Another Scientist Bites The Bush Dust

Once again, science is ignored by this Bush administration.

FDA women's health head resigns after Plan B decision - RHTP (BRL) By Carolyn Pritchard SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The Food and Drug Administration's assistant commissioner for women's health and director of the agency's office of women's health, Susan Wood, has resigned in the wake of the FDA's decision last Friday to again delay a decision on whether to allow over-the-counter sales of the contraceptive drug Plan B. The morning-after pill is made by Barr Laboratories Inc. A letter from Wood was released Wednesday by Reproductive Health Technologies Project, a contraceptive advocacy group, in which Wood called the decision contrary to her core commitment to improving and advancing women's health. "I have spent the last 15 years working to ensure that science informs good health policy decisions," Wood states in the letter. "I can no longer serve as staff when scientific and clinical evidence, fully evaluated and recommended for approval by the professional staff here, has been overruled." A call to the FDA seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Pardon Me?

If this isn't the height of hubris, I don't know what is.

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Gov. Ernie Fletcher on Monday granted blanket pardons to current and former members of his administration who have been charged in an investigation into alleged improper hiring.

The move came on the eve of Fletcher's appearance before a grand jury investigating his administration's hiring practices.

"I cannot allow state government to continue to be consumed by this game of political 'gotcha,' paralyzing our ability to serve you, the people of Kentucky," Fletcher said at the Capitol Rotunda.

Assholes.

Friday Random Ten

My Friday Random Ten

3185. Rolling Stones - Ruby Tuesday
There's no time to lose, I heard her say, cast your dreams before they slip away.
2545. Meco - Stark Trek Theme
Using the time to refill the drink, dancing up to the bar.
1764. James Brown - Get Up Off Of That Thing
1826. Jane Oliver - Stay The Night
2692. Montrose - One Thing On My Mind
(I swear, these ARE random!)
721. Carole King - Tapestry
554. Billy Idol - Hot In The City
124. Hubert Laws - Morning Star
2834. No Doubt - Excuse Me Mr.
2196. Kylie Minogue - On A Night Like This

Bonus Track:
4319. Harry Nillson - Put The Lime In The Coconut

Cross-posted at Feministe.

The Dark Mood Of An Increasingly Angry Leader

Remember the picture of the VFW guy with the "Bullshit Protector" over his ear? Well, it seems there were many others wearing the same ear gear that day. And, now we have The Bubble Boy's response:

He reportedly was so upset over Veterans of Foreign Wars members who wore “bullshit protectors” over their ears during his speech to their annual convention that he told aides to “tell those VFW assholes that I’ll never speak to them again is they can’t keep their members under control.”

It appears the WH aides are tripping because the preznut is wigging out more and more these days. Examples:

“I’m not meeting again with that goddamned bitch,” Bush screamed at aides who suggested he meet again with Cindy Sheehan, the war-protesting mother whose son died in Iraq. “She can go to hell as far as I’m concerned!”

“Who gives a flying fuck what the polls say,” he screamed at a recent strategy meeting. “I’m the President and I’ll do whatever I goddamned please. They don’t know shit.”

Read the full article over at Capitol Hill Blue.

The Map

U.S. fatalities in Iraq, as of August 1, 2005. Thanks to Daily Kos for the heads up.

68 Troops Have Died In Iraq Since Bush Vacation Began

68 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since President Bush went on the longest presidential vacation in 36 years on August 2nd.

...

President Bush believes it’s time to “get on with his life,” but U.S. soldiers continue to make the ultimate sacrifice on a daily basis.

"Coming Back To Crawford"

I'm coming back to Crawford for my son. As long as the president, who sent him to die in a senseless war, is in Crawford, that is where I belong. I came here two and a half weeks ago for one reason, to try and see the president and get an answer to a very simple question: What is the noble cause that he says my son died for?

I'm waiting, Mr. Bush. What is the fucking noble cause underlying the invasion of Iraq, and its continued occupation today?

A Hearty Guffaw

Ok, so I stole this from Hoffmania! But it is funny, damn it!

A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the highway. Nothing is moving.

Suddenly a man knocks on the window. The driver rolls down his window and asks, "What happened?"

"Terrorists kidnapped President Bush and are asking for a $10 million ransom. Otherwise they are going to douse him with gasoline and set him on fire. We are going from car to car to take up a collection."

The driver asks, "How much have you collected so far?"

"About 25 gallons."

Thre Is No Censorship In MSM (cough)

Sirota hits it right out of the park.

This is really incredible. A CBS television affiliate in Boise, Idaho is refusing to air an ad by critics of the Iraq War because, unlike the American public, it says "there is no proof" that President Bush lied about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction. No proof? I mean, really? No proof?

How about the CIA's October 2004 report, which CNN noted said:

"Saddam Hussein did not possess stockpiles of illicit weapons at the time of the U.S. invasion in March 2003 and had not begun any program to produce them...Iraq's WMD program was essentially destroyed in 1991 and Saddam ended Iraq's nuclear program after the 1991 Gulf War."

How about President Bush's own top weapons inspector, David Kay, in 2004? Again, the excerpt from CNN:

"David Kay said Sunday that his group found no evidence Iraq had stockpiled unconventional weapons before the U.S.-led invasion in March...'My summary view, based on what I've seen, is we're very unlikely to find large stockpiles of weapons, he said on National Public Radio's 'Weekend Edition.' 'I don't think they exist.'"

I could go on here, but instead, if you want more, just go read this piece I wrote in 2004, when this issue was settled.

Seriously, folks - are we actually still having this argument? Or is this really once again another transparent effort to simply silence criticism of the war?

Scientists Need Not Apply (At The White House)

We've seen it over, and over, and over again. Disagree with the Bushies, and you get fired. Especially if you are a scientist.

They did it again, only this time, the guy got demoted, not fired. After 23 years of service in his field, too. Just because he wouldn't cook the figures to make it look better for the "team."

The Bush administration is replacing the director of a small but critical branch of the Justice Department, months after he complained that senior political officials at the department were seeking to play down newly compiled data on the aggressive police treatment of black and Hispanic drivers.

The demotion of the official, Lawrence A. Greenfeld, whom President Bush named in 2001 to lead the Bureau of Justice Statistics, caps more than three years of simmering tensions over charges of political interference at the agency. And it has stirred anger and tumult among many Justice Department statisticians, who say their independence in analyzing important law enforcement data has been compromised.

...

