From Holden: Today the gagglers were treated to not one but two incompetent McClellan boys — our own Little Scottie and the man heading up the Medicare prescription drug debacle, Markie-Mark. And the first question is for Markie-Mark McClellan (mom always liked him the most). Q What purpose does it serve to have the President involved with this? Why him, as opposed to the other — you know, you’ve got a thousand of these seminars going on around the country. Isn’t that a more utilitarian way of getting information out? DR. McCLELLAN: The seminars and events are really focused on … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: Hey, it’s a simple fact. As a result of water-borne diseases and a lack of medical supplies, infants born in the southern city of Basra are subject to abnormally high mortality rates, say officials of an international NGO devoted to child health issues. [snip] Many doctors in the area say that the local health situation has deteriorated markedly since the US-led invasion of the country in 2003. “The mortality of children in Basra has increased by nearly 30 percent compared to the Saddam Hussein era,” Dr Haydar Salah, a paediatrician at the Basra Children’s Hospital, pointed out. “Children … Continue reading Better Off Under Saddam

From Scout:

The NYT has a story today on the search for bodies of Katrina victims particularly in the Lower 9th Ward. On October 4th in a post titled “Black Bodies Remain Still” I wrote about the fact that the search for bodies was called off even though parts of the 9th had not been searched at all. The NYT story misses this important point. They focus instead on lack of funds, red tape and difficulty in searching wreckage while missing the genesis of this shameful chapter of Katrina

What needs to be made very clear in any analysis of the NOLA body search is that the Feds stopped searching in SEPTEMBER. This from MSNBC on October 3rd…

Last week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it had completed its role in the search, because its specialties were no longer needed. Those services include getting to bodies in attics or other hard-to-reach places or in buildings that may be structurally unsound.

This left the state scrambling at a time when their resources were stretched beyond capacity. So they took over what was originally a FEMA contract with Kenyon International Emergency Services (they’re a whole other story of corruption and cronyism). Kenyon only collected remains. They did not conduct searches. Some local fire departments and a few other search teams continued to work but it was in December that funds for such searches ran out. The NYT points out that FEMA began funding searches again in February…..

In February, FEMA agreed to pay for the search for bodies to resume, and on March 2 the agency’s special operations team was able to begin a systematic check of the 1,700 structures in the Lower Ninth Ward, the site of the city’s worst destruction.

What is clear now is that FEMA’s “specialties” were indeed still required back in October. But it was clear THEN as one volunteer searcher told CNN on October 4th

EDWARD MENDEL, SEARCH VOLUNTEER: From here back, I estimate 100 to 150 homes that are still unsearched. And I do expect we will probably find some bodies.

MESERVE (on camera): Why do you think that?

MENDEL: You can smell them as we drive by.

FEMA just pulled out then, only to have to return now. In the meantime hundreds of families have suffered the uncertainty of not knowing what happened to loved ones and some even the indignity of finding their loved one’s body in their home. The NYT article poignantly conveys what this has been like…..

Continues after the cut…click Read More

Continue reading “Black Bodies Remain Still… remembering the genesis”

From Holden: These poll results out of California are nothing but good news for Francine Busby. President George W. Bush’s 32 percent approval rating among Californians is the lowest for a sitting president in the state since Richard Nixon’s 24 percent in August 1974, according to a poll released today. The Field Research Corp. poll said 62 percent of Californians disapprove of Bush’s performance and 64 percent said the country is going in the wrong direction; 26 percent said the country is on the right track. [snip] The president’s handling of the Iraq war had 31 percent approval, the lowest … Continue reading Sucking Wind in California

From Holden:

CBS News Sunday Morning Correspondent Rita Braver interviews Pat Robertson who is flogging his new book, Miracles Can Be Yours Today.

RB: You know you– you talk about– a couple very specific cases in the book that–

PR: Yeah.

RB: –you say you were personally involved in. You tell the story of– being on a trip to the Holy Land, and some people coming to you and asking you if you can help a woman with severe asthma.

PR: That’s right.

RB: And you say– that God spoke to you and–

PR: Well–

RB: –told you–

PR: –well it wudn’t (PH) quite that way. Well– well anyhow, they thought she was demon possessed. And these women are in the conference, and they said, “Go cast demons out of her.” And I ignored it and ate dinner and went on to the meeting.

And then the next night, they had moved this poor woman out of the hotel. She was crying out for mercy and saying, “Oh God, help me,” because she had such bad asthma. So– I had to go see her. But fortunately I had my wife with her, so we went to another hotel– in the heart of Jerusalem and knocked on the door.

And here, this haunting woman, she looked like– she really looked like she was terrified– very attractive– striking brunette, 45 years old, you know thin, 5’8″ kinda thing. And– she had this look in her eyes. And– so I went in, and my wife was with me. And they took the two chairs and I sat on the bed.

And I said, “Tell me about your problem.” And she said, “I’ve got this asthma.” And I said, “Have you been to the (LAUGHTER) doctor?” And– and she said, “Yes. The doctor said my asthma was caused by praying with nuns.” And I said, (LAUGHTER) “A doctor?”

RB: That sounds–

PR: “A doctor?”

RB: –that sounds like– (LAUGHTER) you should’ve advised her, “Maybe go see another doctor.”

PR: There was– (LAUGHTER) well see– the– “A doctor told you this?” (UNINTEL) said, “Yes, that’s what my doctor told me.” And I says, “There is no way that praying with nuns is gonna cause you– asthma.” And then I prayed. And I said, “Lord, what’s wrong with her?” I just prayed silently. And the Lord said, “Ask about her sex life.” And–

RB: The– the Lord said that to you?

The freak show continues, Read More.

Continue reading “Pat Robertson, Sex Freak”

From Holden: Um, yeah, about those terror bombings in the London Underground last summer… Ya see, it was not really al Qaeda after all. The London bombings last July were planned on a shoestring budget from information on the Internet and with no direct support from al Qaeda, a British newspaper on Sunday quoted a government report as saying. The attacks on the London transport network that killed 52 people were the product of a “simple and inexpensive” plot hatched by four British suicide bombers bent on martyrdom, the Observer newspaper reported. The four men had scoured “terror (Web) sites” … Continue reading London Calling — But It’s The Wrong Number

From Scout: From E&P The Cincinannti Enquirer’s controversial “Grandma In Iraq” blog, which had drawn criticism because it was being written by a military spokeswoman who had not fully disclosed her identity until last week, will end, the paper’s Web site revealed. Tom Callinan, Enquirer editor and a supporter of the blog, wrote in his own blog item this weekend that the Web page, which had posted items since last September, would stop. He said the recent controversy did not spark the shutdown, noting that the blogger, Public Affairs Officer Suzanne Fournier, was leaving the war zone. SNIP “Yes, we … Continue reading Iraq blogger turns out to be Army Corps of Engineers PR officer

Freepi are fucking hilarious. Second, demand that the Mexican Army seal their border to prevent illlegal crossing within thirty days. If they fail to take effective action, then invade northern Mexico, force the population south, and then build a massive fence, with minefields and machine-gun towers about twenty miles into former Mexican territory. A. Continue reading Minefields and Machine Gun Towers

I know this has been cited all over, but I can only plead Dumb Sheltered Middle Class Girl in saying I was surprised by this:

The Pew Center for Hispanic research shows that by the third generation all immigrant grandchildren – NO MATTER WHERE THEY ARE FROM OR THE LEGAL STATUS OF THEIR ANCESTORS – are COMPLETELY ASSIMILATED ENGLISH SPEAKERS.

There is not a single third-generation Hispanic in the United States whose primary or dominant language is Spanish. NOT ONE.

This is precisely the same assimilation pattern followed by the Germans, Italians, French and every other linguistic minority immigrant group to this nation.

I actually did not know that. I’m not surprised by the fact that the illegal immigrants used as examples by racist wingnuts are as stuffed with straw as a scarecrow in a field, but I’m surprised the parallel is so exact. I plan to keep this fact on file and use it in every Long Suffering Discussion With a Moron I’m going to have in the next several weeks.

