The Respect is Palpable

Reuters

Only Lou Dobbs could more joyously celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month!

I'll say it...

I'm more afraid of George Bush than I am Al Qaeda. Some asshole hiding in Pakistan can only do so much, but George Bush can bankrupt me, future generations -- if he doesn't get me killed first.

It isn't even close. Just to be Bi-Partisan I'm more afraid of every Republican candidate and a few Democratic ones too than I am of Usama and Zawahiri.

Throw in the Congress too. If it isn't completely subservient to Bush against all reason like the GOP the body still makes choose the lesser of two weasels by voting for Democrats who at least try for a while before they completely knuckle under -- knowing that I'll have no choice but to give them the benefit of the doubt again and again. I'm Charlie Brown, they're Lucy, and the GOP is the pile of pigshit I'll go ass-over-teakettle into.

After all 1/2, then 3/5ths, then 2/3rds, now 7/10ths and soon to be 3/4ths of the Country knows voting for ineffectual trumps plain out batshit crazy each and every time.

But that doesn't mean, Bush isn't compelled make 'em shit their pants while they're collapsing when it counts (Democrats are ashamed they shit their pants, while Republicans do the same and are content that at least lunch is available):

Al-Qaida remains the "most serious and dangerous" terrorism threat and is expected to intensify attempts to place agents inside the United States, a White House report said on Tuesday.

Despite efforts to destroy the group responsible for the September 11 attacks, al-Qaida has protected its top leadership, replenished its lieutenants and "regenerated a safe haven" in Pakistan's tribal areas, the report said.

Al-Qaida also continues to pursue weapons of mass destruction and is trying to acquire and use chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear material, said the "National Strategy for Homeland Security" report.

The report updated the first White House Homeland Security strategy issued in July 2002, which was after the September 11 attacks but before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

It was released as congressional committees prepare to consider legislation this week to expand the government's domestic spying powers permanently and add new civil liberties safeguards.

And there you have it. They release the report -- as they ALWAYS leak various "SCARY" scenarios and threats -- as the final rabbit-punch to make sure the Democrats crap their pants before the Republicans roll around in it.

OH WE HAVE TO KEEP GIVING THIS COMPLETELY INEFFECTIVE AND DISASTROUS POLICY A CHANCE TO BE EVEN MORE INEFFECTIVE AND DISASTROUS!!!!

Nobody is given a chance to actually say, "this isn't working, maybe we should adjust what we are doing?" Because you just know that motherfucker isn't wearing his lapel pen!

So, therefore, I am -- as I have been for some time -- far more worried about George Bush than Osama bin Laden.

Damn, my logic I guess I'm Un-fuckin'-American because I think he's running us into the shithole.

Of course, that's just self-defeating. If any of you managed to make it through the Republican Debate yesterday I swear to all that is Holy (and sacreligious) that it came down to this:

"LET A SMILE BE YOUR UMBRELLA!"

No policy discussion at all, just be optimistic and smile and no policy can ever fail -- to actually have constructive policies that make a difference, or to argue for them is bad per se.

It was just that vapid and awful.

Naturally, the 50-40-33-30-and soon to be 25 percenters lapped that shit up.

Kate O'Beirne Boogies Down!

And Now, in the talent portion....

"Pfffffffffffffffffft" .... "Pfffffffffffffffffft ... Pfffffffffffffffffft" .... "Pfffffffffffffffffft"



Jason Reed/Reuters

We mere mortals are not entitled to such

AWESOMENESS!!!

If you are a Republican Candidate

This strikes me as the kind of strong endorsement that could really help:

"Oh shit, he's dumb as hell. Fred Thompson," Nixon interjects...

LATER

"Our approach is now, we've got a pretty good rapport with Fred Thompson. He came through fine for us this morning," White House counsel Fred Buzhardt says on a tape from June 6.

"He isn't very smart, is he?" Nixon asks.

"Not extremely so, but --," Buzhardt says, interrupted by the president.

"But he's friendly," Nixon says.

"But he's, he's friendly," Buzhardt echoes.

"Good."

So not only is Fred Thompson a moron, he is also a "Tool" that tried to save Nixon and his criminality ONLY to stumble BECAUSE HE IS DUMBER THAN SHIT and inadvertently helped bring Nixon down by stumbling and asking Alexander Butterfield about the White House taping system.

One Reason New York Doesn't ALWAYS Suck

This morning on the subway...

Across from me: young (maybe fifteen) girl reading The Kite Runner (for school it turns out). Cool.

To the right of me: fifty-something guy, casually dressed, reading Romeo and Juliet. Interesting.

To the left of me: forty-something body builder guy from my 'hood. What's he reading? Why, Pride and Prejudice. WOW.

Oh, me? I'm reading Ian McEwan's Saturday.

Idiots

I'm sorry, we want to reaffirm these fuck-knobs use of intelligence and security matters?

Who the hell expects these jackasses to tie their own shoes, let alone prevail against Empty Chest Thumping Al Qaeda.

If this had been 'the Clenis' the Articles of Impeachment would be flying to the other side of the Capitol already -- FoxNoise would be blaring it 24/7. It would get 3 SIRENS from Drudge.

A small private intelligence company that monitors Islamic terrorist groups obtained a new Osama bin Laden video ahead of its official release last month, and around 10 a.m. on Sept. 7, it notified the Bush administration of its secret acquisition. It gave two senior officials access on the condition that the officials not reveal they had it until the al-Qaeda release.

Within 20 minutes, a range of intelligence agencies had begun downloading it from the company's Web site. By midafternoon that day, the video and a transcript of its audio track had been leaked from within the Bush administration to cable television news and broadcast worldwide.

The founder of the company, the SITE Intelligence Group, says this premature disclosure tipped al-Qaeda to a security breach and destroyed a years-long surveillance operation that the company has used to intercept and pass along secret messages, videos and advance warnings of suicide bombings from the terrorist group's communications network.

"Techniques that took years to develop are now ineffective and worthless," said Rita Katz, the firm's 44-year-old founder, who has garnered wide attention by publicizing statements and videos from extremist chat rooms and Web sites, while attracting controversy over the secrecy of SITE's methodology. Her firm provides intelligence about terrorist groups to a wide range of paying clients, including private firms and military and intelligence agencies from the United States and several other countries.

You see the point (as most of you already have learned) is NOT to capture Bin Laden, it is to constantly use him, the way he uses us. To cudgel us over the head and terrify Democrats into collapsing even against the mightily unpopular George Bush. In other words, Bin Laden uses us and the Bush Administration and Republicans use each other the way Castro and our Government have used each other for years. Screaming about each other, for no other purpose than to make sure nothing ever fucking gets done -- other than support of those that matter most to those distilling the propaganda.

I still remember Tom Ridge declaring a faux terror-warning RIGHT AFTER Kerry got the Democratic Nomination, denying it was political ... only to later have it proven it was, well political.

So, in the name of obtaining wiretaps and avoiding talking about the shit that really matters, we are able to disseminate the latest video-diatribes and natter on about that, while blowing the actual substantive information we could get by using the information intelligently.

Of course, to George Bush, "i-n-t-e-l-l-i-g-e-n-t-l-y" is a 4-letter word.

"Bend Over"

Once you give up what should IS a right, YOU PRETTY MUCH NEVER GET IT BACK.

For example:

Two months after vowing to roll back broad new wiretapping powers won by the Bush administration, Congressional Democrats appear ready to make concessions that could extend some of the key powers granted to the National Security Agency.

Bush administration officials say they are confident they will win approval of the broadened wiretapping authority that they secured temporarily in August as Congress rushed toward recess, and some Democratic officials admit that they may not come up with the votes to rein in the administration.

What a fucking disgrace. How many of the Democrats in Congress ever allowed to keep their "lunch money" in elementary school?

The Democratic Presidential candidate that wants this Iowan's support at the Caucus (right after my hangover from New Years subsides) will come out swinging today.

Well they're honest at least

Several thoughts about FoxNews reaffirmed in but one paragraph and all from a News Corp. publication too!

Christian 'media watchdog group' The Resistance is all worked up over the ultra-femme anchors of Fox News. The group's leader, Mark Dice, rants in an e-mail, "I see shorter skirts on the women of Fox News than I do on the prostitutes being arrested on cop shows." Fox responded, "We're always flattered to have everyone talking about us in one form or another."

First, what kind of name for a Christian Watchdog group is "The Resistance"? It sounds like a Nazi Skinhead Band name.

Second, how surprising that such a group would be familiar with FoxNews

Third, which member of the group had their masturbation mittens fall off?

Fourth, FoxNews is delighted to have their anchors called more than simply metaphorical prostitutes.

And they don't believe in evolution?

Who have the right-wing bloggers and pundits managed to slime, chronologically?

-- A Silver-Star winning Vietnam Vet
-- A Triple Amputee Vet gets morphed into Osama
-- Spouses of brain-dead people making health-care decisions
-- The Mother of a Dead Iraqi War Soldiers
-- Katrina Victims
-- 9/11 Widows
-- Parkinson's Disease Sufferers
-- Iraq War Vets complaining about Medical Care
-- Iraq War Vets complaining about policy, especially the dead ones
-- Disabled Vets
-- 12-Year Old Kids injured in car accidents

Up next, ORPHANS!

Tiberius...

Victor "Maximum" Hanson today:

of all those killed during the worst ordeal between 2003-6. When one walks through these former battlefields, there is an eerie melancholy, a ghostly archaeology, a sense that now unnamed and largely anonymous Americans paid the ultimate price in those years to allow the opportunities we witness today. And that’s why we must continue and finish the job they started...

The Iraqis are just beginning to step up effectively to their own defense, and are reaching out to the Americans-rather than solely vice versa as was mostly true between 2003-6.

Victor "Maximum" Hanson 2006:

The Americans I talked to this week in Iraq — in Baghdad, Balad, Kirkuk, and Taji — believe that a government will emerge that is seen as legitimate and will appear as authentic to the people. Soon, ten divisions of Iraqi soldiers, and over 100,000 police, should be able to crush the insurgency, with the help of a public tired of violence and assured that the future of Iraq is their own — not the Husseins’, the Americans’, or the terrorists’. The military has learned enough about the tactics of the enemy that it can lessen casualties, and nevertheless, through the use of Iraqi forces, secure more of the country with far less troops. Like it or not, the American presence in Iraq will not grow, and will probably lessen considerably in 2006, before reaching Korea-like levels and responsibilities in 2007.

Victor "Maximum" Hanson Fall 2005:

Second, with over 200,000 Iraqi security forces, various local policemen, and American and Coalition troops, there are perhaps nearly 400,000 actively opposed to the terrorists. The number is growing rather than shrinking. We are seeing more enlistments than defections. The result is that, incrementally and insidiously, Americans are less and less in the position of being the cop, swat-team, or battalion that Iraqis see daily as the providers of their order and security

Victor "Maximum" Hanson, Spring 2005:

Calls for a massive invasion force along the lines of the first Gulf War were rightly resisted. It made no sense to place half the combat strength of the United States in a narrow, vulnerable and pre-announced corridor in Kuwait. Given the fact the Iraqis were not quite hostiles or friends, but something in between like the Italians of World War II after the invasion of Sicily, a light, rapid force was preferable to a massive conventional armada...

We also rejected the communis opinio of the CIA and "experts" such as "Anonymous" or Richard Clarke. Instead, the administration rightly listened to a much deeper wisdom promulgated by the likes of Fouad Ajami, Bernard Lewis, Daniel Pipes, and Amir Taheri.

Victor "Maximum" Hanson 2004:

Finally, for all the media-inspired pessimism, progress continues in Iraq. Despite all the killing, a logic of freedom persists, one that is slowly becoming a way of life for millions and that cannot be derailed by media-savvy murderers...

It is true that parts of Iraq are unsafe and that terrorists are flowing into the country; but there is no doubt that the removal of Saddam Hussein is bringing matters to a head.

Yes, V.D. Hanson ladies and gentlemen, as an Iraqi War pundit, he almost makes a serviceable ancient Greek historian.

Nostradumbass

I am reminded of the famous soothesayer, Lindsey "5 Rugs for 5 Dollars Bucks"* Graham who EXACTLY ONE MONTH AGO proclaimed:

Within the next weeks, not months, there will be a major breakthrough on the benchmarks regarding political reconciliation. And after the last two weeks of being a reservist, you could see Sunnis and Shia and Kurds taking a second look at Iraq.

And now, as stated below, reality:

"I don't think there is something called reconciliation, and there will be no reconciliation as such..."

In a real world, with real journalism, Graham would be confronted with this and a series of other wildly inaccurate predictions as he never ceases buttressing this cluusterfuck.

But of course, only we can live in the real world. Lindsey lives in "Broderstan".

*Changed for accuracy per reader Lowell.

Introducing, the I-Pod Lamo

1,2,3,4
Let's gin us up another war


Sleep lots, hard work
Let's bomb the jacket wearin' jerk


OLD dreams and hopes are ALIVE from your whores
bombed 'em to nothing

But I want some more

Oh, oh, oh

It's only a start
Oh, oh, oh

Fun sending others to war

No heart, old fart
Now I can't tell 'em apart

Sunnis Shiias
Let God tell who they are

Those lower polls

Salt the tears of Broder's eyes
Too scared to confront
All of our lies

Oh, oh, oh

You people know who you are
Oh, oh, oh

But I am the decider

One, two, three, four

Important Point

From Juan Cole -- who for some reason has been more credible on the goings on in Iraq & Iran than Jonah Goldberg and Michael Ledeen. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess it's because he's substantially more educated and intelligent than either of them.

Turkish troops killed a PKK [Kurdish Workers Party] guerrilla in eastern Anatolia early on Sunday, then ran into an ambush in which PKK fighters killed 13 Turkish troops. The PKK is being given safe harbor in Iraqi Kurdistan by authorities there, much to Ankara's frustration. This major firefight, the most serious in years between PKK and the Turkish military in years, will put pressure on the Turkish government to engage in hot pursuit of the Kurdish guerrillas into Iraq where they are hiding out. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, but the US military has done nothing to stop it from attacking a NATO ally (Turkey). The US also coddles the Mojahedin-e Khalq [MEK] terrorist group in Diyala province, which Saddam used against Iran, and which is probably the source for some of the wilder charges the US military makes against Iran.

It is one of the great ironies that in the wake of September 11 and the illegal war on Iraq, the Bush administration has ended up de facto giving safe harbor to two major terrorist groups in the Middle East.

Funny we never hear about this blatant fact from our major media, let alone right-wing enablers.

Since no one is paying attention anymore

Let it be noted that the Iraqi government has given up on political reconciliation. The alleged purpose behind "the surge" (as opposed to the real reason, George Bush is an gigantic prick).

"I don't think there is something called reconciliation, and there will be no reconciliation as such," said Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, a Kurd. "To me, it is a very inaccurate term. This is a struggle about power."...

Some potential progress toward reconciliation has run into recent trouble. The U.S. effort to recruit Sunni tribesmen to join the police force and fight the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq was strongly opposed last week by Shiite officials, who asserted that the Sunni recruits were killing innocent people under the guise of fighting insurgents.

"We demand that the American administration stop this adventure, which is rejected by all the sons of the people and its national political powers," the leading Shiite political coalition said in a statement. "Their elements are criminals who cannot be trusted or relied upon."

So, we are now on the verge of dumping $600 Billion; on the way to soldier number 4,000; as many as a million civilian deaths and five million refugees; all because George Bush keeps lying too us, and we keep letting him have his vanity.

Bush wins, he is now the biggest asshole ever to serve as President. He beats Buchanan, Pierce, and Harding. He has given us faith that in our day and age, it is still possible to be the worst President ever.

Sunday Art Blogging

Andy Warhol

"Flowers"

1964

MATLOCK!!!

It's amazing that when Broder talks to a Republican Spin Merchant, he breathlessly -- and essentially uncritically -- reports, that things are such that "it can only be good for Republicans".

It sounds like parody, but it is not.

Only Democrats are partisan, Republicans are simply idealists wanting desperately to compromise -- as long as they don't have to compromise on their end.

From the Department of Metaphors

Thanks to the Washington Post:

The massive U.S. embassy under construction in Baghdad could cost $144 million more than projected and will open months behind schedule because of poor planning, shoddy workmanship, internal disputes and last-minute changes sought by State Department officials, according to U.S. officials and a department document provided to Congress.

The embassy, which will be the largest U.S. diplomatic mission in the world, was budgeted at $592 million.

But poor and lower middle-income American families having health care for their children is a waste of taxpayer dollars. We have to stay in Iraq and finish what will someday be the biggest, if not the best, Iranian Embassy in the world!

Oh My...

This is some black humor here. Careful of the initial ad, it is rather loud.

Via Blue Gal at C&L.