Bleedin-Blue

Scott McClellan Resigns

2006-04-21T21:25:00.000-07:00

So long Puffy McMoonFace, we hardly got to know you. It must have been hard to cover for all the lies. You deserve some time off before you have to go forth again, and help mommie with her bid for the Gov's Place in Austin.

Skinner at the Democratic Undergroud has a few more reasons you might be leaving our national TV screens:

Wants to spend more time with his family: James Frey, Jayson Blair, and Stephen Glass.

So many of his pairs of pants have inexplicably burst into flame that it has become virtually impossible to get dressed in the morning.

Chronic motion sickness from excessive spinning.

Suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to tough questioning from Helen Thomas.

There has been so much "good news" coming out of Iraq that the White House decided it is completely unnecessary to have a press staff.

Policy of not commenting on "ongoing investigations" has made it virtually impossible for him to comment on anything anymore.

New job: Washington Post Ombudsman.

Constant barrage of hardball questions from the White House Press Corps. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Just kidding.

Disregarded advice of commanders who said a larger military force was necessary for successful invasion and occupation of Iraq; failed to plan for post-invasion occupation; personally supervised torture of detainee(s) at Guantanamo Bay; arrogant and imperious; recently was the object of unprecedented public criticism from six highly respected former generals. Considering this appalling record of failure, it is surprising it took this long for him to lose the confidence of the Commander in Chief. (Now, wait a second...)

Mastered "lies" and "damned lies" but still struggling with "statistics."

Finally grew a conscience.

It's the only way he could get out of upcoming hunting trip with vice president.

Wants to investigate whether it is possible to do other things "like a rug."

Breaks into cold sweat when he thinks about trying to explain upcoming Iran War.

Hoping for cushy job in Jack Abramoff's lobbying firm Tom DeLay's office Duke Cunningham's office Katherine Harris's senate campaign Scooter Libby's office any place that will hire him.

The job just hasn't been the same since Jeff Gannon left the White House Press Corps.

Considering the fact that the Bush administration has been such a huge success and has done so many awesome things to make this country great, the only possible explanation for the president's low poll numbers is poor performance by White House press secretary.

The rats are abandoning ship.

Read this, Howard Dean: Make it your New Year's Resolution for 2006

2006-01-02T21:44:00.001-08:00

Howard,

Andrerw Foster Altschul at Huffington Post has a few suggestions regarding 2006 for you. He begins with a wake-up cage-rattle:

Some Thoughts for Howard Dean, Harry Reid, Bob Schrum, Donna Brazile, John Podesta, Nancy Pelosi, and the Rest of the Shit-for-Brains So-Called Leaders of the Democratic Party, at the Start of 2006, a Year Which Will Either Restore the Party to Political Relevance or Witness Its Ultimate Humiliation and Extinction

Here is a part of his post I especially like:

- It is time to start calling things by their proper names. Here are some words
to add to your vocabulary: Lying: As opposed to "misleading,"
"finessing," "not being straight with," etc. The President has lied to the country, to the Congress, to the media, to the world. Abuse of Power: In addition to drawing useful connections to Watergate in the minds of voters, this term has the virtue of being absolutely appropriate to the President's actions. Money Laundering: c.f. Tom DeLay. Bribery, is the only word that applies to those who took money from Jack Abramoff. Insider Trading and Blind Trust: If the latter is not truly blind, then it's the former, period. Blackmail: As in a Medicare official threatened with loss of job if he tells Congress the true price of the prescription drug plan, and Political Retaliation: As in what happened to General Shinseki and Valerie Plame. Criminal Negligence: As in Mike Brown, Paul Bremer, Donald Rumsfeld, et. so many al. As long as we insist on finding polite euphemisms for these things, the public will assume they are minor infractions, not serious matters.

Read the rest here.

Seattle's Ex-Top Cop Says Legalize Drugs - All of Them

2005-12-05T22:35:00.000-08:00

Many people are in favor of the decriminalization of marijuana. Others would extend leniency to other drugs as well. But Seattle's ex-chief of police Norm Stamper, a cop for 34 years, wants to not just ease penalties for drugs, he wants to LEGALIZE drugs. ALL of them. Certainly not the really BAD ones, you say. Stamper responds:

But no, I don't favor decriminalization. I favor legalization, and not just of
pot but of all drugs, including heroin, cocaine, meth, psychotropics, mushrooms and LSD.

He continues:

I've never understood why adults shouldn't enjoy the same right to use verboten drugs as they have to suck on a Marlboro or knock back a scotch and water.

I think that this is topic which is never given an honest airing. Over the years, politicians of all persuasions, have ratcheted up the rhetoric, as well as punishment, to glean favor from would-be constituents. Has all of this attention solved the "drug problem"? I think that we all know the answer.

I have never understood the prohibition this society has placed on marijuana. It's a NO-BRAINER! Legalize it. NOW! Let folks put their whole back yards into pot production if they want. It's a plant. Let them fire up great big bong-loads of the shit if they desire. I don't care. The last puff I had was about 20 years ago. If I never toke again, I won't miss it. But hey, that's me. People have asked me about my stance: "What about the kids...what about YOUR kid?" Yeah, like they can't get it now.

Legalize some of the other drugs? Of that I'm not so sure. I have major qualms about the legalization of meth, which re-wires the brain of users after a just a few binges. Once an addict to heroin or coke, you will never lose that desire. But then again, what about the damage done to property and threats to persons from the clandistine manufacture of meth. Would not a regulated system of processing alleviate some of these environmental concerns?

What if we put just a fraction of the resources into prevention and treatment that we pour into the effort to jail users? I think that just might put a dent into the "demand" side of the equation. Without demand, there is no reason for production, if I remember ECON 101.

Stamper again:

It's not a stretch to conclude that our Draconian approach to drug use is the most injurious domestic policy since slavery. Want to cut back on prison overcrowding and save a bundle on the construction of new facilities? Open the doors, let the nonviolent drug offenders go. The huge increases in federal and state prison populations during the 1980s and '90s (from 139 per 100,000 residents in 1980 to 482 per 100,000 in 2003) were mainly for drug convictions. In 1980, 580,900 Americans were arrested on drug charges. By 2003, that figure had ballooned to 1,678,200. We're making more arrests for drug offenses than for murder, manslaughter, forcible rape and aggravated assault combined. Feel safer?

It ain't working. Time to try something different.

Murtha, A Man With A Plan

2005-11-17T14:48:00.000-08:00

When does victory become quagmire? In the case of Iraq, right after the Commander in Chief lands on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, flying in, riding second chair in a jet, making a tailhook landing in a nifty flight suit. ("I used to one of these, lemme fly, okay, what's THIS button do?" "Please don't touch that Mr. President. No, not that EITHER, please!!!")

Bush accomplished what he what his dad did not do. He defeated Sadam and his army. Job well done. He unleashed the greatest armed force the world has ever known upon a second rate country softened up by 12 years of economic sanctions. Guess what! We won!

Good job. Except that he and those he trusted did not think about the aftermath. Once the battle had been won, the Iraqi army was told to: "Go away, and take your arms with you! We'll spend billions to bring in private security guards to replace you, at $100,000 a year a pop. It's your country, but we'll give it back when we're good and ready".

Two and a half years later, the number of attacks against US troops increase monthly. There has slow progress in re-establishing the infrastructure of Iraq, and the people there are increasingly losing their patience with us, their overlords. And the death toll mounts.

The leaders in this country, in both parties, have been silent mostly. Oh, there have been some grumbling from the Dems, and a few brave GOP'ers that have Except for a couple of politians on the far left, no one has had courage to talk seriously about extracting the US from this mess.

Finally, a politician with strong defense credibility has confronted the truth and layed out a plan to end this crusade that becomes more and more pointless daily.

Rep. John Murtha of PA calls the war in Iraq (...a flawed policy wrapped in illusion.) He goes on to say:

Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency. They are united against U.S. forces and we have become a catalyst for violence. U.S. troops are the common enemy of the Sunnis, Saddamists and foreign jihadists. I believe with a U.S. troop redeployment, the Iraqi security forces will be incentivized to take control. A poll recently conducted shows that over 80% of Iraqis are strongly opposed to the presence of coalition troops, and about 45% of the Iraqi population believe attacks against American troops are justified. I believe we need to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis.

His plan:

To immediately redeploy U.S. troops consistent with the safety of U.S. forces.
To create a quick reaction force in the region.
To create an over- the- horizon presence of Marines.
To diplomatically pursue security and stability in Iraq

Whether this plan is the best or not, I don't know. At least it IS a PLAN. "Stay the course" is meaningless unless there is a destination. It's clear that there is no clear end-criteria to this conflict. It's time to let the Iraqis have their country back - give them a sense of ownership. And nothing sharpens the mind like a deadline.

GOP Doesn't Want to Hear From Veterans

2005-11-11T09:46:00.000-08:00

It has been a 50-year tradition that veterans groups have been able to give presentations yearly to a joint session of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees.

But not this year. In a strangely timed announcement just prior to Veterans Day, House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), announced that this tradition is over.

From a Disabled American Veterans press release:

The tradition of legislative presentations by veterans service
organizations dates back to at least the 1950s. And the timing of this
announcement -- just before Veterans Day -- could not have been worse, said DAV National Commander Paul W. Jackson.

The right to fully participate in the democratic process is a cornerstone
of our nation, said Commander Jackson. Eliminating these joint hearings is an insult to the men and women who have fought, sacrificed and died to protect our Constitutional rights, including the right to petition the government.

Patriotism requires more than slapping a "Support the Troops" bumper sticker on the ass of your car. Americans must stand up to GOP efforts to cut funding to veterans aid and benefits.

Disabled American Veterans

Big Ed Shultz Screwed by Pentagon

2005-10-17T22:20:00.000-07:00

Last week, Ed Shultz, the slightly left of center radio host announced that his "Straight Talk From the Heartland" would be broadcast over the Armed Forces Radio Network. It was agreed that the first hour of his nationally syndicated radio show based in Fargo, North Dakota would be aired, along with the standard fare that has long featured the likes of Rush Limbaugh and James Dobson's "Focus on the Family". Big Eddie's voice of reason would at last bring a view other than that of Bush administration sycophants.

On Friday Oct. 14th, the "Big Redhead" played an audio tape of Pentagon communications official Allison Barber helping troops in Iraq rehearse for their broadcast video teleconference with the president last week. Barber walked them through questions and their answers and warned them the president might ask questions not from the script. This incident was widely reported over various media outlets throughout the weekend. Early Monday, Oct. 17, he was called by Barber personally to tell him that his show that was to begin on AFRN was not to be broadcast after all, even though Shultz had received confirmation from AFRN about the Oct. 17 debut. See the UPI story. A copy of the email is on file at People for the American Way, whose story can be found here.

A Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman, denied any connection between the Barber tape and the decision to cancel Schultz's radio show.

Yeah, right!

This could explain a few things

2005-09-22T14:57:00.000-07:00

From The National Inquirer:

Who knows, even a broken clock is right twice... they were right about Rush. Don't you hate it when stuff interrupts your "drinkin' time"...

BUSH'S BOOZE CRISIS
By JENNIFER LUCE and DON GENTILE

Faced with the biggest crisis of his political life, President Bush has hit the bottle again, The National Enquirer can reveal.

Bush, who said he quit drinking the morning after his 40th birthday, has started boozing amid the Katrina catastrophe.

Family sources have told how the 59-year-old president was caught by First Lady Laura downing a shot of booze at their family ranch in Crawford, Texas, when he learned of the hurricane disaster.His worried wife yelled at him: "Stop, George."

cont'd...

Keith Olbermann Hits One Out of the Park

2005-09-05T22:17:00.000-07:00

His commentary, "City of Louisiana" , delivered tonight on MSNBC cut through the fog like an acid stop-bath. Here is the heart of it:

No one is suggesting that mayors or governors in the afflicted areas, nor the federal government, should be able to stop hurricanes. Lord knows, no one is suggesting that we should ever prioritize levee improvement for a below-sea-level city, ahead of $454 million worth of trophy bridges for the politicians of Alaska.

But, nationally, these are leaders who won re-election last year largely by portraying their opponents as incapable of keeping the country safe. These are leaders who regularly pressure the news media in this country to report the reopening of a school or a power station in Iraq, and defies its citizens not to stand up and cheer. Yet they couldn't even keep one school or power station from being devastated by infrastructure collapse in New Orleans — even though the government had heard all the "chatter" from the scientists and city planners and hurricane centers and some group whose purposes the government couldn't quite discern...a group called The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

And most chillingly of all, this is the Law and Order and Terror government. It promised protection — or at least amelioration — against all threats: conventional, radiological, or biological.

It has just proved that it cannot save its citizens from a biological weapon called standing water.

Blew By You

2005-09-03T23:42:00.000-07:00

Paul Krugman is my favorite commentator on all things economic. However, in this column, he tackles the unreality that our federal government is not up to the task of coming to the aid of its citizens. Our current president was re-elected basically because a slim majority felt that he was the more capable when it came to national security. The tragedy that is Katrina strips away the facade and reveals that we are being led by an empty suit. Homeland Security failed its big test. One hopes that we never see anything like this again in our country. This was a 100-year calamity, and all the talk, and money was for naught.

Thanks to the NY Times...

Before 9/11 the Federal Emergency Management Agency listed the three most likely catastrophic disasters facing America: a terrorist attack on New York, a major earthquake in San Francisco and a hurricane strike on New Orleans. "The New Orleans hurricane scenario," The Houston Chronicle wrote in December 2001, "may be the deadliest of all." It described a potential catastrophe very much like the one now happening.

So why were New Orleans and the nation so unprepared? After 9/11, hard questions were deferred in the name of national unity, then buried under a thick coat of whitewash. This time, we need accountability.
First question: Why have aid and security taken so long to arrive? Katrina hit five days ago - and
it was already clear by last Friday that Katrina could do immense damage along the Gulf Coast. Yet the response you'd expect from an advanced country never happened. Thousands of Americans are dead or dying, not because they refused to evacuate, but because they were too poor or too sick to get out without help - and help wasn't provided. Many have yet to receive any help at all.

There will and should be many questions about the response of state and local governments; in particular, couldn't they have done more to help the poor and sick escape? But the evidence points, above all, to a stunning lack of both preparation and urgency in the federal government's response.
Even military resources in the right place weren't ordered into action. "On Wednesday," said an editorial in The Sun Herald in Biloxi, Miss., "reporters listening to horrific stories of death and survival at the Biloxi Junior High School shelter looked north across Irish Hill Road and saw Air Force personnel laying basketball and performing calisthenics. Playing basketball and performing calisthenics!"

Maybe administration officials believed that the local National Guard could keep order and deliver relief. But many members of the National Guard and much of its equipment - including high-water vehicles - are in Iraq. "The National Guard needs that equipment back home to support the homeland security mission," a Louisiana Guard officer told reporters several weeks ago.

Second question: Why wasn't more preventive action taken? After 2003 the Army Corps of Engineers sharply slowed its flood-control work, including work on sinking levees. "The corps," an Editor and Publisher article says, citing a series of articles in The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, "never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security - coming at the same time as federal tax cuts - was the reason for the strain."
In 2002 the corps' chief resigned, reportedly under threat of being fired, after he criticized the administration's proposed cuts in the corps' budget, including flood-control spending.

Third question: Did the Bush administration destroy FEMA's effectiveness? The administration has, by all accounts, treated the emergency management agency like an unwanted stepchild, leading to a mass exodus of experienced professionals.

Last year James Lee Witt, who won bipartisan praise for his leadership of the agency during the Clinton years, said at a Congressional hearing: "I am extremely concerned that the ability of our nation to prepare for and respond to disasters has been sharply eroded. I hear from emergency managers, local and state leaders, and first responders nearly every day that the FEMA they knew and worked well with has now disappeared."

I don't think this is a simple tale of incompetence. The reason the military wasn't rushed in to help along the Gulf Coast is, I believe, the same reason nothing was done to stop looting after the fall of Baghdad. Flood control was neglected for the same reason our troops in Iraq didn't get adequate armor.

At a fundamental level, I'd argue, our current leaders just aren't serious about some of the essential functions of government. They like waging war, but they don't like providing security, rescuing those in need or spending on preventive measures. And they never, ever ask for shared sacrifice.

Yesterday Mr. Bush made an utterly fantastic claim: that nobody expected the breach of the levees. In fact, there had been repeated warnings about exactly that risk.
So America, once famous for its can-do attitude, now has a can't-do government that makes excuses instead of doing its job. And while it makes those excuses, Americans are dying.

Three Magic Numbers

2005-09-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

While our leaders try to pull their collective heads out of their asses down in LA, we wait for the really bad news. Soon the statistics will come pouring in.

First of all, we will learn how many lives were lost. Well, maybe not ALL the lives, but we will know ABOUT how many. Estimates are in the range of 10,000, I hope this not true. Some people will have just vanished from the face of the earth, and we will never know for sure what happened to them. We also won't know how many might have been saved by competent assistance early on.

Next we will tally the cost of rebuilding New Orleans. (Sorry, Speaker Hastert, New Orleans will be rebuilt...that is unless you are open to the concept of a couple million new neighbors in your cozy little Chicago suburb.) Nope, we will rebuild the city. It's been around for about 300 years, and it is a unique American place. If we can rebuild Baghdad, we can rebuild New Orleans. The cost will be 10-20 billion, who really knows.

Finally, we will face the cost to the rest of the country measured in jobs, increased energy prices and distrust of the government institutions. We place our trust in our leaders, that they spend our hard-earned tax dollars in a manner that will solve the problems we cannot deal with individually. The debacle that is New Orleans shows us that our trust is misplaced, at least with the fools that are in charge now. This final number is just to big to comprehend.

All this for miniscule savings by cutting the budget of the Army Corps of Engineers, so we can wage a foreign war, and to give tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans. Fuzzy math rules our land!

Where is my President?

2005-09-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

I want to see my President out there, on the line, handing out bottles of water. I want him to tell the rest of us thousands of miles away that he is there, helping my fellow people, expediting, cutting through red tape, getting resources cleared, and feet on the ground.

This America, people, we are the richest country the world has ever known. Much forethought was done, but when push comes to shove, it was all BULLSHIT. All talk, no action.

Now I want to see my leader down there, taking command. But no, all we get is a couple of days shaved from the "vacation". And a "fly-over". Oh, well I guess that is just wishful thinking...LA voted for Bush, and he ain't runnin' agin. THANK GOD!!

Welcome back George, no mean dead soldier's Mom to wreck your "vacation". It's Monday all week for the rest of us, Idiot! Thank you for explaining how gas is made, in those factories, called "refineries". Geez, didn't know that before! I guess that we will just have to smile as we get screwed at the filling station. At least your guys are taken care of. Be good for that old "blind trust", too!

Here's the story from the Washington Post.

This is the part that caught my eye:

While critics accused Bush of being slow to recognize the horrible scale of the damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina on Monday, he moved Wednesday to reassert his public leadership role and reassure the American people that he is in charge. After his 35-minute flyover along the Gulf Coast, he raced back to Washington, met his disaster relief team in the White House and strode into the Rose Garden to address the nation.

On Wednesday!!???!! Oh, but those lucky folks in New Orleans will get a personal visit this weekend...won't that be special!!

Lessons in "Patriotism"

2005-08-21T22:06:00.000-07:00

A few Right-Wingnuts need a little lesson in patriotism.

First case in point is Larry Northern, of Waco,TX. Good ol' Lar thinks that the way to show respect for our troops is to drag a bar with chains across the crosses set up to honor our sons and daughters that have given up their lives in the name of the USA. Nope, YOU'RE WRONG, Larry.

THIS is the way we honor our war dead:

NOT this way:

Now Larry, if you want to be a patriot, you must PRACTICE! Come on, get that knee on the ground...you can do it. Maybe taking your son down to the recruiter's office would be a good thing, too.

Next up is a fellow who raided his 15-year-old daughter's closet. In this case, the dude's half right: he's got the right pants, but the top has GOT to go. Your daughter can carry off the look you're going for, but your body says: "I need a barstool, NOW". Remember: a man's butt-crack is about six inches longer than a girl's, and NOT something to show off to the public. Do us a favor and dress appropriately, if a patriot is what your are.

Here comes patriot No. 3. Now THIS is an OUTFIT! You go, boy! Too bad that flag anti-desecration is at the top of your party's "to do" list. See you in federal prison, bud!

Finally, here's my favorite Red-Stater. I bet your mom wished that the folks in your state had spent a little more on the educational system. But then again, she probably needed that extra 4-5 bucks a year savings on taxes for cigarettes. First things first, ya'll...GO BIRDS!

Thanks to the D.U. for a couple of the pics!

Oh, Those Darn Peacenik Right-Wing Nuts!

2005-08-17T22:17:00.000-07:00

Remember that booming economy? And those budget surpluses that stretched out as far as one could see? We had a second-term president that we could actually be proud of, not some sneaky little weasel that keeps any dissent in a paddock miles away from wherever he has a speaking engagement to a roomful of hand-picked toadies. But the Idiot Right Wing had some thoughts about Clinton's action in sending troops to Bosnia. Remember "Wag the Dog"? How many US soldiers died in that tussle...hmm...I'm thinking ZERO!

Thanks to the Daily Kos, here are a few of the statements from the Peacenik Looney Bin of the Right. Oh, that's right, only GOP WingNuts can do war right.

Here is hypocrisy in full bloom:

"You can support the troops but not the president." --Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

"Well, I just think it's a bad idea. What's going to happen is they're going to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years." --Joe
Scarborough (R-FL)

"Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life?" --Sean Hannity, Fox News, 4/6/99
"[The] President . . . is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an
ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation's armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy." --Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

"American foreign policy is now one huge big mystery. Simply put, the administration is trying to lead the world with a feel-good foreign policy." --Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

"If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy."
--Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of George W Bush

"I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning . . I didn't think we had done enough in the diplomatic area." --Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)

"I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our over-extended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today" --Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)

"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." --Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)

Joe Iraq

2005-08-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

I posted this on another site...something I have been wanting to put out there for some time. I think that it's time to leave, and I think that there are about 100,000 folks in Iraq would fit into the following scenerio:

It's about 110 degrees. Power is on only about half the time, broken up into two periods. You're unemployed, the job you used to do is now being done by a contractor brought in from outside your country, using the same equipment that you used your whole career, in the same facility. You weren't into party politics, and were never too happy with the old regime, to say the least.

Now, when you dare to venture out, you see the baracades protecting those same foreign workers. And you know by the logos on these barriers that they weren't made by any of your countrymen.

You know personally a half a dozen folks that had their home ripped up, or friends or family members blown up by an IED, or whatever they call it.

You think: How much more can I take.

Time to Set Up Camps

2005-07-31T14:08:00.000-07:00

Boy, this is pretty scary coming from one of the leading columnists in the country. Maybe he can urge the government to set up a hotline so that decent, non-questioning citizens can call in with information they over-hear at work, ect. Maybe a special KidsLine for children to rat out their parents, give'm little badges, or something. (Given the talk around MY family dinner table, I would have been on my own, starting at age eight...but I would have had this really cool badge!)

Thomas Friedman of NYT fame writes:

After every major terrorist incident, the excuse makers come out to tell us why imperialism, Zionism, colonialism or Iraq explains why the terrorists acted. These excuse makers are just one notch less despicable than the terrorists and also deserve to be exposed. When you live in an open society like London, where anyone with a grievance can publish an article, run for office or start a political movement, the notion that blowing up a busload of innocent civilians in response to Iraq is somehow "understandable" is outrageous. "It erases the distinction between legitimate dissent and terrorism," Mr. Rubin said, "and an open society needs to maintain a clear wall between them."

It seems to me that if you want to win a war, you'd want to get into the heads of your enemy and try to see what makes them tick. It's not being an "apologist" for looking for underlying reasons. Now, in fairness, I don't think Friedman was talking about the average person's doubts about the Iraqi war, or trouble with the handling of detainees. I think he's concerned about those few nut-cases who claim we "deserved" 9-11. (Hmm, like Jerry Falwell, maybe?.)

But where exactly do you draw the line? As pointed out in this excellent article on Fair.org, the usual idiots would extend this "list" to half the nation. Hey, send me to the camp in Hawaii...Aloha, and mahalo!

2005-07-18T21:24:00.000-07:00

The cooler head of U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly finally put a dagger into the "top two" primary system in Washington State. We "Evergreen Staters" are just going to have to follow the lead of the rest of the nation: If you want to participate in the primary, you MUST declare a party affiliation...at least for one primary at a time.

Read the article in the Seattle PI Here.

Lookit, I liked it too, and for 75 years that was the way things were done around here at primary time. Even I, a Bleedin-Blue Democrat, (and usually am a paid-up member to three differant levels) would sometimes jump across political boundries and vote for a "gasp" Republican, or maybe a "Greenie", or even a Liberitarian or Socialist Worker fruit-cake just to rage against the machine. What the hell, I was my right as a Washingtonian. But the "two parties" just had to rock the boat and challenge the status quo, and they won.

I don't like it, but that's life. It's time to move on. I don't understand the Washington State Grange's position, but I would rather see a General Election with the full spectrum of candidates representing the gamut of political thought. It's the general election that is the one that counts, anyway. The voters of Washington State (as I have stated HERE, and yet again HERE,) will just have to get off the fence, if only for the primary. Otherwise, we that belong to a political party will do it ourselves, albeit with some in-party acrimony. Those that can't get off the fence are, (and should be) S.O.L

Zell Miller's "Deficit of Decency"

2005-07-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

So-called "Demcrat" Zell Miller, author of self-serving books such as "A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat" and "A Deficit of Decency", walked off with some of the public's bucks after his stint as Governor of Georgia:

From the Macon Telegraph :

When this nationally famous figure left the governor's office in 1999, he pocketed more than $60,000 in taxpayer funds earmarked for entertainment and other expenses at the Governor's Mansion, WSB-TV investigative reporter Dale Cardwell revealed last week.

Miller also picked up a check for more than $20,000 for "unused leave"-a sum to which he was not entitled as a constitutional officer, Cardwell also reported.

I'm sure there are might be a school or two in Georgia the might need, oh, a few more books for their library, perhaps, or a new computer or two, maybe.

What do ya 'spect'em ta use, Zell? Spitballs?

