Today’s Action comes from MoveOn: The New York Times disclosed on Sunday that�the Bush administration�is using the Social Security Administration to mislead the American public and sell Social Security privatization. Documents obtained by The New York Times show that Bush’s plan is to insert “propaganda” into Social Security publications — using the apparatus of this huge government agency — and the trust millions place in it — to sell their privatization scheme that would cut Social Security benefits. We need your help to make it clear that the Social Security Administration is not another propaganda tool of the White House. … Continue reading Friday Action Alert

From Holden: Spreading Freedom and Liberty the American way. Minister of State Adnan al-Janabi, an intimate of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, tells NEWSWEEK that he was so incensed by his treatment by American soldiers as he tried to enter the Green Zone to go to a cabinet meeting that he resigned in protest. [snip] An angry Al-Janabi not only resigned from the government, but is now denouncing the American military as an anti-Iraqi occupation army. He is hardly a raving anti-American. An insider since the days of the former Coalition Provisional Authority and one of the country’s most prominent Sunnis … Continue reading Hot Times At The Checkpoints

Aerial view of their favorite sleeping spot. A. Continue reading Friday Ferretblogging

From Holden: You might have seen this jaw-dropper on The Daily Show last night as I did. But in case you missed it, I give you Chimpy, Part II: America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Continue reading The Day Irony Slit Its Wrist And Settled Into A Nice Warm Bath

I’d ask if he was kidding, but I think that horse left the barn, wandered out into the infield and dropped dead, so … Vice President Dick Cheney said on Thursday that Iran was at the top of the administration’s list of world trouble spots and expressed concern that Israel “might well decide to act first” to eliminate any nuclear threat from Tehran. “You look around the world at potential trouble spots, Iran is right at the top of the list,” Cheney said in an interview aired on MSNBC on the day that George W. Bush was sworn in for … Continue reading Jesus Tits

From Holden: People speak out as Bush passes by; cops look nervous. Hauled off for the crime of speaking out during Chimpy’s address. Another patriot headed for jail. The crowd is hosed-down with pepper spray after objects are lobbed over the fence at Bush’s motorcade. Tending those who were pepper-sprayed. Heading to jail. Hordes of police confront protestors. More pepper spray on a day to Celebrate Freedom. Protestors and riot cops – not a good combination. Continue reading The Scene in DC

From Holden: Indy Media DC has a blow-by-blow of inaugural protests – hell, let’s call them riots! – in DC. 3:11 Bush motorcade passes massive grouping of protestors on parade route; “Fuck Bush!” can be heard live on CNN as protestors out-shout Bush supporters; 3:13 Police send a request to the Bush motorcade to slow down the motorcade at 5th and Pennsylvania, as major street battle rages between protestors and police at 14th and Pennsylvania; 3:15PM: Much of the first 3 blocks of Pennsylvania has a significant anti-Bush presence, hard to pick pro-bush demonstrators out of some segments. 3:18 Three … Continue reading 3:45 Coffins carried by protestors are burning

From Holden: From a NYTimes interview of Laura Bush, via Froomkin: “And she confessed that on the last day of the fall campaign her daughter Jenna announced that she and her sister, Barbara, would be joining their parents in an Iowa town, Sioux City, which Jenna pronounced ‘Sigh-yocks City.’ ” ‘Don’t put that in!’ Mrs. Bush said quickly, as her listeners exploded in laughter. ‘It was so funny. She was totally humiliated.’” Continue reading Me Fail English? Unpossible!

From Holden: Via the invaluable Today in Iraq, Robert Fisk reveals what it is like to cover the war. Rarely, if ever, has a war been covered by reporters in so distant and restricted a way. The New York Times correspondents live in Baghdad behind a massive stockade with four watchtowers, protected by locally hired, rifle-toting security men, complete with NYT T-shirts. America’s NBC television chain are holed up in a hotel with an iron grille over their door, forbidden by their security advisers to visit the swimming pool or the restaurant “let alone the rest of Baghdad” lest they … Continue reading Covering the War

From Holden: Always a Dick. Speaking of Dicks, here’s one of the biggest Dicks to ever prowl the earth taking the oath of office while resting his hand on a Bible held by his gay daughter, officially designated as a second-class citizen by the administration he serves. Some folks thought they detected a touch of regret from the old Dick this morning. On the Don Imus radio show this morning, Cheney said he thought Iraq would recover more quickly after the U-S invasion. In the interview, Cheney had been asked to identify mistakes in the U-S war plan. The vice … Continue reading Once a Dick…

From Holden: And from our brothers and sisters in the Philippines. Continue reading A Celebratoin of Freedom

My favorite cab driver does the inauguration. If you can’t be there, go read, and be there in spirit. A. Continue reading Taking Down The Banner

From Holden: Continue reading There’s An Idea

From Holden: Freedom to take kick-backs and kill whistleblowers, that is. Dale Stoffel, 43, was shot to death Dec. 8 shortly after leaving an Iraqi military base north of Baghdad, an attack attributed at the time to Iraqi insurgents. Also killed was a business associate, Joseph Wemple, 49. The killings came after Stoffel alerted senior U.S. officials in Washington that he believed Iraqi Defense Ministry officials were part of a kickback scheme involving a multimillion-dollar contract awarded to his company, Wye Oak Technology, to refurbish old Iraqi military equipment. The FBI has launched an investigation into the killings and whether … Continue reading Freedom Is On The March!!

