Your President Speaks!
A Mondayquickie. I recognize the threat to world peace that the Iranians propose… Continue reading Your President Speaks!
Month: November 2006
Bush 41’s joke on pro choice protestor cut from AP story at most sites
Feith Rides Again
Thanks to Scout for e-mailing this over; my blood pressure was almost back to normal and I simply didn’t know what to DO with all the joy I’d been feeling.Douglas Feith, architect of the Iraq post-war planning (yes, that’s what the kids are calling it these days) sounds off in theWashington Post about what a great guy Donald Rumsfeld really is, and how he’s different with Doug, and how nobody understands how great it is once Rumsfeld stops beating you and starts making love to you again: I know that Don Rumsfeld is not an ideologue. He did not refuse … Continue reading Feith Rides Again
Terror’s HQ
It’stoo late for Jimmy Baker to fix Iraq. Saudi Arabia’s interior minister on Sunday called Iraq a major base for terrorism, a sign of growing alarm over the neighboring country where U.S. forces are struggling to prevent Sunni-Shiite violence from escalating into full-scale civil war. Saudi Interior Minister Prince Naif said the situation in Iraq is deteriorating daily and the country has become a threat to the whole region. “There is no doubt that Iraq now forms a main base for terrorism,” he told the pan-Arab Al-Arabiya television station in the capital Riyadh. “The situation in Iraq is changing day … Continue reading Terror’s HQ
Bipartisanship bitches
I can’t wait for the Bush administration’s attempt to sell their no compromise position onthis to the American people… WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 — The Bush administration said on Sunday that it would strenuously oppose one of the Democrats’ top priorities for the new Congress: legislation authorizing the government to negotiate with drug companies to secure lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries. In an interview, Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, said he saw no prospect of compromise on the issue. “In politics,” Mr. Leavitt said, “most specific issues like this are a disguise for a larger … Continue reading Bipartisanship bitches
Report: Improperly stored FEMA housing units wrecked due to weather exposure
Note that the report was delivered Oct. 18 but not released publicly until the day after the election.GovExec.com story from Nov. 10… The Federal Emergency Management Agency left modular homes intended for Hurricane Katrina evacuees exposed to the elements while being stored in Arkansas, rendering up to $4 million worth of units uninhabitable, according to a recent audit report. The report by the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general called on FEMA to create inventories of units and formally acknowledge how many are beyond repair. Inspectors also recommended that the agency develop cost-effective plans for storing and using remaining modular homes … Continue reading Report: Improperly stored FEMA housing units wrecked due to weather exposure
Let there be Urgency
“But if it was my world and I didn’t have much money, I’d get out there withVisqueen and start nailing the damn stuff down [in order to armor the levees]. That pile of dirt won’t do what you want unless you protect it. We need to secure what we’ve got, and it’s irresponsible not to.”–Robert Bea, Berkeley engineer (Times Picayune photo) Levees, not the already eroded thing you see above that W has wrought, but Cat 5 levees must be a priority of this new Congress if NOLA is to survive. Forensic investigators have said that building levees and floodwalls … Continue reading Let there be Urgency
$!&$ &$*% @&#& ^$&$
Damn it. It’s been such a good week but there was the marriage amendment passing here and nowthis… Just three days after Madison’s left celebrated wins by the Democrats, broadcasting behemoth Clear Channel Radio delivered a stunning right hook Friday, announcing it would silence Air America in the Madison market and replace the liberal talk-show format on WXXM-FM (92.1) The Mic with an all-sports format from Fox Radio Sports. So long, political debate and comment. Hello, serve, set, spike and point. “I find it puzzling as to the timing given the election results,” said Terry Kelly, one of the founding … Continue reading $!&$ &$*% @&#& ^$&$
Step right up…
Have to give this FEMA guy some credit. Ahem, no one from the Army Corps of Engineers was willing. (AP Photo/Cheryl Gerber) FromWWL For $5, residents on this street of flooded houses received three tennis balls _ and a chance to vent 15 months of frustration at the slow pace of rebuilding. That’s because sitting on the miniature diving board, shivering above the icy tub was a representative of a reviled and much-lampooned organization: the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “C’mon, the water’s warm. Let’s go!” cried out Bob Josephson, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s director of intergovernmental affairs in Louisiana. … Continue reading Step right up…
Please go over to SD’s place
Greg Peters aka Suspect Device, a great NOLA blogger and superb Louisiana cartoonist is very ill and will be undergoing surgery soon. I met Greg at The Rising Tide conference and he is such a wonderful man. He’s funny, witty, scarcastic, irreverent, smart, pragmatic and just a really NICE guy. So if you can take a sec andgo over and wish him well in the comments please do so. It would mean a lot to him I’m sure. Continue reading Please go over to SD’s place
All That I Have You Can Borrow: Galactica Thread
I’ve missed them together.
