Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping

i remember reading about reverend billy several years ago and was impressed at the time by what i thought was a very innovative, funny, and dead on way to deal with the intense materialism that characterizes our society...

The Reverend Billy is the founder and head of the Church of Stop Shopping. His singers - 30 sopranos, altos, tenors and basses - are all members of the Choir of the Church of Stop Shopping.

He has a band too. It's all a performance, of course, joyous and very funny. But the gospel being preached here is serious too, which is why he is prepared to get arrested for it. (And why he will shortly be in court on charges of trespassing in Starbucks.)

He means to save us from what he calls the impending Shopocalypse, a time in America, and maybe it is upon us in Britain too, when community is supplanted by shopping malls, where real spirituality is replaced by the worship of the credit card and where freedom - that thing that George Bush boasts about - is perverted by our enslavement to the addiction of buying.

there is so much in this world so very much more worthwhile than STUFF... sometimes, it seems like the entire focus of people everywhere is STUFF, MORE STUFF, BETTER STUFF, COOLER STUFF, and, of course, the money you have to have to BUY MORE STUFF...

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Latinos dump Gonzo

when your own people tell you to take a hike, you can pretty well smell the toast burning...

Two big ImpreMedia-owned newspapers, the daily La Opinión in Los Angeles and the Chicago weekly La Raza, argue in a common editorial that U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should resign.

"The firing of the U.S. attorneys is sufficient cause for doubting his capacity for distinguishing his loyalty to President George W. Bush from his duty to citizens," the editorial, which La Raza published in both Spanish and English, says. "But the straw that broke the camels back is the contradiction between his testimony that he was unaware of what his subordinates had done and his active participation in the meetings, as evidenced by the department's internal communications."

and then...

...in the Chicago edition of Tribune Co.-owned Hoy, Sergio Muñoz [writes]

“Gonzales not only has let down the community — he’s let down the nation,” Muñoz…wrote.

(thanks to think progress...)

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Yes, George, that IS what it's called when you lie on the floor and kick your hands and feet

no dessert tonight for YOU, george...

from the nyt via mahablog via think progress on nancy pelosi's response to bush and cheney's reaction to her trip to syria... (too good to pass up no matter how many hands have touched it...!)

Ms. Pelosi, in a telephone interview from Lisbon on Friday, said she could not account for the Bush administration’s assault, which she at one point equated to a tantrum.

[...]

“I am used to the administration; nothing surprises me,” she said.

such an adult response from madam speaker... it only serves to make george and dick look like the absolute nincompoops they really are...

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Crafting new punishment for America's lowest-paid, most exploited workers

in its tradition of punishing the innocent and rewarding the guilty, the bush administration proposes its NEW, IMPROVED immigration plan...

The White House's draft plan, leaked last week, calls for a new "Z" visa that would allow illegal immigrant workers to apply for three-year work permits. They would be renewable indefinitely, but would cost $3,500 each time.

To get a permit and become legal permanent residents, illegal immigrants would have to return to their home country, apply at a U.S. embassy or consulate to re-enter legally and pay a $10,000 fine.

W.T.F...!?!? illegal immigrants in the u.s., if they're lucky, earn roughly $12,000 per year, or $36,000 over three years, and that's gross, not net... so, the u.s. is asking them to pay a full 10% of their gross income in order to continue working for slave wages... if they're wanting to go THAT route, i suggest the EMPLOYER coughs up the money for the work permit... as for the fine and the process for becoming a legal resident, that's just plain viciously punitive...

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Tell it to somebody who cares, John

< yawn >

McCain said he regrets comments he made after a tour of Baghdad last Sunday, when he said he could see progress and the American people were not being told the "good news" about the war, according to excerpts of his comments and a press release provided by "60 Minutes."

"Of course I am going to misspeak and I've done it on numerous occasions and I probably will do it in the future," said McCain, according to "60 Minutes".

after an entire week of nothing but ridicule, you finally decide you "misspoke...?" go take a long walk off a short pier, john and stop wasting our time...

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TTFN, Monica... Stay close... We'll be in touch...

sorry, babe... it's not going to throw them off your trail...

"I am hereby submit my resignation to the Office of the Attorney General, effective April 7, 2007. It has been an honor to have served at the Department of Justice for the past five years. May God bless you richly as you continue your service to America," the letter said.

it's going to take a lot more than a resignation to get john conyers to back down...

"The Chairman remains committed to questioning Monica Goodling, especially with this new development. Her involvement and general knowledge of what happened makes her a valuable piece to this puzzle," the spokesperson said in an e-mail.

i'm just DYING to know what she's hiding...

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Crude vs. sophisticated (U.S.-style) propaganda

noam chomsky 'splains it for us...

This "debate" [on Iran] is a typical illustration of a primary principle of sophisticated propaganda. In crude and brutal societies, the Party Line is publicly proclaimed and must be obeyed -- or else. What you actually believe is your own business and of far less concern. In societies where the state has lost the capacity to control by force, the Party Line is simply presupposed; then, vigorous debate is encouraged within the limits imposed by unstated doctrinal orthodoxy. The cruder of the two systems leads, naturally enough, to disbelief; the sophisticated variant gives an impression of openness and freedom, and so far more effectively serves to instill the Party Line. It becomes beyond question, beyond thought itself, like the air we breathe.

and therein lies a major part of the reason why americans have still not risen up in total outrage over bushco's continuing criminal reign... as a nation, we still cannot bring ourselves to question the essential goodness of our government, no matter how much evidence accumulates to the contrary... it is also precisely why the current regime is so very dangerous and why they so desperately need to be removed...

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The DOJ documents not yet dumped

looks like a lot of pertinent material is being held back...

The Justice Department is refusing to release hundreds of pages of additional documents related to the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, setting up a fresh clash with Capitol Hill in a controversy that continues to threaten Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales's hold on his position.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, whose investigators have been allowed to view, but not obtain copies of, the records in question, is preparing subpoenas for those papers as well as for all e-mails or documents from the Justice Department and the White House connected to the dismissals of the prosecutors.

[...]

Democratic investigators were upset to learn about the additional batch of records in recent visits to the department, according to a Senate aide who requested anonymity to talk freely about the standoff.

why are they holding out...?

Another Justice Department official said the additional documents were not turned over to Capitol Hill because of "privacy issues" related to personnel matters involving some of the U.S. attorneys who were ousted and others who were not.

In particular, the official said, one document, several hundred pages long, was an internal administrative review of one of the fired prosecutors and was so sensitive that it would have been entirely redacted if it had been sent to Capitol Hill.

having worked in human resources, i understand that personnel matters are sensitive and should be kept confidential, but, i do believe congress is capable of that kind of discretion, and this is, after all, a major congressional investigation... plus, if they have already seen the documents, the confidentiality has already been breached...

