Sing it: “What I don’t want to do is get on this merry-go-round where we try to end this war and negotiate it down to a blank check,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. “It’s time to play hardball.” A. Continue reading Happy Democrat Photo: Hardball Edition
From theTimes Picayune… WASHINGTON — President Bush suffered the first veto override of his seven-year presidency Thursday as the Senate approved a $23 billion water resources bill with almost $7 billion for Louisiana coastal restoration and flood protection projects. It was the first time in a decade that Congress has passed a bill over a presidential veto. Continue reading Overriding Bush
Just A QuickieToday, In Which We Ask… Even Osama bin Laden? Q Yesterday the President talked — spoke about how he spoke directly to the Iranian people. Will he speak directly to the Pakistani people and the Pakistani protestors, letting them know that he supports them? MS. PERINO: The President supports everybody in Pakistan because of the importance that we place on the region. Continue reading Today On Holden’s Obsession With The Gaggle
Yesterday, inMount Vernon, Virginia, during a brief presser with French President Nicholas Soarkozy. If You Hadn’t Been Decapitated , Tortured With An Electric Drill And Shot In The Head, Or Blown To Bits I don’t — you know, “quagmire” is an interesting word. If you lived in Iraq and had lived under a tyranny, you’d be saying, god, I love freedom — because that’s what’s happened. Oh, Jeeze And so I appreciate your leadership on that issue and I want to thank your Foreign Minister for — I don’t see your Foreign Minister. Look, the guy was here. Oh, there … Continue reading Your President Speaks!
Yesterday, at theWhite House, during an interview for French television. Eats Crow Q The relations between France and the United States for a long time had cooled down for quite some time, for about three years, since the intervention in Iraq and since the opposition of three major countries — Russia, Germany and France. And this quote was lent to your administration whereby we should forgive Russia, forget Germany, and punish France. And France was punished for its rebelliousness. And number two, is the punishment over? THE PRESIDENT: I never really felt that a disagreement over Iraq should yield a … Continue reading Your President Speaks! Again!
A homeless encampment by New Orleans City Hall hastripled in size… This burgeoning rights movement has staked a claim on a growing encampment that sits in the shadow of City Hall. Before the watchful eyes of city officials, the homeless camp has tripled over the past few months, to the point where it’s now sleeping roughly 150 a night — a size that seems to threaten its very existence, as it’s now garnering the attention and annoyance of public officials. There is an estimated 12,000 people homeless in the NO metro area. Continue reading No title
Link: When you get right down to it, the 1990s were good to a lot of people. I had a fresh college diploma, a booming economy in which employers fought over my meager skills, a fiancé, an apartment and a pretty good used car. Nobody I knew was dying in a foreign war. We caught terrorists when they attacked us (and put them on trial and convicted them on the actual terrorism charges). We had a president who wasn’t regarded by the rest of the world as a lazy ignoramus. It was kind of fun being an American back then. … Continue reading Columnwhoring: They’re Making Me Like Her Just To Spite Them
Heckuva job! The Iraqi interior minister said Wednesday that he would authorize raids by his security forces on Western security firms to ensure that they were complying with tightened licensing requirements on guns and other weaponry, setting up the possibility of violent confrontations between the Iraqis and heavily armed Western guards. The tightening of the requirements followed a shooting in September by one of those firms, Blackwater, that Iraqi authorities said left 17 Iraqis dead. “Every company will be subject to such examination, and any company that does not follow the law will lose its license,” the minister, Jawad al-Bolani, … Continue reading Thanks, General Betrayus!
There’s a newWall Street Journal/NBC News poll out. Chimpys job approval rating falls two points two 31%, just points above his all-timelow of29%. One of the most striking findings in the latest NBC/WSJ poll is just how angry Americans — Democrats, Republicans, and independents — are, and how much they want change. Just 21% believe the country is on the right track, only 31% approve of Bush’s job, and a whopping 74% say they want the next president to take a different approach than Bush. Continue reading Pony Me!
Here is a comment to a post byHarry Shearer today at HuffPo… That was a good posting. Heavy on information and light on opinion, which is nice.I’ve never been to New Orleans but keep hearing how goddamn good the food is there. I’m not arguing, but how good can it be to get all these raves? Is it better than the Olive Garden (which I think is pretty good . . . free salad, free bread)? Harry typed this in response… HARRY RESPONDS: Well, gee, no, not better than the Olive Garden, now that you mention it. But, hell, nothing’s … Continue reading Poor Harry
America is sick ofChimpy’s Vanity War. End it now. Opposition to the war in Iraq has reached an all-time high, according to the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll released Thursday morning. Support for the war in Iraq has dropped to 31 percent and the 68 percent who oppose the war is a new record. Despite the drop in violence in Iraq, only one quarter of Americans believes the U.S. is winning the war. There has been virtually no change in the past month in the number of Americans who believe that things are going badly for the U.S. in the war … Continue reading *KNOCK-KNOCK* Is This Thing On?
Dana Peroxide Really Shouldn’t Get Into A Tit-For-Tat With Helen Thomas
Q Why is the President dodging a personal phone call to Musharraf?
MS. PERINO: The President has had his Secretary of State —
Q I’m asking you directly why doesn’t he call him?
MS. PERINO: The President feels very strongly that President Musharraf knows exactly how he feels about the situation.
Q That isn’t the point.
MS. PERINO: It is the point.
One Would Think That Chimpy Would Be Used To Massive Foreign Policy Failures, Yet He Still Fears Them
Q But why should Musharraf believe that you guys are really serious about what you’re saying from this podium when the President doesn’t actually pick up the phone and call him to let him know personally? That carries a lot more weight than having Condoleezza Rice or somebody else talk to him.
MS. PERINO: Well, we disagree. The President has made his points very clear with Musharraf; he’s had many meetings with President Musharraf. And Secretary Rice has delivered those messages.
[snip]
Q It still does not carry the same weight as the President having direct contact with Musharraf — (inaudible).
MS. PERINO: Well, I’ll let you — I’ll let that be your opinion. I’ll let that be your opinion.
Q But what is the tactic? I mean, what is the strategic reason for President Bush not to actually pick up the phone and talk to him?
MS. PERINO: I feel confident that the President is being well served and advised by his senior national security team. The decision has been made to have Secretary Rice be the one directed to have this communication.
Q Why shouldn’t we see this as double standard? I mean, it’s not the same standard as applied to Burma.
MS. PERINO: I can understand why that question would be asked, but I think everyone has to remember that we are in the early days of a crisis, looking at a country who had decided to try to move down the path to democracy in establishing freedom of the press, civil societies, improving the education system, the public health system, allowing for freedom of expression and assembly. Democracies take time to develop. It is not easy. And this is certainly a setback, and we’re —
Q Well, they certainly don’t have freedom of the press or assembly at the moment.
MS. PERINO: And we have called for a return to it.
Q Dana, does the White House believe that Musharraf is now a dictator?
MS. PERINO: Look, I think that that is — it’s premature to say that. This is a President —
Q Well, why is premature when the First Lady —
MS. PERINO: — who has worked closely with an ally in the war on terror, President Musharraf. We’re doing two things with them: on the one hand, working cooperatively to take the fight to the enemy, to fight against terrorists; and on the other hand, trying to help President Musharraf and the other members of the Pakistani government to move along the path to democracy, because ultimately what’s going to help solve this problem is a free society, a democratic society. And yes, President Musharraf, we believe, has made a mistake. We are gravely concerned about the situation. We are calling for an immediate return back to —
Q But wait a minute, why are you calling it a mistake? You seem to be giving Musharraf the benefit of the doubt.
MS. PERINO: — we are calling for an immediate return to civilian rule, and we are in communication with them because we have a lot of cooperative interests. We have a broad relationship, and we cannot lose sight of the fact that we have very serious counterterrorism operations that are currently underway in Pakistan as well.
Continue reading “Today On Holden’s Obsession With [Yesterday’s] Gaggle”
Today, at theWhite House, during an interview for German TV. Accomplish Some Missions! Well, I made my clear statement there at the U.N., that I’m for overall reform and I do believe we ought to look at reforming the Security Council in a way that, you know, accomplishes some missions. The Only One Country It’s not easy to get done and the only one country that I’ve endorsed has been Japan, and it’s been a long-standing policy of the government of the United States, and I continue that policy. Everybody’s Parliaments Reacts No, I understand. I mean, you know, people … Continue reading Your President Speaks!
The Bush Crime Familystrikes again. The inspector general of the Department of Education has said he will examine whether federal money was inappropriately used by three states to buy educational products from a company owned by Neil Bush, the president’s brother. John P. Higgins Jr., the inspector general, said he would review the matter after a group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, detailed at least $1 million in spending from the No Child Left Behind program by school districts in Texas, Florida and Nevada to buy products made by Mr. Bush’s company, Ignite Learning of Austin, Tex. Mr. … Continue reading Neilsie!
Pakistan tells Chimpy toshove it. A senior member of Musharraf’s legal team said Wednesday that the United States is more worried about fighting terrorists than about seeing democracy flourish in his country. Ahmad Raza Khan Qasuri, an advocate at Pakistan’s Supreme Court, also warned the U.S. that “we expect from our friends advice, not dictation. We are a sovereign country.” “Do we ask for a checklist from the United States, ‘Why did you go to Iraq? Why did you go to Afghanistan?”‘ he said at the Middle East Institute. “The United States, instead of dictation, they should give us friendly … Continue reading No Respect
To everybody who came out and said hi yesterday at the Collge of DuPage. It was great meeting everybody and major thanks to the leadership program there for inviting me. There will be video at some point. Hopefully not of the point where I utterly lose my place in the speech and spend my “leadership” time going “uh, erm, what I mean is, damn it, where is that paragraph anyway?” And if any of the student newspaper kids did wind up showing up later, I’ve been reading your work, and I could have design quibbles (always, with everything, including the … Continue reading A Quick Thank You
Jesus, Dennis: House Republicans initially opposed the effort to debate Mr. Kucinich’s impeachment measure and briefly there were 290 votes in favor of tabling it. But then the Republicans sensed an opportunity to irritate Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California who has said the Democrats have no interest in impeaching Mr. Cheney or President Bush. The Republicans began changing their votes and by the time the clock ran out, the tally was 251 to 162 against tabling with 165 Republicans voting no. Mr. Kucinich’s two campaigns are completely interconnected with his candidacy for president largely based on his opposition to the … Continue reading Credit Where It’s Due
Sweet potato follies. Go read the whole thing, it’s howlingly funny. The two present beasts are not at all interested in human food. Riot sniffs right past it, and Puck actively avoids me when I’m eating something, no matter what it is. Our late Fox, however, was a human food vaccuum. It wasn’t good for him so we tried to keep him away from it, only to have him snatch a piece of cheese, or a melon rind, or a beef stick right out of our hands. I once made the mistake of leaving bags of groceries on the floor … Continue reading Human Foodz
Young folk with a humorous PSA that illustrates how the Army Corps of Engineers controlled the official levee investigation… (viaWe Could Be Famous) Continue reading New Orleans Levee Spin 101
(Photo: scout, March 2006) TheTimes Picayunereports that FEMA is quietly evicting residents of nearly half the trailer parks in NOLA… Neither the city nor FEMA has publicly announced any park closures in New Orleans. But during the past few months, the agency has quietly delivered eviction notices to residents at nearly half the city’s parks. Since August, FEMA has mothballed more than 800 trailers in New Orleans. More than 550 more will be emptied in the current round of eviction notices. But the agency’s efforts to phase out the trailer parks, always intended to be temporary housing for hurricane victims, … Continue reading What? No fake Presser…? FEMA quietly closing New Orleans trailer sites
Today, inWashington, at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Thinks Room 350 Of The Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building Is In The White House Good morning. Thank you for coming by the White House. The Global War On Plurals Continues We want people eating product grown here in the United States of America. And Continues If that plant is selling more product overseas, it means you’re more likely to get a pay raise and have stability in your job. Opening A New Front In The Global War On Articles Administration will continue working to bring the Doha Round … Continue reading Your President Speaks!
Last month Madison native and combat medic Cpl. Rachael L. Hugo, 24, was killed when her unit came under fire in Bayji, Iraq. Yesterday when I read that Wisconsin native Second Lt. Tracy Alger age 30 had been killed by an IED in Iraq I thought my God we have lost so many women from WI to this war. Thinking my perception may not match reality I searched the Iraq Coalition Casualtysite. I found 6 women from WI have been killed in Iraq. The only state which has lost more is CA with 7. IL and TX have lost 6 … Continue reading Wisconsin Women In Memoriam
Dana Peroxide Tries To Yank Chimpy’s Foot From His Mouth
Q The President said last week at Heritage that we are standing with those who yearn for liberty. Isn’t — aren’t we in the position now in Pakistan where we are supporting a government that is cracking down on liberty?
MS. PERINO: The government of the United States is deeply disturbed by the proclamation of emergency in Pakistan on November 3rd — about 48 hours ago. We cannot support emergency rule or the extreme measures that are being taken by President Musharraf. Such actions are not in Pakistan’s best interest. And President Musharraf had taken Pakistan well — pretty far along the path to democracy, and this is definitely a setback.
We are currently reviewing our aid.
[snip]
Q Well, while you’re reviewing the aid, there’s widespread expectation that most of that aid, which is for the military, is going to continue. Isn’t that —
MS. PERINO: Well, I think that — I’m not going to prejudge the outcome of a review that is going to be ongoing, and Secretary Rice and Secretary Gates have said that they would be leading those reviews.
Continue reading “Today On Holden’s Obsession With The Gaggle”
Chimpy continues to scrape the bottom of theWaPo/ABCbarrel. For the fourth consecutive month, Bush’s approval rating remains at a career low. Thirty-three percent said they approve of the job he is doing, and 64 percent disapprove. Majorities have disapproved of Bush’s job performance for more than 2 1/2 years. Continue reading Four Months Of Pony
Chimpy the foreign policy visionary imparts a msall tidbiot of his wisdom to the eager ears of theHerritage Foundation last Thursday. And now we’re at the start of a new century, and the same debate is once again unfolding — this time regarding my policy in the Middle East. Once again, voices in Washington are arguing that the watchword of the policy should be “stability.” And once again they’re wrong. Today we learn that “stability” is OK if you are Pakistan. In Islamabad, aides to Musharraf said they had anticipated that there would be few real consequences to a state-of-emergency … Continue reading IOKIYP
I disagree with thecrack dealer here, because I don’t think the helpful Democrats he talks about want to remake the party in their image. I think their constant offering of helpful advice is more about avoiding actual hard work and looking sexy to the crowd than anything else. They’re the national political equivalent of the pain in the ass on the PTA committee who calls you up the day after your Christmas craft fair or whatever and says, “What we needed to do was THIS.” And by “we” she means you. Course, should you actually take her suggestion for the … Continue reading In Their Image
Marry me, David Simon: Fancast:: In terms of season five, can you speak to your thoughts on the media, its role in marginalizing places like West Baltimore, North Philadelphia, East St. Louis, etc., and the state of traditional media right now? Simon: I think we proved ourselves — newspapers, the print media — to be as ridiculously susceptible to raw capitalism and market forces as anything that we critiqued thus far in The Wire. The newsroom where I used to work (the Baltimore Sun) had 460 people. Now it has 300. And there are people out there who just don’t … Continue reading Just For Scout: Wire Post
Peripherally related to this week’sspeaking engagement, I’d like to know from all of you: What defines leadership? Who is a leader to you, and why? A. Continue reading Sunday Question Post: Leadership
I can’t promise it will equal the stirring excitement of Islamofascism Awareness Week, but I am going to be speaking on campus at the College of DuPageon Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 12 p.m. If anyone is in the area, you should stop on by and say hello. We’re going to be talking about how everybody went crazy after 9/11, about 2004 and 2008, about New Orleans and blogs, and about journalism. You know, all my favorite stuff, plus Holden’s ponies. A. Continue reading More First Draft Live!
To someone whose spouse has just been deployed: The ME, ME, ME Person: “Oh, well, you still have me.” Wow! I didn’t realize my husband leaving made this all about you. How lucky I am to still have you! The thing is, there truly are few people I like more than my husband, and simply put, you are not one of them. The Pragmatist: “Well, you knew he was in the Military and that this could happen.” Yep, sure did and you also know that your husband has a penis, so should he ever decide to put it inside another … Continue reading What Not To Say