Bush AWOL - Again...! No mistake this time...

absolutely, totally, 100% right on... the only honorable thing for bush to do is resign... he doesn't deserve to continue to hold the highest office in the land... spread it around... it's dereliction of duty, pure and simple...

[F]ew have focused on the most telling aspect of the entire failure. It’s not just incompetence. It’s a shameful lack of concern: The 9/11 “My Pet Goat” dithering on an administration-wide scale.

Simply stated, the president and his top advisers chose vacation over action.

While the media has done a good job in portraying the overall deadly failure of leadership, it has not focused enough on this deadly dereliction of duty.

[...]

[H]is failure to grab the reins in the hurricane catastrophe for three days this week probably doomed hundreds, or more, to death.

This is not mere incompetence, but dereliction of duty. The press should call it by its proper name.

coming from this particular source (editor and publisher's editor, greg mitchell), it's damning...

(thanks to americablog...)

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Poor "invisible"

rev. joseph lowery, president emeritus of the southern christian leadership council, is on cnn right now and he's touching on some immensely fundamental issues... "[W]hen you get used to it [invisibility of the poor and the blacks], you don't take them into account..." it's all coming out - finally... all the uglies that we have tried to sweep under the rug... and the whole world is watching...

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The Financial Times: raising its sophisticated eyebrows

With the New Deal in the 1930s, helping those who could not help themselves became a mission that spawned a vast expansion of government's role. After a generation of determined effort the conservative movement has succeeded in squelching that mission. In the aftermath of Katrina, its success appears to have come at high cost.

jerome a paris at kos cites two financial times pieces that, in their inimitable, upper-crust way, tear bush a new one...

Most Americans consider defacto segregation a fading reality. They may be right. But the TV footage challenges that view, to put it mildly. Under the weight of homeless migrants from New Orleans, the previously sleepy state capital of Baton Rouge hasbecome the largest city in Louisiana, like some Middle Eastern border city that people pour into in search of asylum.

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Race & poverty - the twin elephants in the room - censored

it appears that the only time someone can speak his mind in the u.s. these days is to sneak it by the ever-present censors...

It began, fittingly enough, with jazz from New Orleans natives Harry Connick Jr. and Wynton Marsalis. But "A Concert for Hurricane Relief," a heartfelt and dignified benefit aired on NBC and other networks Friday night, took an unexpected turn thanks to the outspoken rapper Kanye West.

Appearing two-thirds through the program, he claimed "George Bush doesn't care about black people" and said America is set up "to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow as possible."

[...]

West began a rant by saying, "I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a black family, it says they're looting. See a white family, it says they're looking for food."

While allowing that "the Red Cross is doing everything they can," West - who delivered an emotional outburst at the American Music Awards after he was snubbed for an award - declared that government authorities are intentionally dragging their feet on aid to the Gulf Coast. Without getting specific, he added, "They've given them permission to go down and shoot us."

[...]

There was a several-second tape delay, but the person in charge "was instructed to listen for a curse word, and didn't realize (West) had gone off-script," said NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks.

West's comment about the president was cut from NBC's West Coast airing, which showed three hours later on tape.

i don't know about "intentionally dragging their feet" but i am confident that, if this disaster had occurred in aspen, palm springs, boca raton, westport, the hamptons, cape cod, scottsdale, las vegas, hollywood, the woodlands, boston, or any other bastion of moneyed, white america, we wouldn't be seeing what we're seeing... the plain fact is that the majority of folks suffering now simply WEREN'T ON THE RADAR SCREEN of those preparing for katrina... they didn't register... their circumstances didn't warrant advance preparation... the message is clear... if you're poor in the u.s., it's your own goddam fault... you made your bed, now lie in it...

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"In disaster movies, people flee."

In disaster movies, people flee. In real disasters, thousands of people have nowhere to go. In the land of SUVs, they don't have cars or enough cash for a bus ticket.

"REAL" disasters...? they must be referring to disasters that "REAL" governments respond to instead of the "hey, let's put on a show" mickey rooney government we have been inflicted with...

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New Orleans policewoman

(from cnn...)

"We need to go back to living with love, hope . . . and compassion . . . for people who didn't have it for us."

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No tax break for Satan's doppelgänger

meanwhile, out of sight and mind of those still waiting to be evacuated from nola...

Presidential adviser Karl Rove may live in Washington. But in his heart -- and for voting purposes -- he remains a Texan. Which means he is not legally entitled to the homestead deduction and property tax cap he's been getting on his Palisades home for the past 3 1/2 years.

[...]

"When Mr. Rove purchased the home in January 2001, he qualified for the exemption. He was not made aware of the changes in D.C. law," Healy said. "Now that it has been brought to his attention, he is making restitution. He certainly was not trying to mislead anybody."

rove MISLEAD anybody...? oh, certainly not... perish the thought...

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Evacuation: It's still not happening like it should

A day after the National Guard finally arrived in force and began mass evacuations, thousands of people remained behind Saturday as fires belched ribbons of smoke over the city and sporadic gunfire echoed through the night.

Thousands from the Superdome were taken to Texas on air-conditioned buses, but early Saturday the operation was halted — with 2,000 in the stadium alone still to be evacuated five days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall.

At the New Orleans Convention Center, where as many as 20,000 people have gathered since the storm, Jennifer Washington was among the frustrated evacuees who spent another morning waiting for buses to come.

"At first they said 6:30 this morning, then they said 9, but there are no buses. They promised us buses," said Washington, 25, who has four children but lost them in the storm.

meanwhile, it's money out first, everybody else just be patient...

(thanks to atrios...)

At one point Friday, the evacuation was interrupted briefly when school buses pulled up so some 700 guests and employees from the Hyatt Hotel could move to the head of the evacuation line — much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the Superdome since last Sunday.

"How does this work? They (are) clean, they are dry, they get out ahead of us?" exclaimed Howard Blue, 22, who tried to get in their line. The National Guard blocked him as other guardsmen helped the well-dressed guests with their luggage.

