Month: February 2007

Scoutprime, War in Iraq5 Comments

Hypocrisy

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One would think for all their writing of supporting the troops that the wingnut Wurlitzer would be fired up by WaPo’s The Other Walter Reed series.  But there has been nothing from Malkin, Hugh Hewitt, Powerline, Instapundit, Gateway Pundit, Captain’s Quarter’s or Wizbang. Only Jonah Goldberg at The Corner claimed the series to be a must read after this caveat… I don’t trust Dana Priest that much, and I am suspicious of some of possible motives behind the series, Jonah suggests putting Geraldo Rivera on the story “to scare the bejeebers out of the relevant bureaucrats and politicians” so regardless … Continue reading Hypocrisy

Hurricane Katrina & Federal Flood, Scoutprime

It’s a Start

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As a follow up to a post from last week, the Democratic leadership has established a “working group” to develop hurricane recovery legislation… WASHINGTON — Stung by criticism from within their own ranks that they have abandoned the Gulf Coast, House Democratic leaders filed long-awaited legislation Thursday to relieve hurricane-battered Louisiana of nearly $1.8 billion in recovery costs. They also promised that more help is coming next month. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also established a “working group” of Gulf Coast lawmakers to develop hurricane recovery legislation and assigned staffers from key committees to write and monitor bills. SNIP Hoyer … Continue reading It’s a Start

Scoutprime, Uncategorized6 Comments

Scientists to warn it may be too late to save the ice caps

scoutprime2014

From The Guardian… A critical meltdown of ice sheets and severe sea level rise could be inevitable because of global warming, the world’s scientists are preparing to warn their governments. New studies of Greenland and Antarctica have forced a UN expert panel to conclude there is a 50% chance that widespread ice sheet loss “may no longer be avoided” because of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Such melting would raise sea levels by four to six metres, the scientists say. It would cause “major changes in coastline and inundation of low-lying areas” and require “costly and challenging” efforts to move … Continue reading Scientists to warn it may be too late to save the ice caps

Immoral Values2 Comments

We’ll just patch them up with red tape

Allison Hantschel

Due to data-sharing regulations, Veteran’s Affairs trauma center doctors have had their access to records necessary for treatment of soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan blocked by the Pentagon since January 23. The VA physicians handle troops with serious brain injuries and other major health problems. They rely on digital medical records that track the care given wounded troops from the moment of their arrival at a field hospital through their evacuation to the United States. About 30 VA doctors in four trauma centers around the country have treated about 200 severely wounded soldiers and Marines. The docs had been … Continue reading We’ll just patch them up with red tape

Scoutprime, Uncategorized

“If Iraq don’t kill you, Walter Reed will.”

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WaPo’s Anne Hull and Dana Priest have another must read on the Other Walter Reed today. It’s heartbreaking, tragic and will make your blood boil. How can anyone speak of supporting the troops with this going on? Just disgusting. Every American should read it… The Hotel Aftermath: Inside Mologne House, the Survivors of War Wrestle With Military Bureaucracy and Personal Demons Continue reading “If Iraq don’t kill you, Walter Reed will.”

Scoutprime, Uncategorized6 Comments

“Now enough of the Unpatriotic business”

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First Video Late this evening Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) called the Republicans on their questioning of Democrats Patriotism. The first video is Ryan’s excellent speech which included… We never called the other side unpatriotic when they sent our soldiers over without enough body armour. And when they didn’t send enough up-armoured humvees we never called anybody unpatriotic. And now when the next batch goes over without the proper jammers or up-armoured kits we don’t call you unpatriotic. Now we’ve called you incompetent. We’ve said you’re incapable. And we said you’re derelict of your oversight responsibility, but never Mr. Speaker have … Continue reading “Now enough of the Unpatriotic business”

War in Iraq2 Comments

What Was Wanted: More Feith

Allison Hantschel

“I object! Overruled! I strenuously object! Oh, well, if you strenuously object, well, then …” — A Few Good Men It’s always a toss-up to post this stuff in “War in Iraq” or “Stupid Republican Tricks” because what’s interesting about Feith, what got me fascinated with his squirrelly little self in the first place, is the particularly Bushpublican trait of seeing what he wants to see and repeating the outlines of his own reality strenuously enough that questioning them seems like a potentially dangerous thing to do, like poking a porcupine. If someone just seems innocently mistaken that’s one thing, … Continue reading What Was Wanted: More Feith

War in Iraq4 Comments

On The Radio This Week

Allison Hantschel

Hey guys. I miss anything major this week? Kidding. I kept up as much as I could while on the road, and guess what happened? People decided that this guy I edited a book about a year and a half ago should be held accountable for his actions after all: Gimble said that while the actions of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy “were not illegal or unauthorized,” they “did not provide the most accurate analysis of intelligence to senior decision makers” at a time when the White House was moving toward war with Iraq. (Read … Continue reading On The Radio This Week