Who are the REAL Activist Judges

2005-07-07T12:10:00.000-07:00

This New York Times op-ed by Paul Gewirtz and Chad Golder suggests an actual measure for what makes an "activist" judge:

We found that justices vary widely in their inclination to strike down Congressional laws. Justice Clarence Thomas, appointed by President George H. W. Bush, was the most inclined, voting to invalidate 65.63 percent of those laws; Justice Stephen Breyer, appointed by President Bill Clinton, was the least, voting to invalidate 28.13 percent. The tally for all the justices appears below.

Thomas 65.63 %
Kennedy 64.06 %
Scalia 56.25 %
Rehnquist 46.88 %
O'Connor 46.77 %
Souter 42.19 %
Stevens 39.34 %
Ginsburg 39.06 %
Breyer 28.13 %

One conclusion our data suggests is that those justices often considered more "liberal" - Justices Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter and John Paul Stevens - vote least frequently to overturn Congressional statutes, while those often labeled "conservative" vote more frequently to do so. At least by this measure (others are possible, of course), the latter group is the most activist.

This should put to rest the B.S. conservatives spew about those darn liberal judges who "legislate from the bench". What state does "Senator" Thomas represent...I forget.

Cajun Style Primary in Washington Must Go

2005-07-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

First, a favorite son in the GOP lost a bid to be the lone Republican entry for the 9th district seat on the King county council at the June 11th convention...but he's running anyway. Why not, he's got the biggest pile of loot.

Then last Tuesday, the Democrats had their upset when the "chosen one" Carolyn Edmonds, with the largest warchest and most endorsements, lost out to the "underdog". Guess what, She's going to run in the primary for the 1st position anyway.

Depending on the primary, the top-two general election could feature 2 Republicans in the 9th, maybe only 2 Democrats in the 1st. Independents, Liberitarians and all others need not apply. The mess that the voters left us with must be thrown out. This is going to be an ugly inter-party divider.

From the Seattle P.I.

....
It's either Councilman Bob Ferguson of Seattle, or else it's nobody. It isn't Councilwoman Carolyn Edmonds of Shoreline, although she could yet become the nominee. It's also possible that both Ferguson and Edmonds, and no Republican, could end up on the November ballot.

When Washington voters adopted Initiative 872 and its "Top Two" primary election system last year, Republican and Democratic leaders worried that it would weaken the parties' role in the election process.

It already seems to be doing that, and what the parties did in response has added a big dose of confusion.

It also has exposed just how little influence the parties' leaders and elected officials seem to have with their grass roots, and even with their candidates. Some office seekers are ignoring party rules by running despite being denied their parties' nominations at county Republican and Democratic conventions.

"It's not a pretty picture," said King County Democratic Chairwoman Susan Sheary. "There are more questions than answers."

Although Edmonds raised more money and secured far more backing from Democratic elected officials than Ferguson has, Democrats from North King County's 1st District chose Ferguson over her at a party nominating convention last Tuesday.

Edmonds is running anyway, saying, "You can't let 150 people (at the convention) make a decision for 150,000 registered voters."
....

There's a war on...What are YOUR Kids doing?

2005-06-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

Gee, maybe if we didn't TALK about it, the Iraqi War just won't seem that bad after all. Then moms and dads across the country will escourt their new high school graduates down to the local recruiting office. But, no, those pesky facts keep getting in the way. It's those darn liberals and their fellow travellers in the media that keep the youth of America from glory. It's not like anyone's getting killed or anything, is it?

Well, the army DID meet its goal for June (after seeking a lower quota of enlistment). But the news for May is not so good: It's down by 25%. Simular for the rest of the recruitin' year. Funny how they are releasing this information just as everyone in the country is thinking about a nice, long 3-day weekend!

Geez, Senators Inhofe and Roberts, when are the kids in YOUR family signing up?

Several Senate Republicans denounced other lawmakers and the news media on Thursday for unfavorable depictions of the Iraq war and the Pentagon urged members of Congress to talk up military service to help ease a recruiting shortfall.

Families are discouraging young men and women from enlisting "because of all the negative media that's out there," Sen. James Inhofe (news, bio, voting record), an Oklahoma Republican, said at a U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

Inhofe also said that other senators' criticism of the war contributed to the propaganda of U.S. enemies. He did not name the senators [...]

"With the deluge of negative news that we get daily, it's just amazing to me that anybody would want to sign up," said Sen. Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican.

Hastings Relents

2005-06-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

The good doc is folding to the reality that as head of the the Ethics Committee he's bound, by all that's fair, to be non-partisian. Hastings is dropping his attempts to install his Chief of Staff into the head position of the Tom DeLay investigation. (A copy of this letter, leaked to the press, can be viewed at rawstory.com.)

Last fall, the GOP leadership gave Chairman Joel Hefley the boot from the Ethics Committee for the agregious sin of allowing his committee to chastise The Hammer. Then, right after the election, Republicans, with their legs spinning like cartoon charactors, ran back to DC to take care of a very important matter: Protecting Tom DeLay from growing questions of ethics violations. Yadada Yadada Varooooom. This first action changed the rules of the committee, requiring a majority to start an investigation of another House member.

Dropped into this maelstrom, the attention-avoiding gentleman from Central Washington soon found out what it means to be in the hot seat. As the newly minted chairman, he started taking hits, serving as body-armour for the ethics-challenged Majority Leader. He didn't help himself by trying to stack the committee by appointing his chief of staff, Ed Cassidy, to serve as co-director of the committee. Previously, the Ethics Committee has elected a chief counsel with consent of both Democrats and Republicans in this, the only bipartisian committee in the House.