The flashpoint in the tensions between Mr. Greenfeld and his political supervisors came four months ago, when statisticians at the agency were preparing to announce the results of a major study on traffic stops and racial profiling, which found disparities in how racial groups were treated once they were stopped by the police.

Political supervisors within the Office of Justice Programs ordered Mr. Greenfeld to delete certain references to the disparities from a news release that was drafted to announce the findings, according to more than a half-dozen Justice Department officials with knowledge of the situation. The officials, most of whom said they were supporters of Mr. Greenfeld, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss personnel matters.

Mr. Greenfeld refused to delete the racial references, arguing to his supervisors that the omissions would make the public announcement incomplete and misleading. Instead, the Justice Department opted not to issue a news release on the findings and posted the report online.

Read more here.

Sermon Re-Write

In my years of church-going, I have never encountered Jesus' Sermon on Cost-Efficient Elimination of One's Enemies. But perhaps this is just one more thing that the liberal Protestant hierarchy has been keeping from me.

(Giggle).

And What Planet Are YOU On?

I think this is funny, not a ha ha makes me laugh, funny, but in a sad, demented way it is funny.

This is how the stupid part of the brain works.

USA Today Story:

So far this year, the Army, the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve have fallen significantly behind their recruiting goals. The Army and Army Guard are likely to miss their goals in 2005 by several thousand new soldiers, a development that could leave some units short of troops. The Army's top recruiter,Maj. Gen. Michael Rochelle, has said that 2006 could be even worse.

ButtsForBush Story:

You can look at the raw numbers in this Department of Defense press release. In July, the Army met 109% of its recruitment goals...this in a time when, supposedly, support for the war was collapsing. As I've said time and again, look not to what people say, but to what they do...the fact that even in this political climate people are joining the military in high numbers is a much better indication of attitudes about the war than a few rag-tag hippies standing in a Crawford ditch. It is also good to keep in mind that for the Army we aren't just trying to maintain numbers, but increase total numbers by 30,000 active-duty personnel.

Problem:

Butts for Bush cites figures for re-enlistment, which are higher. Overall recruitment is down, due in large part to the unavailability of new recruits. That's right. Fresh blood. No new meat for the wolves, just serving leftovers.

I tell you, if these guys didn't have a user manual for their brains ... oh, wait they don't! That explains it!

From NRO:

According to a Pentagon spokesman, Peters apparently got the overall Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard re-enlistment numbers instead of the first-time enlistment numbers.

Back to USA Today Story:

Some fear a decline in the quality of the force. Retired major general Bob Scales, former commandant of the Army War College, says without a reduction in U.S. ground forces in Iraq, soldiers are facing "third and fourth" tours of duty in Iraq. "You'll see the quality of the Army atrophy," Scales said.

Scales said it would become more difficult to recruit talented people, and young officers and midcareer enlisted soldiers, not easy to replace, could choose to leave.

"Definitively his stupidity is so great ..."

The "proof" that Rumsfeld said exists on Cuba and Venezuela influencing the situation in Bolivia is as nebulous as the "intelligence" relating to the existence of arms of mass destruction in Iraq.

Ok, I spilled my drink reading that one!

Think About It

I couldn't have said it better myself.

George W. Bush: The Laziest President in American History. Think about that the next time you're bone-tired and wishing for even a couple days off, knowing you can't take them because you can't afford to because, thanks to the efforts of Shrub, Cheney and the other robber barons in their Party, gas prices are outrageous, you can't afford decent health insurance and the company you work for just dissolved your pension after receiving an orgy of tax breaks from their water carriers in Congress. Think about that the next time you see a credit card commercial with some impossibly tanned middle-aged white CEO on some golf course in Hawaii, enjoying that $175 million dollar golden parachute he got for laying off 900,000 workers and moving the company address offshore to evade having to pay any taxes like the commoners. I bet he's having a real good vacation. In fact, I bet he feels a lot like Shrub; that running the country headlong into a financial and environmental ditch is just hard work, and sometimes, well, war be damned, you just have to get away from it all.

You Said How Much A Gallon?

FORT PAYNE - A gas theft Friday left a Fort Payne service station owner dead and police looking for the driver who ran over the man to escape paying for $52 in gas.

Police Chief David Walker said in a news release that Husain Caddi, 54, of Fort Payne died from his injuries a short time after being taken to Baptist Medical Center-DeKalb in Fort Payne. An autopsy will be conducted, he said.

I suspect we will see more and more of this, due to the high cost of gasoline. You drive those gas guzzlers, and at something like $50 bucks a week just to fill it and get to and from work ... that's enough to start turning ordinary citizens into crooks.

Where's The Beef?

I just love reading about the progress being made in Montana under the stewardship of Gov. Brian Schweitzer. This time he's pissed off the USDA over his handling of the beef that enters his state. Read this piece by David Sirota:

Reuters reports today that Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D)has riled up the hacks at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) when, after revelations of Mad Cow disease, he announced plans to test Canadian cattle entering his state and charge meat processing companies for the extra inspection. Schweitzer said he wasn't surprised by the USDA's willingness to fight for the meat industry and against his pro-consumer efforts. "A few years ago, the four big meat companies, they expanded their role in this country," he said. "They bought a U.S. company called the United States Department of Agriculture." Schweitzer said the USDA officials "are a bunch of stooges" and noted that "The USDA crawled right into bed with them (the meat companies) and they run our internal policy and our international (beef) policy." He's exactly right.

As Knight-Ridder reported on 5/18/03, President Bush has made sure USDA "is staffed with former executives of the meat industry, now in charge of regulating their former employers." USDA "Chief of staff Dale Moore, senior adviser Elizabeth Johnson, and Chuck Lambert, deputy undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, all came from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. Deputy Undersecretary James Butler joined USDA after serving as partner in Butler & Son Charolais Ranch, a Texas cattle company, while Deputy Secretary James Moseley was managing partner of Infinity Pork L.L.C., an Indiana hog farm. Donna Reifschneider, the agency's administrator of inspection is the former president of the National Pork Producers Council."

The Sheehan Rally Call: Get Used To It, George, We Are Not Going Away

Reposted from DailyKos:

Hypocrites and Liars
by Cindy Sheehan

I am being vilified and dragged through the mud by the righties and so-called "fair and balanced" main stream media who are afraid of the truth and can't face someone who tells it by telling any truth of their own. Now they have to twist, distort, lie, and scrutinize anything I have ever said when they never scrutinize anything that George Bush said or is saying. Instead of asking George or Scotty McClellan if he will meet with me, why aren't they asking the questions they should have been asking all along: "Why are our young people fighting, dying, and killing in Iraq?What is this noble cause you are sending our young people to Iraq for? What do you hope to accomplish there? Why did you tell us there were WMD's and ties to Al Qaeda when you knew there weren't? Why did you lie to us? Why did you lie to the American people? Why did you lie to the world? Why are our nation's children still in harm's way and dying everyday when we all know you lied? Why do you continually say we have to `complete the mission' when you know damn well you have no idea what that mission is and you can change it at will like you change your cowboy shirts?"

The Camp Casey movement will not die until we have a genuine accounting of the truth and until our troops are brought home. Get used to it George, we are not going away.

Exploit This

Another good one, from the pen of Nick Anderson (courtesy of Hoffmania!)

Discovery heads home at last

The shuttle Discovery is heading home to Florida's Kennedy Space Center from Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Friday Random Ten

Bonus Friday Guilty Pleasure Track: Boy Meets Girl - Waiting For A Star To Fall

OMG, I didn't know anyone else but me actually had that track!
Here's my FRT, circa 1980's

The Cars - Just What I Needed
Pat Benetar - Love Is A Battlefield
Billy Vera & The Beaters - Corner of the Night
Def Leppard - Animal
AC/DC - Back In Black
Honeydrippers - Sea Of Love
Billy Idol - Dancing With Myself
Warrant - Where The Down Boys Go
Bill Medley & Jennifer Warrens - I've Had The Time Of My Life
Huey Lewis & The News - She's Some Kind Of Wonderful

Bonus Track

Guns 'n Roses - Patience

Cross-posted at Feministe.

I feel hopeful, too

I read this over at Democratic Underground, and feel compelled to re-post it here.

I thought my protesting days were over. I thought by this age, I would have settled into the mundane activities of a county party official and there would be little, if any occasion to take to the streets like I did in my youth.

And boy did I ever.

I slept on the college presidents lawn for the right to print the word "fuck" in the campus newspaper.

I marched for civil rights.I stood in the campus square with a bullhorn to protest the Viet Nam war.

I though we had won when Nixon left the White House in disgrace. When Blacks and Hispanics could vote without literacy tests or poll taxes I didn't think there was anything left to fight for. When the last helicopter left the roof of the embassy in Saigon, it was time for me to "grow up" and start thinking about raising a family and supporting them with a good paying job and carving out my own piece of the great American Pie.

When I was standing with the other members of the vigil last night it dawned on me that standing for democracy isn't a once-in-a-lifetime thing. It's never ending. And I'm never too old, too tired, too cynical or too rich or poor to stand on a street corner and tell the world it needs to change.

When I looked at all the pictures on DU, my heart pounded with pride because, once again, I was a part of something much bigger than myself. And do you know what else I see in those pictures? I see kids standing side-by-side with their parents. I see the next generation of activists who will stand for our country.

I feel hopeful this morning.

Sealing the reason for the seal

First they hide the photographs and other evidence. Then they disobey a court order to release the photographs and other evidence, and file a motion to seal the file forever. Now they want to keep secret the reasons why they don't want the photographs or evidence to be released!

Gee, I wonder why (she says, tongue firmly planted in cheek).

Following the latest round of filings by the Department of Defense in conjunction with the State Department -which attempts to stipulate that all current and future photographs and tapes of detainee abuse be permanently sealed and, in addition, the reasons given for the motion be heavily redacted - the court ruled largely in favor of public disclosure.

The government's most recent motion was filed several weeks back when it missed its deadline for the release of all documents pursuant to the ACLU's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit, which has forced the release of over 60 thousand documents thus far in relation to detainee abuse and torture.

The question argued yesterday is not whether the photographs and tapes are to be made public, but whether the government's arguments against making the documents public are to be made public, filed as a declaration jointly by the DOD, represented by General Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the State Department, represented Ronald L. Schlicher - Deputy Asst. Secretary of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at an earlier hearing.

According to court transcripts, New York District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, who is presiding over the case, stated during the public portion of the hearing that:

"By and large I think it is fair to characterize that I ruled in favor of public disclosure, not because I was challenging the right and responsibility of the government to assert secrecy but because the arguments that were made were essential for the public understanding of whatever rulings I eventually make," said Hellerstein.

As part of its recent motion, the DOD argues that all evidence pertaining to detainee abuse and torture should be sealed permanently, never to be publicly released and that the reasons given for the motion should be largely redacted, released to the public only in parts .

...

In a statement released last week, ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero expressed his concerns over the unprecedented use of a particular clause in the FOIA law. "The government's recent actions make a mockery of the Freedom of Information Act," said Romero. "The Defense Department has long dragged its heels on coming clean about the systematic and widespread abuse of detainees, but denying the public the right to even hear its legal arguments for withholding information is a new low."
...

Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) issued a comment to Raw Story, saying that, "by attempting to keep the abuse cases secret [as well as] the legal arguments they offered, the Administration is breaking new ground in their effort to insulate themselves from public review."

Just WHEN Does Your Vote Count?

A very interesting story, courtesy of The Raw Story, concerning the Diebold voting machines.

Now, a nonpartisan citizens' group that conducted a parallel election has requested a recount of 11 precincts. This time, the issue isn't unmarked bubbles, but the accuracy of Diebold Accu-Vote optical scan voting machines and the Diebold GEMS central tabulator used to count votes.

The Citizens Audit Parallel Election (CAPE) asked voters exiting polls to vote again and sign a log book attesting to the accuracy of their second vote. Sealed parallel election ballots were counted at KGTV's studio with a TV camera crew filming the counting process.

Nearly 50 percent of all voters participated in the parallel election, which included five polling places representing 11 precincts. The sample included more conservative than liberal precincts, with participation as high among Republicans as among Democrats. The tandem election results showed what most feel to be startling results.

"There is a shift of four percent of the vote, consistently," Joe Prizzi, (engineer and physicist,) reported at a press conference held by CAPE in front of City Hall. Frye received 50.2 percent of the votes cast in the parallel election - enough for an outright victory if those results reflect the outcome citywide. CAPE also found that the official count added approximately 2 percent to each of Frye's two Republican opponents, Jerry Sanders and Steve Francis.

In addition, CAPE examined the only other ballot measure, a proposition over a war memorial cross on public land. The proposition's vote total also appeared to have been padded by 4 percent in the official election tally, which was certified Friday August 19 by San Diego County's newly appointed Registrar of Voters, Republican Mikel Haas.

Showdown At The GWB Corral

Drawing By Nick Anderson.

Removing Those Rose Colored Glasses

Note how different Kubba's discourse is from that of the Bush administration, which almost never talks about anything but "al-Qaeda" in Iraq. Here we have a high-level Iraqi spokesman, and all he sees in the insurgency are Baathists.

Some daily reading from Informed Comment.

The Independent reported that the Baghdad morgue received 1100 bodies in July, the highest number in the history of modern Iraq. My understanding is that the families often just quickly bury loved ones killed by bombings, and do not necessarily send them to the morgue (devout Muslims do not embalm, and most often prefer to bury on the day of death.). The paper also noted that this number of Iraqi dead in one month is 2/3s the number of all US troops killed since Bush launched the war.

The budget deficit is not $331 billion!!!

Interesting little tidbit here, to offset what is being reported as a new projected lower deficit for 2005.

Congressional forecasters said Monday the federal deficit this year, though still huge, won't be as bad as originally projected -- a welcome turn for President Bush who inherited healthy usrpluses four years ago and saw them disappear in a sea of red ink.

At the same time, the fiscal outlook remains troubled for years to come, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said.

The CBO predicted a $331 billion deficit for the budget year ending Sept. 30 and a $314 billion deficit for next year.

Last year's deficit was a record $412 billion. In February, the White House had predicted this year's shortfall would set a higher record of $427 billion.

The short-term improvement was attributed to an $84 billion surge in estimated tax receipts, including a 42 percent increase in revenues from corporate profits.

But, wait! There's this to consider.

Everybody is reporting that the "non-partisan" Congressional Budget Office is calling for a budget deficit of $331 billion for FY 2005. Everybody.

But that's not true. Get the report (PDF) and go to page 2. Here is what you will see:

Social Security surpluses (and some other minor inputs) are being used to lower the number from the true deficit, $507 billion, to the less scary $331 billion. That's misleading. The federal government is borrowing from the Social Security trust fund, just like it's borrowing from China and other places. And check out those top-line numbers for all years. With increasing Social Security surpluses, you can actually have larger real deficits, but subtract the surplus in order to present a shrinking deficit.

What the hell is going on here? Why is this charade allowed to go on? Who is going to blow the whistle on it? This blog? You've got to be kidding. Where are the heavy hitters, either in the media or in the blogosphere (and especially the liberal blogosphere).

KCNA Random Insult Generator

You politically illiterate militarist!

This is hysterical. KCNA Random Insult Generator.

Yes, Virginia, They Really Are That Desperate

I think this is pretty funny. It appears that the Bushies have used an Iraqi shill, a woman, to try to counter the growing Sheehan snowball. This woman "apparently" went to Crawford to tell Sheehan that she, as an Iraqi, can categorically state that Sheehan's son did die for a noble cause. The woman then was on the show Hardball to badmouth Sheehan!

Well ... as they say, the story gets more interesting. See, the woman is married to Greg Lamotte with Voice of America (VOA). Voice of America (VOA) is an international multimedia broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

From a DailyKos diary:

So, besides the dishonest attack of my friend with my tax dollars (no doubt the VOA hubby who accompanied her from DC was on the clock), why else do I have my panties in a knot over this? HERE'S WHY - THE VOICE OF AMERICA IS AN INTELLIGENCE OPERATION. IT IS SET UP TO BROADCAST AND "REPORT" PROPOGANDA. UNDER THE SMITH-MUNDT ACT OF 1948 IT IS ILLEGAL FOR VOA REPORTS AND BROADCAST INFO TO BE DISSEMINATED TO THE U.S. Why? Because the U.S. government isn't supposed to lie and spread propoganda to its own people.

Do you think it's a coincidence that the wife of a professional U.S. government propogandist shows up in BF Crawford to attack Cindy? Write MSNBC and Hardball and Matthews and I imagine the other networks and any other news referencing this woman and let's get the truth out there. This truly shows how desparate the Bush Administration has become.

WaPo Out, Who's Next?

As my dear friend, Rix, has informed me, WaPo has pulled out of its co-sponsorship of the Pentagon 9/11 march on freedom, or whatever the crap they call it.

... a bunch of google monkeys after a few martinis on a Saturday night ...

Wankers of the Day

The Washington Post, for posting without rebuttal the claim that DeLay severed contact with Abramoff in February of 2001, a claim which even a bunch of google monkeys after a few martinis on a Saturday night can clearly determine is bullshit.

Ha ha ha. That made me laugh out loud!

How Low Can Army Recruitment Get? This Low

The Army is no longer just an "Army of One," it's looking for a few good parents.

A new series of television ads aims to get parents to "Help them find their strength" and not stand in the way of their children signing up. One such commercial begins with a teenager telling his mother he's found a way to pay for his college education. When he reveals that the answer is the military, she becomes skeptical.

"Go on," she says cautiously.

"I already checked them out," he says, trying to dissolve her disapproving glare. "And I can get training in about any field I want.

"And besides, it's time for me to be the man."

Satisfied, she smiles. "OK, tell me more."

This is just too disgusting for me to digest this early in the morning.

Why Can't Bush?

Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis canceled a holiday on the Aegean island of Tinos to return to Athens to deal with the crash. Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos also canceled a vacation.

If these guys can cancel their vacations, why can't Bush? Better yet, what's stopping Bush from meeting with Cindy Sheehan, or from attending funerals for the men from Ohio that were recently killed in Iraq? Other national leaders openly deal with their "people," why can't Bush?

What do you mean we, white man?

LIKE the Japanese soldier marooned on an island for years after V-J Day, President Bush may be the last person in the country to learn that for Americans, if not Iraqis, the war in Iraq is over. "We will stay the course," he insistently tells us from his Texas ranch. What do you mean we, white man?

A president can't stay the course when his own citizens (let alone his own allies) won't stay with him. The approval rate for Mr. Bush's handling of Iraq plunged to 34 percent in last weekend's Newsweek poll - a match for the 32 percent that approved L.B.J.'s handling of Vietnam in early March 1968. (The two presidents' overall approval ratings have also converged: 41 percent for Johnson then, 42 percent for Bush now.) On March 31, 1968, as L.B.J.'s ratings plummeted further, he announced he wouldn't seek re-election, commencing our long extrication from that quagmire.

...

It was on these false premises - that Iraq was both a collaborator on 9/11 and about to inflict mushroom clouds on America - that honorable and brave young Americans were sent off to fight. Among them were the 19 marine reservists from a single suburban Cleveland battalion slaughtered in just three days at the start of this month. As they perished, another Ohio marine reservist who had served in Iraq came close to winning a Congressional election in southern Ohio. Paul Hackett, a Democrat who called the president a "chicken hawk," received 48 percent of the vote in exactly the kind of bedrock conservative Ohio district that decided the 2004 election for Mr. Bush.

These are the tea leaves that all Republicans, not just Chuck Hagel, are reading now. Newt Gingrich called the Hackett near-victory "a wake-up call." The resolutely pro-war New York Post editorial page begged Mr. Bush (to no avail) to "show some leadership" by showing up in Ohio to salute the fallen and their families. A Bush loyalist, Senator George Allen of Virginia, instructed the president to meet with Cindy Sheehan, the mother camping out in Crawford, as "a matter of courtesy and decency." Or, to translate his Washingtonese, as a matter of politics. Only someone as adrift from reality as Mr. Bush would need to be told that a vacationing president can't win a standoff with a grief-stricken parent commandeering TV cameras and the blogosphere 24/7.

...

The endgame for American involvement in Iraq will be of a piece with the rest of this sorry history. "It makes no sense for the commander in chief to put out a timetable" for withdrawal, Mr. Bush declared on the same day that 14 of those Ohio troops were killed by a roadside bomb in Haditha. But even as he spoke, the war's actual commander, Gen. George Casey, had already publicly set a timetable for "some fairly substantial reductions" to start next spring. Officially this calendar is tied to the next round of Iraqi elections, but it's quite another election this administration has in mind. The priority now is less to save Jessica Lynch (or Iraqi democracy) than to save Rick Santorum and every other endangered Republican facing voters in November 2006.

...

Thus the president's claim on Thursday that "no decision has been made yet" about withdrawing troops from Iraq can be taken exactly as seriously as the vice president's preceding fantasy that the insurgency is in its "last throes." The country has already made the decision for Mr. Bush. We're outta there. Now comes
the hard task of identifying the leaders who can pick up the pieces of the fiasco that has made us more vulnerable, not less, to the terrorists who struck us four years ago next month.

Kudos to you, Mr. Rich (NYT), for telling it like it is. Cindy Sheehan has put the people's face on this war protest. Out of this will emerge, finally, a full-fledged anti-war protest, something that has been bubbling on the surface for a while now, but has not had a leader nor someone to spearhead the movement, outside of the traditional "leftist" anti-war protesters and groups.

Cindy Sheehan is President Bush's worst nightmare!

The firefighters of the sky are battling BWCA blazes

"How the planes beat back the fire was something to behold. Flying single file, separated by just a few hundred yards, they fell into a tight circuit. Over and over they scooped water from Seagull Lake, climbed, banked back to the head of the fire and dumped their loads."

Picture by Brian Peterson, Star Tribune.

I'm Iggy Pop, Who Are You?

You are Iggy Pop, and you snap, crackle, and pop
like fireworks. You have boundless energy, and
you're invincible. You should be dead by now,
you know that, right? You survive everything,
and never get fat. You're spastic, and a great
dancer...you probably could be a contortionist
if you wanted to. You love to shock, and rock,
and do so better than anyone else. Sometimes
your irresponsiblity drives your friends nuts,
and your drug habits can be annoying, but you
are an excellent performer nonetheless and
probably like metallic pants. You never sound
insincere.


Which rad old school 70's glam icon are you? (with pics)
brought to you by Quizilla

Now That's Progress

A Thought for Your Weekend: Democrats vs. Republicans

Building off the ideas of George Lakoff...

A person says "That's not fair. "

Democrats respond,"Let's see if you're right. If it's not fair, we should try to change it."

Republicans respond, "Who said life was fair?"

Support Cindy Sheehan

From the pen of Don Wright, courtesy of Hoffmania!

Who Owns Ya Baby, Part Two

Well, what did you expect? Disney owns ABC.

This week, the largest class action suit in U.S. history goes to court in California, as plaintiffs representing over 1 million workers accuse Wal-Mart of sex discrimination.

In addition to being the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart also spends considerable money advertising on mainstream media outlets--including regular spots on network newscasts like ABC's World News Tonight, where the discount giant sponsors the show's regular "Person of the Week" segment. Plastered with huge Wal-Mart ads, it's easy to confuse that feature's web page with a visit to the Wal-Mart website. Wal-Mart regularly airs commercials during the newscasts, and underwrites ABC's daily email preview of the evening newscast (a plug for the company's "Wal-Mart Facts" website).

The company also sponsors the "Only in America" series on ABC's Good Morning America, an arrangement that was criticized by the United Food & Commercial Workers union (UFCW). And ABC and Wal-Mart have other commercial ties as well, including a perfume line that was featured on an ABC soap opera and sold at Wal-Mart stores (Broadcasting & Cable, 2/14/05).

So how will ABC's nightly newscast handle the news of Wal-Mart's day in court? In an August 7 preview, reporter Geoff Morrell called the lawsuit the "biggest civil rights case ever," and quoted plaintiff Chris Kwapnoski. But then ABC lined up three sources to criticize the case, starting with Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott. His comments were echoed by Steve Bokat from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who called the suit "fundamentally unfair."

Morrell then mentioned that "economists say that could have a chilling effect on big retailers, forcing them to raise prices and implement stricter policies for promotion." To back up that point, the broadcast quoted Tim Kane of the right-wing Heritage Foundation--hardly representative of all "economists": "It will make the management risk-averse, that adds cost to you and I."

No experts or advocates in the segment spoke on behalf of the plaintiffs, aside from Kwapnoski herself, whose credibility was undercut by ABC's Morrell: "Ironically, Chris Kwapnoski was promoted three days after filing her suit." The idea that this timely promotion was not irony but strategy on the part of Wal-Mart was not considered.

Given its lucrative relationship with Wal-Mart, ABC's news reporting on its sponsor should take care not to leave viewers with the impression that the company gets an easy ride. But segments like the August 7 report only contribute to a suspicion that Wal-Mart's sponsorship of the news comes at a steep price--for ABC viewers who want to know more about the company than what the company's PR campaign tells them.

