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Friday, June 30, 2006
No wonder they can't find bin Laden posted by Clyde 1:17 PM Guardian finds Afghan witnesses US couldn't The US government said it could not find the men that Guantanamo detainee Abdullah Mujahid believes could help set him free. The Guardian found them in three days. Two years ago the US military invited Mr Mujahid, a former Afghan police commander accused of plotting against the United States, to prove his innocence before a special military tribunal. As was his right, Mr Mujahid called four witnesses from Afghanistan. But months later the tribunal president returned with bad news: the witnesses could not be found. Mr Mujahid's hopes sank and he was returned to the wire-mesh cell where he remains today. The Guardian searched for Mr Mujahid's witnesses and found them within three days. One was working for President Hamid Karzai. Another was teaching at a leading American college. The third was living in Kabul. The fourth, it turned out, was dead. Each witness said he had never been approached by the Americans to testify in Mr Mujahid's hearing. More Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

Robin Williams: Rush Limbaugh's just going fishing posted by Dookie The Webmaster 1:09 PM Robin poked fun at Rush on the Tonight Show: Windows Media Player Thanks to Crooks and Liars for the video. Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Caption This! posted by Dookie The Webmaster 7:52 AM Use the "Post a Comment" link to add your caption. Permalink :: 12 comments :: Post a Comment

No blank check posted by Clyde 4:45 AM Supreme Court Decision on Gitmo Undermines Bush's Legal Case For Warrantless Wiretapping The impact of today's Supreme Court decision on military commissions goes well beyond Guantanamo. The Supreme Court has ruled that the Authorization for the Use of Military Force - issued by Congress in the days after 9/11 - is not a blank check for the administration. From the syllabus: Neither the AUMF [Authorization for the Use of Military Force] nor the DTA [Detainee Treatment Act] can be read to provide specific, overriding authorization for the commission convened to try Hamdan. Assuming the AUMF activated the President's war powers, see Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U. S. 507, and that those powers include authority to convene military commissions in appropriate circumstances, see, e.g., id., at 518, there is nothing in the AUMF's text or legislative history even hinting that Congress intended to expand or alter the authorization set forth in UCMJ Art. 21. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Mountains and mole hills posted by Clyde 4:23 AM House intelligence chief berates Negroponte on WMD The chairman of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee accused U.S. intelligence chief John Negroponte's office on Thursday of downplaying the significance of chemical weapons finds in Iraq. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, a Michigan Republican, said in a letter to Negroponte that intelligence officials at a June 21 press briefing organized by his office misled journalists about the significance of 500 munitions containing mustard and sarin nerve agents discovered since May 2004. Intelligence officials at the briefing told journalists the weapons predated the 1991 Gulf War, were too degraded to be used as originally intended and posed no threat to U.S. forces deployed in the region during the run-up to the 2003 invasion. "I am very disappointed by the inaccurate, incomplete, and occasionally misleading comments made by the briefers," Hoekstra said in the letter, a copy of which was released by his office. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Jenna Bush finally gets a job! posted by Dookie The Webmaster 3:05 PM Too bad it's not in Daddy's booming economy. It's in Latin America. I guess we should update our chart now: Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

Gitmo has got to go posted by Clyde 9:18 AM Justices: Bush went too far at Guantanamo The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that President Bush overstepped his authority in creating military war crimes trials for Guantanamo Bay detainees, a rebuke to the administration and its aggressive anti-terror policies. The case, one of the most significant involving presidential war powers cases since World War II, was brought by Guantanamo prisoner Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who was a driver for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. More Permalink :: 4 comments :: Post a Comment

I thought "timetables" send the wrong signal? (Update) posted by Wally 7:54 AM Iran has until July 5th What happens after that is anybody's guess. But it might be a good time to buy more Halliburton and defense contractor stock. MOSCOW (AP) - The United States, Russia and other industrial democracies said Thursday they want Iran to answer "yes" or "no" next week to an international offer to bargain over Tehran's disputed nuclear program and said they are disappointed that the clerical regime has not replied by now. "We are disappointed in the absence of an official Iranian response to this positive proposal," said a statement from foreign ministers of the Group of Eight industrial nations. "We expect to hear a clear and substantive Iranian response to these proposals" at the meeting scheduled July 5 between the European Union's foreign minister and Iran's nuclear negotiator. MORE How quickly things change. Just yesterday Rummy said in a press conference: "The president's view has been and remains that a timetable is not something that is useful," Rumsfeld said Wednesday at a joint news conference at the Pentagon with Australian Defense Minister Brendan Nelson. "It is a signal to the enemies that all you have to do is just wait and it's yours," he said. Well, which is it? Timetable, or no timetable? *UPDATE* Apparently, it's no timetable. Iran looked at the July 5th deadline and told the US and EU "Suck it. We'll get back to you August-ish". Boy that whole Iraq thing really raised our level of credibility and respect in the world community, didn't it? Good job George. I'm sure your mommy is proud of you. Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

The D.C. two-step posted by Clyde 4:45 AM McConnell Admits GOP Knew About Casey's Redeployment Proposal, Even As They Blasted Democrats' Similar Plan Last week, Senate Republicans -- following the Bush Administration's wishes -- led an effort to kill a proposal by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Jack Reed (D-RI) that would have required a redeployment to begin by the end of the year but not set a timetable for a complete withdrawal. Many conservatives labeled the Levin-Reed proposal a "cut-and-run" policy. (snip) But then Americans learned that at roughly the same time that Senate Republicans were denouncing the Levin-Reed proposal, the top American commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, had briefed the administration on a plan to reduce U.S. troops in Iraq, with the first cuts perhaps coming by September, and much deeper cuts coming in 2007. Although the plan was conceptually similar to the one proposed by Levin and Reed, the same conservatives said it was not a "cut-and-run" policy. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

How much more love can the troops take? posted by Clyde 4:40 AM White House heartburn can't slow military pay gains The Bush administration continues to sound the alarm over rising military personnel costs from steady gains in pay and benefits voted by the Congress, including more new initiatives in the 2007 defense budget bill. But Congress shows no sign of heeding the alarm, not while U.S. forces "stay the course" in Iraq and Afghanistan, separated from family and suffering casualties in an uncertain quest to help democracy take root there. The latest administration criticisms of personnel costs appear in "heartburn" letters to the armed services committees from the White House's Office of Management and Budget. The administration, says OMB, "strongly opposes" several new initiatives for personnel in the House and Senate versions of the defense authorization bill nearing enactment. More Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
White House bragged about bank monitoring program before NYT article. posted by Dookie The Webmaster 12:44 PM Pot meet kettle. Terrorist funds-tracking no secret, some say WASHINGTON -- News reports disclosing the Bush administration's use of a special bank surveillance program to track terrorist financing spurred outrage in the White House and on Capitol Hill, but some specialists pointed out yesterday that the government itself has publicly discussed its stepped-up efforts to monitor terrorist finances since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. On Monday, President Bush said it was "disgraceful" that The New York Times and other media outlets reported last week that the US government was quietly monitoring international financial transactions handled by an industry-owned cooperative in Belgium called the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Communication, or SWIFT, which is controlled by nearly 8,000 institutions in 20 countries. The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal also reported about the program. The controversy continued to simmer yesterday when Senator Jim Bunning, a Republican of Kentucky, accused the Times of "treason," telling reporters in a conference call that it "scares the devil out of me" that the media would reveal such sensitive information. Senator Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, requested US intelligence agencies to assess whether the reports have damaged anti terrorism operations. And Representative Peter King, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, has urged Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez to pursue "possible criminal prosecution" of the Times, which has reported on other secret government surveillance programs. The New York Times Co. owns The Boston Globe. "Unless they were pretty dumb, they had to assume" their transactions were being monitored, Comras said of terrorist groups. "We have spent the last four years bragging how effective we have been in tracking terrorist financing." More Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

Caption This posted by Wally 7:53 AM Use the "Post a Comment" link to submit your caption. Permalink :: 16 comments :: Post a Comment

Dems grow a spine posted by Clyde 4:42 AM Democrats vow to block pay raises until minimum wage increased Democrats ratcheted up their election-year push for an increase in the federal minimum wage Tuesday by promising to block a congressional pay hike unless some of the lowest-paid hourly workers get their first raise in nearly a decade. "Congress is going to have earn its raise by putting American workers first: A raise for workers before a raise for Congress," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada. More Permalink :: 2 comments :: Post a Comment

The issue that refuses to die posted by Clyde 4:39 AM Flag amendment fails by one vote A constitutional amendment to ban flag desecration died in a Senate cliffhanger Tuesday, a single vote short of the support needed to send it to the states for ratification a week before Independence Day. The 66-34 tally in favor of the amendment was one less than the two-thirds required. The House surpassed that threshold last year, 286-130. More Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
He thinks he is upholding the Constitution - Idiot Alert! posted by Clyde 11:33 AM The White House today defended President Bush's prolific use of bill signing statements, saying they help him uphold the Constitution and defend the nation's security. "There's this notion that the president is committing acts of civil disobedience, and he's not," said Bush's press secretary Tony Snow, speaking at the White House. "It's important for the president at least to express reservations about the constitutionality of certain provisions." Snow spoke as Senate Judiciary Committe Chairman Arlen Specter opened hearings on Bush's use of bill signing statements saying he reserves the right to revise, interpret or disregard a measure on national security and consitutional grounds. More Permalink :: 2 comments :: Post a Comment

Cheney is the one who really wants to be Dictator posted by Wally 8:11 AM Bush is just the puppet front-man Yesterday afternoon the Democrats held a hearing about how intelligence had been manipulated in the run up to the Iraq invasion. In this telling little exchange, Rep. Walter Jones, a Republican, questioned how a handful of people in the administration were able to run over the intelligence experts: But what perplexes me is how in the world could professionals - I'm not criticizing anybody here at this table - but how could the professionals see what was happening and nobody speak out? (snip) So where along the way - how did these people so early on get so much power that they had more influence in those in the administration to make decisions than you the professionals? The answer came from Lawrence Wilkerson (Colin Powell's former chief of staff): I'd answer you with two words. Let me put the article in there and make it three. The Vice President. You can watch the video and read the trancript at CrooksandLiars.com or Think Progress Video -WMP Video -QT Cheney no longer thinks he is above the law, he is certain of it. On a related note, if you haven't had the chance to see the Frontline program "The Dark Side" download it and watch it. They don't call him Darth Cheney for nothing. Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

Limbaugh is a "LIMP" dick posted by Clyde 4:29 AM Limbaugh Detained At Airport For Drugs Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh was detained at Palm Beach International Airport for the possible possession of illegal prescription drugs Monday evening. Limbaugh was returning on a flight from the Dominican Republic when customs officials found a Viagra prescription that did not bear his name. Instead, the bottle of pills had the names of two doctors on it according to the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office. More Permalink :: 8 comments :: Post a Comment

The rising price of war posted by Clyde 4:23 AM Wars Force Army Equipment Costs To Triple The annual cost of replacing, repairing and upgrading Army equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan is expected to more than triple next year to more than $17 billion, according to Army documents obtained by the Associated Press. From 2002 to 2006, the Army spent an average of $4 billion a year in annual equipment costs. But as the war takes a harder toll on the military, that number is projected to balloon to more than $12 billion for the federal budget year that starts next Oct. 1, the documents show. More Permalink :: 4 comments :: Post a Comment
Monday, June 26, 2006
Labeling the Republican party. posted by Dookie The Webmaster 2:42 PM Karl Rove is at it again. Instead of debating issues and fixing America's problems, he did what he always does: Label the Democratic party. This year, be prepared to hear the words "Cut and Run" from the mouths of the right-wing spin machine. In the past two weeks, its already become a fad in the main stream media, Congress, and more. Unlike past years, it time to fight back, now! Lets label them before it's too late. With a new leader at the DNC, we think it's possible. As we all know, the president's approval ratings are in the toilet. So are the Republican lawmakers in Congress. It's time to come up with something fresh and new. Based on the fact that Republican lawmakers are keeping their distance from Bush for re-election, we thought of this label: "George Bush Republican" This label on the Republican party serves a variety of purposes. It tells them they are a "rubber-stamp" Congress, that they are no different than President Bush, and "moving to the center" will do them no good. If you like the new label as much as we do, please feel free to write the DNC and Gov. Howard Dean. They can carry this message all the way to the Novemeber elections and put the Republican party back in its place. Democratic National Committee Permalink :: 3 comments :: Post a Comment

Burning the Constitution to Protect the Flag posted by Wally 8:20 AM Congress should protect our Freedoms, not symbols Now that they've solved all the other pressing problems in the country, the Senate is about to begin debate, again, on a flag desecration amendment. This is sort of a biennial event - every election year it rears its ugly and unnecessary head. Problem is, this time it might actually pass. While we at dubyaD40.com respect and revere our flag, we see it as a symbol of something much much greater - a symbol of a whole myriad of Freedoms that we have kind of gotten used to. We find the irony almost overwhelming that Congress is debating diminishing the freedom of expression by protecting the ultimate symbol of the freedom of expression. The Bill of Rights is the envy of freedom lovers everywhere. It has not changed one whit in the more than two centuries since it was written. Now Congress wants to amend it to shrink the protection it provides for unpopular political expression. The issue is a proposal to authorize Congress to prohibit desecration of the American flag. LINK You know what I have to say about that? *Arrest this man!* Read More Here Permalink :: 2 comments :: Post a Comment

Bob Kincaid interviews First Lt. Ehren Watada. posted by Dookie The Webmaster 8:00 AM You're familiar with the ongoing story of First Lt. Ehren Watada, right? He's been muzzled and confined to base for refusing to deploy to Iraq. He's the first officer to do so. He hasn't even been charged yet and they're already trying to punish him. Bob got one of the last interviews Lt. Watada was able to give. It's up on the site at Head On Radio Network Make sure to listen! ~Dookie Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Caption This posted by Wally 7:49 AM Use the "Post a Comment" link to submit your caption. Permalink :: 11 comments :: Post a Comment
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Supporting the Troops: 200,000 homeless vets in the United States posted by Wally 10:20 AM That yellow ribbon on the back of your SUV means nothing. You say you support the troops? Then take a vet to dinner. Pay his rent. Better yet, call and write your congress-critter and tell them to support the damn troops. This is appalling. Thousands of U.S. veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are facing a new nightmare - the risk of homelessness. The U.S. government estimates several hundred vets who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan are homeless on any given night across the country, although the exact number is unknown. The reasons that contribute to the new wave of homelessness are many: some are unable to cope with life after daily encounters with insurgent attacks and roadside bombs; some can't navigate government red tape; others simply don't have enough money to afford a house or apartment. (snip) Long before the current war, the Homeless Veterans Program had guided men and women back into daily life after service in Vietnam, Korea and the Second World War. But Dougherty makes no secret of a truth few Americans know: about one-quarter of all homeless adults in America have served in the military - most of them minority veterans. FULL STORY We've spent nearly half a trillion on Iraq. How about diverting one percent of that (5 billion would go a long way) to support our returning vets, to make sure they have not just "adequate", but high quality lifelong medical care - including mental health care to help them recover from PTSD. How about paying their way through college and helping with low-cost home loans like we used to under the old G.I. Bill? I have several friends and relatives who bought houses and went to college using that before the government bit by bit eviscerated it. How about taking care of these men and women the way they deserve. How about SUPPORTING OUR TROOPS! Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Abramoff wasn't a whore. He was a Pimp posted by Wally 9:46 AM Wanted: Face time with President Bush or top adviser Karl Rove. Suggested donation: $100,000 Blunt e-mails that connect money and access in Washington show that prominent Republican activist Grover Norquist facilitated some administration contacts for Abramoff's clients while the lobbyist simultaneously solicited those clients for large donations to Norquist's tax-exempt group. (snip) Norquist wrote Abramoff in one such e-mail in July 2002, "When I have funding, I will ask Karl Rove for a date with the president. Karl has already said 'yes' in principle and knows you organized this last time and hope to this year." FULL STORY The pimp thing explains the hat. Kind of makes me wonder where Jeff Gannon fits into all of this. Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment
Saturday, June 24, 2006
This is how Bush, Rummy, etc. support our troops. posted by Wally 10:09 AM U.S. troops tread through 110-degree deserts with little food or water LINK They don't have enough food or water. They are so dehydrated that they have to give each other IV drips, just to be able to function. These are United States soldiers! We're not talking about third world resistance fighters. These are the brave men and women risking their lives in the service of the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. And they are not getting food and water. "I am hungry, thirsty and dirty. Welcome to my world," said Sgt. 1st Class Gonzalo Lassally, 31, of Deltona, Fla (snip) "I'm just not doing too good today because of the minimal food and water, adds Valdiva, of Altaloma, Calif. For lack of supplies, and choppers to deliver them, they had to rent a donkey. The most sophisticated, technologically advanced military ever has to resort to using 5000 year old transportation methods to resupply. Dozens of soldiers and one donkey, rented for $10, lugged more than 7,000 pounds of food and water from the valley floor to their mountaintop ridge Thursday. It had been air-dropped by coalition aircraft because no helicopters were available to deliver it closer. The extra supplies mean the troops get 12 bottles of water to drink per day, instead of eking by on five or six as they had been. They also now have two MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) food packs this day, instead of the one they'd been limited to earlier. This is how our troops are being treated. This is what the Bush administration thinks of our Soldiers. This is the respect that they give to our fighting men and women. This is how much they care about America's finest. This is how they serve those who are serving all of us. Traitors. The whole administration - nothing but traitors to their country. Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

The Boss says Fire Bush posted by Wally 8:47 AM Leave it to The Boss - whether you like his music or not - to speak his mind. Saw this on ThinkProgress.org Springsteen Hits Coulter, Defends Right To Take A Stand On Political Issues In a recent interview, CNN's Soledad O'Brien asked Bruce Springsteen (aka "The Boss") about criticism he has received for taking a stand on political issues. Springsteen responded sarcastically, "Yeah, they should let Ann Coulter do it instead." He added that there are "idiots rambling on on cable television on any given night of the week," and called the idea that musicians shouldn't speak up, "insane" and "funny." Watch it: Transcript: O'BRIEN: In 2004 you came out very strongly in support of John Kerry and performed with him - your fellow guitarist, I think is how you introduced him to the crowd. And some people gave you a lot of flack for being a musician who took a political stand. I remember... SPRINGSTEEN: Yeah, they should let Ann Coulter do it instead. O'BRIEN: There is a whole school of thought, as you well know, that says that musicians - I mean you see it with the Dixie Chicks - you know, go play your music and stop. SPRINGSTEEN: Well, if you turn it on, present company included, the idiots rambling on on cable television on any given night of the week, and you're saying that musicians shouldn't speak up? It's insane. It's funny. O'BRIEN: As a musician though, I'd be curious to know if there is a concern that you start talking about politics, you came out at one point and said, I think in USA Today listen, the country would be better off if George Bush were replaced as President. Is there a worry where you start getting political and you could alienate your audience? SPRINGSTEEN: Well that's called common sense. I don't even see that as politics at this point. So I mean that's, you know, you can get me started, I'll be glad to go. [...] You don't take a country like the United States into a major war on circumstantial evidence. You lose your job for that. That's my opinion, and I have no problem voicing it. And some people like it and some people boo ya, you know? I have two words for the Republicans who rag on musicians, actors, and other "hollywood liberals" for being too stupid to speak out on political issues. Ronald Reagan. Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment
Friday, June 23, 2006
"Paris Hilton" tax cut passes. Minimum wage increase shot down. posted by Dookie The Webmaster 11:11 AM I'm really tired of these GOP azzholes: US House votes to cut estate tax GOP-Run Senate Kills Minimum Wage Increase Send this to all your right-wing friends. Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

The GOP's Plan For Iraq posted by Wally 10:28 AM (click picture for bigger image) Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

Caption This! posted by Dookie The Webmaster 8:17 AM Use the "Post a Comment" link to add your caption. Permalink :: 7 comments :: Post a Comment

Who needs privacy? (part II) posted by Wally 7:38 AM It's not just your phone calls. Big Brother is watching your bank records too. Under a secret Bush administration program initiated weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, counterterrorism officials have gained access to financial records from a vast international database and examined banking transactions involving thousands of Americans and others in the United States, according to government and industry officials. (snip) Viewed by the Bush administration as a vital tool, the program has played a hidden role in domestic and foreign terrorism investigations since 2001 and helped in the capture of the most wanted Qaeda figure in Southeast Asia, the officials said. Does that mean we've secretly captured Osama bin Laden? Because, call me crazy, but I thought OBL was the most wanted Qaeda figure. (snip) The program, however, is a significant departure from typical practice in how the government acquires Americans' financial records. Treasury officials did not seek individual court-approved warrants or subpoenas to examine specific transactions, instead relying on broad administrative subpoenas for millions of records from the cooperative, known as Swift. That access to large amounts of sensitive data was highly unusual, several officials said, and stirred concerns inside the administration about legal and privacy issues. "The capability here is awesome or, depending on where you're sitting, troubling," said one former senior counterterrorism official who considers the program valuable. While tight controls are in place, the official added, "The potential for abuse is enormous." Read More Here Permalink :: 2 comments :: Post a Comment

Who needs privacy? posted by Clyde 4:10 AM Judge Orders Release of Abortion Clinic Files The Cincinnati Planned Parenthood Clinic must give a family that is suing the clinic all records on abortion patients younger than 18, a judge ruled. The documents are being sought in a lawsuit by the family of a teenage girl. The suit alleges that Planned Parenthood never got parental consent to perform an abortion on the girl, as required by Ohio law. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

6 is one and a half dozen the other posted by Clyde 4:03 AM Pre-1991 Iraqi weapons said a threat to US troops Abandoned Iraqi chemical weapons dating from before the 1991 Gulf War could pose a deadly new threat to American forces if they fell into the hands of insurgents, U.S. officials warned on Thursday. (snip) "They are dangerous, and anyone ... in that country would be concerned if they got into the wrong hands," asserted Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "It's dangerous to our forces and it's a concern." Iraq chemical weapons 'too old to use' THE chemical weapons that have been recovered by US forces in Iraq were all made before the 1991 Gulf War and were too degraded for their intended use, US intelligence officials said today. Republican politicians have cast the disclosure that about 500 chemical weapons have been found in Iraq as evidence that Saddam Hussein had a stockpile of the weapons before the March 2003 US invasion of Iraq. But the intelligence officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said the weapons were too degraded to have posed a threat to US forces in March 2003. Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment
Thursday, June 22, 2006
FRONTLINE: The Dark Side posted by Dookie The Webmaster 2:12 PM If you missed "The Dark Side" on FRONTLINE, here's your chance to watch it. Begining today at 5pm EST, you can watch it online. Click here to see the evil that is Dick "Dick" Cheney. Permalink :: 2 comments :: Post a Comment

Traitors In The Senate posted by Wally 9:07 AM 2511 American Soldiers are Dead and these men DON'T CARE. 19 US Senators, all Republicans, voted in favor of giving amnesty to terrorists who kill US soldiers in Iraq. Allard (R-CO) Bond (R-MO) Bunning (R-KY) Burns (R-MT) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Cornyn (R-TX) DeMint (R-SC) Enzi (R-WY) Graham (R-SC) Hagel (R-NE) Inhofe (R-OK) Kyl (R-AZ) Lott (R-MS) McCain (R-AZ) Sessions (R-AL) Stevens (R-AK) Thomas (R-WY) Warner (R-VA) Click on their pictures to send them a message and tell them what you think. Permalink :: 6 comments :: Post a Comment

More from the "family values" crowd posted by Clyde 4:26 AM Defendant expected to take stand in sexual harassment case Political consultant and ad producer Carey Lee Cramer is expected to testify today defending himself against charges he sexually molested two young girls. (snip) Cramer, who gained national notoriety with an anti-Al Gore commercial in 2000, is facing several counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child. He is the second witness defense attorney Charles Banker called to rebut the testimony of the two 15-year-old girls who testified Cramer sexually molested them when they were younger. More Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
They get $32,000. You get nada! posted by Dookie The Webmaster 1:59 PM Senate defeats Democrats minimum wage increase WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday defeated a proposal pushed by Democrats to raise the federal minimum wage in increments from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour by January 1, 2009. Sen. Edward Kennedy , a Massachusetts Democrat, unsuccessfully tried to attach the proposal raising the wage for the first time since 1997 to a defense authorization bill that is expected to be passed by the Senate soon. While a majority of the Senate, 52 senators, backed the move to increase the minimum wage, it failed to win the 60 votes needed for passage under a procedural agreement worked out earlier. {snip} House Republican leaders, who oppose raising the minimum wage, have put that bill on a backburner because of the amendment. Link From Bob Geiger: So Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) has found a new way to pull his Simon Legree act and this time it takes the form of attaching a "poison pill" amendment to Kennedy's S.AMDT.4322, which would gradually raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour over the next two years. A poison-pill is a procedural maneuver in which an onerous amendment is attached to a bill under consideration to force proponents of the original legislation to bail out and drop the whole issue. It's designed to either kill a bill entirely or create a situation that forces the other side into a negotiation to water down their original legislation to an unrecognizable point. In other news: Number of millionaires rises 6.5 pct 2005-report Permalink :: 4 comments :: Post a Comment

Kill a US soldier and get amnesty but if you are brown - no dice posted by Clyde 11:49 AM 19 of our esteemed senatorial leaders have saw fit to endorse amnesty for Iraqi insurgents who only kill US soldiers. Although the measure condemning the murder of our soldiers passed overwhelmingly, some decided it was okay to vote against it. Deaths of GIs stir Senate to condemn Iraq amnesty plan On the day after the tortured bodies of two U.S. soldiers were found in Iraq, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to condemn the idea that Iraq's new government might ever grant amnesty to insurgents who have killed or wounded American military personnel. The 79-19 vote on a nonbinding "sense of the Senate'' resolution offered by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., opened several days of debate this week on Iraq policy. Starting today, the Senate is expected to take up two Democratic resolutions, one calling for the withdrawal of all 130,000 U.S. military personnel by July 2007 and the other calling for a phased withdrawal to begin this year, but without setting a deadline for getting all troops out. And I bet you would never guess their Party affiliation. Permalink :: 3 comments :: Post a Comment

Caption This posted by Wally 7:44 AM Use the "Post a Comment" link to submit your caption Permalink :: 14 comments :: Post a Comment

There's no need to ask posted by Clyde 4:43 AM Iraq: US may be asked to leave THE level of violence in some areas of Iraq is worsening dramatically and US forces may soon be asked to leave by the Iraqi Government. In an exclusive interview with The Australian, former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage has given a gloomy assessment of the situation. "The British used to make a big deal of walking around in their berets in the south," he said. "Now they won't even go to the latrines without their helmets. The south has got much rougher, it's mainly Shia on Shia violence." More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

But George - you said we won posted by Clyde 4:29 AM U.S. Back at Full War Footing in Afghanistan The United States military is quietly carrying out the largest military offensive in Afghanistan since U.S. troops invaded the country in 2001. "The Taliban has made a comeback, and we have the next 90 days to crush them," said a senior U.S. military official. The offensive, "Operation Mountain Thrust," involves almost 11,000 U.S. troops and is focused on four southern Afghanistan provinces. More Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
What could possibly go wrong? posted by Dookie The Webmaster 2:07 PM We can't fcking believe this. Wait, yes we can: Saudis Offered Scholarships for Aviation Courses in US* JEDDAH, 20 June 2006 - The Ministry of Higher Education and the General Authority of Civil Aviation are offering scholarships to Saudi men and women to study various majors related to civil aviation in the United States. The forms are available online at the ministry's website until July 12 for both bachelor's and post-graduate studies. Nominations will be announced on July 31. Interviews will take place in August and final scholarship winners will be announced on Sept. 2. The scholarships are available in majors such as communications, electrical and computer engineering, computer science, systems analysis, air traffic control, flight safety, and other majors related to the airline transport industry. More Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

They're supposed to be protecting us from these guys, not supporting them posted by Wally 1:00 PM The FBI, Homeland Security, Justice Dept, etc. are paying data brokers for (often) illegally obtained information so that they don't have to do their jobs and get a subpoena to spy on you. Let me say that again. Our Law Enforcement agencies are sidestepping the law by paying other people to break it for them. Our Law Enforcement agencies are intentionally not only not enforcing the law, they are actively supporting companies in illegal activities. Numerous federal and local law enforcement agencies have bypassed subpoenas and warrants designed to protect civil liberties and gathered Americans' personal telephone records from private-sector data brokers. These brokers, many of whom advertise aggressively on the Internet, have gotten into customer accounts online, tricked phone companies into revealing information and even acknowledged that their practices violate laws, according to documents gathered by congressional investigators and provided to The Associated Press. (snip) Legal experts said law enforcement agencies would be permitted to use illegally obtained information from private parties without violating the Fourth Amendment's protection against unlawful search and seizure, as long as police did not encourage any crimes to be committed. "If law enforcement is encouraging people in the private sector to commit a crime in getting these records that would be problematic," said Mark Levin, a former top Justice Department official under President Reagan. "If, on the other hand, they are asking data brokers if they have any public information on any given phone numbers that should be fine." LINK to Full Story What's worse, now that the Supreme Court ruled that illegally obtained evidence can be used against you in a court of law, there is no reason for our Law Enforcement agencies to follow the law in obtaining evidence. That whooshing sound you hear is our Bill of Rights deflating as our Civil Rights escape into thin air. Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Hey Zell - is this what you meant by spitballs? posted by Clyde 11:56 AM Despite failure after failure - US makes missile defense system operational WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Amid concerns over an expected North Korean missile launch, the United States has moved its ground-based interceptor missile defense system from test mode to operational, a U.S. defense official said on Tuesday. Missile defence shield test fails The first test in almost two years of the planned multi-billion dollar US anti-missile shield has failed. The Pentagon said an interceptor missile did not take off and was automatically shut down on its launch pad in the central Pacific. A target missile carrying a mock warhead had been fired 16 minutes earlier from Kodiak Island in Alaska. The Pentagon is spending $10bn a year on the missile system, which was meant to be in operation by the end of 2004. Permalink :: 4 comments :: Post a Comment

They See The Light! Corporate Contributions Shift To The Left posted by Wally 8:05 AM Some Companies See Democrats Having More Sway in Washington After Upcoming Elections Some big companies are boosting their share of campaign contributions to Democrats this year, a sign that executives may be starting to hedge their political bets after a decade of supporting congressional Republicans. (snip) Most companies say they give political donations to candidates who support their businesses, regardless of party affiliation. But corporations also tend to channel funds to politicians they think will hold power. So any shift in corporate campaign giving toward Democrats could signal that businesses believe Democrats will have more sway in Washington after the 2006 midterm elections or the 2008 presidential contest. (snip) "The reality is beginning to set in here," says Greg Casey, the head of the Business-Industry Political Action Committee, an organization of businesses dedicated to electing pro-industry candidates. Even if Republicans maintain control of Congress after the November election, their majorities in both chambers are expected to shrink. "What you couldn't get done in 2006 will be much more difficult in 2007," Mr. Casey says. Mr. Casey's PAC has given 24% of its $18,500 in campaign contributions to Democrats so far in the 2005-2006 election cycle, up from 3.5% to Democrats in the previous election cycle, and the highest level in the 22 years that PoliticalMoneyLine keeps statistics for the group. Full Story in the Wall Street Journal Permalink :: 3 comments :: Post a Comment

I'm getting really sick of this guy! posted by Clyde 4:32 AM New York terror plot said to justify wiretaps WASHINGTON -- The Chairman of the U.S. Senate intelligence committee said Sunday that reports of a planned cyanide gas attack on the New York subway system showed the need for continued warrantless surveillance of suspected terrorists. In book excerpts published by Time Magazine this weekend, Pulitzer Prize winner Ron Suskind reported that U.S. intelligence had in 2003 discovered an al-Qaida design for small and easily constructed makeshift device to produce deadly cyanide gas, and separately discovered the group had a plot to use a series of such devices in a coordinated attack on the New York city subway system. (snip) Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told CNN only that "the intelligence committee is briefed on these kinds of threats. I would simply say that we've had a briefing." But Roberts said the report showed the need for the administration's program of warrantless surveillance of electronic communications from terror suspects into and out of the United States. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Rummy doesn't sweat the small stuff posted by Clyde 4:24 AM Tanker Inquiry Finds Rumsfeld's Attention Was Elsewhere The topic was the largest defense procurement scandal in recent decades, and the two investigators for the Pentagon's inspector general in Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's office on April 1, 2005, asked the secretary to raise his hand and swear to tell the truth. Rumsfeld agreed but complained. "I find it strange," he said to the investigators, on the grounds that as a government official "the laws apply to me" anyway. It was a bumpy start to an odd interview, as Rumsfeld cited poor memory, loose office procedures, and a general distraction with "the wars" in Iraq and Afghanistan to explain why he was unsure how his department came to nearly squander $30 billion leasing several hundred new tanker aircraft that its own experts had decided were not needed. More Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment
Monday, June 19, 2006
Murtha brings the hammer down on Rove and his "fat backside" posted by Wally 1:49 PM U.S. Rep. John Murtha made the comment during the weekend when asked about Rove's recent claim in New Hampshire that Democrats want to "cut and run" from Iraq. "He's making a political speech. He's sitting in his air-conditioned office with his big, fat backside, saying, `Stay the course.' That's not a plan," Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." (snip) "These troops, they're carrying 70 pounds on their back inside these armored vessels and hit with IEDs (improvised explosive devices) every day, seeing their friends blown up, their buddies blown up, and he says, `Stay the course.' Yeah, it's easy to say that from Washington," Murtha said. Read the full transcript or watch the video (click on "launch" button below the picture of Murtha once you get there) Permalink :: 3 comments :: Post a Comment

Another warning ignored by the Bush administration posted by Wally 7:51 AM Somalis say they warned U.S. aiding warlords would backfire Now the warlords are supporting radical Islamist extremists (can you say "terrorists"?), and raising all kinds of hell in Somalia. In early March, nine of Mogadishu's most prominent community leaders secretly flew to neighboring Djibouti and pleaded with U.S. military officials there to stop funding the warlords who were devastating the city. Backing the warlords, they said, would end up strengthening an Islamist militia with a shadowy radical wing. The Americans ignored their warnings, three of the Somalis at the meeting told Knight Ridder in separate interviews, and the community leaders' fears came to life this month when the Islamic Courts Union militia defeated the warlords and took control of the Somalian capital. Now, the Islamist militia is poised to extend its control to all of southern Somalia, where intelligence officials believe at least two senior Al-Qaida operatives are hiding. Full Story Just like the August 6, 2001 P.D.B. titled "Osama determined to strike the U.S." that wasn't important enough to drag Bush away from his vacation at the ranch, another dire warning ignored, and Al-Qaida gets a little stronger. Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

As heard on Rachel Maddow posted by Dookie The Webmaster 7:41 AM Via Wonkette: It's getting so that a couple nice young girls can't drive up to DC for the Pride parade without getting openly propositioned by Republican Strategists who give them their real names and business cards these days. Take, for example, the MySpace blog of one such lady, whose sordid tale is reprinted (as a warning to the well-endowed) below: The initial proposition: "afterward, we got a snazzy hotel room at the mayflower downtown. on the way over there, this really hot business man in a pinstriped suit walked past me, said hello, and doubled back. he asked me my name and introduced himself (jack burkman, government relations strategies), asked where i went to school, etc, gave me his card, and asked me to call him. i later texted him and never could get rid of him again. he thought he talked to me on the phone several times, but he never did. i always made kat or kristin be me. he told kristin about how he really enjoyed my outfit (TITS GALORE) and that i was beautiful, etc. by the end of the night (5 am or so), he was offering to pay for our room and give us a thousand dollars if two of us would fck him. oh, jack burkman. his card is my DC souvenir." Oh, Jack Burkman. As you can see at right, curiosity got ahold of the young lady, and she commenced googling. And posting the results for us all to enjoy. Jack, if you're going to pick up girls from out of town, you could pick a better venue than the Pride parade. That's all we're saying. Mr.Burkman's business card. LOL! This guy, according to Maddow, says banning gay marriage is "5 times more important than the War on Terra and the Iraq war combined."* Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Caption This! posted by Dookie The Webmaster 7:36 AM Use the "Post a Comment" link to add your caption. Permalink :: 9 comments :: Post a Comment

It's only money posted by Clyde 4:37 AM Oil Company Execs: Fuel Relatively Cheap Americans paying $3 per gallon at the pump have it relatively cheap when compared with prices globally, say oil and gas company executives who defend their record profits as essential to maintaining supplies. In parts of Europe and elsewhere in the West, gasoline prices are more like $5 per gallon to $7 per gallon, said the chairman of ConocoPhillips Co., James J. Mulva. "This is a global business, and it's not only that we need to add to supply, but we need to reduce demand," Mulva said. "In the United States alone, we have about 2 percent of world oil reserves, 5 percent of the population and yet we use about 25 percent of the world's consumption of oil." More Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

At least it isn't a rubber turkey posted by Clyde 4:34 AM 'Wash Post' Obtains Shocking Memo from U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Details Increasing Danger and Hardship The Washington Post has obtained a cable, marked "sensitive," that it says show that just before President Bush left on a surprise trip last Monday to the Green Zone in Baghdad for an upbeat assessment of the situation there, "the U.S. Embassy in Iraq painted a starkly different portrait of increasing danger and hardship faced by its Iraqi employees." This cable outlines, the Post reported Sunday, "the daily-worsening conditions for those who live outside the heavily guarded international zone: harassment, threats and the employees' constant fears that their neighbors will discover they work for the U.S. government." More Memo - PDF Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment
Sunday, June 18, 2006
At least they're not in Baghdad posted by Wally 9:34 AM Guard Troops Set to Begin Mission on Mexican Border The first National Guard troops ordered to the United States-Mexico border as part of President Bush's plan to improve security have arrived in the four border states and are expected to begin work by Sunday. (snip) Opponents of the plan have called it a political move by Mr. Bush that will do little but help appease voters urging a harder line on immigration law enforcement. The Rev. Robin Hoover of Human Borders, a migrant advocacy group in Tucson, called the deployment a "stunning lack of imagination" in confronting illegal immigration. He said sending more personnel to the border had not proved effective, pointing out that border arrests peaked at 1.6 million in 2000, when the Border Patrol was much smaller. Last year, it made 1.2 million arrests. "Putting the National Guard on the border is like betting on a tape-delayed football game and expecting a different result," Mr. Hoover said. Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Hands up, who saw this coming? posted by Wally 8:52 AM Pardon talk for Libby begins Now that top White House aide Karl Rove is off the hook in the CIA leak probe, President George W. Bush must weigh whether to pardon former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the only one indicted in the three-year investigation. (snip) Bush has powerful incentives to pardon Libby, however. They range from rewarding past loyalty to ending the awkward revelations emerging from pretrial motions, a flow that could worsen in his trial next year. (snip) One attorney familiar with the Plame case said Bush might find that it is in his interest to pardon Libby sooner rather than later. A pardon before the trial could could cut off the disclosures and spare Vice President Dick Cheney from testifying as Fitzgerald's witness about Libby, his former chief of staff. Full Story Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Vets' groups form new coalition posted by Clyde 2:17 PM Five veterans service organizations have banded together into a new organization they are calling the Veterans Coalition. Formed by the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, AmVets and Paralyzed Veterans of America, who have worked together on many issues, members hope the coalition can define critical issues facing veterans and push for recommendations. Former Veterans Administration head Harry N. Walters, who headed the organization from 1983 to 1986 before it became a department, was elected as president and chief executive officer of Veterans Coalition. A board of directors - one representative from each veterans' organization - will guide the group More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Congressmen blast Marines over helmet padding posted by Clyde 2:13 PM WASHINGTON - Marine commanders told Congress on Thursday that they need further research on whether upgrading their helmets would benefit their troops, even though the Army has already added a padded lining to soldiers' headgear based on its studies. That position drew frustrated gasps from members of the House Armed Services Committee, who held a special hearing to investigate the services' protective equipment and why more than 6,000 Marines had requested Army-style helmet inserts from a private charity over the past 2 1/2 years. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Thou shalt not.... umm...... posted by Wally 7:35 AM Congressman Lynn Westmoreland co-sponsors bill on the Ten Commandments and can't even name them (guess which party) Colbert was priceless last night. His guest was Republican Congressman Lynn Westmoreland and I guess he never heard of The Colbert Report before. He will now. Video-WMP Video-QT Gotta love CrooksandLiars.com Permalink :: 6 comments :: Post a Comment

Bush back to doing the only thing he actually knows how to do posted by Wally 7:22 AM Campaigning Starting in Washington State and ending in New Mexico, Mr. Bush visited two districts in which opinion against him and the war has become a potential liability for Republicans running for re-election. (snip) Party strategists and administration officials acknowledged that voters' perceptions on Iraq could change in an instant, but said recent good news from Baghdad, combined with divisions among Democrats about withdrawal timetables, had helped make the war, if not a winning issue, at least a survivable one. (snip) Democrats said they welcomed the Republicans' embrace of the war, saying that it remained fundamentally unpopular and that two weeks of good news would not mask continued suicide bombings and American deaths. "People in this country are very frustrated with this no-exit war," Ms. Wilson's opponent, Attorney General Patricia Madrid, said. "The Republicans are looking for any sign of good news, but it's going to take a lot more than that." Permalink :: 3 comments :: Post a Comment

While our troops are "spreading democracy" in Iraq, the GOP is taking away theirs posted by Wally 7:05 AM African-American Voters Scrubbed by Secret GOP Hit List The Republican National Committee has a special offer for African-American soldiers: Go to Baghdad, lose your vote. A confidential campaign directed by GOP party chiefs in October 2004 sought to challenge the ballots of tens of thousands of voters in the last presidential election, virtually all of them cast by residents of Black-majority precincts. Files from the secret vote-blocking campaign were obtained by BBC Television Newsnight, London. They were attached to emails accidentally sent by Republican operatives to a non-party website. One group of voters wrongly identified by the Republicans as registering to vote from false addresses: servicemen and women sent overseas. FULL STORY Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Bush Claimed Iraqis Oppose Timetable the Day After Iraq's VP Personally Asked Him for One posted by Wally 6:59 AM Saw this in ThinkProgress.org After Bush returned from his trip to Iraq this week, President Bush attacked those calling for a timetable for withdrawal. He said Iraqis had "concerns" that a timetable would disrupt their strategy to create a secure and democratic Iraq: And the willingness of some to say that if we're in power we'll withdraw on a set timetable concerns people in Iraq, because they understand our coalition forces provide a sense of stability, so they can address old wrongs and develop their strategy and plan to move forward. They need our help and they recognize that. And so they are concerned about that. Today, the AP reports that Iraq's Vice President, Tariq al-Hashimi, personally asked President Bush to set a timeline for withdrawal of U.S. forces the day before. Iraq’s President, Jalal Talabani, said he supported the request: Iraq's vice president has asked President Bush for a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq, the Iraqi president's office said. Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, made the request during his meeting with Bush on Tuesday, when the U.S. president made a surprise visit to Iraq. "I supported him in this," President Jalal Talabani said in a statement released Wednesday. Al-Hashimi's representatives could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday. Separately, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said that Iraqi security forces should be completely in charge of the nation’s security in 18 months. Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment
Friday, June 16, 2006
Friday chuckle posted by Dookie The Webmaster 1:41 PM Permalink :: 2 comments :: Post a Comment

Blue vs. Red State Education posted by Dookie The Webmaster 9:01 AM No surprises here. United States Census Bureau: Top ten "Most Educated" States Massachusetts (BLUE) Colorado (RED) Connecticut (BLUE) Maryland (BLUE) Virginia (RED) New Jersey (BLUE) Vermont (BLUE) Minnesota (BLUE) New Hampshire (BLUE) Washington (BLUE) Top ten "Least Educated" States Oklahoma (RED) Tennessee (RED) Louisiana (RED) Alabama (RED) Indiana (RED) Nevada (RED) Arkansas (RED) Mississippi (RED) Kentucky (RED) West Virginia (RED) Permalink :: 2 comments :: Post a Comment

His "mojo" back? posted by Dookie The Webmaster 7:55 AM I don't know about you, but I've been noticing the media whores (Campbell Brown, Wolf "The Beard" Blitzer, Norah O'Donnell, etc.) mentioning Bush has his mojo back. Are you fcking kidding me? Just because your right-hand man doesn't get indicted is reason to celebrate now? How about President Chucklenut's poll numbers? They're still under 40%. It must be because we killed Zarqawi. For fck sakes, the guy wouldn't even be there if we hadn't invaded Iraq. He'd probably be in Afghanistan sucking up to OBL. And if that was the case, OBL would kick him to the curb. The guy was just to damn stupid. Maybe it's because the gas prices are coming down? Wait..........nevermind. I don't know. The lapdog press really wants Bush to be popular again. Why don't they understand that it will never happen. Lazy asses. I hope Bush enjoy's his "mojo" as much as his "mandate." ~Dookie Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

Caption This! posted by Dookie The Webmaster 7:45 AM Use the "Post a Comment" link to add your caption. Permalink :: 12 comments :: Post a Comment
Thursday, June 15, 2006
It's Official. There's No Oil in Hawaii posted by Wally 11:59 AM Bush Designates the NW Hawaiian Islands as a Marine Sanctuary and National Monument The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands -- remnants of extinct submerged volcanoes far from Waikiki -- will become a vast U.S. national monument and nature sanctuary, a senior administration official said on Wednesday. The monument designation, the first by President George W. Bush, means more than 120,000 square miles of Pacific waters, pinnacles, reefs and atolls will get immediate protection, the official said in a statement. LINK It's about time he did something positive in the world. Obviously, there's no oil or minerals in the area. Until now, Mr Bush has not used the 100-year-old Antiquities Act, which gives the president authority to create national monuments to preserve the nation's ancient cultural sites and unusual geological features. Previous president Bill Clinton used the act to create 19 national monuments and expand three others to set aside 2.4 million hectares of land. LINK For the first time ever, I can actually say thank you George. Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

What are these winged primates doing in my pants? posted by Wally 7:57 AM The Senate is going to force Bush to come clean and be honest? Whoa! Maybe the end is near. The U.S. Senate voted unanimously on Wednesday to force President George W. Bush to submit a budget for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars instead of financing them in emergency bills that are pushed through Congress with minimal scrutiny. As Congress prepared to pass an emergency bill with $65.8 billion the Pentagon urgently wanted for the wars, the Senate voted 98-0 to end the practice and make the administration lay out the wars' expected costs in its annual budget submitted to Congress in February Oh wait, never mind. They just passed a resolution saying that they're going to demand Bush include the Iraq war in the budget (almost a half Trillion so far). That doesn't mean they're actually going to do it. The amendment would only apply to war spending and would allow additional emergency Pentagon spending with justification. The House of Representatives passed its version of the defense authorization bill in May without a similar measure to end the war supplementals. Just more lip service. Never mind. Permalink :: 7 comments :: Post a Comment

2,500 posted by Wally 7:52 AM Pentagon says US military deaths in Iraq hit 2,500 WASHINGTON, June 15 (Reuters) - The number of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq war has reached 2,500, the Pentagon said on Thursday, more than three years into a conflict that finds U.S. and allied foreign forces locked in a struggle with a resilient insurgency. In addition, the Pentagon said 18,490 U.S. troops have been wounded in the war, which began in March 2003 with a U.S.-led invasion to topple President Saddam Hussein. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed. (LINK) Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

War - it isn't just for breakfast anymore posted by Clyde 4:21 AM GOP Measure Forces House Debate on War Divisions Within Party Likely to Surface Nearly four years after it authorized the use of force in Iraq, the House today will embark on its first extended debate on the war, with Republican leaders daring Democrats to vote against a nonbinding resolution to hold firm on Iraq and the war on terrorism. In the wake of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death and President Bush's surprise trip to Baghdad, Republican leaders are moving quickly to capitalize on good news and trying to force Democrats on the defensive. Bush continued his own campaign with a morning news conference and a White House meeting with congressional leaders from both parties, while House leaders strategized on today's 10-hour debate. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Round em up - lock em up and throw away the key posted by Clyde 4:13 AM Judge Rules That U.S. Has Broad Powers to Detain Noncitizens Indefinitely A federal judge in Brooklyn ruled yesterday that the government has wide latitude under immigration law to detain noncitizens on the basis of religion, race or national origin, and to hold them indefinitely without explanation. The ruling came in a class-action lawsuit by Muslim immigrants detained after 9/11, and it dismissed several key claims the detainees had made against the government. But the judge, John Gleeson of United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, allowed the lawsuit to continue on other claims, mostly that the conditions of confinement were abusive and unconstitutional. Judge Gleeson's decision requires top federal officials, including former Attorney General John Ashcroft and Robert S. Mueller III, the F.B.I. director, to answer to those accusations under oath. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Bush: 'I'd like to close Guantanamo Bay' posted by Wally 2:49 PM "I'd like to close Guantanamo," Mr Bush said. "But I also recognise that we're holding some people that are darned dangerous, and that we'd better have a plan to deal with them in our courts. "No question, Guantanamo sends, you know, a signal to some of our friends - provides an excuse, for example, to say, 'The United States is not upholding the values that they're trying encourage other countries to adhere to.' "My answer to them is, is that we are a nation of laws. Eventually, these people will have trials and they will have counsel and they will be represented in a court of law." (Full Story) He's speaking words - not necessarily sentences or complete thoughts, but words - but he has no idea what they mean, and has no intention of ever backing them up with action. Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

Your Tax Dollars At Work: House passes $94.5 BILLION for wars, hurricanes posted by Wally 10:42 AM As President Bush sought to bolster support for the Iraq government by appearing with its leaders in Baghdad, the House on Tuesday approved an additional $66 billion for military operations there and in Afghanistan. When combined with earlier bills, the House-Senate compromise brings the tally for the three-year-old war in Iraq to about $320 billion. Operations in Afghanistan have now reached about $89 billion, according to the Congressional Research Service. The House Appropriations Committee approved another $50 billion for the war for the budget year starting Oct. 1. That should be enough to fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through early next year, when Bush is expected to request more funds. FULL STORY To see what that money could buy, if it weren't spent on bombs, guns, armor, and body bags, check out CostofWar.com. Pretty disturbing, really. Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

A Thief in the Night posted by Wally 8:35 AM Our fearless leader, the most powerful man in the world, the tough-talking, cowboy strutting, bold and decisive President of the U.S. crept into and out of Iraq like a thief in the night yesterday, without telling anyone. The Iraqi Prime Minister was only given a five-minute warning before the meeting with Bush. So much for being the leader of a sovereign nation. But with poll numbers barely above freezing, Bush apparently felt it was time for another "Mission Accomplished" moment, dropping in on an official visit to boost morale and show that he means business in setting up Iraq as a free and self-governed nation. Only problem, it's hard to impress people with your commitment to them when nobody knows you're there, when you have to sneak in and out afraid to show your face in public. (READ THE REST HERE) Permalink :: 4 comments :: Post a Comment

Jon Stewart to Ken Mehlman: Perfume those turds... posted by Wally 8:15 AM Ken Mehlman stepped onto the set of The Daily Show last night and was so easily carved up by Stewart that you could see Jon was holding back.. Video-WMP Video-QT Stewart: You're the guy--I have sympathy for you because you're the guy who has to spray perfume on these turds. You know what I mean? You're the guy that has to go out and like no matter what (garbled) It's not an easy job. I mean what happened to these guys... Did Ken say that Afghanistan was a failed state? When an interviewer (fake of course) asks pointed questions to the Mehlman's out there; they just cave. I keep posting these clips and keep shaking my head at how these talking point junkies are so easily debunked. Stewart has that ability. Mehlman actually looked very nervous. Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Show me the money posted by Clyde 4:11 AM House lawmakers accept $3,300 pay hike Despite record low approval ratings, House lawmakers Tuesday embraced a $3,300 pay raise that will increase their salaries to $168,500. The 2 percent cost-of-living raise would be the seventh straight for members of the House and Senate. Lawmakers easily squelched a bid by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, to get a direct vote to block the COLA, which is automatically awarded unless lawmakers vote to block it. In the early days of GOP control of Congress, lawmakers routinely denied themselves the annual COLA. Last year, the Senate voted 92-6 to deny the raise but quietly surrendered the position in House-Senate talks. More Permalink :: 2 comments :: Post a Comment

Being Iraqi doesn't mean being stupid posted by Clyde 4:08 AM Many Iraqis Dismiss Bush Visit As Stunt Many Sunnis and even some Shiite political parties dismissed President Bush's visit to Baghdad on Tuesday as merely an attempt to associate himself with positive developments in Iraq - formation of the new government and last week's killing of the country's most feared terrorist. Bush's trip comes at a pivotal time for new Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as he tries to convince Iraqis the country can stand on its own and end violence if they unite behind him. But instead of bolstering that effort, the visit could push away the very Sunni Arabs whom al-Maliki is trying to court. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
White House won't defend spy program posted by Wally 9:05 AM Lawyer says that disclosing details would compromise its operation and national security They're trying to weasel out of anything that resembles accountability, saying that you can't even accuse them of committing a crime, because even mentioning the alleged criminal activity will compromise national security and make the spy program "ineffective" - as if it isn't already "ineffective." "The president has decided that the program is necessary to protect and defend the United States," Anthony Coppolino, a lawyer for the Department of Justice said in the nation's first court hearing on the program. "Without evidence that goes to the heart of the matter, the president's claims cannot be addressed." (snip) A lawyer for the plaintiffs argued that the Bush Administration's position about state secrets is of little relevance. "The issue in this case is simply whether the National Security Administration is violating the law and the Constitution in eavesdropping on the telephone calls of Americans without a warrant," said Ann Beeson, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union. Full Story These guys are totally shameless. It used to be baby steps - taking power little by little while we weren't looking. Now they are going for it in leaps and bounds. They are trying to turn this country into a dictatorship. The scary part is, with journalists too afraid, too lazy, or too in bed with the GOP to do their jobs, with an emasculated Democratic party unable or unwilling to fight back, and an American public more concerned with American Idol than their own government, they are getting away with it. We need to hold these sonsabitches accountable for their crimes. We cannot allow them to use "national security" as an excuse to destroy our nation. Call your Congressperson. Write letters to the editor in your paper. Talk to your neighbors. Let them know that nobody, not even the president, especially not the president, is above the law. Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Muthaf#cka!!! posted by Dookie The Webmaster 7:25 AM Rove Won't Be Charged in C.I.A. Leak Case WASHINGTON, June 13 - The prosecutor in the C.I.A. leak case on Monday advised Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, that he would not be charged with any wrongdoing, effectively ending the nearly three-year criminal investigation that had at times focused intensely on Mr. Rove. The decision by the prosecutor, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, announced in a letter to Mr. Rove's lawyer, Robert D. Luskin, lifted a pall that had hung over Mr. Rove who testified on five occasions to a federal grand jury about his involvement in the disclosure of an intelligence officer's identity. In a statement, Mr. Luskin said, "On June 12, 2006, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald formally advised us that he does not anticipate seeking charges against Karl Rove." More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

While we are on the subject of oil posted by Clyde 4:24 AM Local oil executives get Giant bonuses Executives from Scottsdale oil company Giant Industries Inc. received some giant bonuses, mirroring their brethren in the energy sector. Top brass at Giant -- which operates gasoline stations, fuel depots and refineries -- received more than $3.9 million in bonuses and another $697,000 in stock awards at the end of 2005, according to company financial disclosures. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Competing philosophies posted by Clyde 4:04 AM Bush Sees Oil as Key to Restoring Stability in Iraq THURMONT, Md., June 12 - President Bush proposed today that Iraq create a national fund to use its oil revenues for national projects, as part of a strategy to build loyalty to the new government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. Speaking after six hours of meetings at Camp David with his national security advisers, members of his Cabinet and top American officials in Baghdad, Mr. Bush talked less about strategies to quell the insurgency in Iraq than about promoting economic development. Oil, Politics and Bloodshed Corrupt an Iraqi City BASRA, Iraq - Politics, once seen as a solution to the problems of a society broken by years of brutal single-party rule, has paralyzed the heart of Iraq's south. This once-quiet city of riverside promenades was among the most receptive to the American invasion. Now, three years later, it is being pulled apart by Shiite political parties that want to control the region and its biggest prize, oil. But in today's Iraq, politics and power flow from the guns of militias, and negotiating has been a bloody process. Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment
Monday, June 12, 2006
Scandal rocks another Delay crony posted by Clyde 12:24 PM Texas politician gets $700,000 donation AUSTIN, Texas --Businessmen, a lobbyist and a major corporate foundation have donated almost $700,000 in the past eight days to pay for the renovation of Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick's apartment inside the Capitol, according to documents obtained Friday by The Associated Press. Watchdog groups are aghast at the fundraising effort, saying people and businesses that could benefit from future legislation shouldn't be allowed to spruce up the taxpayer-provided home of the man who controls the destiny of proposed state laws. "Special interests shouldn't be lined up to give the Craddicks a personal gift of a new apartment," said Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice. "If it's in need of repair or if it's in need of renovation, then it should be paid for by the people of Texas." More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

The Department of Defense sets its sights on a new enemy. posted by Wally 8:15 AM Be afraid. Be very afraid. They're putting up (gasp) "Windmills" in Wisconsin, and the DOD is not happy about it. Who can blame them? What can be more terrifying than a cheesehead with an Ugly Stik and a cooler full of Stroh's hiding behind a windmill. The DOD says windmills "could interfere with military radar" to which I say, if our military has such shitty radar that it can't tell the difference between a windmill and a plane, and if our military radar can't pick up an incoming threat by the time it hits Fon du lac, than we have way more to worry about than cheeseheads with Ugly Stiks. Do you think there may be oil interests involved? More than 130 wind turbines are proposed for the hilltops of central Wisconsin, but that project and at least 11 others have been halted by the Defense Department as it studies whether the projects could interfere with military radar. Wind farm developers, Midwestern legislators and environmentalists say the farms pose no risk, noting that there are already numerous wind farms operating in military radar areas. They say a renewable, domestic source of energy such as wind is crucial to energy security and independence. (snip) Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said the Defense Department study could have a chilling effect on the development of wind power nationwide. (snip) Ed Blume, spokesman for the nonprofit renewable energy group Renew Wisconsin said, "In this part of the country, we have a certain construction season, and if you get beyond that season you're looking at a whole year's delay. A farmer who has a turbine on their land gets $4,000 to $5,000 per year for that turbine. This comes down to the individual farmer losing money they thought they'd have this year." Full Article Actually, a pissed off cheesehead who stands to lose 5 grand because the government says he can't put a windmill on his land might be a formidable foe. Especially if you try to take away his cooler full of Stroh's. Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

Judge May Decide if US Eavesdropping Is Legal posted by Wally 8:10 AM The National Security Agency's domestic spying program faces its first legal challenge in a case that could decide if the White House can order eavesdropping without a court order. Oral arguments are set for Monday at U.S. District Court in Detroit at which the American Civil Liberties Union will ask Judge Anna Diggs Taylor to declare the spying unconstitutional and order it halted. The case goes to the heart of the larger national debate about whether President Bush has assumed too much power in his declared war on terrorism. The ACLU sued the NSA on behalf of scholars, journalists and attorneys, claiming that warrantless wiretaps violate the U.S. Constitution and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, or FISA. "The NSA has the capability of eavesdropping on anyone, anywhere, anytime," said James Bamford, an NSA expert and author who is supporting the ACLU suit. MORE Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

Caption This! posted by Dookie The Webmaster 7:43 AM Use the "Post a Comment" link to add your caption. Permalink :: 6 comments :: Post a Comment

Specter maintains threat of subpoenas posted by Clyde 4:11 AM The Republican chairman of a Senate committee said Sunday he is prepared to call telephone company officials to testify about a domestic wiretapping program if he doesn't get cooperation in talks with the Bush administration. "If we don't get some results, I'm prepared to go back to demand hearings and issue subpoenas if necessary," Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter told CNN's "Late Edition." After a public spat last week with Vice President Dick Cheney over congressional oversight of eavesdropping and other issues, Specter said Sunday that a telephone call and letter from Cheney Thursday marked a "step forward." More Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Move along - nothing new here posted by Clyde 8:37 PM Contractors Cleared in Videotaped Attacks - Army Fails to Find 'Probable Cause' In Machine-Gunning of Cars in Iraq BAGHDAD, June 10 -- The U.S. military has concluded its investigation into a video that appeared to show private security contractors shooting at civilian vehicles driving on highways in Iraq and determined that no one involved will be charged with a crime, a military spokesman in Baghdad said. Agents with the Army's Criminal Investigation Division "reviewed the facts available concerning the incident to determine if there was any potential criminality that falls within CID's investigative purview," Maj. Timothy Keefe said in a written statement. "The review determined that no further investigative effort on the part of Army CID was warranted." The investigation, which officials have not released or discussed publicly, began after the video was posted on an Internet site purportedly run by employees of Aegis Defense Services, a London-based firm with a $293 million U.S. government security contract -- the largest of any security firm working in Iraq. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Waging war by suicide posted by Clyde 9:18 AM Guantanamo suicides 'acts of war' The suicides of three detainees at the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, amount to acts of war, the US military says. The camp commander said the two Saudis and a Yemeni were "committed" and had killed themselves in "an act of asymmetric warfare waged against us". (snip) "They are smart. They are creative, they are committed," he said. "They have no regard for life, either ours or their own. I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us." More Permalink :: 3 comments :: Post a Comment

Stand up and run away posted by Clyde 8:02 AM Iraqis in Al Anbar province leaving army in droves HADITHA, Iraq - Iraqi soldiers in Al Anbar province are leaving their army in droves, draining much-needed manpower from fledgling Iraqi security forces and preventing U.S. troops from reducing troop strength in the volatile region, U.S. and Iraqi military officials say. Lousy living conditions, bad food and failure to receive regular pay are the main reasons behind the exodus, which is running at least several hundred soldiers a month, the officials say. "Many of my soldiers have not gotten paid in six months. Sometimes, they don't eat for two or three days at a time. I tell my commander, but what else am I supposed to do?" said Lt. Moktat Uosef, a 29-year-old Iraqi army company commander based in Husaybah. More Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Brown: E-mail shows Bush glad FEMA took Katrina flak posted by Clyde 6:57 AM WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The former emergency management chief who quit amid widespread criticism over his handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina said he received an e-mail before his resignation stating President Bush was glad to see the Oval Office had dodged most of the criticism. Michael Brown, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Friday that he received the e-mail five days before his resignation from a high-level White House official whom he declined to identify. The e-mail stated that Bush was relieved that Brown -- and not Bush or Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff -- was bearing the brunt of the flak over the government's handling of Katrina. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Tit for tat posted by Clyde 6:55 AM Diebold Lobbyist Donates $10,000 to Blackwell Campaign Forty-nine of the 85 people who this year have given Ohio secretary of state Kenneth Blackwell the maximum $10,000 allowed an individual donor have done so since May 2. Members of Cincinnati financier Carl Lindner's family led the way by combining for $90,000. The maximum-donor list also includes Mitch Given, who is a registered lobbyist for Diebold Election Systems, one of the vendors of voting machines for election boards in Ohio. Blackwell's office approved Diebold's selection as a vendor and negotiated the price for the machines, although the counties chose the machines. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment
Friday, June 09, 2006
Activist Judges Strike Again! posted by Clyde 4:11 PM Appeals court backs Bush on wiretaps WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court sided with the Bush administration Friday on an electronic surveillance issue, making it easier to tap into Internet phone calls and broadband transmissions. The court ruled 2-1 in favor of the Federal Communications Commission, which says equipment using the new technologies must be able to accommodate police wiretaps under the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, known as CALEA. Judge David Sentelle called the agency's reading of the law a reasonable interpretation. In dissent, Judge Harry Edwards said the FCC gutted an exemption for information services that he said covered the Internet and broadband. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Where have we heard this before? posted by Wally 1:43 PM Bush says Iran has "weeks not months" to respond President George W. Bush said on Friday that Iran has "weeks not months" to respond to a U.S.-backed offer aimed at containing Iran's nuclear ambitions and said Tehran needs to suspend uranium enrichment "We've given the Iranians a limited period of time -- you know, weeks not months -- to digest a proposal to move forward. And if they choose not to verifiably suspend their program, then there will be action taken in the U.N. Security Council," Bush said. What's disturbing about this, aside from the obviously arrogant and threatening overtones just like we heard before invading Iraq, is that he's playing up the U.N. card. Today he's talking all buddy-buddy about the UN, when just yesterday, the Bush administration was bitching about them because the U.N. deputy secretary general told the truth about U.S./U.N. relations. The fact that Bush was upset by that shouldn't surprise anyone. The truth is to Bush like sunlight is to Dracula. Hypocracy is like blood. "Fuck those U.N. bastards who we're counting on to help us invade Iran." So, does anyone know the Vegas odds on when we start the bombing in Iran? Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Corporate America wins again posted by Clyde 11:46 AM House rejects Net neutrality rules The U.S. House of Representatives definitively rejected the concept of Net neutrality on Thursday, dealing a bitter blow to Internet companies like Amazon.com, eBay and Google that had engaged in a last-minute lobbying campaign to support it. By a 269-152 vote that fell largely along party lines, the House Republican leadership mustered enough votes to reject a Democrat-backed amendment that would have enshrined stiff Net neutrality regulations into federal law and prevented broadband providers from treating some Internet sites differently from others. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Mission still not accomplished posted by Wally 8:54 AM Which of these guys is scarier? Which of these guys was responsible for attacking the United States? Which of these guys is still running free? 'nuff said. Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

Buh Bye BUGMAN! posted by Dookie The Webmaster 7:59 AM Permalink :: 3 comments :: Post a Comment

AP-Ipsos Poll: 59% of Americans disapprove of the war posted by Wally 7:53 AM Bush enjoyed a (very) minor bump in his poll numbers - he once again enjoys an approval rating slightly higher than polynoidal cysts (which are only as popular as they are because they can keep you out of the military, if you're rich enough), the American people are feeling more and more disatisfied with the handling of the war in Iraq. The death of al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq came as more Americans than ever thought the war in Iraq was a mistake, according to AP-Ipsos polling. The poll, taken Monday through Wednesday before news broke that U.S. forces had killed al-Zarqawi, found that 59 percent of adults say the United States made a mistake in going to war in Iraq — the highest level yet in AP-Ipsos polling. Approval of President Bush's handling of Iraq dipped to 33 percent, a new low. His overall job approval was 35 percent, statistically within range of his low of 33 percent last month. The poll of 1,003 adults has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points. LINK It is my personal suspicion that the numbers are skewed by Fox news viewers who still think that Iraqis are throwing flowers at our soldiers, and that we're hauling away tanker ships full of WMD's. Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

Caption This! posted by Dookie The Webmaster 7:52 AM Use the "Post a Comment" link to add your caption. Permalink :: 11 comments :: Post a Comment

Narrow Victory by G.O.P. Signals Fall Problems posted by Clyde 4:25 AM SAN DIEGO, June 7 - The victory that Republicans squeezed out in a high-profile race to fill a Congressional vacancy here eased party anxieties Wednesday but signaled future difficulties as they confront tougher Democratic challenges in increasingly contested districts this fall. The Republican candidate here, Brian P. Bilbray, won with 49 percent of the vote, defeating Francine Busby, the Democrat, who drew 45 percent, with the remaining votes going to an independent and a Libertarian, according to nearly complete returns. Mr. Bilbray's failure to break 50 percent was striking. The Republican Party had poured workers and millions of dollars into avoiding defeat in a district where Republicans have a sizable registration advantage and where President Bush won by 10 percentage points in 2004. The previous holder of the seat, Randy Cunningham, who resigned after pleading guilty in a corruption scandal, defeated Ms. Busby in 2004 by 58 percent to 36 percent. More Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

U.S. Payoffs to Families of Dead Iraqi Civilians Has 'Skyrocketed' posted by Clyde 4:19 AM The local custom is known as "solatia" --it means families in Iraq receive financial compensation for physical damage or a loss of life. The practice has earned more attention in recent weeks, with news that the U.S. military paid about $2500 per victim to families in Haditha following the alleged massacre there last November. But how common is the practice? And how many deaths do the numbers seem to suggest? A chilling report from the Boston Globe on Thursday reveals that the amount of cash the U.S. military has paid to families of Iraqi civilians killed or badly injured operations involving American troops "skyrocketed from just under $5 million in 2004 to almost $20 million last year, according to Pentagon financial data." The payments can range from several hundred dollars for a severed limb to a standard of $2500 for loss of life. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment
Thursday, June 08, 2006
He said - She said re: Al-Zarqawi posted by Wally 8:00 AM Bush hails death as severe blow to al-Qaida President Bush said today that the death of al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq is "a severe blow" to the al-Qaida terrorist network and a decisive victory in the U.S.-led war against terrorism. Al-Zarqawi Now a Martyr, His Brother Says Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's older brother said "We anticipated that he would be killed for a very long time." "We expected that he would be martyred. We hope that he will join other martyrs in heaven." The husband of one of Zarqawi's sisters said: "We're not sad that he's dead. To the contrary, we're happy because he's a martyr and he's now in heaven." Iraq's Qaeda vows to keep fighting after Zarqawi death Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Al-Zarqawi Is Killed by U.S. Air Raid Near Baghdad (This time for real) posted by Wally 7:32 AM They finally got the number 2 in Al-Qaeda. For real this time. No, really, they checked his fingerprints. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian terrorist who led al-Qaeda in Iraq, was killed in a U.S. air raid north of Baghdad, removing the figurehead of the middle-eastern nation's bloody three-year insurgency. (snip) Al-Zarqawi, 39, was the most wanted man in Iraq, with a $25 million U.S. bounty on his head. The Jordanian's group has claimed responsibility for dozens of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings of foreign hostages across Iraq since the March, 2003 U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. (snip) Al-Qaeda in Iraq confirmed al-Zarqawi's death in a statement posted on the Internet, and vowed to continue its "holy war," the Associated Press reported. LINK Of course, this will have essentially no impact on what's going on in Iraq, since that beast has taken on a life of it's own. Some quotes from an article in Reuters "Maybe the bloodshed will decrease in Iraq now. But the problem is that whenever an extremist leader dies, he is replaced by a more radical leader," said Suheil Shehab, a Sunni employee in Beirut. "Al-Zarqawi in recent times did not represent an important element in violent operations on the ground in Iraq. Other groups which are not extreme, resistance groups not terrorist groups, have grown in strength," he told Reuters. Whether the fighter leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was martyred or not, resistance will continue in all Islamic lands as long as occupation exists," said Abu Mujahed, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, an umbrella group of Palestinian militants. "The martyrdom of Emir (military commander) Zarqawi is a great loss. He was killing American invaders," said Ahmed Jardali, a Sunni carpenter in Beirut. "God willing, his successor will continue in his path." Based on statements like these, I question whether the violence will decrease, or increase now that he's gone. Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Bolton can't handle the truth posted by Clyde 11:49 AM US infuriated by UN official's speech The United States demanded Wednesday that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan repudiate a speech in which his No. 2 official broke with tradition and accused the United States of undermining the United Nations. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton called the speech by Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown a "very, very grave mistake" that could undermine Annan's own efforts to push through an ambitious agenda of reform at the world body. "I spoke to the secretary-general this morning. I said 'I've known you since 1989 and I'm telling you this is the worst mistake by a senior U.N. official that I have seen in that entire time,'" Bolton told reporters. More Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

True Bush Values posted by Wally 7:47 AM Gene Sperling (top economic advisor for President Clinton) takes a look at Bush's values based not on what he says, but on what he is willing to fund in this article. Words are easy, taking action to back up those words is "hard work" - as if George would know hard work if he ever even had to watch it on his TV screen. Whatever our founders disagreed on, one uniting principle was the notion that U.S. would be a nation without a perpetual elite or underclass. While John Adams was writing that "no expense would be thought extravagant" when it came to educating poor children, Thomas Jefferson was supporting a constitutional amendment guaranteeing free public education and calling for inheritance laws to "prevent the accumulation and perpetuation of wealth, in select families." (snip) Yet, this month, we will see the Bush administration open a double assault on economic mobility by calling for a repeal of the estate tax for the wealthiest families, while offering the stingiest funding in a generation for the early education for children from impoverished families. (snip) Indeed, under this proposal, the richest 700 estates -- all with more than $20 million in assets -- would divide up a $10 billion tax cut, enough to fund preschool for 2 million more children. (LINK) When Senator Russ Feingold proposed an alternative to repealing the estate tax that would exempt anyone with an estate worth less than $100 million - so that no "family farmer" or "small businessman" would be punished, and so that only the filthiest of the filthy rich would have to pay this Paris Hilton Death tax - his proposal still wasn't good enough for the Republicans. That is all you need to know to understand who and what it is that Bush and the Republicans value. It's not family farms. It's not small business. And it's sure not poor kids or education. He counts his values one suitcase full of 'Benjamins' at a time. Valuing the face of Benjamin Franklin on the $100 bill is obviously not equal to valuing the things which that man and the rest of the founding fathers struggled to achieve. Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Caption This! posted by Dookie The Webmaster 7:28 AM Use the "Post a Comment" link to add your caption. Permalink :: 9 comments :: Post a Comment
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Why dubyaD40.com still fights in Kansas. posted by Dookie The Webmaster 1:39 PM From the USA Today: Kansas political shifts sign of things to come? Mark Parkinson thinks it's time Thomas Frank wrote a sequel to his 2004 best seller, What's the Matter with Kansas?, which explains how the descendants of abolitionists, free-soilers and trustbusters became the backbone of the conservative movement in U.S. politics. Frank made his home state the focus of his contention that cultural issues have been used by conservatives to get Midwesterners (and other Americans) to vote against their economic and political interests. But Parkinson says a lot has changed in the Sunflower State and Frank's new book should be called "What's Right with Kansas." He ought to know. A Republican for 30 years, Parkinson is a former GOP state party chairman. In that job, he spearheaded the unsuccessful effort to derail the 2002 gubernatorial campaign of moderate Democrat Kathleen Sebelius. Sebelius made funding for public education - not hot-button social issues - a major plank in her campaign. She won with 53% of the vote in a state where Democrats are just 28% of registered voters. Last week, Sebelius named Parkinson her running mate in this year's gubernatorial campaign. He replaces John Moore, the current lieutenant governor, who decided not to seek re-election. Like Moore, Parkinson is a Republican-turned-Democrat. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

6-6-6 Terra Alert Warning! posted by Wally 7:44 AM It's 6-6-6 (June 6th, 2006) today. The day of the devil or whatever. We've heard plenty of talk that today is the day that the terra-ists are going to hit us again. Granted most of this speculation has come from religious whack-jobs - you know, the ones who think they're going to be "raptured" today (and puuhleaaaase let it happen. Get them the hell out of here so the rest of us can live in peace without them). Whether or not "666" has any significance to anyone other than a fundamentalist christian whack-job is open to question, but in the world of the fundies - and a small world it is - 666 is the sign of the beast, or whatever. Regardless of bin Laden's or al Qaeda's beliefs, regardless of the fact that elections are still 5 months away, in "Fundie-land" today is the day it's going to happen. That being said, and based on the fact that our government is now being run by fundamentalist christian whack-jobs, not to mention ones who's approval ratings are only slightly above herpes, how come the "Terror Alert" hasn't been raised to Ernie? Permalink :: 3 comments :: Post a Comment
Monday, June 05, 2006
Loose the dogs of war posted by Clyde 2:15 PM BACK TO THE BUNKER On Monday, June 19, about 4,000 government workers representing more than 50 federal agencies from the State Department to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will say goodbye to their families and set off for dozens of classified emergency facilities stretching from the Maryland and Virginia suburbs to the foothills of the Alleghenies. They will take to the bunkers in an "evacuation" that my sources describe as the largest "continuity of government" exercise ever conducted, a drill intended to prepare the U.S. government for an event even more catastrophic than the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. More Permalink :: 3 comments :: Post a Comment

