From Holden: It’s not surprising that the US trade deficit set another record last year. What is surprising (to me at least) is that the record 2005 trade deficit was a full 20% higher than the record 2004 trade deficit. America’s deficit in the broadest measure of international trade surged to an all-time high of $804.9 billion last year as the country went deeper into debt to foreigners. The Commerce Department said that the deficit in the current acccount was up 20.4 percent from the previous record of $668.1 billion set in 2004. The current account is the best measure … Continue reading My Bush Boom Lies Over The Ocean

From Holden: Chimpy does indeed tool around in custom made socks with the Presidential Seal embroidered on them. Remember his bike ride with Lance Armstrong? And the president, who also gave his guests riding socks with the presidential seal, offered understated praise for Armstrong’s skills, saying: “He’s a good rider.” OK, it’s one thing to give a memento away to guest, quite another to wear them youself on your daily ride. REUTERS/Mannie Garcia What kind of petty, insecure creature behaves this way? Continue reading Oh My God, It’s True

A. Continue reading Sexy Democrat Photo: RUSS! Edition

This interview was done before the lovely and talented Scout joined us here, but go on and have a look anyway. A. Continue reading We Get Press

From Holden: Regarding the destruction of the mosque in Samara: Immediately after the attack, I said that Iraq faced a moment of choosing — and in the days that followed, the Iraqi people made their choice. They looked into the abyss and did not like what they saw. After the bombing, most Iraqis saw what the perpetuators of this attack were trying to do: The enemy had failed to stop the January 2005 elections, they failed to stop the constitutional referendum, they failed to stop the December elections, and now they’re trying to stop the formation of a unity government. Continue reading Your President Speaks!

From Holden: If it’s Monday, the it must be time for another slap-fight between Little Scottie and David Gregory. Q Scott, this is the vision, but I’m asking you a question about reality on the ground. And part of that reality — you talk about the strategy for war. There’s a new book out by Bernard Trainor and by Mike Gordon of The New York Times, where they’ve looked at the actual combat phase of the war — the President says that’s been over for a long time now. But, specifically, it makes the case — through interviews and other … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: In the morning gaggle today. When asked if today’s speech audience had been handpicked, McClellan responded that the event is being hosted by the Foundation for Defense of Democracy and that they distributed the tickets. And just what is the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, you ask? Board of Directors Steve Forbes Board Member CEO Forbes Magazine Jack Kemp Chairman Fmr. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Board Member Fmr. Ambassador to the UN Distinguished Advisors Judge Louis J. Freeh Fmr. Director of the FBI Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) U.S. Senate Newt Gingrich Fmr. … Continue reading The All-Time All-Shitty List

From Holden: There go the Brits. Britain said Monday it will cut its forces in Iraq by 10 percent — a reduction of about 800 troops — by May because Iraqi security forces are becoming more capable of handling security. Defense Secretary John Reid said Britain’s commitment to the Iraqi people “remains total.” [snip] Reid said the country is not at the stage “where whole provinces could be taken under the responsibility of Iraqi security forces. [snip] Britain had 46,000 military personnel in Iraq during combat operations in March and April 2003. That dropped to 18,000 in May 2004, and … Continue reading It’s Bloody Cut And Run Then, Isn’t It?

From Scout: From the Times Picayune You know it’s bad when country music stars turn on the President. But that’s exactly what happened yesterday when Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, both natives of the Gulf Coast, met with reporters to talk about their upcoming tour, but ended up venting their frustration with the cleanup efforts along the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The above paragraph links to this story….. When asked by reporters during Wednesday’s round table about the government’s slow progress, Hill, 38, said, “It’s wrong. It’s embarrassing. It really gets us fired up. That’s our … Continue reading When you’ve lost country music….

From Holden: REUTERS/Mannie Garcia Sheesh. I don’t even want to think about what he’s had embroidered on his underoos. Continue reading Is That The Presidential Seal I See On Bush’s Socks?