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Why is the Vice President of the United States granting an interview with a propagandist?

condi appears with o'reilly... cheney talks with limbaugh... it's an absolute disgrace that our senior government officials CHOOSE to speak with some of the most blatant propaganda mouthpieces in the country...

Vice President Dick Cheney told conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh during a phone interview Thursday that he was "disappointed" that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA-D) conveyed to Syrian Prime Minister Bashir Assad that Israel is ready for peace talks, and chided her for "bad behavior."

Limbaugh asked Cheney, "What's the administration view today, what's the emotion, what are you thinking about Speaker Pelosi's trip to the Middle East, specifically, the conveyance of the incorrect message to Bashir Assad in Syria about peace talks with Israel?"

"Well, it's not helpful," Cheney replied. "I made it clear earlier that I thought this was -- created difficulty, if I can put it in a gentle form."

Cheney added, "Obviously, she's the Speaker of the House and ought to travel to foreign nations and ought to conduct visits" but "she's not entitled to make policy."

and, of course, all darth is doing is puffing up rush's already incredibly swollen ego...

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Our media is good for SUGGESTIONS as to what MIGHT be news

glenn greenwald writes about a conversation he had with a senior vice president of abc news about its reporters' anonymously-sourced story on iran "more than tripl[ing] its ability to produce enriched uranium in the last three months" and therefore "Iran could have enough material for a nuclear bomb by 2009..."

[A]t least one key reason for that distrust is both clear and compelling. Many Americans who more or less did trust the judgment of the country's most respectable media outlets were severely betrayed, when they supported an invasion of a sovereign country based exclusively on patently false claims that were uncritically though aggressively disseminated by the American press. For that reason, distrust of the media has been substantially heightened, and that is so particularly when it comes to stories -- like the ABC News one here -- that bolster the Bush administration's warnings of a "grave threat" posed by whatever country happens to be The New Nazi Enemy of the Month.

I would speculate that most national journalists -- certainly the ones with whom I have interacted following media criticisms and/or observed responding to criticism of others -- simply do not recognize, acknowledge, or accept the level and intensity of distrust for what they report, particularly when their behavior appears similar to the government-boosting conduct that led us into Iraq. Most of them will acknowledge that there were isolated instances of gullible or even biased and corrupt reporting during the Bush presidency (call it The Judy Miller Concession), but they believe that none of that resulted in -- nor should it have resulted in -- any significant change in how their profession is perceived and in the level of mistrust which Americans have for what they report.

They still think that the phrase "ABC News" means that whatever follows will be presumed credible and reliable. But that just isn't the case any more. And that's why stories which rely exclusively on placing virtually blind faith in the judgment of such organizations are likely to be disregarded (except by those whose pre-existing political agenda is advanced by the story).

the "blind faith" credit score i currently assign to u.s. media is embarrassingly low... i look at them more as folks who have some SUGGESTIONS for what MIGHT be news, rather than as sources for what is ACTUALLY news... and i'm certainly not the only one... political and news blogs didn't just miraculously sprout like mushrooms after a hard rain... they're filling a serious need people have to attempt to figure out what's true and what isn't... there is a problem with that, though, and it's a problem i face every day... in order to satisfy myself that i'm coming within even a country mile of the so-called "truth," i have to triangulate with 6-7 sources to even begin to feel comfortable... that's a huge expenditure of time and energy, as i think we would all agree...

(thanks to atrios...)

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Oopsie... Corallo abandons the U.S.S. Gonzales...

it just keeps getting more interesting...

A former Justice Department spokesman who served under the Bush Administration is calling for Alberto Gonzales to step down from his post as Attorney General, according to USA Today.

Mark Corallo, who served as Public Affairs Director for the Justice Department from 2002 to 2005, told USA Today that it was only Bush's sense of loyalty that was keeping Gonzales in his current post.

"Some Republicans, including former Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo, say Lone Star loyalty 'is the only reason Gonzales is still around,'" USA Today reported. "He says Gonzales should step down over mismanagement of the U.S. attorneys flap."

i disagree with corallo... i don't think it's ONLY bush's sense of loyalty that's keeping gonzo afloat... i'll repeat what i've said before - with gonzo gone, bush is massively exposed... gonzo is a firewall between bush and all the nasty stuff that's gone on in the justice department to support bush and cheney's criminal behavior... with gonzo gone, it's katy, bar the door...

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Why should Mahmoud Ahmadinejad be labeled as a perfidious hypocrite?

he's only doing the photo-op two-step just like george bush and tony blair... the difference is, he did it with a positive, non-lethal outcome...

The 15 British hostages in Iran were released more quickly than was feared. They were the pawns of higher powers -- and of a president who staged their release as a perfidious performance. Nevertheless, progress in the Middle East is now at least a possibility.

[...]

It was an act of humanism in the spirit of Islam that prompted the Iranian president to grant the British hostages their freedom. Blame for the incident could be assigned to the British government, which he said had "behaved badly."

It's that easy, said Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

One has to pay close attention to what he says. It's well worth the effort because it reveals such rare depths of hypocrisy.

aw, c'mon... this axis of evil crap is so goddam old and so is the term "hostages..." give it a rest... and from a german publication, no less...

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Guantánamo inmates: dangerously close to full-blown mental and physical breakdown

this is holy week (semana santa in the spanish-speaking world), historically a christian time of forgiveness and redemption... meanwhile, the self-proclaimed "devout christians" who run my country are still engaging in atrocities worthy of the most despicable of history's bloody regimes...

Conditions for detainees at the US military jail at Guantanamo Bay are deteriorating, with the majority held in solitary confinement, a report says.

Amnesty International said the often harsh and inhumane conditions at the camp were "pushing people to the edge".

It called for the facility to be closed and for plans for "unfair" military commission trials to be abandoned.

Many of the 385 inmates have been held for five years or more, unable to mount a legal challenge to their detention.

"While the United States has an obligation to protect its citizens... that does not relieve the United States from its responsibilities to comply with human rights," the report said.

"Statements by the Bush administration that these men are 'enemy combatants,' 'terrorists' or 'very bad people' do not justify the complete lack of due process rights," the group said.

Amnesty reiterated its call for detainees at the prison camp in Cuba - many of whom are suspected Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters - to be released or charged and sent to trial.

The report, published on Thursday, said about 300 detainees are now being held at a new facility - known as Camp 5, Camp 6 and Camp Echo - comparable to "super-max" high security units in the US.

The group said the facility had "created even harsher and apparently more permanent conditions of extreme isolation and sensory deprivation".

It said the detainees were reportedly confined to windowless cells for 22 hours a day, only allowed to exercise at night and could go for days without seeing daylight.

and their future looks bleak...

The US has said it plans to use the military tribunal system to prosecute about 80 of 385 prisoners remaining at the camp.

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I rode my bike to the park on Tuesday

and completely forgot that i wanted to post about it... i just came back from another bike ride over there which reminded me...

the "park" is parque de los niños, a large expanse of trees, grass, picnic areas, trails, and playgrounds at the far north end of capital (buenos aires proper)... it borders the rio de la plata and is a delightful place to spend time... on weekends, it's packed with families, bikers, couples young and old, fishermen, fútbol players, picnickers, mate drinkers, kite flyers, readers, sunbathers, walkers, and every sort of folk enjoying themselves... during the week, it's quiet and peaceful, the only noise being the racket of the annoying monk parakeets that infest argentina (are are taking over in some parts of the states as well)...

there were two special things about tuesday... one was the profusion of butterflies... i can't tell one butterfly from another, but they had orange and black wings, and were everywhere... it was beautiful... the second thing was perhaps one of the nicest things i have seen in a long time... a van pulled up in the parking area... i didn't pay it any attention until i realized that it was full of elderly blind people who were there for a walk in the park... groups of three or four at a time were guided by a sighted person over the trails, through the grass and trees, while sights were described... the old folks were obviously having a wonderful time... they were talking animatedly, laughing, telling stories and teasing each other... i couldn't wipe the smile off my face...

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"Leaving is losing. That's the Bush doctrine."

atrios is blowing a fuse over a david ignatius column...

Leaving is losing. That's the Bush doctrine. You either embrace what the Democrats are offering, or you embrace Bush's "leaving is losing" plan. The Magical Pundit Pony Plan, which will never happen, is only about gazing at yourself in the mirror so you can marvel at how much smarter you are than all the politicians, instead of bothering to make the choice between the actual options.

4 years later I am so sick of every "what we really need to do in Iraq" column which gets published. None Of That Is Going To Happen. We either stay there under George Bush, or we start to get the fuck out. You don't get to micromanage the war.

atrios is right, of course... the criminals in the bush administration don't give a shit for benchmarks or even victory, for that matter... they don't give a shit if the iraqis murder each other down to the last man, as long as the taj mahal new embassy in the green zone and the permanent u.s. bases can remain intact... and, unfortunately, we've only got one congressman who's willing to put himself on the line about getting the hell out, and that's russ feingold... yes, harry reid has signed up with him, and so have leahy, boxer, kerry, and dodd, and that's good... but it's been feingold, and feingold alone, who has never wavered, not from day one... he's got a diary up at kos which is worth snipping a few words from...

If the President vetoes the emergency supplemental bill, it will only show more Americans and more members of Congress how detached his administration is from the reality of the situation in Iraq – and from the reality here at home, too. We will not be deterred by a veto or by the self-deluding rhetoric coming from die-hard supporters of the President’s misguided Iraq policy. We already have strong support for this latest effort from Senators Leahy, Boxer, Kerry, and Dodd. We will only work harder to act on the ever-growing consensus that ending our military involvement in Iraq is the right thing to do for our troops, our national security, and our ongoing fight against the global terrorist networks that threaten the safety of all Americans.

my man, russ... why the hell aren't you running in 2008...?

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The president makes headlines no matter what

and our media, faithful stenographers that they are, continue to spare us any context...

What Rove can still count on, in spite of everything, is that the president's assertions make it into the headlines no matter how dubious they may be -- and that all too many reporters prefer uncritical transcription to the kind of tough but fair analysis that would be required to put what the president says in context.

because, after all, the bulk of american citizens, unless they happen to be among the elite few who've been blessed with insider status and superior intellectual abilities, wouldn't be able to understand it anyway...

and, yes, it is STILL rove who's calling the talking point shots...

(thanks to joe at americablog...)

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A Republican sees Congressional visits to Syria for what they REALLY are

O.M.G... a sane republican voice...

Following his meeting with Moallem, [Congressman Darrell Issa, R-CA] told reporters that he had a "constructive" meeting with Assad, adding that discussions covered many issues.

He said the US Congress members who have recently visited Syria believe that the dialogue they have begun with Damascus "will go on continuously and constructively."

"I have no illusions. We have serious problems to be resolved, but we will resolve them," he said.

He said Pelosi has made clear that the US Congress would continue to carry out fact-finding and to keep the dialogue open. He stressed that the dialogue would continue "leading to better understanding."

Asked to comment on Bush's criticism of the congressmen's visits to Damascus, Issa said: "President Bush is the head of state, but he hasn't encouraged dialogue. That's an important message to realize: we have tensions, but we have two functioning embassies."

< no duh >

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Typical WaPo nonsense

they can't help themselves...

Pratfall in Damascus

that's the snarky headline for today's op-ed excoriating nancy pelosi for having the courage and initiative to attempt what condi either can't or won't do - break a sweat trying to bring peace to israel and syria... they continue on to both ridicule and condemn her effort, and then to use the bush administration's hateful axis of evil rhetoric to describe assad and syria... way to help out, wapo...

[UPDATE]

think progress has the background and, more accurately than my feeble attempt, labels it a vicious smear... and, they point out the obvious...

Fred Hiatt and the Post editorial page get it wrong on Pelosi just like they got it wrong on the recent Iraq legislation, the U.S. Attorney scandal, the CIA leak investigation, the decision to invade Iraq, and on and on and on.

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Sweat, Gonzo, sweat

it's too bad he didn't work as hard doing his job the RIGHT way, protecting the u.s. constitution and fostering a justice system that works for the benefit of all americans...

After struggling for weeks to explain the extent of his involvement in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, Gonzales and his aides are viewing the Senate testimony on April 12 and April 17 as seriously as if it were a confirmation proceeding for a Supreme Court or a Cabinet appointment, officials said.

Ed Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman, and Timothy E. Flanigan, who worked for Gonzales at the White House, have met with the attorney general to plot strategy. The department has scheduled three days of rigorous mock testimony sessions next week and Gonzales has placed phone calls to more than a dozen GOP lawmakers seeking support, officials said.

i sincerely hope he's terrified...

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2 years and 1 month

and 100,000 hits... i've been waiting to post about the 2d anniversary of this blog until the counter hit that magic number... it's certainly not anything like the traffic of the bigs, but that's ok... traffic's nice, and, if i had a ton more of it, i might actually earn a dollar or two, but that's not the point... the point is that i really care about what's happening in my country and desperately want to see it change... if this blog can contribute in the smallest way to that happening, it's well worth the time and energy spent... then there's the issue of my sanity... working on this every day gives me an outlet for the massive frustration i feel when i look at what's going on... i can put my thoughts out there rather than bottling them up inside - and that may be worth more than anything else...

