Time to quit playing tag blindfolded. You know, I do understand where the “vote for the person, not the party” people are coming from. I voted for a Republican representative while I was living in Madison, Wisconsin. I know. But the Dem was such a douchebag, such a fucking amateur, and the Repub was a nice moderate guy who probably would get drummed out of the party now that Bush is in charge. At the time, I had no idea about the balance of the legislature or how my one rep would swing it one way or another. Give me … Continue reading What Ezra Says

From Holden: Looks like Jonah’s C-SPAN appearance was not well received. BIZARRO WORLD SALLY FIELD [Jonah Goldberg] Wow, I felt like yelling at the end of today’s C-Span appearance “You hate me! You really, really hate me!” The Democratic Underground must be slow today because they all seemed to be calling C-Span. Posted at 10:46 AM And he’s not taking it well. FUNKY TOWN [Jonah Goldberg] Well, skimming through my email, it seems large numbers of readers (and a few conservative writers) are in the same funk I’m in (See Goldberg File). Perchance we should form a self-help group? Posted … Continue reading Doughy Pantload’s Have Feelings, Too

From Holden: HA! If you Google “Bianca” the top three responses are: bianca: the alternative online community bianca’s Smut Shack Welcome to the White House Continue reading The Search For Bianca Continues

A. Continue reading Friday Ferretblogging

From Holden: Yet another criminal investigation bearing down on Karl Rove. Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff bragged two years ago that he was in contact with White House political aide Karl Rove on behalf of a large, Bermuda-based corporation that wanted to avoid incurring some taxes and continue receiving federal contracts, according to a written statement by President Bush’s nominee to be deputy attorney general. Timothy E. Flanigan, general counsel for conglomerate Tyco International Ltd., said in a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that Abramoff’s lobbying firm initially boasted that Abramoff could help Tyco fend off a special … Continue reading Abramoff/Rove

From Holden: The president’s closest friend recognizes that he has a problem but can’t get him to listen. Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, said Thursday that he had been warning the Bush administration in recent days that Iraq was hurtling toward disintegration, a development that he said could drag the region into war. “There is no dynamic now pulling the nation together,” he said in a meeting with reporters at the Saudi Embassy here. “All the dynamics are pulling the country apart.” He said he was so concerned that he was carrying this message “to everyone who will … Continue reading Intervention

Read and learn. Jesus, O’Reilly’s a puss when he’s challenged. A. Continue reading Hey, Democrats

Remember all those “nobody could have known it would be this bad” and “it takes time to get things together and get people and supplies down to the affected areas” and all the other reasons why nobody in the path of Katrina had any help at all, why streets in small towns in Mississippi looked deserted? Remember how Anderson Cooper had to help that poor woman dig her stuff out of what remained of her house nearly a week after the hurricane? Yeah. Home Effing Depot has managed to get it together. The company has pre-positioned trucks around the projected … Continue reading Preparation

From Holden: So, you think this is a good gaggle question from ABC’s Terry Moran, do ya? Q How is it going to help the people of Texas practically prepare for this storm that the President is going to fly in to take a firsthand look at preparations and show support for first responders? How is that going to practically help them do what they have to do? Wait until you read the follow-up. Q But it sounds like a bit of a photo op, one that he’d prefer over playing the guitar at the airport photo op before Katrina. … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: Just who was it your president so desperately wanted to call on during his little press-op at the Pentagon today? Was it sometime-MSNBC blow-dreid head Bianca Solorzano? Here’s the transcript of Chimpy’s vain search for Bianca. THE PRESIDENT: Bianca. Nobody named Bianca? Well, sorry Bianca’s not here. I’ll be glad to answer her question. Q I’ll follow up. THE PRESIDENT: No, that’s fine. (Laughter.) Thank you though, appreciate it. Just trying to spread around the joy of asking a question. [snip] Q Mr. President, could we talk more about — THE PRESIDENT: Are you Bianca? Q No, I’m … Continue reading Desperately Seeking Bianca

From Holden: Novakula has the skinny. For two full days, George W. Bush was bashed. He was taken to task on his handling of stem cell research, population control, the Iraq war and, especially, Hurricane Katrina. The critics were no left-wing bloggers. They were rich, mainly Republican and presumably Bush voters in the last two presidential elections. The Bush-bashing occurred last weekend at the annual Aspen conference sponsored by the New York investment firm Forstmann Little & Co. Over 200 invited guests, mostly prestigious, arrived Thursday night (many by private aircraft) and stayed until Sunday morning for more than golf, … Continue reading Bush-Bashing Republicans

