Friday Miscellaneous Lifeform Blogging

I'm not particularly familiar really with what type of animal this is, but it has hung around me for several years now.

Any attempt to identify what it is, would be much appreciated.

Murray Waas on Unka Karl

Um, boom?

During the same conversation in the White House two years ago-occurring just days after the Justice Department launched a criminal probe into the unmasking of Plame as a covert agency operative-Rove also assured the president that he had not leaked any information to the media in an effort to discredit Plame's husband, former ambassador Joe Wilson. Rove also did not tell the president about his July 2003 a phone call with Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper, a conversation that touched on the issue of Wilson and Plame.

But some 22 months later, Cooper's testimony to the federal grand jury investigating the Plame leak has directly contradicted Rove's assertions to the president.

There is lot's more.

But it takes a hell of a spineless jellyfish not to have fired Rove by now.

And we have one as President.

Coming soon...

The DVD we all want to see. Well, okay, not see necessarily, just know about.

Even more pictoral wretchedness

"Congratulating Dear Leaker on getting through the word "Islamaofa...". HEY, wait a minute, Condi what are you wearing?


Let's take a closer look at this...


NO! No, you diiiiint!

This is clearly developing into a Bridgette Fonda/Jennifer Jason Leigh kind of deal. Why the next thing you know...


Oh Lord, she's working on the other fingers, it is only a matter of time before that pinky gets crooked (tip to the one who noticed this first).






It is only a matter of time...

I'm on a Mission from God

Bush claimed God told him to invade Iraq, Afghanistan: BBC



I'd like to point out that while this is a photoshop, it is anatomically correct.

Talk about a "Shit Sandwich"

What a miserable soiree the denizens of "Moron Junction" attend.

BY THE WAY [Kathryn ]
We're bipartisan. WFB is sitting between Rush Limbaugh and...Joe Lieberman.
Posted at 09:23 PM

I'd rather be having Champollion's colonoscopy. At least then, I'd be worried about only one asshole.

Skirting Godwin

I'm not saying Bush is Hitler (nor, unlike Bush would I compare Bin Laden to Hitler*), but you have to think that this kind of clapping greeted the latter say in the early Spring of 1943.




Bush gave the neo-cons the raw meat speech they needed yesterday, as the war porn had become less and less satisfactory. But for the rest of the nation -- hell the planet -- the speech was ridiculous. Having promised for the 50th time (at least) to give a speech describing in "more detail than ever" the "War on Terra", Bush once again delivered an atrocious kidney-bean induced fart of a speech, whose main virtue was how badly he pronounced, "Iz-lamb-oh-fast-ism".

There is a reason why his popularity ratings are now tanking even worse -- and a reason it is only going to get worse. Katrina exposed to the general public, what those of us who have been disturbed by this guy have long known -- he has no damned idea what he is doing, none.

You say you want a devolution...

Look at him. Even "Saltine Brain" doesn't believe the shit he says anymore.


At least Laura was giving a subtle shout out to Karl Rove (think about it).

Meanwhile, one does feel like asking her, "Say, hows that girdle workin' out?"

My nipples are perky...

Lawrence O'Donnell:

Prediction: at least three high level Bush Administration personnel indicted and possibly one or more very high level unindicted co-conspirators.

"This one time, at band camp"

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what the psychological profession calls a PTSD triggering event.

Bush Hearts Irony

Mushmouth sets his jaw and says the name of he who must not be mentioned then says one of the most striking sentences ever to come out of those pursed lips.

He said that Bin laden was born into wealth and privilege and preaches that the road to paradise is through killing innocent people but he never goes along for the ride himself. Oh wait, we don't preach that killing innocents is one of the paths to heaven. My mistake.

Mushmouth Speaks...Again

I won't be live blogging this latest attempt to shore up Bush's flagging support for his penis wag in Iraq, though I am home today typing one-handed (recuperating from shoulder surgery, not the reason you would suspect if the same sentence was typed by brother Attaturk). If the press is given a chance to ask questions, which I highly doubt, I do hope someone presses him on the definition of "strict constructionist". Cuz if it means throwing out precedent on privacy rights, well I guess I'm just old fashioned enough that I'd kinda like to know.

Back in a while.

Update: doesn't look like the kind of set-up where press will have an opportunity...so just Mushmouth. Too bad. Now let's hear what nonsense he spews.

