Headlines we love to see

the fact that anyone approves of him at all is disappointing, but i suppose it would be statistically impossible to have an approval rating of zero...

President Bush's approval reaches a new low

And what did the president get for listening to the voice of the American people? The worst approval rating of his presidency.

President Bush’s job approval rating has fallen to just 31 percent, according to the new NEWSWEEK Poll. Bill Clinton’s lowest rating during his presidency was 36 percent; Bush’s father’s was 29 percent, and Ronald Reagan’s was 35 percent. Jimmy Carter’s and Richard Nixon’s lows were 28 and 23 percent, respectively. (Just 24 approve of outgoing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s job performance; and 31 percent approve of Vice President Dick Cheney’s.)

Worst of all, most Americans are writing off the rest of Bush’s presidency; two-thirds (66 percent) believe he will be unable to get much done, up from 56 percent in a mid-October poll; only 32 percent believe he can be effective. That’s unfortunate since 63 percent of Americans say they’re dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country; just 29 percent are satisfied, reports the poll of 1,006 adults conducted Thursday and Friday nights.

if he wasn't so dangerous and hadn't wreaked so much havoc with the fundamentals of our country, this would be laughable... unfortunately, it's anything but funny...

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IMHO, Straight-talkin' John should be tied to the railroad track

he certainly has high aspirations for a hypocrite and a closet ass-kisser...

Sources close to McCain say on Wednesday in Phoenix, he and a half dozen of his top aides huddled and decided to proceed more formally with his quest for the White House.

i don' wanna hear about it, john... you might have had some cred at one point, but, whatever you did have, it's gone now... go challenge hillary to another vodka-drinking contest, and, when she's in her cups, get her to promise not to run either...

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I'm glad I'm not the only one that smells something fishy

exactly the same thoughts have been rolling around in the back of my head... maybe my cynicism runs so deep, i'm no longer capable of rational thought, or maybe i'm simply on the fast track to becoming certifiable, but i agree with will bunch... something's not right here...

Maybe it's just because the Democrats actually won something, but for the last few days, something has just not felt quite right about either Tuesday's election, or the White House's handling of the voting and the aftermath. We have no doubts that a majority of American voters wanted change on Election Day, and they wanted the Democrats to be the agent of that change.

But we've also followed politics -- and the rise of George W. Bush and Karl Rove -- intensely these past six or seven years, and so beginning on Tuesday night, we were increasingly surprised at all the dogs that did not bark in the 2006 election -- dogs that raised quite a ruckus in the last three national elections.

The exit polls that leaked out in the late afternoon ended up matching the final results almost exactly -- nothing like what happened in those other Bush-era elections. The razor-close races all broke late for the Democrats, unlike Florida in 2000 or Ohio in 2004...and when that happened, there were no major charges of fraud, no "Brooks Brothers Riot," and no demand for a recount. The last two losers -- Conrad Burns of Montana and George Allen of Virginia -- went quietly into the autumn night, despite relatively close vote tallies. There appear to be no other Rovian stunts, like calling in the GOP's chits with Joe Lieberman to get him to caucus with the Senate Republicans. And there was no October surprise, not in Iran and not back home.

And we thought most of these things before Bush's makes-no-sense-at-all handling of the Rumsfeld matter. We don't think a pre-election firing of Rumsfeld would have changed many voters' mind, but what if had changed just 1 percent. Burns and Allen (heh) would be returning to the Senate, and the GOP would at least control one house. Likewise, a lot of nailbiters like Rep.-elect Patrick Murphy's win in Bucks County would have gone the other way if Rumsfeld had been canned a week sooner.

All this is a long prelude to our thinking the unthinkable.

Is Karl Rove even more of an evil genuis than we think? Did he and Bush just produce an election flop...on purpose?

it's worth a read... here's what he said in conclusion...

Like Sen. Arlen Specter was just saying in those Rick Santorum radio ads...think about it.

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A warning about window dressing to the Dem leadership

Bush Promises He Will Work With Senate Democrats

President, Leaders Meet In Bid to End Divisiveness

what a pile of month-old, moldy and green-around-the-edges baloney... bush's promises are as empty as his suit, to say nothing of the fact that, immediately after saying the same goddam thing in wednesday's press conference, he set about proving he has no intentions of working with anybody... what he means is that everybody has to work with HIM... bite me, george, and, you in the democratic leadership, listen up... i don't want to be hearing this crap out of you... your job is to get in there and work like demented beavers to not only undo but to make right all the incredible damage this man and his seriously twisted buddies have caused...

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Just say no to warrantless wiretaps

hey... we [the netroots, the congress, the world diplomatic community, and nearly everybody else] just said no to john bolton... we [the netroots, not nearly ENOUGH of the damn congress, the world human rights community, civil liberties advocates, defenders of the constitution, and right-thinking people everywhere] just said no to the military commissions act... we [nearly 3/4 of the american people, the military leadership, many political and media figures, and people all over the world] just said no to staying in iraq... look where that's gotten us and how much attention our tin-ear president and his criminal compatriots have paid...

Senate Democrats, emboldened by Election Day wins that put them in control of Congress as of January, say they would rather wait until next year to look at the issue. "I can't say that we won't do it, but there's no guarantee that we're going spend a lot of time on controversial measures," Democratic Whip Richard Durbin of Illinois said Thursday.

In Senate parlance, that means no.

but, i fully expect, in the spirit of bipartisanship < gag, retch, choke >, bush will decide not to press this egregious example of executive power out-of-control...

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Creamfields Buenos Aires 2006

i love live music yet i almost never attend concerts... i am breaking with that tradition tomorrow to attend creamfields, one of the largest electronic music festivals in the world... my motivation for doing so, besides my love for electronic music, is that a good friend, who shares my passion, is visiting from macedonia, and we are treating ourselves to what should be a terrific event... it's being held at the costanera sur, a huge, park-like venue, with 7 stages and some of the best known names in electronic music from around the world... i'll take some pictures and post them... (i know, i know... i've promised some pics from my trip to salta which i haven't posted yet, but i'll get it done, i promise...)

Creamfields

Creamfields came up in Liverpool, UK, with the very thought of introducing an electronic music festival to enjoy of a whole day with best sets and live shows of the most outstanding international artists. For seven years, its location has been a huge space that used to be an airport. Taking place in August, on last summer weekend, it has strengthened itself as the “closing summer” festival.

Since its opening, in 1998, Creamfields has become the most important electronic music festival of the world.

Distributed among one Main Stage and 10 tents, the most outstanding DJ’s and groups have taken part of it: Chemical Brothers, Faithless, Basement Jaxx, Gorillaz, Fatboy Slim, Groove Armada, Moloko, Underworld, Outkast, Sasha, Jeff Mills and Paul Oakenfold are some of the vast list of artists.

Creamfields was the first festival that expanded its proposal throughout the globe: Argentina, Poland, Czech Republic, Ireland, Turkey, Spain and Russia have attracted between 15 and 50 thousand people each. This year, the city of Río de Janeiro, Brazil, will join to this extraordinary proposal.

Creamfields Buenos Aires

In the year 2001, Buenos Aires became the launching platform of the English festival for the whole Latin American Continent. With an incomparable success of five editions on its back, Creamfields has become the most wanted festival of the year.

2001
18 thousand people attended to the first edition of Creamfields Buenos Aires. The place was a property based in San Isidro, a beautiful residential area in the city suburbs. More than 30 international artists including Paul Oakenfold, Dave Seaman, Howie B, Justin Robertson, Layo & Bushwacka! and Way Out West, among many others, were part of the festival.

2002
For this second consecutive edition, the location chosen was a property of around 80.000 m2 located in Puerto Madero, a beautiful place alongside the river. The recreative areas were extended and optimized. Another tent was added -with a 7 thousand people capacity- and a wide chill out area, with river sight. 24 thousand people attended to this 16 hours festival and enjoyed of international artists such as Frankie Knuckles, Timo Maas, Satoshi Tomiie, Nick Warren, Sister Bliss (Faithless), Medicine 8, Pete Tong and Hernán Cattáneo and locals Zuker, Romina Cohn and Carlos Alfonsín, among others.

2003
Creamfields Buenos Aires 2003 reached a new record. With sold out tickets, more than 35 thousand people attended to the magnanimous festival. The incorporation of an area set for the most alternative sounds of electronic music gained a huge acceptance in this third Creamfields Buenos Aires edition. Layo & Bushwacka!, Sander Kleinenberg, Danny Howels, Junkie XL (live), Hernán Cattáneo, Audio Bullys, Babasónicos, Josh Wink, Scratch Perverts, DJ Marky, Catupecu Machu 5.1 and Infusion (live) were some of the prestigious artists that have taken part of the artistic proposal.

2004
Forth Creamfields Buenos Aires edition turned out into one of the biggest event of the year: more than 55.000 people attended, beating both previous editions and its global equivalents –including Liverpool’s original base–. With more than 13 hectares surrounded by trees alongside the river, the old “Ciudad Deportiva de La Boca”, located in Costanera Sur, was the perfect framework for this 16 hours festival. The line up consisted of more than 90 artists –locals and internationals– which included Groove Armada, Paul Oakenfold, Deep Dish, Erick Morillo, Darren Emerson, Hernán Cattáneo, Steve Lawler, Plump DJs y Dave Angel, among many others.

2005
Creamfields Buenos Aires hit a new record, beating once more its global equivalents. The 60.000 people that attended to the fifth edition of the most important electronic music festival of the world enjoyed of more than 100 artists among DJs, producers and groups, distributed through 10 different spaces –between tents and Main Stage.

The Prodigy, Audio Bullys, Infusion and local Zuker XP were the outstanding acts of the Main Stage, which was closed by Paul Oakenfold. Danny Howels, Hernán Cattáneo, 2 Many DJs, David Guetta, Kevin Saunderson, James Holden, DJ Vibe and Ivan Smagghe had also taken part of this extraordinary artistic proposal.

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Advice for the new Congress

and damn good advice it is, from devilstower at kos...

When drafting the bills of the first hundred hours, follow these simple rules:

1) One item per bill. Nothing is more important than this. That minimum wage bill has to be a minimum wage bill, not minimum wage plus ten other things we thought were a good idea. I don't care if your own mother is dying and you think putting an extra wing on some hospital would help. One subject. Period. Give the Republicans no opportunity to claim they were voting against some rider or secondary item.

2) Simple language. There should be nothing in these bills that can't be deciphered by someone with a sixth grade reading level. Put on a shock collar that hits you with 200 volts every time you get tempted to create legislation that's nothing but a glue of legalisms holding together word by word amendments of old legislation. Start with a clean sheet. Fill it with fresh, clear words. Don't let anyone argue that the legislation is vague, or "tricky." As a guideline, just think that Bush should be able to understand what he's signing -- or what he's vetoing. And so should everyone else.

3) Do it in public. Forty-eight hours before the vote on any bill, put together a press release and send the full text of the bill to every news service. Let people open their paper on Wednesday and see exactly what you're going to vote about on Thursday. There should be no midnight surprises as text is thrown into a bill seconds before a vote, and with nice simple language, you won't be still making discoveries about bills you voted on months before.

4) Sign your name. The legislators who author these clear, direct pieces of legislation deserve to have their names associated with them prominently. So should every legislator who effectively argues for some change in the wording. There should never again be any text on a piece of legislation whose authorship is a mystery. And hey, give the newcomers a chance to get their pen engaged, don't hog all the good topics among a few top folks.

5) Be brief. In ninety percent of the cases, that means keeping your bills under one page. I'm not kidding. Most of the time, one paragraph is enough. If you really feel like you need to stretch something to two pages, you should start to feel a little guilty. If you go past that... time to dig up that shock collar again. Look at the incredible brevity of the Constitution and stick with that as your model. Don't try to anticipate every situation when you write a bill. You'll spend a hundred days thinking, a thousand pages writing, and you'll still miss some big ones once it's out there. Keep it short. Plug the holes later with more short, clear, crisp pieces of legislation.

6) Stay out of the weeds. I know you've got to be thinking that this strategy doesn't leave much room for you to be building that new highway through your home town, or dedicating that new library in some patron's honor. Good. It's not supposed to, because that kind of detail is not where you should be playing. Give some transportation money to the states, and then let them figure it out. Republicans talked a good game on giving more authority to the states, but they never actually trusted local governments enough to stay out of every detail. Be the party that actually gives the states your trust.

7) Defy expectations. The Republicans think that, despite the sweeping victory on Tuesday, Democrats are still going to be hampered by slim majorities and a Vetoer-in-chief. They think you're going to wrangle amongst yourselves. Instead, grab the ball, run, and never, ever look back. Don't just pass one major new bill a week, pass ten. Make it your mission to either move the country forward in the next eight hours, or force Bush to hold it back. Shock them with your audacity, then surpass yourselves.

If you do this, if your agenda is composed of short, simple, powerful statements composed in clear language and presented to the America people day by day, this congress won't just be successful, it will be a revelation. Never again will anyone accept the idea that all politicians are the same. Never again will anyone settle for a government that works in the shadows, and whose operation is based on a game of tit for tat where each exchange cost millions, if not billions. Never again will anyone accept a huge pile of pork just to get some slender benefit. No one's back will get scratched, but everyone will enjoy unmatched gratitude and respect.

This is how we roll: from victory, to victory. Out in the open, without secrets, without hidden agendas. Do this for the first hundred hours. Who knows? You might discover you like being truthful with yourselves and with the public. It might even become a habit.

ya know what...? i absolutely LOVE to read stuff about how to make things good, how to create the kind of world we all would like to see... but ya know what i like EVEN MORE...? when there's a snowball's chance in hell to actually see it happen and it isn't flying in the face of some of the darkest, most shadowy players ever seen on the world stage... ok, let's be absolutely clear... those dark forces haven't been banished... not by a long shot... but reading something like the above that could actually be put into practice by those folks taking seats in the next congress makes me smile in my heart... do you suppose it could actually happen like devilstower describes...? wouldn't it be great if it did...?

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Tell Carville to stay home with Mary Matalin and STFU

my god almighty...! dean pulls off the biggest miracle the dems have seen in over a decade and one of the biggest entrenched dem power brokers wants to toss his ass out...?

Some big name Democrats want to oust DNC Chairman Howard Dean, arguing that his stubborn commitment to the 50-state strategy and his stinginess with funds for House races cost the Democrats several pickup opportunities.

The candidate being floated to replace Dean? Harold Ford.

Says James Carville, one of the anti-Deaniacs, "Suppose Harold Ford became chairman of the DNC? How much more money do you think we could raise? Just think of the difference it could make in one day. Now probably Harold Ford wants to stay in Tennessee. I just appointed myself his campaign manager."

un-friggingly-believable... go to hell, carville... don't pass go, don't collect $200...

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Charges to be filed against Rummy and Abe in Germany

let the games begin...

Just days after his resignation, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is about to face more repercussions for his involvement in the troubled wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. New legal documents, to be filed next week with Germany's top prosecutor, will seek a criminal investigation and prosecution of Rumsfeld, along with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former CIA director George Tenet and other senior U.S. civilian and military officers, for their alleged roles in abuses committed at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The plaintiffs in the case include 11 Iraqis who were prisoners at Abu Ghraib, as well as Mohammad al-Qahtani, a Saudi held at Guantanamo, whom the U.S. has identified as the so-called "20th hijacker" and a would-be participant in the 9/11 hijackings. As TIME first reported in June 2005, Qahtani underwent a "special interrogation plan," personally approved by Rumsfeld, which the U.S. says produced valuable intelligence. But to obtain it, according to the log of his interrogation and government reports, Qahtani was subjected to forced nudity, sexual humiliation, religious humiliation, prolonged stress positions, sleep deprivation and other controversial interrogation techniques.

why germany...?

Germany was chosen for the court filing because German law provides "universal jurisdiction" allowing for the prosecution of war crimes and related offenses that take place anywhere in the world. Indeed, a similar, but narrower, legal action was brought in Germany in 2004, which also sought the prosecution of Rumsfeld. The case provoked an angry response from Pentagon, and Rumsfeld himself was reportedly upset. Rumsfeld's spokesman at the time, Lawrence DiRita, called the case a "a big, big problem." U.S. officials made clear the case could adversely impact U.S.-Germany relations, and Rumsfeld indicated he would not attend a major security conference in Munich, where he was scheduled to be the keynote speaker, unless Germany disposed of the case. The day before the conference, a German prosecutor announced he would not pursue the matter, saying there was no indication that U.S. authorities and courts would not deal with allegations in the complaint.

pressure to not proceed with the charges may not be so effective this time around...

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More on Bush's b.s. bipartisanship - all talk, no substance

yep, yep, yep...

Bipartisanship on Hold

The president made it clear that, for now, his idea of how
to "put the elections behind us" is to use the Republicans'
last two months in control of Congress to try to push
through some of the worst ideas his administration and its
Republican allies on Capitol Hill have come up with.

oh, george, you might as well face it... everybody's got your number now... you might as well just get used to it... it's taken a lot of folks a damn long time to figure out that any and all words that come out of your mouth are totally and completely worthless, and, even tho' that's not gonna stop you, just don't be surprised when people break out into gales of laughter when you speak...

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Sorry, but this sounds like spin and I ain't buyin' it

if bush was playing with a full deck (which, as we all know, he isn't), he would have dumped the donald well before "late summer..." all this spin is intended to do is to make george look like he has a grip (which, as we all know, he doesn't)...

President Bush was moving by late summer toward removing Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary, people inside and outside the White House said Thursday. Weeks before Election Day, the essential question still open was when, not whether, to make the move.

Mr. Bush ultimately postponed action until after the election in part because of concern that to remove Mr. Rumsfeld earlier could be interpreted by critics as political opportunism or as ratifying their criticism of the White House war plan in the heart of the campaign, the White House insiders and outsiders said.

instead of going to all the trouble of writing up and distributing talking points to the media, who then turn around and regurgitate them for us, why doesn't the white house just print up leaflets and drop them over major cities by air...?

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The extremely short half-life of bipartisanship

listening to bush's press conference yesterday, and listening to him talk about the need for cooperation across party lines for the good

of the country, i heard the words, i applauded the words, but my stomach was doing cartwheels... i guess it's not like i don't trust george or anything like that... ya, right...

steve clemons lays out the extraordinarily short life span of george bush's "bipartisanship..."

Speaker Pelosi and President Bush met for lunch today to try and patch up their differences, find some common ground and to see if "bipartisanship" was achievable in some key challenges facing the nation.

Pelosi magnanimously stated:
Thank you very much, Mr. President. Thank you for the opportunity to join you and the Vice President in what I think was a very productive meeting. We both extended the hand of friendship, of partnership to solve the problems facing our country, the challenges that America's working families face.

I look forward to working in a confidence-building way with the President, recognizing that we have our differences and we will debate them, and that is what our founders intended. But we will do so in a way that gets results for the American people.

The President's and new Speaker's comments before the press started at 1:04 pm today and concluded at 1:08 pm.

At 1:22 pm, the White House sent John Bolton's controversial nomination to serve as US Ambassador to the United Nations back up to the Senate.

Luckily, Lincoln Chafee would have none of it -- suggesting that such a nomination is clearly not in the spirit of what happened electorally in this country this week. By 2:15 pm, Chafee put an end to the Bolton confirmation process by fomalizing his previous "informal" opposition to Bolton in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

some phenomena, as evidenced by scientific research, are very fleeting... bush's bipartisanship clearly is in the fleeting category...

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I don't know if I can take any more good news...!

by all means, ken... take some time off... get to know yourself a bit better...

Several Republican sources tell CNN that Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman is all but certain to step down at the end of the year, and the White House already is searching for a replacement or replacements to lead the party into the 2008 presidential campaign cycle.

see if you can come to grips with that stubborn little sexual identity problem that's been nagging you...

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UPDATE from Steve Clemons: Bolton D.O.A.

if and when confirmed, this is welcome news, especially coming so soon after putting up the previous post...

Another highly placed source has informed me that in just a few minutes Senator Lincoln Chafee is calling a press conference to state categorically that he will not support John Bolton's confirmation in the upcoming lame duck session.

The Bolton confirmation will be officially dead in a few minutes.

i never want to see john bolton put forward for any position on any level ever again where he would represent u.s. interests to anyone... NEVER...

steve also echoes my own sentiments...

The President is showing that he is not as ready as people think to collaborate with the new Senate and new House.

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Don't let George hand us another raw deal... Don't confirm Bolton...

the son-of-a-bitch bastard was all smiles with nancy pelosi today, jacked his jaws about bipartisanship in his press conference yesterday, talked about cooperation across the aisle, and then sends one of the worst nominations EVER back to the senate...

A Congressional source says the White House has re-submitted the nomination of UN Ambassador John Bolton to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in an effort to get it considered during the lame duck session.

SCREW YOU, GEORGE BUSH, AND THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON...!!

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Wow...! Repubs and neocons - "a reckless government of idiots"

evidently, the tuesday's thrashing of the repubs has opened the door to a bit more vocal sentiment out of the middle east than we're used to hearing... first, the "good riddance to rummy" from baghdad (see previous post), and now this out of jordan...

The Middle East is largely pleased with the outcome of the US midterms on Tuesday. It's about time that this "stupid government of Republicans" got what they deserved.

[...]

"The US government of Republicans and neo-conservatives, which is a reckless government of idiots, will be reined in with the Democrats taking over the House," Oraib Rintawi, President of the Al Quds Centre for Political Studies in Amman [said]. "The ability of the US to fuel crisis and start wars in the region will drop drastically." The Democratic take-over of Congress "is in the interest of all parties in the region."

i bet the above sentiments are being echoed around the world... everybody i've talked to here in argentina about it just smiles and puts two thumbs up in the air...

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Rumsfeld's "unlamented" departure - the view from Baghdad

(thanks to juan cole and the times of baghdad...)

The political editor of Al-Zaman welcomes the resignation of the American Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He said in his commentary today that the departure of Rumsfeld is unlamented, and might be a small source of pleasure to the wounded Iraqi people who suffered from Rumsfeld's policies and the crimes of his aides.

The time has come for those whom Rumsfeld installed in some positions of influence in Iraq to discover that they are victims of the same fate as their master. Everyone should read the signs of joy in Iraq after the announcement of the departure of a politician whose name is linked to the most heinous crimes, which began with the scandal of Abu Ghraib prison and ended with his unleashing of death squads and criminals to disrupt the security of Iraq.

do you get the feeling that rummy wasn't exactly the most popular american in iraq...?

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More on Bob Gates

from (who else?) - robert parry...

Robert Gates, George W. Bush’s choice to replace Donald Rumsfeld as Defense Secretary, is a trusted figure within the Bush Family’s inner circle, but there are lingering questions about whether Gates is a trustworthy public official.

The 63-year-old Gates has long faced accusations of collaborating with Islamic extremists in Iran, arming Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship in Iraq, and politicizing U.S. intelligence to conform with the desires of policymakers – three key areas that relate to his future job.

Gates skated past some of these controversies during his 1991 confirmation hearings to be CIA director – and the current Bush administration is seeking to slip Gates through the congressional approval process again, this time by pressing for a quick confirmation by the end of the year, before the new Democratic-controlled Senate is seated.

If Bush’s timetable is met, there will be no time for a serious investigation into Gates’s past.

Fifteen years ago, Gates got a similar pass when leading Democrats agreed to put “bipartisanship” ahead of careful oversight when Gates was nominated for the CIA job by President George H.W. Bush.

In 1991, despite doubts about Gates’s honesty over Iran-Contra and other scandals, the career intelligence officer brushed aside accusations that he played secret roles in arming both sides of the Iran-Iraq War. Since then, however, documents have surfaced that raise new questions about Gates’s sweeping denials.

there's a lot more, all of it excellent background... what i really like, however, is the teaser that came with the email link to the article...

Replacing Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon with Robert Gates is a sign the Bush Family is circling the wagons around the embattled presidency of George W. Bush.

"circling the wagons..." if that doesn't say it all, i don't know what does...

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A new day for Nicaragua...?

like so many other latin american countries, nicaragua is plagued by poverty that persists, generation after generation, no matter who is in power or what ideology they profess... nicaragua, along with el salvador and panama, is a perfect example of a country where the united states has shown its muscle by forcing changes in the political landscape that benefit only its interests while leaving the population as poor or poorer than before and harboring a reservoir of bitterness over broken promises...

Is Nicaragua swinging left with Sandinista Daniel Ortega's return to power? It certainly did not take long for his friends in Cuba and Venezuela to express their joy early Wednesday, shortly after Ortega, 60, was officially declared the winner of Sunday's vote without the need for a runoff.

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro sent congratulations as he recovers from surgery, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez welcomed Nicaragua as the latest member of the anti-US front.

But president-elect Ortega used a very different tone in his victory speech, just as he had in the campaign leading up to the election.

"We want to achieve a new political culture," the sandinista leader said in his first televised reaction. "We want to overcome the differences and pull Nicaragua out of poverty together."

As if to stress the point, his closest rival in the election, right-wing former banker Eduardo Montealegre, stood at his side during the broadcast.

"Reconciliation, not division," seems to be the Central American country's new motto. Ortega's joyous supporters on the streets also spoke of union.

maybe there's some real change on the horizon... we can only hope...

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So, what REALLY qualifies Gates for the SecDef job..?

hmmmmmmmmm... < scratches chin >

“This is not a person with a history of telling truth to power,” said the former subordinate, Melvin A. Goodman, a Soviet analyst from 1966 to 1990. Mr. Goodman called Mr. Gates a micromanager and “not a big-picture person,” though he also called him “a hard-working, disciplined person who’s totally loyal to his bosses.”

ah... i get it now... and it only took 17 paragraphs of reading to find it...

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Waking up to another beautiful morning

There's a bright golden haze on the meadow,
There's a bright golden haze on the meadow,
The corn is as high as an elephant's eye,
An' it looks like it's climbin' clear up to the sky.

Oh, what a beautiful mornin',
Oh, what a beautiful day.
I got a beautiful feelin'
Ev'rything's goin' my way.

All the cattle are standin' like statues,
All the cattle are standin' like statues,
They don't turn their heads as they see me ride by,
But a little brown mav'rick is winkin' her eye.

Oh, what a beautiful mornin',
Oh, what a beautiful day.
I got a beautiful feelin'
Ev'rything's goin' my way.

[T]he Associated Press called the election for Webb, after the wire service contacted election officials in all of Virginia's 134 localities and said about half had completed their post-election canvass. The AP showed Webb beating Allen by 7,236 votes.

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Heads up, here it comes...!

glenn greenwald was making a prediction that turned out to be precisely and unequivocally correct...

The President is going to include all sorts of flowery odes to the beauty of bipartisanship in his upcoming speech this afternoon -- much to the inevitable delight of the wise Washington pundit class, which will excitedly take him at his word and demand that Democrats "work with" the President rather than oppose and investigate him.

But what the Bush administration really means by "bipartisanship" -- as they are already making quite clear -- is that the Democrats in Congress do nothing to stand in their way and, most especially, that Democrats recognize that there will be no looking into what the Leader has done or subjecting his Decisions to any scrutiny.

i watched the whole thing... bush did a reasonably good job of tossing out the bait... now we get to see who swallowed it... i believe, along with glenn, that what's coming is NOT going to be pretty...

To this administration, "witch hunts" means: refusing to allow them to rule in total secrecy and, instead, trying to find out what has really been going on in our Government.

This is a confrontation which the country desperately needs. The anonymous boasting to Time that "the executive usually wins those battles" and that they "think [they'll] consolidate [their] gains" is pure bravado that they don't believe. They just lost exactly that type of battle when the Supreme Court in Hamdan all but ruled that they were war criminals who had no right to act -- even with regard to how they detain and interrogate suspected terrorists -- in contravention of the Congress.

It is vital to remember that we already have a constitutional crisis in our government. The choice is not whether to create one (since it already exists), but whether to confront and battle it, or acquiesce to it (as the Republican Congress has done). While it is nice that Democrats have taken over the Congress, it is vital to remember that we have a President who has repeatedly made clear that Congress is irrelevant in our system of government and cannot limit the President in any way. Re-establishing the rule of law -- and the principle that the President is not above it -- is still the most compelling priority for our country.

take glenn at his word... the real ugliness is coming down the pike, at autobahn speed...

(thanks to lukery at wot is it good 4...)

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Bye-bye, Denny

wow, what a day...!

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Markos' take on Bob Gates

yep... no surprises there... an iran/contra re-tread...

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Historic times and the smile of the tiger

bush took more hardball questions in this press conference than i believe he's taken in nearly six years, and he actually attempted to answer them without ridiculing the questioner... i guess it takes a good ass-kicking and a smack upside the head with a 2x4 to get the sob's attention...

the ripple effects of this election are going to be playing out for months, and i'm not at all confident that the ugliness and criminality of bushco is going to cease or even slow down... i think what we've seen today is merely the smile of the tiger...

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Bush: "I wish this [Iraq] had gone faster."

pardon me while i go toss my cookies...

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Bush: "I understand when campaigning ends and governing begins."

he's actually trying to sound presidential for the first fracking time in his tenure... it sounds so incredibly hollow... after nearly six years, he wants us ALL TO WORK TOGETHER...

BITE ME...!

(and we're still stuck with cheney...)

<>

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Hot shit, Tester is IN, and maybe Webb soon

bush is stumbling all over himself in the press conference and admitted he told a bald-face lie about rumsfeld staying on to the end of bush's term...

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Rumsfeld OUT, Gates IN

wow... about friggin' time...

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, architect of an unpopular war in Iraq, intends to resign after six stormy years as Secretary of Defense, Republican officials said Wednesday.

i think the generals took bush aside and told him what would happen if rumsfeld didn't take a powder...

so, now we have bob gates, a former cia director... oh, boy...

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The view from Germany - a DISASTER for Bush

spiegel...

The Republicans' defeat in the House of Representatives is a disaster for George W. Bush. His political heirs now must distance themselves from him as he spends the next two years trying to define his legacy.

a disaster, eh...? don't beat around the bush... tell us how you really feel... (and, yes, that was an IN-tentional pun, rather than my usual UN-intentional variety...)

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Bush smells bacon frying - HIS

remember what bipartisanship looks like, nancy... in bush's eyes, it bears a striking resemblance to joe lieberman...

Bush asked Pelosi, who would be the first woman to hold the position, to work together with Republicans, CNN quoted White House spokeswoman Dana Perino as saying.

Bush has also reportedly invited Pelosi and other Democratic leaders to a lunch meeting on Thursday.

we can't forget that we're dealing with CRIMINALS here, not rational people interested in the commonwealth of the united states...

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Next up: "A historic battle over the U.S. constitutional system"

robert parry...

American Voters Just Say No

By throwing out the Republican majority in the House, the American voters just said no to George W. Bush -- and to his dark vision of endless war abroad and the end to the Republic at home. The stunning election results now set the stage for a historic battle over the U.S. constitutional system. Bush indicates he won't back down; the Democrats face some tough decisions on how to proceed. But the American people made clear they're sick and tired of Bush's claims to unlimited power.

i'm not sure the american people are completely clear on what they're tired of, and i firmly believe that the most staggering revelations are yet to come... but, it's a good start, and the sun is shining once again...

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What's happening with Webb in Virginia

well, THIS oughta be interestin'...

While an informal winner will be announced, the winner won't be certified until 11/27. A canvass will take place over the next seven days to count provisional ballots. State rules stipulate that if the margin is 1% or less, the loser can ask for a recount.

[...]

The fact that control of the Senate may be determined by VA "raised the possibility that the national parties and hundreds of lawyers could descend" on the state as they did on FL in WH '00.

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A comment on AMERICAblog

i have to agree - totally...

I am utterly thrilled. I'm also scared to death because I think these psychopathic thugs will do anything to stay in power. The next few weeks will be among the most dangerous since the Cuban Missle Crisis.
Left Behind | Homepage | 11.08.06 - 7:25 am | #

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To hell with being a good Samaritan - Dobson bails on Haggard

meanwhile, back in the land of the tawdry, the country's top evangelical just can't seem to find the time to help out his fallen brother...

Citing a lack of time, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson withdrew Tuesday from the team overseeing counseling for the Rev. Ted Haggard, the evangelical pastor who was fired amid allegations of gay sex and drug use.

"Emotionally and spiritually, I wanted to be of help — but the reality is I don't have the time to devote to such a critical responsibility," Dobson said.

and they live in the same friggin' town... haggard's new life church is even in the same part of town as the fof hq... the two other members of the team are in different parts of the country, fercryinoutloud, but dobson just can't seem to find the time...

The other two members of the team, Pastors Jack Hayford of The Church on the Way in Van Nuys, Calif., and Tommy Barnett of First Assembly of God in Phoenix, declined to comment.

how totally pathetic...

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WaPo A26

strong stuff from fred hiatt's shop...

Voters yesterday expressed their anger at President Bush and their frustration with the war in Iraq, as well as their disgust with the arrogant misbehavior of House Republicans. Though we regret the loss of some of the most talented Republican moderates, the GOP deserved to lose its majority.

at least in the op-ed they didn't try to pretend it was all about corruption like the story on page A01...

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Oh, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

yesterday's photo was taken out the kitchen door... this one, taken just minutes ago, was taken out the FRONT door... yesterday morning presaged a brighter day... this morning presages MANY brighter days... i feel the stirrings of hope once again, and, while i know that many ugly battles lie ahead, let today be the start of the great and wonderful changes to come... and, corny as it may be, i'm inspired by the signature song of a gentle and sweet man, who reminds us that our world, after all, is really just a neighborhood...

"It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine.
Could you be mine.
It's a neighborly day in this beauty wood,
A neighborly day for a beauty
Would you be mine.
Could you be mine.
I have always wanted to have a neighbor
Just like you.
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood
With you, so
Let's make the most of this beautiful day
Since we're together,
We might as well say,
"Would you be mine, could you be mine,
Won't you be, my neighbor?"
Won't you please?
Won't you please?
Please won't you be
My neighbor?"

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WaPo A01

where it belongs...

The GOP reign in the House that began with Newt Gingrich in a burst of vision and confrontation in 1994 came crashing down amid voter disaffection with congressional corruption. The collapse of one-party rule in Washington will transform Bush's final two years in office and challenge Democrats to make the leap from angry opposition to partners in power.

hanging this on a disaffection with congressional corruption is disingenuous in the extreme... was corruption a factor...? of course... but, as almost everyone has said, publicly and privately, this was a referendum on george... now that the truth of the bush agenda has started to sink in - unlimited power and unchecked greed - people are pissed, and rightly so, and it ain't just with the congress...

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Only one explanation for yesterday

yeah... only one...

The Democratic House

There was only one explanation for the crazy-quilt
combination of victories around the country that gave the
Democrats control of the House of Representatives last
night: an angry shout of repudiation of the Bush White
House and the abysmal way the Republican majority has run
Congress.

let's hope it's way more than a repudiation... i want indictments and convictions...

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What I just woke up to...!

Bush press conference, response at 1 PM EST...
DEMOCRATS WIN HOUSE;
SENATE STILL UNDECIDED
Senate hinges on Montana race, Virginia recount
MT: Burns (R) 48%; Tester (D) 49% - 87% in

the fat lady still hasn't sung her little heart out...

several major disappointments: musgrave wins in colorado, gibbons wins as nevada governor, carter loses as nevada senator, derby loses in nevada 02, and liebermann, that vile man, wins in ct... now, if tester and webb can just pull through for the senate, and trauner for the house in wyoming, i'll open my bottle of sparkling cider... hell, i'm going to open it anyway... we've made a start at taking our country back, and it's sweet...

SWEET...!!!

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Ok, I'm not gonna make it... CYA t'morrow...

i usually obsess all day in front of my computer as it is, but i almost never let unhealthy obsessions interfere with my bedtime, so i'm afraid this election night is just going to have to go on without me... when i get up in the morning, it will still be only 5 a.m. on the u.s. east coast and 2 a.m. on the west coast, so i should be getting up to a pretty solid set of results... so far, it's looking damn good, but i ain't opening any bottles of sparkling cider 'till the fat lady has sung her little heart out...

here's where the senate races sit right now at 11:11 p.m., art (argentina regional time)...