The 700 had been trapped in the hotel, near the Superdome, but conditions were considerably cleaner, even without running water, than the unsanitary crush inside the dome. The Hyatt was severely damaged by the storm. Every pane of glass on the riverside wall was blown out.

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Bush's Saturday radio address: attempting to re-cast the spell

he just finished speaking, trying like hell to sound like he's in charge, like he has the foggiest notion of what leadership is all about... "We'll rebuild the great city of New Orleans. [...] May god bless you. May god continue to bless our country." as usual, bush is all words... listening to him and then watching the coverage shift back to the harsh realities that received only barebones response until yesterday is to experience massive cognitive dissonance... fortunately, many in the media are waking up... it's like watching people emerge from a trance... they and much of the rest of the u.s. citizenry have been captive of an evil spell... many still are... bush is working hard to keep the power of that spell in place... i don't know that it's possible any longer...

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Another plug for Katrina coverage; Bush needs to resign

the good folks at americablog, chris, john, joe and michael are doing one hell of a job bringing it all together... keep in touch with them, please... of course you should be monitoring the msm news but these guys are pulling out the bits and pieces that MATTER, assembling the big picture and pointing out the appallingly massive disaster not only of the hurricane itself but also of the horrendous mess that's been the response so far...

i've said it several times already, i am hoping that this is what sinks the disgraceful and flat-out criminal bush administration... the u.s. is in dramatically worse shape that anyone of us would have believed and this crisis has revealed all the rottenness at the core of our national leadership... fruitless and unrealistic though it may be, i demand his resignation along with his entire cabinet and call for a special presidential election... at this point, it's our only hope...

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CNN: Anderson Cooper's "Reporter's Notebook"

i just watched anderson cooper's "reporter's notebook," a personal video journal and commentary aired at the conclusion of his hour-long "360" news hour, devoted tonight to, of course, katrina... excellent... outstanding... takes the hard reality of what's happening and gives it some perspective, flying in the face of the completely phony upbeat shit that bush and trent lott are spewing...

"I've been in Sri Lanka, I've been in Sarajevo. This is different. This is our home."

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Death toll may top 10,000 in LA alone; a call for regular Army troops

US Senator David Vitter said that the death toll from Hurricane Katrina could top 10,000 in Louisiana alone.

"My guess is that it will start at 10,000, but that is only a guess," Vitter said, adding that he was not basing his remarks on any official death toll or body count.

Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, also called for the immediate deployment of regular US combat troops in New Orleans, saying the build-up of National Guard troops was too slow to quickly restore order.

while i completely agree that the deployment of regular army troops may be called for, i'm extremely leery of involving active duty military in domestic situations... call me paranoid but i just don't like the way it feels, the posse comitatus act notwithstanding...

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Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord

(from john at americablog...)

“New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern Decadence and the sodomites, the witchcraft workers, false religion -- it's free of all of those things now," Shanks says. "God simply, I believe, in His mercy purged all of that stuff out of there -- and now we're going to start over again."

i read stuff like this and all i want to do is scream and put my hand through a window... i don't know what god shanks prays to but i find him/her/it unrecognizable...

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OH-MY-GOD...! Halliburton gets clean-up contract

the united states of halliburton... you'd think that... aw, shit... never mind...

The Navy has hired Houston-based Halliburton Co. to restore electric power, repair roofs and remove debris at three naval facilities in Mississippi damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

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Prediction: Gen. Honore is gonna make this work

and become a hero in the process... and if bush comes anywhere near him, wanting to shake his hand or grab some of the credit, i hope the good general kicks him right in the nuts...

With a cigar-chomping general in the convoy's lead vehicle, the camouflage-green National Guard trucks rolled through muddy water up to their axles to reach the convention center, where 15,000 to 20,000 desperate and often seething refugees had taken shelter.

[...]

"As fast as we can, we'll move them out," said Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore. "Worse things have happened to America," he added. "We're going to overcome this, too. It's not our fault. The storm came and flooded the city."

no, the storm is definitely not your fault... but the flood and the four days it took you to get there lie squarely in the lap of your CINC...

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Convoy arrives at NOLA Convention Center

cnn is reporting that the first convoy with supplies and trucks for evacuation has just arrived at the new orleans convention center...

Four days after Hurricane Katrina struck, the National Guard arrived in force Friday with food, water and weapons, churning through the floodwaters in a vast truck convoy with orders to retake the streets and bring relief to the suffering.

four days...? FOUR FRIGGIN' DAYS...???

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Unlike Katrina, a terrorist attack could come without warning

yep... let's start talking reality here... four friggin' years and what have we got to show for all the swaggering blather about preparedness...? zero... zip... nada... zilch... totally pathetic...

Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans -- and the delay helping stranded people get out or even get water and food -- is raising doubts that U.S. cities may be ill-prepared to cope with a potentially worse disaster: a major attack.

Four years after the September 11, 2001, attacks, the storm disaster marked the first time the federal government has invoked its post-September 11 response plan aimed at enhancing Washington's ability to deal with national incidents.

But as Americans reeled at images of death and desperation among the city's refugees, experts on domestic security said a nuclear or biological attack on a big U.S. city could cause greater mayhem, and unlike the storm, come without warning.

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New Orleans deserves it

the american spectator, in a galling article published today and written by executive editor george neumayr, says this...

(via raw story...)

New Orleans was ripe for collapse. Its dangerous geography, combined with a dangerous culture, made it susceptible to an unfolding catastrophe. Currents of chaos and lawlessness were running through the city long before this week, and they were bound to come to the surface under the pressure of natural disaster and explode in a scene of looting and mayhem.

Like riotous Los Angeles since the 1960s, New Orleans has been a wasteland of politically correct dysfunction for decades -- public schools so obviously decimated vouchers were proposed this year (and torpedoed by the left), barbaric gangster rap culture no one will confront lest they offend liberal pieties, multiculturalist frauds who empower no one but themselves, and cops neutered by the NAACP and ACLU.

i can't even summon the words to express my disgust... that there are people who can spew this type of bile is testament to the environment created and encouraged by bush and his fratellanza...

