From Holden: Antonin Scalia is just another Whiny-Ass Titty-Baby Republican. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia grew tired of a persistent heckler Tuesday and asked organizers of a legal seminar to do something about the outbursts – gently. [snip] It was unclear what Aaron Yule, 23, of Boston, was asking when Scalia turned to organizers and said, “Can you, somebody …” Earlier, a microphone had been snatched from the man’s hand when he tried to engage the justice in debate. Scalia had asked him whether he had a question, “apart from insults.” After the man left, Scalia answered questions for about … Continue reading The WATB on the Court

From Holden: Every day in which the criminal Bush Assministration remains in office does further damage to the things we cherish the most. The Bureau of Land Management, caretaker of more land and wildlife than any federal agency, routinely restricts the ability of its own biologists to monitor wildlife damage caused by surging energy drilling on federal land, according to BLM officials and bureau documents. The officials and documents say that by keeping many wildlife biologists out of the field doing paperwork on new drilling permits and that by diverting agency money intended for wildlife conservation to energy programs, the … Continue reading Same Shit, Different Day

From Holden: Condoleezza Rice opens her incompetency tour in Egypt. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday began a four-day visit to the Middle East, where she hoped to persuade Arab leaders to cut off financial aid to Hamas. But she ran into trouble on her very first stop. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Egypt’s foreign minister, told her that Egypt believed funds to the Palestinian government should continue for an indefinite period, to give Hamas “time to develop their own ideas.” Egypt gives little if any money to the Palestinians. Still, Washington considers Cairo’s view to be influential, one reason Ms. … Continue reading Spelling Failure with a C

From Holden: Force-feeding prisoners, particularly in the manner adopted by US forces at Guantanamo Bay, is just another form of torture. The military commander responsible for the American detention center at Guantnamo Bay, Cuba, confirmed Tuesday that officials there last month turned to more aggressive methods to deter prisoners who were carrying out long-term hunger strikes to protest their incarceration. The commander, Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, head of the United States Southern Command, said soldiers at Guantnamo began strapping some of the detainees into “restraint chairs” to force-feed them and isolate them from one another after finding that some were … Continue reading They Got To Choose The Color Of Their Feeding Tubes

The right words: I agree that using the right words matters, so redeployment is probably a good word. But getting into this discussion about whether it’s a withdrawal or not strikes me as the wrong focus. The focus needs to stay on the fact that Iraq is a disaster and Bush has no plans for victory or for ever bringing our troops home, AND that lack of a plan is hurting us internationally and domestically as our troops are far overstretched and unable to respond to other concerns (Iran, helping fight the war on terror at home, responding to natural … Continue reading After Careful Consideration

From Holden: The White House now has a transcript of Chimpy’s UAE presser on their web site. I noticed Little Scottie helpfully added this information to the transcript: *FROM MR. McCLELLAN: These are some countries where Dubai has operations: Australia, China, Hong Kong, Romania, Germany, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Djibouti, India, Saudi Arabia. I feel better already. Continue reading If It’s Good Enogh for Djibouti, It’s Good Enough for Us

From Holden: Holy shit, does he sound pissed! [link via The Corner!] Loyalty has always been a big deal to Chimpy, and I take it he senses some disloyalty on the part of Senator Frist and other Republicans questioning this decision. Q Mr. President, leaders in Congress, including Senator Frist, have said that they’ll take action to stop the port control shift if you don’t reverse course on it. You’ve expressed your thoughts here, but what do you say to those in Congress who plan to take legislative action? THE PRESIDENT: They ought to listen to what I have to … Continue reading Your President Speaks!

From Scout: Video of Jack Cafferty today on not allowing port deal. (Click on play button) Continue reading Cafferty Speaks

From Holden: The sound you just heard was Michelle Maglagag having a cow. ”After careful review by our government, I believe the transaction ought to go forward,” Bush told reporters who had traveled with him on Air Force One to Washington. ”I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company. I am trying to conduct foreign policy now by saying to the people of the world, `We’ll treat you fairly.”’ Bush called reporters to his conference room … Continue reading AAARRRGHHH HRHRRHRH-MOOO!!!!!

From Holden: Only in America. Wearing vests covered in military patches, a band of motorcyclists rolls around the country from one soldier’s funeral to another, cheering respectfully to overshadow jeers from church protesters. They call themselves the Patriot Guard Riders, and they are more than 5,000 strong, forming to counter anti-gay protests held by the Rev. Fred Phelps at military funerals. Phelps believes American deaths in Iraq are divine punishment for a country that he says harbors homosexuals. His protesters carry signs thanking God for so-called IEDs — explosives that are a major killer of soldiers in Iraq. The bikers … Continue reading Bikers Against Bigots

From Holden: Chimpy traveled to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, today. That’s him in the middle, huffing ethanol (REUTERS/Jason Reed. He began with an attempt to explain why he cut 32 jobs at the lab before restoring them in time for his visit. I recognize that there has been some interesting — let me say — mixed signals when it comes to funding. The issue, of course, is whether or not good intentions are met with actual dollars spent. Part of the issue we face, unfortunately, is that there are sometimes decisions made, but as a result … Continue reading Your President Speaks!

