From Holden: The AP has drafts from a forthcoming book written by a former Arabic interpreter at GITMO, Army Sgt. Erik R. Saar. Saar said he witnessed about 20 interrogations and about three months after his arrival at the remote U.S. base he started noticing “disturbing” practices. One female civilian contractor used a special outfit that included a miniskirt, thong underwear and a bra during late-night interrogations with prisoners, mostly Muslim men who consider it taboo to have close contact with women who aren’t their wives. Beginning in April 2003, “there hung a short skirt and thong underwear on the … Continue reading Interrogation Tactics of the Moral Values Crowd

From Holden: Today’s gaggle leaves me wondering if Little Scottie is illiterate or just a compulsive liar. I obsess, you decide. Q Scott, is Tony Blair right when he says the U.S. has to get on board with the agenda of countries who see climate control as a major priority? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I’m not sure that that’s an accurate way to describe what he’s saying. First of all — Q How do you interpret it? MR. McCLELLAN: I mean, climate change is an issue we take very seriously. And in terms of discussing it at the G8, we welcome … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: to the continuing turmoil over the proper way to refer to the main facet of Chimpy’s plan to destroy Social Security is this brief quote from the president himself found in his remarks at a BC ’04 Victory Committee Reception, September 17, 2004: But we’ve got to worry about the youngsters, our kids and our grandchildren, when it comes to the solvency of the Social Security system. That’s why I believe younger workers ought to be able to take some of their own money, set aside a personal savings account that will help Social Security fulfill its promise, … Continue reading My Contribution

From Holden: Via skippy we learn that Bush’s second choice as Secretary of Fatherland Security has ties to one of Osama’s fundraisers. Federal Appeals Court Judge Michael Chertoff’s ties to the financiers of the Sept. 11 attacks may prevent his confirmation as Homeland Security Chief. According to a June 20, 2000 article in the The Record of Bergen County, New Jersey, Chertoff defended accused terrorist financier Dr. Magdy Elamir. Elamir’s HMO was sued by the State of New Jersey to recoup $16.7 million in losses. At least $5.7 million went “to unknown parties… by means of wire transfers to bank … Continue reading Worse than a Nanny Problem

From Holden: UPDATE: One more, courtesy of The Caption King. Continue reading Just Sayin’

From Holden: Attaturk solves the mystery of the Shroud of Turin. And Bigfoot. Continue reading Mysterly Solve-ed

From Holden: We awaken this morning to 87 U. S. soldiers killed in Iraq this month, making January 2005 the thrid-most deadly month for U.S. forces in Chimpy’s War, behind November 2004’s 137 and April 2004’s 135. The New York Times says Baghdad is now largely controlled by the insurgency while offering this little tid-bit: These incidents [of U.S. forces gunning down innocent civilians] have compounded a widespread impression among the people of Baghdad that the Americans are careless of Iraqi lives. Dr. Naqib, the dentist, fearful as he is of insurgent attacks, said he feared the Americans more. “The … Continue reading Iraq Sampler

Because, well, yeah. A. Continue reading Happy Democrat Photo: Mark Dayton Edition

From Holden: The Washington Post, as it has done before, manages to write an entire story about Riggs Bank copping a guilty plea to laundering money for Agusto Pinochet without mentioning the fact that President Wigglebutt’s uncle Johnathan J. Bush is a former Riggs executive, or that Joseph L. Albritton is an old Bush family friend and fundraiser. Riggs Bank has agreed to plead guilty to a federal criminal charge and pay a $16 million fine to settle an investigation of money laundering at the D.C. bank, according to sources close to the matter. The bank, which has been controlled … Continue reading Watchdogs at Work

From Holden: A tip of the hat to pie for this one. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens finally puts his investments in a blind trust after six years as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Sen. Ted Stevens said he expects questions about potential conflicts of interest to end now that he has sold off some investments and placed most of his assets in a blind trust. Stevens announced last week he had sold his interest in Anchorage and Fairbanks real estate and directed the money into the blind trust. He said he did so in part to spare his former … Continue reading Dept. of Better Late Than Never

From Holden: Kinda funny, actually. A conservative talk show host offers his services on e-bay. I’m sure Unka Karl will put up a bid in no time. Continue reading Another Winger Pundit For Sale