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Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

he's on cnn right now, live, speaking for the Congressional Black Caucus... oh, man... he's really laying it on... more to come... tune in if you can...

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MP3 interview with Mayor Nagin - MUST LISTEN - He's PISSED...

FINALLY... i found a link to the NOLA Mayor Ray Nagin interview but the blogger asks that it not be published due to constraints on the server... i've downloaded it and let me see where i can host it... ok, i just got this link from atrios... thanks...

here's an la times link to the story...

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A highly personal statement

i've crossed some sort of mental and emotional threshold in the course of watching the beyond-inexcusable mess that is happening in new orleans... there seems little point in continuing to justify the fact that bushco is the worst thing to ever happen to the u.s... it's self-evident... bush and his ship of fools have taken us far down the road to ruin in their nearly five years of madness and the consequences are on view for everyone, world-wide, right now on cnn... the man has to go... rove has to go... rummy has to go... cheney has to go... condi has to go... the whole rotten gang has to go... we need people who can work for US, the citizens of the U.S... we need people who can identify with what it means to be human and we need them NOW...!

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A brief break from hell on earth for the merely insane: Bolton

the hellish situation in new orleans continues to worsen... then, we have john bolton at the u.n...

Richard Grenell, Mr. Bolton's spokesman, reacted to a request for an interview with the ambassador by enunciating the principle that journalists need to support Mr. Bolton in order to have access to him.

what a terrific attitude for someone to have who was sent to the u.n. without senate confirmation by an ignorant asshole president arrogantly giving his middle digit to advise and consent and the separation of powers...

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WWL Interview with NOLA Mayor Ray Nagin - devastating indictment of Bush [UPDATE - link]

i just listened to the full interview wwl conducted with new orleans mayor ray nagin as re-broadcast on cnn... devastating indictment... overwhelming emotion... he says that bush flying over in air force one doesn't cut it... he says they are desperate and they need help and they aren't getting it... he asks why billions of dollars can be approved in an eyeblink for iraq and troops staged and deployed in a heartbeat and people are still dying in new orleans after 5 days... he describes little old ladies standing in their attics in water "up to their friggin' necks," heads stuck into ventilator shafts in order to breathe... he describes people dying right and left... he talks about the small percentage of people involved in senseless looting but the greater percentage of looters are doing it simply in order to survive... he says he's going to get in to a lot of trouble for expressing his opinion but, at this point, he doesn't care... he says he doesn't want to see any more press conferences... stop the press conferences, he says, and bring us help... the interviewer, mayor nagin and i were in tears at the end, neither of them able to say anything and me cursing in front of the tv... i have been trying to find the link and as soon as i do, i will post it as an update here...

today bush is going to be on the ground in BILOXI...??? what the fuck is the matter with that man...??? i don't think he really is part of the human species... he has to be some sort of cold-blooded alien life form... he has to go and the sooner the better...

[UPDATE]

i'm having trouble finding a link to the transcript... the interview was conducted by wwl radio but i can't find it on their site... here's a link to a brief story... if anybody has a better link, PLEASE post it in the comments and i will pick it up...

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Stage-sets, false fronts and empty suits

the bush administration is like a hollywood set... no, actually, it's worse... it looks like a real town, the buildings look like real buildings, the people look like real people but there's no THERE there... the buildings are one-dimensional and the people cast no shadows...

BUSH HAS TO GO...!
I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL 2006, 2009 or EVEN TOMORROW...!
HE'S GOTTA LEAVE NOW...!
QUICK, BEFORE THERE'S NOTHING LEFT OF MY COUNTRY...!

and, if this sounds a little shrill, it's because that's exactly the way i'm feeling...

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Rove visits Cindy-haters

his evil is manifest... if he had one single molecule of humanity anywhere in his vile body, he would have visited BOTH sides of the road... the man just oozes darkness...

(bradblog has the details and thanks to raw story for the tip...)

Driving his own pickup, with two trucks blockading both sides of the street, Bush Administration Senior Political Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff, Karl Rove made a surprise sunset visit/photo-op Tuesday night to the half dozen or so Bush supporters camped across the street from "Camp Casey" in Crawford, Texas where Cindy Sheehan -- whose son, Casey, was killed in Iraq...

if he had TWO molecules, he would be down on the gulf coast, giving support to those who need it most...

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Why there's such a flooding problem in New Orleans

courtesy of the bbc, this is the most informative visual representation i've seen on new orleans vulnerability to flooding and why there's such a problem now...

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Bayou country - Plaquemines Parish

a desperately poor area... the photos are chilling... and even now, three days in, they don't know the fate of those who were unable to evacuate...

(thanks to dancing larry at kos...)

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The serious msm questioning starts - WaPo steps up

this is just the bare beginning... bushco is going to experience a veritable firestorm over this and rightly so... "starving the beast" has its consequences and buchco is gonna get 'em full in the face...

The president's most recent budgets have actually proposed reducing funding for flood prevention in the New Orleans area, and the administration has long ignored Louisiana politicians' requests for more help in protecting their fragile coast, the destruction of which meant there was little to slow down the hurricane before it hit the city. It is inappropriate to "blame" anyone for a natural disaster. But given how frequently the impact of this one was predicted, and given the scale of the economic and human catastrophe that has resulted, it is certainly fair to ask questions about disaster preparations.

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"One of the worst speeches of his life..."

the title of the nyt editorial is, fittingly, waiting for a leader... yes, i saw most of the speech excerpted on cnni both last night and this morning... if we are lucky and the american people decide to fully rouse themselves from their 5-year slumber, katrina might be the straw... my fingers are crossed... toes too...

