More Lieberman-bashing in CT - apparently the voters there want a real Democrat this time around

Ouch. Read More......

Back from Greek Easter

Have lots and lots and lots of new orchid photos for the Fridays. So what have I been missing? Read More......

Using leaks as a pretext, Bush wants to destroy what's left of the free press

From Murray Waas who examines not only the hypocrisy of the Bush administration and the GOP when it comes to leaks, he looks at the way the Bush team is using this as a weapon to silence and squelch his political enemies. It's Kremlinesque:

In a response to questions for this article, Times Editor Bill Keller said in an e-mail that he believed the Bush White House is on a campaign to intimidate the press. "I'm not sure journalists fully appreciate the threat confronting us," Keller wrote. "The Times in the eavesdropping case, the Post for its CIA prison stories, and everyone else who has tried to look behind the war on terror."

Keller asserted that "there's sometimes a vindictive tone in the way [administration officials] talk about dragging reporters before grand juries and in the hints that reporters who look too hard into the public's business risk being branded traitors." He warned that journalists possibly are "suffering a bit of subpoena fatigue. Maybe some people are a little intimidated by the way the White House plays the soft-on-terror card. Whatever the reason, I worry that we're not as worried as we should be."

On the issue of leak investigations, one former senior intelligence official said that the Bush administration has targeted "leaks and leakers they don't like, while turning a blind eye to those they do like, or [leaks] they do themselves." Should this continue, the former official said, it would set a "dangerous precedent in that any president will be able to control the flow of information regarding any policy dispute.... When historians examine this, they will see that is how we got into war with Iraq."

The Bush effort to destroy the press will leave us with Fred Hiatt, the Washington Times and FOX News. It's bad enough now, but imagine that. The way things are going historians may have to examine whether this lack of scrutiny got us into a war with Iran, too?

This is scary stuff -- and the hypocrisy is monumental. If Bush cared about prosecuting leakers, Karl Rove would be in jail. And the Waas article reminds us that Senator Pat Roberts would be too. Read More......

Fuzzy math from the Prez

The press is abuzz over Bush's decision to stop depositing oil in the strategic reserve -- the mere fact that Bush did something has them all twittering. Dan Froomkin took a look at what it actually means. Not much:

While stopping short of actually tapping the reserves, Bush ordered a temporary halt to any further deposits -- a move that will slightly increase supply available to consumers.

Dow Jones reports that the move would free up about 70,000 barrels a day otherwise destined for the reserve in the coming weeks.

By my calculations, that's about one third of one percent of the total U.S. consumption of about 20 million barrels a day -- anyone want to call that a drop in the bucket?

Bush was being literal when he said "Every little bit helps." Read More......

Pelosi the Leader

Okay, now this is what a Minority Leader Speaker of the House looks like. Atrios has the transcript and a link to the video which is definitely worth watching....(and worth repeating, Mrs. Pelosi.) Read More......

Open Thread

Stir it up. Read More......

Tomorrow could be a Snow Day at the White House

Tomorrow we'll see the actual morphing of FOX News into the White House according to what they're hearing Think Progress

UPDATE: Courtesy of Think Progress, we have some words of wisdom from Tony Snow. My favorite:

“George Bush has become something of an embarrassment.” [11/11/05]

Read More......

IRS still not investigating right wing political churches in Ohio

Not that it's a surprise, but the IRS is ignoring the blatant partisan political activities of right-wing religious groups in Ohio. Under federal tax law, churches can't engage in electoral politicals -- unless, apparently, they're supporting GOP candidates like Ken Blackwell:

"You have flagrant intervention continuing and no indication of IRS activity," said Marcus Owens, a lawyer for the group and former director of the IRS office that regulates tax-exempt organizations. He considers the evidence of wrongdoing "pretty overwhelming" and suspects favoritism, which tax agency officials deny.

The right wingers know the Bush IRS will never investigate them. Never. Ever. Read More......

Big win for Oil Companies -- Bush suspends enviro. regs.

Bonanzas for the oil industry all around. They get outrageous profits and, thanks to their President, a big break on environmental controls:

President Bush on Tuesday ordered a temporary suspension of environmental rules for gasoline, making it easier for refiners to meet demand and possibly dampen prices at the pump.

And you want to bet removing those environmental rules means even more profit? What a racket.

UPDATE: Check out "10 Reasons Republicans Are to Blame for High Gas Prices" over at the DSCC. As for that feigned GOP concern about price gouging, here are two key facts:

Senate Republicans killed a Democratic proposal to make gas price gouging a federal crime. Without making price gouging a federal crime, the federal government can only prosecute oil companies if they can prove collusion to control markets, a standard that is nearly impossible to meet. [S. 2020, Vote #334, 11/17/05; Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 11/18/05]

The Bush Federal Trade Commission has looked the other way when it comes to price gouging. Even during Hurricane Katrina, when price gouging was rather evident, the FTC investigation "found no evidence of collusion among oil companies in the 2005 gas price surge.” [ San Francisco Chronicle, 4/25/06]

Read More......

"Jack in the House" is Back

Thanks to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Jack in the House is back. New and revamped -- and playing hard ball because that's what CREW does. They're telling Congressman Bob Ney to resign. And he should, although it will be great when he loses in November.

All of the rest of Jack's many, many pals -- including Ralph Reed, Grover Norquist and a pile of other GOP Senators and Congressman -- aren't going to like this site either. Read More......

Speaking for the Senate Republicans, Elizabeth Dole really is an idiot

I read this quote in an AP article and thought, huh? Could she be such a moron? I know it comes from here lackeys at the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, but it's so pathetic.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole, chairwoman of the Republican Senate campaign committee, issued a statement that said, "Democrats have decided to play partisan politics with gas prices in a flailing attempt to distract from the growing economy."

Clearly, Dole and the GOP are the ones flailing. They've been in cahoots with big oil for years. For Christ sakes, the Prez and the Veep are OIL MEN. According to Open Secrets, oil and gas interests have given 80% of their political money to the GOP over the past couple cycles -- that percentage has risen steadily. The best Dole can do is a press release blaming the Dems. for playing politics.

To Dole and the GOP, pointing out the pain being caused to American families by skyrocketing gas prices is partisan politics. Because to them, everything is politics. To American families, $3.00 a gallon (and rising fast) is a very harsh reality -- that's something the GOP has really been missing. Read More......

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Start threading the news... Read More......

Airlines jamming in more customers

Stand up tickets? I remember a joke years ago on "In Living Color" and I heard rumors about stand up tickets in India but Airbus has actually promoted the idea to some airlines. This sounds like an idea that the consumer-hating German Wings would love, just to make customers even more miserable, if that is even possible with them. I don't mind bringing my own food on flights (as long as something edible is available at the airport) but the shrinking space and even talk of standing room "seats" is really getting to be too much.

Only two nights ago I heard a story of a recent transatlantic flight where a few customers quickly pushed back their seats, crushing the knees of those in the row behind them and spilling drinks. This of course led to some heated exchanges which was followed by drinks being dumped on each other by four fliers. Pretty bad but not uncommon these days. With the spaces shrinking it can only get worse. Read More......

Big Oil strikes again

In a debate that has similar environmental overtones to the Alaska drilling discussion, Shell is moving forward with an offshore drilling and pipeline project in the Sakhalin Islands despite claims by scientists, environmentalists not to mention their own studies that the project is causing and will continue to cause severe problems for an endangered whale population and other wildlife. Shell has been dreaming of this drilling project for years and facts be damned, they will move ahead.

Shell is littered with problems ranging from oil reserve re-statements, to conflict in Nigeria (by failing to live up to their end of agreements) and now they are ignoring the environmental problems in Sakhalin and seem OK with killing off a species of whale. And to think Bush wants to give Shell and Big Oil billions in handouts. Read More......

23 killed in Egypt bombings

Another catastrophe in Egypt. The attack was aimed at killing and terrifying foreign tourists but again, like the previous attacks, many more locals were killed. Read More......

FOX anchor Tony Snow likely to become new White House press secretary

It's been rumored for days, and now is rumored to be a done deal. Whatever. The White House of lies hires the network of lies. And this is a surprise? Read More......

Bush administration lied about reason for firing CIA agent last Friday, wasn't because she leaked about CIA prisons

UPDATE: I finally corrected the link, sorry about that.

The Bush administration said explicitly last Friday that a CIA agent was fired for leaking classified information, assumed to be regarding the existence of secret CIA prisons in former Soviet gulags in Eastern Europe.

Today we find out they were just kidding.

She didn't leak any classified information.

She didn't say anything about the secret prisons.

Oh, she's still fired, we just don't know why. Then why was she fired? And why did the Bush administration tell the world that she was a leaker when she wasn't?

They fired this woman ten days before she was due to retire. Then they lied about why. Sounds to me like this was one more bit of retribution by George Bush against a woman whose expert analysis of the facts didn't toe the Bush pro-war line.

Someone on the Hill needs to launch a major investigation of this case because it's beginning to look like this impeccable public servant just got screwed. Read More......