From Holden: The index of leading economic indicators fell for the second straight month for the first time since the Bush Recession of 2001. The index of leading U.S. economic indicators fell in August for a second straight month as rising gasoline prices sapped consumer confidence even before Hurricane Katrina made landfall. The index slid 0.2 percent following a revised 0.1 percent decline in July, the New York-based Conference Board said today. A drop in consumer confidence and building permits were among the biggest contributors to the decline in August. The back-to- back declines were the first since 2001. Continue reading Revenge of My Bush Boom

From Holden: Meanwhile, [Florida Gov. Jeb] Bush said that among the 1.3 million evacuees are his parents — Houston resident and former President George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara. “They’re in Washington,” Gov. Bush said. “Their house is all boarded up.” Thanks to jules for the Link. Continue reading ”This [She Chuckles Slightly] Is Working Very Well for Them”

From Holden: Meanwhile, [Florida Gov. Jeb] Bush said that among the 1.3 million evacuees are his parents — Houston resident and former President George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara. “They’re in Washington,” Gov. Bush said. “Their house is all boarded up.” Thanks to jules for the Link. Continue reading “This [She Chuckles Slightly] Is Working Very Well for Them”

From Holden: Damn, it is beginning to look like they will. British troops in the tense southern city of Basra greatly reduced their presence in the streets Thursday, apparently responding to a provincial governor’s call to sever cooperation until London apologized for storming a police station to free two of its soldiers. For the second day, no British forces were seen accompanying Iraqi police on patrols of Basra, as they routinely had in the past. [snip] In an interview with Associated Press Television News in Baghdad on Thursday, Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie called Monday’s attack by British forces … Continue reading Will the Brits be Expelled from Basra?

From Holden: Don Rumsfeld interviews himself on Tuesday: Consider the following. Have the Iraqis been able to form a government that realistically incorporates the views of the various responsible factions in Iraq? Yes, they have. Have Iraqis successfully held representative elections? The answer is yes. Have they now succeeded in drafting a constitution that accords respect for individual rights? Indeed they have. Are the insurgents gaining or losing the support of the Iraqi people? President Talabani recently spoke in the United States about this. He noted that the vast majority of Iraqis, including Sunnis, want to participate in the political … Continue reading Rummy vs. Cole

From Holden: The new jobless report is in, and it does not paint a pretty picture. In the week ending Sept. 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 432,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 424,000. The 4-week moving average was 376,250, an increase of 29,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 347,250. And just what was the previous week’s new jobless figure before it was revised to 424,000? 398,000 claims. That’s right, the revised figure for last week is a whopping 26,000 claims higher than the official number they originally … Continue reading I’m Still Waiting For My Category 5 Bush Boom

From Holden: The responsibility for the torture and abuse of detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan and Iraq lies at the very top levels of the Pentagon and the Bush assministration. Lynndie England’s lawyers are finally pointing us in the right direction. Army Pfc. Lynndie R. England, who appeared in iconic photos from the Abu Ghraib prison that shocked the world, is a “compliant personality” who abused Iraqi prisoners because military superiors told her to, her defense lawyer told a military jury Wednesday. In his opening statement to the all-male jury of five officers, England’s lawyer, Capt. Jonathan Crisp, sought to … Continue reading England Points Upwards

From Holden: Was it a Daily Show dream? Ponies for everyone, followed by a special segment on the gaggle featuring your Daily Les? Can life get any sweeter? Continue reading Ponies and Gaggles and Les — Oh My!

Texan First Drafters, stay safe. I wonder what we’ll hear in the next few days from the president, from the conservasphere, from George Will and Lisa Daniels and those worthless sacks of shit over at Powerline. I wonder if we’ll hear that nobody could have anticipated that a hurricane this strong would be hitting Texas. That there was no warning whatsoever. I wonder if we’ll hear that the right people are working within FEMA to get the problems solved and that they’re doing a heckuva job. I wonder if we’ll hear cries for help, and no answering calls. I wonder … Continue reading I’ve Seen This Movie

Dude. I love the fall fashion. I am all about the fall fashion this fall, you know why? Because I already have all this stuff. The catalogues crack me up. Buy a corduroy jacket! Velvet is hot this year! Get the vintage look for $499.99! Dude, go get the actual vintage for $49.99 and spend the rest on groceries for, say, the next year or so. Tweed skirts, check. Sweater coat, check. Gabardine suits, check. Plums and browns and deep forest greens, check. Who knew being cheap was finally going to come back in style? And it was poverty, for … Continue reading The Fall Fashion Post

From Holden: This, my friends, is a banner day in gaggle-obsessive history. For this is the day that Little Scottie criticized the President’s response to Hurricane Katrina. Q Well, Scott, continuing with what Steve said, how is what you’re doing for Rita different from what you did from Katrina? MR. McCLELLAN: Sure. A couple of things — one, the President is focused on making sure we have the strongest possible coordination with state and local governments in the path of Hurricane Rita. We hope Rita is not devastating, but we must be prepared for the worst. Coordination at all levels … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: The Federal Election Commission is suing the Club for Growth. The Federal Election Commission filed a lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington against the Club for Growth, the first case of its kind to arise from high-dollar fundraising during the 2004 elections. The pro-Republican group spent at least $21 million in the 2003-2004 election cycle. The FEC contends the club spent enough in federal races to require it to file with the commission as a political committee and to follow contribution and spending limits. It wants the court to fine the group and order it to … Continue reading Club for Graft

From Holden: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist dumped all of his stock in his family’s hospital corporation two weeks before a bad earnings report took a 15% bite out of the stock’s value. Yes, the stock was in a blind trust. But First ordered the trustee to sell his shares and those of his wife and children as the negative earnings report was being developed. His brother, Thomas Frist, Jr., directs the company, Hospital Corporation of America. Someone needs to check the telephone recrods of the Frist brothers. Frist held an undisclosed amount of stock in Hospital Corporation of America, … Continue reading Bill Frist, Inside Trader

From Holden: Don’t look now, Scottie, but your polls are showing. Q AP has a poll coming out this afternoon showing that, even since the President spoke to the nation last week that nearly six in ten Americans still disapprove of the job that he’s doing. Is he concerned that he’s not convincing Americans that he has a plan for Katrina recovery? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the President is acting on the priorities that are most important to the American people, like meeting the needs of the people affected by Katrina, prevailing in the war on terrorism, and addressing high gas … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

See, senator, if you look over here, you can see the full extent of the ass-kicking you’re about to lay down. Damn right it’s better than yours. Look, there’s no point to being in opposition to the current government if you don’t, actually, you know, oppose. No more chickenass Democrats. No more dithering around, forever in the shadow of an unpopular preznit and his about-to-be-indicted adviser. No more waiting until two months before the election to develop a position on something and declare that position loudly and proudly. Stand for something now. Vote no on Roberts. And damn the torpedoes. … Continue reading Happy Harry Photo

From Holden: Down in Mississippi, jawin’ with “Haley”, sounding like he needs a nice clean line. This is my brother Larry, and my brother Jerry, and my other brother Larry. We can do this” means a lot of things. It meant, like Larry Darden, who’s there — Jerry, stand up for a minute. Larry Darden rescued 20 people out of flood waters. I don’t care what you call them, just don’t call them late to dinner. And that can-do spirit is — these county commissioners — we call them county commissioners — county supervisors and mayors who are dealing with … Continue reading Your President Speaks

From Holden: Dan Froomkin does the heavy lifting. Here’s Peter H. Stone writing in the National Journal last year: “As presidential adviser Karl Rove set up shop in the West Wing in 2001, he was looking for an assistant to serve as the trusted gatekeeper of his new fiefdom. Superlobbyist and Republican fundraiser Jack Abramoff was happy to lend a hand. Abramoff knew just the right person for the job: his own assistant, Susan Ralston. She interviewed with Rove and got the position.” [snip] Ralston was in the news most recently for being summoned to testify in July before the … Continue reading Connecting the Dots Between Abramoff and Plame

From Holden: The U.S. says the Hitler Youth Pope should be immune from a civil suit regarding his role in covering up for pedophile priests. The U.S. government has told a Texas court that Pope Benedict XVI should be given immunity from a lawsuit accusing him of conspiring to cover up the sexual molestation of three boys by a seminarian, court documents show. Assistant U.S. Attorney General Peter Keisler said in Monday’s filing that, as pope, Benedict enjoys immunity as the head of a state — the Vatican. He said allowing the lawsuit to proceed would be ”incompatible with the … Continue reading Gay Hating Pope Immune

From Holden: Sez it all, don’t it? REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Continue reading Body Language