Open thread

Off to read Harry Potter. Read More......

Santorum is on the Daily Show tonight

Thanks to reader Milt for reminding me. This should be interesting. Though I hear the line-up may have changed. We'll know in 20 minutes.

Ugh. God, Santorum is such a pig. It's about hurting children? Really? When's the latest time a gay couple hurt a child? Santorum is after the optimal arrangement so he's going to ban gay couples from being married. Well great, because we already can have kids. Unless we're sterile, we can do it in vitro, and even if we are sterile, we can adopt. And there are gay people who were married to straight people and have kids that way. So we have kids. This best for the kids bull is a total red herring. WE HAVE KIDS, that boat has left the dock. What people like Rick Santorum want to ensure is that OUR kids REMAIN in unmarried homes.

That's because he's a bigot who doesn't give a damn about kids, unless they're rich white kids living in straight families, then he only cares about them before they're born.

And finally, could Jon Stewart have given a more softball interview to the guy? Geez. Rick Santorum isn't a nice guy who disgrees with you. He's compared gay couples to man-dog sex. He suggested in a fundraising letter that gay marriage was worse than 9/11. The man is a pig. He deserves at least as harsh an interview as he gave that goofy conservative book guy last week. Read More......

Wash Post's Froomkin has another good column

Joe in DC turned me on to Froomkin a while back. He's quite good. And I'd say that even on days he's not quoting AMERICAblog :-) Read More......

No Debate: Bush Misled America

This little detail is buried halfway down in a story about Rovegate, also known as "Rove Endangers National Security Scandal" and/or "Bush Misleads America In Runup To War Scandal." (The last one is the most important.)

The White House response began at 9:30 a.m. on July 7, a Monday, as Mr. Fleischer briefed the press at the White House. "There is zero, nada, nothing new here," he said of Mr. Wilson's claims. But under questioning, Mr. Fleischer's account became murkier. He seemed to concede, before backing away, that Mr. Bush's entire statement about Saddam Hussein's search for uranium in Africa might have been flawed.

By evening, as Air Force One lifted off, officials on the plane were calling The Times and The Washington Post to make it clear that they no longer stood behind Mr. Bush's statement about the uranium - the first such official concession on the sensitive issue of the intelligence that led to the war.

So no debate, people. Joe Wilson came forward with his op-ed and appearances on Sunday talk shows to say the President lied to the American people in his State of the Union address. Bush made flat claims that he KNEW he didn't have the evidence to back up. The only proof we need? The very next day, the White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer started to admit Bush's central claim might have been flawed. The very next day, they were calling the biggest newspapers in the country to "make clear" they did not stand behind that claim.

One day after Joe Wilson's public comments, Bush admitted he couldn't back up what he said. They've tried to prevaricate and lie and whitewash this admission. They've smeared Joe Wilson and attacked his wife and endangered his children and weakened national security all in an attempt to discredit it. But the White House never has and never will take back that retraction. They can't.

If Bush wants to claim vindication, let him make that charge about Hussein trying to get uranium in Niger all over again. If he can't, he should apologize to joe Wilson and fire Rove and Scooter and whomever else is involved.

If anyone wants to pretend Joe Wilson was wrong, they've got to argue with Bush first. Bush retracted the very words Wilson objected to. So argue with Bush. Not Wilson. Read More......

MD Lt Gov Michael Steele ♥ Karl Rove

Guess who's coming to dinner? And man, for $1000 a head they could hire Bulldog for the entire evening.

SENATOR ELIZABETH DOLE, CURT ANDERSO, WAYNE BERMAN, CHARLIE BLACK, KIRK BLALOCK, MANUS COONEY, RICK HOHLT, BRUCE MEHLMAN, JACK OLIVER, BILL PAXON, DAVID URBAN, *HOST COMMITTEE IN FORMATION

CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO A RECEPTION FOR
THE HONORABLE MICHAEL STEELE
WITH SPECIAL GUEST
KARL ROVE

TUESDAY, JULY 26TH
6:00PM – 7:30PM

NATIONAL REPUBLICAN SENATORIAL COMMITTEE
RONALD REAGAN CENTER ~ 425 2ND STREET NE ~ WASHINGTON, DC 20002

RECEPTION ~ $1,000 PER PERSON ~ $2,000 PER PAC

PLEASE RSVP NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, JULY 22, 2005

PERSONAL OR PAC CHECKS SHOULD BE MADE PAYABLE TO
“MICHAEL STEELE EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE”

Read More......

Open thread

Anything I should be up on? Joe is still in Alaska, camping - all week. Though the geek did answer his cell phone when I called! LOL He's somewhere near Palmer today... Read More......

Is Supreme Court Nominee Roberts Lying Already?

Judge Roberts wants to be a Supreme Court justice, but apparently it's rude of us to expect to learn a little something about him and his judicial philosophy before giving Roberts that lifetime appointment. I've already commented on how absurd it is that nominees are apparently supposed to pretend they're incapable of discussing cogently and directly their views on landmark Supreme Court decisions made 10, 20, 30 or even 100 years ago -- that's something every first year law student must do, but apparently it's impossible for the best and brightest minds in the country.

Now we're already getting hints that Roberts and the White House are trying to stonewall any info that points to Roberts being a fringe radical rather than the moderate, mainstream judge that most Americans want on the Supreme Court.

The first snafu? The Federalist Society. Someone is lying -- either the White House or Roberts. When he was announced, it was immediately mentioned by some press outlets that Roberts belonged to the Federalist Society, a far right group devoted to attacking what it saw as "liberalism" on the bench. It is certainly a sign of someone who belongs on the fringes of judicial philosophy.

Here's the problem. We were immediately told Roberts wasn't a member and -- taking the White House at its word -- numerous media outlets ran corrections. Per USA Today:

Roberts has acknowledged participating in Federal Society events and giving speeches for the organization.

But on Monday, presidential press secretary Scott McClellan said, "He doesn't recall ever paying dues or being a member."

That's Scotty in another tight bind and saying the info came directly from Roberts.

But the Washington Post reported this:

The Washington Post reported Monday that it had obtained from a liberal group a 1997-98 Federalist Society leadership directory listing Roberts, then a partner in a private law firm, as being a steering committee member in the group's Washington chapter.

I'm gonna make a crazy guess and imagine that the Washington chapter of the Federalist Society is probably their biggest and most influential one. It beggars belief that someone could be on a steering committee of a group but downplay their involvement and act as if they'd just gone to a few functions. (Did other non-members serve on this committee? Do they usually use outsiders who don't even belong to the Federalists on this committee? How often did he attend meetings? How many meetings do they hold? Are there meetings monthly? Semi-annually? How often do most members attend meetings? We're sure Roberts will ask the Federalist Society to release any relevant info.) Fees or not, if you serve on a steering committee, you are an ACTIVE member of that group.

How does it feel to know that on the very first issue surrounding this nominee, the White House has either been duped by their guy or knowingly spread disinformation. Perhaps, PERHAPS it is technically true that Roberts never paid dues. But no one could think they were forthcoming or honest. Unless it depends on what your definition of "member" is. Read More......

Italy seeks 6 more arrests in CIA kidnap case

Why doesn't Bush turn them over, or is he suddenly now pro-CIA? So difficult to keep track. Maybe the Italians should ask if any of the undercover CIA agents ever visited Langley. Because if they did, Senator Roberts and the GOP say that means the agents weren't undercover, so there'd be no compromising of national security by turning them over to the Italians. Right? Read More......

White House threatening recess appointment of Bolton

Good, let him go to the UN as a complete embarassment and disgrace without the support of the American people or our government. Then see what he accomplishes when the French tell him to frak off. Not to mention, it'll be fun to have another Bush official to grill about RoveGate. Read More......

Scottie has fallen and can't get up

He's fallen into the 12 hour gap.

McClellan gets asked about the 12 hour gap today and "treason." Oh my. Read More......

Afternoon open thread

I've discovered that keeping the curtains closed all day actually does keep my apartment below 80 degrees. Who knew? Read More......

Coingate, the other white meat

It keeps going, and going and going... Read More......

26 Dem Senators demand Congress investigate RoveGate

Now things are getting interesting.

The list includes:

Senators Kerry, Levin, Stabenow, Schumer, Lautenberg, Rockefeller, Reid, Feinstein, Dorgan, Harkin, Kohl, Durbin, Carper, Salazar, Boxer, Inouye, Corzine, Wyden, Mikulski, Obama, Murray, Bayh, Johnson, Clinton, Sarbanes, and Landrieu.

Particularly interesting is that Reid and Durbin are on board, meaning the leadership endorses this letter, Inouye is a big deal, and last but not least, the fact that Joe Biden is missing. Well, we'll be missing in 3 years if Biden dares run for president. Read More......

Republican Senator: Covert Agents Are Fair Game

Sorry, but I just have to keep talking about the article John posted below. He was rightly aghast that Sen. Roberts of Kansas is laughing off national security and treating the covert status of agents as a joke. But what really astonished me was the context of his comments: as threader acanadianreader pointed out, Roberts is mocking Valerie Plame's status as a covert agent who risked execution if caught overseas (no diplomatic immunity) and made contacts around the world whose lives have also been endangered by her outing.

The Senate Intelligence Committee will conduct hearings on American spy agencies' use of cover to protect the identities of intelligence officers, the committee chairman said on Sunday....

Larry C. Johnson, a former C.I.A. analyst who organized the letter, said in an interview that "there are lives on the line" in the leak of an operative's identity, because foreigners known to have met with the operative may come under suspicion.

But another former C.I.A. officer, Reuel Marc Gerecht, called Ms. Wilson's cover "very, very soft" and said cover "is the Achilles' heel of the agency." He said cover is too often easily penetrated by foreign intelligence agencies.

It hardly needs to be penetrated by foreign intelligence when Rove leaks the info to the press.

Message? Joe Wilson's mission was a joke because his wife sent him. And Valerie Plame wasn't "really" a covert agent, just a glorified desk jockey.

I assume Roberts also thinks classifications like Secret and Not for Foreign are a joke as well. This administration is declaring open war on the CIA. Why doesn't the head go on talk shows and denounce this dangerous attack on national security and the men and women who risk their lives defending it? Read More......

Another Republican Senator for treason

From the NY Times:

The chairman [of the Senate Intelligence Committee], Senator Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas, said on the CNN program "Late Edition".... "I must say from a common-sense standpoint, driving back and forth to work to the C.I.A. headquarters, I don't know if that really qualifies as being, you know, covert," Mr. Roberts said.

See, now this fascinates me. Apparently, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee is a total idiot, liar, or simply doesn't care about national security. Driving back and forth to Langley doesn't make you covert? Uh, so Roberts is suggesting that undercover CIA agents don't even visit Langley at all, because that would blow their cover? That's just bizarre thinking since Langley is where they train, and it's their HQ. Not to mention, other CIA agents have already made clear that lots of covert agents drive back and forth to Langley.

At this point Republican members of Congress are simply making shit up. And that's scary. Very scary. Our national security during war time isn't some cute political game where we bring out the top Senator on intelligence issues and have him lie publicly about what constitutes a covert CIA agent, just so he can help get the president out of a bind.

I'm still trying to figure out when did Republicans start hating national security? Can hatred of our troops be far behind? Read More......

Open thread

Only 86F so far, downright cool out. Read More......

Who was that masked (gay) man?

From the NY Daily News:

Lively court briefs

Amid the political hullabaloo surrounding white-bread Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, gay activist Michelangelo Signorile remembers a much more colorful candidate.

"There was a contender for the federal judiciary in the George W. Bush administration who I began receiving information ... about him making sexual advances on men in gyms in Washington and other cities," Signorile told us Friday. Immediately after sex, "he would ... go into a religious tirade and then tell them how morally wrong all this was. His record was really conservative."

Signorile, whose collection of essays, "Hitting Hard," is out next month from Carroll & Graf, outed Malcolm Forbes not long after the billionaire died in 1990. He now writes for www.signorile.com and has a show on Sirius Satellite Radio.

Having heard the stories about the would-be federal judge, the writer made a few calls to the White House.

"They said they'd have someone call me back, and they didn't," Signorile laughed.

"The upshot of it was, this person was just quietly no longer a contender!"

Read More......

Who's responsible for the 12 hour gap?

Gonzales is trying to blame Ashcroft. Fine with me. Someone's responsible for giving the White House 12 hours that they could have used to destroy evidence of RoveGate. More from ThinkProgress.

Man, how choice would it be to grill Ashcroft's ass over all of this. Read More......

Wilson/Plame's lawyer's op ed in USA Today

USA Today:

Two years following the Wilson op-ed and the Novak column, we know that Joe was right — there was no basis for the administration's claims regarding Iraq's nuclear plans. After Joe's op-ed appeared, White House officials admitted they were wrong to include the claim in the president's State of the Union. The White House has never retracted that retraction. We know that but for Joe's whistle-blowing, the administration would not have admitted that it was wrong to use the nuclear scare as a ground for war.

Read More......

Open thread

Global warming coming to a town near you? Read More......

Yet another car bomb in Baghdad - 8 dead. Anyone feeler safer out there?

How are the Iraqi people safer? So how the hell are we safer? Is the world really a safer place because the US invaded Iraq? The US simply does not have the resources to fight the endless stream of people who are willing to kill themselves and kill others. US troops are so wrapped up with the mess in Iraq and the US is relying on Musharraf who is unable to control the radical elements within his military security services. These are probably the people that have tried to assassinate him on numerous occasions.

Maybe the Democrats who supported this damned war can explain to us why they supported it and what they are doing to get some clear answers because the GOP surely won't give us any information. Read More......

Egyptians protest against Sharm el-Sheik bombings

2,000 Egyptians demonstrated against the latest terrorist strikes which primarily killed Egyptians and will have a devastating impact financially on the region. Read More......