From Holden: Back on July 21, 2003, the Washington Post (the link is to Genocide Watch, but it’s the same story) published the dramatic account of Jumana Michael Hanna, who claimed to have been tortured and raped by Saddam’s regime while her husband was executed. Hanna’s story was received as fact, and was even repeated in congressional testimony by Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. Today the Post calls her a liar and a con artist. An Iraqi woman who was granted refugee status in the United States after telling The Washington Post and U.S. officials that she had been … Continue reading About Those Rape Rooms

From Holden: The Swift Report is the place to go for all things related to George the Lesser’s Coronation. The Swifties call our attention to this letter to Georgie on the Coalition for Family Values letterhead. The letter, signed by seven fundy leaders, calls for Chimpy to remember his “role as leader of your own family” and make his daughters stop dressing like whores: As you know, dress and appearance are an important reflection of our Christian values. We are what we wear, as the saying goes, and according to this edict, your own daughters, bejeweled and bedecked in garments … Continue reading Coronation News

From Holden: DeDurkheim at Rising Hegemon already posted an item on this story and it probably does not merit much more attention. But when I first read about this topic I really wanted to do a post, so why should I let the fact that Attaturk (and his gang of bloggers with funny furrin names) tends to blog at one in the AM hold me back? So. Reminiscent of Jerry Falwell’s stout defense of our nation from the evil designs of Tinky Winky (“He is purple — the gay-pride color; and his antenna is shaped like a triangle — the … Continue reading Spongebob Must Die

Hell yeah. Underscoring the Democrats’ dissatisfaction, Senator Robert Byrd, an outspoken critic of the decision to go to war, announced late in the day that he would not allow the Senate to approve Ms. Rice without a few days of consideration of her lengthy testimony, and at least a token debate on the floor. His refusal to join in the unanimous consent of all Senators for a quick vote effectively torpedoed the administration’s hopes to have her nomination approved Thursday. Damn right it’s better than yours. This, Boxer’s move on the Ohio vote certification, Harry’s pushing of a really good … Continue reading Byrd!

From Holden: Hey, Scottie. Fuck you and the dead horse you rode in on. Q So does the President believe that his Social Security proposals will still have a life by the time they get to Congress? MR. McCLELLAN: Which proposal are you referring to, John? The President has outlined some very clear principles that should guide us as we move forward to address Social Security. Social Security faces many serious challenges and members on both sides of the aisle in Congress recognize the problems facing Social Security and the need to move forward on solutions to address it now, … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: Because Saddam had: Weapons of Mass Destruction Weapons of Mass Destruction Programs Ties to al Qaeds Weapons of Mass Destruction Program-Related Activiteis Weapons of Mass Destruction Capabilities A Desire For Weapons of Mass Destruction Cavorted with terrorists and had “an attitiude” about terrorism. That’s why. Continue reading What Will Tomorrow Bring?

From Holden: Aside from appearances by Ruben Studdard, Hillary Duff, JoJo, and the F-Bomb, there was an important message delived at last night’s “America’s Future Rocks” concert. President Bush and first lady Laura Bush arrived at the end of the two-hour program and urged the youths to participate in service and community involvement, as they did at a similar event for his first inauguration four years ago. “I volunteer to go SHOP-ping!” Why is it, you ask, that America’s future – er, um – “rocks”? Well, because of these intelligent young Americans. Concertgoers Meghan Lowry and Abbee Thevenot, both 16 … Continue reading More News from the Concert that Gave Lame a Bad Name

From Holden: Ain’t nobody likes Bush. The rest of the world will be watching with anxiety when President Bush (news – web sites) is inaugurated Thursday for a second time, fearing the most powerful man on the planet may do more harm than good. Many world leaders, alienated by Bush’s go-it-alone foreign policy and the U.S.-led war in Iraq (news – web sites), would have preferred him to lose the U.S. election last November. [snip] Some 58 percent of people surveyed in a British Broadcasting Corporation poll in 21 countries said they believed Bush’s re-election made the world a more … Continue reading Universally Despised

From Holden: Relaxing under an oak tree at his Crawford, Texas ranch with aides one August day in 2002, the talk turned to castrating bulls, dove hunting and which young man had the most robust love life. A few months later, the president was unnerved to learn that he had unknowingly gone swimming in a river frequented by poisonous snakes, following a mountain bike ride around the ranch. It happened on the golf course in August 2001, as Bush prepared to tee off. He told a goofy joke that went over like a lead balloon. Long silence from the entourage … Continue reading Just a Regular Chimp

From Holden: The Bush administration claims that they never condone the use of torture – except when they do. Officers of the Central Intelligence Agency and other nonmilitary personnel fall outside the bounds of a 2002 directive issued by President Bush that pledged the humane treatment of prisoners in American custody, Alberto R. Gonzales, the White House counsel, said in documents released on Tuesday. In written responses to questions posed by senators as part of his confirmation for attorney general, Mr. Gonzales also said a separate Congressional ban on cruel, unusual and inhumane treatment had “a limited reach” and did … Continue reading Does Georgie’s Penchant for Torture Stem from His Frog Exploding Days?

From Holden: I was guest-blogging for Atrios in July 2004 when I wrote this post (with follow-ups here, here, here, and here) about allegations that Interim Iraqi PM Iyad Allawi killed six men in cold blood a few days before the “transfer of sovereignty” at the end of June. Not surpisingly, major U.S. media never picked up on the story and not much was heard about the allegations after the award-winning Australian journalist who broke the story, Paul McGeough, fled Iraq fearing for his life. Today, however, we find a report confirming the Allawi execution story. A former Jordanian government … Continue reading “We Got Rid of One Son of a Bitch Only to Get Another One.”