Too bad about Tom Cruise going over to the dark side

I mean, we always knew he was a Scientologist, but he was kind of a closet Scientologist. Now he's an activist Scientologist, and it's getting kind of creepy in a Michael Jackson kind of way (i.e., he was such a nice boy back when he was normal, and now...). To wit: His recent attack on Brooke Shields. I knew Cruise went all bat-shit on Matt Lauer recently, but didn't realize that during the same interview he'd publicly attacked Brooke Shields for taking anti-depressants after suffering from post partum depression.

It's too bad. Cruise is now in that category of stars I really can't watch without all the negative stuff coming into my head (e.g., Russell Crowe and that other idiot, what's his name, oh yeah, Mel Gibson).

Shields responded with an op ed in today's NYT. Good for her. Here's her op ed, and here's more on the story.

And PS, as someone who has had the misfortune of talking to Scientologists leafletting on the streets of DC, Cruise's bat-shit behavior is all too familiar. They're all sugar and spice until you say one word of disagreement, then...

Cruise has been assimilated. Read More......

DailyKos has the transcript - Journalist Lawrence O'Donnell says Rove leaked Plame's name

From DailyKos:

Below is the text of Lawrence O'Donell's revelatory statement on McLaughlin Group today. He began talking about Time having to pay for holding the documents/emails, and not serving its shareholders by defying a (Supreme) court order. He ended with this:

"What we're going to go to now in the next stage, when Matt Cooper's emails-within Time Magazine, uh, are handed over to the grand jury is the ultimate revelation, probably within the week of who his source is. And I know I'm going to get pulled into the grand jury for saying this but the source of-for Matt Cooper was Karl Rove, and that will be revealed in this document dump that Time Magazine's going to do with the grand jury."

Let's not count this chicken till it hatches. But still, it is something to have sweet dreams about. Read More......

Can't wait for the US pressure to kill this report

OSCE report says Abu Ghraib fuels Al Qaeda, should be shut down. Read More......

A better flag amendment?

I'd say so. Read More......

Did anybody see McLaughlin Group?

There's a rumor on Democratic Underground that Larry O'Donnell fingers Karl Rove as the leaker who told TIME magazine about Valerie Plame.

Can anyone verify if he really said this? Read More......

When bad things happen to bad people

The FBI has just searched the home of conservative GOP congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California. Oops. Read More......

Friday Orchid Blogging

Paph. Screaming Eagle

The picture, I think, does this scant justice. The multiple flowers seem to literally soar from the plant. It's absolutely amazing, and I fear trying to grow it. It gets to be a quite large plant, and, it's expensive and I just have this feeling I'd kill it. But is that cool or what?

More pics here and check out this entire plant. Cool, but enormous. Read More......

Bush Lies Again On African Aid, This Time On Malaria

Bush announced $1.2 billion in aid to Africa to fight malaria. Sounds great, just like that $15 billion he promised to spend in fighting AIDS (and then didn't).

But look closer and you'll realize Bush isn't announcing $1.2 billion in NEW funding, heaven forfend. No, despite the entire world focusing on Africa and trying to take radical steps to attack that continent's problems with a combination of targeted debt relief, increased aid and fair trade practices; despite our closest ally Britain begging Bush to step up to the plate at this historic moment; despite the obvious benefits of proving to the Muslim world Bush doesn't just want to bomb countries but genuinely wants to help, Bush says NO.

All Bush is doing is moving money around from one part of the budget to another, a shell game, really, to trick people into thinking he's being proactive and caring.

This dodge reached its obscene peak in Darfur, where Bush moved in funds to feed the starving children in that war-torn area ravaged by genocide. But how did Bush feed those kids? By moving funding away from other regions of the Sudan and focusing on Darfur because that's where the world was watching. Quite literally, he took food out of the mouths of little children to feed other children farther away and called it humanitarian relief.

Now he's doing the same thing with malaria funding. What would Jesus do? Give until it hurts or, like Bush, hurt until people give in? Read More......

Open thread

Ouch! That free trip to Scotland just cost me a $370 RT ticket from DC to NYC. Ok, I'll stop complaining now :-) Orchids coming soon... Read More......

"1776" -- The Americablog review

1776 By David McCullough
($32; Simon & Schuster)
*** (three stars out of four)

What a glorious year! The brave rebellion against England, the Declaration of Independence, the founding of our country -- who couldn't love 1776?

Actually, as historian David McCullough reminds us in his entertaining new book, for those living through 1776, it was a dark, dangerous and unhappy year that everyone was glad to see end. He gives some brisk context and then dives into the months just before that pivotal year, showing how desperately slim were the hopes of the colonists; how a simple olive branch might have made our destiny more akin to Canada; and how a fortunate fog, some well-placed barrels and a timely retreat can prove just as important for victory as bravery on the field.

It's easy to imagine McCullough's soothing narrative voice (which has brought so much artistry to the documentaries of Ken Burns) bringing out the drama in his writing. Take this passage describing the British rout of Americans in Brooklyn during August of that year:

"By ten o'clock [Washington's] army had been hopelessly outflanked. The British were within two miles of the Brooklyn lines. Defeated men by the hundreds were streaming in from the battlefield, many blood-spattered and wounded, all exhausted. Officers were missing. Washington was facing disaster and could do nothing but sit astride his horse and watch.

Like McCullough's blockbuster biographies of John Adams and Harry Truman (not to mention his less well-known but terrific books on the building of the Panama Canal and the Johnstown Flood), he is always adept at bringing men alive. Here he spends special attention on Nathanael Greene, a Quaker, and self-taught military strategist Henry Knox, both of whom would serve General Washington so well.

But above all he reanimates Washington. McCullough's depiction of him reminds me quite a bit of Reagan. Both were proufoundly aware of "acting" a role and knew that the demeanor and perceptions of a leader were just as important as what he actually did. Washington made mistake after mistake in the early going, but he was outwardly confident and supremely inspiring...by design.

At 294 pages (not counting footnotes), this isn't the sort of mammoth enterprise people have come to expect from McCullough. Clearly he was so enthralled with this moment in history while working on his marvelous biography of John Adams that McCullough couldn't resist.

So perhaps its central flaw is timing. This title comes hard on the heels of David Hackett Fischer's "Washington's Crossing," the Pulitzer Prize-winning book that covers the same period in far more detail and insight. (One small example -- McCullough touches briefly on how the volunteers from different colonies were often at odds with one another; Hackett Fischer breaks them down in fascinating detail, showing what motivated the different groups and how their background and culture even influenced their style of fighting and suitability to serving in an army.)

McCullough's "1776" certainly won't disappoint his fans or fail to delight and inform armchair historians. Judged on its own, it is admirable. But this same territory has just been conquered far more definitively by another.

By Michael Giltz Read More......

Americans want a justice who would uphold Roe

Via Atrios:

CNN just flashed up poll results regarding Roe. 65% want a justice who would uphold Roe. 47% of Republicans want a justice who would uphold Roe (verus 46% who want one who would overturn it).

Wow, even Republicans. Hmmm... so much for the radical right claiming that Bush voters are demanding a radical right judge.

Honey, I shrunk the hate groups. Read More......

For an old ranching girl, O'Connor turned out pretty good?

Huh?

Bush was chatting on the phone with O'Connor.

"For an old ranching girl, you turned out pretty good," he told O'Connor, who grew up on an Arizona ranch. It was an emotional, five-minute call, McClellan said.

He quoted Bush as telling O'Connor, "You're one of the great Americans" and "I wish I were there to hug you."

While I'm glad Bush is praising O'Connor, because we could use more justices like her, balanced, willing to come to a concensus, rather than nutjobs like Scalia and Thomas - and Bush's praise of O'Connor will send the radical right in a tizzy - what is this "for an old ranching girl" business? Is there a problem with "ranching girls" in general? Just asking. Read More......

Radical right is demanding Bush appoint one of their own to the court

If people think their rights aren't on the line...

If you're a straight guy, how do you feel about a judge who thinks you shouldn't have access to condoms, your girlfriend, wife, or one-night stand shouldn't have access to birth control or the morning after pill, and if you get a girl pregnant, you're having the baby NO MATTER WHAT. Think about that. Read More......

More on Live 8 concerts around the globe (the group that's taking me to Scotland)

Simultaneous concerts around the world this Saturday night. Man, I wish I could go to Philly, but just don't have the time, what with preparing for the trip. :-( Read More......

Open Letter To The US Senate on Supreme Court Opening

To: The US Senate
From: Americablog/Michael in New York
Re: The Supreme Court Vacancy

A vacancy has opened on the Supreme Court and your actions in the next few weeks will determine not just judicial rulings but the lives of every American. I urge you to support the candidacy of conservatives who are in the mainstream of judicial philosophy and can earn broad, bipartisan support and thus the support of the American people. You should do so for three reasons: our nation is at war, our judicial system has been under attack for years by radicals and needs shoring up, and following President Bush's lead on this issue would be political suicide in the upcoming elections.

First, our thanks to Sandra Day O'Connor. This conservative justice would never have been nominated by a Democratic President and her rulings have reflected that. But she has been a moderating influence on both sides of the Court, an inspiration to all Americans (especially women) and has rightly earned the admiration and respect of her country.

Anyone who would begin by ridiculing or attacking Sandra Day O'Connor's record is insulting to Ronald Reagan, the President that put her on the Court, offensive to women and paints themselves as so far out of the mainstream that their opinions aren't worth listening to. Attacking an ill woman who has served her country faithfully for 24 years is the sort of cowardly, indecent and radical behavior that has so polarized this country.

Now, the three reasons the Senate should only support a nominee who can enjoy broad, bipartisan support.

1. Our nation is at war and bitterly divided -- young men and women are dying overseas. Our military is stretched perilously thin. A majority of Americans believe the war was a mistake and most Americans believe George Bush lied to them about the reasons for invading Iraq. Our closest ally, Great Britain, also believes Bush lied about why we invaded Iraq. And the "success story" of Afghanistan is turning into a narco-state (the number one supplier of heroin in the world) ruled mostly by drug lords and the Taliban. With these great and difficult tasks ahead of us, shouldn't the Congress use this opportunity to bring the country together, rise above the politics of personal attack and support a nominee for the Supreme Court that everyone agrees is in the broad mainstream of judicial philosophy? We have too many important problems to conquer. Why create more problems by trying to push through a fringe candidate with radical thinking that will increase the poisonous atmosphere of Washington?

2. Our judicial system is under attack -- for years, people on the far right have been attacking the judiciary and treating it as an annoyance or even unpatriotic branch of the government. (Do those on the far right really think they're smarter than the Founding Fathers like Jefferson and Hamilton and Franklin? Do they really want to dismantle the checks and balances provided by a Presidency, a Congress and an independent judiciary that have served us so well for more than two hundred years?) Clearly, the judiciary needs to be shored up to restore the country's faith in a crucial part of our government. How can you accomplish this? By supporting a nominee who will be bitterly divisive and perhaps ultimately squeak through by the tiniest of margins? Or by supporting a nominee who can earn 80+ votes of the Senate and demonstrate to the country that this Supreme Court justice is a solid one? They won't always vote the way you might want (none ever do), but if they have earned the confidence of a vast majority of the Senate, they're much more likely to earn the confidence of the people as well.

3. Bush's political instincts are poison -- Bush lost the popular vote in his first election and barely gained the White House on reelection, staying up till four in the morning to see who would win Ohio and thus the Presidency. Ever since then, he has behaved as if this slim majority was a resounding popular mandate a la Ronald Reagan. The result? Disastrous political choices that are spelling doom for Republican Senators in the midterm elections. First Bush tried to attack Social Security and change it forever. Then he wanted to push Big Government to intrude into the private tragedy of Terri Schiavo. And as the war in Iraq worsens, Bush behaves increasingly disconnected to the cold, hard realities on the ground. He is the first modern President to refuse to go to a single military funeral. Why? One word: politics. No wonder his poll numbers on all these issues -- and many more -- have fallen dramatically. Do you really want to follow the lead of someone who is stumbling so badly?

