More thunderstorms today!



No Court-Martial Likely for Bush Critic

The case of a suspended Air Force officer who accused the Unelected Fraud of allowing the Sept. 11 attacks to happen to prop up his presidency has been resolved and military experts said on Thursday he would likely avoid a court-martial.

Lt. Colonel Steve Butler could face nonjudicial punishment such as a fine or a letter of reprimand for accusing Preznit Dumbass of knowing about the attacks but doing nothing to stop them, Air Force spokeswoman Wendy Varhegyi said. It was more likely Butler would receive the same treatment as two Marine majors who wrote criticisms of former President Bill Clinton. The two were given letters of reprimand and fined a month's pay.



Boo-f*cking-hoo, Barr

When the news finally broke -- because porn magnate Larry Flynt sent out his own press release -- that Rep. Bob Barr, R-Delusional., had filed a lawsuit in March against Bill Clinton, pundit James Carville and Flynt for $30 million, claiming "loss of reputation and emotional distress," the timing couldn't have been much more awkward for Barr. That very day, he was championing a bill that would cap damage awards for "pain and suffering" at $250,000.

Barr has quietly filed a suit against Clinton, Carville and Flynt for "participating in a common scheme and unlawful on-going conspiracy to attempt to intimidate, impede and/or retaliate against [Barr]" for his role as an impeachment manager in 1999. Behold: Bob Barr's vast left-wing conspiracy.

Barr's case is yet another bizarre coda to the impeachment saga. Among the documents submitted in the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, was a section of The Flynt Report, the 1999 document by the Hustler publisher that shone a spotlight on the private lives of the House impeachment managers and other moralizing Republicans. The report calls Barr "a twice-divorced family values cheerleader ... who condoned an abortion, committed adultery and failed to tell the truth under oath" in a 1986 deposition.

Flynt's report was one of the blows struck in a tit-for-tat mud-wrestling match between investigators in the Office of the Independent Counsel and their congressional allies and Democratic attack dogs during the halcyon days of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Democrats pointed to stories like the ones contained in the report and to Henry Hyde's extramarital affair to label Republican impeachment managers as hypocrites.




"Apparently sensing and fearing the public's declining interest in the war against terrorism, the president never seems to miss an opportunity to remind us that we are still in an undefined war against an unseen enemy hiding in an unknown location." - Juan Andrade at The Chicago Sun-Times.




More on the Ohio State fascism incident - What happened at Der Fuhrer's Bunnypants' commencement speech:

DU, Media Whores Online, and TurnYourBackOnBush.

The kittens are starting to eat dry cat food. I think they're eating other things too: there was a chipmunk tail near their igloo yesterday.

Merlin watched me give Oliver, the other bird, some popcorn, and went "oooohhh, what's that? Is it good?" No, Merlin, it's just Wolf Blitzer's teeny tiny testicles. I can dream.

There was a huuuuuge buzzard feasting on something in the front yard this morning, but I'll bet it didn't leave me a skull.

Between thunderstorm shut-downs and playing with the new critters, I'm still catching up on current events.





Lt.Col. Fired, Faces Court-Martial for Bush-Bashing Letter - from the BuzzFlash mailbag:

"It is finally in the printed Air Force Times, 17 June 2002 edition, Pages 8 & 9, and Editorial on page 52: Steve Butler's letter, pros and cons of Court-martial. They give a history of like statements and admit: "But no recent president suffered as many public barbs from his troops as Bill Clinton." [At least 2 Major Generals (0-8) and 2 Majors (0-4).] Also that: "Court-martial would be first of its kind in 37 years" Although the Editorial calls for "No court-martial", I suspect it is to save face for our AWOL Commander-in-Chief. You might be able to access at: www.airforcetimes.com . Otherwise, they invite response which would seem to include the public since it is not an "Official" publication and is civilian-run. Should officers be allowed to voice their opinions of the government? Tell Air Force Times what you think. E-mail your response to airlet@atpco.com .