If you can, please give somethin'

For the last several years the fine folks at Wampum have been giving out the KOUFAX AWARDS. In addition to be a nice thing for a progressive to win, it is quite the server hog for them.

The other nice thing about the Koufax nomination process contains several nominees which allows you to find blogs you have never seen before. I believe that Rising Hegemon probably picked up hundreds...dozens...alright a couple of new prison pen pals last year thanks to this. I found several fine blogs I had never had a chance to read before that I read quite often now.

In any case, it is "hard work" and expensive to conduct and last year their resources were seriously tapped in hosting it.

Now, there are even more progressive blogs and the task will get bigger.

So give if you can.

And when the new year rolls around, feel free to accept this whining request to nominate Dr. Atta J. Turk, simply because I'm in this solely for the recognition, the money, the bling ... and the ladies, of course.

How long I have to blog to acquire any of these items is unknown to me, but if I keep at it I may get it someday ... or alternatively turn into a "real live boy".

A 'twitter

KOS mentioned that this story made him feel like the night before Christmas.

So...


'Twas the night before Fitz talked,

when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a louse;



The talking points were hung at the White House with care,
In hopes that the Rapture soon would be there;


The Preznit was nestled all snug in his bed,

With visions of baldies a dance in his head;
And Pickles with Salems, a pack she did tap,
Had just settled down for a leisurely crap,


When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
Barney sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window Bush flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and hid Jenna's stash.

Ignoring the sheen of some quality blow,
(It gives the lustre of progress to Iraq y'know),
When what to Bush's lying eyes should appear,
But a black SUV, and eight Marshalls -- oh dear,

With the special prosecutor, so lively and quick,

Bush knew in a moment it couldn't be Dick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, Dano! now, Rico! now, Youngblood you fix 'em!
On, Dammit! on Dammit! on before they get pardons!"
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
'Cuff away! 'Cuff away! 'Cuff away all!"

Fitz sprang to his aides, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they took Scooter and Karl, who shat out a missile.


But I heard Fitz exclaim, ere they drove out of sight,
"You're crooks one and all, and each I'll Indict."

Halliburton dispatches its interns to the Gulf Coast

"B-16....B-16"

(photo via the Washington Post)

I know everyone is on Nicolas Cage...

About naming his newborn son Kal-El Cage. But I've no problem with it other than this...

If I ever have a boy, I plan on naming him "General Zod J. Turk". And I will insist that Cage's child kneel before mine.

Now off to my Fortress of Solitude*.





*Yes, I know what you are thinking.

Cannot make this shit up

Long time Iraq and Iran war fellator Michael Ledeen comes out at Moron Junction with his impression of Roman Hruska about Harriett Miers. Contained within is this lovely little nugget, incredible in its meaning, considering all the harm his wack-job notions have helped bring about:

I used to be proud to call myself an intellectual, but I have learned that most of the time intellectuals are wrong.

What recent events could have clued you in asshole?

From the State of Indiana: Division of Reproductive Services, December 15, 4 B.C.

December XV, (- IV)

Ms. V. Mary
VI VI V Yah Way
Nazareth, Galilee IX VI IV III VIII


Dear Madam;

We appreciate your letter to us of December X, IV B.C.

Unfortunately, Indiana Law makes it a criminal offense for you to visit our state given your medical condition. Indiana Code XXXI-XX states specifically that it is a crime for an unmarried women to become pregnant "by means other than sexual intercourse." As your current physical condition is caused by such improper means we must deny your request to deliver your demon seed in the State of Indiana.

Thank you for your inquiry. Someday, perhaps, there will be someone that comes along that can absolve you of your craven sin and wickedness.

Sincerely,


The Division of Reproductive Services
State of Indiana


Oh, how things could have been different!

Nobody puts Baby in a Corner, Nobody!

Without Condi and Harriet around -- President Bush realizes he will only be "Dirty Dancing" every once in a while with Karen Hughes.

Compare & Contrast

Yesterday in full codpiece mode:

We're making good progress in Iraq. And Iraq is a part of the war on terror. That's what the American people need to understand.

Meanwhile, in another land, called Reality:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - So, this was my Tuesday:

Woke up, 7 a.m., gunfire outside. Decided to read in the windowless bathroom, then take shower and brush teeth, using bottled water, of course.

9 a.m. - Kevin, a former British Royal Marine commando who's in charge of security for Knight Ridder, warns that things might be heating up, so be careful out there. He reads the daily reports of violence all over the country.

