From Holden: Looks like the White House is about to shit a brick over the prospect for impeachment. The Bush administration is bracing for impeachment hearings in Congress. “A coalition in Congress is being formed to support impeachment,” an administration source said. Sources said a prelude to the impeachment process could begin with hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee in February. They said the hearings would focus on the secret electronic surveillance program and whether Mr. Bush violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Administration sources said the charges are expected to include false reports to Congress as well as … Continue reading Chimpeachment

From Holden: I think by now we all realize that every word Bush speaks is a lie. The White House was told in the hours before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans that the city would probably soon be inundated with floodwater, forcing the long-term relocation of hundreds of thousands of people, documents to be released Tuesday by Senate investigators show. A Homeland Security Department report submitted to the White House at 1:47 a.m. on Aug. 29, hours before the storm hit, said, “Any storm rated Category 4 or greater will likely lead to severe flooding and/or levee breaching.” The internal … Continue reading It’s Lying Time Again

Forbes has this, from the Associated Press: http://www.forbes.com/business/businesstech/feeds/ap/2006/01/23/ap2469841.html about today’s FBI announcement that they’ve discovered “fraud” by officials following Hurricane Katrina. Meanwhile, more than 3,200 people remain missing after the storm, according to this AP article dated Friday: Baton Rouge (AP) – More than 3 200 people are officially still unaccounted for nearly five months after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. A total of nearly 11 500 people were reported missing to the Find Family National Call Centre, a centre run by federal and state workers. The reports included people from throughout the Gulf Coast area, but most were … Continue reading Shocked, shocked I tell you!

From Holden: Ooops! Maybe putting NSA flunky Michael Hayden out front to defend Chimpy’s extra-consitutional spying was not such a good idea. Gen. Michael V. Hayden, who led the National Security Agency when it began a program of warrantless wiretaps, vigorously defended the program today, but acknowledged that it depends on a lower standard of evidence than required by courts. “The trigger is quicker and a bit softer,” said General Hayden, an Air Force officer who is now the principal deputy director of the new national intelligence agency. [snip] The standard laid out by General Hayden – a “reasonable basis … Continue reading Lower Standard of Evidence Used for Warrantless Snooping

From Holden: Today Scottie is still trying to keep some distance between Chimpy and the AbramOffal. Q On the Abramoff pictures. You had said last week that if we had something specific, that you would then explain further about the connections between the President and the White House and Mr. Abramoff. Can you talk about the specific circumstances surrounding these pictures, and exactly the range of contacts that Mr. Abrmaoff had? MR. McCLELLAN: I can talk — let me repeat some of what I have said previously. First of all, the Department of Justice is holding Mr. Abramoff and others … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: The latest ARG Poll is Ponylicious. Among all Americans, 36% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 58% disapprove. When it comes to Bush’s handling of the economy, 34% approve and 60% disapprove. Among Americans registered to vote, 37% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 58% disapprove. When it comes to the way Bush is handling the economy, 35% of registered voters approve of the way Bush is handling the economy and 60% disapprove. A total of 14% of Americans say the national economy is getting better, … Continue reading Pony-Up, Beeyotch!

From Holden: Attacks agains US and Iraqi forces were up by nearly a third in 2005. The number of attacks against coalition troops, Iraqi security forces and civilians increased 29% last year. Insurgents launched 34,131 attacks last year, up from 26,496 the year before, according to U.S. military figures released Sunday. [snip] In 2005, 2,713 Iraqi police and military were killed, according to the Brookings Institute, a Washington-based think tank. Similar numbers for 2004 were not available, and Iraq’s government has not released comprehensive casualty numbers for Iraqi security forces. Thousands of Iraqi civilians have also been killed, but no … Continue reading Another Sign of Progress

From Holden: E-mail messages sent by Texas Governor Rick Perry’s staff in the days following Katrina’s landfall are pretty revealing. As desperate people fled hurricane-ravaged New Orleans in search of food and shelter last fall, Gov. Rick Perry publicly welcomed them to Texas with the open arms of a caring neighbor. But behind the scenes, Perry’s administration quickly began discussing how to quell the flood of humanity pouring into the state while protecting the governor’s image, according to e-mail released to the Houston Chronicle under the state’s Public Information Act. “Question between you and I,” Perry’s communications director, Eric Bearse, … Continue reading Compassionate Conservatism At Work

From Holden: Some of the enlisted men and women who took the blame for the torture of Iraqi detainees are beginning to speak out. Stepping into the Abu Ghraib prison for the first time, Megan Ambuhl was stunned. There were naked men in dusty cells, male prisoners wearing women’s underwear, others hooded and shackled in contorted positions to metal railings. An enlisted officer giving her a tour of the U.S. facility in October 2003 pointed to a group of detainees chained to a cell. He said the bars had often “been decorated like a Christmas tree,” with prisoners as ornaments. … Continue reading The Scapegoats Speak