Further, If you have story ideas, comments or questions, e-mail Air Force Times Editors at: AIRTIP@ATPCO.COM . Up and Away, MSgt. Chris L. Gray, USAF (Ret.)"



Moments in Churchilliana

"When we see evil - I know it may hurt some people's feelings, it may not be what they call diplomatically correct - but I'm calling evil for what it is. Evil is evil, and we will fight it with all our might." - The Oaf of Office, pResident Evil, to his 'supporters' this week.




Operation Enduring Poll Numbers, continued:

Emperor Snippy is laying the foundation to overthrow Saddam Hussein, perhaps with military action, and he may feel compelled to strike without warning. But behind closed doors at the White House, the Nooculer Nincompoop was dismayed by reports that U.S. military leaders were lobbying against an Iraqi invasion anytime soon.

"I don't know what they're talking about," two senior U.S. officials quoted him as whining. They interpreted the remark to mean Reznit Dumbass is seriously considering military action despite opposition.
From Yahoo News. Is Congress going to get to declare this one a "war"?




Cap'n Cowpie Hails End of ABM Treaty

Squinty the Boilfaced Crackhead hailed the demise of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty on Thursday, and urged Congress to develop defense systems to guard against strikes by terrorists now that the ban is lifted !!!!!

"I am committed to deploying a missile defense system as soon as possible to protect the American people and our deployed forces against the growing missile threats we face," Bunnypants squealed.

Critics say Bush's missile defense goals are unreliable and expensive, but are still expected to don their pink tutus and approve the Unelected Fraud's plan. Pentagon officials will mark the passing of the treaty at a ceremony Saturday in Delta Junction, Alaska, breaking ground on a test site for the administration's $64 billion missile defense system.
From Yahoo News. I feel safer already.




Quote of the Day:

"You're probably not all that troubled about what happened to Padilla. You haven't hung out with Islamic extremists, boned up on your bomb-making skills or fantasized about Chernobylizing the Washington Mall. But don't forget: a court of law hasn't proved that Jose Padilla did either. And if George W. Bush has his way, it never will." - Ted Rall





Vandalism? You mean like when Bush-the-Smarter left office?

Paul Begala on Crossfire Thursday night: The General Accounting Office says the damage done when the Clinton administration moved out of the White House and the George W. Bush administration moved in is fairly typical for presidential transitions. In fact, a new report can't say whether the incidents of damage, vandalism and pranks were any worse in 2001 than they were in 1993 when the first Bush administration moved out of the White House. There is no excuse for intentionally vandalizing a national monument. But is there any excuse, say, for political spite that is for wasting $200,000 of taxpayers money to document less than $20,000 worth of damage?

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D - NY): I have to tell you this GAO study, about $200,000 worth found, $9,000 worth of damage over a eight-year period in hundreds of offices. You know what it comes down to roughly, $2 an office over eight years. Listen, it's terrible. I am shocked that there were legs removed from some stools. I am shocked that there was a T-shirt left over the back of a chair, but did we need a $200,000 study to tell us ...

Bob Barr (R-Delusional): Y'all are just making this up.

Paul Begala: Let me ask ...

Bob Barr: Y'all are making it up. There is no $200,000 price tag and you know it. Y'all made that up.

Paul Begala: This is my...hypocrisy test, Congressman ...

Bob Barr: We have never had administration that has done this before, Paul.

Paul Begala: [L]et me put it up on the board. The GAO concluded that "we were unable to conclude whether the 2000 transition was worse than previous ones at all."

Bob Barr: They didn't investigate previous ones ...

Paul Begala: They did, Congressman - it's on page 17 of the report in your hands and documents ...

You can almost see Bob Barr's head explode here.


And later:

Paul Begala: White House press secretary Ari Fleischer this week admitted that President Bush, well, he fibbed when he claimed that he had read an EPA report confirming the threat of global warming. In the days to come, Fleischer plans to admit other Bush falsehoods, including Bush's promise not to raid the Social Security trust fund, his denial that he ever lobbied for Enron in South America, and my personal favorite, his bald-faced claim that despite all the evidence to the contrary, Bush actually showed up for duty in the National Guard from 1972 to '73. Thank goodness we've got a president with the honor and dignity to mislead us about important things, instead of sex.




Springtime for Hitler....

"Bush was invited to speak at the Ohio State commencement by representatives of the graduating class. But immediately before class members filed into the giant football stadium, an announcer instructed the crowd that all the university's speakers deserve to be treated with respect and that anyone demonstrating or heckling would be subject to expulsion and arrest. The announcer urged that Bush be greeted with a "thunderous" ovation." - (via BuzzFlash)

Today in History - 1920: The US Post Office rules that children may not be sent via Parcel Post.

And in 1971, back when reporters were journalists, not whores, The New York Times commenced publication of the Pentagon Papers, the top secret DOD analysis of what went wrong during the Vietnam War. The U.S. Justice Department was granted a court order blocking further publication of the embarrassing documents, but a Supreme Court decision struck this down, and publication resumed.



Breaking nooze! Virginia House Speaker S. Vance Wilkins Jr. resigns in wake of sex harassment charge. Another day, another repuke scandal.

The kittens were exploring the kitchen yesterday afternoon.

Merlin, the new parrot, is not cooperating - I'm trying to teach him to say "Wolf, you shameless %#%$^@ whore", but all he does is laugh.

Yogurt flavor-of-the-day: Stonyfield Farm's whole milk Mocha-ccino, with real cream on top. Ohhhhhh, man.

"Mobster John Gotti will be buried in the family plot in New Jersey, along with the Nets." - Kilborn





Celebrity Boxing: Ari the Liar vs Colin Powell

Plans to launch a Middle East peace initiative were in chaos last night after a split between Emperor Snippy and Colin Powell burst into the open like a boil on the face of a drunken chimp.

Bunnypants sent White House propaganda reichsmarshall Ari "the Liar" Fleischer to deliver a public rebuke to Mr Powell for daring to float proposals that included creation of a "temporary" Palestinian state. He accused Colin of parroting the ideas of foreign government leaders rather than reaching his own conclusions. This from a farking press secretary, for petessake. Who the hell does he think he is, Squinty's boss? His mommy?

"Welcome to the Middle East," Ari lied. "This is a situation where people get a variety of information, a variety of advice and if the 'president' has anything further to indicate, he will." (As if.)

The Toxic Tinhorn and Mr Sharon are in agreement on marginalising Arafat and hoping another Palestinian leader will come out of the woodwork. Meanwhile, the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, alarmed at the extent to which Sharon's voice rather than the Arab one is being listened to in the US administration, is to hold talks in Washington today.

More at The Guardian.


"Terrorists, India-Pakistan, the Middle East - don't you wish you were president Bush and didn't know about any of this?" - Letterman


Operation Enduring Poll Numbers

First it was to be a crusade. Then it became the "War for Civilisation". Then the "War without End". Then the "War against Terror". And now - believe it or not - Reznit Dumbass is promising us a "Titanic War on Terror". This gets weirder and weirder. What can come next? Given the latest Bush projections last week - "we know that thousands of trained killers are plotting to attack us" - he must surely have an even more gargantuan cliché up his ass sleeve.

Well, he must have known about the would-be Chicago "dirty" bomber - another little secret he didn't tell the American people about for a month. Until, of course, it served a purpose. Now new American "security" rules will force hundreds of thousands of Arabs and Muslims from certain countries to be fingerprinted, photographed and interrogated when they enter the US. This will apply, according to Jesus John Ashcroft, to nearly all visitors from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Sudan, most of whom will not get visas at all. The list is not surprising. Iran and Iraq are part of Preznit Poopypants' infantile "axis of evil". Syria is on the list, presumably because it supports Hamas' war against Israel.