"Out where?" I ask. "I'm not leaving the building, am I?"

"Yes," I'm told, "You're on for the Green Zone" - the supposedly secure city center that is home to most of the Iraqi government and the U.S. Embassy.

10 a.m. - Go have breakfast. Kevin carries a blue backpack containing an AK-47. He says that I need some exercise and that he's willing to cover me if I go for a swim later. I think he's joking.

11 a.m. - We leave the 10-foot-high blast walls that surround the hotel complex in a two-car convoy. The rear car's job is to run interference in case "bad guys" try to intercept "the package" (that would be me).

Noon - Dropped off several blocks from the Green Zone and walk to Checkpoint 3 (the main entrance). Walking because on Monday Iraqi army soldiers pushed me back inside the car, while pointing a machine gun at my head and shouting. They fired at reporters - warning shots, the reporters think - from National Public Radio and The Wall Street Journal. The three incidents prompted a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman to start a briefing with journalists by saying, "OK, raise your hand if you were shot at today."

As I'm walking, phone rings. I answer. My Iraqi colleague Mohammed, who reports full time for Knight Ridder, takes the phone from my hand, whispering fiercely, "No English here. Be very, very afraid here."

I get inside and call the number back, reaching a very nice U.S. Army major who says we need to meet to discuss how to make the entrance to the Green Zone safer for journalists. "Can you meet in about an hour?" he asks. I agree, and he says he'll pick me up at the National Assembly building at 12:50 p.m., and we'll walk together to Checkpoint 3.

12:10 p.m. - Get inside National Assembly building. Someone steals my watch at the final security check.

12:30 p.m. - Talking to Saddam Hussein's old translator. He explains that democracy in the new Iraq is a fiasco. Bush's fault, and Bush will have to face the judgment of history for his mistakes. (All times from here are approximate; see above.)

12:50 p.m. - The major is late so I decide to head down to the checkpoint and wait for him. Mohammed says, "No, you're not. You're waiting for his call."

1 p.m. - On phone with the major, who's apologizing for being late when a car bomb explodes at Checkpoint 3 entrance. Gunfire ensues.

1-3 p.m. - Locked down in National Assembly building with legislators while bomb debris and bodies are cleared from the street.

3:15 p.m. - The major calls back. Come on out, he says. I join him walking to Checkpoint 3.

3:25 p.m. - We step around football-sized chunks of bomber hanging like gruesome Christmas ornaments from the razor wire. I point out the journalists' security fears, being forced to walk through a dangerous area to get to Iraqi government and U.S. Embassy briefings. He is concerned. "Wow, that's dangerous," he says, pushing aside a smoking piece of car interior with a booted toe. "I think the problem is, the guys here are nervous whenever cars come near, especially if they stop, like yours do, to drop you off."

"No kidding," I say, just avoiding treading on an eyeball.

4 p.m. - We work out a system, as the major agrees that it's not safe for us to walk the route we have been. He says he'll contact the U.S. Army guards, the Iraqi army guards, the private guards, the Georgian army guards, the Iraqi police and the Iraqi traffic cops, all of whom are on duty within 50 yards. I thank him and tiptoe back toward the National Assembly building.

4:30 p.m. - Walk a razor-wired path under gunpoint for several blocks to find waiting driver. He was 100 yards away and watching the entrance during the explosion, then hiding as bullets started raining down. He's happy to leave.

5:30 p.m. - Arrive back inside hotel blast walls, go to room and write story about Iraqi politics.

8:30 p.m. - Order dinner - hamburger with an egg and cheese-ish stuff on it. Kevin notes that it may not be the healthiest meal on Earth.

9 p.m. - The booms are now pretty constant in southern part of town. Kev says it's no big deal. Last night he said the same thing, "It's a gun battle across the street. No big deal." Tonight he notes, "The heavy stuff is a ways away." I look at a map. Three miles.

10 p.m. - And so to bed.

Which of these two things do the American People really need to understand?

Prissy Fit!

George Will, not happy.

It is not important that she be confirmed because there is no evidence that she is among the leading lights of American jurisprudence, or that she possesses talents commensurate with the Supreme Court's tasks. The president's "argument" for her amounts to: Trust me. There is no reason to, for several reasons.

He has neither the inclination nor the ability to make sophisticated judgments about competing approaches to construing the Constitution. Few presidents acquire such abilities in the course of their pre-presidential careers, and this president particularly is not disposed to such reflections.

Furthermore, there is no reason to believe that Miers's nomination resulted from the president's careful consultation with people capable of such judgments. If 100 such people had been asked to list 100 individuals who have given evidence of the reflectiveness and excellence requisite in a justice, Miers's name probably would not have appeared in any of the 10,000 places on those lists.

I think Will just called Bush a moron.

We now have one thing in common.

One.

Smoke 'em out

More popular bloggers than I have taken up this issue (referred to in brief below) which started through a nice catch, as usual, from Crooks & Liars. But Bill O'Reilly in order to make a cheap point, excusing torture, accused American Soldiers, specifically the 82nd Airborne, of committing the Malmedy Massacre.

American soldiers, of course, did no such thing. Rather, the German 1st Panzer mowed down troops, mostly from the American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion (the 82nd was 10 miles away and had nothing to do with this incident). Whether the massacre was calculated, or the result of panic, is less clear, but there is no doubt that dozens of American soldiers were killed after having surrendered.

Many American soldiers escaped the massacre by fleeing, among those that escaped was the actor Charles Durning.

It was one of the best known outrages against American troops of the Second World War, particularly in the European Theatre. Any American who has done more than a cursory study of World War II -- and by that I mean pretty much watched the "History Channel" for a few hours, knows about the Malmedy Massacre.

But to have a different take on it requires a deep resevoir of sympathy for the right-wing nut job view of history. A view of history, where even tragedies inflicted on American soldiers have to be glossed over to make excuses for the Nazis.

Steve Gilliard through a Kos Diarist found and expounded on an item which could have been the source of O'Reilly's twisted history through Ann "Dry Hump McCarthy's Tombstone" Coulter:

somehow she neglects to mention McCarthy's first moment in the national spotlight. That was his infamous 1949 campaign on behalf of Nazi S.S. officers who were convicted of war crimes for the massacre of American troops in the town of Malmedy during the Battle of the Bulge. On their orders, 83 American prisoners of war had been murdered by Waffen S.S. machine-gunners. The S.S. officers were sentenced to death, but McCarthy insisted that the entire case was a frame-up, with confessions obtained by horrific torture. He intervened in Senate hearings on the case and lied repeatedly during his defense of the Nazi murderers. His most spectacular claim was that the American investigators had crushed the testicles of German prisoners as an interrogation technique. McCarthy was later shown to have served as the pawn of neo-Nazi and communist provocateurs who were using the Malmedy case to whip up anti-American sentiment in postwar Germany. The main source for his false charges concerning Malmedy was a Germany lawyer named Rudolf Aschenauer, whose closest ties were to the postwar Nazi underground and to American right-wing isolationists, but who has also been identified as a communist agent. Aschenauer testified at U.S. Senate hearings in Germany that he had passed information about Malmedy to McCarthy.

O'Reilly outrageously slandered the American Army, by accusing it of perpetrating a war crime of which its soldiers were the victim. He should not be allowed to get away with it. There, are, of course, outrages that occur from all sides in all wars, but that doesn't excuse this -- nor does it excuse the behavior of the American military in this war. War outrages should always be exposed -- and never excused.

You may chastise Mr. O'Reilly if you wish:

oreilly@foxnews.com

Born Again

From the NY Times:

Harriet E. Miers, then in her mid-30's, had accomplished what some people take a lifetime to achieve. She was a partner at Locke Purnell Boren Laney & Neely, one of the most prestigious law firms in the South, with an office on the 35th floor of the Republic National Bank Tower in downtown Dallas.

But she still felt something was missing in her life, and it was after a series of long discussions - rambling conversations about family and religion and other matters that typically stretched from early evening into the night - with Nathan L. Hecht, a junior colleague at the law firm, that she made a decision that many of the people around her say changed her life.

"She decided that she wanted faith to be a bigger part of her life," Justice Hecht, who now serves on the Texas Supreme Court, said in an interview. "One evening she called me to her office and said she was ready to make a commitment" to accept Jesus Christ as her savior and be born again, he said. He walked down the hallway from his office to hers, and there amid the legal briefs and court papers, Ms. Miers and Justice Hecht "prayed and talked," he said.

Ever consider getting a dog or cat Harriet?

I'm considering drinking more -- at the very least, this would seem to entitle me to a cable news show in the future. Then I can do stuff like blame the 82nd Airborne for massacreing the Vulcans at Waterloo like Bill O'Reilly.

The man some would call the "Leader of the Free World"

This just in...

Greenspan finds out he is to report home for a Tuesday nooner.

Coming soon to QVC...

Get your own miniature blond hispanic boy.

Too sane to be at the Corner

Brookheiser is a conservative, and he's a passable popular historian. He is also far too intelligent to be posting at Moron Junction and knows it. Observe these recent posts regarding Bush & Miers:

CORRECTION [Rick Brookhiser]
Kathryn, you said "we want to believe." I don't want to believe. I don't care if W ends up on Mt. Rushmore, or a landfill. I want the country to be well-governed, and so do you.
Posted at 09:52 AM

...

SIX WORDS ON THE MEIRS NOMINATION [Rick Brookhiser]
(And by the way, this, not Mendoooooza, is the best yell in pop culture)

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MONTRESOR!
Posted at 07:59 AM

...

THE GOOD NEWS ON MIERS [Rick Brookhiser]
It's not as bad as Caligula putting his horse in the Senate.
Posted at 03:55 PM

Progress

Four U.S. Soldiers, One Marine Killed In Iraq

Violence in western Iraq has killed five U.S. troops: including four soldiers and a Marine.

The military says the Marine was killed by a roadside bomb Monday near the Syrian border. It's the first announced U.S. death in Operation Iron Fist, a major sweep that began over the weekend.

Three soldiers assigned to the same unit as the Marine were killed by another roadside bomb while conducting combat operations in another town where a second major offensive started Tuesday.

The military also said it's investigating the fatal shooting of a soldier Monday near Fallujah, about 40 miles west of Baghdad.

At least 1,941 U.S. military members have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003.

FUCK!

Historical

August 6, 2001

"Do you see it Mr. President? Dr. Zaius determined to strike U.S."

Porkchop

Dick Cheney, May 2001:

In a speech in Toronto, Mr Cheney said that "conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy".

The Bush Administration now:




By the way, did they save time and design Hal Hogg using templates from World War II? Or was it submitted by Michelle Malkin?

Oh here's a good idea...

Give Jack Roberts some coffee! Now that's judgment.

Like many of you...

I look forward to the World Mustache and Beard Championships this Year. There are some very strong contestants:

Ugh! No need to pay for Bobo when this is Free

I always just "love" those editorials praising free speech which go on to tell people not to actually exercise it.

Richard Cohen -- Empirical Douchebag (known as "liberal Richard Cohen" to Ernesto de le Basshole):

Actually, it is Reid and the others who should apologize to Bennett. They were condemning and attempting to silence a public intellectual for a reference to a theory. It was not a proposal and not a recommendation -- nothing more than a possible explanation. But the Democrats preferred to pander to an audience that either had heard Bennett's remarks out of context, or merely thought that any time conservatives talk about race, they are being racist.

Jesus Christ, did YOU actually listen to the remarks you pompous fuck?

It's not that I'm not pleased

To see the Bugman get indicted all over again yesterday.

But it has been a few days, isn't it time for some other GOP insiders to be indicted too?

You know, in a way, the Harriet Miers nomination makes more sense...

Although, maybe he could contemplate nominating someone, someday, that has actually had sex.

That might help.

Untermenschen

It really does come from the top down:

Charges against US Army soldiers accused of crimes against Iraqis are dismissed or withdrawn at a higher rate than charges in which the victims are fellow soldiers or civilian military employees, a local newspaper reported.

An analysis by the Dayton Daily News of previously undisclosed records from the Army Court-Martial Management Information System database found that charges involving Iraqi victims were three times more likely to be dismissed or withdrawn by the Army than cases in which the victims were fellow soldiers or civilian military employees - 44 percent compared with 15 percent, the newspaper said.

The report found that 226 US soldiers were charged with offenses between the first deployments in March 2003 and Jan. 1, 2005. Of the 1,038 separate charges, fewer than one in 10 involved crimes against Iraqis. Virtually all of the rest involved crimes against other soldiers, property drug or alcohol offenses, and violations of military rules, the Daily News said.

The Daily News said that despite evidence and convictions in some cases in which the victims were Iraqis, only a small percentage resulted in punishments approaching those routinely imposed for such crimes by civilian justice systems.

