From Holden: Juan Cole explains just what’s up with the British in Basra. Continue reading Basra Gone To Shit

From Holden: Who knew Judith Miller was so popular? [F]or 30 minutes nearly every day, the world comes to her: A parade of prominent government and media officials, 99 in all, visited Miller between early July, when she was jailed for refusing to be questioned by a federal prosecutor, and Labor Day, according to a document obtained by The Washington Post. The who’s who of friends, supporters and Washington and New York luminaries includes John Bolton, President Bush’s new ambassador to the United Nations; former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw; and former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan. Gonzalo Marroquin, president … Continue reading Judy’s Friends

From Holden: Getting back into the gaggle groove we find Little Scottie leaving an opening for Helen Thomas. MR. McCLELLAN: The policies that this President has pursued are bold ones and they are ones that are achieving real results for all Americans. The President, from day one, has been acting to move forward on bold initiatives to produce real results that are helping all Americans. [snip] Q If he was so bold, why do we have 37 million people living below the poverty line? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, do you want me to go back and talk about the economy? Q … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: The first of many criminal indictments of current and former Bush Assministration officials came yesterday, as you no doubt know already. We need to start a betting pool on the unlitmate number who will face charges. Will they break the Reagan Administration’s modern record of 138 appointees who either resigned under an ethical cloud or were criminally indicted? Stay tuned. Continue reading Mark it Down

Pregnant priest not a crackhead! A. Continue reading Department of I Swear It’s Not An Onion Headline

From Tena: Senator John Kerry’s Speech at Brown University Remarks As Prepared for Delivery Providence, RI – I want to thank you for what the Brown community has done to help and comfort the many victims of Hurricane Katrina. This horrifying disaster has shown Americans at their best — and their government at its worst. And that’s what I’ve come to talk with you about today. The incompetence of Katrina’s response is not reserved to a hurricane. There’s an enormous gap between Americans’ daily expectations and government’s daily performance. And the gap is growing between the enduring strength of the … Continue reading Wow

From Tena: But at this stage of the game, barring some imaginative political moves that bear some resemblance to the Bush Administration circa 2002, Republicans on Capitol Hill and even some longtime Bush team members in various Cabinet level departments say this Administration is done for. “You run down the list of things we thought we could accomplish and you have to wonder what we thought we were thinking,” says a Bush Administration member who joined on in 2001. “You get the impression that we’re more than listless. We’re sunk.” the quote is from this article at the Spectator. If … Continue reading Could this be true?

From Tena: Immigration memo intended for Rove arrives on Democrat’s fax An immigration memo intended for embattled White House advisor Karl Rove arrived instead on the fax machine of a Democratic congressman, RAW STORY can reveal. The congressman who received the fax opted not to comment, and asked that his name not be used. The focus of Smith’s memo, addressed to “Hon. Karl Rove,” is on immigration politics. “Immigration needs to be considered in the context of: (1). Media Bias, (2). Animosity toward the president and (3) the feelings of the Republican base,” Smith’s memo states. Smith is a member … Continue reading Memo on Immigration intended for Rove winds up on Democratic fax machine

From Holden: Chimpy snags his worst job approval rating ever in the latest FOX News poll: Approve – 41% (-4) Disapprove – 51% (+1) Unsure – 8% (+3) I particularly like how the increase in the “Unsure” number came entirely from the “Approve” column. Nearly 9% of the dead-enders who supported him at the end of August have shifted away. Continue reading The Unkindest Cut

From Tena: Jerome offers Holden another pony: Haha, you’d think they’d start rolling heads at somepoint here in the clueless administration. New SUSA tracking poll info: 3 polling days after George W. Bush’s prime-time speech to the nation from Jackson Square in New Orleans, a “can’t win” dynamic is unfolding for the President, according to exclusive SurveyUSA data gathered Friday 9/16, Saturday 9/17 and Sunday 9/18. The number of Americans who now approve of the President’s response to Hurricane Katrina is down: 40% today compared to 42% before he announced the Gulf Opportunity Zone. The number of Americans who disapprove … Continue reading Holden’s going to have to buy some more pony chow

