The only smile I've gotten from cruisin' the blogs all day

toby barlow in the huffpo...

Remember the end of "Dr. Strangelove" when Slim Pickens went riding the atomic bomb down from the plane? That's Hastert in a nutshell.

oh, i remember, all right... i was in my senior year in high school and the movie was all my friends and i could talk about for weeks... it was deadly honest, irreverent, wickedly funny, and dangerously provocative... little did i know i would be in vietnam a mere three years later...

back on topic, yes, indeed, i hope to hell hastert and the rest of the criminal gang that's running our fair country right into the ground, rides that goddam bomb right into the gates of hell, where i doubt even satan would be happy to see 'em...

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In Iraq, same as everywhere else, the U.S. doesn't like to play by the rules, ours or anybody's

so, then condi drops in to beat them up over not getting their shit together and moving fast enough... well, duh... when they've got the good ol' u.s. of a second-guessing every decision you make, it's gotta be one hell of a mess trying to get a government up and running...

Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi agreed with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's assertion on Thursday that factional wrangling had led to a dangerous stalemate inside the ruling coalition.

But Mahdi, one of two vice presidents and a senior Shi'ite Islamist, said U.S. involvement in Iraq was an important contributor to the problem.

"Decision-making centres have proliferated -- the Multinational Force, the Americans ... and also the very numerous political groups that have taken part in the democratic experience," Mahdi told Reuters.

sounds kind of innocuous so far, eh...? keep reading...

Referring to Saddam's overthrow, Mahdi said: "Since the fall of the tyrant, the Iraqi state has been stalled by a series of brakes that hinder the taking of any internal decision."

The U.S. military, whose commander General George Casey only last month began handing control of some Iraqi army units to Maliki, also needed to step back to a supporting role, he said.

"When the military presence is not regulated by an agreement, an Iraqi official cannot act in his own land and over his own forces in the way he should," he said.

"The rules of the relationship are not clear. We're always having discussions with them but so far nothing is finalised."

U.S. military officials say they are negotiating with the government on some form of agreement to regulate the presence of troops once their United Nations mandate expires in December.

yeah, sure, george SAYS he wants them to be independent... george SAYS he's upholding the u.s. constitution too... the spoken and written word counts for nothing in bushworld...

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It ain't just about sexual impropriety, it's about being GAY

i wondered when THIS one was going to spill over...

"For gay Republicans in political Washington, reconciling their private lives and public roles has required a discreet, heads-down existence," writes Mark Leibovich for the [New York] Times.

"But in the last week, the Mark Foley scandal has upset that careful balance," the article continues.

how can you possibility affiliate yourself with a political party that has made demonizing you part of their campaign strategy...?

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I'm showing my age, but I remember the limbo

how LOW can you go...?

Meanwhile, the president’s approval rating has fallen to a new all-time low for the Newsweek poll: 33 percent, down from an already anemic 36 percent in August.

33%

i would say that's pretty damn low...

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Will somebody PLEASE put the Cunningham-Foley puzzle pieces together?

PLEASE...? fercryinoutloud... there's GOTTA be at least ONE investigative reporter willing to look into a connection between cunningham's reported sex and poker parties with dusty foggo and foley (and very likely others) using house pages as a private stable of available sex partners...

HE-L-L-L-L-O-OOO...? ANYBODY OUT THERE...? if you can keep on top of THIS piece of the cunningham story, why can't you finish the job...? huh...? HUH...??

A report on whether a convicted former member of the House Intelligence Committee abused his position has remained under wraps for nearly four months, largely because of a battle between the committee’s leaders over issuing a subpoena in the matter, members of Congress say.

Representative Jane Harman of California, the ranking Democrat on the committee, complained about the delay in a letter sent Thursday to the chairman, Representative Peter Hoekstra, Republican of Michigan. Ms. Harman protested what she said had been Mr. Hoekstra’s refusal to subpoena the former lawmaker, Randy Cunningham, a California Republican.

folks, it's like money lying on the sidewalk... go for it...