The newspaper cited one case in which two US soldiers were convicted of robbing an Iraqi shopkeeper. One soldier was sentenced to five months’ confinement and the other to one month.

The median sentence imposed for all types of robbery in the United States, with or without the use of firearms, is five years.

Freeance & Peeance.

Cronyism

Deconstructing President Mushmouth's announcement is entertaining on so many levels. I watched the announcement as I cheerily awaited my first colonoscopy, so the air was thick with metaphor.

"She has devoted her life to the rule of law and the cause of justice," Bush said as his first Supreme Court pick, Chief Justice John Roberts, took the bench for the first time just a few blocks from the White House.

Don't lawyers, by definition and oath, devote their lives to the rule of law, whatever the hell that is? And while I agree that it is a good idea to nominate lawyers who have actually represented clients, Mushmouth's praise of Miers's record takes me back to Clarence Thomas.

Over the course of a distinguished legal career, Harriet has earned the respect and admiration of her fellow attorneys. She has a record of achievement in the law, as well as experience as an elected member of the Dallas City Council. She served at high levels of both state and federal government. Before state and federal courts, she has tried cases, and argued appeals that covered a broad range of matters. She's been a leader in the American Bar Association, and has been recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the most powerful attorneys in America.

***

Harriet has built a reputation for fairness and integrity. When I came to office as the governor of Texas, the Lottery Commission needed a leader of unquestioned integrity. I chose Harriet because I knew she would earn the confidence of the people of Texas. The Dallas Morning News said that Harriet insisted on a system that was fair and honest. She delivered results.

***

Harriet Miers will strictly interpret our Constitution and laws. She will not legislation from the bench. I ask the Senate to review her qualifications thoroughly and fairly, and to vote on her nomination promptly.

So we don't know much about this person. She may be supremely qualified by work ethic and intellect to do the job but being on the Dallas City Council and the head of the Texas lottery do not suggest great qualifications. But I suppose all that matters to Mushmouth is that she "strictly interpret the constitution and not legislate from the bench." Wouldn't you love it if he could define those terms?

Oh, I do declare I am so enjoying this...

The Rightwing is enraged at the choice of Meirs, just beside themselves.

As KOS notes David Frum called Meirs essentially a moronic toady and then deleted it, and much of the rest of the right wing is enraged. Bush was supposed to give them a good slavering Bork-type to get excited about. Instead, Bush goes with a unknown entity, whose allegiance to Bush is all they know. She could be a Souter or even worse (and there is nothing worse to them really -- Bin Laden has nothing on how much they dislike Souter [unless its how much they decide they dislike Kennedy - they are strange that way]). His political prospects have evaporated that quickly. Seeking to avoid a fight with the Left, he's disgusted the Right.

After all the cronie scandals, the scandal-plagued Bush Administration becomes increasingly tone-deaf and nominates a complete and utter croanie to the Supreme Court.

Will she be confirmed? I don't know -- should she be? Probably not. But the discomfort of the Right is beautiful to behold.

We Can Only Hope

This isn't another Brownie.

It sure does pay to be loyal to the king, doesn't it?

And now I really must be going...

Yin & Yang --


On one hemisphere:

Chinese chimp quits smoking after 16 years


On the other:

American Chimp starts drinking again after 16 years.


Thanks to Longview.

Last "Rights"

"So the agent says, that's really something, what do you call your act?"


"....THE ARISTOCRATS!"



"Wow, that Church service was inspiring. Now off home for some serious masturbation."



"Don't look at me, I dunno how that works either. At least you had time to adopt."



Not unexpectedly, the Quaker Oats guy feels a movement.

I'm Busy

So I won't be around too much today to post (hint, hint DeDurkheim and Champollion OR SHOULD I SCREAM IT!?)

But rumor has it that Bush is going to announce the person who is likely to wipe themselves with the Bill of Rights for the rest of their lives this morning at 8 a.m. eastern time (that's 7 a.m. for us in Hooterville).

Because there will be soooooooo very few places for progressives in the blogosphere to vent about whoever the wretched choice will be, feel free to do so here.

Rove to Generals: "Nice Army you've got 'ear. Shame if something 'appened to it"

Like something out of a Python skit, the Bush Administration forces "happy talk" out of its chosen 4-star warriors:

The two top U.S. commanders in charge of the Iraq war, appearing separately on a total of four network talk shows Sunday, amended more sobering statements they had made to Congress and reporters last week.
Gen. George W. Casey Jr., who oversees U.S. forces in Iraq, and Gen. John P. Abizaid, who leads the U.S. Central Command, stressed the military and political progress being made in Iraq.