It is a political list, constructed around the Bush policy of good-versus-evil. But not a single citizen from Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan has been accused of plotting the atrocities of 11 September. The suicide-hijackers came principally from Saudi Arabia, with one from Egypt and another from Lebanon. The men whom the Moroccans have arrested - all supposedly linked to al-Qa'ida - are all Saudis.

Yet Saudis - who comprised the vast majority of the September killers - are going to have no problems entering the US under the new security rules.

Snipped from Robert Frist's article at The London Independent.



Operation Enduring Repression

In an effort to maintain its media blitz to scare US citizens into accepting a developing police state and to bury all the emerging evidence of its own criminal negligence in 9/11, the Bush Administration has unveiled an alleged al-Qaeda agent who plotted to unleash a "dirty bomb" on US soil. Although arrested on May 8 on his return to Chicago from Pakistan, an American citizen, Jose Padilla, a former Latino gang member, is now languishing as an "enemy combatant" in a military prison in South Carolina. While the allegations about Padilla/al-Mujahir's connections to al-Qaeda and the "dirty bomb" plot are yet to be proved, the timing and story about the plot and the plotter raise important questions about the present motivations of the Bush Administration and US government's policies in the past and future.

Fran Shor at Counterpunch.


"A woman sued her hairdresser for making her look like Osama bin Laden. And as a result, now the CIA can't find her." - Conan



'The real White House vandal scandal'

The BFEE: vindictive, humorless partisan liars, changing the tone from bad to worse.

SmirkingChimp.com has the Kerry Lauerman story.

Though the whole episode is breathtaking in the childish petulance of Chimpy the Boilfaced Bonghead and his handlers, there are some parts that put an evil grin on my face: 'White House counsel Alberto Gonzales excoriates the GAO for refusing to include in its draft report "portions of a sign of a mock Time magazine cover" that was among the graffiti and prank signs left behind in the White House. The mock Time cover Gonzales apparently refers to circulated on the Internet during the Florida recount, and was reportedly left in the White House complex. It shows a troubled-looking Bush with the headline "Oh, shit." (Note from maru: I also remember seeing one that said "We are Fucked")

"It is vital to include the substance of specific graffiti, messages and signs observed" in order to fully document the acts of vandalism, Gonzales huffed. "The content of a message can -- and often does -- indicate who wrote the message, and when" and "often provides an insight into the mindset or intention of the person who wrote it."

But the GAO wouldn't budge on itemizing that particular slight to Bush. It did agree with Gonzales that in describing a piece of graffiti that read "Jail to the Thief" as "arguably derogatory" was a bit too modest, so the word "arguably" was stricken. But Gonzales wanted more, much more, listing in detail every slight to the new president that Bush staffers had to endure, from a "sign comparing President Bush to a chimpanzee" to an "8 x 10 color piece of paper that said 'See you in four, Al Gore' in drawer of the copy machine," to the "same president Bush/chimpanzee sign found in a printer" and to a "sign taped to a desk of a mock MasterCard ad that includes a picture of president Bush and reads, 'NEW BONG: $50, COCAINE HABIT: $300, FINDING OUT THAT THE GOOD-OLD-BOY NETWORK CAN STILL RIG AN ELECTION IN THE DEEP SOUTH: PRICELESS. For the rest of us there's honesty.'"'

Thunderstorms coming in, will have to shut down for a while.

Quote of the Day

"His name, before he converted to Islam so he could marry the girl of his dreams, was Jose "Pucho" Padilla. Putsch would recognize the name instantly. The guy was from Ireland, one of the northern provinces of Mexico." - Zepp, from Zepp's Essays, via email.

More on the BFEE's Dirty Bomb Tricks on the 'Murkin people

Instead of tailing "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla and following him to other suspects, the federal government arrested him, but then waited a month to announce the bust. Now critics wonder what the Justice Department is really up to.

Former FBI officials claimed the Crisco Kid's dragnet was ruining the government's best chance to find out what terrorists were up to in the U.S. by arresting everyone who seemed remotely suspicious and by scaring any real terrorists deeper underground. As one former G-man said at the time, the way to catch a conspiracy is to patiently watch it develop, and then swoop in and nab everyone.