Continue reading “Immigration Debate”

My new Sirens column is up. I was trying to be silly, since most of the rest of what I’m writing for it is so serious (next month: why everything classified as a woman’s issue is a man’s issue too, and why the whole ghettoizing of issues as the purview of one gender or another pisses me off): In the next month, I went through all the stages of a classic breakup: Denial. Maybe there was widespread fraud in Ohio! Maybe absentee ballots would save us! Overindulgence/Emotion-Fueled Gluttony. I drank an entire bottle of chardonnay and cried for three hours. … Continue reading Heartbreak

From Scout: Hewitt was on Hardball and speculated that Hersch “fabricated” the Iran story. And why he would do so. What a weasel. Continue reading Hugh Hewitt on Sy Hersch

REUTERS/Scott Audette There’s a newRasmussen poll out on the Florida Senate race that has Sen. Bill Nelson beating Harris 54% to 37%. And as far as favorability goes… Fifty-five percent (55%) of voters view Nelson favorably-25% view him very favorably. Harris’ numbers are weighted at the other end of the spectrum: 53% have an unfavorable view of her including 39% in the “very unfavorable” category. Nelson maintains another distinct advantage over Harris: fundraising. The most recent financial disclosure statements show Nelson’s campaign sitting on approximately $12 million as the campaign enters crunch time. Harris’ campaign has just $2.2 million on … Continue reading Juggernaut Update: I Touch Myself Edition

From Holden:

You can’t have the gaggle without Helen Thomas.

Q Before the President declassified the Intelligence Estimate, had he read it?

MR. McCLELLAN: Had he read it?

Q Yes.

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes — I think we talked about at the time that he was briefed on it —

Q A 90-page document —

MR. McCLELLAN: I think we talked about that at the time.

Q — and the whole question of the accusation against Saddam trying to buy uranium was on page 24, with many caveats. It was very dubious and —

MR. McCLELLAN: That’s not the issue here, Helen.

Q — an annex to it, questioning this whole business. So did he take note of all these caveats?

MR. McCLELLAN: That’s not the issue here, Helen. The issue was the underlying intelligence that was used as part of the basis for going into Iraq. You’re singling out one specific part which we —

Q Yes, I am.

MR. McCLELLAN: — which we already spoke to.

Q Is that your defense, though?

MR. McCLELLAN: We already spoke to that issue. We spoke to it back at the time.

Q Why would he put that out when it’s so dubious?

MR. McCLELLAN: Why would he —

Q It’s so questionable.

MR. McCLELLAN: Why would he put what out when it’s —

Q Using that as your defense to go into Iraq.

MR. McCLELLAN: Using what, the National Intelligence Estimate?

Q No, the whole business that Saddam —

MR. McCLELLAN: That was the collective judgment of the community — no, you’re singling out one thing, and that’s not the issue here. The issue here is that back in the summer of 2003, there was a real debate going on in the public about the intelligence that was used as part of the rationale to go into Iraq.

Q But the issue centers on outing Valerie Plame — wasn’t that the issue that dealt with Niger and uranium?

MR. McCLELLAN: You’re getting into something that’s part of an ongoing investigation, and you know I’m not going to comment further on that.

Had he read it? HA!

Obsession continues, Read More!

Continue reading “Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle”

From Holden: The phrase of the day is “wild speculation”. First, Little Scottie via TPMmuckraker. QUESTION: Is the U.S. going to attack Iran? SCOTT McCLELLAN: Helen, we’re pursing a diplomatic solution by working with the international community. I assume you’re referring to some of the media reports. Some of the media reports I’ve seen, which are based on anonymous outside advisors and former officials, appear to me to be based on people that do not know the administration’s thinking. I think it is a lot of wild speculation. We are working with the international community, particularly the EU-3, to pursue … Continue reading Wild About Talking Points

From Holden: More inarticulate gems, this time from Chimpy’s appearance at Johns Hopkins University. Unheeded Advice And my first advice is, never use force until you’ve exhausted all diplomacy. I — my second advice is, if you ever put anybody in harm’s way, make sure they have got all the support of the government. My third advice is, don’t make decisions on polls. Stand your ground if you think what you’re doing right. Complete, Blithering Nonsense Much of my decision about what we’re discussing these days was affected by an event. The Presidency Is No Place for a Smart person … Continue reading Your President Speaks!

From Holden:

I lead last Friday’s gaggle coverage with this exchange between Helen Thomas and Little Scottie and was surprised that none of the other bloggers who covered Friday’s gaggle mentioned it at all. The question of whether or not Bush knew that Valerie Plame was both Joe Wilson’s wife and a clandestine CIA operative is important.

Notice how Scottie does not answer Helen’s simple yes or no question, but instead points her to the latest Fitzgerald filing which actually says nothing definitive about the President’s knowledge of Plame’s status.

Q Did the President know that Joe Wilson was married to a CIA agent before Novak revealed it?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, this goes to — go back and look at previous comments, but this goes to an ongoing legal proceeding, and I would encourage you —

Q Did he know? It’s a simple question.

MR. McCLELLAN: — I would encourage you to go and look at the filing that was made just the other night, because Mr. Fitzgerald touches on that subject in the filing.

Q You mean the President did not know?

MR. McCLELLAN: Helen, I can’t get into discussing an ongoing legal proceeding, and that’s a question relating to the ongoing legal proceeding.

Q I think it’s a very simple, important question.

MR. McCLELLAN: Matt, did you have something?

Today Jason Leopold tells us that the president did know.

In early June 2003, Vice President Dick Cheney met with President Bush and told him that CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson was the wife of Iraq war critic Joseph Wilson and that she was responsible for sending him on a fact-finding mission to Niger to check out reports about Iraq’s attempt to purchase uranium from the African country, according to current and former White House officials and attorneys close to the investigation to determine who revealed Plame-Wilson’s undercover status to the media.

Post continues, click Read More.

Continue reading “What Did The President Know And When Did He Know It?”

From Holden:

Here’s a brief collection of the gaggles mentioning the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq from July 11 to July 18, 2003.

July 11, 2003: Condi joins the Mile High Club by gaggling in flight aboard Air Force One.

Q But isn’t it slightly strange that you have different agencies with different reports and different sentences? I mean, not everyone is singing from the same song sheet here.

DR. RICE: But let me just go through the process, because it’s not at all unusual. We have several intelligence agencies, not just one. We have the Central Intelligence Agency, a Defense Intelligence Agency, the State Department has its own intelligence agency. And there is a process which the Director of Central Intelligence, who is the coordinator for all of those agencies, runs which is called the National Intelligence Estimate. The National Intelligence Estimate is supposed to come to a conclusion that is the considered, joint opinion of all of those intelligence agencies. If at the end of that process, a particular agency still has a reservation, they take a footnote. And so the INR took a footnote in this case.

Q But it’s in the Estimate?

DR. RICE: It’s in the Estimate. It’s, by the way, in another section, but it is in the Estimate. But the DCI is responsible for delivering a judgment, a consensus judgment of the intelligence community, which is called the National Intelligence Estimate. And that’s what the President —

Q Is there a chance that that particular citation could be declassified, so we could see it?

DR. RICE: You know, we don’t want to try to get into kind of selective declassification, but we’re looking at what can be made available.

There’s more if you click on Read More!

Continue reading “July 11-18, 2003”

From Holden: Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition in debt and losing influence? Ha-ha! The once-mighty Christian Coalition, founded 17 years ago by the Rev. Pat Robertson as the political fundraising and lobbying engine of the Christian right, is more than $2 million in debt, beset by creditors’ lawsuits and struggling to hold on to some of its state chapters. In March, one of its most effective chapters, the Christian Coalition of Iowa, cut ties with the national organization and reincorporated itself as the Iowa Christian Alliance, saying it “found it impossible to continue to carry a name that in any way … Continue reading Cue Nelson Muntz

From Holden: Color me unsurprised. The Army expects to be short 2,500 captains and majors this year, with the number rising to 3,300 in 2007. These officers are the Army’s seed corn, the people who 10 years from now should be leading battalions and brigades. “We’re ruining an Army that took us 30 years to build,” Republican maverick Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., told a group of reporters at a recent conference. [snip] The Army denies the shortage is a crisis, but its top civilian, Francis J. Harvey, acknowledged concerns, telling the Washington Post: “We are worried.” Harvey later downplayed the … Continue reading Officer Shortage

From Holden: 500,000 Rally For Immigrant Rights in Dallas REUTERS/Jeff Mitchell Hundreds of thousands of people banged drums, waved U.S. flags and marched in a protest Sunday urging federal lawmakers to pass immigration reform that would legalize an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants. Shouting “Si Se Puede!” — Spanish for “Yes, we can!” — the marchers crammed into the downtown streets. They included families pushing strollers with their children and ice cream vendors who placed American flags on their carts. Many wore white clothing to symbolize peace. Police estimated the crowd at 350,000 to 500,000. There were no reports of … Continue reading Stepping In The Shit

So here’s the story, really, of the whole season. Robbie Earl gets clocked, like into next week, and the announcers go all somber, all, “he’s not getting up,” and he’s in that prayer pose on the ice, looking like he’s trying to remember his sexual orientation and who his mother is, that’s how hard Boston College checked his tired Badger ass. Fifteen thousand red-and-white lunatics holding their breath in the stands, because if Earl goes down, he of the dancing skates and that swoop into the zone like a great big stickhandling bird, then we’re over, then we’re well and … Continue reading Dancing On Thin Ice

Tristero: These maniacs cannot be permitted to get away with this, or even seriously contemplate getting away with it. No, that’s not enough. If this country so much as opens the question to serious consideration “whether first-strike nukes are justified in the present world,” then we are already halfway down the path to a nuclear holocaust. All it will take to tip it over is one more major terrorist attack, and Bush will guarantee the nukes will fall. And if you don’t think there will be another major terrorist attack in America, either a real one or one faked by … Continue reading Halfway Down The Path

All in a day’s work for John McCain. A. Continue reading Wanking, Hypocrisy, Tooliness

Last summer, I grew tomatoes on the back porch. Little roma tomatoes, and every time one was ripe, a squirrel came up and took a big honkin’ bite out of it. I pondered tying Stripe to the post outside so he could guard the plants, but the squirrels around here are the size of beavers and I was afraid one of them would win. I never did eat a single tomato off that plant. Urban gardening is funny. I’ve seen ads for those upside-down stands that help you grow carrots and radishes on your patio, but we have a farmer’s … Continue reading Spring Forward: Gardening Edition

From Scout: The News Hour with Jim Lehrer did an excellent story on fixing the Levees in Louisiana. It lays out what is occurring right now, the issues involved and the implications not only for Louisiana but the nation. If you don’t think this affects you and more specifically to those who think that spending an estimated $3 billion to rebuild the levees in Plaquemines Parish is a waste then you really need to watch because you are wrong. And here is just one reason why. From the News Hour’s story…. VOICE OVER: Plaquemines Parish may not look like much, … Continue reading News Hour story on levee cost

From Scout: I really can’t believe this but here it is…. Former FEMA director Michael Brown might be joining St. Bernard Parish as a paid consultant. Brown, who resigned his FEMA post last September in the wake of stinging criticism of the agency’s response to Hurricane Katrina, is expected to visit the parish next week. During his visit, Brown and parish officials will discuss the possibility of the parish contracting with Brown as a guide to help it navigate the bureaucracy of federal storm aid. Brown now has a consulting business. St. Bernard Parish President Henry “Junior” Rodriguez said prices … Continue reading HE’S BACK…….Brownie that is…maybe

From Holden:

Oh shit. Christy was right, what a gaggle. Let’s get started, and I’m not going through today’s gaggle in the order in which the questions were asked because I want to lead off with Helen Thomas.

What did the president know and when did he know it?

Q Did the President know that Joe Wilson was married to a CIA agent before Novak revealed it?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, this goes to — go back and look at previous comments, but this goes to an ongoing legal proceeding, and I would encourage you —

Q Did he know? It’s a simple question.

MR. McCLELLAN: — I would encourage you to go and look at the filing that was made just the other night, because Mr. Fitzgerald touches on that subject in the filing.

Q You mean the President did not know?

MR. McCLELLAN: Helen, I can’t get into discussing an ongoing legal proceeding, and that’s a question relating to the ongoing legal proceeding.

Q I think it’s a very simple, important question.

MR. McCLELLAN: Matt, did you have something?

Obsession continues, click Read More…

Continue reading “Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle”