Gubmit Knows Best

Atrios linked to the same article earlier and something caught my eye: how little his handlers have Colonel Klink saying anymore. It is a bad sign when every presentation is nothing more than tired bromides like this:

"The enemy is resorting to desperate acts of violence because they know the establishment of democracy in Iraq will be a double defeat for them," Bush said in his weekly radio address as he saluted the emergence of a permanent government.

"There will be more tough fighting ahead in Iraq and more days of sacrifice and struggle," he cautioned. "Yet, the enemies of freedom have suffered a real blow in recent days, and we have taken great strides on the march to victory."

I know, I know they have been saying nothing for years. This is how we know how bad things are--there is nothing, literally nothing good to say except we are making great strides on the march to victory. Gives you goose bumps doesn't it?

"Death to America

But first, through Sunday get these uniquely designed lace drapes, discounted after Passover, for just $24.99 at Menards!"

(Handout/Reuters)

What Privacy?

It's a Penumbra of Nothin'

The FBI secretly sought information last year on 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal residents from their banks and credit card, telephone and Internet companies without a court's approval, the Justice Department said Friday.

The Bush Administration has as much respect for civil liberties as it does for war planning. But now that the popularity ratings are tanking, some folks are "finally" showing their inner "non-coward" (yes, that's all sarcasm):

New expressions of frustration over how little information the administration has shared about the National Security Agency's warrantless eavesdropping on Americans flared yesterday in the Senate, one day after House Republicans barred amendments that would have expanded oversight of the controversial program.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said yesterday that he will file an amendment to block the NSA program's funding -- but said he will not seek a vote on it at this time -- in hope of stirring greater debate on the warrantless surveillance, part of the agency's monitoring of alleged terrorists.

"Where is the outrage?" asked Specter, who has chaired hearings that questioned the NSA program's constitutionality.

Um, Arlen, there's this guy you work with -- Russ Feingold, from Wisconsin. It's a state next to Minnesota and Illinois. Perhaps you've heard of him?

In addition, I've got some outrage, in fact I'm typing this post just with the middle finger of each hand. If Bush was north of 45% approval your piehole would be shut tighter than Don Rumsfeld's sphincter.

Some ed-u-mah-cay-shen

Read Steve Gilliard today on the myth of the Confederacy -- Senator George Allen's little fantasy idea (and the fantasy of so many others, an alternative universe created out of stupidity and defeat). Even if he is not a professional historian (and for all I know he may actually be) Steve remains one of the most interesting writers on military matters around, one of the great benefits of the rise of the blogosphere.

You know one guy who's opinion I'd like to hear about George Allen's love of the Confederacy is that of perhaps the greatest player Allen's father ever had, Dave "Deacon" Jones - a guy who grew up understandably angry about his treatment as an African-American in the South.

I think he'd feel it deserving of a solid head slap.

Some posts I enjoy more than others...

I'm definitely enjoying this one, Rush Limbaugh's Mugshot:


Looks like he went to the Tom DeLay school of mugshot posing.

We're still workin' blue

The indomitable Watertiger and I are still operating the disturing Rising Hegemon After Dark -- in case you wish to be disturbed.

Our most recent posts are off-putting.

"And verily doth the Bullmoose shat forth a mighty turd"

The wanker-cum-comedy is thick today my friends...

Peter Beinart is a very thoughtful and often insightful writer. The Moose was particularly impressed with Beinart's penetrating piece on recovering the tradition of the tough Democrat titled, "A Fighting Faith." that was published in New Republic over a year ago...

...Dean lost the Democratic nomination, but Deanism dominates the party. The left is ascendant and the center isn't holding. The central national security problem of the Democrats is that the activists, bloggers and even many leaders of the party view President Bush as more of an enemy than the Jihadists, mullahs and Zaqawis who seek to do us harm. Unfortunately, in the face of this dynamic, Beinart has softened his stance in contrast to the much tougher stand he took in the article upon which this book is based.

Meanwhile, Joe Lieberman's courageous consistency has prompted the left to attempt to drive the most prominent, and one of the few remaining Truman Democrats out of the party. It is fine to urge Democrats to shun Michael Moore. It would be finer to now mount a defense of a Democrat who truly represents the legacy of those Democrats who met at the Willard Hotel so long ago.

"Oh, GOOD FUCKING PLAN!"

Transformin' the Middle East my ass! Unless you mean taking a bad situation and making it a goddamned nightmare.

The State Department's annual terrorism report finds that Iraq is becoming a safe haven for terrorists and has attracted a "foreign fighter pipeline" linked to terrorist plots, cells and attacks throughout the world, a senior State Department official involved in the preparation of the report told CNN.

Great, not only did we manage to fuck up in Afghanistan, but now the more obvious fuck up of Iraq has produced a much larger and more populated "SAFE FUCKING HAVEN" for terrorists.

I believe that this is the GODDAMNED OPPOSITE of every promise this Assministration gave.

No wonder Rummy is pretending it's successful and progressing. A tell tale sign that the opposite is occuring.

