60s at the same stage in his second term.
March 9, 2006
Today in science
This just in
Dubai Ports World declares that it will sell the US portion of their ports deal to an
American company. Bush, repugs, Wolf Blitzer breathe sighs of relief, plan kiss-and-make-up circlejerk.
Bush gets close-up look at New Orleans devastation
Remarks "You've got a pile of stuff here," as workers bulldoze mountains of debris. Really.
Accountability
After royally fucking up, Bush is now blaming the Republican Congress for the continued Katrina incompetence of his misadministration.
President Bush, on a Gulf Coast inspection tour, bluntly accused Congress on Wednesday of underfunding the repairs and called for speedy action to make good on federal commitments.
The president said Congress has been slow to provide funding to rebuild housing destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and, while pledging to make New Orleans's levees "equal or better than they were before" the storm, attacked a congressional decision last year to redirect $1.5 billion from his request to repair the region's flood-protection system to projects in other storm-affected states.
The president said Congress has been slow to provide funding to rebuild housing destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and, while pledging to make New Orleans's levees "equal or better than they were before" the storm, attacked a congressional decision last year to redirect $1.5 billion from his request to repair the region's flood-protection system to projects in other storm-affected states.
I don't think anyone anticipated that Bush would blame his own party for underfunding the repair of the levees.
The death of the intelligence panel
Evading accountability and the rule of law
The Senate panel has become so paralyzingly partisan that it could not even manage to do its basic job this week and look into the Dictator-tot's illegal warrantless spying on Americans' international e-mail and phone calls. Senator Pat "squeege-boy" Roberts, the stink-fingered, brownnosing chairman, said Tuesday that there would be no investigation. Instead, the committee's Republicans voted to create a subcommittee that is supposed to get reports from the White House on any future warrantless surveillance.
It's breathtakingly cynical. Faced with a president who is almost certainly breaking the law, the Senate sets up a panel to watch him do it and calls that control.
It's breathtakingly cynical. Faced with a president who is almost certainly breaking the law, the Senate sets up a panel to watch him do it and calls that control.
- from a NY Times editorial. Mostly.
Your tax dollars at work
House panel to Bush: suck it
By a vote of 62-2, the House Appropriations Committee defied the Boy King and approved a measure to stop the UAE from controlling US ports.
One of the vacuous drone-heads who voted against blocking the port deal was moran Rep. James Moran, Vichycrat. The other was republican Jim Kolbe, who argued "American ports are going to be just as insecure after we pass this amendment as they were before."
Good argument, assclown. The Strong on Terrizm Preznit is now hoping the Senate will save his ass as Dubai threatens "retaliation" if the port deal doesn't go through. Gee - they sound like such great guys!
Corrupt, indicted scumbag Tom DeLay, with one of his "closest and dearest friends."
ROFL
Mmmmm baby baby... mmmmm baby baby....
"What are you benching, buff guy?"
Vanity Fair: Bush, Mehlman had ties to Abramoff, visions of him naked in gym shower
Hawt, convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff says President Bush knew him well enough to joke with him about weightlifting. "What are you benching, buff guy?" Abramoff said Bush asked him. The president has said he doesn't know Jack. Maybe he does, but as "Hot Buff Guy."
More here. The article, in hard-to-read pdf, is here.
"Mmmmm. Kin ah feel yore muscles?"
*****
March 8, 2006
Who? And more importantly, is it in season?
Rumors abound as blood-soaked cyborg Dick "dick" Cheney fails to mention ghastly, loathsome hag-bitch at Florida fundraiser.
What the #uck?
Bush issues an executive order creating a "Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the Department of Homeland Security." What, they're going to pray away terrorists and hurricanes now??
Oh good
Iran threatens US with "harm and pain," four more years of GW Bush.
In other news, none of it's good.
Neanderthalic inbreds choose corrupt scumbag as rep
Crime does pay: Indicted felon Tom DeLay wins rethug primary in Texas. You all make me sick.
Senate republicans choose party, fear over country
Bob Geiger reports on the obsequious asskissing dickholes of the repuke party who've lost sight of the American flag since it's been rammed up their asses by WH rasputin Karl Rove:
The GOP-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday voted against a formal Congressional investigation of George W. Bush’s domestic spying program, despite almost-certain knowledge that the White House has violated key provisions of Foreign Intelligence Security Act (FISA) laws over the last four years.
The vote, held in a closed session, was strictly on party lines with all seven Democrats voting for an investigation and the committee’s eight Republicans voting to let Bush off the hook.
"The committee — to put it bluntly — basically is in the control of the White House," said a visibly angry Jay Rockefeller.
The vote, held in a closed session, was strictly on party lines with all seven Democrats voting for an investigation and the committee’s eight Republicans voting to let Bush off the hook.
"The committee — to put it bluntly — basically is in the control of the White House," said a visibly angry Jay Rockefeller.
No felony when the rules change after the crime:
The House is a prole outfit that hasn't got the imagination to worry about what these executive powers will mean in a couple of years, when the President and Mr. Clinton occupy the White House, and Democrats control Congress. They are foolishly fixated on letting their redneck boy king, whose handling of national security and public safety has already resulted in the loss of an American city, get away with anything he pleases to do - because, hey, terrorism.
March 7, 2006
Troop-hating defeatists are enabling the terrists!
Oh. Wait.
More than 8,000 US soldiers have deserted since the beginning of the Iraq war. Why do our troops hate America?
Freedom-haters.
****
VP shoots off his mouth again
Murderous rampaging cyborg comes out of hiding to announce six more weeks of winter, shoot someone in face - wait, that isn't right.
Dick "dick" Cheney threatens Iran with invasion and asswhomping "meaningful consequences" if it "persists in defying the international community" over nooculer weaponry.
Cheney, speaking to the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, also reaffirmed that the Bush misadministration, suffering in the polls, was keeping all options on the table - including military force - in its determination to prevent a bloodbath in Novem Iran from developing nuclear arms.
Not... quite... getting it
Corrupt, indicted scumbag Tom DeLay will spend Texas primary day at a DC fundraiser hosted by lobbyists.
Democratic nominee Nick Lampson's campaign manager issued a statement rebuking DeLay's primary night plans:
"Rather than living it up with Washington lobbyists," said Mike Malaise, "DeLay should be here trying to explain his legacy of debt, corruption and neglect to Texans."
"Rather than living it up with Washington lobbyists," said Mike Malaise, "DeLay should be here trying to explain his legacy of debt, corruption and neglect to Texans."
Indeed.
Why do they hate America?
So - when are Karl Rove and Dick Cheney going in for their lie-detector tests?
Popular war preznit nosedives in the polls. Again. Some more
In a new poll, only 38 percent of Americans give Bush the thumbs-up. The other 62 percent select a different digit.
Bush continues to show weakness even among his sheeplike, spreadeagled political base, as more than one in four republicans - 28% - give him poor marks for his so-called performance. Among those who live in “red” states won by Bush in the 2004 election, only- from Zogby. Mostly.rich white mena pathetic 43% hold a positive view of his job performance.
Neuschwanstein castle pic from Yahoo News.
In over his head
Even supporters are beginning to question Smarty McGeniusson. About #ucking time.
[T]he truly damaging revelation, from a public relations perspective, was the admission by White House press secretary Scott McClellan that the president didn't even know about the deal to turn over the operation of US ports to the United Arab Emirates until after it had appeared on the front pages of newspapers around the country. That shocked even many Republican loyalists.
Asscheeses. Why the fuck should that surprise them? He's been like that since day one, living in his own special fantasyland where everyone loves him, the sun is always shining, and friendly little bluebirds happily chirp around his widdle head while bunnies look up at his adoringly.
The problem for President Bush is a growing perception that he simply isn't competent.
Duh!!! Gee, ya think?! :: head pounding ::
That's the story behind the polling numbers that have declined.
[T]he way the port takeover was handled reinforced a growing impression among the public that the nobody is really in charge in the Bush White House. How could the president not even have been consulted on an issue directly involving national security, Bush's strong suit in the minds of most Americans and especially most Republicans? The night after the story broke, comedian Jay Leno joked, "Do you know who's in charge of US ports? Neither does President Bush."
[T]he way the port takeover was handled reinforced a growing impression among the public that the nobody is really in charge in the Bush White House. How could the president not even have been consulted on an issue directly involving national security, Bush's strong suit in the minds of most Americans and especially most Republicans? The night after the story broke, comedian Jay Leno joked, "Do you know who's in charge of US ports? Neither does President Bush."
Yeah, laugh it up, assclown. Real funny. When you could have helped in 2000, you were too busy making jokes about Clinton's c*ck. I bet you'll still be making them tomorrow. Fuck you, and fuck the WaComPo.