Now the arrest of the alleged "dirty bomb" conspirator on thin evidence has renewed criticism that the government is mishandling the campaign against terrorism.

"[W]ho's Padilla to the al-Qaida organization? He's nobody," said veteran defense attorney Leonard Weinglass.

"There was no bomb," Weinglass continued. "There are no co-conspirators, at least that the government is telling us about. In his baggage there was no map, no plans, no battery, nothing. At his press conference Tuesday, [FBI Director Robert] Mueller said the allegations against Padilla are based not on a planned attack, not on the preparation for an attack, but on 'discussions' about an attack. That's pretty thin. You can't go to court with a case like this."

Dave Lindorff at Salon.

Al Qaida operative captured by Coast Guard, sometime last May


More on Bugman DeLay/Bugs Bunnypants Buddy Norquist's Enemies List

Senate Majority Whip Harry M. Reid called on Laura's Little Loser Monday to condemn republicans close to the White House who are tracking the political activities of Democratic lobbyists in order to deny them lobbying jobs and access to key government officials.

Bunnypants "wanted to change the tone in Washington, but today we learn he's working in tandem with those keeping secret lists of people's personal activity," Reid (D-Nev.) said in a speech on the Senate floor. "For what? Intimidation, professional retaliation, or maybe even character assassination. I don't think it's criminal, but I think it's on the verge of being criminal."

White House spokes-tool Ari "the Liar" Fleischer said Rezdint Clueless has no plan to condemn the project because "he's not part of it." (Which begs the question.......)

Chimpy the Red-nosed Boozer "should pick up the phone, call his friend and denounce him," Reid said. "Tell him that George W. Bush won't tolerate what amounts to McCarthyism."

From the Washington comPost.





'Homeland Security Hacks'

Anonymous at BuzzFlash writes the following:

The Department of Homeland Security will not be authorized this year and it will be viewed as a major legislative misstep by the Bush Administration. The tempered and bipartisan skepticism you saw on the Sunday talking head shows masks the noise that echoed across Capitol Hill after the President's speech: a collective guffaw.

Let's set the scene. Colleen Rowley was poised to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee and a leak war had broken out between the CIA and FBI in the Washington Post and New York Times. Yes, CIA, you did a better job than the FBI in connecting the dots before 9/11. But could you set your sights a little higher than that? Like, say, for example, matching the competence of the INS? And, lo and behold, a blockbuster announcement from the Pretender in Chief: after badmouthing Senator Joseph Lieberman's bill to set up a new agency of Homeland Security and threatening to veto the supplemental appropriations bill for providing funding for such an agency -- the President had a wonderful new idea: let's create a Homeland Security Agency!

And they said Al Gore had no core convictions.




Moments in Churchilliana

''These shadowy terrorists could hook up with a nation that has got weapons of mass destruction, the nations that I labeled the axis of evil.'' - The Oaf of Office, Kansas City, Mo, 6/11/02.




Brits to Bunnypants: 'Bullsh!t!'

British and European security officials are highly sceptical of the BFEE's claims that the alleged "dirty bomb" plotter, Jose Padilla, was preparing a radioactive attack.

British sources point out that despite extensive inquiries, no evidence has been produced to show that he had access to the radioactive material needed to build the bomb, or indeed that he had even worked out a time or place to launch the attack.

In Washington there was a growing suspicion that the arrest was seized on by the Bush administration in dramatic fashion for political ends.

Duh.

From The Independant.


NY Times to Nooculer Nincompoop: 'Nuts!'

The announcement by Attorney General Jesus John Ashcroft of the arrest of a man accused of planning to explode a radioactive device was a notable change from the administration's position that it would not disclose information about the plots it disrupted.

Some Democrats and civil liberties advocates have questioned whether the disclosure was timed to help counter criticism that the authorities, especially those at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, had mishandled signals that might have uncovered the Sept. 11 plot. They questioned whether the disclosure about the case of Jose Padilla, also known as Abdullah al-Muhajir, was part of a pattern in which the administration orchestrated its announcements to help it politically.

"Every time it looks as though the administration is going to face criticism, they emerge with a request for expanded powers or a new announcement," said Laura W. Murphy, the director of the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union. " What they seem to be doing is timing things so they drown out really aggressive inquiry into their performance."

Representative Henry Waxman, Democrat of California, said it was not possible to know whether the announcement's timing was being manipulated. "But," Mr. Waxman said, "it's hard to ignore that there seems to be a pattern that makes it appear they are being quite political in their calculations of the timing of these announcements."

Mr. Waxman also cited President Bush's announcement of a new Department of Homeland Security on the same day the Senate Judiciary Committee was hearing testimony from Coleen Rowley, the F.B.I. agent who accused the bureau of bungling warnings before Sept. 11.

From Neil A. Lewis at The New York Times.

If people don't start voting in my poll, I'm going to use that space to post shots of a naked Rush Limpbag.


Condo, when can I take my nap?

Good leaders set goals and then set up processes to achieve those goals. Lesser leaders watch helplessly, even cluelessly, as those processes get away from them, carrying them toward unwanted results.

Meet president George W. Bush, who is having a hard time managing the process, let alone achieving his goals.
James P. Pinkerton, at Long Island Newsday.

Today in History
1999: I'm dead, Jim - DeForest Kelley, "Bones" from the original Star Trek television series, dead of a "lingering illness".




Cool Stuff
Fantastic new pics of the Tarantula Nebula at Cosmiverse. Complex nebulosity, baby.




More Dirty Bomb Tricks from Bunnypants

Rezdint Clueless said today that Jose Padilla, the Chicago street thug arrested in the alleged 'dirty bomb plot', is one of many "would-be killers'' the United States has in custody. And there will be more, he promised.

"This guy Padilla's one of many who we've arrested,'' Bush said in a Cabinet Room meeting on homeland security programs.

"The coalition we've put together has hauled in 2,400 people. And you can call it 2,401 now. There's just a full-scale manhunt on. ... We will run down every lead, every hint. This guy Padilla's a bad guy and he is where he needs to be, detained.''

From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal.

"But you said I could have ice cream if I met with Ariel Sharon!"


The kittens are learning to use a litterbox.

Which Led Zeppelin song are you? Find out at ZepQuiz.




Bunnypants' Busy Week - Bein' Preznit is Hard!

Yesterday, Squinty McSquirtypants joined the Israeli Prime Minister in dissing Arafat.

Today, the Clueless Cowpie is traveling to Kansas City, MO, to tour a water treatment plant (ba dum bum...) and spew cliches on homeland security, then attend a fundraiser for GOP Senate nominee Jim Talent.

On Wednesday, Emperor Snippy will sign the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Response Act of 2001 in a Rose Garden ceremony, then will bleat inanities at the Homeland Security Advisary Council meeting. He also will help present the National Medals of Science and Technology, two more subjects he knows nothing about.

Thursday, Daddy's Little Doofus is off to meet with the Australian Prime Minister and make clueless comments at a high-tech forum.

And on Friday, Preznit Dumbass will travel to Columbus, OH to haltingly deliver the commencement address at Ohio State University, then head to Houston to visit a summer enrichment camp (...snort! choke!...) and headline yet another fundraiser, this one for Gov. Rick Perry.

Agenda courtesy of ABC Nooze.




Moments in Churchilliana

"We will oppose the new totalitarians with all of our power. We will hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice. We believe we fight an enemy that is barbaric and evil." - The Oaf of Office , 6/10/02.

"See, the conditions aren't even there yet." - The Impotent Impotentate, when asked by an Israeli reporter about the summit meeting of Israeli and Palestinian officials that the United States initially said would happen this summer.




We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

"The Bush administration is developing a new strategic doctrine that moves away from the Cold War pillars of containment and deterrence toward a policy that supports preemptive attacks against terrorists and hostile states with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons."
- Via e-mail.




Dirty White House's 'Dirty Bomb' Tricks

"We have disrupted an unfolding terrorist plot to attack the United States by exploding a radioactive dirty bomb," Jesus John Ashcroft frothed.

What a laugher. The "alleged al Qaida terrorist", a US citizen and former Chicago street gang member, was arrested a whole month ago. The "dirty bomb" threat was as hypothetical as Rush Limbaugh at a tofu bake-off: it "hadn't passed the early planning stages" - in fact, the suspect was still only plotting to build it, according to the AP/Washington comPost. TAPPED said it best: 'the Administration is very carefully making the most of this arrest to change the subject. By hyping the threat this man posed and refusing to elaborate on how close he actually was to making a dirty bomb, the Bush Administration shifts the focus of our attention and gives a boost to the beleagured intelligence.' And reminds the sheep that hey, there's a war on, goldarnit! An' Bunnypants is the commander-in-thiefchief! Don' mess wit Tex-ass!

Add imaginary projectile vomiting icon here!

Another letter in Newsday: "While preparing and rehearsing their terrorist attacks on America, Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida leaders must have been having belly laughs in the late 1990s watching the Republicans distract and tie up our government in an impeachment effort involving a sex scandal!"

.....thud.....


This is Statesmanship?

[W]ith the Bush administration deeply divided over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, America -- regarded by all sides as holding the key to the problem -- has not yet come up with a coherent policy for the region. To the dismay of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the State Department has advanced a Camp David-like plan that would hand over almost all of the occupied territories to the Palestinians, but President Bush has not accepted it and has not shown any signs of committing himself to bold initiatives of any kind.
From Salon.

As if things weren't bad enough today, one of the dogs is up here farting.

The new parrot is already imitating me. No, he's not yelling "f*cking c***sucker!" at Wolf Blitzer, he's doing my laugh. I wish I could remember what was so funny.

Spotted another red fox in the backyard today. A live one.




Actual Letter to Newsday:

In response to the May 30 letter about Hillary Clinton, I would like to say: Thank God that she has the courage to question a president who has declared himself beyond criticism.

I'm amazed at the way people confuse the Republicans' relentless investigating of the Clintons with actual wrongdoing. !n fact, Hillary Clinton possesses a certificate of political cleanliness (obtained at the small cost to taxpayers of $60 million). Her whole working life - not just her life in the White House - was put under a microscope and prosecutors found absolutely nothing. Very few politicians, given the same level of intensive scrutiny, would have come out as well.

The real scandal is the way the current president is using Sept. 11 to stifle all criticism of his greed and ineptness.

Texas Repukes: Nutsos or Nazis?

Texas republicans argued over whether their state convention was mainstream or filled with "religious zealots" Saturday as delegates approved a party platform that declared the United States a Christian nation and favored posting the Ten Commandments on public property. The Republican platform also reaffirmed the state party's belief that the nation needs to "dispel the myth of the separation of church and state." The harshest intraparty rhetoric of the Republican State Convention's closing day Saturday was set off by a rule change that ultimately was voted down. The measure would have denied state party financing to Republican candidates who refused to fill out a survey on how they stand on the various planks of the party platform. The survey now is voluntary, and only a handful of hundreds of 2002 candidates statewide responded. The proposed rule change was aimed as what some delegates called "RINOs -- Republicans in Name Only."

Letter in the BuzzFlash mailbag: "Can you imagine the outcry from the right if Clinton had been in office when our submarine sunk the Japanese fishing vessel, paid China to release our military people when they landed on their territory, if Clinton's biggest contributor had bilked investors and employees out of their life savings and then allowed the crooks to write his energy policy and appoint the head of FERC to oversee them, if Clinton's Attorney General had taken away our civil liberties in the name of pursuing terrorists, if he had backtracked on CAFE standards, if he never even brought up the terrorist problem before 9-11, if Clinton had allowed the Israel-Palestine problem to become so explosive, if the world was in danger of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, if bin Laden was still at large after we bombed the bejeezus out of Afghanistan, if the Anthrax killer was still on the lose, if Clinton had given executive orders to withhold presidential papers from historians and the public, if nearly 9 million people were unemployed, if the economy was as bad as it is now, if winning in a very close election where his brother happened to be Governor and the person in charge of elections happened to be in charge of his campaign in Florida and then being selected by the Supreme Court. All this in just one and a half years in office."

Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.

Quote of the Morning: "Jesus John was asked THREE times before a committee if he would guarantee that Colleen Rowley will not lose her job for courageously coming forward for the good of the country, and Ashcroft dodged it every time and refused to say that he'd ensure she wouldn't be fired for her efforts. What a fine patriotic Christian man John is. "Let the Eagle Soar" my ass. I have raccoons in the ravine behind my house with more character and integrity." - Dash Riprock, at Pundit Pap.

This week's Top 10 Conservative Idiots is up at DU.

Lots of good stuff at SmirkingChimp today, including Joe Conason.

Der Fuhrer salutes Reichskookmarshall DeLay (R-Insane)'s new task force, STOMP: the Stormtrooper Terrism Farce for the Oppression and Marginalization of the People.


Charles Utwater II has a good piece on the Media Whores Online / "Rabid Watchdog" Salon fiasco at AmPol.


Didn't take long, but Rush "the Vile Pigboy" Limbaugh finally rolled over in subservience: "One thing that we know for sure, my friends, is that in most cases the attempt to do the right thing is always there with this administration. I know that actions are more important than intentions, but couple that with the fact that we're talking about somebody here, George W. Bush, who has a profound level of integrity and decency. People want to believe and trust the president. That's why his approval numbers are so high. What he has done today is one of the reasons why his approval rating is understandable, and greatly deserved."

As a reward, the WH restocked Piggy's dwindling supply of KY, and reminded him that "Dr Brown's Anal Butter" comes in 'chocolate' for a reason.



Computer's slower than Dick Gebhardt at an assertiveness training seminar today.

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More Stuff:
The goldfinches were having fun in the birdbath today.
A hummingbird stopped by the new hummingbird feeder this afternoon.
The kittens are starting to poop on their own.




Tomb of the Eunuchs Found. Trent Lott, Dick Armey, and Dennis Hastert Still Alive

Three tombs of court eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) have been discovered by archaeologists at Beijing Industry and Commerce University recently, Wednesday's Beijing Daily reports.

According to the tomb epitaph, the three brick-built tombs belonged to Zhao Fen, and two other eunuchs surnamed Dong and Hua. Archaeologists unearthed a bronze Lei, a kind of drinking vessel, some funeral objects like porcelain pots, two purple clay kettles, four purple clay cups and more than 1,000 coins from Zhao Fen's tomb. A jade belt carved with designs of a peach, which symbolizes longevity, and clouds was also excavated from the tomb.

From Xinhua News.

The mama cat still has the kittens on the back deck, and they've just started to drink milk out of the bowl. The BF says I'm only allowed to keep one now, probably in retaliation for............

.....the parrot I adopted last night from a coworker, who's too busy with her (yuck!) children to pay much attention to him.




What did Bush know? 'A lot,' says an anonymous ex-Enron official.

According to a former Enron Corp. executive under congressional investigation in relation to the company's collapse last fall, an Enron lobbyist tipped off the Bush administration last August about the company's impending financial problems.

Enron lobbyist Pat Shortridge met with White House economic advisor Robert McNally Aug. 15, the day after Enron president Jeff Skilling resigned, to alert the White House that Enron could face a financial meltdown that could possibly cripple the country's energy markets, the former Enron executive told Salon this week.

When contacted for a response, a White House spokeswoman would only say that Squinty McSquirtypants was out of the loop, as he was probably either taking a nap, or playing cowboys and indians with Barney.