So Called Liberal Media

Epistolery Crit

Allison Hantschel

My friend Dan writes to the NYT: To the Editor: It’s déjà vu all over again. On the same day that “The Build-a-War Workshop” (editorial, Feb. 10) rightly criticizes Douglas J. Feith, a former under secretary of defense for policy, and his superiors for cooked Iraq intelligence, the front page shows that no lessons seem to have been learned from our last run-up to war. The news article describes interviews with “American officials, including some whose agencies have previously been skeptical about the significance of Iran’s role in Iraq.” But the administration’s pre-Iraq war subterfuge and the politically suspect timing … Continue reading Epistolery Crit

So Called Liberal Media7 Comments

Mistah Kurtz’s Love Letter To America’s Favorite Anchorbaby

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Howie Kurtz loves Michelle Malkin. My favorite bit in an otherwise awful paean to a racist thug: That persona is a far cry from the self-described “geek” of her youth. Michelle Maglalang grew up outside Atlantic City in a Reaganite, conservative Catholic family, was not politically active, and failed a fifth-grade public speaking class. As a college student, she was so naive that when a married Republican congressman invited her to live in his home during her internship with then-Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.), she thought it was a generous offer until her parents straightened her out. “Michelle, make sure you … Continue reading Mistah Kurtz’s Love Letter To America’s Favorite Anchorbaby

War in Iraq3 Comments

Rich White Suburbanites Warming To Surge

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Pathetic. President Bush faces widespread opposition to the troop buildup in Iraq, though he has gained support over the past month, an AP-Ipsos poll found. The president has nudged support for the troop increase to 35 percent from 26 percent in early January. Sixty-three percent of those surveyed still oppose the increase. The increased support came from some of Bush’s core supporters — Republicans, men, whites, suburbanites and people with higher incomes. [snip] A majority of people said the war was a hopeless cause and they did not think more troops would stabilize Iraq, according to the poll released Friday. Continue reading Rich White Suburbanites Warming To Surge

Geek Cred3 Comments

Third Year In A Row

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Hey, “Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle” has been nominated for a Koufax Award for the thrid straight year. Thanks, guys. Will I make the list of finalists for the third year in a row? We shall see. I see our own scout prime has been nominated in the same category for her NOLA blogging. Between you and me, I’m voting for scout. Her blogging on Katrina and its after-effects has been excellent. She’s really done a great job in focussing attention on the plight of New Orleans and its residents. Scout is what liberal blogging is all about. Continue reading Third Year In A Row

Law/Justice2 Comments

The Right Of The People Peaceably To Assemble

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It’s in the First Amendment, bitches. In a rebuke of a surveillance practice greatly expanded by the New York Police Department after the Sept. 11 attacks, a federal judge ruled yesterday that the police must stop the routine videotaping of people at public gatherings unless there is an indication that unlawful activity may occur. Continue reading The Right Of The People Peaceably To Assemble

Terrorism3 Comments

Rule of Law

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Something this Assministration will never adhere to. An Italian judge on Friday indicted 26 Americans and five Italians in the first criminal trial over the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program. The judge set the trial date for June 8. Prosecutors allege that five Italian intelligence officials worked with the Americans — almost all CIA agents — to abduct terror suspect Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr from a Milan street on Feb. 17, 2003. [snip] Even if a request is made for the Americans’ extradition — a move bound to irritate U.S.-Italian relations — it was unlikely that the CIA agents would be … Continue reading Rule of Law

Of Interest

Remembering Tillie Olsen-“writing what happens with the people who are not ever written about”

Allison Hantschel

[It seems appropriate that this post follows Holden’s shoutout to the Koufax Best Series nominations. I don’t think Tillie Olsen would mind, so woo hoos and huzzahs all ’round to Scout and Holden, and all the nominees (with a personal nod especial to Austin homies Twisty Faster, Amanda Marcotte and Norbizness for, respectively, Public Cans of Austin, Feminists for Life and Ax da President.) ] To the business at hand: Tillie Olsen is internationally known and honored for her powerful, brilliantly crafted, poetic writing depicting the lives of working-class people, women and people of color with respect, profound understanding and … Continue reading Remembering Tillie Olsen-“writing what happens with the people who are not ever written about”

Holden's Obsession with the Gaggle5 Comments

Today On Holden’s Obsession With The Gaggle

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Is this believable? The Assministration orders military officials in Bagdad to hold a briefing on Iranian arms in Iraq andPony Blow claimsno one in the White House has any idea what those officials actually said. Q Have you been able to reconstruct the transcript of the briefing in Baghdad on Sunday? MR. SNOW: No, but I think the general purpose of the briefing in Baghdad was to outline Iranian activities in terms of supplying weaponry, or weaponry that had made its way from Iran into Iraq that had been used to kill coalition forces, among others. One of the most … Continue reading Today On Holden’s Obsession With The Gaggle

Political Crack

Bubble Done Burst

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So much for the housing bubble. Construction of new homes and apartments plunged by 14.3 percent in January, the Commerce Department reported Friday. The bigger-than-expected drop left construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.408 million units, the lowest level in nearly 10 years. On Thursday, a real estate trade group reported that the slump in housing deepened in the final three months of last year. The National Association of Realtors said that sales of existing homes fell in 40 states and home prices dropped in 49 percent of the metropolitan areas surveyed, the widest price decline in the … Continue reading Bubble Done Burst

Your President Speaks4 Comments

Your President Speaks!

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Today, in Washington, before members of the American Enterprise Institute. The One Principle Of Which? Yet five years into this war, there is one principle of which every member of every party should be able to agree on — in other words, after all the debate, there is one thing we all ought to be able to agree on, and that is: We’ve got to fight the terrorists overseas, so we don’t have to face them here at home again. Glad You Mentioned It And the reason why I mention success is, it’s important for us to succeed. Try My … Continue reading Your President Speaks!

Law/Justice5 Comments

A Little Love Story For The Day After Valentine’s

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Oh, isn’t this sweet.  A senior Justice Department official who recently resigned her post bought a nearly $1 million vacation home with a lobbyist for ConocoPhillips months before approving consent decrees that would give the oil company more time to pay millions of dollars in fines and meet pollution-cleanup rules at some of its refineries. Sue Ellen Wooldridge, former assistant attorney general in charge of environment and natural resources, bought a $980,000 home on Kiawah Island, S.C., last March with ConocoPhillips lobbyist Don R. Duncan. A third owner of the house is J. Steven Griles, a former deputy interior secretary, … Continue reading A Little Love Story For The Day After Valentine’s

Scoutprime, Uncategorized2 Comments

Grace period up

scoutprime2014

Matt Stoller at MyDD had a post yesterday titled, Grace Time Is Over. In it he states, regarding the Democrats lack of seriousness about ending the Iraq War,–“It’s time for the blogs to stop giving them a pass.” I think the same must be said regarding Katrina recovery. As a starting point then, here is one Louisiana Democrat who is calling out the Dems on the lack of action… WASHINGTON — An irate Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, blasted the congressional leader of his party Wednesday for what he called unfulfilled promises to deliver help to hurricane victims on the Gulf … Continue reading Grace period up

Your President Speaks5 Comments

Your President Speaks!

holdencaulfieldfd

From this morning’s pointless presser. My favorite bit was…                           MEET! REUTERS/Jim Bourg There’s Good Conversation We talked about the coordination between Iraqi and coalition forces. And I would characterize their assessment as the coordination is good. In other words, there’s good conversation, constant conversation between the commanders of our troops and their troops, and that’s a positive development. The Following Is Not Your President Speaks! Material, Just Another Lie Since The Vote On Patraeus’ Nomination Was81 Yea, 0 Nay, And 19 Not Voting – Far From Unanimous … Continue reading Your President Speaks!

War in Iraq5 Comments

His Vision of Peace

holdencaulfieldfd

I’m a bit surprised that such little attention has been paid to this statement that Chimpy made in yesterday’s presser. First, the — Iraq will be a society in which there is relative peace. I say “relative peace” because if it’s like zero car bombings, it never will happen that way. Iraq under Saddam experienced “zero car bombings”, how is it the all-powerfull US military cannot establish the same degree of security that the Iraqi people enjoyed before we kicked over his popsicle stand? People of Iraq, welcome to your future courtesy of the good ole U S of A. … Continue reading His Vision of Peace

War in Iraq2 Comments

That’s Presidential Medal of Freedom Material Right There

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General Tommy Franks predicted that the US would have just 3,000 soldiers in Iraq by December 2006 according to his PowerPoint presentation, recently released to the National Security Archive. When Gen. Tommy R. Franks and his top officers gathered in August 2002 to review an invasion plan for Iraq, it reflected a decidedly upbeat vision of what the country would look like four years after Saddam Hussein was ousted from power. A broadly representative Iraqi government would be in place. The Iraqi Army would be working to keep the peace. And the United States would have as few as 5,000 … Continue reading That’s Presidential Medal of Freedom Material Right There

Scoutprime, So Called Liberal Media7 Comments

Semper Fi Hannity

scoutprime2014

Last month the wingnuts were outraged when the Baker’s Dozen a Yale singing group was attacked in San Fransisco. Though there were reports that this may have been a case of gay bashing the wingnuts seized on another aspect. Wingnut blogger Gateway Pundit had a post title that says it all…Yale Group Gets Beaten for Performing “Star Spangled Banner.” More jumped on the band wagon giving insights such as this from The Bullwinkle Blog… The ever-tolerant left of Pelosiville attacked a group of college students for singing the Star-Spangled Banner. Faux News’ Sean Hannity got in on the outrage when … Continue reading Semper Fi Hannity