From Holden: Via Froomkin (the man is a gold mine) we learn that the White House sent an outspoken anti-semite to the Ukraine for Viktor Yushchenko’s inauguration. A delegation sent by President Bush to Ukraine’s presidential inauguration last weekend included a Ukrainian-American activist who has accused Jews of manipulating the Holocaust for their gain and blamed them for Soviet-era atrocities in Ukraine. “Big money drives the Holocaust industry,” Myron B. Kuropas wrote in August 2000. The inclusion of Kuropas in the U.S. delegation to Sunday’s inauguration of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, which was led by Secretary of State Colin Powell, … Continue reading To The Ukraine, With Love

From Holden: I need some help coming up with appropriately derisive nicknames for Senators Chuck Hagel and John McCain. You see, I’m getting a bit sick of hearing these two GOP “mavericks” bleat and wail whenever a new abomination of the Bush administration is revealed (Sam Maverick must be rolling in his Texas grave – Maury Maverick, too). These guys do their regular Sunday morning talking head gigs each week, flailing their arms and gnashing their teeth over this or that Bushite excess, but do they ever do anything? What has Chucky Hagel ever done to secure adequate equipment for … Continue reading Nickname Contest

From Holden: Ah, I finally got my hands on the transcript from this morning’s press conference. Before we get to the lowlights, let’s have some word count fun. Everyone and their cat counted the number of times Chimpy slurred the words “freedom” and “liberty” last week, so what was he up to today? Freedom – 16 Liberty – 7 By far his most overused word today was forward, as in “moving forward” or “looking forward”. Forward – 36 Now, on to the lowlights. President Deer-In-The-Headlights chastises the press. If we’d been having this discussion a couple of years ago and … Continue reading Scenes from a Press Conference

From Holden: The Tucson Citizen created this handy line graph of our federal budget deficits through the years. Note the portion of the graph that projects future deficits does not take into account the costs associated with Chimpy’s plans to sodomize privatize Social Security or make his tax cuts for those who need them the least permanent. UPDATE: Damn, we have smart readers here. Yes, the projections of an amazing turnaround in the out years would make a cynic out of Tinkerbell. But the Tucson Citizen is merely charting the CBO numbers, which exclude many future expenditures that you know … Continue reading Charting the Drunken Sailor

From Holden: Yet another reason to say no to Gonzales. In more than 200 pages of written responses to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who plan to vote today on his nomination, Gonzales told senators that laws and treaties prohibit torture by any U.S. agent. But he said the Convention Against Torture treaty, as ratified by the Senate, doesn’t prohibit the use of “cruel, inhuman or degrading” tactics on non-U.S. citizens who are captured abroad. [snip] As he did at the hearing, Gonzales said in his written responses that President Bush had ordered that torture not be used by … Continue reading Abu Gonzales: ”Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading” Tactics A-OK!

From Holden: Yet another reason to say no to Gonzales. In more than 200 pages of written responses to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who plan to vote today on his nomination, Gonzales told senators that laws and treaties prohibit torture by any U.S. agent. But he said the Convention Against Torture treaty, as ratified by the Senate, doesn’t prohibit the use of “cruel, inhuman or degrading” tactics on non-U.S. citizens who are captured abroad. [snip] As he did at the hearing, Gonzales said in his written responses that President Bush had ordered that torture not be used by … Continue reading Abu Gonzales: “Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading” Tactics A-OK!

From Holden: According to Juan Cole. Continue reading The Speech He Should Have Given

From Holden: Jesus, the Bush Administration seems intent on inventing a whole new category of war crimes. William Thomas investigates the U.S. military’s experiments with microwave weaponry in Iraq. On the rooftop of a shrapnel-pocked building in the ruins of Fallujah, a team of GI’s stealthily sets up a gray plastic dome about two-feet in diameter. Keeping well back from the sight lines of the street and nearby buildings, they plug the cable connectors on the side of the “popper” into a power unit. The grunts have no clue what the device does. They are just following orders. [snip] After … Continue reading Microwaving Iraq

From Holden: President Drunken Sailor shatters the budget deficit record for the third year in a row. An $80 billion request for additional war spending this year will push the federal deficit to a record $427 billion for fiscal 2005, and the government’s long-term fiscal health appears to be only growing worse, administration and congressional officials said today. Senior administration officials announced today they would soon seek at least $75 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year, plus an additional $5 billion to build an embassy in Baghdad, continue reconstruction in Afghanistan, offer assistance to the … Continue reading Three Years Running

From Holden: Chimpy: “See, I’m – uh – down with the black folks. (Pssst. Dick – keep the engine running.)” Continue reading A Little Afternoon Captioning