"There are peaks and valleys that you go through, but overall the trend is good," Abizaid told NBC's "Meet the Press." "We're certainly confident."
The training of Iraqi security forces is "very much on track," Casey told ABC's "This Week."

For a paraphrase of Rove's talk with the Brass go here.

Oh, Mah, I'm having the vapors

Go on Jonathan Alter, go on about the Congressional GOP Leadership:

Yes, special interests have bought off members of Congress at least since Daniel Webster took his seat while on the payroll of a bank. And yes, Congress over the years has seen dozens of sex scandals and dozens of members brought low by financial improprieties. But never before has the leadership of the House been hijacked by a small band of extremists bent on building a ruthless shakedown machine, lining the pockets of their richest constituents and rolling back popular protections for ordinary people. These folks borrow like banana republics and spend like Tip O'Neill on speed...

...The only comparison to DeLay Co. might be the Radical Republicans of the 1860s. But the 19th-century Radical Republican agenda was to integrate and remake the South. The 21st-century Radical Republican agenda is to enact the wish list of the tobacco and gun lobbies, repeal health and safety regulations and spend billions on shameless pork-barrel projects to keep the GOP at the trough. Another analogy is to Republican Speaker Joe Cannon, who ran the House with an iron fist a century ago. But Cannon had to contend with Progressive Republicans who eventually stripped him of his power. DeLay's ruling radical conservative claque remains united, at least for now.

Oh, my.

Ah...

Progress

In the supposedly tranquil parts of Iraq, things aren't so pacified after all:

"As soon as we leave this place they're all going to kill each other," [Sgt. Antonio] Molina said at a meeting in his barracks recently . . . Hendricks agreed: "It's going to be a [fucking] civil war."

And it will be one where we managed to inadvertently train everybody.

Huzzah!

"I'd like you to know..."

That on occasion mine itch too."

Alan Keyes was more popular than this guy..

Bob Taft -- 15% Approval!

Wow, he sucks doesn't he?

Big Game

For those speculating that Fitzgerald will not be indicting anyone, this sure seems like solid evidence that not only will there be indictments, it will be big and broad indictments. Something bigger than just Plame is going on.

New York Times reporter Judy Miller broke her silence and agreed to testify before a federal grand jury last week. This followed tense, often acrimonious negotiations that began after special Justice Department prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald signaled he intended to reimpanel a new grand jury—a move that could have kept Miller in jail for another year and a half, say two lawyers close to the case who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the talks.

This is going to be pretty big I think.

Excuse me, did I just stain my pants in excitement?

Yes, Yes, I think I did.

Link via the sweaty blue blogger.

You know I really want this to happen soon, but I'm going to be really busy the next couple of days (so light blogging from me...hint hint DeDurk & Champollion). If Mr. Fitzgerald would be so kind as to wait until, say Thursday or Friday, that would be really nice of him.

How did I ever miss this Bush Picture?

Apparently it was taken in January 2004 (before I started blogging ... which seems like three lifetimes ago). Somehow AFP digs it up from the archives today. No need for a caption.

Rove, Scooter and the Boys...Don't look like "Summers"

So those orange jumpsuits are going to look just terrible!

The Washington Post speculates on the current risks of there being criminal allegations against them and says regarding Scooter and Rove:

Their testimony seems to contradict what the White House was saying a few months after Plame's CIA job became public.

In October 2003, White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters that he personally asked Libby and Rove whether they were involved, "so I could come back to you and say they were not involved." Asked if that was a categorical denial of their involvement, he said, "That is correct."

What remains a central mystery in the case is whether special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald has accumulated evidence during his two-year investigation that any crime was committed. His investigation has White House aides and congressional Republicans on edge as they await Fitzgerald's announcement of an indictment or the conclusion of the probe with no charges. The grand jury is scheduled to expire Oct. 28, and lawyers in the case expect Fitzgerald to signal his intentions as early as this week.

The article goes on to discuss Fitzgerald bringing a conspiracy claim, because the Intelligence Identities Protection Act is too difficult to prove.

It remains stupifying to me, how reporters are not discussing a quite evident legal violation that has been discussed on the blogosphere for months. Mark Kleiman for example a few days ago:

More bad news for Rove, Libby, et al.: Lawrence Franklin has agreed to plead guilty to leaking classfied information to two AIPAC staff members.