George W. Bush gave one of the worst speeches of his life yesterday, especially given the level of national distress and the need for words of consolation and wisdom. In what seems to be a ritual in this administration, the president appeared a day later than he was needed. He then read an address of a quality more appropriate for an Arbor Day celebration: a long laundry list of pounds of ice, generators and blankets delivered to the stricken Gulf Coast. He advised the public that anybody who wanted to help should send cash, grinned, and promised that everything would work out in the end.

their closing comment says it all...

[T]he chances of leadership seem minimal.

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FDA official puts principle and science ahead of politics and quits

i don't know her and i will probably never meet her but my hat is off to susan wood... this country needs a stampede of public officials, civil service and appointee, who are willing to stick to their guns about what's right and not what's politically motivated...

The director of the Food and Drug Administration's office of women's health resigned yesterday to protest the agency's decision last week to further delay approving over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill.

"I feel very strongly that this shouldn't be about abortion politics," the director, Dr. Susan F. Wood, who is an assistant F.D.A. commissioner, said in a telephone interview. "This is a way to prevent unwanted pregnancy and thereby prevent abortion. This should be something that we should all agree on."

In an e-mail message to staff members, Dr. Wood wrote that she could no longer serve at the agency "when scientific and clinical evidence, fully evaluated and recommended for approval by the professional staff here, has been overruled."

bush is RUINING the u.s... he needs to be stopped...

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20 oil rigs MISSING...!

i saw this earlier on cnni and about fell off the bed...

At least 20 oil rigs and platforms are missing in the Gulf of Mexico and a ruptured gas pipeline is on fire after Hurricane Katrina tore through the region, a US Coast Guard official said.

"We have confirmed at least 20 rigs or platforms missing, either sunk or adrift, and one confirmed fire where a rig was," Petty Officer Robert Reed of the Louisiana Coast Guard told AFP.

do you have any idea HOW BIG those things ARE...?? they're like miniature floating cities...

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A FEMA statement I hadn't seen before

The US Federal Emergency Management Agency counts a direct hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the biggest threats the nation faces, ranked alongside terror attacks and earthquakes.

interesting that this little gem hasn't been picked up by the u.s. msm... once again, the best news comes from outside the u.s...

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Joe, Rob and John at AMERICAblog are on top of Katrina aftermath

the best, most concise, up-to-the-minute and newsworthy coverage of the katrina aftermath, imho, is being done at AMERICAblog... i am seeing coverage there that i am seeing nowhere else, specifically the rapidly emerging stories of gasoline shortages in west virgina, north and south carolina and newsweek's blasting of the lack of advance preparation... stick with joe, rob and john - they're doing a GREAT job...!

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Death toll on Baghdad bridge nears 1000

Almost 1,000 people are known to have died in a stampede of Shia pilgrims in northern Baghdad, Iraqi health officials have said.

along with the death toll in the aftermath of katrina, now said to be in the thousands, the number of dead in baghdad just keeps going up...

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Obscenity

yes, this is an obscenity... you'll just have to go look for yourselves...

(thanks to think progress...)

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Why the Superdome has 20-30K people in it...

difficult as it may be for the msm, george and the pontificating pundits to understand, not all of us can just jump in a car and hightail it out of town at the drop of a hat... it becomes particularly difficult when you don't HAVE a car and even more difficult when you don't have ANY MONEY...

Evacuating for even two days, for people who lacked a car and friends to stay with, probably would have cost between $350 and $600, assuming there were buses or trains to be had leaving the city for points north. The poor and working poor live paycheck to paycheck and simply don't have that kind of cash lying around. But the car issue was probably the most significant one, given the availability of free shelters outside the city.

A TPMCafe reader report makes a similar case, writing: "No one talks, by the way, about how the lack of public transportation was a large factor in determining who stayed in or around the region."

The New York Times is also clear on what's at stake and who will have to intervene, writing in an editorial today: "People who think of that graceful city and the rest of the Mississippi Delta as tourist destinations must have been reminded, watching the rescue operations, that the real residents of this area are in the main poor and black. The only resources most of them will have to fall back on will need to come from the federal government."

Meanwhile, FOX News last night had a fellow named Jack Chambliss on arguing that the Constitution doesn't provide for disaster relief efforts, and that private individuals should bear the burden:

[T]he founding fathers never intended, Article One, section Eight of the Constitution, never intended to provide one dollar of taxpayer dollars to pay for any disaster or anything that we might call charity. What we now have is the law of unintended consequences taking place, where FEMA has come into New Orleans, a place where, ecologically, it makes no sense to have levees keeping the Mississippi River from flooding into New Orleans, like it naturally should.

It's hard to imagine how someone can be that bereft of fellow-feeling or sympathy for his countrymen. But leave it to FOX News to ask "Should Taxpayer Dollars Rebuild New Orleans?" while the rest of the nation is transfixed by the near-total loss of one of America's major cities.

un-friggin' believeable... how terribly inconvenient of them to be taking up precious resources by needing to be rescued or, worse yet, DYING right there in front of god and everybody... how terribly rude... and a waste of good money at that...

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Chickenhawk Roosting Area

many, many thanks to operation yellow elephant, atrios, and mykeru...



in a day full of katrina nightmares, this made me laugh out loud...

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The magnitude of the disaster was "eminently preventable..."

an excellent diary by reddan at kos spells out, reduction by reduction, cut by cut, omission by omission, decision by decision, how bushco, through its disastrous iraq war debacle and insane tax cuts, shorted the critical public works projects that could have significantly mitigated the still-unfolding horror of katrina...

reddan addressing bush...

A city is destroyed, and in large part this disaster was eminently preventable...but the money, planning, coordination, and people necessary to accomplish that prevention and mitigation were diverted from already identified urgent needs and projects and sunk into the bloody sands of the Iraqi desert and siphoned into the bulging pockets of your campaign contributors and rich beneficiaries of your stupid tax cuts.

once things have been somewhat stabilized along the gulf coast, particularly new orleans, it seems to me the timing would be perfect for the american people to rise up and say, "george, we've HAD IT...! you've screwed us every possible way under the sun since you stole the 2000 election... WE'RE PISSED AS HELL AND WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANY MORE...!"