From Holden: It’s the first gaggle since the coronation and the press corps is cranky! Exhibit A: Regarding the preznit’s now-daily telephone conversations with Iraqi strongman Ayad Allawi. MR. McCLELLAN: Good afternoon, everybody. The President had a good conversation this morning with Prime Minister Allawi to discuss the preparations for the upcoming election in Iraq. The President underscored how this election will be an historic moment for the people of Iraq. [snip] Q Prime Minister Allawi probably knows that this is an historic moment. Can you be more specific about what they discussed? This is like the fifth or sixth … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: Five days before the Iraqi election, the names of the candidates are finally released. Iraq’s Election Commission has begun disclosing the names of candidates running in Sunday’s poll amid fears they might be targeted by Sunni insurgents. The names of the majority of candidates remained secret in order to protect them from terrorists led by Abu Musab Zarqawi, who has declared war on the elections to select a legislative council which will be entrusted with drafting Iraq’s new constitution. “Publishing the names of candidates only five days before the elections is aimed at ensuring an honest process and … Continue reading Deomocrazy

From Holden: Two snippets from the Post’s invaluable Dan Froomkin. First, unwanted reality: Chas Freeman, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia and head of the independent Middle East Policy Council, tells a story. “Anyway, the other day I understand that someone went into the Oval Office — someone known to everybody here, a rather senior person who is on his way out of the administration [Pssst. It was Colin Powell.] — and was asked by the president what was going on in Iraq, and said, with his characteristic bluntness, we’re losing — and was asked to leave the office forthwith … Continue reading Froomkin Watch

From Holden: In yet another sure sign that November 2 was not an “accountability moment” for the War on Iraq, both Democarats and Republicans are becoming increasingly critical of Chimpy’s mess in Iraq. “There’s a growing impatience by the members of Congress and the public,” added Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., another [Senate Foreign Relations] committee member. “It isn’t a cacophony yet, but it’s a growing voice of people concerned.” Republican outspokeness on Iraq ranges from Lamar Alexander’s (Yes! He’s still alive!) desperate search for a fig leaf to cover Bush’s failure… Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a member of the Senate … Continue reading Finally, A Smattering of Congressional Opposition to the War on Iraq

From Holden: Jenna and NotJenna are still unemployed, maybe they could sign up and help out in Iraq as their daddy is running out of troops. At the current pace of U.S. deployments to Iraq, the Pentagon may be hard-pressed by next year to provide enough reserve combat troops suitable for the mission, judging from the military services own estimates of available manpower. The notion of running out of reserve troops would have been dismissed only a year ago, but the strain of fighting a longer, harder war than U.S. commanders foresaw is taking a heavy toll on part-time troops … Continue reading Running Out of Fodder

Posted for Tena, who’s out of town — A Sorry this is a day late.� Blame it on the snow!� Today’s Action comes from el, a commenter at Eschaton.� The vote on Gonzales’ appointment for Attorney General is coming up.� Let the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee know that we don’t want a torturer and a perjurer for Attorney General. ******** � Contact the Senate Judiciary Committee to Voice Your Opposition to the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary Phone: (202) 224-5225 Fax: (202) 224-9102 Contacts: Members of the Senate Judiciary … Continue reading Action Alert: No To Gonzales

From Holden: The ACLU uncovers bushels of fruit produced by Abu Gonzales’ labor as U.S. forces pillage Iraq. Army personnel have admitted to beating or threatening to kill Iraqi detainees and stealing money from Iraqi civilians but have not been charged with criminal conduct, according to newly released Army documents. Only a handful of the 54 investigations of alleged detainee abuse and other illicit activities detailed in the documents led to recommended penalties as severe as a court-martial or discharge from military service. Most led to administrative fines or simply withered because investigators could not find victims or evidence. [snip] … Continue reading Democrats Should Fillibuster Gonzales

Link Bobby Prince Jr. seemed to be living a charmed life in Wichita, as a middle school scholarship winner, a high school sports star and a Beautillion Beau. But authorities now say he used that charm to lure girls he knew at Northwest High School down to Oklahoma, where he and his father forced them to be truck stop prostitutes. Prince, 20, faces trial on Valentine’s Day in Oklahoma City federal court, where he’s charged with transporting minors for prostitution and the sex trafficking of children. If convicted, both he and Bobby Prince Sr. could face life in prison because … Continue reading Bobo’s World: The Short Happy Life of Bobby Prince Jr.

From Holden: …”torture probably can’t get you nixed for Attorney General. But fibbing about your role in covering up one of the president’s DUIs just might.” Notice how so many problems for this administration revolve around Chimpy himself. Whether it’s lying about an old DUI or a policy of torture – Bush’s policy, I might add – it’s all about covering up for the Boss. Continue reading We’ll Take It