Why do say that's bad news for the folks who outed Valerie Plame Wilson? Because Franklin was indicted under the Espionage Act (specifically 18 U.S.C. 793 (d)) for giving classified information to those not eligible to receive it, including members of the media.

No money involved, no inteligence identities. And yet Franklin is pleading out. Looks to me as if the Espionage Act is still alive, and as if it applies squarely to the facts of the Plame case.

The maximum sentence, by the way, is 10 years, and the guidelines call for 87-108 months.

The text of that Act makes it quite apparent why Rove & Libby are in potential trouble over its terms:

Whoever, lawfully having possession of, access to, control over, or being entrusted with any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, or note relating to the national defense, or information relating to the national defense which information the possessor has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation, willfully communicates, delivers, transmits or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it on demand to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it...

Look at this Act and then consider what it says in the article:

By early June, several weeks before Libby is said to have known Plame's name, the State Department had prepared a memo on the Niger case that contained information on Plame in a section marked "(S)" for secret. Around that time, Libby knew about the trip's origins, though in an interview with The Washington Post at the time, he did not mention any role played by Wilson's wife.

By July 12, however, both Rove and Libby and perhaps other senior White House officials knew about Wilson's wife's position at the CIA and, according to lawyers familiar with testimony in the probe, used that information with reporters to undermine the significance of Wilson's trip.

Fitzgerald is awfully tight-lipped, but I cannot fathom that he and his staff are not considering these facts and the Espionage Act.

What an asset

That the internet allows us to read people like Juan Cole for free. He ask so many important questions about the situation in Iraq today (and the latest lies) that I all I can do is demand you read him. We could not be more fucked [for this week at least, who knows what horrors October will bring]

Indulgent Movie Review

I know most of the cool kids on the progresso-sphere have given short reviews of "Serenity", I went to a different film, "A History of Violence".

Ladies, Gentlemen, Karen Hughes -- what a fine, fine movie. Best Cronenberg in some time.

Maria Bello...hummana hummana.

That Viggo guy seems to be quite popular with many people who describe him as...handsome.

Really well acted. Though it is released in the early Fall, look for some Oscar noms.

I give it, Five Fez gravatars:

Like Bill Bennett isn't the only GOP Moron

It's a rich vein of low-brow idiocy. It be hilarious if these guys weren't in power.

From the Moonie Times of all places:

A Bush Cabinet officer predicted this week that New Orleans likely will never again be a majority black city, and several black officials are outraged.

Alphonso R. Jackson, secretary of housing and urban development, during a visit with hurricane victims in Houston, said New Orleans would not reach its pre-Katrina population of "500,000 people for a long time," and "it's not going to be as black as it was for a long time, if ever again."

HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson (undoubtedly "Action" Jackson to Bush) is black and still made that stupifying statement that sounds a hell of a lot like a goal.

Jeebus, these people are dumb.

Irreality

I've mocked Bush's "makin' progress" speeches before.

But this is so patently ridiculous the tragi-comedy writes itself:

WASHINGTON (AP) - President George W. Bush said Saturday he is encouraged by the increasing size and capability of the Iraqi security forces, touting progress on a key measure of when U.S. troops can come home.

The upbeat remarks in Bush's weekly radio address came two days after the top commander in Iraq said only one Iraqi battalion is ready to fight without U.S. support.

Bargain

From the NY Times:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 - Federal auditors said today that the Bush administration had violated the law by purchasing favorable news coverage of President Bush's education policies, by making payments to the conservative commentator Armstrong Williams and by hiring a public relations company to analyze media perceptions of the Republican Party.

In a blistering report, the investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, said the administration had disseminated "covert propaganda" inside the United States, in violation of a longstanding, explicit statutory ban.

FOXNEWS reporter Karen Ryan, appearing on the O'Reilly Factor, immediately announced that the Bush Administration has made amends by sending her to Iraq.

Ja, dis "MonkeyPorn.Com" site ist really great

Golly Judy, I know its been a long, lonely three months...

But pace yourself girlfriend.

Generic Bush Policy Question Response circa 2005

It could have been any press question of course. Though perhaps he was describing his meeting with Dennis Hastert.


In another diplomatic setback Karen Hughes inadvertently hands out Bill Bennett's latest book.