Arab oil nations plan $360bn foreign asset spree

Arab Gulf oil-producing countries will embark this year and next on a "massive accumulation of foreign assets" as they cash in on record oil prices and soaring worldwide petroleum de-mand, a new report says.

The region will buy about $360bn (£201bn) of foreign assets, from bonds to real estate, in 2005 and 2006 - 50 per cent more than its total purchases of the past five years, according to the Institute for International Finance, the leading association of private banks. "The Gulf Co-operation Council [countries] are in the midst of a period of exceptional economic performance," says the IIF, which specialises in tracking capital flows in emerging markets.

Oh, goody goody for us. I'm sure there are a number of companies with ties to this administration that will benefit handsomely for selling off American assets. And why should the Chinese government have all the fun(d), as in T-bills.

Friday Random Ten

You know the drill. Load up the MP3 player, and select random.

My Friday Random Top Ten

4541 – Sammy Davis, Jr. - What Kind Of Fool Am I - 5/10
A bit melodramatic for the first song out of the shoot.

2119 - Chris Wyatt - Movin On - 4/10
Personal friend of the lead guitar player, otherwise, a non-descript song.

7466 - Van Halen - D.O.A. - 5/10
Just not the perfect Van Halen song for tonight. Damn, do I need more rum?

6698 - The Chords - Sha Boom - 9/10
Ok, that worked for me, after my rum refill!

1976 - Boz Scaggs - Lowdown - 10/10
Well, at least for tonight it’s a ten.

1750 - The Beatles - Ask Me Why - 10/10
All smiles. Time to refill the pipe.

2018 - Carole King - It’s Too Late - 10/10
Three tens in a row. "And it’s too late, baby, now it’s too late, though we really did try to make it. Something inside has died, and I can’t hide and I just can’t fake it."

1175 - Sugarcubes - Fucking In Rhythm And Sorrow - 5/10
Good groove, but not the one I’m in tonight.

3958 - Michael Jackson - The Way You Make Me Feel (not rated)
LOL.
"Hey pretty baby with the high heels on, give me fever like I’ve never known."

889 - The Moments - Love On A Two Way Street - 2/10
Hey, even I have elevator music.

Bonus Track:

3875 - Mel Torme - New York State Of Mind - 10/10
Ok, that’s a lot of tens for the evening. But, honestly, how can you not rate NYSOM, by any artist, let alone the "velvet fog" anything less than a ten?

Cross-posted at feministe.

Ick

WRITE YOUR OWN CAPTION.

Welcome to the Republican version of Tammany Hall politics.

Which brings us back to the profligate $286 billion transportation bill passed by a conservative Congress and signed in Illinois this week by a conservative president (who had to take three stabs at just getting the governor’s name straight). The bill has something for everyone - except, naturally, for those without any political clout. Nearly 10 percent of the bill’s cost goes exclusively to pure, unadulterated pork. It would make Tammany Hall’s graft-specialist George Washington Plunkitt proud: Conservatives seen their opportunities and they took ‘em.

You’ve heard of the bill’s inclusion of items like the “bridge to nowhere” - the $230 million concrete connection between the Alaskan town of Ketchikan and Gravina Island (population 50) - but there are other goodies. More than 6,000, actually, including …

… a $4,000,000 bicycle path and public park for Calexico, California; $2,320,000 for landscaping along the Ronald Reagan Freeway; a $2,000,000 parking lot in San Antonio, Texas; $1,200,000 to install lights and whatnot at the Blue Ridge Music Center in Virginia; an even million for “scenic management planning and implementation” at the Journey Through Hallowed Ground, also in Virginia; $750,000 to improve roads at the Pennsylvania State Baseball Stadium; and a $100,000 traffic light for Canoga Park, California. For just $50,000 I’d gladly stand in Canoga Park’s Independence Avenue and Sherman Way intersection and direct traffic myself.

Nice projects, all, but why a struggling Athens, Georgia family without guaranteed health care or a public school in good repair should pay for a yuppie bike path in Calexico, California is beyond me - and should be beyond anyone with an interest in civilized spending priorities.

Yet this is today’s government by conservatism. Welcome to the Republican version of Tammany Hall politics.

Good piece over at p m carpenter's commentary.

Rally Around The Flag Pole, Boys

I see that Digby got the same creepy feeling I got about this "America Supports You Freedom March" being sponsored by the United States government, including the below picture.

If Nixon could face it, why can't Bush?

Nixon and his people were obsessed with secrecy and with dirty tricks. The boys in the Bush White House share the sentiment, and have managed to surpass the Nixonian standards. Nixon wanted to destroy his critics. Bush and his people have actually destroyed more than a few, including a deep-cover CIA operative married to a man who attacked Bush's Iraq policy in print.

Both were dogged by protesters wherever they went, yet here is the point at which the similarities diverge. Bush has the benefit of First Amendment Zones, which keep demonstrations far away, out of sight and out of mind. He would just as soon flush himself down a toilet as speak to someone critical of his actions. More than any other administration in recent memory, this Bush crew represents the triumph of the Yes-Men. Bush is in his bubble, managed and spun, and nothing gets through.

Nixon, on the other hand, went a different way one interesting and significant night. In May of 1970, right after the Kent State shootings, when civil unrest across the nation had reached a fever pitch and opposition to the war had roared again to the forefront, Nixon woke his personal valet in the middle of the night. He grabbed a few Secret Service agents and set off for the Lincoln Memorial. There, he spent an hour talking with a large gathering of war protesters encamped around the monument.

The Time Magazine article from May 18, 1970, recalls the scene this way: "When the conversation turned to the war, Nixon told the students: 'I know you think we are a bunch of so and so's.'" Before he left, Nixon said: 'I know you want to get the war over. Sure you came here to demonstrate and shout your slogans on the ellipse. That's all right. Just keep it peaceful. Have a good time in Washington, and don't go away bitter.' The singular odyssey went on. Nixon and his small contingent wandered through the capital, then drove to the Mayflower Hotel for a breakfast of corned beef hash and eggs - his first restaurant meal in Washington since he assumed power. Then he withdrew to his study in the Executive Office Building to sit out the day of protest."

I realize everyone is speculating on why Bush just doesn't bite the bullet and go out and meet Cindy Sheehan, and the reasons range from Bush's inability to articlate a coherent thought in real time to his hubris and ego. But, truly, what the hell is this man, the supposed leader of the free world, so fucking afraid of?

If Nixon could face it, why can't Bush?

Who Owns Ya, Baby!

For those that actually don't believe we're under complete corporate media control, read the following, courtesy of SpeakSpeak News:

Time Warner Owns:
America Online - Time Warner Cable - Home Box Office(HBO) and Cinemax - Turner Broadcasting System - CNN - TNT - New Line Cinema - Warner Bros. Entertainment - Time Inc. (The leading magazine publisher in the world with 140 magazines, including TIME and LIFE magazines).

Disney Media Networks Owns:
The ABC Television Network includes ABC Entertainment, ABC Daytime, ABC News, ABC Sports, ABC Kids and the Disney-owned production company Touchstone Television - ABC Owned Television Stations operates 10 stations in top markets across the country - ABC Radio owns 72 stations nationwide, including Radio Disney, ESPN Radio and ABC News Radio - A suite of cable networks, including ESPN, Disney Channel, ABC Family, Toon Disney, SOAPnet, Walt Disney Television Animation, and Fox Kids International - Lifetime Entertainment Services, A&E Television Networks, and E! Networks - Buena Vista Television - Buena Vista Television International -Hperion Books - Walt Disney Internet Group, which leads corporate Internet business and technology strategy and manages many of the company’s Internet properties.

General Electric Owns:
Bravo - CNBC - Focus Features - International Channels MSNBC - mun2 - NBC and Telemundo Television stations - NBC Entertainment - NBC News - NBC Television Network - NBC Universal Cable - NBC Universal Sports & Olympics - NBC Universal Television Distribution - NBC Universal Television Studio - Paxson - SCI-FI Channel - ShopNBC - Telemundo - TRIO - Universal Parks & Resorts - Universal Pictures - Universal Studio Home Video - USA Network.

News Corporation Owns:
Book Publishing Division: HarperCollins Publishers, William Morrow & Company, Avon Books, Amistad Press, and Fourth Estate.
Television Division: Fox Movie Channel, Fox News Channel, Fox College Sports, Fox Sports Enterprises, Fox Sports En Espanol, Fox Sports Net, Fox Soccer Channel, FUEL, FX, National Geographic Channel, SPEED Channel, Stats, Inc.
Film Division: 20th Century Fox, 20th Century Fox Espanol, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 20th Century Fox International, 20th Century Fox Television, Blue Sky Studios, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox Studios Australia, Fox Studios Baja, Fox Studios LA, Fox Television Studios.
Magazine Division: Big League, InsideOut, donna hay, News America Marketing, SmartSource, The Weekly Standard, TV Guide International
Newspapers: Over 175 different newspapers, including Daily Telegraph, Sunday Herald Times, The Australian, The Mercury, The Sunday Telegraph, The Sun, New York Post, Post Courier, and Fiji Times.

Viacom Owns:
CBS Television, Viacom Television Stations Group (Owns and operates 39 TV Stations in the U.S.), Paramount Television, UPN (United Paramount Network), MTV, MTV2, Nickelodeon, BET(Black Entertainment Television), Nick at Nite, TV Land, NOGGIN, THE N, VH1, Spike TV, CMT, Comedy Central, Showtime, The Movie Channel, Flix, Sundance Channel, LOGO, Infinity Broadcasting (One of the largest major-market radio operators in the United States), Viacom Outdoor (One of the world’s largest out-of-home media companies), Paramount Pictures, Paramount Home Entertainment, The Famous Players and United Cinemas International chains (own nearly 1,700 screens) Simon & Schuster Publishing, MTV.com, VH1.com, Nickelodeon.com, CBS.com and CBSNews.com.

High Noon In Crawford

From the pen of Jeff Danziger, courtesy of Hoffmania!

Trotting Out The Marching Band For 9/11

This news is just unbelievable. According to Rumsfeld, the Pentagon will be "staging" a huge "march" and concert (Clint Black, GET A NEW LIFE, PLEASE!) to ostensibly "commemorate" the fourth anniversary of September 11, to be held this coming 9/11.

What unmitigated gall. This administration is so out of touch. The PEOPLE, damn it, are still mouring this tragic loss, and I doubt a "party," even one thrown by this government, is going to assuage any of the bad feelings that still surrounds this day. My god, I did not lose anyone I was personally acquainted with on 9/11, but I still can't go to work on that day, and I still cry my eyes out just thinking about that day. 9/11 is not a celebratory day for me, nor do I think this nation's people are ready for such a trite excercise in their honor.

Read more here.

The Pentagon would hold a massive march and country music concert to mark the fourth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in an announcement tucked into an Iraq war briefing today.

"This year the Department of Defence will initiate an America Supports Your Freedom Walk," Rumsfeld said, adding that the march would remind people of "the sacrifices of this generation and of each previous generation".

The march will start at the Pentagon, where nearly 200 people died on September 11, 2001, and end at the National Mall with a show by country star Clint Black.

Word of the event startled some observers.

"I've never heard of such a thing," said John Pike, who has been a defence analyst in Washington for 25 years and runs GlobalSecurity.org.

.....................

Rieckhoff suggested the event was an ill-conceived publicity stunt."I think it's clear that their public opinion polls are in the toilet," he said.

Rumsfeld's march had some relatives of September 11 victims fuming."

How about telling Mr Rumsfeld to leave the memories of September 11 victims to the families?" said Monica Gabrielle, who lost her husband in the attacks.

While we are on the subject of 9/11, check out this really great site CNN has had up since the beginning. It lists all the victims, has pictures, and places where people can "comment" about the person. It's the best 9/11 site I've seen.

Who will Bush have arrested first: Osama Bin Laden, or Cindy Sheehan?

Bob Harris:Who will Bush have arrested first: Osama Bin Laden, or Cindy Sheehan?

With apologies for having neither the time nor graphics-wiz abilities to repeat the whole post here, but over in puduland I'd like to offer a couple of possible frames of the Cindy Sheehan protest in Crawford.

Remember, the CIA's head guy on the ground is saying that U.S. intelligence did so too know for sure that Bin Laden was trapped at Tora Bora in December 2001. The only thing which prevented his capture was a lack of troops, courtesy Rumsfeld and Bush.

So Bush could have had Osama arrested. And blew it.

So, pending developments as the week goes on: almost four years now into the War On Tara, who will George W. Bush have managed to arrest? Osama Bin Laden, or Cindy Sheehan?

Another frame that jumps out: the wide variety of human rights abusers and oil-soaked dictators Bush has happily made time for, even though he can't find half an hour for a grieving mother.

Then again, Cindy Sheehan has never opened fire on protesters.

Maybe she should have tried that.

My money's on the PrezNut arresting Sheehan first. I'm giving odds, for those that wish to place a bet.

Buena Vista Social Club, Minus One

Ibrahim Ferrer, of Buena Vista Social Club, also passed. Cuban, he was 78.

Another Great Passes

RIP, Peter. You will always be top notch, in my book.

It Was 60 Years Ago Today

United States of America bombs Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The only country in the world to ever use an atomic bomb on another country, despite the collateral damage.

And they did it twice.

Principled Republican = Extinct Species

There is no emptier concept than the idea of a principled Republican. That is an extinct species.

From Armando's diary at DailyKos.

The One And Only Norma Jean

Hard to believe it has been 43 years since her death.

NBA's Etan Thomas: "I am Totally Against This War"

"I am totally against this war," [Etan] Thomas says adamantly. "But at the same time, I am completely for the troops. Republicans tried to paint the picture that if you were against the war, you were somehow unpatriotic, and that couldn't be further from the truth. What's truly unpatriotic is misleading an entire nation into war under false pretenses."

... excerpt from Thomas' poem on the Iraq War:

Out of the ashes of Iraq come soldiers dressed in fatigues of fire
Wearing helmets secured in smoke
They've choked off the lies spewed out of the mouth of a burning bush
The true warrior's existing wake
Who's flames burned them at the stake
Cremated their bodies
And stuffed them in an urn wrapped in red, white, and blue....
Rummaging through a forest set ablaze by one lethal match
With witty catch phrases forever attached to the side of their
kingdom
Operation Iraqi FreedomLinks to Al Qaeda
Eminent threats
And weapons of mass destruction.....
They've been skillfully thrown into the lion's den
Out of the frying pan and into the furnace
Their courage exceeds any measuring stick
But they can hear the footsteps of death creeping around the corner
For they've been led into the eye of the storm
Transformed into peacekeepers
Lending a helping hand for the poorly planned post-war strategy......

Heads up to firedoglake for the post.

The Good, The Bad and The ... Really Bad

What the newspapers can't stand any longer are voices they can't control. The corporate media are beholden to government, as was brutally clear in the run-up to the Iraq war and the flaccid reporting on Bush during the election campaigns.

Those denunciations, distilled down to personnel decisions, are the reasons great scribes, such as Jim DeFede and Gary Webb, are driven out, and liars such as Judith Miller are honored.

Read more at JohnSugg.

"Assimilate Or Expatriate"

The Borg Christians won’t pray in peace until everyone, everywhere, behaves and believes precisely as they do. Assimilate or expatriate.

I liked this.

Part of p.m. carpenter's commentary.

Republicans Just Love To Hate You

This is just unbelievable. The RightWing NutJobs are so full of hate, they cannot stop themselves from being angry little white guys. It disgusts me that there are people out there like this. This idiot's blog is nothing but rant, spew hate shit, rant, spew hate shit, etc. Same old song, just different blog. I can't even dignify this with a link.

Could Hackett be charged?

There is a possibility that Marine reservist Maj. Paul Hackett may face charges if he returns to duty with his marine unit. Although off "active status" while making his run, he may still be technically chargeable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice - but only technically.

888. ART. 88. CONTEMPT TOWARD OFFICIALS

Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

I wonder..

One thing is for sure, If he returns to active status with his reserve marine unit next year he'd better watch his trap.

Paging Mr. Dick Head

A bank has apologised to a customer after sending him a debit card bearing the name "Dick Head".

NatWest said it had launched an inquiry after Chris Lancaster, 18, of Tiptree, Essex, received a cash card with the wording: "Mr C Lancaster Dick Head".

Mr Lancaster said he did not spot the insult until he was handing over the card in a supermarket to pay for something a few days after it arrived in the post.

"I couldn't believe it," he said.

"When I got the card out I saw the name embossed on it. I was so
embarrassed I put it back in my wallet.

"I know I've been overdrawn a few times but I've done nothing to deserve this.

"The bank said it must have been a worker with a grudge."

A NatWest spokesman said: "We have apologised unreservedly to Mr Lancaster.

"This is completely unacceptable and we have launched an investigation."

HA HA HA HA HA. That was very funny. Too bad the card wasn't one issued to the REAL Dick Head, you know, that guy in the White House.

Is Bigger Better?

Or is it the Jesus-as-megastar thing, with the pastor as the ultimate cover band and his flock a teeming mass of fans who don't really understand the lyrics and get the message almost completely wrong and yet who are, you just know, good and honest people just trying to find their way in a lost and debauched and war-torn land? I saw AC/DC and Iron Maiden on a double bill in Spokane in 1983 and just about saw God. Is that the same thing? No?

God, what a great take! Read the whole thing, here.

Bartender, Pass Me The Bottle, Please

Well, to say I am disappointed by the outcome in the OH-02 vote today would be an understatement. I'll deal with the "moral" upside issues about this vote tomorrow. Tonite, I'm drowning my sorrows in a lot of rum and diet coke.

We've Hit 2,000

2,000 coalition forces dead.

LET'S GO HACKETT, LET'S GO HACKETT! SAY IT WITH ME, LET'S GO HACKETT!

I've been keeping an eye on the 2nd district race in Ohio, which culminates in the vote today. Stay tuned to Swing State Project for all current updates. Daily Kos is also spotlighting this.

And kudos go out to all the bloggers that helped raise money for this guy. I haven't been this excited and nervous since the November 2004 presidential election!

Just WHAT Does It Take?

This from Reuters:

President Bush on Monday declared "complete confidence" in his top political adviser, Karl Rove, despite his alleged role in leaking a covert CIA operative's identity, according to an interview.

Well, of course he has, dumb shits.

He has the confidence that no matter what the people do, Karl Rove will get off. Make no bones about it. Bush doesn't give a rat's ass what the law is concerning this matter. If they are not successful in turning this investigation on its head, then if and when any convictions are coming down, look for the congressional hearings that will grant immunity in exchange for so-called "testimony." Yeah, Rove will then admit what he did, but he'll be "immune" from any further prosecution, and that will be the end of it. The Bushies will "parse" it some more, and the end result will be that Rove will not have been "convicted" of anything, so therefore, he can remain in the White House.

Nothing to see here. Move along.