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Another travel day

day, as in 24 hours...

it's mid-morning here in sofia, and, at mid-afternoon i begin the long haul back to argentina... it's air france all the way so i'm trusting my bag will arrive with me this time... i've got over 6 hours to sit on my butt in paris, long enough to be bored out of my mind, but, unfortunately, not long enough to go into the city and hang out at a good cafe... ah, well...

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Yeppers, them dogs are REALLY getting close now

thanks to john at americablog...

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Hee, hee, hee... The dogs are closing in...

it's purge time... let's see how many others get thrown under the bus over the next few weeks...

A key aide to presidential political strategist Karl Rove resigned Friday in the wake of a congressional report that listed hundreds of contacts between disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the White House.

Susan Ralston, special assistant to President Bush, submitted a resignation letter to him less than five weeks before congressional elections in which corruption and scandal are emerging as key issues for voters.

"She did not want to be a distraction to the White House at such an important time and so we have accepted her resignation," White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said.

"We support her decision and consider the matter closed," Perino said.

the "matter...?" the "MATTER...? precisely what "MATTER" are they talking about...? but, hey... i have no doubt about it... they would very much LIKE to consider the "matter" closed... but, guess what...? it ain't... and it ain't gonna be any time soon... when you spend nearly 6 years engaging in illegal and extra-constitutional behavior, a resignation or two ain't gonna fix it overnight...

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The party of fools and criminals circles the wagons

fine... keep denny afloat... when he goes down, i hope every last goddam one of you drowns with him...

Republicans are calculating that the smartest way to survive the Mark Foley sex scandal is to rally around House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and hope that no new evidence surfaces before Election Day that shows GOP leaders could have done more to prevent the congressman from preying on young male pages, according to several GOP lawmakers and strategists.

they're a much easier target when they're all bunched together in one place...

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I don't want to do a disservice on this weblog

by NOT pointing you to olbermann's latest... all i can say is, thank god someone like him is out there...

Keith Olbermann Special Comment - Bush Lies

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So, now we can count the FBI as one more group covering Repub ass

i swear to god, they're ALL in on it... at this point, i simply do not trust ANYONE in the employ of the executive branch of the united states government...

The watchdog group that first provided the FBI with suspicious e-mails from then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) said yesterday that FBI and Justice Department officials are attempting to cover up their inaction in the case by making false claims about the group.

Law enforcement officials said the allegations by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) are without merit, and they stood by allegations that the group had refused to provide some information to the FBI.

crew is one of the most respected organizations on the national scene... they don't screw around playing games... if crew says it, i'm strongly inclined to believe it...

read through the following and see if it doesn't emit a stench to make your eyes water...

Law enforcement officials said then that the e-mails did not provide enough evidence of a possible crime to warrant a full investigation. In the e-mails, Foley praises the physical attributes of one page and asks another teenager for his picture.

In subsequent days, unidentified Justice and FBI officials told reporters that the e-mails provided by CREW were heavily redacted and that the group refused to provide unedited versions to the FBI. One law enforcement official -- speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation -- also told The Washington Post the FBI believed that CREW may have received the e-mails as early as April and that the group refused to tell the FBI how they were obtained.

Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director, said copies of the original e-mails she sent to an FBI agent show those assertions to be wrong. Sloan said the agent called to confirm receipt of the e-mails and to ask if one of the parties was Foley.

Sloan said the group sent unedited e-mails to the FBI because "we wanted them to commence an investigation. We're sort of outraged that they're saying anything differently." The group has asked Fine's office to look into the FBI's assertions.

REAL men don't have to take responsibility or admit the truth...

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Ain't foolin' the WaPo

(see previous post...)

i watched this charade live on cnni from here in sofia... it's always amazing to me how the media resources of an entire nation can be mobilized by one man with absolutely nothing to say...

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) yesterday came up with yet another ploy to shield himself and his colleagues from scrutiny while pretending to do the opposite.

The issue is how House leaders dealt with warnings that Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) had sent inappropriate e-mail to a teenage page. The speaker announced with considerable satisfaction that he hopes to appoint an independent "person of high caliber" -- but not to do what is obviously needed, which is investigate whether the House botched the response, thereby endangering more pages.

if hastert conducts a "cha-rade," does that mean that he's a "char-latan...?" same root word... just wondering...

cha·rade
Pronunciation: sh&-'rAd, -'räd
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from Occitan charrado chat, from charrá to chat, chatter
1 : a word represented in riddling verse or by picture, tableau, or dramatic action
2 plural : a game in which some of the players try to guess a word or phrase from the actions of another player who may not speak
3 : an empty or deceptive act or pretense

char·la·tan
Pronunciation: 'shär-l&-t&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian ciarlatano, alteration of cerretano, literally, inhabitant of Cerreto, from Cerreto, Italy
1 : QUACK 2
2 : one making usually showy pretenses to knowledge or ability

hmmm... good guess but not the same root word... ah, well... close enough for government work...

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There's a lot of maggot-gagging headlines, for sure

and here's another one...

Inquiry To Look At House, Not Foley

gag...

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Congress and Pavlov's dog

sit up, fido... good boy... now, roll over... good boy... here's a treat...

Pavlov contributed to many areas of physiology, neurology and psychology. Most of his work involved research in temperament, conditioning and involuntary reflex actions.

[...]

The phrase "Pavlov's dog" is often used to describe someone who merely reacts to a situation rather than uses critical thinking.

charlie savage hits another one out of the park...

the raw story headline tells you everything you need to know...

Bush 'conditioning Congress' with tactics

Bush signings called effort to expand power
Report sees broad strategy

By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff | October 5, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's frequent use of signing statements to assert that he has the power to disobey newly enacted laws is ``an integral part" of his ``comprehensive strategy to strengthen and expand executive power" at the expense of the legislative branch, according to a report by the non partisan Congressional Research Service.

In a 27-page report written for lawmakers, the research service said the Bush administration is using signing statements as a means to slowly condition Congress into accepting the White House's broad conception of presidential power, which includes a presidential right to ignore laws he believes are unconstitutional.

it ain't just congress he's "conditioning..." he's clearly prepping the american people to give up the rights and liberties guaranteed under the u.s. constitution...

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The U.S. in Iraq - "a Dante-like descent into the nine circles of hell"

(from robert parry at consortium news...)

The deeply troubling prospect is this: If Washington follows the “kill, kill, kill” strategy in what Bush’s neoconservative advisers like to call the “clash of civilizations,” the United States will lose.

America will bleed itself dry of available troops; it will spend itself into bankruptcy; it will transform itself into a grotesque caricature of what the United States once was. It will strip its citizens of their constitutional rights; it will imprison suspected “terrorists” and “sympathizers” without trial; it will spread death and destruction around the globe.

Yet even after sacrificing the very freedoms and respect for human rights that Bush claims are despised by al-Qaeda terrorists, the deformed United States will still lose the war. Bush’s strategy of “kill, kill, kill” will even accelerate the process, much as the Iraq War ignited more Islamic militancy.

Bush is leading the American people into a chasm of almost unbelievable depth, a Dante-like descent into the nine circles of hell. There are literally no issues more pressing than forcing the U.S. government to rethink this course of action, because it will make addressing all other pressing issues – such as global warming, budget deficits, the economy, health care, etc. – impossible.

as difficult and as painful as it is to do so, we, as a nation, MUST begin to accept the fact that bush and his criminal minions have worked diligently to create precisely these conditions, the conditions to create and fuel an endless war, a war that will bring about the global clash of civilizations so eagerly awaited by neo-con and religious extremist alike...

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I, too, fear for Keith

i have watched each of the recent olbermann special comments and have diligently saved them for later review... they are some of the most articulate, spot on remarks i have ever heard... thank god for someone like keith olbermann and i pray he doesn't become yet another casualty of the criminals in our government and those who serve them...

I fear for Keith Olbermann.

Like so many others who hunger for some journalistic independence on TV news, I often marvel at Olbermann's dogged reporting and unique commentary. In a cable news environment of conformity and conservatism, the MSNBC host takes on the Bush administration for "demonizing dissent," for abusing our Constitutional traditions, for "taking cynical advantage of the unanimity and love [following 9/11], and transmuting it into fraudulent war and needless death."

Only Olbermann talks about Team Bush "monstrously transforming [9/11 unity] into fear and suspicion, and turning that fear into the campaign slogan of three elections." He was virtually alone on TV news in seriously reporting on 2004 election irregularities in Ohio, and in exploring the pre-Iraq war Downing Street Memos indicating White House deception.

In recent months, his prime targets seem to have evolved from softer ones like Bill O'Reilly to bigger game: Bush and his minions. It's worth noting that strong criticism of an extremist presidency hardly makes Olbermann a leftist. I remember him as the whimsical sports guy on ESPN.

I remember his first go-round on MSNBC in 1998 when he could have sued his bosses for repetitive stress disorder for having to host scores of Lewinsky episodes on the road to Clinton's impeachment - an impeachment that may well have been impossible if not for the complicity of TV news.

It's obvious his bosses at MSNBC/NBC/GE never envisioned the increasingly bold Olbermann of recent months. It's likely that Olbermann himself could not have foreseen his current role as the lone voice of those who feel assaulted by a cable news business dominated by the O'Reillys and Hannitys.

So why do I fear for Olbermann? Because I know his bosses.

[...]

Olbermann's increasingly bold dissent has been occurring at a time when Bush's approval ratings are low and Bush's war is in shambles. That gives him some added security.

[...]

But with each new broadside against the Bush administration, I fear for his future.

[...]

If Olbermann gets muzzled or terminated for political reasons, it will be up to us to fight - not only for him, but for the concept that without serious dissent, democracy is a sham.

write keith at KOlbermann@msnbc.com and let him know how important he is and how much we want him to keep on keepin' on...

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Can you hear me now? How about now? Can you hear me now?

the poor, pathetic bush-bot just keeps on going and going and going and going and going and going and going................

Through disappointing polls and bad news in Iraq, intraparty squabbling over immigration and bipartisan broadsides on port security, President Bush has been able to use the megaphone of his office to shout above the din and shape the national debate.

But the Mark Foley scandal is rendering that megaphone practically useless, just as the president is trying to turn up the volume to help his party beat back Democratic efforts to take control of Congress this November.

During his three-day campaign swing out West this week, Mr. Bush’s carefully honed attacks on Democrats as soft on terrorism have been drowned out by the Foley case and its political repercussions.

In interviews this week, White House officials expressed a sense of resignation, saying they were left with few options to help their party emerge intact from a scandal that appears to further threaten the Republicans’ hold on Congress.

it ain't just his MEGAPHONE that's useless...

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Where's Waldo...?

read this excerpt from a wapo story on luis posada carriles and see if you can spot the spin and the bullshit...

A quarter-century before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a bomb ripped a gash in a civilian jetliner in the skies off Barbados.

The Cubana Airlines plane plummeted into the Caribbean Sea just before noon on Oct. 6, 1976. All 73 people on board died, including teenage members of Cuba's national fencing team who were returning to Havana after winning gold and silver medals at a tournament in Venezuela.

The attack marked a new era of fear. It was the first act of midair airline terrorism in the Western Hemisphere.

The 30th anniversary of the bombing is Friday, and it coincides with a critical juncture in the case of Luis Posada Carriles, a main suspect in the bombing who has been held on immigration charges in the United States for the past 16 months.

Posada Carriles's legal odyssey has turned into a diplomatic quandary for the Bush administration and a test of the president's post-Sept. 11 credo that nations that harbor terrorists are guilty of terrorism. While the United States does not want to free a terrorism suspect, it is also reluctant to send him to Cuba or Venezuela, countries that not only remain hostile to the Bush administration but that, according to court testimony of a Posada Carriles ally, also might torture him.

if you can't spot it, i'm not going to help you...

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Is our battered federal court system the last bastion of defense?

right now, it seems to be all that's standing between us and a totalitarian state...

A federal judge in Detroit rejected the government's request to dismiss an ACLU lawsuit challenging the constitutionally of the controversial USA Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism measure Congress enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

U.S. District Judge Denise Hood issued the ruling without fanfare Friday, nearly three years after promising a speedy decision in the case. Congress amended the act in March, well after the hearing before Hood in December 2003.

Hood said in a 15-page decision that the American Civil Liberties Union's clients -- six Muslim groups that provide religious, medical, social and educational services to Muslims and people of Arab descent -- established that they have been harmed or threatened by Section 215 of the law.

The U.S. Justice Department said it was studying the decision and had no comment Tuesday. Michigan ACLU Executive Director Kary Moss said she was satisfied with the decision.

i'm sure the pressure on judges like denise hood is both intense and unremitting...

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Give Cheney no quarter

steve clemons, a measured, rational man if there ever was one, occasionally exhibits some of what atrios would call "shrill..."

Vice President Cheney's disregard for America's system of checks and balances and his huff-and-puff advocacy of unilateral military responses to complex national security challenges has really harmed America's portfolio of interests.

He should be challenged every time and every where he speaks. He should get no easy passes, and Americans should stop giving him laudatory back-drops and applause when he deigns to walk in public view...

of course, i heartily agree... steve was making this comment, by the way, in the context of the recently-surfaced report of the man who was arrested in colorado for making a critical remark about cheney - to his face... oh, the horror...!

A Denver-area man filed a lawsuit today against a member of the Secret Service for causing him to be arrested after he approached Vice President Dick Cheney in Beaver Creek this summer and criticized him for his policies concerning Iraq.

Attorney David Lane said that on June 16, Steve Howards was walking his 7-year-old son to a piano practice, when he saw Cheney surrounded by a group of people in an outdoor mall area, shaking hands and posing for pictures with several people.

According to the lawsuit filed at U.S. District Court in Denver, Howards and his son walked to about two-to-three feet from where Cheney was standing, and said to the vice president, "I think your policies in Iraq are reprehensible," or words to that effect, then walked on.

Ten minutes later, according to Howards' lawsuit, he and his son were walking back through the same area, when they were approached by Secret Service agent Virgil D. "Gus" Reichle Jr., who asked Howards if he had "assaulted" the vice president. Howards denied doing so, but was nonetheless placed in handcuffs and taken to the Eagle County Jail.

slowly but surely, the totalitarian state advances...

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Ain't lookin' good for Denny & Co.

(thanks to john at americablog...)

Conservative icon Richard Viguerie calls on House Republican leadership to resign
by John in DC - 10/04/2006 12:06:00 PM

Richard Viguerie is one of the founders of the conservative movement. It doesn't get any bigger than this, short of Ronald Reagan speaking out from the afterlife. I just received an email from Viguerie to his email list, to which I subscribe. The email is entitled:

Viguerie Calls for Immediate Resignation of House GOP Leaders

they're goin' down and it won't be long now... i am going to keep checking in with cnni... i may be halfway across the world in the balkans, but the latest news is only a mouse click or a channel change away...

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Yep, it's just the TIP of the iceberg

and, like i said earlier, don't forget about DUKE CUNNINGHAM and the wild sex and poker parties that he and his buddy, dusty foggo, were supposedly having at the watergate... THAT ONLY CAME OUT THIS LAST APRIL, FOLKS...! HE-L-L-L-L-OOOOOO...! ANYBODY IN THE MEDIA AWAKE OUT THERE...???

The daily disclosures about Foley's salacious Internet exchanges with former teenage congressional pages have GOP lawmakers and conservative activists fearing the foibles of other politicians may be exposed.

"People are very, very concerned," Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., said Tuesday night. "I think there are going to be more disclosures."

"We have heard rumors that other, similar activity has occurred involving additional congressmen and will be released prior to the November elections," said the Arlington Group, a coalition of 70 pro-family conservative groups.

stay tuned...

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Bush is al Qaeda's biggest ally

bush has zero incentive to succeed in the bogus war on terror... anything and everything the bush administration can do it IS doing to insure there is always a war going on so that they can continue to accrue power and advance the agenda of creating a totalitarian state...

With Election 2006 only a little more than a month away, Bush has fired up the terror rhetoric again, saying Democratic criticism of the Iraq War has proved that “the party of FDR and the party of Harry Truman has become the party of cut and run.”

But Bush’s attack line ignores what appears to be the larger reality, that the policy that is actually serving al-Qaeda’s interests is a policy of “stay the course.”

yep... "stay the course" is an unqualified success... it's keeping the endless war endless, and that, after all, is the plan...

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Hastert is guilty as charged but what about the Cunningham story?

personally, i think this is only the tip of the iceberg... remember the stories and rumors flying not so long ago about the wild sex, booze, and poker parties involving now-resigned and sentence-serving representative duke cunningham at the watergate...? remember...? how come there's no connection being made with that, huh...? HUH...? that was only this past APRIL...? is our memory THAT short...? HUH...?

House Majority Leader, Rep. John Bohner (R-OH), says that Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) was responsible for dealing with the Foley sex messages scandal.

In a radio interview included in the following video, Boehner says, "I believe I talked to the speaker, and he told me it had been taken care of, and my position is, it's in his corner. It's his responsibility. The Clerk of the House who runs the page program, the Page Board, all report to the speaker, and I believe that it had been dealt with."

there's a LOT more to this than meets the eye... one HELL of a LOT MORE...

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The devil made me do it. Feel sorry for me.

shades of flip wilson...

When disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley announced he was entering rehab for treatment of alcoholism and "other behavioral problems," some of those who have known him for years were shocked and suspicious, saying they rarely saw him drink.

Another longtime friend, though, agreed that Foley had a drinking problem, and a psychiatrist who specializes in addiction noted that it's not unusual for alcoholics to hide their drinking.

Among the skeptics, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., a former colleague, said on Fox News Channel: "I don't buy this at all. I think this is a phony defense. The fact is, I think he's responsible for what he did here and I think it's a gimmick."

feel sorry for me...

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Circuits are failing in the George-bot, time to pull the plug

this message may have had traction at some point, but, now, hearing these words coming out of our president's mouth is beyond laughable... it's just the pathetic repetition of a robot whose circuits are failing, a sad mechanical creature who needs to have the plug pulled once and for all...

President Bush, on a campaign swing in the West, is telling voters that the Democratic Party is weak-kneed on national security and shouldn't be trusted to hold the reins of Congress.

"If you listen closely to some of the leaders of the Democratic Party, it sounds like — it sounds like — they think the best way to protect the American people is, wait until we're attacked again," Bush said Monday...

would somebody please put this miserable excuse for a leader out of my misery...?

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Another quote to gag a maggot

from the nyt...

- QUOTATION OF THE DAY -

"This is a political problem, and we need to step up and do something dramatic."

- REPRESENTATIVE RAY LAHOOD, Republican of Illinois, on the reaction to former Representative Mark Foley's messages to teenage pages.

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Let the battles for the soul of America begin

good... challenge the hell out of these bastards... throw every legal tactic at 'em that you can think of... make 'em defend destroying the u.s. constitution...

Attorneys for 25 men being held in Afghanistan have launched the first legal challenge of President Bush's plan for prosecuting and interrogating terrorism suspects.

Documents filed yesterday in federal district court here demand that the men be released or be charged and allowed to meet with attorneys. Such a filing, known as a habeas corpus petition, is prohibited under the legislation approved by Congress last week.

That bill says the military may detain enemy combatants indefinitely and, if officials choose to bring charges, the cases will be heard before a military commission, not a civilian judge.

Bush has not signed the bill but expects to do so soon. Supporters say it is a necessary tool in the war on terrorism.

Yesterday's filing initiates what is likely to be a drawn-out legal fight similar to the one over detainees at a U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Detainees there have dozens of petitions pending.

tie the sons-of-bitches up in court for the rest of their goddam natural lives... anything it takes to protect one of the most fundamental principles of what little we have left of our precious constitutional legacy...

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Trying to link Venezuela to terrorism

banging the war drums over iran has taken considerable time and energy away from what would otherwise be a natural tendency to bang them over venezuela... somehow, we knew that rummy wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to do so in the conducive environment of a western hemisphere defense ministers meeting, by invoking - what else? - terrorism...

The recent military build-up in Venezuela by U.S. nemesis President Hugo Chavez has other countries in the region worried that the weapons could end up in the hands of terrorists, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Monday.

"I can understand neighbors being concerned," said Rumsfeld, who is attending a meeting of Western hemisphere military leaders here this week.

Asked whether he believes Venezuelan officials' contention that the weapon buys are strictly for defense and not a threat to the region, Rumsfeld said, "I don't know of anyone threatening Venezuela — anyone in this hemisphere."

venezuela, for its part, believes it has reason to worry...

Chavez ... has repeatedly charged that United States is planning to invade his country ... . And he said Sunday that he's heard the Bush administration is plotting to assassinate him or topple his regime.

predicting the u.s. reaction wasn't hard to do...

U.S. Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, chief of U.S. Southern Command, called the accusation "mindless" and "way over the top."

but, given the neocon obsession with regime change in any oil-producing country that isn't kissing u.s. ass, pooh-poohing chavez' concern is more than a tad bit disinegnuous, wouldn't you agree...?

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A pile o'denial

it seems to be going around... must be something in the air...

• Dan Bartlett, denied that Bush was in a "state of denial."

• The scandal involving Congressman Foley and a teenaged Capitol Hill page is nothing more than "naughty emails", says White Press Secretary Tony Snow.

• "I deeply regret and accept full responsibility for the harm I have caused," Foley said.

• Rep. Thomas Reynolds, head of the House Republican election effort, said he told Speaker Dennis Hastert after learning a fellow GOP lawmaker sent inappropriate messages to a teenage boy.Reynolds, R-N.Y., was told months ago about e-mails sent by Rep. Mark Foley and is now defending himself from Democratic accusations that he did too little.
  

• National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice gave the "brush-off" to an "impending terrorist attack" warning by former C.I.A. director George J. Tenet.

• [N]ew e-mails show... that Rove's office had far more extensive conduct with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff than previously acknowledged.

and, then there's rummy (see previous post)...

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Some guys you just gotta smack upside the head with a 2x4

obviously, rummy's one of 'em...

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, coming under renewed fire for his management of the Iraq war, said Sunday he is not considering resigning and said the president had called him personally in recent days to express his continued support.

[...]

Rumsfeld has previously acknowledged that he twice offered Bush his resignation, but it was not accepted.

obviously, so is george...

equally obviously, a smack upside the head with a 2x4 probably ain't gonna do it either...

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My dinner with Susan

in the spirit of the movie, "my dinner with andre," i had a perfectly lovely dinner, full of excellent conversation, with an individual i had only met once before, in another country, this past may... why i believe it warrants a blog post is that we found we were kindred spirits on many things, but, in particular, on the subject of what george bush and his band of madmen are doing to the united states of america... we also found common ground in what we are each individually trying to do to make a difference in our work... it's quite remarkable to fly halfway around the world, have a stupid airline lose your bag, have to buy new clothes, be so jet-lagged and tired that your ass is literally dragging, and then to have such a delightful experience... the world is definitely a very interesting place...

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Maybe some justice for some of the perpetrators of Argentina's 2001 economic meltdown

it's taken 'em a while, but, better late than never...

Ex-president Fernando de la Rúa and his economy minister Domingo Cavallo were yesterday indicted on charges that they committed fraud against the state by allegedly increasing Argentinas debt by 55 billion dollars through a debt swap in 2001, months before De la Rúas government fell amid economic meltdown.

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In Bulgaria

lemme tell ya, it's a LONG haul from argentina to bulgaria...! i've done it before but i'm also not getting any younger...!

the first leg was from buenos aires to rio on aerolineas argentinas, and, as i was boarding the air france flight from rio to paris, an aerolineas agent stopped me at the door to the aircraft to tell me that aerolineas had managed to lose my bag... unbelievable...! in buenos aires, i had checked in with well over 2 1/2 hours to spare and had also had over 2 hours layover in rio... what exactly was so difficult about THAT...??!? anyway, after checking with baggage service in both paris and after i got here to sofia, STILL, no bag, and, to make matters worse, no info on where it might be... so, right after getting settled at the hotel, i had to head out and buy two complete new sets of clothes, plus toiletries, so i can make myself presentable at the seminar i'm conducting starting in the morning...

let me leave you with this thought...

THAT WAS THE FIRST AND LAST TIME I WILL EVER FLY AEROLINEAS ARGENTINAS, AND I SUGGEST THAT, IF YOU EVER HAVE THE CHOICE TO MAKE, YOU NOT FLY THEM EITHER...

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