From Holden: Despite Little Scottie’s repeated claims that Chimpy does not know Jack Abramoff, someone is shopping around several photos of the two together. They were first shown to The Washingtonian. The Washingtonian has seen five photos of the President with Abramoff or his family. One photo shows the President and Abramoff shaking hands at a meeting in the Old Executive Office Building, where a bearded-Abramoff introduced Bush to several of the lobbyist’s native-American clients. [snip] Sources say the photographs are being kept safe. Abramoff would tell prosecutors, if asked, that not only did he know the President, but the … Continue reading George and Jack, Sitting in a Tree…

From here: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0601/S00284.htm comes John Conyers’ opening statement on the hearings into the NSA’s illegal spying on Americans yesterday, part of which I quote — The Bush Administration offers two arguments to justify their actions. ,First, they assert, that warrantless searches were authorized by the Afghanistan use of force resolution. Second, they say, the Constitution permits and even mandates such actions. To this member and indeed to most of our nation’s legal community, neither argument is remotely plausible or credible. … Perhaps what is most troubling of all is that if we let this domestic spying program continue, if we … Continue reading Voice in the Wilderness

Since I’m on the road and won’t see this episode until I get back next Sunday, consider this an open thread to talk about the ep, the Starbuck, and all our usual Sci-Fi geekery. I’ve been listening to Moore’s podcasts after the episodes lately, and it’s a lot to get through, but in your spare time, take a listen to the one from last week’s show. Because while I didn’t cry when I watched Adama kiss Roslin, listening to Moore try to talk about it (but get all choked up and incoherently emotional and reverent instead) just about put me … Continue reading Saturday Galactica Thread

Another Turkish child has died of the H5N1 influenza, bringing the worldwide death toll from avian influenza to 80 in the 3 years since the WHO and CDC started watching this particular virus. Here http://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic are lists the US government wants you to use as you prepare for a pandemic influenza outbreak. Should such an outbreak occur, the government wants you to know, you can expect your childrens’ schools to be shut down; you should expect public transportation and other public utilities — things like water, electricity, sewer service — to fail. You’re supposed to be ready for a total … Continue reading Foreshadowing?

Y’all liked the guestblogging so much, we’re gonna do it again! From today until Jan. 30, frequent commenter BlackSheepOne will be filling in for me while I’m traveling. The usual instructions: get the peanut butter off the ceiling before I come home, don’t let Holden’s pony eat after midnight, and try not to drink all the scotch the first day. Ration yourselves. The chinchillas get pissy when we run out of booze. A. Continue reading On The Road Again

First, a trip in the way-back machine to when we first got Fox. We bathed him in the sink. You can see for yourselves how much he loves that. So much so that, even now, when he hears the water running he tries to hide under his fatter younger brother: A. Continue reading Friday Ferretblogging

So, yeah. When I said a couple of months ago that I wouldn’t be plugging the book again? That was inartfully worded. In fact, the Great First Draft Book Tour will be hitting the Badger State next month! On Tuesday, Feb. 14, I’ll be reading from this book: at the Wilmar Comunity Center, 953 Jenifer St., Madison, WI 53703 at 6:30 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Madison Area Peace Coalition and Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative. It’s especially cool because when I lived in Madison, I worked in a bookstore just up the street from Rainbow, and some of my … Continue reading First Draft Live: Wisconsin Edition

From Holden: Osama may not dominate Chimpy’s thoughts, but he sure did dominate today’s gaggle. Q He seemed to be offering a conditional truce under fair conditions, and seemed to be tying it to a U.S. pullout from Iraq. MR. McCLELLAN: And as I indicated, clearly, the al Qaeda leaders and the terrorists are on the run. They’re under a lot of pressure. We do not negotiate with terrorists. We put them out of business. Oooh, tough talk there, flabman. So how come Osama is still in business? Q Scott, you said three-quarters of al Qaeda leadership who’s been captured … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: Today Chimpy was in Loudoun County, Virginia today. Ostensibly to talk up the economy, but he was really all over the map. Distinct Extinction So the death tax was put on its way to extinction. I said, put on its way to distinction, the problem is the way the law was written, it’s coming back to life in 2011, which is going to make some interesting estate issues, particularly in 2010. Tax Raise Bad Failure to make tax relief permanent is a tax raise on the working people and the small businesses in this country. Drain Bammage If … Continue reading Your President Speaks!

From Holden: Although this time it sounds more like jury tampering. Throughout the six-month trial that led to Richard Scrushy’s acquittal in the $2.7 billion fraud at HealthSouth Corp., a small, influential newspaper consistently printed articles sympathetic to the defense of the fired CEO. Audry Lewis, the author of those stories in The Birmingham Times, the city’s oldest black-owned paper, now says she was secretly working on behalf of Scrushy, who she says paid her $11,000 through a public relations firm and typically read her articles before publication. Continue reading More Payola

From Holden: More bad signs for the housing market. New housing starts fell sharply in December and building permits fell to their lowest level since May, the government reported today. The numbers appear to reflect the effect of the slight slowing in the housing market from a peak established during the summer of last year. The Commerce Department said the number of homes that builders started constructing last month fell 8.9 percent, to an annual pace of 1.93 million, and the number of permits issued dropped 4.4 percent, to a pace of 2.07 million. [snip] Economists had expected housing starts … Continue reading My Bush Boom Sounds Like A Bursting Bubble

From Holden: Big Brother wants your internet porn. The Bush administration, seeking to revive an online pornography law struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, has subpoenaed Google Inc. for details on what its users have been looking for through its popular search engine. Google has refused to comply with the subpoena, issued last year, for a broad range of material from its databases, including a request for 1 million random Web addresses and records of all Google searches from any one-week period, lawyers for the U.S. Justice Department said in papers filed Wednesday in federal court in San Jose. … Continue reading I’m Sure Clarence Thomas Will Object

From Holden: Under the Dem’s lobbying reform plan poor ole Trent can’t have lobbyists pay for his fillet mignon and lobster. “Now we’re going to say you can’t have a meal for more than 20 bucks,” said Senator Trent Lott, Republican of Mississippi. “Where are you going, to McDonald’s?” Continue reading Trent Lott’s Unhappy Meal

From Holden: As a long-time Scotie watcher, I’ve noticed a trend. Whenever serious questions about criminality in the White House are posed in the gaggle, McClellan tries to intimidate the press by demanding that the questioner provide specific information about alleged wrongdoing to the appropriate authorities. It’s been a very effective tool for stiffling legitimate inquires for some time now. I first noticed Scottie using this method during the September 29, 2003, gaggle which was the first held after then-DCI George Tenet referred the Plame case to the Justice Department. Scottie first used it on Helen Thomas. Q Does he … Continue reading Do You Have Specific Information to Bring To My Attention?

From Holden: Via watertiger Brownie says, “Yeah, I suck.”. Former FEMA Director Michael Brown on Wednesday accepted a greater share of the blame for the government’s failures after Hurricane Katrina, saying he fell short in conveying the magnitude of the disaster and calling for help. “I should have asked for the military sooner. I should have demanded the military sooner,” Brown told a gathering of meteorologists at a ski resort in the Sierra Nevada. “It was beyond the capacity of the state and local governments, and it was beyond the capacity of FEMA,” said Brown, former head of the Federal … Continue reading Not So Heckuva After All

From Holden: Chimpy’s warrantless snooping program is illegal, and so were his “consultations” with Congress in regards to his illegal program. A legal analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service concludes that the Bush administration’s limited briefings for Congress on the National Security Agency’s domestic eavesdropping without warrants are “inconsistent with the law.” The analysis was requested by Representative Jane Harman, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, who said in a Jan. 4 letter to President Bush that she believed the briefings should be open to all the members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. Instead, the … Continue reading Adding to the Rap Sheet

Gotta say, loving Max Baucus a little bit here: Before Senate Democrats met to discuss the nomination, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., emerged from a morning meeting with Alito and said he would vote against President Bush’s Supreme Court nominee as too far outside the mainstream of judicial thinking. “He’s just not right for Montana, he’s just not right for America,” Baucus said. “He’s very polished and he answered all of the questions I was going to ask. There is just a little too much inconsistency.” Baucus said he is concerned that Alito leans toward giving too much power to the … Continue reading To The Max

From Holden: Judd Leggum has Helen Thomas’ question of the day but I also liked the exchange that ensued from her follow-up. Q My questions is, in the first place — I gather you can go on to the next question. Will the President abide by the ban on torture of prisoners of war that is very specified in the military spending bill? I mean, his signing statement does not seem to go along with that. MR. McCLELLAN: Actually, I think you ought to look at the op-ed that was issued by Robert McCallum over at the Department of Justice … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: Who can deny it? The Bush administration has a deliberate strategy of abusing terror suspects during interrogations, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday in its annual report on the treatment of people in more than 70 countries. The human rights group based its conclusions mostly on statements by senior administration officials in the past year, and said President Bush’s reassurances that the United States does not torture suspects were deceptive and rang hollow. Continue reading Shame

From Holden: Sucks to be an ally, don’t it? Rome prosecutors said Wednesday they had sought help from the United States in locating an American soldier believed to have shot an Italian secret service agent at a checkpoint in Iraq last year. The United States, however, has not responded to Italian requests for details of the soldier’s identity and hometown, prosecutor Erminio Amelio said. Amelio identified the soldier as Mario Lozano, and said prosecutors planned to charge him in the death of Italian agent Nicola Calipari, who was killed by U.S. gunfire as he was heading to Baghdad airport on … Continue reading Rule of Law

From Holden: Today it was revealed that… A high-level intelligence assessment by the Bush administration concluded in early 2002 that the sale of uranium from Niger to Iraq was “unlikely” because of a host of economic, diplomatic and logistical obstacles, according to a secret memo that was recently declassified by the State Department. [snip] The memo, dated March 4, 2002, was distributed at senior levels by the office of Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and by the Defense Intelligence Agency. Condoleezza Rice, Laura Bush’s choice as the first woman president of the United States, was the National Security Advisor … Continue reading Condiliar