Spoilers after the jump. Click “Read More.”
Continue reading “All That I Have You Can Borrow: Galactica Thread”
Russ won’t run
From theCapital Times Feingold, 53, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, as reported on its Web page, that he realized he would be a long-shot candidate in a run for the presidency. He said running as an underdog appealed to him, but not the way it would “dismantle” his work in the Senate and his personal life. As an outspoken opponent of the Iraq war, the Patriot Act and other Bush administration policies, Feingold had formed the political action committee and gone to key presidential primary states such as Iowa and New Hampshire. Still, he said he started the process more … Continue reading Russ won’t run
Conservative Democracy
The more commentary I read on how our new Dem senators and congresspeople are conservative, but no they’re not, they’re actually liberal, the more I think the actual difference between this year’s crop of candidates and every other one in recent memory is getting lost in the shuffle. WE HAD SOME BALLS ON US THIS YEAR. And that was the difference. Our men and women had stones the size of George W. Bush’s head, and they didn’t let anybody fuck with them, and the red-state Republican voters dig that. I can’t tell you how many ordinarily sensible people I know … Continue reading Conservative Democracy
McCain
Those of you who know me well know that in 1999-2000 thereabouts, I had a wild, untamed, shameful, schoolgirl crush on John McCain, mainly for the reasons everybody did: the hot war hero background, the funny, the downsmacking of Jerry Falwell, the way he got that during the run-up to the actual presidential campaign your constituency is the press and the press only and heworked it like Linda Evangelista, the straight talk thing, etc. I was heartbroken when Bush took him to pieces in South Carolina and that particularly nasty destruction is one of the biggest reasons I despise Bush … Continue reading McCain
Friday Not-My-Ferretblogging
Anybody who wants a ferret, now you can get one ofthese. Floodgate Entertainment and Sony BMG Music have teamed up for a new game called Mo-Pets, which as you might guess from the name is another virtual pet sim. But it’s got some unique features. Namely ferrets. Yes, you’re not just restricted to dogs in this game. You can own and train up cats, monkeys and ferrets too. It sounds like they can’t believe it either. “We weren’t sure if we could make a game where the player would fall in love with a virtual ferret,” says Floodgate’s Paul Neurath. … Continue reading Friday Not-My-Ferretblogging
I keep forgeting the adults are not in charge
Upon hearing the news of Rumsfeld’s resignation my first thought was the Republicans must be seething with anger that it came one day after the election. I’ve puzzled why Bush hadn’t made the move earlier when it could have helped Republicans. What on earth were the reasonings behind that one I wondered. TheNYT reports today that the move had been planned since this summer but… Mr. Bush ultimately postponed action until after the election in part because of concern that to remove Mr. Rumsfeld earlier could be interpreted by critics as political opportunism or as ratifying their criticism of the … Continue reading I keep forgeting the adults are not in charge
I Voted In The Motherf—-n’ Tsunami, Man
I heart Oliver’s new t-shirt. A. Continue reading I Voted In The Motherf—-n’ Tsunami, Man
Killing Journalism
In today’s installment of “stuff that happened while we were busy kicking Republican ass,” we learn that if you stand up for your reporters, you get shitcanned. Dean Baquet was forced out as editor of the Los Angeles Times after he refused renewed demands from Tribune Co. to lay off more journalists, aggravating tension between the media company and its biggest newspaper. Mr. Baquet is exiting a month after Tribune ousted the newspaper’s publisher, Jeffrey M. Johnson, and replaced him with David D. Hiller, then the publisher of the company’s flagship Chicago Tribune. Weeks earlier, both Mr. Baquet and Mr. … Continue reading Killing Journalism
Fairy Dust and Ponies
FromTena: Hello, this is the Schadenfreude Fairy. I’m here to shower all you lovely moonbats with your maximum allowance of schadenfreude. So, without further ado, I bring you the lede in this morning’s Dallas Morning News (I’m afraid they have changed the website lede for the nonce, so you’ll have to trust me that this is what your Schadenfreude Fairy found when she stumbled out to the porch and shook the paper out of its plastic sleeve): Democratic trend forecast: Analysts say party could dominate Dallas County politics for ‘years to come.’ Yes, little moonbats, the Schadenfreude Fairy loves you. … Continue reading Fairy Dust and Ponies
Dead On Arrival
Chimpyrenominates John “Mustache Ride” Bolton to be US ambassador to the UN. Na. Gonna. Happen. Yes, maybe — just maybe — Lincoln Chafee will give his constituents the same finger they gave him on Tuesday by flip-flopping and giving Bolton a thumbs-up in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but there is NO WAY Bolton gets through this Lame Duck Senate. Even if Bolton’s nomination does get out of committee his ass will be filibustered. Count on it. UPDATE:Steve Clemons: Word has just reached me from a well-placed source that the White House has continued to push John Bolton’s confirmation prospects … Continue reading Dead On Arrival
The Vatican: As Always, On Top of the Important Stuff
Memo to Pope Benedict XVI. Holy Father, people are starving, plus there’s war, genocide, AIDS, and Kevin Federline is about to be a single man again. In other words, we haveproblems up in here today. Couldja maybe get to work on them and spend a little less time using your considerably large and public bullhorn to say pointless things likethis: “It is with bitterness that we have learned that the day after tomorrow, November 10, 2006, there is scheduled in Jerusalem a so-called ‘gay pride parade’,” the Vatican said in a statement issued on Wednesday. In a letter to Israel’s … Continue reading The Vatican: As Always, On Top of the Important Stuff
Mehlmaniferous
Funny, I heard Limpbaugh play the unedited version of Bill Mayer’s“outing” of RNC Chair Ken Mehlman today [apparently Larry King’s gaydar is weaker than Rush’s dick], complete with Mr. Erectile Disfunction 2006’s tut-tutting over whether or not Maher has the background and moral standing to out anyone. Of course the real reason Limpy aired that bit was to let it be known to his audience that Mehlman is gay. Did I mention thatMehlman is as good as gone? Yes, itappears I did. Continue reading Mehlmaniferous
Burns concedes
FromAP HELENA, Mont. – U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns onceded defeat to Jon Tester on Thursday, acknowledging that a tight election had gone to the Democrats’ favor, Burns’ campaign told The Associated Press. —– Continue reading Burns concedes
Rest in peace
CNN reporting that CBS News correspondent Ed Bradley has died of leukemia at age 65. UPDATE:More on Mr. Bradley’s work and life from CBS News Continue reading Rest in peace
Gatesgate, Part I: The Man Who Created Bin Ladin
SecDef nomineeRobert Gates helped make Osama bin Ladin the man he is today, going so far as to lie to Saint Ronnie in order to insure that CIA funds continued to flow bin Ladin’s way. As his unclassified CIA biography states, bin Laden left Saudi Arabia to fight the Soviet army in Afghanistan after Moscow’s invasion in 1979. By 1984, he was running a front organization known as Maktab al-Khidamar – the MAK – which funneled money, arms and fighters from the outside world into the Afghan war. What the CIA bio conveniently fails to specify (in its unclassified form, … Continue reading Gatesgate, Part I: The Man Who Created Bin Ladin
Your President Speaks!