March 6, 2006
I just can't decide who's the bigger slimehole today
Swiftboating Congressturd James Sensenbrenner, the fascist idiot Dictator-tot, Pataki lacki James Walsh, or Senate majority leader/douchebag Bill Frist.
March 5, 2006
Assklein
Don't forget to vote for the most egregious statement by faux-Democrat and repuke enabler Joe Klein, at firedoglake.
"I think he and all his fake liberal pundit friends are the most responsible of all. They are killing us. People on both the left and the right confuse Joe Klein with a real Democrat and mistake his incomprehensible political philosophy for that of the Democratic Party. If there is nothing else that the liberal blogosphere can do, we must make it clear to the American people and the Democratic politicians that Joe Klein speaks only for his elite, insider cadre of cocktail weenie addicts. His opinions are irrelevant to serious Democratic politics."- Digby.
Condo doesn't like black people
"Condi, stop smoking that crack!" - Spike Lee to Condoleezza Rice.
I didn't have any pics of crackpipes,
so here's one of a bunny with a pancake on its head.
March 4, 2006
Heh
Bob Geiger has the Saturday toons up - check out the one by Don Wright.
Nuts to you
Find your Inner Squirrel name here. And say hi to Princess Drunkenpaws.
Disgraced republican gets 8 years in PMITA prison
Yeah!
Former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who collected $2.4 million in homes, yachts, antique furnishings and other bribes on a scale unparalleled in the history of Congress, was sentenced Friday to eight years and four months in prison, the longest term meted out to a congressman in decades.
Cunningham, who resigned from Congress in disgrace last year, was spared the 10-year maximum by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns but was immediately taken into custody. He also was ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution for back taxes and forfeit $1.85 million in valuables he received.
Prosecutor Jason Forge said Cunningham should not get a break for committing crimes late in life, and doubted his apparent remorse, pointing out that after the allegations emerged he spent months falsely denying them.
"The fact of the matter is Mr. Cunningham went down kicking and screaming," Forge said.
The sentence reverberated in Washington, D.C.
"It is my hope that Congressman Cunningham will spend his incarceration thinking long and hard about how he broke the trust of the voters that elected him and those on Capitol Hill who served with him," House Speaker Dennis Hastert said in a statement.
Cunningham, who resigned from Congress in disgrace last year, was spared the 10-year maximum by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns but was immediately taken into custody. He also was ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution for back taxes and forfeit $1.85 million in valuables he received.
Prosecutor Jason Forge said Cunningham should not get a break for committing crimes late in life, and doubted his apparent remorse, pointing out that after the allegations emerged he spent months falsely denying them.
"The fact of the matter is Mr. Cunningham went down kicking and screaming," Forge said.
The sentence reverberated in Washington, D.C.
"It is my hope that Congressman Cunningham will spend his incarceration thinking long and hard about how he broke the trust of the voters that elected him and those on Capitol Hill who served with him," House Speaker Dennis Hastert said in a statement.
Good one, Denny.
March 3, 2006
Polls to Bunnypants: it's unanimous - you suck
- from the prestigious Sweet Jebus, Does Bush Suck Polling Report, here.
All those wogs look alike, anyway
"I believe that a prosperous, democratic Pakistan will be a steadfast partner for America, a peaceful neighbor for India and a force for freedom and moderation in the Arab world." - Preznit Goober McStupid, 3/3/06.
Call the waahhhhhhmbulance
Love this headline: 'GOP growing increasingly angry, frightened by Bush's missteps.' BaaaaBoo-fucking-hoo, sheep. Suck it.
If I made this violin any smaller it would be invisible -
Update
I posted last week that we were awaiting the results of Jaffa's biopsy. Well, I talked with the vet last night, and both the kidney biopsy and the urinalysis came back mostly OK, though there are signs that he may develop renal problems later. We're going to put him on a kidney-friendly diet and do another set of tests in a month or so and see how things go. Again, thanks to everybody who wrote in!
Jaffa's bouquet to monkeyfister.
****
Jesus may love you, but everyone else thinks you're an asshole
Insane rightwing crackpot Pat Robertson loses his seat on an evangelical broadcasting board -
NRB President Frank Wright said there was no broad effort to distance the group from Robertson. But “there was broad dismay with some of Pat's comments and a feeling they were not helpful to Christian broadcasters in general,” he said. "Dude's crazier than a shithouse rat."