You can run but you can't hide. posted by Dookie The Webmaster 1:02 PM CNN: Bush moves gay marriage press conference to less prominent location President Bush has unexpectedly yanked a press event on the Federal Marriage Amendment from the White House Rose Garden and placed it inside the Old Executive Office Building without explanation, CNN reported Monday. In other gay marriage news, MSNBC's conservative host Joe Scarborough said Monday that most conservatives "know" Bush is "pandering" on gay marriage (Video here). The amendment does not have enough votes to pass the Senate. No further details were available on Bush's decision to move his press conference. More on the conference when it occurs later today. Link Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Of course they like us. posted by Dookie The Webmaster 1:00 PM Sick. Just sick. More than 6,000 corpses found in Iraq in five months Baghdad - Every morning as ambulance cars and police vehicles rush to the hospital in Bab al-Mo'adham carrying corpses of unidentified victims, a queue of women, teenagers and elderly men forms in front of the morgue as people search for their relatives, fearing they might be found among the bodies. Usually, one of their family member is lost or kidnapped by gunmen and then turns up after a week or so later as a corpse with gunshot wounds on the body, a further victim of the latest wave of sectarian violence that has swept through Iraq in recent months. Iraq's main morgue had never received that huge number of corpses on a daily basis - not since modern Iraq was established in 1920s. According to statistics by Iraq's morgues institute, 6,002 corpses were found in the past five months: 1,068 in January, 1,110 in February, 1,294 in March, 1,155 in April and 1,375 in May. Most of the corpses had gunshot wounds, while others showed marks of burns or electrocution. Link Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Caption This! posted by Dookie The Webmaster 7:55 AM Use the "Post a Comment" link to add your caption. Permalink :: 7 comments :: Post a Comment

What Happens When There Is No Plan B? posted by Wally 7:55 AM The conservative politics of the Bush administration forced me to have an abortion I didn't want. Well, not literally, but let me explain. I am a 42-year-old happily married mother of two elementary-schoolers. My husband and I both work, and like many couples, we're starved for time together. One Thursday evening this past March, we managed to snag some rare couple time and, in a sudden rush of passion, I failed to insert my diaphragm. The next morning, after getting my kids off to school, I called my ob/gyn to get a prescription for Plan B, the emergency contraceptive pill that can prevent a pregnancy -- but only if taken within 72 hours of intercourse. As we're both in our forties, my husband and I had considered our family complete, and we weren't planning to have another child, which is why, as a rule, we use contraception. I wanted to make sure that our momentary lapse didn't result in a pregnancy. The receptionist, however, informed me that my doctor did not prescribe Plan B. No reason given. Neither did my internist. The midwifery practice I had used could prescribe it, but not over the phone, and there were no more open appointments for the day. The weekend -- and the end of the 72-hour window -- was approaching. Full Story Here Compassionate conservatism at it's finest. The religious right, in their fanatacism, are causing abortions that otherwise wouldn't happen. I hope they're proud. Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment
Sunday, June 04, 2006
VA center may have exposed vets to diseases posted by Clyde 7:05 AM Thousands of veterans are eligible for free HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C screenings at their nearest VA facility because they may have been accidentally exposed to those diseases. Those veterans who had a prostate biopsy between 1989 and 2003 may have been treated with instruments that were not properly sterilized, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. In an April 14 press release, the VA listed 17 facilities where the potentially dangerous disinfecting procedure was being used. Since then, the list has grown to 21. More Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

Iraq News Gets Short Shrift As A Weary U.S. Tunes Out posted by Clyde 7:02 AM News of the bombing that felled a CBS news crew washed over Baghdad's tight-knit media corps like a tempest this week — evoking waves of anxiety, sadness, resolve and more than a little dismay. American television journalists covering Iraq confronted the difficult irony that it took the deaths of a cameraman and soundman and critical injuries to correspondent Kimberly Dozier to help push the story of Iraq back to the forefront of the nightly news back home. The amount of time devoted to Iraq on the three television networks' weeknight newscasts has dropped by nearly 60 percent from 2003 to the first four months of 2006, according to the independent Tyndall Report tracking service. More Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Pollster: Iraq war will hurt GOP in fall elections posted by Clyde 2:18 PM The war in Iraq has become so unpopular that it could cost Republicans control of Congress, statehouses and governor races around the country, national pollster John Zogby said Friday. He said 70% of voters believe the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction, adding, I have never seen a number like that since I've been polling. More Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

Recruiting is going just great, right Rummy? posted by Clyde 2:16 PM Army expands $1,000 recruiting referral bonus to include retirees The Army is expanding its $1,000 recruiting referral bonus program to include retirees. The referral bonus pilot program, which began Jan. 18, was originally open only to soldiers, regardless of component or rank. Soldiers are asked to submit information about individuals with no prior military experience or contact with a recruiter. More Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment
Friday, June 02, 2006
Olbermann exposes O'Reilly on Malmedy posted by Wally 3:11 PM While O'Reilly was debating Wesley Clark on his FOX show, Bill once again was short on the facts. It proves my theory once again that some talking heads will say just about anything to make themselves sound right. Video-WMP Video-QT Read the full story and the rough transcript at CrooksandLiars.com Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

RFK Speaks to Rolling Stone: Was the 2004 Election Stolen? posted by Wally 7:59 AM Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House. BY ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR But despite the media blackout, indications continued to emerge that something deeply troubling had taken place in 2004. Nearly half of the 6 million American voters living abroad(3) never received their ballots -- or received them too late to vote(4) -- after the Pentagon unaccountably shut down a state-of-the-art Web site used to file overseas registrations.(5) A consulting firm called Sproul & Associates, which was hired by the Republican National Committee to register voters in six battleground states,(6) was discovered shredding Democratic registrations.(7) In New Mexico, which was decided by 5,988 votes,(8) malfunctioning machines mysteriously failed to properly register a presidential vote on more than 20,000 ballots.(9) Nationwide, according to the federal commission charged with implementing election reforms, as many as 1 million ballots were spoiled by faulty voting equipment -- roughly one for every 100 cast.(10) (snip) But what is most anomalous about the irregularities in 2004 was their decidedly partisan bent: Almost without exception they hurt John Kerry and benefited George Bush. After carefully examining the evidence, I've become convinced that the president's party mounted a massive, coordinated campaign to subvert the will of the people in 2004. Across the country, Republican election officials and party stalwarts employed a wide range of illegal and unethical tactics to fix the election. A review of the available data reveals that in Ohio alone, at least 357,000 voters, the overwhelming majority of them Democratic, were prevented from casting ballots or did not have their votes counted in 2004(12) -- more than enough to shift the results of an election decided by 118,601 votes.(13) (See Ohio's Missing Votes) In what may be the single most astounding fact from the election, one in every four Ohio citizens who registered to vote in 2004 showed up at the polls only to discover that they were not listed on the rolls, thanks to GOP efforts to stem the unprecedented flood of Democrats eager to cast ballots.(14) And that doesn?t even take into account the troubling evidence of outright fraud, which indicates that upwards of 80,000 votes for Kerry were counted instead for Bush. That alone is a swing of more than 160,000 votes -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House.(15) (Read the Entire Article Here) It's long, but it's worth it and it is thoroughly documented and footnoted. This is an important article. Permalink :: 1 comments :: Post a Comment

Caption This: posted by Wally 7:52 AM Use the "Post a Comment" link to submit your caption: Permalink :: 7 comments :: Post a Comment

Game On For Iran. posted by Wally 7:29 AM Bolton: 'This is Put Up or Shut Up Time For Iran,' Unilateral Military Action Is 'On The Table' Yesterday on Fox's Your World with Neil Cuvuto, U.N. Ambassador John Bolton explicitly said that unilateral military action against Iran was "on the table." Bolton diplomatically added, "This is put up or shut up time for Iran." Watch it: Read the transcript at ThinkProgress.Org Permalink :: 3 comments :: Post a Comment
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Joe Lieberman Sucks! posted by Clyde 2:13 PM Lawyer says FBI is investigating pro-Lieberman blog postings A Hartford lawyer says the FBI has agreed to investigate postings promoting Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman's re-election on a popular Connecticut-based Internet "blog" in the names of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. Bruce D. Rubenstein, a former finance chairman for the Democratic State Central Committee and a Lieberman critic, said Wednesday that an agent in the FBI's Meriden office told him the agency would probe the postings on the "Connecticut Local Politics" Web log run by an Enfield man, Chris Bigelow. More Permalink :: 2 comments :: Post a Comment

Bush calls spies "essential" posted by Wally 9:03 AM Says U.S. Must Continue to Develop Covert Agents President Bush, at the public ceremony swearing in Gen. Michael V. Hayden as director of the CIA, yesterday urged continued development of human intelligence, calling it essential in determining the intentions of "dangerous regimes and terrorist organizations." In focusing his brief remarks on the CIA's need to recruit spies "to penetrate closed societies and secretive organizations," the president hit on an agency problem highlighted last week in a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report. The committee said it was concerned that the CIA had not resolved issues that made it difficult to place new officers abroad under "non-official cover," a status that puts them in covert civilian roles and outside U.S. embassies where they lack diplomatic protection. (Note: Valerie Plame was under "non-official cover") All are a sign that the CIA is not doing enough to keep its covert officers' identities secret, especially in the Internet age when so much personal information can be easily searched, said one congressional aide familiar with the Senate report. "We understand how difficult it is, and they are working to fix it, but the agency doesn't seem yet up to the task," the aide said. (Full Article Here) Of course, none of this is relevant if those mean nasty spies or thier spouses make Little Lord Pissy-Pants mad. Then it's okay to publish their names, and to hell with national security. Permalink :: 2 comments :: Post a Comment

Remember, the GOP is the party that's "Strong on Security" posted by Wally 8:28 AM Counterterror money slashed for NY, DC (and other cities) The two cities targeted on Sept. 11 will receive far fewer counterterrorism dollars this year than in 2005 in what the Homeland Security Department described Wednesday as a need to spread funding out to other cities facing threats. Officials noted a $119 million cut in the total funds available for the 2006 fiscal year from last year. In all, 46 cities will share $710 million in Homeland Security grants to prevent and respond to terror attacks and, to a lesser extent, other catastrophic disasters like hurricanes. (Full Story) Just for reference, the U.S. has spent over $285 Billion on Iraq so far, where there were no terrorists until we "liberated" the country. That's 400 times what we're spending to protect our cities here at home. Those are your tax dollars at work. Write your Congressmen. Permalink :: 0 comments :: Post a Comment

Blame the Grunts, Praise the Leaders posted by Wally 7:42 AM Just like Abu Ghraib, the situation in Haditha is apparently entirely the fault of the lowest level grunts in the field. The heroic men and women working in terrible situations, poorly armored, under constant and incredible stress, on multiple extended tours of combat duty, facing unknown enemies (like Rummy said, both known unknowns and unknown unknowns), with vague or ambiguous orders from above are obviously completely at fault. Meanwhile, the (ahem) "leaders" sitting on their fat asses in air-conditioned offices handing down vague and ambiguous orders are doing a heckofa job, turning corner after corner in the liberation and democratization of Iraq. So.... in response to a small number of troops finally cracking under pressure, what have these fearless (because they have nothing to fear in their air conditioned offices) leaders decided to do? You'll love this. They're ordering the grunts to take (drum-roll please) "Ethics Training" You can't make this shit up. Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli (the commander of Multinational Corps Iraq) said in a statement the training would emphasize "professional military values and the importance of disciplined, professional conduct in combat" as well as Iraqi cultural expectations. "As military professionals, it is important that we take time to reflect on the values that separate us from our enemies," Chiarelli said. "The challenge for us is to make sure the actions of a few do not tarnish the good work of the many." (Full Story Here) The problem is, the "few" are the generals, and the "many" are the grunts. The only reason they're even bothering with this now, 6 months after the event occured, is that word of it finally slipped out into the news. This is the Bush version of "Leadership". Permalink :: 3 comments :: Post a Comment

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