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Nope, Hillary, I ain't buyin' it...

i find the idea of a strong, liberal, female president appealing and i held on to the possibility that hillary might be the one... not any more... her performance the past few months has thoroughly trashed my hopes... her so-called "centrist positioning" to me betrays a complete lack of moral and ethical compass... too bad... she coulda been a contendah...

But Hillary's not playing the vocal peacenik this time - she's the cagey hawk. She knows if she wants to be the first woman president, she can't have love beads in her jewelry box.

She has defended her vote to authorize the president to wage war, even though it was apparent then that the administration was snookering the country. And she has argued for more troops in Iraq, knowing it sounds muscular but there's no support for it from the public - or Rummy.

She figures the liberals will stay with her while she scuttles to the center, even if they get angry when she's not out front on stopping the war or preserving abortion rights. No one knows how she'll vote on John Roberts, so this could be her own Sister Souljah moment - will she break with the hard-line left on Judge Roberts?

[...]

Hillary may get caught flat-footed. Or she may be right in betting that there's no need to do anything rash now, like leading.

you're right, maureen... the role model for zero leadership at the top of the party that holds nearly absolute political power in this country certainly deserves to be emulated... you go, hillary... show us how it's done...

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Katrina & New Orleans: Getting worse [UPDATE: 12-15 ft]

****ALL RESIDENTS ON THE EAST BANK OF ORLEANS AND JEFFERSON REMAINING IN THE METRO AREA ARE BEING TOLD TO EVACUATE AS EFFORTS TO SANDBAG THE LEVEE BREAK HAVE ENDED. THE PUMPS IN THAT AREA ARE EXPECTED TO FAIL SOON AND 9 FEET OF WATER IS EXPECTED IN THE ENTIRE EAST BANK. WITHIN THE NEXT 12-15 HOURS****

Jeff Parish President. Residents will probably be allowed back in town in a week, with identification only, but only to get essentials and clothing. You will then be asked to leave and not come back for one month.

i remember when the big hurricane blew through cuba last year, fidel castro was at the command center in person in the middle of the storm... compare that with the fact that the first public statements by george only came a few hours ago... pathetic...

[UPDATE]

6:41 P.M. [CDT] - Efforts to stop the levee break at the 17th Street Canal have ended unsuccessfully and the water is expected to soon overwhelm the pumps in that area, allowing water to pour into the east bank of Metairie and Orleans to an expected height of 12-15 feet.

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Northwest & United: We don't need no st-e-e-e-enk-eeng mechanics!

first northwest...

Northwest Airlines, into its second week of a mechanics strike, said on Tuesday it is prepared to operate indefinitely with a crew of replacement workers and outside vendors.

Northwest seems to have shrugged off the effects of the strike, which began on August 20. But the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), which represents the 4,400 striking workers, said the airline is hurting for experienced mechanics.

Northwest said, however, that its operations are normal with the exception of weather-related cancellations.

"We are prepared to operate the airline with our new maintenance structure indefinitely," Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said.

now united...

United Airlines on Tuesday said it has signed a contract with Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Corporation (Ameco Beijing), under which the Chinese company will maintain its Boeing 777 fleet.

In the five year deal, which takes effect in October, United's Boeing 777s will go to Ameco Beijing for heavy maintenance visits, the airline said in a statement.

make no mistake... it's union-busting... northwest is doing it by leaving its mechanics union high and dry using temps and outsourcing... united is simply going for the outsourcing... no matter the strategy, unionized airline mechanics in the u.s. are being shown the door...

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Katrina thumbnail... [UPDATE - 3:25 p.m. CDT, Tues]

this kinda sums it up, doesn't it...?

Jefferson Parish officials say schools could reopen by Dec. 1.

[UPDATE]

3:25 P.M. - With conditions in the hurricane-ravaged city of New Orleans rapidly deteriorating, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Tuesday that people now huddled in the Superdome and other rescue centers need to be evacuated.

"The situation is untenable," Blanco said during a news conference. "It's just heartbreaking."

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The full Hurricane Katrina back-story [UPDATE: OMG, Bush is canceling his vacation!]

the progress report has put together an excellent and comprehensive analysis entitled "'How Not to Prepare for a Massive Hurricane,' by President Bush, congressional conservatives, and their corporate special interest allies" here... bushco's agenda for "starving the beast" is moving forward and succeeding beyond anyone's wildest dreams... soon, releasing fema money in response to natural disasters will be nothing more than an empty gesture cuz there won't be any money to release...

[UPDATE]

President George W. Bush will return to Washington on Wednesday, two days ahead of schedule, to help oversee recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina, the White House announced.

TWO DAYS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE...! the poor baby... it's tough to go back to work after such a pleasant vacation... and, why wait 'till tomorrow...? why not today...? don't wanna miss a tee time probably... ~snark~

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Weapons sales... Let's not forget what business we're in

The total of arms sales and weapons transfer agreements to both industrialized and developing nations was nearly $37 billion in 2004, according to the study.

That total was the largest since 2000, when global arms sales reached $42.1 billion, and was far above the 2003 figure of $28.5 billion.

The United States once again dominated global weapons sales, signing deals worth $12.4 billion in 2004, or 33.5 percent of all contracts worldwide. But that was down from $15.1 billion in 2003.

The share of American arms contracts specifically with developing nations was $6.9 billion in 2004, or 31.6 percent of all such deals, up slightly from $6.5 billion in 2003.

33.5% of all weapons contracts worldwide and 31.6% of contracts to the developing world are inked by our peace-loving nation... our hypocrisy is evidently limitless... oh, and by the way, $1.5B of that went to Pakistan and almost $5B to India...

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Now, let's leave the Palestinians without money and tie them up in court for who knows how long...

yes, they do have to be responsible world citizens like everybody else (except the u.s., of course) but let's not cut 'em off at the knees just when they need to make gaza viable...

A Rhode Island lawyer trying to collect a $116 million terrorism judgment against the Palestinian Authority has obtained a court-ordered freeze on all its US-based assets, severely limiting most Palestinian economic and diplomatic activities in the United States at a critical moment for the fledgling government.

we're talking about $1.4B, by the way, not exactly chump change...

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Dr. Rummy on Iraq: I know more than you do...

sounding like dr. science, "america's foremost authoritarian on the world around us, or at least the world around him..."

"We have no choice but to take the offensive," Rumsfeld told a packed auditorium of soldiers and families of those already deployed, arguing that a hasty withdrawal from Iraq is not a viable option. "People who want to toss in the towel were wrong yesterday, they're wrong today, and they'll be wrong tomorrow."

"There is a thin line between ignorance and arrogance," [Dr. Science] says, "and only I have managed to erase that line."

rummy sounds a wee bit testy, dontcha think...?

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"Dogma-driven" U.S. policy on AIDS in Africa... Nice way of saying "religious ideology-driven..."

A senior United Nations official has accused President George Bush of "doing damage to Africa" by cutting funding for condoms, a move which may jeopardise the successful fight against HIV/Aids in Uganda.

Stephen Lewis, the UN secretary general's special envoy for HIV/Aids in Africa, said US cuts in funding for condoms and an emphasis on promoting abstinence had contributed to a shortage of condoms in Uganda, one of the few African countries which has succeeded in reducing its infection rate.

"There is no doubt in my mind that the condom crisis in Uganda is being driven by [US policies]," Mr Lewis said yesterday. "To impose a dogma-driven policy that is fundamentally flawed is doing damage to Africa."

"an emphasis on promoting abstinence...!!" every time i read about the "just say no" theory of hiv/aids prevention, it literally blows me away... the people who spout that nonsense do not have a single clue about what life in this world is really like... not ONE...! and especially in, of all places, AFRICA...!

goddam, i wish george would come with me on a walk around the 'hood here... it's a nice area, really, not fancy, not squalid, but, after a couple of hours of witnessing REAL LIFE, as opposed to the sheltered, silver-spoon, hot-house environment he has spent his entire life in, he might see a few things that would open his eyes... hell, let's toss james dobson in with him, one on my right side and one on my left... a bit of make-up for a disguise, jeans, sneaks, windbreakers, mussed hair, day's growth of beard, lose the secret service, no motorcade... just think...! what fun...!

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U.S. credibility is sinking and the msm keeps drilling holes in the boat

if the blatant absence of accountability in any form whatsoever wasn't parading by my face every single day, flipping me the metaphorical digit, i might find it difficult to believe that the u.s. has descended so low and abandoned so much of what might have once been a respectable level of moral standing in the world...

Since the invasion in March 2003, Bush and his backers have hailed one mirage of false hope after another, from the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s statue, to Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech, to the slaying of Hussein’s two sons, to Hussein’s capture, to the transfer of “sovereignty,” to last January’s elections – and finally to the proposed constitution. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “Sinking in Deeper.”]

However, these transient causes for celebration were overwhelmed by the harsh realities on the ground as the U.S. invasion and occupation aggravated Iraq’s ethnic tensions and a stubborn insurgency arose to challenge the Americans militarily.

Also, the war’s chief justification – supposed Iraqi weapons of mass destruction – turned out to be bogus as did allegations of Hussein’s collaboration with al-Qaeda. Then, the disclosure of sexual and other abuses of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison enflamed anti-Americanism worldwide.

Yet, even as the Iraq War skeptics turned out to be right and the pro-war pundits were exposed as gullible or worse, the same Washington dynamic of a pinched debate about Iraq has continued to apply.

No pro-war columnist has been fired for showing inadequate skepticism about Bush’s claims. No anti-war thinker has been added to the op-ed pages of major newspapers to make sure there is more skepticism now.

Indeed, there has been no appreciable change in either the make-up or the ideology of the TV pundits. As little accountability as there was for senior Bush officials for misleading the country to war, there’s been even less for star journalists who failed to ask the tough questions.

here's what's happening to me as an american in a foreign country (and what i'm about to say is so terribly, terribly sad)... when i talk to non-americans, as bad as they think things have gotten in the u.s., i know it's a lot worse than they think it is... when i tell them some of the things that are going on, they are shocked... i wish people in the u.s. would wake up and realize that there are a TON of people in this world who desperately WANT to believe in the u.s... the u.s. is their dream and, if not us, then who...?

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Buchanan suggests Bush impeachment - over ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS...!

sometimes all you can do is shake your head and wonder why anybody pays attention to yahoos like pat ...

Pat Buchanan, a leading conservative pundit and former presidential adviser, quietly suggested House Republicans mull impeaching President Bush -- though not for the liberals' cause celebre, Iraq -- but rather for what he sees as Bush's 'criminal' failure to stem the tide of illegal immigrants...

[...]

"Some courageous Republican, to get the attention of this White House, should drop into the hopper a bill of impeachment," he added, "charging Bush with a conscious refusal to uphold his oath and defend the states of the Union against 'invasion.'"

it's kind of like the neo-nazi, white supremacists taking up with cindy sheehan over the "zionist" war in iraq but i might think about tossing my hat in with pat just to get dubya and co. out of there... ewwwwwwww... i can't believe i just said that... lemme go take a shower...

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Iraqi charter "does not identify Iraq as an Arab country"

Parts of the Iraqi draft constitution are a "recipe for chaos", Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa has said.

He told the BBC the Arab League shared Sunni Muslim concerns over federalism and the fact the charter does not identify Iraq as an Arab country.

oh, my... how v-e-e-e-ery interesting... and, of course, not a peep about this little tidbit on the u.s. msm... once again, why do we have to turn to sources outside the u.s. to get our news...? moussa goes on...

"I do not believe in this division between Shia and Sunni and Muslims and Christians and Arabs and Kurds," he said. "I don't buy this and I find in this a true recipe for chaos and perhaps a catastrophe in Iraq and around it."

The text of the draft constitution says Iraq is "part of the Islamic world and its Arab people are part of the Arab nation" - an apparent concession to non-Arab minorities like the Kurds.

Sunni negotiators wanted the text to say that Iraq as a whole is part of the Arab world.

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Does this surprise anyone at all?

Another dissenter bites the dust.

Army Contract Official Critical of Halliburton Pact Is Demoted

A top Army contracting official who criticized a large, noncompetitive contract with the Halliburton Company for work in Iraq was demoted Saturday for what the Army called poor job performance.

The official, Bunnatine H. Greenhouse, has worked in military procurement for 20 years and for the past several years had been the chief overseer of contracts at the Army Corps of Engineers, the agency that has managed much of the reconstruction work in Iraq.

Ms. Greenhouse's lawyer, Michael Kohn, called the action an "obvious reprisal" for the strong objections she raised in 2003 to a series of corps decisions involving the Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root, which has garnered more than $10 billion for work in Iraq.

[...]

Known as a stickler for the rules on competition, Ms. Greenhouse initially received stellar performance ratings, Mr. Kohn said. But her reviews became negative at roughly the time she began objecting to decisions she saw as improperly favoring Kellogg Brown & Root, he said. Often she hand-wrote her concerns on the contract documents, a practice that corps leaders called unprofessional and confusing.

[...]

Her demotion was delayed when the Army's senior legal officials said they would first seek an independent investigation of her reprisal complaint. "The Army has referred this matter to the Department of Defense inspector general for their review and action, as appropriate," said an Oct. 22, 2004, letter to Ms. Greenhouse's lawyer from Robert M. Fano, the Army's chief of civilian personnel law. The acting secretary of the Army, Mr. Fano wrote, had also directed the Corps of Engineers to "suspend any adverse personnel action so that Ms. Greenhouse remains in her current position until a sufficient record is available to address the specific matters you raised."

But on July 14, the Army secretary approved Ms. Greenhouse's demotion, effective Aug. 27. With his request to proceed, General Strock had provided an unsigned nine-page memorandum, reviewing Ms. Greenhouse's recent performance ratings and responding to her allegations of impropriety.

Mr. Kohn said Sunday that the inspector general had not finished investigating the matter and that the demotion violated the Army secretary's commitment to wait on any action.

Mr. Kohn said that when he telephoned Dan Meyer, director of civilian reprisal investigations in the inspector general's office, on Aug. 24, Mr. Meyer was "shocked" to learn that the corps had proceeded against Ms. Greenhouse. Mr. Meyer said that he was immediately opening a "civilian reprisal" investigation and faxed forms to Mr. Kohn to initiate the process, Mr. Kohn said.

Standard operating procedure. Disgusting.

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Krugman on the housing bubble and the economy

[T]hese days Americans make a living by selling each other houses, paid for with money borrowed from China.

contrast krugman's plainspeak with alan greenspan's jargon-laden economistica...

"[T]his vast increase in the market value of asset claims is in part the indirect result of investors accepting lower compensation for risk. Such an increase in market value is too often viewed by market participants as structural and permanent. [...] [H]istory has not dealt kindly with the aftermath of protracted periods of low-risk premiums."

say, what...?

here's krugman's scenario...

[I]f, in particular, the housing bubble bursts before the trade deficit shrinks - we're going to have an economic slowdown, and possibly a recession. In fact, a growing number of economists are using the "R" word for 2006. [...] So there's a rough ride ahead for the U.S. economy. And it's partly Mr. Greenspan's fault.

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Hurricane Katrina

this has gotta be one of the nastiest looking storms i have ever seen... if it stays at cat 5 and continues to zero in on new orleans, god help 'em all...


Hurricane Katrina, with the core of the
storm approaching the northern Gulf coast
at 2 p.m. CT on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2005.

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Latin American history being written in Argentina

here's something you probably won't see in the msm yet it's a pretty significant event by any standard... this is the kind of thing that should get wider play if the good u.s. citizens and our money-and-ratings-above-all-else media would seriously pay a tiny bit of attention to something OTHER than what the u.s. is up to...

[T]he small Córdoba town of San Francisco [Provincia de la Córdoba, Argentina] is hardly a stage where many people would expect history to be made but this week San Francisco was the scene of the very first jury trial ever in Latin America.

[...]

[T]he freedom with which the media published the names and photos of the San Francisco jurors would surely shock people in the United States, for example, where jury selection has become a fine art — no harm done in this particular case perhaps but publishing those photos in organized crime trials (which are straining the jury system in the modern world because of their length and danger) would be tantamount to saying "Shoot me!" or "Bribe me!" for each juror.

The chief virtue of introducing the jury system is civic involvement — instead of dumping all the responsibility (and blame) for crimefighting on the government, the citizenry as a whole needs to understand that they too have their duties. ... Finally, since the law can be an ass, as Shakespeare said, bringing some common sense to bear on legal procedure and keeping the law down to earth can never do any harm.

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Sunday Digest, Part 3: Extremist Christianity

there is nothing, NOTHING, in the bible or any other religious creed for that matter that calls upon people to take leave of their senses in pursuit of outright ignorance... there is also nothing that urges people to engage in behavior that is staggering in its intolerance and sheer inhumanity... but, golly, we're seeing both in abundance...

i'm not a fan of rigid science... i happen to believe that adherence to pure scientific method and an undying loyalty to scientific orthodoxy has left a vast world of interesting phenomena unexplored... yet, with that said, over the years, particularly the past 200, science has revealed a world, indeed a universe, vastly more complex and wondrous and, yes, faith-inducing, than anything imagined in biblical times... we need to build on science, not destroy it...

Instead of spending more than $1 million a year on publishing books and articles for non-scientists and on other public relations efforts, the Discovery Institute should finance its own peer-reviewed electronic journal. This way, the organization could live up to its self-professed image: the doughty defenders of brave iconoclasts bucking the establishment.

For now, though, the theory they are promoting is exactly what George Gilder, a long-time affiliate of the Discovery Institute, has said it is: "Intelligent design itself does not have any content."

Since there is no content, there is no "controversy" to teach about in biology class. But here is a good topic for a high school course on current events and politics: Is intelligent design a hoax? And if so, how was it perpetrated?

and then there's "reverend" fred phelps (reverend is in quotes because, in ordinary circumstances, it's a term of respect) and the westboro baptist church of topeka who make pat robertson's behavior look positively saintly... the fact that this man is roaming the streets and traveling with his flock around the country perpetrating what can only be called terrorist acts is a sad comment on our times...

The Rev. Fred Phelps, founder of Westboro Baptist in Kansas, contends that American soldiers are being killed in Iraq as vengeance from God for protecting a country that harbors gays. The church, which is not affiliated with a larger denomination, is made up mostly of Phelps' children, grandchildren and in-laws.

[...]

[T]hey brought their anti-gay message to the funerals Saturday of two Tennessee soldiers killed in Iraq.

[...]

About 10 church members protested near Smyrna United Methodist Church and nearly 20 stood outside the National Guard Armory in Ashland City. Members have demonstrated at other soldier funerals across the nation.

[...]

"If they were protesting the government, I might even join them," Danny Cotton, 56, said amid cries of "get out of our town" and "get out of our country."

"But for them to come during the worst time for this family — it's just wrong."

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Sunday Digest, Part 2: Sheehan, Iraq, Bush and tipping points

as stan laurel would often remark to oliver hardy while flipping his tie, "it's a fine mess you've gotten us into this time, ollie...!" yes, george, it IS a FINE mess...! and where, when and how is it gonna end...?

the always-excellent frank rich shares some observations including a few on the democratic hawks who deserve to be turned out of office at the next available opportunity...

ANOTHER week in Iraq, another light at the end of the tunnel. On Monday President Bush saluted the Iraqis for "completing work on a democratic constitution" even as the process was breaking down yet again. But was anyone even listening to his latest premature celebration?

We have long since lost count of all the historic turning points and fast-evaporating victories hyped by this president. The toppling of Saddam's statue, "Mission Accomplished," the transfer of sovereignty and the purple fingers all blur into a hallucinatory loop of delusion.

[...]

It isn't just Mr. Bush who is in a tight corner now. Ms. Sheehan's protest was the catalyst for a new national argument about the war that managed to expose both the intellectual bankruptcy of its remaining supporters on the right and the utter bankruptcy of the Democrats who had rubber-stamped this misadventure in the first place.

When the war's die-hard cheerleaders attacked the Middle East policy of a mother from Vacaville, Calif., instead of defending the president's policy in Iraq, it was definitive proof that there is little cogent defense left to be made. When the Democrats offered no alternative to either Mr. Bush's policy or Ms. Sheehan's plea for an immediate withdrawal, it was proof that they have no standing in the debate.

meanwhile, back in crawford, hurricane cindy continues to gather strength despite the, unbelievable as it may seem, PRO-WAR rallies taking place in the same neighborhood...

In three weeks, Sheehan, who lost her 24-year-old son, Army Spec. Casey Sheehan, in Iraq last year, has become the face of an invigorated antiwar movement. She has drawn praise from scores of supporters as well as condemnation from conservatives who believe she is motivated by a political agenda that dishonors fallen soldiers.

"This is America standing up and saying this is enough. Mr. Bush, you always said that if you are not for us, you are against us. Well, Mr. Bush, we are against you," she said to a standing ovation at a rally of her supporters.

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Sunday digest, Part 1: Show me the accountability

no doubt due to my upbringing as well as to the fact that i have only resided briefly in areas of the world where the day is just another day, sunday always has a different feel - quieter, more relaxed, better suited to sitting around, listening to music, reading, smelling up the place with good cooking... but, like it or not, the world moves on... here's some slices from today that, hopefully, won't cause indigestion over brunch or sunday dinner...

when wolcott writes, he is like a surgeon making a precise incision... it's quick, it's clean, it's accurate, and your head can be severed from your shoulders before you even know it's happened... he reminds us of just exactly where the accountability lies...

Who do you think would be more likely to press for preemptive war, General Tommy Franks, who knows what the logistics, manpower, and materiel demands would be, or former undersecretary of defense Doug Feith, "the dumbest fucking man on the planet"?

I suspect Dumbfuck would be the more forward forward-leaner.

[...]

[T]he 82nd Airborne doesn't "decide" what the US does about rogue states. The guys and gals of the 82nd don't wake up in their barracks one morning and kibbitz amongst themselves. "What the hell, maybe it's time we took out Iraq. Let's get our gear together and requisition a transport plane, treat ourselves to a few kickass months in the Sunni triangle."

The 82nd Airborne goes where the Pentagon decides it should go, and that strategic decision is made by the civilian leadership. When the quality of the civilian leadership is corroded by arrogance, ignorance, and ideology, it is a formula for catastrophe.

the boston globe has a reminder too... this one about karl rove who i think, as i have stated ad nauseam, is a pure dark force...

Rove's career, even before he became Bush's deputy chief of staff, is rich with reasons to think his motives in helping to identify Plame as a CIA agent were far darker.

[...]

Rove's record has been consistent. Over 35 years, he has been a master of dirty tricks, divisiveness, innuendo, manipulation, character assassination, and roiling partisanship.

the nyt weighs in with more on accountability or, to be specific, the total lack of it...

After four and a half years, we have come to expect the Bush administration to refuse to hold anyone of stature accountable for errors, misdeeds or even potential violations of the law. The bungling of the war in Iraq and the abuse of prisoners at military camps both come to mind. But the inspector general's report on the failures of the Central Intelligence Agency before the 9/11 attacks elevates evasion of responsibility to a new level.

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