Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Ann Richards died today


Very sad news from Texas. Former Texas Governor Ann Richards died today. She had cancer. I always liked this woman... she was tough and feisty. Do re-read her incomparable speech to the 1988 Democratic Convention.

Condolences to her family. Read More......

Jimmy Carter says Lieberman should not be re-elected


Strong stuff. Read More......

Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame add Armitage to their lawsuit


Good. Read More......

Senator Reid calls on White House to stop cover-up of Cheney's Iraq lies


September 13, 2006

The Honorable William H. Frist
Majority Leader, U.S. Senate
U.S. Capitol
Room S-230
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Leader Frist:

Late last week the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on a bipartisan basis released reports that discussed Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program and its links to terrorism and the intelligence community’s use of information provided by the Iraqi National Congress. These reports provided the American people with important insights into these critical issues.

Unfortunately, the Administration chose to classify certain important portions of these reports that should have been released to the public. A bipartisan majority of the Intelligence Committee disagreed with the Administration’s decision to classify certain portions of the report’s findings and conclusions and said that classifying this information is
“without justification.”

In my view, the Administration’s decision to classify one particular portion of the report – a section discussing a CIA document about the alleged meeting in Prague between 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta and an Iraqi intelligence officer – is especially troubling and lacking in justification.

As you may know, as recently as this Sunday on national television, Vice President Cheney left open the possibility that such a meeting may have occurred. However, a bipartisan majority of the Intelligence Committee, after thoroughly reviewing relevant intelligence reports and assessments, concluded “no such meeting occurred.” The continued classification of sections referencing this meeting only serves to prevent the American public from knowing the full facts about this matter.

The classified version of the Intelligence Committee’s report, including the sections dealing with the alleged Atta meeting, are available for all Senators to review in the Committee’s offices in room SH-211. I urge you to join with me to encourage all members to review this text so they understand its importance and why that text can and should be made available to the American people.

In light of the importance of this issue, I also think it is important that the Senate act to declassify those portions of the text on pages 96, 97, and 98 of the Intelligence Committee’s report that are currently redacted but do not involve sources and methods.

I plan to offer an amendment on that subject to the legislation currently pending in the Senate. Notwithstanding the procedural situation on the floor, I hope you will join with me to offer this important amendment, permit the Senate to act on it, and support its swift adoption.

While I understand that S. Res. 400 spells out a process for the Senate to declassify information, that process is a lengthy one that is likely to take us well beyond your announced adjournment date for the U.S. Senate.

Therefore, in light of the importance of this issue, I think it is appropriate that the Senate act expeditiously to declassify this material.

Sincerely,

Harry Reid
U.S. Senate Read More......

Bush thinks that as commander-in-chief he's now leading a "third awakening" of Christianity in America


There is so much wrong with what Bush said today, it's difficult to begin.

First off, I don't need to get my Christianity lessons from my president.

Second, he sure as hell isn't the messiah, predicting the future of Christianity and implying he's one of its leaders, and for him to speak that way is downright scary. It's scary from a foreign policy perspective, from my perspective as a Christian, and my perspective as an American.

Third, it is completely inappropriate to talk about the war on terror being linked to some alleged Christian revival in America. I thought the war was on terror, not on other religions. Not to mention, is Bush somehow implying that we will win the war on terror by spreading Christianity? Is this a crusade now? It's one thing to talk about the origins (at least part of the origins) of the current terror battle being in radical Islam, it's quite another to say that somehow Christianity is also involved in this battle. We are not fighting the war on terror on behalf of Christianity.

And fourth, the real world implications of what Bush just said are the following:

- poke a nice stick in the eye of one billion Muslims, guaranteeing another large handful join up with Osama in order to blow up a few more American airplanes.

- Bush puts himself on an even higher pedestal, this time as leader of the new wave of Christianity, so he becomes even more untouchable and more impervious to reason. Meaning, he'll do what he wants, no matter how crazy. Where has that logic gotten us so far?

It's really time for more Republicans and/or conservatives to start speaking up. This man is your president. He's quickly moving from incompetent to delusional, all the while endangering our entire nation. Read More......

Newly Banned Items Often Fly Past Airport Screeners


Heck of a job, Bushie. Read More......

Comrade Cheney


From EJ Dionne in the Washington Post:
Perhaps Vice President Cheney should quit his current job and work within a political system more to his liking, the kind in which those in charge can protect national security by telling everyone what not to say and what not to think.

Cheney seemed terribly impatient with democracy Sunday on "Meet the Press" when he suggested that those who oppose President Bush's Iraq policies are helping -- excuse me, validating -- the terrorists.
Read More......

Christopher Buckley says it's time to hand over the Congress to the Democrats. He also eviscerates Bush.


Read the entire thing
Bob Woodward asked Bush 43 if he had consulted his father before invading Iraq. The son replied that he had consulted a higher father. That frisson you feel going up your spine is the realization that he meant it. And apparently the higher father said, Go for it! There are those of us who wish he had consulted his terrestrial one; or, if he couldnt get him on the line, Brent Scowcroft. Or Jim Baker. Or Henry Kissinger. Or, for that matter, anyone who has read a book about the British experience in Iraq. (18,000 dead.)

Who knew, in 2000, that 'compassionate conservatism' meant bigger government, unrestricted government spending, government intrusion in personal matters, government ineptitude, and cronyism in disaster relief? Who knew, in 2000, that the only bill the president would veto, six years later, would be one on funding stem-cell research? A more accurate term for Mr. Bush's political philosophy might be incontinent conservatism....

Despite the failures, one had the sense that the party at least knew in its heart of hearts that these were failures, either of principle or execution. Today one has no sense, aside from a slight lowering of the swagger-mometer, that the president or the Republican Congress is in the least bit chastened by their debacles. George Tenet's WMD 'slam-dunk,' Vice President Cheney's 'we will be greeted as liberators,' Don Rumsfeld's avidity to promulgate a minimalist military doctrine, together with the tidy theories of a group who call themselves 'neo-conservative' (not one of whom, to my knowledge, has ever worn a military uniform), have thus far: de-stabilized the Middle East; alienated the world community from the United States; empowered North Korea, Iran, and Syria; unleashed sectarian carnage in Iraq among tribes who have been cutting each others' throats for over a thousand years; cost the lives of 2,600 Americans, and the limbs, eyes, organs, spinal cords of another 15,000 -- with no end in sight. But not to worry: Democracy is on the march in the Middle East....

What have they done to my party? Where does one go to get it back? One place comes to mind: the back benches. It's time for a time-out. Time to hand over this sorry enchilada to Hillary and Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden and Charlie Rangel and Harry Reid, who has the gift of being able to induce sleep in 30 seconds....

My fellow Republicans, it is time, as Madison said in Federalist 76, to Hand over the tiller of governance, that others may fuck things up for a change.
Read More......

Dick Cheney's relationship with Mohammad Atta


The Senate Intelligence Committee, run by Republicans, issued a report on Friday saying that there was no relationship between Saddam and Zarqawi, a senior Al Qaeda operative - and in fact, Saddam tried to capture Zarqawi. Also, the CIA reached the same conclusion last fall. But that hasn't stopped the Dick Cheney and White House spokesman Tony Snow from repeating the lie over the past few days.

What's particularly odd about today's outburst from Snow is that he claims the simple fact that Al Qaeda was operating in Iraq, even though it was without Saddam's okay, is proof that there was a relationship between Saddam and Al Qaeda.

Which means, of course, that there was a relationship between Dick Cheney and Mohammad Atta. Read More......

Wash Post columnist slams "Path to 9/11"


The column includes some errors and omissions that even we missed. Read More......

65 bodies discovered across Iraq, 30 more killed


We will have to ask the Pentagon if the 30 killed today were actually killed though since I have not yet figured out this new Pentagon math. What another gruesome day in Iraq.
Police said 60 of the bodies were found overnight around Baghdad, with the majority dumped in predominantly Sunni Arab neighborhoods, police said. Another five were found floating down the Tigris river in Suwayrah, 25 miles south of the capital.

The bodies were bound, bore signs of torture and had been shot, said police 1st Lt. Thayer. Such killings are usually the work of death squads -- both Sunni Arab and Shiite -- who kidnap people and often torture them with power drills or beat them badly before shooting them.

And the connection to 9/11 is what? This sounds like brutal infighting or civil war but certainly not a war against global terrorism. Read More......

What you say when you have nothing left to say


Reuters
"I listen to my Democratic friends and I wonder if they're more interested in protecting the terrorists than protecting the American people," House Majority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, told reporters.
Funny, because I listen to my Republican friends and I wonder if they're more interested in protecting the president than protecting the American people. Read More......

Wednesday Morning Open Thread


It's Meredith's first day on the Today Show.

Lots of primary election news to ponder today. The race in Maryland's Fourth Congressional District is still up in the air. With 75% reporting, Donna Edwards is AHEAD of Al Wynn. There were some problems with voting in Montgomery County that have delayed counting. (UPDATE via CQ Politics is the the uncounted votes are in Prince Georges County which is Wynn's base.)

55 days til Election Day. It's going to be a bumpy ride. Read More......

Some primary updates and overseas ballots


Chafee knocks off wingnut candidate in Rhode Island in GOP primary and Benjamin Cardin appears to have defeated Kweisi Mfume for the Maryland Senate in the primary race. Both now prepare for very tough battles in November. In Tucson Arizona, the GOP extremist candidate is leading the moderate for an open Congressional seat. Lots of campaigning, surely a lot more fear coming from the GOP, but I wish November was here today.

Overseas, ballots for November should have been received by now or will be coming out soon so we can all start the process of sending in our ballots via certified mail (which is not cheap) and have them dumped in an obscure basement somewhere to be forgotten. Ahh, the taste of democracy. Luckily we have worthless overseas political organizations who can never get any interest in DC to change things despite the millions of Americans living abroad. As a group, we are larger than many states but thanks to the well oiled machines that want to represent us (or at least pretend like they want to represent us so they can get an audience because they lack a social life) overseas, our ballots seem like they are so worthless, but ours will be heading out soon enough anyway. Ugh. Read More......

Adrian Fenty wins DC Democratic mayoral primary


Which means he's the next mayor. Good for him. Read More......

NYC open thread


Gnite. Man I love this town. Read More......

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