I’m stealingHolden’s schtick today as he’s taking a well-deserved break. This is my favorite part of that press conference Bush gave yesterday. THE PRESIDENT: You think I’m nuts? You think — you think my sensibility has left me as a result of working hard on the campaign trail, Gregory? (Laughter.) A. Continue reading Your President Speaks!
Marriage Ban’s Big Backfire
An analysis of the voting pattern Tuesday in Virginia suggests that the so-called “marriage amendment” on the ballot as Question 1 might have cost U.S. Senator George Allen the election. If true, it would mark an ironic twist, the backfiring of an effort Republicans hoped would spur a stronger turnout for their incumbent.
With results like this I hope we will see the end of using discriminatory amendments to GOTXianV. Additionally Arizona became the first state to reject a marriageban related amendment (see comments). To my deep regret such an amendment passed in WI. Athenae covers that in post below.
(h/tAmericaBlog)
UPDATE: The ban also backfired in WI as Republicans lost control of the state Senate, lost seats in the Assembly and it didn’t help Republican Mark Green’s failed bid for governor. …Click Read more for details—–
Gatesgate, Part II: Iran-Contra Criminal
AsChapter 16 of Judge Lawrence E. Walsh’sfinal report on his investigations into the Iran-Contra scandal demonstrates, Robert Gates was a hair-width away from a perjury indictment for lying about his knowledge of the illegal arms-for-hostages, money-for-Central-American-terrorists deal.
Robert M. Gates was the Central Intelligence Agency’s deputy director for intelligence (DDI) from 1982 to 1986. He was confirmed as the CIA’s deputy director of central intelligence (DDCI) in April of 1986 and became acting director of central intelligence in December of that same year. Owing to his senior status in the CIA, Gates was close to many figures who played significant roles in the Iran/contra affair and was in a position to have known of their activities. The evidence developed by Independent Counsel did not warrant indictment of Gates for his Iran/contra activities or his responses to official inquiries.
[snip]
Gates consistently testified that he first heard on October 1, 1986, from the national intelligence officer who was closest to the Iran initiative, Charles E. Allen, that proceeds from the Iran arms sales may have been diverted to support the contras.2 Other evidence proves, however, that Gates received a report on the diversion during the summer of 1986 from DDI Richard Kerr. The issue was whether Independent Counsel could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Gates was deliberately not telling the truth when he later claimed not to have remembered any reference to the diversion before meeting with Allen in October.
Continues…
Nice Work, Bigots
All you’ve done is deny peoplehealth insurance. Its two largest cities, Dane County and six school and technical college districts offer health insurance and family leave benefits for domestic partners, according to Action Wisconsin, a gay rights group. “One of the first things we’ll see is a challenge to domestic partner benefits offered by public employers in this state,” said Josh Freker, a spokesman for Fair Wisconsin, which opposed the amendment. The University of Wisconsin System, which has sought domestic partner benefits to help it recruit and retain employees, may have also been dealt a setback in its effort to … Continue reading Nice Work, Bigots
Aaaaand We’re Back
Sorry about the outage, guys. Apparently we hosed not only our own chinchilla but the hosting co’s chinch as well, and they were NOT pleased. I’ve turned off a bunch of stuff including logins, so sign your comments if you can’t get through, and we’ll do a major damage assessment over the weekend and turn stuff back on. Chat was awesome, you all were wonderful, and we’ll bring it back for debates, special occasions, and the like. It really helped last night. George Allen is no longer a senator. I’m sleeping the sleep of the just tonight. The just, the … Continue reading Aaaaand We’re Back