From Scout: From CNN CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) — A federal grand jury indicted three Ohio men on terrorism charges alleging they planned attacks to kill U.S. and coalition military personnel in Iraq and other countries. SNIP El-Hindi is accused of trying to get a U.S. citizen with a military background to travel with him in November 2004 to the Middle East as part of the suspects’ plan to establish a terrorism training center. The indictment does not identify the military person, referring to him or her throughout the document as “the trainer.” Makes me wonder if the citizen cyber sleuths … Continue reading Hmmmmmm …..I wonder

From Holden: They’re not Ponch and John’s highway patrol. A 1,500-member Iraqi police force with close ties to Shiite militia groups has emerged as a focus of investigations into suspected death squads working within the country’s Interior Ministry. Iraq’s national highway patrol was established largely to stave off insurgent attacks on roadways. But U.S. military officials, interviewed over the last several days, say they suspect the patrol of being deeply involved in illegal detentions, torture and extrajudicial killings. The officials said that in recent months the U.S. has withdrawn financial and advisory support from the patrol in an effort to … Continue reading CHIPS, Iraqi Edition

From Holden: Today’s editorial in the Anniston Star (published in Anniston, Alabama) is entitled Worst Days. An excerpt. Cheney said in a televised interview last week that the day he shot Whittington was “one of the worst days of my life.” But every day in the United States and Iraq, people are suffering the worst days of their lives as they learn of the deaths of sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, and husbands and wives in a foolhardy war that is largely the doing of the vice president. The media spent last week obsessing over what Cheney had done … Continue reading Red State Red Meat

From Scout:

Former residents of public housing in NOLA want to know why they are not allowed to return to their apartments though they appear habitable. WWLTV reported on one such resident….

Although their home in the C.J. Peete housing development has no signs of flood or wind damage and is powered by electricity, they aren’t being allowed back in. What’s worse is that she’s facing a March 1 deadline to get out of the FEMA-paid hotel room she’s currently in.

Morgan doesn’t understand what the delay is in being allowed to return home to a place she says is even better than her hotel room.

“Look around, we don’t have no water damage,” she emphasized. “My children don’t deserve to go through this and it’s pitiful.”

Morgan shares the same frustration as hundreds of other public housing development residents who just want to go home.

Nadine Jarmon, a spokeswoman for the Housing Authority of New Orleans, said the organization is trying to rectify the situation.

“The one’s that we can reoccupy, we’re reoccupying,” she said.

SNIP

When questioned as to why more residents couldn’t occupy second and third floors of developments as many private homeowners are doing, Jarmon said that in many instances residents would have to travel through first floors that remain heavily-damaged with mold and sludge to get to the second and third floors, making the risk unacceptable.

Ebony Morgan said she’s willing to do what it takes to speed up the process.

“I will work for these people. A lot of our residents will work for them and they just need to let us come home.”

This is where it gets Controversial. Apparently the hang-up is due in large part to the message that went out Monday …… if you don’t want to work, don’t return to New Orleans. According to the Times Picayune, Jarmon appeared before the Housing Committee meeting of the New Orleans City Council on Monday and related that they are instituting changes in criteria for accepting residents that are “designed to yield a hardier crop of residents than before the storm.”

(continues after the jump)

Continue reading “Well This Will Be Controversial”

From Holden: Orrin Hatch in the The St. George Daily Spectrum (via ThinkProgress, who in turn came to me via Eschaton): Nobody denies that [Saddam Hussein] was supporting al-Qaeda…Well, I shouldn’t say nobody. Nobody with brains. That Hatch sure can call ’em. September 17, 2003: PRESIDENT BUSH: “We’ve had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the September 11th.” Continue reading Hatch Is Right!

From Holden: Iraqi Prime Minister al-Jaafari did not appreciate the empty threats of the US ambassador. Iraq’s Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari angrily dismissed on Tuesday U.S. warnings to shun sectarianism in the country’s new government, saying Iraqis would not accept interference in their affairs. Speaking after talks with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who echoed the U.S. call for a government of national unity in Iraq, the normally calm and diplomatic Jaafari said Iraq knew its own best interests. “When someone asks us whether we want a sectarian government the answer is ’no we do not want a sectarian government’ … Continue reading Who’s The Puppet Now, Bitch?

From Holden: Strangers in the night, exchanging contracts… The Dubai firm that won Bush administration backing to run six U.S. ports has at least two ties to the White House. One is Treasury Secretary John Snow, whose department heads the federal panel that signed off on the $6.8 billion sale of an English company to government-owned Dubai Ports World – giving it control of Manhattan’s cruise ship terminal and Newark’s container port. Snow was chairman of the CSX rail firm that sold its own international port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion in 2004, the year after Snow left … Continue reading Dubai Dubai-Doo

From Holden: At Condi’s State Department. A State Department reorganization of analysts involved in preventing the spread of deadly weapons has spawned internal turmoil, with more than half a dozen career employees alleging in interviews that political appointees sought to punish long-term employees whose views they considered suspect. Senior State Department officials deny that and say an investigation has found that the proper personnel practices were followed. But three officials involved in the reorganization, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, acknowledge that a merger of two bureaus reduced the influence of … Continue reading Same Shit, Different Day

From Holden: The gagglers want to know if the president practices what he is preaching this week. Q Does the President use any solar energy at the ranch? Or does he or any member of his family use a hybrid or flex-fuel car? MR. McCLELLAN: Let me get you an update on that. There is some stuff they do to improve energy efficiency, I believe. But let me check on that. I guess that’s a no. What about the president’s new fictional science advisor? Q Do you take Michael Crichton on the issue seriously? MR. McCLELLAN: What’s your question? Q … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with [Yesterday’s] Gaggle

From Holden: It’s nearly impossible to get Chimpy to give up his torture fetish, but at least someone tried. One of the Pentagon’s top civilian lawyers repeatedly challenged the Bush administration’s policy on the coercive interrogation of terror suspects, arguing that such practices violated the law, verged on torture and could ultimately expose senior officials to prosecution, a newly disclosed document shows. The lawyer, Alberto J. Mora, a political appointee who retired Dec. 31 after more than four years as general counsel of the Navy, was one of many dissenters inside the Pentagon. Senior uniformed lawyers in all the military … Continue reading Fighting Torture at the Pentagon

What a snotty bunch of fuckwits they are over at the Times. A. Continue reading Blogger Ethics

You know what we need today? Some funny. A. Continue reading James Lipton wants to see my WHAT?

Jesus Christ on cornbread. A. Continue reading Our Moral Society

Getting to be Fitzmas time again. A. Continue reading A Partridge In A Pear Tree

Anytime anybody wants to start asking why our big-codpieced preznit hasn’t caught this guy yet, that’d be great: In the tape posted to the Web site Monday, bin Laden offered the United States a long-term truce but also said his al-Qaida terror network would soon launch a fresh attack on American soil. The tape was initially broadcast Jan. 19 on Al-Jazeera, the pan-Arab satellite channel. Islamic militant Web forums often repost messages from al-Qaida leaders to ensure sympathizers can see them. U.S. intelligence officials confirmed that last month’s tape was of bin Laden — making it his first message in … Continue reading National Security

From Scout: Yesterday from BBC Attacks by insurgents on Iraq’s oil industry cost the country $6.25bn (£3.6bn) in lost revenue during 2005, according to the Iraqi oil ministry. A total of 186 attacks were carried out on oil sites last year, claiming the lives of 47 engineers and 91 police and security guards, a spokesman said. US officials say the cost of rebuilding Iraq could reach more than $56bn. Also consider this from the former commander of Multi-National Corps-Iraq Lt. Gen. John Vines in January 2006…….. “There are not many ways to legally make money when oil flows from a … Continue reading Iraq Oil Revenue Now and Then

From Scout: “At 72, Lois Martin is camping out in her moldy, half-gutted 9th Ward home — determined to rebuild”……..Just go read Some people really are incredible. Continue reading Surviving

Welcome to our party: THAT THE UNITED STATES Senate has a body called the Intelligence Committee is an irony George Orwell would have truly appreciated. In a world without Doublespeak, the panel, chaired by GOP Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, would be known by a more appropriate name — the Senate Coverup Committee. Although the committee is officially charged with overseeing the nation’s intelligence-gathering operations, its real function in recent years has been to prevent the public from getting hold of any meaningful information about the Bush administration. Hence its never-ending delays of the probe into the bogus weapons intelligence … Continue reading LA Times

Would you change? This is not a matter of “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” Pogo is too gentle for this situation. Dick Cheney has ruined that excuse for us now. We are not ultimately the ones who pulled the trigger. We are the trigger. We are the finger, we are the gun, we are the bullets. We own this, lock, stock and barrel. We did this. We chose this path, we accepted this solution, we took charge of this answer. Anyone who thought war was a valid option, that invading Afghanistan was a good response to … Continue reading If Everything You Think You Know Makes Your Life Unbearable