From Holden: The man being threatened by a dog in this image was a high-value detainee that the Bush Assministration was particularly interested in interrogating. This particular use of military working dogs to threaten detaniees can be traced straight to the top. When Army Sgt. Michael J. Smith faces a court-martial today on charges that he used his military working dog to harass and threaten detainees, one of the prime examples of that alleged misconduct will be a photograph of Smith holding the dog just inches from the face of a detainee. It is one of the notorious images to … Continue reading To The Top

From Holden: Budget Restraint Emerges as G.O.P. Theme for 2008 BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!!! Continue reading Adam Nagourney Tells A Funny

From Holden: What do you get when you combine an incompetent President with an incompetent Secretary of State? Super Iran dominating Iraq and Lebanon. Nearly a year ago, not long after the assassination of Rafik Hariri, who was twice prime minister of Lebanon, Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon, unleashing a wave of patriotism here that prompted many to say that the Lebanese might finally be able to take control of their destiny. But the intensity of the moment and the rush of emotions eclipsed at least one important and largely unanswerable question: With Syria gone, or at least its troops … Continue reading Incompetence Squared

There’s a stupid sort of meta-fanwank that goes on over at Romenesko every couple of months. It goes like this: Reporter writes in to say “Journalism school didn’t teach me shit. I learned more in ten minutes on the job than I ever learned listening to all those losers bore on in the classroom. Those who can’t, teach! We should abolish journalism school and take children straight from the cradle and put them on the copy desk!” Academics and aspiring academics go predictably and hilariously apeshit, citing every misdeed perpetrated by every non-J School grad ever, writing in with paeans … Continue reading Making Better Journalists

Jesus. A. Continue reading Our New Bunny Overlords

Happy Democrats, every last damn one of them. Update: Sample letter from comments: Dear Representative __________. I was disappointed to see that your name was not among the 30 members of the House of representatives that finally have stood up for America by signing H. Res 635 calling for investigation into impeachment of Bush. Surely you concede that it is way past time to do something about the criminal administration that has been ruining the United States for the past 6 years. Waiting for a Democratic takeover of Congress in 2006 in order for us to have a patriotic Congress … Continue reading Pick Up The Chair

From Holden: I detect a pattern. The Vice President’s Chief of Staff, Irving L. “Scooter” Libby, resigns after being indicted for perjury in the Valerie Plame investigation. White House Procurement Officer David Safavian resigns and is immediately arrested, accused of lying and obstructing a criminal investigation into Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s dealings with the federal government. White House Domestic Policy Advisor Claude Allen resigns after being accused of scamming department stores out of thousands of dollars. Interior Secretary Gale Norton resigns before Jack Abramoff’s March 29 sentencing hearing, in which his attorney has promised Jack will “name names”. So, I … Continue reading What Did Trent Do?

Okay. I am a total spoiler whore. To the point where Mr. A will barely watch TV with me because I’ll say, “Oh, don’t bother getting attached to her, she dies three episodes from now” or “You think that episode was good? Wait till you see next week’s!” It has to do with me being a control freak and also needing to prepare myself; deaths/frackings-over of characters in shows I take too personally tend to wreck me for a couple of days and I generally don’t have that kind of time. Lessons The West Wing Teaches You, Vol. I.

But I am telling you, honestly. I don’t care how big a spoiler whore you are. Do not, under any circumstances, read the enclosed post if you haven’t seen the episode. Trust me on this, and restrain your damn selves. You need to see this cold.

Continue reading “Don’t Say You Love Me With That Gun In Your Hand: Galactica Thread”

Scout asks me to let you all know that she quit the blog and moved to Tijuana is having some computer problems. So don’t worry, Teddy’s not a starving motherless kitty, mom’s just busy getting her tech sorted out. A. Continue reading Scout And About

From Holden: Today, at the National Newspaper Association Conference. Q Governor Mike Rounds signed a bill this week banning almost all abortions in South Dakota, sort of a frontal assault on the Constitution (inaudible). I wonder if you agree with this process that the state has taken. Continue reading Questions Your President Did Not Answer

From Holden: First it was Gale Norton, now it’s Trent Duffy: McClellan announced that “it is sad to see [Deputy Press Secretary] Trent Duffy move on to bigger and better things, but Trent has done an outstanding job and we wish him all the best. It is going to be hard to replace him, it was easy replacing the last guy, but it will be hard to replace Trent.” Rats, getting out while they can (or in Norton’s case, before they embarrass Dear Leader). Continue reading Buh-Bye Trent

From Holden: Halliburton’s PR flack tells the National Review Online that her company is “not involved at all” with Dubai Ports World. Continue reading Halliburton Ports World

From Holden: Won’t buy back the beat of a heart grown cold. Prosecutors in Milan said Friday they have requested that Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi be indicted on corruption charges. The premier is accused of ordering the payment in 1997 of at least $600,000 to British lawyer David Mills — whose indictment also was being sought — in exchange for his false testimony in two trials against Berlusconi. Both men deny the allegations. [snip] Prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale has said Mills, who is married and just recently separated from British Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, is accused of giving false testimony … Continue reading Silvio, Silver and Gold

From Holden: The US economy added 243,000 jobs in February. Sounds good, doesn’t it? But wait, what’s this: The monthly report showed the unemployment rate edged up to 4.8 percent from 4.7 percent in January. Hmmmm…. The economy added 243k new jobs, but the unemployment rate increased? How can that be? The February job gain followed a revised 170,000 new jobs in January that had originally been reported as 193,000. Hey, the Bush Assministration wouldn’t monkey around with the monthly jobs numbers would they? OK, so maybe they overestimated a bit in January. And maybe February’s 243,000 number will be … Continue reading Bush Booming Jobs

Suck it up: Although the biggest abortion rights story in 33 years is taking place in its own backyard, South Dakota’s largest newspaper will not editorialize on the controversial statewide abortion ban just recently approved by its legislature. “Part of it was that we wouldn’t change people’s minds, and part of it, regardless of which side we came down on this, is that people would read into it things that are not true,” Chuck Baldwin, editorial page editor of the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, S.D., told E&P. “People would think our coverage is tainted, and not just on abortion … Continue reading Chickenass

I’ve spent the past couple of days with my lovely goddaughter, Zoe, and her lovely parents. She’s been told many tales of the Internet. “Preznit giv me turkee” seems to be her favorite. A. Continue reading Friday Happiness Blogging

From Holden: The Pony Effect is kicking in. “He has no political capital,” said Tony Fabrizio, a Republican pollster. “Slowly but surely it’s been unraveling. There’s been a direct correlation between the trajectory of his approval numbers and the — I don’t want to call it disloyalty — the independence on the part of the Republicans in Congress.” [snip] With Bush’s approval rating ranging from 34 percent in a CBS News poll to 41 percent in the latest Washington Post-ABC News survey, some Republican candidates facing the voters in just eight months worry privately that, unlike in 2002 and 2004, … Continue reading All The Pretty Ponies

From Holden: The going rate for a private meeting with Chimpy? $25,000. Or at least it was in 2001, I imagine Unka Karl has bumped it up a bit in the interrim. The chief of an Indian tribe represented by the lobbyist Jack Abramoff was admitted to a meeting with President Bush in 2001 days after the tribe paid a prominent conservative lobbying group $25,000 at Mr. Abramoff’s direction, according to documents and interviews. The payment was made to Americans for Tax Reform, a group run by Grover G. Norquist, one of the Republican Party’s most influential policy strategists. Mr. … Continue reading The Going Rate

From Holden: There was a lot of bickering in today’s gaggle about whether or not Chimpy was backing down from his veto threat regarding the Dubai Ports World issue, but it all seemed rather anticlimactic since between the time the gaggle occurred and the transcript was posted DPW appears to have backed out of the deal. What is apparent once again is that Chimpy (or in this case, Little Scottie on his behalf) is incapable of admitting a mistake. Q Scott, does the President regret — given what’s happened with these discussions with Congress, does the President regret calling reporters … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: REUTERS/Jim Young Continue reading Puking on the Homeland