This is just one small step as the day of reckoning slowly approaches for "Hot Tub Tom". Now, if we can just stretch this out into 2006. Timing is everything...we don't want to peak to soon.

The Chimp Speaks

2005-06-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

Dubya tries to make the dead cat bounce. And it will until folks come home from their 4th of July vacation. After that, it's back to reality.

References to "September 11?: 5
References to "weapons of mass destruction": 0
References to "freedom": 21
References to "exit strategy": 0
References to "Saddam Hussein": 2
References to "Osama Bin Laden": 2
References to "a mistake": 1 (setting a timetable for withdrawal)
References to "mission": 11
References to "mission accomplished": 0

Being a "lame duck": Priceless!

What's in your wallet!

Durbin blows it

2005-06-22T21:39:00.000-07:00

The Washington Post reports:

Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) yesterday offered a tearful apology on the Senate floor for comparing the alleged abuse of prisoners by American troops to techniques used by the Nazis, the Soviets and the Khmer Rouge, as he sought to quell a frenzy of Republican-led criticism.

...snip...

Durbin had prefaced his remarks, delivered June 14 on the Senate floor, by noting that for two years he had sought congressional hearings on the treatment of detainees. Then he cited an FBI account of how Guantanamo prisoners had been chained to their cells in extreme temperatures and deprived of food and water.

"If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime -- Pol Pot or others -- that had no concern for human beings," Durbin said. "Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners."

Durbin was right the first time...apologies not needed. And not warranted. As a US Senator, it's his job to seach out this kind of stuff! Our so-called "news professionals" won't do it, even if they were allowed access to Gitmo. But he wussed out to pressure from the right-wing media and went to the well of the senate to deliver his pitiful appology.

It's funny, but I don't recall any of the RepubliCons apologizing for any of their remarks:

Last June, then-Bush campaign manager Mehlman defended an ad that contained footage of Adolf Hitler interspersed with images of Democratic leaders including Al Gore, Dick Gephart and John Kerry. The campaign defended the images, saying they were taken from a video on MoveOn.org.

Mehlman said it was used "to show the depths to which these Kerry supporters will sink to win." The video was later removed.
------

Mehlman is not alone. A raft of Republicans in Congress have invoked Hitler and Nazism on issues from stem cell research, to abortion, to taxes and the environment.
White House confidante Grover Norquist, known for his blistering attacks on U.S. taxes, likened the estate tax to the "morality of the Holocaust" in October 2003.

"The argument that some who play to the politics of hate and envy and class division will say is, 'Well, that's only 2 percent -- or, as people get richer, 5 percent, in the near future -- of Americans likely to have to pay [the estate tax]," he told NPR. "I mean, that's the morality of the Holocaust: 'Oh, it's only a small percentage. It's not you; it's somebody else.'"

After being criticized for his remarks, Norquist expanded them in 2004 to include Democrats.
"The Nazis were for gun control, the Nazis were for high marginal tax rates.... Do you want to talk about who's closer politically to national socialism, the Right or the Left?" he told the Jewish newspaper The Forward. He also "told the Forward that he would not hesitate to use Holocaust comparisons in the future."

------
A Republican senator invoked Nazism when criticizing stem cell research last year.
"We certainly have all seen the rejections of Nazi Germany's abuses of science," Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) declared regarding his opposition to stem cell research last October. "As a society and a nation, there ought to be some limit on what we can allow or should allow."
------
In response to a ruling on abortion last September, Congressman Steve King said following law on reproductive rights equivalent to a Nazi guard saying he was following orders.

"That, Mr. Speaker, is a `modern-day' equivalent of the Nazi prison guard saying 'I was just following orders,'" he said on the House floor Sept. 8, 2004. "It was all legal in Nazi Germany at the time."

------
Another senator even compared the Kyoto climate treaty to Nazism, repeating a quotation from a Russian official.

Sen. James Inhofe said Oct. 11, 2004 that Kyoto "would deal a powerful blow on the whole humanity similar to the one humanity experienced when Nazism and communism flourished."

The Oklahoma Republican added, "The world has certainly turned on its head that we Americans must look to Russians for speaking out strongly against irrational authoritarian ideologies."

------
Sen. Tom Cole (R-OK) dragged out Hitler to hit Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.
"Cole Claims a Vote Against Bush Is a Vote For Hitler." KTOK radio in Oklahoma blared last year.

"Republican Congressman Tom Cole claims a vote against the `re-election' of President Bush is like supporting Adolph Hitler during World War Two," the station reported. "It's what he said recently before a meeting of Canadian County Republicans."
Cole later codified his statement, saying through a spokesperson: "What do you think Hitler would have thought if Roosevelt would've lost the election in 1944?"
------
Others, too, have likened Democratic policy to Nazism. Former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX) compared a Democratic tax plan to Nazi law in 2002.

"Now, forgive me, but that is right out of Nazi Germany," Gramm said. "I don't understand ... why all of a sudden we are passing laws that sound as if they are right out of Nazi Germany."

What a bunch of two-faced assholes!

Republicans starting to jump from the sinking ship?

2005-06-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

From the US News and World Report

Chuck Hagel can be counted upon to speak his mind without regard to the GOP party line. Once in a while I agree with him.

Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel is angry. He's upset about the more than 1,700 U.S. soldiers killed and nearly 13,000 wounded in Iraq. He's also aggravated by the continued string of sunny assessments from the Bush administration, such as Vice President Dick Cheney's recent remark that the insurgency is in its "last throes." "Things aren't getting better; they're getting worse. The White House is completely disconnected from reality," Hagel tells U.S. News. "It's like they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we're losing in Iraq."

That's strikingly blunt talk from a member of the president's party, even one cast as something of a pariah in the GOP because of his early skepticism about the war. "I got beat up pretty good by my own party and the White House that I was not a loyal Republican," he says. Today, he notes, things are changing: "More and more of my colleagues up here are concerned."

Well, duh! The American people have already figured out we're in a quagmire - just look at the polls. We're not buying the shit being flung at us by the Chimp-in-Chief. Yeah, Chuck, if you and all the other Republican idiots want to keep your phoney-baloney jobs, you better start thinking for yourselves. I won't hold my breath though, Chuck. "Monkey See, Monkey Do" is the motto of the GOP, as your Alpha Ape stubbornly stands his ground. Folks are getting tired of the act. The sheeple are beginning to leave the herd.

It's Back to the "Smoke-Filled Room" in Washington State

2005-06-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

Reagan Dunn is the son of former US congressperson Jennifer, and cousin of former US sentator Slade Gordon. But even with an impeccable GOP pedigree such as that, he will be on the outside when the primary rolls around.

That's because King County Reds, in caucus, chose Steve Hammond by 25 votes as the GOP entry in the September primary. (King County voters passed a referendum shrinking a 13 member council down to 9, thus pitting the two incumbents against each other.) Dunn is not a happy little GOP'er, and has vowed to take it to court He's breaking the GOP "11th Commandment" layed down by his namesake: "THOU SHALL NOT SPEAK ILL OF OTHER REPUBLICANS".

Stash inside The Whirlpool swiped the story.

Ordinarily I'd be laughing my ass off over such GOP infighting. But as my party prepares to meet to pick our guys, I see potential conflicts for the Dems as well.

Thanks to Washington State voters, we now have the the so-called "Cajun Style" primary system, herein the top two vote-getters advance to the general election. So it's back to the old days, with the party activists picking candidates behind closed doors. This, in effect, basically makes the primary a waste of time. If both major parties hand-pick their candidates, why not just fast-forward to the general election? Hey, the Greens, Liberitarians, Social Workers, or whatever, don't stand a chance anyway, and won't advance.

But the moron voters in Washington have spoken: "We don't want to register for no stinkin' party"...like EVERY OTHER STATE IN THE COUNTRY! (Except that bastion of good government, Louisiana!) Well, you don't have to pick a party. You won't have a choice either, because the parties are making your choice FOR you. It's a return to the old "smoke-filled" rooms, backroom deals and no choice for the average citizen.

See ya in November, morons. You were fortunate to have an open primary for years, but it was found to be unconstitutional. Instead of accepting what everyone else in the country does, you just HAD to maintain your independence. There is no Independence Party. And if there was, it wouldn't make the cut anyway.

Come on Doc, do the right thing

2005-06-09T21:10:00.000-07:00

I remember when Rep. Hastings and the rest of the Washington State GOP crowd were fighting with pointed elbows to get your mugs on camera, for local consumption, with your "Contract on America". They had these brooms, with which they symbolically sweep away the "corruption" of the House of Representatives in 1994. Well, the old Horse Doctor is the only member of the class of '94 that still survives - one of two GOP Federal office holders from the Evergreen State. As a former constituent of the 4th district, let me state that the good ol' Doc has become the same sort of dung that he thought he was sweeping out of office.

Thursday, June 9, 2005

Hastings Connection: Too close for comfort

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

The disclosure of close connections between House Ethics Committee chairman Doc Hastings, a powerful Seattle-based Washington, D.C., lobbying firm and embattled House Speaker Tom DeLay seals the argument that an outside special counsel should pursue the DeLay investigation.

Hastings' chief of staff, Ed Cassidy, dismisses the Pasco Republican's links to Preston Gates & Ellis as no more than would be expected from a firm based in his home state. But reporting by the Houston Chronicle and The New York Times has connected the dots between Hastings and Preston Gates, and the firm's former top lobbyist and longtime DeLay friend, Jack Abramoff.

Cassidy asserts that Hastings "couldn't have known Jack Abramoff from Jack and the Beanstalk." But Hastings knows Preston Gates. The firm and its partners have given him more than $14,000 in campaign contributions, including $1,000 from Abramoff. Among DeLay's alleged ethical missteps was a trip to the Northern Mariana Islands, arranged by Abramoff at Preston Gates. The firm also successfully lobbied Hastings on the Northern Marianas.

The DeLay inquiry has already been held up over Hastings' insistence on appointing Cassidy to be the committee's staff manager -- itself in apparent conflict with ethics rules.

The ethical thing for Hastings is to step back and turn the DeLay investigation over to a congressionally appointed special prosecutor.
- Seattle PI

Hey...we're at war, comrades!

2005-06-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

I swiped this from, Articulatory Loop, by way of the Wonkette.

These posters are found on MARC, the metro rail between Baltimore and DC.

We are assured by the Dept. of Homeland Security that the Patriot Act will not infringe on our civil liberties. Yikes! Better get your "papers" in order just in case. (I like the red background - nice touch!)

Here's a poster from Russia, circa 1920, Hmmm. Somewhere there's one dumb bureaucrat (and maybe one graphic artist laughing his ass off)!