It would be great if a new standard could be set for Supreme Court nominees. No matter who is President or who controls the Senate, it should be embarrassing for them to push a nominee that can't enjoy the support of the vast majority of the Senate (say 75+). Surely this most important job should be filled by someone in the broad, moderate mainstream of judicial philosophy, someone who can expect the confidence of the American people.

Perhaps the Gang of 14 Senators who helped call a halt to the filibuster showdown can get together and submit a list of 5 candidates that fit these criteria. It doesn't mean all of them would gain approval after the close scrutiny of Senate hearings. It certainly doesn't mean these candidates would be submitted by the other party if they were in power. It simply means that the role of Supreme Court Justice is too important, too powerful, too influential to be a source of divisiveness and pain for Americans. Like the nomination of Sandra Day O'Connor (who was confirmed unanimously), it should be a source of pride. Read More......

Soldiers missing in Afghanistan...which is also a dangerous morass

Ever since a US chopper was shot down in Afghanistan earlier this week, the military has been extremely vague with details. It's also slowly becoming clearer that the war in Afghanistan is starging to really rage.

We know that 16 people on the chopper were killed. Now, it appears that other members of the military, who the chopper were trying to help out, are missing too. And, the bad news is that one or more may have been captured:

U.S. forces desperately scoured rugged Afghan mountains Friday for an elite American military team missing in the same area where a U.S. helicopter was shot down.

A purported Taliban spokesman claimed militants captured one of the men....The loss of the American military team in the remote eastern mountains worsened the already stinging blow suffered by the U.S. military after 16 troops were killed Tuesday aboard the MH-47 Chinook chopper.

The situation in Afghanistan has gotten very, very ugly lately:

The loss of the helicopter follows three months of unprecedented fighting that has killed about 477 suspected insurgents, 47 Afghan police and soldiers, 134 civilians, and 45 U.S. troops.

Couldn't finish the job there. Oh no, we had to invade Iraq.

Just saw that AP also has a new article, "Afghanistan Progress In Danger of Unraveling,":

Afghanistan was held up as an example of U.S.-led nation-building just three months ago. But that optimism has succumbed to near-daily ambushes, bombings, execution-style killings and this week's downing of a U.S. military helicopter

From U.S. and U.N. officials to Afghan villagers, fear is growing that this country may be at a seminal moment - with the barrage of violence in danger of overwhelming three years of state-building.

Great. Read More......

TAKE ACTION: Mobilize Now to Get Involved in the Supreme Court Fight!

DavidNYC over at Daily Kos has 5 things you can do right now to get involved in the Supreme Court fight. Read More......

Church of England: We Hate Women, Too!

Never mind that women have been ordained in the Episcopal Church for decades. Never mind that women are dynamically serving communities all over the world. Never mind that theologically everyone agreed long ago that once you began ordaining women the question was over and women bishops were inevitable.

Now, the radical right members of the Church of England -- who were always furious women have been treated as equal to men -- are now striking out and threatening schism if any woman becomes a bishop.

And why not? Attacking Christians who want to serve others but happen to be gay has been a bonanza for the radical right members of the Church. They've been able to turn their backs on the Church's most salient characteristic -- a warm, open-hearted approach to theology that leaves room for differences and for different parishes to proceed at different paces -- for the close-minded narrow idea that we already understand God completely and couldn't possibly ever gain in that knowledge through prayer and discussion.

The far right has been able to destroy amity and peace within parishes, urging people to break with their friends and neighbors, ignore Church law, attack the loving authority of their bishops and reach out to other radicals anywhere in the world who are willing to close their hearts and minds. With success like that, why would they stop the progress of the present? Now they want to roll back the advances of the past. Yes, this is the Church of England and not the Episcopal Church in the US (which already has female bishops and, of course, an openly gay one). But the independence that has always characterized the worldwide communion of the Episcopal Church is clearly under attack. And if they can succeed in England, the fringe members will certainly have a dramatic impact on the US.

Up next: a reappraisal on slavery. Read More......

Open thread

Any latest on Supreme Court Read More......

Bork attacks O'Connor on CNN this morning

Sounds to me like the right wing needs to discredit O'Connor so they can convince America we need someone even farther to the right than here. It's our job, to uphold her record, or at the very least, explain why she was hardly a flame-throwing liberal.

Hat tip to Capitol Buzz Read More......

A Fight More Important than the 2004 Election

The upcoming nomination to replace Justice O'Connor will have a life-long impact on the course of our country. Over these last years, Justice O'Connor has been the tie-breaking vote in a number of critical cases, in many cases staving off a significant pull to the Radical Right by justices like Scalia and Thomas. Her departure represents the loss of a significant check against the Radical Right's completion in taking over the third and final branch of government.

So what does that mean to the average American? You need look no further than any of Justice Scalia's dissenting opinions. As the ideological heart of the Right on the Court, his opinions represent where the Court will head if O'Connor's moderate voice is replaced with another minion like Thomas.

From Scalia's dissent in the Lawrence v. Texas case:

Even if the Texas law does deny equal protection to "homosexuals as a class," that denial still does not need to be justified by anything more than a rational basis, which our cases show is satisfied by the enforcement of traditional notions of sexual morality.
...
One of the most revealing statements in today's opinion is the Court's grim warning that the criminalization of homosexual conduct is "an invitation to subject homosexual persons to discrimination both in the public and in the private spheres." Ante, at 14. It is clear from this that the Court has taken sides in the culture war, departing from its role of assuring, as neutral observer, that the democratic rules of engagement are observed. Many Americans do not want persons who openly engage in homosexual conduct as partners in their business, as scoutmasters for their children, as teachers in their children's schools, or as boarders in their home. They view this as protecting themselves and their families from a lifestyle that they believe to be immoral and destructive.

Enforcement of traditional notions of sexual morality. Enforcement by whom? By our government of course. Justice Scalia and his apologists have for years tediously worked to put themselves in the very position that they are in today - one vote away from a massive government intrusion into the personal lives of every American. As many of us said last year in the election, gays and lesbians were simply the first of many targets.

It didn't take long for the next target to be identified. Women's rights. As we've seen with the assault on the availability of the morning after pill and birth control as a whole, it's time for the rest of the public to wake up, because this time it will be too late.

Court appointments are for a lifetime. Justice O'Connor served for 24 years. To think about 24 years of a Scalia style court think about where you were in 1981, where the country was, where the culture was. We've moved a great deal in that time. Now think about moving all that back.

The pressure point in this fight will be Congress, not the President. He will nominate whomever he wants. While one could go on and on talking about how this nomination will define the President's legacy, you'll be reading that all over the place in the next day or two. Instead, I want us to focus on the real power in this process - Congress. The President's numbers have tanked, the Congress's numbers aren't that far behind. The President, however, is done. His career is over - he never has to face the public in an election again. We are, however, just a short 17 months to the next Congressional election. Now is the time to mobilize for the 2006 election, and this issue is the one that must make it happen. Failure here is not an option.

Happy 4th - your independence is on the line.

-- Rob in Baltimore Read More......

Harry Reid's statement about O'Connor retirement

Statement of Senator Harry Reid on the Retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has been an inspirational figure to all Americans. As the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court, she blazed a trail that many will follow. As a Westerner, she brought to the Court a love of the land and an appreciation for individual rights. And as a former state legislator, she had a practical sense of how to balance the will of the majority with the rights of the minority in our society.

Above all, Justice O’Connor has been a voice of reason and moderation on the Court. It is vital that she be replaced by someone like her, someone who embodies the fundamental American values of freedom, equality and fairness.

The decisions handed down by the Supreme Court profoundly affect the daily lives of all Americans. The Court is the final guardian of our constitutional rights and liberties. That is why the process of filling a Supreme Court vacancy is so important.

The Constitution gives the President and the Senate shared responsibility to fill this vacancy, because the President may only act with the “Advice and Consent” of the Senate. At this critical moment, the President must recognize the Senate’s constitutional role. He should give life to the Advice and Consent Clause by engaging in meaningful consultation with Senators of both political parties.

Working with the Senate, the President should identify a highly qualified candidate whose views are within the broad constitutional mainstream and who will make all Americans proud. With this nomination the President should choose to unite the country, not divide it. I look forward to working with the President and my colleagues in the Senate to fill this critical vacancy.

Read More......

Sandra Day O'Connor announces retirement from Supreme Court

All hell will now break loose.

This is bad for a number of reasons. As the first nomination up, she's the moderate R which means if Bush gets a conservative R in her place, he moves to the already far-right court FURTHER to the right. At least if Rehnquist were the nominee, even if a nutjob got chosen, he couldn't be any worse than Rehqnuist. Sandra Day, on the other hand, IS PIVOTAL in deciding which way the court goes, or her replacement will be.

Anybody who is not the same kind of moderate as Sandra Day MUST be stopped.

Read More......

Another theory behind the Plame case

DailyKos has an interesting take on the Valerie Plame case.

What started as a potential case of intentionally leaking the identity of an agent has now become about perjury and obstruction of justice in an attempt to conceal White House involvement in fixing the intelligence that led to war.

It's not so kooky when you read their analysis. Read More......

Santorum's Kampf

Apparently Dog-Sex's new book is out, and it ain't pretty. Read More......

We got the NBC Nightly News screen capture of AMERICAblog

Crooks and Liars sent it over to me, and yep, it's AMERICAblog. How funny. Apparently they were doing a story on identity theft and needed any old Web page in the background, and they chose ours!



And yes, I am awake. Ugh. I'm doing an interview on CNN International in a bit, to talk about Bush's speech earlier this week. It will be aired all weekend around the world, just not here in the US. Sorry. Read More......

Open Thread

It's the weekend...almost. Read More......

Bush speaks frankly about the addiction problem

In an interview with Danish TV, Bush talks about America's dependence on oil from the Middle East. I'm glad that he's talking about the problem but what the hell has he done about it? Conservation has been a dirty word with the GOP and it's not like he's willing to give many incentives to the non-petroleum industry, while he's been showering Big Oil with gifts as though it's Christmas. What a fraud. To hell with what these people say, just look at their actions.

Later in the Danish interview, Bush said the United States was looking for ways to "diversify away from fossil fuels" to reduce its dependence on Middle East oil.

"We're hooked on oil from the Middle East, which is a national security problem and an economic security problem," Bush said.

Also in the same link is the excuse that Kyoto would have wrecked the US economy. Why can these people never see the upside of clean air, not to mention the new business opportunities associated with the process? It's just impossible for them to see anything outside of their little world.

Read More......

Mugabe terror campaign continues

The latest report is that is that three people have been killed during Mugabe's latest campaign of destruction. The victims have been two women, one of whom was pregnant, and a young boy who was run over by a truck. In classic fashion, the dictator/thug delivers an updated version of a Stalin's line.

"Obviously there is some degree of suffering when you break down a slum. Yes, there is discomfort now, but discomfort in order to get comfort later," he [Mugabe] said.

Read More......

They lie about everything

Even AIDS in Africa:

As global leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum in January, officials from President Bush's $15 billion anti-AIDS program issued a news release citing their accomplishments. Nowhere were the numbers more impressive than in Botswana, where 32,839 AIDS patients were receiving life-extending treatment with the help of the U.S. government, they said.

But thousands of miles away in Botswana, the Bush administration's claim provoked frustration and anger among public and private partners that had built Africa's most far-reaching AIDS treatment program, recalled those involved. Although the Bush program had promised millions of dollars of support, no money had yet arrived, they said.

The operations manager of Botswana's treatment program, Segolame Ramotlhwa, called the U.S. figures "a gross misrepresentation of the facts." His boss, Patson Mazonde, who as deputy permanent secretary for health services had overseen the program since its inception in 2002, called the Bush claim "false" but suggested it was merely a mistake.

They agreed on the number of patients in Botswana who had been put on treatment because of the Bush program: zero.

After first defending its figures from the January news release, the Bush administration last month revised them sharply downward. But even the revised numbers remain in dispute. Administration officials announced that 20,000 people in Botswana were receiving "significant support" from U.S. programs for their AIDS treatment. Health officials in Botswana maintained, as they have for months, that no citizen was dependent on U.S. support for treatment, the cost of which has been covered overwhelmingly by the Botswanan government.

Read More......