From Tena: from Corrente, this update on the changes in Medicare that are due to take affect in January: � Here it comes: the old one-two punch: “The Bush administration announced on Friday that the basic Medicare premium would shoot up next year 13 percent, to $88.50 a month, mainly because of the increased use of doctors’ services. Many beneficiaries will pay an additional premium for the new prescription drug benefit, expected to average $32 a month. So the combined premiums for doctors’ services, outpatient hospital care and prescription drugs will average slightly more than $120 a month.” People on … Continue reading We took care of the poor, now it’s back to the sick and elderly

He’s done with this, it goes in here: Breaking with tradition under which US presidents mute criticisms of their successors, Clinton said the Bush administration had decided to invade Iraq “virtually alone and before UN inspections were completed, with no real urgency, no evidence that there were weapons of mass destruction.” The Iraq war diverted US attention from the war on terrorism “and undermined the support that we might have had,” Bush said in an interview with an ABC’s “This Week” programme. Clinton said there had been a “heroic but so far unsuccessful” effort to put together an constitution that … Continue reading Bill’s Had It

Danny Glover, making me glad I saw Lethan Weapon 3 about fifteen times, and Harry Belafonte, making me glad I have lots of his music on the iPod. “When the hurricane struck, it did not turn the region into a Third World country … it revealed one,” actor and activist Danny Glover said in a speech with Harry Belafonte in which both criticized the government, not only for the response to the hurricane but for the conditions prior to it. “Katrina was not unforeseeable,” Belafonte said. “It was the result of a political structure that subcontracts its responsibility to private … Continue reading Why Do Jazz Musicians Hate America?

Well, Tena’s and my fears were for naught: Bush’s approval ratings on Katrina went DOWN since that speech. Why anyone grants this president any kind of deference whatsoever beyond the simple courtesy due his office is utterly beyond me. Any part of his agenda that we can hold up or obstruct in any way, we should. People don’t like this guy anymore. They don’t like the way he’s handled Iraq, they don’t like the way he’s handled Katrina, and they don’t like how he’s doing his job. They got suckered into voting for him because otherwise Jesus would make them … Continue reading It’s Okay To Hit Them With The Chair Now

Conservative college columnist who called for strip-searching of any Arab or American of Arab heritage who dared get near an airport now plays the Ann Coulter defense: I can admit I’m wrong: I was. I’ve apologized for offending people who didn’t deserve to be disrespected. I’ll do it again and again. But I stand my ground in that there was a severe lack of judgment in my removal from the paper. My choice of words for the column may not have been appropriate. They may constitute a poor use of satire. But they weren’t unethical. I’m a big advocate of … Continue reading Look, Becky

No matter how many years I’m away from academic schedule, fall still seems to me like the true beginning of the year, and fall rushed in here this week with a cold wind and a rattle of the windows and it felt so good to wear a sweater for the first time. I have perfume with cinnamon in it and clove, and a bike I’m eager to ride through the leaves. Spent the afternoon wandering through this,. This is the time when things start, it seems, projects, plans, stocking up on tomatoes and apples to make pies and sauces for … Continue reading Autumn Moon

As always, don’t click “read more” if you don’t want to read spoilers.

Continue reading “An Act of Faith: Galactica Thread”

This is not the first time that O’Reilly has expressed concern about the threat of marriage with farm animals. Source here. A. Continue reading The Best Sentence EVER

Zoe, this is the Internet. Internet, this is Zoe. Zoe’s the brand-new darling daughter of two dear friends of mine. She’s also my godchild, so any suggestions from any of you about how to spoil her rotten would be most welcome. A. Continue reading An Introduction