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Not once, not twice, THRICE - in ONE DAY! This guy's gotta be stopped!

oferchrissake... i posted earlier today on bush's sneaky recess appointment of susan dudley to head the white house office of information and regulatory affairs who is committed to a pro-business agenda and has been opposed by many progressive groups... now, i see he's slipped through TWO MORE... what a guy...!

President Bush named Republican fundraiser Sam Fox as U.S. ambassador to Belgium on Wednesday, using a maneuver that allowed him to bypass Congress where Democrats had derailed Fox's nomination.

Democrats had denounced Fox for his 2004 donation to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The group's TV ads, which claimed that Sen. John Kerry exaggerated his military record in Vietnam, were viewed as a major factor in the Massachusetts Democrat losing the election.

Recognizing Fox did not have the votes to obtain Senate confirmation, Bush withdrew the nomination last month. On Wednesday, with Congress out of town for a spring break, the president used his power to make recess appointments to put Fox in the job without Senate confirmation.

This means Fox can remain ambassador until the end of the next session of Congress, effectively through the end of the Bush presidency.

Bush also used his recess appointment authority to make Andrew Biggs deputy director of Social Security. The president's earlier nomination of Biggs, an outspoken advocate of partially privatizing the government's retirement program, was rejected by Senate Democrats in February.

the arrogance of this guy in thwarting the will of congress and the american people will go down in history as one of the darkest periods of u.s. history...

(thanks to markos...)

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For anyone experiencing nostalgia for paranoia and mushroom clouds

eventually, stuff like this will be seen as a curiosity and an historical aberration... for right now, however, there are still people out there who are buying this crap...



Click on image of
nuclear holocaust
to view Move America
Forward's latest
fear-mongering ad

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Why does Alternet feel such a big need to shut down 9/11 discussion?

personally, i don't get it... it seems to me that there are way too many questions still surrounding 9/11, so why are there some people so heavily invested in discounting some questions but not others...? i think it's a shame to find a supposedly liberal, progressive, dedicated-to-free speech outlet like alternet stooping to questioning someone's right to ask intelligent questions and to demand comprehensive, truthful answers... however, i have noticed it's been a pattern with alternet, both with joshua holland in this article as well as with matt taibbi's screeds (here and here)...

[H]er comments on that day's show represented the worst of the left's conspiratorial tendencies; Rosie ran with the great intellectual fallacy that supports the 9/11 "Truth" movement: Anything not adequately explained by the official investigations into 9/11 are de facto evidence of an inside job...

that was bad enough, but then he has the nerve to define the debate for us...

What might have led to a challenging debate about the close ties between the Bush administration and terrorist financiers, or about the United States' unshakable relationship with the Saudi Royal family or the nature of our energy policy or the toll of American militarism emerged instead as an easily-refuted argument based, at the end of the day, on a talk-show host's knowledge about the melting point of steel.

don't define my debate for me, please... until i see a comprehensive, analytical, forensic report onthe twin towers, WTC-7 and the pentagon, i am going to continue to have some serious questions... what totally astounds me is why we haven't seen one...

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Pulling in the RNC along with DOJ and the White House

this is good... this is very, very good...

Today, oversight committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) issued a letter to the Republican National Committee requesting it turn over all email communications by White House officials relating to the presentation.

In communicating with GSA about the presentation, Mr. Jennings and his assistant used “gwb43.com” e-mail accounts maintained by the RNC rather than their official White House e-mail accounts. In their e-mails, they described the presentation as a “close hold” and said that “we’re not supposed to be emailing it around.”

To assist the Committee in its investigation of these issues, I request that you provide any electronic messages sent or received by Karl Rove, J. Scott Jennings, or any other White House officials using accounts maintained by the RNC that relate to (1) the January 26, 2007, PowerPoint presentation at GSA, (2) the presentation of any similar political briefings at other federal agencies or to other federal employees, or (3) the use of federal agencies or resources to help Republican candidates.

since kyle sampson 'splained it all for us, that politics and performance are the same thing, it's only fair that the republican party is now a target of the congressional investigation... i don't think the rnc will be able to use "executive privilege" to get out of this one...

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"Neither snow nor rain not heat nor gloom of night stays" George Bush from giving us the finger

out-of-control president... dictator... monarch... despot... strongman... somehow none of these captures the nightmarish horror that the bush presidency has become... he's being attacked from all sides, but that won't stop him from running the country right into the ground... he and his criminal posse must be removed because this kind of shit just is not going to stop until that happens...

President Bush intends to bypass the Senate in order to name a "conservative academic" to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), Wednesday's Wall Street Journal reports.

"Bypassing a reluctant Senate, President Bush will use a recess appointment to name a conservative academic to the White House's top regulatory post," Henry Pulizzi writes for WSJ. "The move, expected to be announced today, will fill a position that has been vacant for more than a year, and could help the White House use the regulatory process to shape policy."

According to the paper, "Susan Dudley, the former head of regulatory studies at George Mason University's Mercatus Center, has generated opposition from environmentalists and liberal interest groups, who say she would carry out a pro-business agenda at the expense of public health and safety."

as i've said before, it's not as if we weren't warned, all the way back in october, even BEFORE the elections...

In fact, when it comes to deploying its Executive power, which is dear to Bush's understanding of the presidency, the President's team has been planning for what one strategist describes as "a cataclysmic fight to the death" over the balance between Congress and the White House if confronted with congressional subpoenas it deems inappropriate. The strategist says the Bush team is "going to assert that power, and they're going to fight it all the way to the Supreme Court on every issue, every time, no compromise, no discussion, no negotiation."

and, if that didn't make it clear, tony snow certainly did when he said this...

"He told all of us, 'Put on your track shoes. We're going to run to the finish,'" Snow said. "He's going to be aggressive on a lot of fronts. He's been calling all his Cabinet secretaries and telling them, 'You tell me administratively everything you can do between now and the end of the presidency. I want to see your to-do list and how you expect to do it.' We're going to try to be as ambitious and bold as we can possibly be."

the only thing i can see at this point is to bring an END to bush's presidency... of course, that's about all i have been able to see for several years now, but it's never been more critical than it is now...

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So, Ahmadinejad lets the Brits go free

let's see how THIS gets spun...

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran would free the 15 detained British sailors and marines Wednesday as an Easter holiday "gift" to the British people.

Iranian state television said the 14 men and one woman, who were seized while on patrol in the northern Persian gulf on March 23, would leave Iran on Thursday. An Iranian official in London said they would be handed over to British diplomats in Tehran.

for starters, bush actually had a positive comment...

President Bush, who had condemned the seizure of the Britons and referred to them as "hostages," also welcomed it, said his national security spokesman, Gordon Johndroe.

but i'm sure bushco will find some way to turn it around... they've got to be terribly disappointed this didn't lead to a conflagration... still, who knows what other tricks bush has up his sleeve (or that he put up tony's sleeve)...?

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

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Leon Panetta is full of shit

saying "no open-ended commitment" to the iraqis will accomplish absolutely nothing except giving bushco an open-ended invitation to extend the iraq war for the rest of his presidential term... i don't care if leon panetta is "former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and a member of the Iraq Study Group," he's still full of shit...

Instead of dividing over the strategy on the war, the president and the Congress should make very clear to the Iraqis that there is no open-ended commitment to our involvement. As the Iraq Study Group recommended, Iraqi leaders must pay a price if they continue to fail to make good on key reforms that they have promised the Iraqi people.

In calling for a specific withdrawal date, the House and Senate versions of the supplemental spending bill send a clear message to the Iraqis (even if they do face a certain veto). The worst mistake now would be to provide money for the war without sending the Iraqis any message at all about their responsibility for reforms. Both the president and the Congress at the very least must make the Iraqi government understand that future financial and military support is going to depend on Baghdad’s making substantial progress toward the milestones Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has publicly committed to.

and what's included on panetta's list of satisfactory benchmarks...? if you guessed the oil law, you can go to the head of the class...

The Iraqis promised to achieve, by the end of 2006 or early 2007, the approval ... of a law to regulate the oil industry and share revenues...

i find it so very interesting that something that totally favors big oil in ways unheard of in the industry gets buried in a list of so-called "benchmarks" and the benefit to big oil never gets mentioned... why is that, do you suppose...?

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Bush's fantasies - and outright inhumanity

i think calling bush's suggestion "absurd" is not exactly the right choice of words...

Editorial

More Than a Feeling

Published: April 4, 2007

President Bush and his advisers have made a lot of ridiculous charges about critics of the war in Iraq: they’re unpatriotic, they want the terrorists to win, they don’t support the troops, to cite just a few. But none of these seem quite as absurd as President Bush’s latest suggestion, that critics of the war whose children are at risk are too “emotional” to see things clearly.

bush is referring to matthew dowd, of course...

"criminally insensitive bordering on inhuman" gets at it a bit better for me...

Mr. Bush’s comments about Mr. Dowd are a reflection of the otherworldliness that permeates his public appearances these days. Mr. Bush seems increasingly isolated, clinging to a fantasy version of Iraq that is more and more disconnected from reality. He gives a frightening impression that he has never heard any voice from any quarter that gave him pause, much less led him to rethink a position.

it's NOT an impression... i think it's a fact...

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Students attempt citizens arrest of Rove

NOW,things are getting interesting...

Heckling protesters briefly delayed the car carrying top White House aide Karl Rove last night as he left the American University campus, where he had just given a speech. No arrests or injuries were reported after Rove's invitation-only talk.

About 20 students lay in front of the car as it prepared to leave, a witness said.

Josh Goodman, an AU junior, said other students kicked the car "and tried to stop it as best as they could."

[...]

Goodman said students went to the Ward Circle building where Rove spoke to make a "citizen's arrest" of the presidential adviser. He said the students claimed they had compiled evidence indicating that Rove had violated what they say is a presidential records act stipulating that all presidential e-mail be recorded on White House servers.

what i find most interesting about this is what they were wanting to make a citizens arrest FOR...

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The WaPo continues to frame the Iraq debate as "politics"

of course...

Both sides, of course, are engaged in what Bush yesterday called a "political dance..."

the only one playing politics here is george w. bush... and he's, oh, so-o-o-o-o serious about "supporting our troops..."

With Congress already out of town for spring vacation, the president's news conference was an attempt to have the last word in Washington before flying to California and then to his ranch in Crawford, Tex., for a long weekend. He ridiculed lawmakers for leaving without finishing their war-spending legislation, but he opted not to use his power to call them back or to give up his own break.

so-o-o-o-o serious...

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Prosecutorgate is not about Alberto Gonzales. It's about impeachment.

larry beinhart is thinking along the same lines i am... this is the endgame... for myself, i'm hoping that, when the floodgates open and the truth comes pouring out, it will be of such shocking magnitude that there will be no option but for bush and his minions to resign... barring that, what will be revealed will make impeachment and removal a foregone conclusion that will happen in short order...

In short order, we've already learned that:

* The reasons given for the firings were false.

* Gonzales lied (including under oath).

* The culture of present Justice Department makes no distinction between partisan politics and public policy, indeed they believe they should be one and the same.

* That people at the Justice Department were conscious they were not using the law as intended.

* The administration was pushing the Justice Department to help disenfranchise minority voters (under the doublespeak name 'voter fraud). Disenfranchising minority voters got Bush close enough in 2000 for the Supreme Court to toss him the election, it won him Ohio in 2004. Making sure black people (likely Democratic voters) don't vote is among the Republican Party's most vital programs. The opposite, getting more people to vote, from any walk of life, is presumably in the national interest.

* There is a pattern that the fired prosecutors were investigating important Republican office holders.

* The next person along the food chain wants to take the Fifth rather than testify.

* Two of Bush's closest advisors, Karl Rove and Harriet Miers, were involved.

* Out of another investigation, we have learned that when members of the administration wanted to do something that they knew was illegal or unethical, they used other computers for their e-mails.

The trail of testimony has already gone into the White House. It is a fantasy to think this took place without Bush's knowledge, involvement, and approval. The trail of breadcrumbs goes right down the hall and into the Oval Office. Prosecutorgate is not about Alberto Gonzales. It's about impeachment.

i just wish it was all happening faster... we've endured this criminal administration for over six years and the damage to our country has already been incalculable... i simply don't know how we can absorb the additional destruction of having them around until 20 january 2009...

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Why in the name of all that's good and right is the Secretary of State appearing with Bill O'Reilly?

this is wrong on so many levels...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a memorable visit to The O'Reilly Radio Factor today, heatedly debating with the show's host about Iraq.

not only is she appearing with one of the more hate-filled, lying, over-the-top, wingnut spokespeople in the country, what's worse is that they are both pretending to have a real discussion over iraq and iran... what the hell kind of senior officials do we have in our government...? this is absolutely appalling...

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Blackwater

everything about blackwater gives me the creeps...

Potrero, California boasts a broad swath of meadowland that currently houses derelict chicken coops.

Surrounded by the Cleveland National Forest, the property boasts a former chicken ranch and includes an environmentally sensitive, protected agricultural preserve southeast of San Diego.

But if private security contractor Blackwater USA gets its way, this 850-strong community will soon host an 824-acre military training base, replacing the erstwhile chicken ranch with fifteen firing ranges and an emergency vehicle operator’s course the length of ten football fields.

from blackwater's website...

Blackwater USA is the most comprehensive professional military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping, and stability operations company in the world.

Blackwater USA comprises nine separate business units to offer the most comprehensive professional security, peacekeeping, and stability operations company in the world.

VISION

To support security, peace, freedom, and democracy everywhere.

MISSION

To support national and international security policies that protect those who are defenseless and provide a free voice for all with a dedication to providing ethical, efficient, and effective turnkey solutions that positively impact the lives of those still caught in desperate times.

Blackwater is committed to the foot soldiers -- the men and women who stand on the frontlines of the global war on terror and who believe in a peaceful future for their communities and nations. Whether serving in or out of uniform, Blackwater is committed to providing these men and women with the very best in training and tactical support to ensure they are fully prepared to meet current and future global security challenges.

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Tim Griffin ain't what he's cracked up to be

nobody in the bush administration needs a single goddam qualification other than fanatical loyalty to bush and his compadres and an unswerving commitment to an authoritarian and criminal ideology...

Little Rock’s interim U.S. Attorney J. Timothy Griffin – already at the center of a firestorm over whether the White House has put politics ahead of prosecutorial integrity – made claims about his experience as an Army lawyer that have been put in doubt by military records.

The 38-year-old Griffin claims on his official Web site that he prosecuted 40 criminal cases while at Ft. Campbell, where he was stationed from September 2005 to May 2006. But Army authorities say Ft. Campbell’s records show Griffin only serving as assistant trial counsel on three cases, none of which went to trial.

and i bet griffin's is far from the only inflated resume floating around out there...

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Question by question, Monica... Question by question...

sometimes, monica, life is really a bitch... was that covered at regent school of law...?

[T]he Fifth Amendment privilege, under long-standing Supreme Court precedents, does not provide a reason to fail to appear to testify; the privilege must be invoked by the witness on a question-by-question basis.

feel them walls a'closin' in, do ya, huh...?

(thanks to atrios...)

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Watching Bush

it is REALLY painful to watch this guy... not only is he a terrible president and not only is he someone i personally do not care for at all, it is also very hard to hear him speak... he borders on inarticulate...

[UPDATE]

all of the emotion and feeling expressed by congress is just a political game...? what a massive discount...! what a jerk... cnn clearly points out that "isn't what congress appears to be doing..." damn right...

on pelosi's trip to syria, cnn says bush is sending "mixed signals..." again, damn right...

on iran, he's continuing to stoke the fire... "there's no quid pro quo..." did i mention that i think he's a jerk...?

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devilstower explains to the media how to regain trust

three simple rules...

• Write the Book in Your Own Time

• Your Inside Source is Not Worth Your Soul

• Don't Eat Where You Shit

variations of these rules can be applied to worklife in general...

• When You're Paid to Do a Job, Do It

• You're in Business to Serve the Customer

• Your Profession is More Important Than Your Employer

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Who's running the Gitmo courts...? Why Darth, of course...!

oh, darth... you smooth operator, you...

Australian Prime Minister John Howard ... lobbied Cheney during [Cheney's] February visit for the [David Hicks] trial to “be brought on as soon as humanly possible and with no further delay.” The plea bargain itself was brokered by Susan Crawford, the top military commission official and a former Department of Defense inspector general under then-Secretary of Defense Cheney, without the knowledge or input of the lawyers prosecuting Hicks. The lead prosecutor expressed shock over the light sentence.

Given the nature of the deal, suspicions are being raised that the plea agreement may have been an orchestrated gesture by Cheney to benefit Howard in his re-election fight.

read what andrew sullivan has to say...

If you think this was in any way a legitimate court process, you’re smoking something even George Michael would pay a lot of money for. It was a political deal, revealing the circus that the alleged Gitmo court system really is.

oh, gosh and golly... why are we NOT surprised... and particularly NOT surprised at the fact that it was brokered "without the knowledge or input of the lawyers prosecuting Hicks..." how in character for darth... i'm disgusted, a chronic condition for me these days...

(thanks to think progress...)

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The invasion of the "smiley fascists," or how our government was stolen out from under us

a fascinating post by kstreetprojector over at daily kos, a guy who rubs shoulders with most of the d.c. power structure on a daily basis, where they will be most unguarded - the lunch deli...

Does Mr. Sampson have the skills, knowledge and credibility to understand and evaluate the work of our nations most important prosecutors? No, he does not. But is a fanatic. He is loyal. He does as he is told. In private he is a meticulous, score keeping enforcer of Rove's political machine. Under the Klieg Lights he appears as a lost puppy who couldn't possibly have eaten all the steaks on the BBQ plate.

Does Ms. Goodling have the common good, the constitution and our nations interests at heart? No, she does not. But she is a fanatic. She is loyal. She does as she is told. And while she has spent 7 years vetting every entrant to the DoJ for "Loyalty to the End Times Christian Agendas," she suddenly has $600 dollar and Akin Gump attorneys exercising her 5th amendment rights. I can not imagine how she would react if anyone tried to use the same privilege if she were the inquisitor.

[...]

Clinton's Appointees: Smart. Intellectually Curious. Fair. Strong understanding of their jobs (or willing to admit what they didn't know). Aware they have a role as public servants. Aware they are servants of the people. (Oddly) mostly non-partisan. Willing to drink in public.

Bush's Appointees: Smart. Loyal. Mostly Born-Again or LDS. Most with little or no experience in their jobs, but a fanatic certainty they are their to enforce "the right" decisions which will be delivered by superiors in good time. Ruthlessly-Totally-Unforgiving Partisans, in many cases they will openly express they are certain they have a god-directed duty to 'save' our nation. When you ask them from what, they use several words in an almost interchangeable way: The Terrorists, The Liberals, Social Decay, Moral Decay or The Democrats.

I have come to think of them as the Smiley Fascists. They are young, happy, loyal, ruthless, forcefully Christian, and always smiling. It can be disturbing.

no shit...

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Rosie and 9/11

i've stayed away from this one, but i think the attacks on rosie o'donnell are crossing the line to a prohibition of free speech... i think she's entirely justified in raising questions... while it's certainly a volatile subject, why shouldn't she...? just because the media treats the subject like it's a dead skunk under the porch, it's not... there are lots of folks, including me, who simply do not feel like we have had all the facts presented to us... there's been entirely too much stonewalling... and rosie makes her case very well...

9/11 affected me deeply, as I know it did many Americans. The falling of the twin towers served to remind me that many of the assumptions Americans have about their lives are rooted in false feelings of security. In light of this reminder, I have begun doing exactly what this country, at its best, allows for me to do: inquire. Investigate. America is great in so many ways, one of which is the freedom to speak, and indeed think, freely. I have, of late, begun exercising the rights bestowed upon me by the democratic system I value, and the exercising of these rights has taken the form of an inquiry into what happened five years ago, an inquiry that resists the dominant explanations and that dares to entertain ideas that push me to the edge of what is bearable. I have come to no conclusions and, given the scope of the subject, will not for some time.

