Must be sad being a conservative blogger nowadays

Kind of like being a mixture between the Maytag repairman and, well, someone really stupid.

(Hat tip to Kos) Read More......

Open thread

I'm watching "Rome." An amazingly well-written episode, this last one. The show is actually getting me curious as to how Roman society was set up. I mean, I know a lot about Ancient Greece and Rome, to some degree, but not a lot about the structures of the society, etc. Got me curious. Thing is, I don't much enjoy reading online. I do all day, but I dont enjoy it. Still not as pleasurable as a book. Anyway, it's a very good show, I highly recommend it. Read More......

AP: Bush almost admitted for the first time that he made a mistake

Seriously. There's an entire AP story out there about how Bush has now come the closest ever to admitting a mistake. He's a pathetic child. We're at war and we have a leader who can't admit to any mistake he's ever made, and thus refuses to make course corrections even when they're necessary, because that would be akin to admitting a mistake.

Bush would rather see our soldiers die than admit a mistake, and in the process, help make their mission more successful, or at the very least, spare their lives from a mission that's a total disaster. Read More......

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs says it is every soldier's obligation to stop torture if they see it

Great exchange between the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, who seems to be a normal, real, honorable human being - and then there's idiot Rumsfeld...

When UPI's Pam Hess asked about torture by Iraqi authorities, Rumsfeld replied that "obviously, the United States does not have a responsibility" other than to voice disapproval.

But [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs] Pace had a different view. "It is the absolute responsibility of every U.S. service member, if they see inhumane treatment being conducted, to intervene, to stop it," the general said.

Rumsfeld interjected: "I don't think you mean they have an obligation to physically stop it; it's to report it."

But Pace meant what he said. "If they are physically present when inhumane treatment is taking place, sir, they have an obligation to try to stop it," he said, firmly.

Read More......

Rudolph is on CBS now!

I really hate cable. Too many channels, I never know when anything is on anymore. I was just channel surfing and almost missed Rudolph. Grrr... The first person who figures out how to design a new TV Guide, or whatever, to deal with the hundreds of channels we now have will make it rich.

Anyway, put on Rudolph damnit.

PS I think we should live blog Rudolph. Apparently, Herbie doesn't like to make toys...

NB The Rudolph story is so gay. I can't wait until the religious right figures out that we've been feeding pro-gay propaganda to our kids for the past 40 years. The jack in the box? Gay. Hermie? Gay. Rudolph? Bi, at best. Read More......

New Alito memo talks of "goal" of overturning Roe

The man is toast.

And let me remind all you gay and gay-friendly folks out there. Whether you like it or not, the major Supreme Court cases siding with gay rights - and they are few and far between - use Roe v Wade as their basis. This includes the case that recently outlawed anti-gay sodomy laws. Roe gets overturned and gay civil rights go with it. Your position on abortion is irrelevant. This is a fact.

More here. Read More......

Shiites want to take on more aggressive role in war

And to think we are concerned and bothered by the US tactics, I can only imagine what the Shiites want to do when they speak of getting tough. If the distubring photos of tortured Iraqis is any indication of what we could expect with this aggressive fight, Iraq is getting even closer than before to civil war. All in the name of freedom and democracy, GOP style.

During much of the interview, Hakim was critical of U.S. policies toward Iraq, though he acknowledged that U.S. forces must remain in the country as a "guest" of the Iraqi government while it builds its security forces. The Americans are guilty of "major interference, and preventing the forces of the Interior or Defense ministries from carrying out tasks they are capable of doing, and also in the way they are dealing with the terrorists," Hakim charged.

Hakim gave few details of what getting tough would entail, other than making clear it would require more weapons, with more firepower, than the United States is currently supplying.

His repeated assertion that the United States was being too weak against Iraq's insurgency, allowing attacks to mushroom, appeared to suggest that any future Iraqi government that included him would share his view.

Read More......

Open thread

Victory is ours! Read More......

Dems are all over the place on Iraq

You don't deserve a chance to lead the country until you can lead yourselves.

House of Representatives Minority leader Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday backed a call by Democratic Rep. John Murtha to quickly start the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, and said she believed a majority of her caucus supported it as well... But she said was speaking for herself and would not press for a united Democratic position on the issue.

So what do the other leading Dems think?

Steny Hoyer, one of the top House Dems, is still living in la-la land:

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who supported the war, rejected Murtha's idea for a quick pull-out, saying "a precipitous withdrawal of American forces in Iraq could lead to disaster, spawning a civil war, fostering a haven for terrorists, and damaging our nation's security and credibility."

Then there's John Kerry:

"Jack and I and others believe that you need to approach it in the way that we've set out, where you have certain measurements for that success over a period of time," Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts said at a news conference with fellow Democratic Sen. Jack Reed (news, bio, voting record) of Rhode Island.

So here's my question for Hoyer and Kerry. Yes, a precipitous withdrawal will lead to chaos, and yes, we need measurements for success. But what if the war is already lost? What if there will be no success and we know it? What if there's going to be a civil war anyway and there's nothing we can do to stop it? We still sit there and let our troops get blown up every single day because none of you have the cojones to admit you made a mistake?

That's a hell of a way to show leadership. You guys are no better than Bush and Cheney.

Answer the question: What if we've already lost? Do we keep the troops there anyway? Read More......

Jeff Gannon goes to Iraq

Only metaphorically, sorry. Read More......

SCHWARZENEGGER - Gays working for him? Okay! Letting them marry? Not so much.

I'm not sure what I think of this story. To be honest, I'm personally disgusted that any self-respecting gay person would ever go work for someone like this (from MSNBC):

"We cannot have a system where the people vote and the Legislature derails that vote," the governor's press secretary, Margita Thompson, said in a statement. "Out of respect for the will of the people, the governor will veto (the bill)."

Yeah, those unelected legislators huh? Which makes this story all the more bizarre. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- attempting to regain his political footing after a devastating special election defeat this month -- has begun a shakeup of his administration by replacing his chief of staff with a former state Democratic Party official and top adviser to former Gov. Gray Davis, Democratic and Republican sources said Tuesday.
...
Appointed by Davis to the California Public Utilities Commission in 2003, Kennedy had made her name as a political operative as the head of the California branch of the National Abortion Rights Action League. A longtime gay rights activist, Kennedy married her partner, Vicki Marti, in a 1999 ceremony in Hawaii attended by many California political insiders.

We know that the Republicans will judge Schwarzenegger. Should we judge Ms. Kennedy for going to work for him? Read the article and tell us what you think.

(Thanks for the heads up from Callie in the comments) Read More......

Open Thread

The "Victory" Plan is another dud. Another major speech with nothing new. No strategy. No ideas. No surprise. Read More......

Why is the Transportation Security Agency facing a "tight budget"?

What the hell is going on? I read this in today's Washington Post in an article explaining why they're allowing scissors and other pointy objects back on airplanes:

Faced with a tighter budget and morale problems among its workforce, the TSA says its new policy changes are aimed at making the best use of limited resources.

Limited resources? We're talking about an agency whose job it is to stop your mom's airplane from blowing up. What limited resources and tight budget problems are they facing? Who in the GOP-controlled congress isn't giving this vital agency the money they need?

Funny, but when Bush needs $300 billion to fight a war that's a lie and a quagmire, we find the money in a snap. But when we need the money to stop our commerical airliners from blowing up, suddenly the budget is tight.

The GOP, the party of treason. Osama must be so proud that the Republicans are making his job easier. Read More......

"Victory" Deconstructed

Think Progress already has an analysis of the Bush-Iraq "Victory" Plan:

After two-and-a-half years and 2,110 U.S. fatalities, the Bush administration finally released a “National Strategy for Victory in Iraq” (NSVI). The problem is, it’s not a new strategy for success in Iraq, it’s a public relations document. The strategy describes what has transpired in Iraq to date as a resounding success and stubbornly refuses to establish any standards for accountability. It dismisses serious problems such as the dramatic increase in bombings as “metrics that the terrorists and insurgents want the world to use.” Americans understand it’s time for a new course in Iraq. Unfortunately, this document is little more than an extended justification for a President “determined to stay his course.”

Bush had barely started to speak when this report was released...that's some damn good rapid response from Think Progress. Read More......

The "Victory" Plan is out

Steve Clemons posted a link to the document at the Washington Note.

Reuters has a first look:

Terrorism and insurgencies historically take many years to defeat. "Iraq is likely to struggle with some level of violence for many years to come," it said.

Lack of a troop withdrawal timetable does not mean the U.S. stance will remain static, the White House said. "We expect, but cannot guarantee, that our force posture will change over the next year, as the political process advances and Iraqi security forces grow and gain experience," the document said.

So, nothing new. Same old. But it's a major speech today. Read More......

Today Show sucks Open Thread

Okay, I know the Today Show has become pretty much useless. I know. But this morning, their "expert" to discuss Bush's latest Iraq speech was Bill O'Reilly. Yeah, that Bill O'Reilly. It used to be that the Today Show pretended to try to have real news in the first half hour. Those days are long gone -- but portraying Bill O'Reilly as a remotely serious commentator was beyond the pale. They suck. They really suck. Read More......

Global warming and the global problem

Being an American who resides in Europe, I have heard my fair share of criticism of the US and in particular, criticism of the Bush administration and their failure to accept Kyoto and global warming. While I agree with a lot of that criticism I have always questioned the pollution across Europe which seems on par with the American problem and Europeans have always quickly dismissed the problem and focused only on the US.

The reality is that the air in Paris during the summer is disgusting not to mention dangerous to your health and many other cities in Europe such as Munich and London are hardly worth bragging about as well. There are exceptions such as Stockholm but in general European cities always seem to be as polluted as US cities. A new study by the European Environment Agency confirms that Europe, we have a problem. The US shares plenty of blame with global warming but I would like to see Europe also recognize that there is a local problem here as well.

Tony Long, director of WWF's European policy office, said this illustrated the extent to which Europeans used more than their fair share of global resources. He argued: "Europe needs to learn to consume less, pollute less and tread more lightly on the planet. Perpetuating the inequality of living at the expense of some of the poorest countries in the world makes European environmental standards nothing to be proud about. This makes the EU's sustainable development strategy even more timely to get Europe back on track to sustainability."

Read More......

Cheney continues to alienate his new neighbors

Big surprise there. Dick and his delightful peach of a wife have already built reputations as annoying neighbors amongst the locals in St. Michaels and now he's continuing to expand his list of pissed off neighbors with the security zone around his new house on the Eastern Shore where he seems to be all of the time. A security zone in the middle of nowhere Wyoming is one thing but down on the Eastern Shore which is just a short drive over to DC and there are so many more people around not to mention the popularity of St. Michaels among weekenders. What's next? No boaters allowed on the Miles River or near the Cheney estate? We're probably not hearing about it because it's off season and the boats are all in dry dock but just wait until next summer when Dick wants to continue spending almost all of his days down there instead of in DC.

Most people living down there prefer discretion, something that does not come naturally for the Cheneys so this is going to get interesting. Read More......

Open thread

I really need to get to bed. Read More......

GAO: House Republicans killed air marshall effort to protect commercial flights from terrorists

This program was killed by the House, which isn't just controlled by the Republicans, in the House, unlike the Senate, the minority party has NO POWER WHATSOEVER. That means this was a Republican buzzkill, 100%.

From AP:

Efforts to train thousands of federal agents to protect commercial flights during heightened terror alerts were quietly abandoned more than a year ago because Congress objected to the cost, government investigators said Tuesday.

The AP article didn't make clear who in Congress killed the program, so I looked up the actual GAO report that was released today about this issue. It makes clear it was the House Appropriations Committee, which is run 100 percent by the GOP.

This, from the GAO report:

In October 2004, ICE suspended its cross-training efforts in response to congressional concerns that the cross-training was an ineffective use of resources and training. Specifically, in a June 2004 House Appropriations Committee report, the Committee expressed concerns regarding how ICE agents would maintain their skills as federal air marshals since they did not regularly perform federal air marshal duties. The Committee directed that each cross-trained ICE agent fly missions with a federal air marshal for a minimum of 24 hours per quarter, beginning October 1, 2004. However, in the October 2004 report that accompanied the fiscal year 2005 DHS Appropriations Act, the Conference Committee suggested that the cross-training provided to ICE agents was an ineffective use of resources. The Committee further suggested that the training of ICE agents to serve as federal air marshals in a surge capacity be discontinued. In response, DHS suspended its cross-training efforts at that time.

Osama can breathe a little easier knowing the Republicans are doing his work for him. Read More......