A. Continue reading Friday Afternoon Caption Contest: Arnold Edition

From the Trib’s analysis, which sounds like an asskissing if you ignore all the barbs stuck in here and there: It was in many ways a masterly speech, filled with empathy, poetry and a clearly articulated plan to address the costliest natural disaster in the nation’s history. But the words were late in coming and delivered by a president who delivers calls for cuts in government as applause lines. “History is sometimes the moment a bell rings,” said Douglas Brinkley, a historian and professor at the University of New Orleans. “He had a historic opportunity to seize this and become … Continue reading It’s The Timing, Stupid

A. Continue reading Friday Ferretblogging: Grooming Edition

Kerry: “Leadership isn’t a speech or a toll-free number. Leadership is getting the job done. No American doubts that New Orleans will rise again, they doubt the competence and commitment of this Administration. Weeks after Katrina, Americans want an end to politics-as-usual that leaves them dangerously and unforgivably unprepared. Americans want to know that their government will be there when it counts with leadership that keeps them safe, not speeches in the aftermath to explain away the inexcusable.” A. Continue reading The Shadow President Speaks

Transcript of Speech here. Tena’s in bold. I’m in white wine and penne with pesto. I’m watching CBS. Schieffer’s sucking Bush off: the other day he said he takes responsibility. Wow, yeah, it’s pretty telling that that’s a remarkable thing. He was trying to get Pontchartrain out right and did not make it. He looks stoned. This is very weirdly framed. It’s in too close. I can see his lipliner. This has Karen Hughes all over it – puke. People in New Orleans were left at the mercy of criminals. Left by WHO? WHO LEFT THEM? Criminals – YOU and … Continue reading If Tena And I Gave Our Livers A Death Wish: Chimpy’s National Address Liveblog

From Holden: There was a time when George W. Bush didn’t need a woman’s permission to pee. The break happened not long after a boozy election-night wake for Blount, who lost his Senate bid to the incumbent Democrat, John Sparkman. Leaving the election-night “celebration,” [Bush’s Alabama girlfriend Linda] Allison remembers encountering George W. Bush in the parking lot, urinating on a car, and hearing later about how he’d yelled obscenities at police officers that night. Continue reading Glory Days

From Holden: Those high energy prices my be good for Chimpy’s base but they are taking a big bite out of our wallets Higher energy prices took a sizeable bite out of consumers’ wallets in August as inflation rose and negated the value of wage increases, the government reported today. The consumer price index increased 0.5 percent last month, mostly because of higher gasoline and energy costs, the Labor Department said. Excluding energy and food, the core rate of the consumer price index rose 0.1 percent, less than the 0.2 percent that economists had expected. Compared with August 2004, prices … Continue reading Inflation Deflates My Bush Boom

From Holden: Everybody seems to love the Chimpy’s note asking Condi for permission to go Air Force One during a meeting of the UN Security Council yesterday. Newspapers had a field day with the image, particularly the foreign press. And of course it was a hot topic with bloggers generating more than 14,000 posts. Many of the bloggers photoshopped their own messages over the image. Here’s a small sample: NTodd Attaturk Gen. J. C. Christian Norbizness Pinko Punko Continue reading Best of the Piss Note Photoshoppers

From Holden: Knowing the president for the petulant child that he is I had very little doubt that yesterday’s photo of him scribbling a note to Condi requesting a potty break was real. Now we have confirmation from Reuters. REUTERS/Rick Wilking In what seems destined to become one of the most joked about photos of the month, a well-known Reuters photographer on Wednesday captured President George W. Bush scribbling a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a session at the United Nations. On the note is a message revolving around the need to take a “bathroom break.” The … Continue reading The Real Deal

From Holden: Check it out at ThinkProgress. Continue reading Condi vs. Condi

From Holden: Reading yesterday’s gaggle transcript I learned that Chimpy’s Big Speech tonight will be presented in an undisclosed location before an audience of none. Because he’s an extremely unpopular president and a bit of a chickenshit. Q Where will he be making the remarks and who is going to be there with him? MR. McCLELLAN: He will be — I’m not going to get into the precise location right now. He’ll be in New Orleans. There will not be an audience, if that’s what your question is. I expect the remarks will probably be a little under 30 minutes. … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle