From Holden: The Froom passes along a nice catch by Newsweek’s Richard Wolffe and Holly Bailey: It is the seminal moment of his presidency: the moment when chief of staff Andy Card leaned over to whisper in his ear “America is under attack.” There have been so many accounts of that morning in the classroom in Sarasota, Fla., it is hard to believe there could be a new version of those minutes after the second plane hit the World Trade Center. Yet new details emerged this week from President Bush himself in a little-noticed interview with the German newspaper Bild. … Continue reading Can’t Get His Story Straight

Go ahead. Be shocked. Be appalled. Be afraid. Be all the things you should be now that this is out n the open. You’ll pardon me if I’m not the same. If I’m pessimistic, bitter, mad as hell, but generally unimpressed with your newfound rage. We told you so. Over and over and over and over again, America. We told you so. But no, it was okay, because they weren’t listening to your phone calls. Or they were, but you thought it was a small price to pay to protect you from Muslims. Or they were, but you were too … Continue reading So Far, So Good

From Scout: From a piece by CNN’s Jeanne Moos…. MOOS: The nonpartisan Center for Media and Public Affairs say they’ve counted Bush jokes in the monologues of Conan, Letterman and Leno. And they’ve doubled in the first three months of this year, compared to last. SNIP MOOS: But great moments like that come at a price. LICHTER: The danger is that when you become a laughing stock, it can create a downward spiral. MOOS: Great moment after great moment. They add up to not such great moments for the president. LICHTER: Making a president into a laughing stock will make … Continue reading Toon Time Kids

From Holden: Mine: “Let’s see now, http://www.militarystud.com. Yep, there’s my Jeffy.” Continue reading Caption Contest!

From Holden: Damn, damn, damn. Over the weekend I drafted a post about what I expect from Pony Blow as the new Press Secretary to the President. I was going to say I expect Blow, as a former Fox News infotainer, to be more aggressive with the media than Little Scottie was. I also planned to say that Blow would attempt to be glib, soomething Scottie never was, given his infotainment experience. But primarily, I expect Blow to attack — that was my thesis. Unfortuantely I forgot to publish that post, and now events have overtaken me to the point … Continue reading Pony Blow Comes Out Swinging As Only A Cowardly Winger Can

From Scout: From USA Today The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY. The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans – most of whom aren’t suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist … Continue reading I keed

From Holden: Stephen Colbert, April 29, 2006: Look, by the way, I’ve got a theory about how to handle these retired generals causing all this trouble: don’t let them retire! Come on, we’ve got a stop-loss program; let’s use it on these guys. And today: Army Using Policy to Deny Reserve Officer Resignations Continue reading Taking Colbert’s Advice

From Holden: My, my, looks like Ann Coulter is in trouble with Johnny Law. BradBlog has the details, including the documents that back up his story. Republican extremist/hate-monger, Ann Coulter may be on the verge of being tossed from the Voter Rolls in Palm Beach County, Florida. [snip] Coulter, who appears to have committed a third-degree felony by knowingly giving an incorrect address on her voter registration form in Palm Beach, Florida, and then knowingly voting at the incorrect polling place last March, could face up to $5,000 in fines and five years in prison if convicted. [snip] In light … Continue reading Throw Away The Key

From Scout: Oh the wonderful watertiger has a great one Continue reading The Best

Where are the wingnuts on Popetown? The fictional town which gives its name to the series is home to a 77-year-old, plump and childish little man with an oversized hat — a pope who likes to play hide and seek, doesn’t wash for months, wants to drink Coca Cola but isn’t allowed to and enjoys bouncing through hallways on a cross-shaped pogo stick. Popetown’s true rulers are three corrupt cardinals who dwell in a wellness spa hidden behind a bookshelf, and who spend their days ruminating over how they can become the richest men in the world. Other inhabitants of … Continue reading Popetown

From Holden: I guess that’s why Frank Luntz is a high-priced Republican pollster. A prominent Republican pollster has delivered his own message to Canadians who are searching for parallels in the governing styles of George W. Bush and Stephen Harper. “The Canadian and U.S. leaders could not be more different,” Frank Luntz said yesterday. “Stephen Harper is a genuine intellectual, brilliant in his understanding of issues. “I think I’ll leave it at that.” Continue reading Luntz Calls Bush A Putz

From Scout: OK this isn’t surprising… WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is at risk of squandering significantly more money in a Gulf Coast rebuilding effort that has already wasted hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, federal investigators said Wednesday. Prosecutors and inspectors general from five agencies addressed a House subcommittee on Katrina rebuilding and pledged stronger oversight to combat waste. They cautioned that some of the biggest fraud may be yet to come as some of the larger government contracts are awarded. But at the end of the article is this which probably would surprise Americans…. In the months since … Continue reading Show Them the Money

From Scout: From Mary Cheney via AmericaBlog: Sitting in the studio audience when Edwards mentioned her sexual orientation, Cheney said she looked at the vice-presidential candidate and mouthed the words”Go F*** Yourself” a phrase her father had earlier employed against Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy. Continue reading Like Father like Daughter

From Holden: Every winger’s wet-dream SCOTUS nominee leaves the bench — either for the money or because he’s pissed at Bush for nominating John Roberts, Harriet Miers, and Samuel Alito, rather than Luttig himself, for the SCOTUS. Appeals court judge J. Michael Luttig, a leading conservative jurist and a short-list Bush administration candidate for the Supreme Court, announced today that he is resigning from the bench to serve as senior vice president and general counsel of The Boeing Co. Luttig, who sits on the Richmond-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, wrote the most important appellate decision yet … Continue reading Luttig Out!

From Holden: He’s still in Florida, still pushing his Medicare debacle. And he still has a bad case of the Has-Gots. That wasn’t the case in the old plan, as you might remember. The new plan has got stop-loss; it’s got catastrophic care. He’s NEVER wrong THE PRESIDENT: Where do you live? MR. NAVARRO: I live in Tavares, Florida. THE PRESIDENT: Very good, right around the corner. MR. NAVARRO: About 45 minutes. THE PRESIDENT: Well, it’s a large corner. Mommie Never Held Him As A Baby THE PRESIDENT: One of the things people have got to understand — Pete, by … Continue reading Your President Speaks!

From Holden: NewsMax has a fabulous new offer for you. For the special price of $22.95 you can receive the Desert Camouflage Hat, just like the one worn by our troops in Iraq! Better yet, order now and get four FREE issues of NewsMax Magazine – a $15 value based on the cover price. Check it out. Spring is here, summer is coming . . . and the powerful rays of the sun can do you tremendous harm! That’s why you need to wear the same hat worn by our troops in the Iraqi desert — the Desert Camouflage Hat! … Continue reading What All The Chicken Hawks Will Be Wearing This Summer

From Holden: House Majority Leader John Boehner refuses to part with campaign cash donated by a confessed felon — again! President Bush and several other Republican officials have begun shedding campaign donations from former House aide and lobbyist Neil Volz, the latest person to plead guilty in a widening lobbying scandal. Volz, who pleaded guilty Monday to charges of conspiracy to corrupt his former boss, Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, has given $26,035 to Republican political campaigns and committees since 2002, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Among the donations was $2,000 to Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign. Republican National … Continue reading Another Boehner Boner

From Holden: Michael Brown: Slime. Former FEMA director Michael Brown disputed that floodwaters had breached New Orleans’ levees in the early hours after Hurricane Katrina roared ashore, new e-mails released Tuesday show. The 928 pages of e-mails, obtained and released by the Center for Public Integrity, also portray Brown and the Federal Emergency Management Agency as obsessed with media coverage in the days leading up to and immediately following the Aug. 29, 2005, disaster. Continue reading Heckuva….. Aw, Fuck It

From Holden: Today is the day that the Secret Service is required to turn over to Judicial Watch records of Jack Abramoff’s visits to the White House. The New York Daily News quotes a “Bush Loyalist”: “There are a bunch of visits…” Hat-tip to Josh Micah’s Muckrakers. Continue reading Happy Jack Day!

From Holden: A War that will Live in Infamy The official death toll of U.S. service members killed in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion has now exceeded that of Pearl Harbor. As of Tuesday 2,423 troops had died in the Iraq conflict. The number killed at Pearl Harbor was 2,403. Bugging Out South Korea began bringing troops home from Iraq Tuesday under a plan to scale back its presence there by a third, military officials said. Seoul plans to withdraw about 1,000 of its 3,200-member contingent stationed in northern Iraq by the end of this year. [snip] South Korea … Continue reading Quick Hits From Iraq

Specifically aimai, who wrote in response to this post that This is the response you get every time you write an LTE or send an email–“you must be some kind of nut, to care so much about a policy issue.” There’s never a chance, in the non blogging world, to point out to the person you are writing to that you are writing in response to the fact that *they* are writing about, or misstating, what they apparently think are important policy issues. Their attitude is they are paid to write, and so they write–without interest or emotion. That you … Continue reading Our Commenters Nail It

From Holden: New York Times/CBS News Poll Job Approval: 31% Approve of His Handling of the Economy: 28% Approve of His Handling of Immigration: 26% Approve of His Handling of GWOT: 46% Approve of His Handling of Iraq: 29% Approve of His Handling of Foreign Policy: 27% Approve of His Handling of Gas Prices: 13% The percentage of respondents who said going to war in Iraq was the correct decision slipped to a new low of 39 percent, down from 47 percent in January. Two-thirds said they have little or no confidence that Mr. Bush will be able to successfully … Continue reading Just A Matter Of Time Until We Get A Sub-30 Poll

Author told to put on a happy face or else: A few months ago I was approached by The Buchanan Associates in Dublin, OH to appear at the International Reading Association Conference in Chicago on May 2 and 3, 2006. I was to be part of 5 events. Speeches, ‘meet and greet’ and book signings. I was happy to accept the invitation which, I assumed, was coming from the I.R.A. and my publisher. It is always such an honor for me to speak and interact with teachers and librarians from around the country. But then a very disturbing turn of … Continue reading No Criticism Allowed

From Holden: What the fuck? Last Friday Little Scottie said farewell to the White House press corps in what was billed as his final gaggle. Yet here today Scottie (who’s face is still plastered across the banner of the White House Press Briefing Page) gave a brief gaggle aboard Air Force One en route Sarasota, Florida. What’s wrong, is Pony Blow not ready for Prime Time? Q The Iran letters. Does the President intend to formally respond to the letter from Ahmadinejad with a letter or some other method? MR. McCLELLAN: Let me remind you what the Secretary of State … Continue reading Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle

From Holden: The party in Washington continues as Republicans plan to raise the debt ceiling — AGAIN! This will be the fifth year in a row that the Republican leadership plans to borrow more than leagally allowed. A $2.7 trillion budget plan pending before the House would raise the federal debt ceiling to nearly $10 trillion, less than two months after Congress last raised the federal government’s borrowing limit. The provision — buried on page 121 of the 151-page budget blueprint — serves as a backdrop to congressional action this week. [snip] Leaders also hope to pass a package of … Continue reading Raise the Roof!

From Holden: Infant mortality is a big problem in our client states. [A] study by the U.S.-based independent charity Save the Children says the African nation of Liberia has the world’s highest newborn mortality rate, with 65 out of 1,000 babies dying. The report says Liberia is followed by Afghanistan, where 60 out of every 1,000 babies die. Behind them come Iraq and Sierra Leone, with 59 of 1,000 newborns dying, and Pakistan, which has a rate of 58 deaths. Continue reading Bless The Beasts and The Children

Is there some kind of meta virus going around lately? First there was this whole stupid brouhaha on Kos about people rating other people things and how it meant they were bad liberals or something, and now this “oooh, everybody’s mean to Wonkette.” Seriously, what the fuck? Steve points out something I think is interesting: Civility is more than politeness, it is defending your prinicples when they are attacked in a way consistent with them. An agressive defense is a civil response. When someone sweep a broad brush over people who support and defend you, it is not only uncivil, … Continue reading Civil Servants

On the topic of the bubbly. It’s a well-known fact in these parts that I don’t think much of wine wankery. I respect knowledge in any field, but man, I like my two-buck Chuck and I don’t think that makes me anything but thrifty and cognizant that as long as white wine is cold, it tastes good. So I thought for a long time that I didn’t like champagne. I only ever drank it on New Year’s Eve, and I always woke up with a hangover that could stun a team of oxen in its tracks. I wasn’t wild about … Continue reading Sufficient Champagne