Latest called competitive races:

Michigan: Debbie Stabenow (hold)
Minnesota: Amy Klobuchar (hold)
New Jersey: Bob Menendez (hold)
Ohio: Sherrod Brown (pickup)
Pennsylvania: Bob Casey (pickup)

(thanks to markos at daily kos...)

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Early Senate exit polling

maybe SIX dem pick-ups...? oh, god, PLEASE let this hold...

Fox News Channel is reporting live on air strong showings for Democrats in six key Senate races, with Republicans maintaining three seats. Fox failed to disclose which seats were in play, saying they didn't want to affect voter turnout.

The New York Observer is also reporting Democratic leads in four key Senate races, with no information available on others. That list follows.

Casey (D) 61 - Santorum 38 (R)

Cardin (D) 51 - Steele 48 (R)

McCaskill (D)53 - Talent 46 (R)

Webb 55 (D) - Allen 45 (R)

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Early exit polls

i just watched a little bit of cnni where the talking heads were underlined by this:

"Are the Democrats ready to be the majority party?"

bite me, cnn...

the VERY early results are encouraging, but we've got a long night ahead of us...

Democrats leading in:

* VA: 53-46
* RI: 53-46
* PA: 57-42
* OH: 57-43
* NJ: 53-45
* MT: 53-46
* MO: 50-48

Republicans leading:

* TN: 51-48
* AZ: 50-46

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I guess I'm just going to have to wait

i'm dying for some election results, exit polls, something... argentina, now that daylight saving time has gone away, is two hours ahead of u.s. east coast time, which means that poll-closing time of 9 p.m. on the east coast is 11 p.m. here, and 9 p.m. on the west coast is 2 a.m. here... i'm an early-to-bed guy, so i KNOW i'm not going to last until the final tallies are in... i'll be lucky to last until the FIRST tallies are in...

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Perceived corruption in my corner(s) of the world

The 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index is a composite index that draws on multiple expert opinion surveys that poll perceptions of public sector corruption in 163 countries around the world, the greatest scope of any CPI to date. It scores countries on a scale from zero to ten, with zero indicating high levels of perceived corruption and ten indicating low levels of perceived corruption.

here's the map showing the corruption index relative to the countries of the world...



here's how the countries where i've spent the majority of my time over the past year fared....



Argentina
Ranking: 93
Index: 2.9



Bulgaria
Ranking: 57
Index: 4.0



Macedonia
Ranking: 105
Index: 2.7



Serbia
Ranking: 90
Index: 3.0



United States
Ranking: 20
Index: 7.3

just for chuckles and grins, the top five are, in order, finland, iceland, new zealand, denmark, and singapore...

here's a few other thoughts... since literally every other southeast asian country is riddled with corruption, that singapore has managed to walk the straight and narrow is nothing short of a miracle... two, i think it's a sad thing that the u.s. is #20... finally, i find it most interesting that jamaica (#61), belize (#66), cuba (also #66), brazil ((#70), egypt (#70), and mexico (also #70), ALL outrank argentina at #93...

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Romania and Bulgaria: a break from the ceaseless U.S. election news

...

Bulgaria.............Romania

having made a number of visits to bulgaria over the past year, i've been regaled with stories of endemic corruption... addressing an audience of some 100 people last month, when i mentioned the subject, the response was audible groans, sighs, and eye-rolling... i can't speak to the situation in romania, but, as this speigel article spells out, it's much the same...

Corruption is rife in Romania and Bulgaria according to a ranking released by Transparency International on Monday. The report makes unwelcome reading for the two Balkan countries ahead of their 2007 EU accession.

[...]

Romania -- which ranks 84th on the list -- has been plagued by corruption for years. Bribes are considered commonplace for basic services like health care, and the justice system is weak -- foreign investors complain that contracts and court decisions are not enforced.

[...]

Scoring a 3.1 on a ten-point scale means that corruption in Romania is perceived to be rampant. Marschall [Mikos Marschall, Transparency International's regional director for Europe and Central Asia] said Romania's score is "devastating for a country that will join the EU next year."

i've heard much the same story about poland, already an eu member, and poland's ranking seems to bear that out...

A comparison with Poland is instructive. With a score of 3.7, Poland ranks worse than Bulgaria and not much better than Romania -- this a country that already receives billions in subsidies.

the fear among the bulgarians i spoke with is that joining the eu will not only NOT stop corruption, but that it will make them worse off, since prices will rise on a par with other eu countries, but wages and salaries will remain the same... so, who WILL do well...? gee, i wonder...

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One month ago, actually

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A brilliantly beautiful election day morning

after a night of tossing and turning, produced no doubt by going to bed with a heavy sense of dread hanging over my head, i awakened to what you see in the photo above, taken from my kitchen door mere minutes ago - a gorgeous, cool morning, with the brilliantly green trees backdropped by the deepest blue skies, and everything made sparkling by a sun shining with an intensity i have seen nowhere else but here... the birds are singing and a breeze is blowing... i put the water on to heat and opened up some special brazilian coffee i bought during a layover in the rio airport... i trust that this new day, already so rich in promise, will bring us to a better place...

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Don't give the dry drunk enough rope to hang us all

here's the headline...

President Who Sees in Absolutes Awaits
Voters' Definitive Answer

i want neither want a president who sees in "absolutes" nor do i want to give this blinkered criminal a "definitive answer..." he sits in his chair by the slimmest of margins, granted to him twice in highly suspect fashion, he has chosen to interpret both as overwhelming mandates, and he has used his time in office to refashion the united states into a near-totalitarian state... i want him gone, and, if not gone, at least sufficiently hobbled that he and his outlaw compadres can't do any more damage...

He does not publicly stew as other presidents have. He powers through event after event as if he were still the leader the country rallied behind after Sept. 11, 2001.

To his critics, it sometimes seems as if Bush lives in his own world, oblivious or unwilling to accept the shifting reality around him. His is a world of absolutes. "I view this as a struggle of good versus evil," he said the other day about the war with terrorists. To Bush, that is strength, not weakness -- the certitude of conviction, the power of principle. He's "the decider" in a business afflicted by equivocation and thumb-sucking.

learning, growing, changing, reaching for love and light - this is the stuff of the human soul... to all appearances, bush does none of these... in the manner of every practicing addict, the dry drunk refuses to incorporate any new information into his worldview, because doing so will very likely shatter the foundations on which his universe of denial rests... this is george w. bush... let's hope and pray that the following is indeed true, and that voter supression and election-rigging don't carry the day (as they have in the past) to allow this sad, sick man to continue to hold tight to his delusions...

Now the voters are the deciders, and it's a verdict Bush can no longer influence.

we can't afford to give this man any more rope... he will hang not only himself but us along with him...

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John at AMERICAblog is PISSED

over voter fraud - and rightly so... this clearly shows that the criminals in power are, without a doubt, criminals who will do anything and everything to hang on to power... disgusting... sickening... pathetic... and, by any definition, illegal...

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Tomorrow: "will this extremist movement be fully liberated...?"

or will it be the beginning of the end of an interminable national nightmare...?

That is, more than anything else, what this election is about tomorrow. It really only will determine one question -- will this extremist movement be fully liberated to spend the next two years pursuing its twisted visions with no limits at all, or will it at least have some mild hurdles and impediments to slow it down? I don't write about the John Hinderakers or Glenn Reynolds or Michael Ledeens of the world because it's fun and easy to mock their deceit and derangement, even if that's true. I write about them because they are perfect reflections of the mentality that is governing our country and that has been governing it -- and destroying it -- with no limits at all for five years now.

how very interesting... robert parry, gore vidal, and, now, glenn greenwald, all saying virtually the same thing...

(thanks to lukery at wot is it good 4...)

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Gore Vidal sides with Robert Parry

among the small roster of folks who have earned my respect, is gore vidal... it's not coincidence that i read this from mr. vidal only hours apart from reading almost the same thing from robert parry (see earlier post)...

We're facing the most important election in my lifetime--which does not quite extend back to that of Abraham Lincoln, but it's pretty close. There'll be nothing more important in the voting line that one can foresee that will come our way while any of us is still hobbling around.

This will determine whether we regain the republic which we have lost over the last five years.

The coup d'etat was so rapid that even I, who am ready for such things ... I thought, these people are going to make a grab for it. But I thought, my heavens, there's still the courts.... Even a shameless Supreme Court is not going to back up the loss of habeas corpus....

So, my fellow countrymen, as I sit here, not yet at Gettysburg, I have a notion that this is the most important vote that you'll probably ever cast. Because should this gang of thugs continue in the two houses of Congress, there isn't any chance of getting the Constitution back....

i am nothing but a mass of nerves...

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88% of 75,000 people think Rummy should go

not terribly surprising... he's presiding over the biggest mess imaginable...



boy, would i like to get into the brains of that 12%...

(thanks to open your mind's eye...)

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Another PNAC-er bites the dust

it's a very interesting exercise to trace the fates of the signatories of the statement of principles of the project for the new american century, the neocon manifesto of those behind one of the worst chapters in american history, a chapter that's, sadly, still being written...

Zalmay Khalilzad, the plainspoken dealmaker and Republican insider who has won praise and criticism for attempts to broker Sunni political participation in Iraq's fragile government, is likely to quit his post as U.S. ambassador in Baghdad in the coming months, a senior Bush administration official said Monday.

As the midterm elections approached in the United States, Khalilzad has been a public face of Bush administration attempts to project both willingness to change strategy or tactics in an unpopular war and solidarity with the increasingly fractious Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Khalilzad's departure has been rumored for months, but he has not turned in his resignation, the State Department official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because neither the White House nor Khalilzad has announced any personnel changes. Khalilzad could leave as soon as the end of this year, but is more likely to remain in his post through the spring, the official said.

"He doesn't want to stay there forever and there are ongoing discussions about when he will finish his time, but there is no definite date," the official said.

let him resign, let him find something worthwhile to do outside of public service... and, by all means, let's not find a state department post to appoint him to, as steve clemons has suggested...

(thanks to think progress...)

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"The end of America as we have known it"

i think brother tim said it best in one of his comments to an earlier post... he has an omnipresent knot in his stomach... i just came from a mid-afternoon lunch with a friend and the caesar salad is just sitting there like some kind of a noxious nerf ball, particularly after reading the latest robert parry...

If the last-minute polling trends showing a powerful Republican comeback carry through the Nov. 7 elections, the end of America as we have known it for more than two centuries will be at hand.

In a political version of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” the country might look the same – people driving their SUVs to the mall or eating at fast-food restaurants – but it will have internally changed. Election 2006 will have been the ratification of George W. Bush’s grim vision of endless war abroad and the end of a constitutional Republic at home.

Though not understanding the full import of their actions, the American voters will have endorsed the elimination of the “unalienable” rights handed down to them by the Founders, instead allowing “plenary” – or unlimited – power to be invested in the President. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights will have been turned into irrelevant pieces of paper.

Bush will have the authority to send American young men and women to war wherever he chooses; he will have the power to spy on anyone he wants; he could imprison citizens and non-citizens alike under the Military Commissions Act while denying the detainees the right to file motions with civilian courts; he could order harsh interrogations which could then be used to convict defendants (assuming they are ever brought before one of his hand-picked tribunals for trial, conviction and execution); he could ignore or reinterpret any laws that he doesn’t like; he would have rubber-stamps in Congress and very soon in the U.S. Supreme Court; he and his potential successors would be, in effect, dictators.

and, don't forget the power to override state governors in the deployment of the national guard and to declare martial law to quell domestic disturbances...

am i nervous...? i can't even begin to put it into words...

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Even Armitage is jumping ship

anyone with two brain cells to rub together is repudiating any past support for the criminal bush regime...

The former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage - a Republican who opposed the Iraq war - said his party would pay the price for presenting an "angry face" to the world after the September 11 attacks.

"We were showing a very snarly and angry face," Mr Armitage said. "I think it's understandable to a certain degree.

"But we're well past that now, and it's time to turn another face to the world, back to more traditional things such as the export of hope and opportunity."
Although the latest polls ahead of tomorrow's vote show the Republicans gaining on the Democrats, Mr Armitage predicted that the Democrats would retake the House of Representatives with a majority of between 20 and 25 seats.

The party can take a majority in the House with the addition of 15 seats, and in the Senate with the addition of six. All 435 House seats and 33 of the 100 Senate seats are up for a vote, and there are governor races in 36 of the 50 states.

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Army Times - because he "renewed his vows"

this supports my speculation that today's multi-paper editorial was in response to bush's statement last week that rummy would stay for the duration of bush's term...

Army Times editor Robert Hodierne explains the timing of an editorial published today in the Military Times papers that calls for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Hodierne explains, "We did it right now because, last week, president Bush renewed his vows with the Secretary and said that the Secretary would be around for the balance of the two years of the president's term. We thought that was the wrong decision and took the opportunity to do so."

Playing down the idea that the editorials critical of Rumsfeld were intended to influence the midterm election, Hodierne says, "I don't know how much impact it's going to have. That wasn't part of our calculation. Our calculation was in view that strong statement of support by the president. We felt the need to say, 'We disagree with that.'"

after all, it's not like a call to dump the donald is coming out of the blue... if someone is to be faulted, it's bush for opening his big yap and, once again, painting himself into a corner...

p.s. ya gotta love that line: "renewed his vows...!"

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Bush open to change...? The NYT is smoking that funny stuff again...

the pungent smell of burning cannabis fills the air...

If the balance of political power in Washington changes on Tuesday, will President Bush change with it?

[...]

Yet with Mr. Bush facing the likelihood of a remade political landscape in Washington, even if his party holds on to both houses of Congress, the White House is sending signals that Mr. Bush is open to a shift in approach. After six years of virtually ignoring Democrats as he pressed his own party to do his bidding on Capitol Hill, Mr. Bush and his aides are charting a course that they say will take the president back to his roots as Texas governor, when he worked in a more bipartisan way with Democrats.

They are piecing together a domestic agenda that includes reviving the president’s failed bid to overhaul entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, White House officials and allies of the administration said. The president has assigned Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. to spearhead the effort, and the White House says it is quietly reaching out to Democrats on Capitol Hill.

trying once again to overhaul kill entitlement benefit programs is CHANGING...? oh, good lord, gimme a break... if bush is "quietly reaching out to democrats," i hope those democrats are recoiling like he was a poisonous snake... i'm sorry, but there's no doubt left to give george benefit of... when you've been abused and violated repeatedly over nearly six years, it's positively insane to give the perpetrator yet another chance without his having even been brought to justice, paid any consequences, or gone through treatment...

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Here it comes... The set-up... Get ready...!

this is the very headline that i've been dreading...

Pew poll says Republicans making eleventh hour gains

i'm bracing myself for a royal screwing...

The new survey finds a growing percentage of likely voters saying they will vote for GOP candidates. However, the Democrats still hold a 48% to 40% lead among registered voters, and a modest lead of 47%-43% among likely voters.

The narrowing of the Democratic lead raises questions about whether the party will win a large enough share of the popular vote to recapture control of the House of Representatives.

valid or not, legit or not, accurate or not, to me, it feels like the groundwork is being laid for one of those magical, mysterious, strategically brilliant, come-from-behind victories that, again, to me, will only be evidence of election-rigging...

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The American Conservative magazine says "Toss the R's"

well, well, well... it seems as though REAL republican conservatives (as opposed to the faux, totalitarian, religious extremists that are POSING as republican conservatives) have had it along with the rest of us...

There may be little Americans can do to atone for this presidency, which will stain our country’s reputation for a long time. But the process of recovering our good name must begin somewhere, and the logical place is in the voting booth this Nov. 7. If we are fortunate, we can produce a result that is seen—in Washington, in Peoria, and in world capitals from Prague to Kuala Lumpur—as a repudiation of George W. Bush and the war of aggression he launched against Iraq....

On Nov. 7, the world will be watching as we go to the polls, seeking to ascertain whether the American people have the wisdom to try to correct a disastrous course. Posterity will note too if their collective decision is one that captured the attention of historians—that of a people voting, again and again, to endorse a leader taking a country in a catastrophic direction. The choice is in our hands.

i am totally and utterly DREADING tuesday... as much reason as there is for guarded optimism, i can't get into it... i simply can't believe that, after pulling every trick in the book and writing whole chapters of new ones, the criminals in charge of this country are going to let november 7 pass without pulling out all the REST of the stops, legal or not...

(thanks to john at americablog...)

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Riverbend speaks on the Saddam verdict

i don't know her outside of her blog posts, but, i'm telling you, she is one outstanding woman, in any time, in any culture, but especially in the baghdad of today...

I’m more than a little worried. This is Bush’s final card. The elections came and went and a group of extremists and thieves were put into power (no, no- I meant in Baghdad, not Washington). The constitution which seems to have drowned in the river of Iraqi blood since its elections has been forgotten. It is only dug up when one of the Puppets wants to break apart the country. Reconstruction is an aspiration from another lifetime: I swear we no longer want buildings and bridges, security and an undivided Iraq are more than enough. Things must be deteriorating beyond imagination if Bush needs to use the ‘Execute the Dictator’ card.

(thanks to lukery at wot is it good 4...)

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Tough shit, Richard Perle

haven't we had enough of rigging news to favor the r's...?

Conservative Richard Perle -- a controversial conservative considered among the architects of the Iraq invasion -- has rushed to criticize a new Vanity Fair piece in which he is quoted saying he regrets advocating for invading Iraq, saying that he was promised the article would not be published before the Nov. 7 Congressional elections.

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Last Ohio poll

at this point, i can only take some small comfort in a poll like this, no matter how staggeringly optimistic the numbers are... why...? one, my trust in our system is gone, dead as a doornail... two, i believe the REAL battle, regardless of the tuesday's election results, will begin on 8 november... everything the r's have done, everything they've telegraphed about what they WILL do, gives me no confidence whatsoever that they're going to go quietly into that good night...

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Ledeen and Rove - pure evil and total darkness

i confess to having been only dimly aware of michael ledeen... i know he's been a strong force within the neocon cabal that's driven us to the brink of complete foreign policy and international relations meltdown, but i had never associated him with outright evil of the sort that karl rove has inadvertently shown us on occasion - until this...

- from an August 2002 interview with FrontPageMag.com

Question #10: Let's put Saddam aside for a moment. Personally, I am very pessimistic about the West's ability to defeat this new threat in militant and radical Islam. I think that the Soviet and Fascist threats were easier to deal with. In the end, I fear that the radical Muslims, especially in the Arab world, will always stick together, and we will be dealing with millions upon millions of religious fanatics who not only seek our death, but also their own. How can we be confident in facing Islamic messianism? I don't think we've ever seen a threat like this and I doubt that our Western democracies have the resolve or capability to defeat it. Please tell me I am wrong.

Ledeen: Yes of course we're going to win, and we're going to remove the tyrannies in Iran and Syria, and either Saudi Arabia is going to change their policies -- shutting down the radical schools and mosques -- or we will have to go after them as well. Remember there are lots of overqualified unemployed Hashemites nowadays. You don't believe we will win because you haven't studied our history. If it were Europe you might be right; Europe is ready to surrender to anyone. They tried hard to surrender to the Soviet Union but it just didn't work out for them, poor things. But we are talking about America, and Americans love to fight and love to win.

up to this point in meteor blades front-page daily kos post, i saw ledeen as just another neocon ideologue, huffing and puffing about the u.s. manifest destiny as world savior, but it was his comments about europe that stopped me cold... and it's not even his views ABOUT europe that i find so appalling... it's the cold, cruel - yes, evil - way he phrased them... it's the same reaction i had to ron suskind's description * of what he heard while waiting outside karl rove's white house office... there's a difference between being an ideologue and being pathologically evil... congratulations, mr. ledeen... you've joined karl at the top of my list of darkest forces...

* Eventually, I met with Rove. I arrived at his office a few minutes early, just in time to witness the Rove Treatment, which, like LBJ’s famous browbeating style, is becoming legend but is seldom reported. Rove’s assistant, Susan Ralston, said he’d be just a minute. She’s very nice, witty and polite. Over her shoulder was a small back room where a few young men were toiling away. I squeezed into a chair near the open door to Rove’s modest chamber, my back against his doorframe.

Inside, Rove was talking to an aide about some political stratagem in some state that had gone awry and a political operative who had displeased him. I paid it no mind and reviewed a jotted list of questions I hoped to ask. But after a moment, it was like ignoring a tornado flinging parked cars. "We will fuck him. Do you hear me? We will fuck him. We will ruin him. Like no one has ever fucked him!" As a reporter, you get around—curse words, anger, passionate intensity are not notable events—but the ferocity, the bellicosity, the violent imputations were, well, shocking. This went on without a break for a minute or two. Then the aide slipped out looking a bit ashen, and Rove, his face ruddy from the exertions of the past few moments, looked at me and smiled a gentle, Clarence-the-Angel smile. "Come on in." And I did. And we had the most amiable chat for a half hour.

every so often, someone will tip his hand, and you can see the real person behind the imago... rove's revealing moment for me was the above... for ledeen, it was the interview with frontpagemag... in that one brief instant, the mask is off, and you can see the true evil underneath...

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NYT: No Repub endorsements

The Difference Two Years Made

On Tuesday, when this page runs the list of people it has
endorsed for election, we will include no Republican
Congressional candidates for the first time in our memory.

lukery over at wot is it good 4 is really pissed, as in REALLY PISSED, and i don't disagree... two years ago we might have been able to bring this nightmare to a halt, but now, when we're hanging on to the edge of the cliff by our fingernails, might be just a tad too late...

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NEWSFLASH: Bush tells the truth

who woulda thunk it...?

During the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, President Bush and his aides sternly dismissed suggestions that the war was all about oil. "Nonsense," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld declared. "This is not about that," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

Now, more than 3 1/2 years later, someone else is asserting that the war is about oil -- President Bush.

As he barnstorms across the country campaigning for Republican candidates in Tuesday's elections, Bush has been citing oil as a reason to stay in Iraq.

repeat after me...

O-I-L

that wasn't so hard, now was it...?

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