And continuing the theme of tragic farce:

A full 10 seconds of silence passed after a reporter asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld what the intense secrecy and security surrounding their visit to Iraq signified about the stability of the country three years after the U.S.-led invasion. Rice turned to Rumsfeld to provide the answer. Rumsfeld glared at the reporter.

"I guess I don't think it says anything about it," he snapped. He went on to say that President Bush had directed him and Rice to go to Iraq to "meet with the new leadership, and it happens that they are located here," a reference to the heavily fortified Green Zone where U.S. officials -- and many Iraqi leaders -- live and work.

Chimpeachment anyone?

I'll just be one of the hundreds of blogs linking to this

Let's Impeach the President...

But first...


Let's Overload Neil Young's Server.

Support Report the Troops

Ah yes, the Bush Administration and the GOP always standing up for the troops, by "saying" they support the troops - and no more.

Army specialist Tyson Johnson of Mobile, Ala., had just been promoted in a field ceremony in Iraq when a mortar round exploded outside his tent, almost killing him.

"It took my kidney, my left kidney, shrapnel came in through my head, back of my head," he recounted.

His injuries forced him out of the military, and the Army demanded he repay an enlistment bonus of $2,700 because he'd only served two-thirds of his three-year tour.

When he couldn't pay, Johnson's account was turned over to bill collectors. He ended up living out of his car when the Army reported him to credit agencies as having bad debts, making it impossible for him to rent an apartment...

... And there are many more like Johnson. Staff Sgt. Ryan Kelly lost his leg in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq.

He didn't realize it, but the Army continued to mistakenly pay him combat bonus pay, about $2,000, while he was in the hospital rehabilitating, and then demanded that he pay it back.

He, too, was threatened by the Army with debt collectors and a negative credit report.

"Top" Gun

It appears that not only was "Randy" Duke Cunningham involved in sex parties at the Watergate of all places, but Porter Goss and one of his chief deputies at the CIA were there too.

And, as Digby notes, what hasn't been reported much is that Cunningham, like good ol' Jimmy Jeff is a self-loathing individual who bashes gay Americans while being a gigantic hypocrite about it (it's the hypocrisy that's par for the course really).

So Cunningham, Porter Goss, another CIA honcho, and prostitutes...surely Jeff Gannon can be worked into this somehow.

Remember she's an "editor"

BEEP, BEEP!

KNOW YOU KNOW NR IS RIGHT [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

UPDATE:

It took several hours but it has been fixed -- like "the Derb".

In a "just" alternative universe

(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

George Bush's mail box is full of overdue notices from creditors outside the residence his "hard work" has truly earned him.

Let's just Nuke Iran and be done with it...

Somebody has other priorities.


(Modified from AFP/Dimitar Dilkoff)

Because he also couldn't actually walk more than five feet

Denny Hastert attended a conference touting alternative vehicles, drove a block and got back into his SUV.


(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

In Denny's defense, it was 3:56 p.m. and he needed something with extra pickup to get to the Old Country Buffet before the rush.

Let's try this again...once more with feeling

It figures that an Administration that refuses to believe in evolution has the adaptability of basalt.

February 6, 2003:

Inaction would also have consequences for the relevance of the Security Council, Rice said. If the United Nations failed to force Iraq to comply with resolutions already in place, the world body might lose credibility.

April 27, 2006:

Iran seems determined to defy international demands to control its disputed nuclear program, so it is time for the U.N. Security Council to act, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday.

"Is the Security Council going to be credible?" Rice asked after meetings with NATO foreign ministers

To Complete the Circle

Monkey Fister shows us that Bush is indeed, Mr. Haney from Green Acres:



Go pay him a visit when you can.

Bushopoly Cards

Because some ideas just haven't been done to death...

They may be a decade away from Nukes

But the Iranians have definitely caught up to the West in the area of blue screen technology. It's virtual Ayatollahs!

(AFP/IRNA)

Coming soon "Grand Theft Auto: Tehran".


Make enough enriched uranium for a glow stick.


Steal "Members Only" jackets from second-hand stores and estate sales.


And finally, two words: Erotic Burkas!





Game Over!

Freeance

As Rummy & Condi sneak into Baghdad unannounced and then proclaim it amazing progress, even the Iraqis see through the shinola better than our News Networks who call them "Surprise Visits" as if it's this incredibly awesome gift they are giving.

Look there are good "surprises" and bad "surprises".

A good surprise, when you come home and Halle Berry is waiting for you.

A bad surprise, she's brought Billy Joel with her and they argue about who is taking you out for a drive.

Rummy & Condi are definitely in the latter category.

"We didn't invite them," said Kamal Saadi, a Shiite legislator close to the new prime minister-designate, Nouri Maliki...

..."It would be more appropriate if they would leave us alone," said Mahmoud Othman, a senior Kurdish legislator. "Let us solve our problems by ourselves."

"Enough is enough," said Sheik Mahmoud Sudani, a politician affiliated with radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr. "Rice's trip to Iraq at this critical time is just another desperate move by the Americans to try to impose themselves on our new government. But they have lost their influence."