If the very act of asking is so destabilizing for people, than I have to wonder whether the fabric of our democracy is indeed so raveled it is beyond salvage. My own belief is that the act of asking is itself reparative, because it brings to life the values on which our constitution rests. I am, therefore, pledging my allegiance, hand over heart, trying, as always, for a rigorous truth.

she's right...

(thanks to raw story...)

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Sound the dirge for the surge (and McCain too, while you're at it)

can mccain's credibility drop into negative numbers...?

from juan cole...

For all those journalists and politicians who keep insisting that there are new "glimmers" of "hope" in Iraq because of the new security plan started 6 weeks ago, here is a sobering statistic from the Iraqi government. (I'm looking at you, John McCain. See below for more on McCain).

Iraqis killed in February: 1806 (64.5/day)
Iraqis killed in March: 2078 (67/day)

That is a 15% increase! (Readers have pointed out that it is 15% if calculated by month, 4% if by day).

(Of course, the real numbers are much higher than these government statistics suggest, since passive information gathering on casualties only catches a fraction).

While 44 Iraqi soldiers died in action, the total for US troops in March was 85. AFP is suspicious about the disparity given that US and Iraqi authorities have said that Iraqi troops are leading the security crackdown. If that were true, they should have more casualties than the Americans.

oh, but professor cole isn't finished... he's pretty hot under the collar about mccain's intentional deception...

Look, I lived in the midst of a civil war in the late 1970s in Beirut. I know exactly what it looks and smells like. The inexperienced often assume that when a guerrilla war or a civil war is going on, life grinds to a standstill. Not so. People go shopping for food. They drive where they need to go as long as they don't hear that there is a firefight in that area. They go to work if they still have work. Life goes on. It is just that, unexpectedly, a mortar shell might land near you. Or the person ahead of you in line outside the bakery might fall dead, victim of a sniper's bullet. The bazaars are bustling some days (all the moreso because it is good to stock up on supplies the days when the violence isn't so bad). So nothing that John McCain saw in Baghdad on Sunday meant a damn thing. Not a goddamn thing.

It makes my blood boil.

Because McCain, you see, knows exactly what I know about guerrilla wars and civil wars. And if he is saying what he is saying, it is because he is lying through his teeth and attempting to deceive the American public.

why is a liar like john mccain continuing to get any coverage...?

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Support Feingold-Reid, sign the petition

(click here for link)

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Big Tent Democrat is a bit more sanguine today

if he's happy, i'm happy...

I am extremely gratified that Senate Majority Leader Reid understands this and instead has announced a robust plan for response to a Presidential veto.

note to btd: if i hear or read the word "robust" ever again in my life, it will be too soon...

seriously, some good potential progress here...

U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced today that they are introducing legislation that will effectively end the current military mission in Iraq and begin the redeployment of U.S. forces. . . . The bill ends funding for the war, with three narrow exceptions, effective March 31, 2008.

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McCain is toast

nah... these kinds of things never happen... not in MY country...

“It looked as though the whole trip had been arranged by someone to get rid of the negative publicity about [McCain’s] remarks in the States earlier in the week. It seemed as though he’d come to Baghdad, made a point of going to a market, staging this kind of visit to the market, and it just seemed to backfire.”

and, guess what happened not long after mccain's press conference...?

Less then 30 minutes after McCain wrapped up, a barrage of half a dozen mortars peppered the boundaries of the Green Zone, where the senators held their press conference.

mccain is toast...

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Why should we believe Olmert on Iran any more than we do Bush?

deny, deny... spin, spin... it never stops, does it...?

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert dismissed as baseless Sunday suggestions that Israel was working with the United States in drawing up contingency plans for conflict with Iran.

"Declarations that there is an American plan to strike Iran that is being coordinated with Israel which would at the same time attack Syria and Lebanon is not familiar to me, and is a baseless rumour," Olmert told a Jerusalem news conference.

"I hope no one takes action based on baseless rumours," he said.

and the u.s. government and its captive media, after ratcheting up the invective against iran in connection with the uk-iran crisis, continues to engage in its usual double standard...

One of the least endearing features of Washington’s political/media hierarchy is its propensity for selective outrage, like what is now coming from George W. Bush about the “inexcusable behavior” of the Iranian government in holding 15 British sailors whom Bush has labeled “hostages.”

This is the same President Bush who often mocks the very idea that international law should apply to him; he’s fond of the punch line: “International law? I better call my lawyer.” But Bush becomes a pious defender of international law when it suits his geopolitical interests.

The major U.S. news media predictably follows along, getting into an arms-crossed harrumph over foreigners trampling on the inviolate principles of international law, the same rules that should never constrain U.S. actions.

why should WE follow the rules...? we're big enough and powerful enough to do as we damn well please...

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All of a sudden, Bush is the veto king

them damn democrats... bound and determined to call a halt to an out-of-control presidency... the nerve...!

Though [Bush] has vetoed only one piece of legislation since taking office, he has vowed to veto 16 bills that have passed either the House or the Senate in the three months since Democrats took control of Congress.

Despite the threats, Democratic lawmakers expect to open new fronts against the president when they return from their spring recess, including politically risky efforts to quickly close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; reinstate legal rights for terrorism suspects; and rein in what Democrats see as unwarranted encroachments on privacy and civil liberties allowed by the USA Patriot Act.

overall, imho, a MUCH better list than the first 100 hours...

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Punish the innocent, ignore the guilty, praise and honors for the perpetrators

it's the american way...

Under rules adopted by Congress in 1996, a judge cannot allow illegal immigrants to remain in the United States merely because they have a child who is a U.S. citizen. Instead, parents must prove that if they were deported the child would suffer "exceptional and extremely unusual hardship" -- a standard often interpreted to apply to serious medical cases only.

which leads to this shameful and completely unnecessary situation...

Although [Jessica Guncay's] father, Jury Guncay, 45, remains in custody, [her mother, Ana] Tapia, 40, was released several hours after the raid so Jessica would not be left without anyone to care for her. But the black monitoring bracelet around Tapia's ankle testified to the limited nature of that reprieve: She must remain under partial house arrest until her case comes up in immigration court.

Her chances of winning a stay of deportation appear slim.

ah, the united states of america, where, after years and years of turning a blind eye to cheap labor crossing the border to be exploited by united states business interests, surprise, surprise...! now that we've let them in, who gets punished...? why, THEY do, of course... and what happens to those business interests...? they lose some cheap labor and then go hire some more... (or, in the case of circuit city, they FIRE their workers so they REPLACE them with cheap labor...) punishment...? not so much... and the policy-makers and enforcers who are taking parents away from their children...? why, they're REWARDED for doing their jobs...

The inscription on the Statue of Liberty reads...

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

what's happened to my country...?

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Dowd is second only to Rove ... pouring a poison into our democratic process

james moore isn't impressed in the least by dowd's defection...

Dowd's attempt to portray himself as a victim of a betrayal is nonsense. He knew as well as anyone who Karl Rove and George Bush were and what was driving their vision and bipartisan cooperation was not a part of the tapestry of the tragic they were about to weave. Bush had things to prove to his father. Rove wanted political power. McKinnon wanted money and fame. And Dowd was central to all of their goals. Dowd was Rove's chief lieutenant, in fact his only one, who helped Bush's Brain exploit polarization of the country for political gain. Dowd's insight was crucial in red flagging the shrinking group of independent voters and he helped create and then sharpen the wedges that Rove used to divide both the electorate and the country. Dowd is second only to Rove as a master technician pouring a poison into our democratic process.

after posting earlier today on pachacutec's comments (also on huffpo), i'm in total agreement... if dowd REALLY wants to make amends, he ought to volunteer to lead the charge to get those goddam criminals the hell OUT of the white house before they can do any more damage than they've already done...

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HA...! The White House is begging Congress for a change

well, well, well... whaddaya know...

The White House scrambled Sunday to move up Attorney Alberto Gonzales' planned testimony to Congress on April 17 about his involvement in firing eight federal prosecutors, only to get a cold shoulder from majority Democrats.

now, why do you suppose...?

Until recently, department officials said they wanted to give Congress enough time to go through the more than 3,000 pages of e-mails, memos, calendar pages and other documents detailing the decision to fire the prosecutors.

That changed Friday - the day after Gonzales' former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, testified to the committee - when aides said they would try to get Gonzales to Capitol Hill as soon as possible to explain his side.

[...]

It was Gonzales who chose April 17, said [Senator Patrick] Leahy, D-Vt., and that date will not change now because ``everybody has set their schedule according to that.''

``It's the date that the attorney general originally picked. It's the date the hearing will take place,'' Leahy said.

ahhhhhh... they weren't expecting good ol' kyle, a loyal bushie, to lay gonzo out to dry, and certainly not for almost three weeks...!

and "drying" he is...

Asked directly if he has confidence in Gonzales, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said: ``I can honestly say the president does.''

but as for ME... well, i'd rather not say...

MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...!

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Spanish is the language of the ghetto

from the man who is thinking of declaring as a presidential candidate...

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich yesterday described bilingual education as teaching "the language of living in a ghetto," and he mocked requirements that ballots be printed in multiple languages.

[...]

"The American people believe English should be the official language of the government. . . . We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto," [he said.]

so, english is the language of prosperity and spanish is the language of the ghetto, eh, newt...? if you run and, god forbid, get the nod for the nomination, i suggest tom tancredo for your running mate... he hasn't traveled much either...

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Stay the hell out of it, George, you're just making it worse

which, of course, is probably the whole idea...

President Bush on Saturday condemned Iran's seizure of 15 British sailors and marines as "inexcusable behavior" and demanded that the "hostages" be released, weighing in for the first time as the situation escalates into a sustained confrontation with Tehran.

i mean we all know just how orgasmic you get over the prospect of war, especially if it's with a member of the axis of evil...

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A word to Matthew Dowd and other defectors

pachacutec, posting at huffpo, makes a terrific point that had simply not occurred to me...

The people you joined up with have had the very agenda you abetted since at least the days of Nixon, and unless we rid our public life of them, they'll be back again. You were an insider. Start talking about what you know. Grab your knife and start the stabbing. That's how you can restore some balance, wanker.

makes perfect sense to me... it's imperative that we rid our country of these destructive criminals and who better to help lead the charge...?

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Politicizing the Justice Department - just another box to be checked on the Bush/Rove agenda

again, why in the world would we be surprised by this...? after 6-plus years of watching bushco in action, i would be much more surprised if this WASN'T happening...

About one-third of the nearly four dozen U.S. attorney's jobs that have changed hands since President Bush began his second term have been filled by the White House and the Justice Department with trusted administration insiders.

The people chosen as chief federal prosecutors on a temporary or permanent basis since early 2005 include 10 senior aides to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, according to an analysis of government records. Several came from the White House or other government agencies. Some lacked experience as prosecutors or had no connection to the districts in which they were sent to work, the records and biographical information show.

what better use of karl could there possibly be...?

Mr. Rove seems focused on one overarching goal: creating a permanent Republican majority, even if that means politicizing every aspect of the White House and subverting the governmental functions of the executive branch. This is not the Clinton administration’s permanent campaign. The Clinton people had difficulty distinguishing between the spin cycle of a campaign and the tone of governing. That seems quaint compared with the Bush administration’s far more menacing failure to distinguish the Republican Party from the government, or the state itself.

This was, perhaps, the inevitable result of taking the chief operative of a presidential campaign, one famous for his scorched-earth style, and ensconcing him in the White House — not in a political role, but as a key player in the formation of policy. Mr. Rove never had to submit to Senate confirmation hearings. Yet, from the very start, photographs of cabinet meetings showed him in the background, keeping an enforcer’s eye on the proceedings.

and, just to make sure it all happened per plan...

After his re-election in 2004, President Bush formally put Mr. Rove in charge of all domestic policy.

In that position, as David Kirkpatrick and Jim Rutenberg reported in The Times, Mr. Rove took a lead role in selecting federal judges and the hiring — and firing — of United States attorneys.

i can only plaintively echo the nyt...

The investigation of the firings of the United States attorneys seems to be closing in on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who should have been fired weeks ago. But Congress should bring equal scrutiny to the more powerful Mr. Rove. If it does, especially by forcing him to testify in public, it will find that he has been at the vortex of many of the biggest issues they are now investigating.

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They want to take the internet away

from daily kos via raw story...

Slashdot and Cryptome report that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is demanding the master key for the DNS root zone - a demand that has other nations alarmed. With the master key, DHS would have control over the Internet, as Slashdot describes, quoting an "anonymous reader."

[...]

When other nations are worried, Americans, too, should be concerned. The Bush administration has demonstrated that it is unable to wield power responsibly. Therefore, its demand for Internet control should be viewed as an opportunity to abuse its authority to control a medium that has played a critical role in holding it accountable.

as i posted back in november 2005, this is undoubtedly part of the reason the u.s. was so adamant at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis about leaving ICANN in u.s. hands...

[T]he Internet status quo has been maintained, allowing the US-based ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), a non-profit private entity working under an agreement with the US government, to remain as the main governing body of the global computer network.

i have very little doubt that our government, for quite some time, has had the ability to enter virtually any computer anywhere in the world that is connected to the internet... this will only make that easier - and much harder to detect...

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