Video you should watch

It's from the TV show Boston Legal. It quite nicely sums up what it means to be an American, as compared to a Republican or a conservative or a Christian conservative, none of whom have any respect for anything this country (or they themselves) used to believe in. Read More......

Donald Wildmon, of the American Family Association, warns against using "Jewish words"

From the March 8 edition of the AFA Report:

BENSON: Yeah, I mean, this is -- this is what you call -- what? -- chutzpah. This is -- this is --

WILDMON: That's a Jewish word, right? Be careful.

Jewish words? I didn't realize we had "Jewish" words in English? Are those like "Negro words"?

According to the head of the religious right gay-hating and not-so-Jew-loving American Family Association, apparently there are "Jewish" words in English, and what's more, one needs to be "careful" when using them. Maybe Wildmon thinks using Jewish words can make you grow horns.

(The rest of the story is kind of fun too, but I think the "Jewish" word pretty much sums up how backward these people are.) Read More......

Bush's new "evidence" re Saddam and al Qaeda - Take II

Oh, this is even better. ABC News reports the release of the following document that you just know Bush will use to "prove" that Iraq was working with bin Laden:

"Osama bin Laden and the Taliban"

Document dated Sept. 15, 2001

An Iraqi intelligence service document saying that their Afghani informant, who's only identified by a number, told them that the Afghani Consul Ahmed Dahastani claimed the following in front of him:

That OBL and the Taliban are in contact with Iraq and that a group of Taliban and bin Laden group members visited Iraq.

That the U.S. has proof the Iraqi government and "bin Laden's group" agreed to cooperate to attack targets inside America....

Ok, so if we're to believe that this is "proof" of Iraq and bin Laden working together, then we also must believe the second point in this super secret document from the same source - namely, that the US had proof four days after September 11 that the Iraqi government and bin Laden had agreed to cooperate to attack targets inside the US. If that's true, then why four and a half years after September 11 has the Bush administration not released this definitive proof? Not only that, but the Bush administration doesn't even allege that Saddam was working with Al Qaeda to attack targets in the US.

The US never had such proof, the source in this document is bogus. But why is Bush suddenly releasing all these non-credible documents? To confuse the public and bolster his case based on a lie. Read More......

Bush releases documents showing Saddam wasn't working with Al Qaeda

The new documents, released today by the Bush administration, are maybe, but maybe not, real Iraqi government documents that we found in Iraq. The Bush administration can't vouch for the documents' authenticity or the accuracy of the translations from Arabic, but they're releasing them anyway in the hopes that - get this - right-wing blogs can help them prove their case that Saddam had WMD and ties to Al Qaeda.

Yes, it's come to that. Bush is now relying on Michelle Malkin's keen intelligence skills to prove the case for war in Iraq.

Anyway, my favorite part of the document dump is the following "find" that shows the Iraqi government wasn't working with Al Qaeda at all - in fact, Iraqi intelligence was trying to get a handle on what, if any, Al Qaeda presence there might be in the country:

One synopsis described a series of Iraqi documents as "Iraqi intelligence correspondence concerning the presence of al Qaeda members in Iraq," adding there were exchanges between intelligence service members about a suspicion that was later confirmed of the presence of an al Qaeda group in the country.

Did you get that? The documents don't show Saddam working with Al Qaeda. On the contrary, they prove (if they're even real) that Saddam had no clue if Al Qaeda was even hiding inside Iraq at all, and he was trying to find out. Not at all unlike our own government trying to determine if there are likely Al Qaeda operatives inside the US at this very moment.

If that's the standard for convicting someone of working with Al Qaeda, simply determining that there may operatives hiding in the country, then George Bush is as guilty as Saddam Hussein, since Al Qaeda is hiding in the US, and how many, 65 or so, other countries as well? Should we invade western Europe too? What exactl does this document dump prove, other than extreme desperation by a dangerously incompetent president.

Hey, it worked! Bush released the documents and a blogger figured them out!

Thanks GWB. Read More......

Halliburton didn't protect water supply for US soldiers

Cheney's old colleagues really are bastards:

Halliburton Co. failed to protect the water supply it is paid to purify for U.S. soldiers throughout Iraq, in one instance missing contamination that could have caused "mass sickness or death," an internal company report concluded.

The report, obtained by The Associated Press, said the company failed to assemble and use its own water purification equipment, allowing contaminated water directly from the Euphrates River to be used for washing and laundry at Camp Ar Ramadi in Ramadi, Iraq.

Shouldn't someone go to jail for endangering the lives of our troops?

Oh yeah, that would be the president.

Republicans = incompetence. Read More......

Republicans Block Funding For Port Security, Disaster Preparedness

Glad to see the Republicans are still united in trying to make Americans less safe. This is the Republican legacy. Through their incompetence making America and the world a more dangerous place for you and your children. Read More......

Americans do support the Senate censure of Bush

So, the beltway pundits -- and the Democratic hand-wringers -- are wrong one more time about how the American people feel on a key issue. The American people support censuring Bush...and the numbers are even higher for voters according to the latest poll from American Research Group. Hat tip to Polital Wire.

The question:

Do you favor or oppose the United States Senate passing a resolution censuring President George W. Bush for authorizing wiretaps of Americans within the United States without obtaining court orders?

The results:

All Adults: Favor 46% Oppose 44% Undecided 10%

Voters: Favor 48% Oppose 43% Undecided 9%

Read More......

Let's create a list of every idiotic thing George Bush has done in the past five years

Seriously, I want to compose a real list of every idiocy, every scandal, every mistake, everything. For example, things like:

• No one could have imagined the levees would breach
• lied about WMD in Iraq (for example, I'd like dates of specific times they claimed to have found WMDs during the invasion, there were at least 6 or so occasions)
• pre-war lies - mohammad atta in czech republic, saddam hussein ties to al qaeda, etc. detail all of them in one-liners
• Mission Accomplished
• White House energy commission
• biggest deficit ever
• Brownie, heck of a job
• Bernie Kerik hired, fired
• Harriet Miers
  
• Valerie Plame outed
• Scooter Libby indicted
• Claude Allen arrested
• Armstrong Williams paid off
• Maggie Gallagher paid off
  
• Jeff Gannon
• Most vacation time of any presidency

I want EVERYTHING. I want a massive list that we can keep adding to with each day. I want things that go to his honesty, credibility, ineptness, everything. I want THE comprehensive list of every idiotic thing this man has done over the past 5 years.

Start posting suggestions, and think back to the beginning... Read More......

Incompetent, idiot, liar

Reuters

A majority of Americans, 56 percent, believe Bush is "out of touch," the poll found. When asked for a one-word description of Bush, the most frequent response was "incompetent," followed by "good," "idiot" and "liar." In February 2005, the most frequent reply was "honest."

I'd have probably said "idiot." You? Read More......

Jessica Simpson refuses to attend Republican fundraiser

I never thought I'd say this, but good for Jessica Simpson.

Her reasoning, which is 100% correct, is that she's coming to DC to promote her non-profit, Operation Smile, that helps provide plastic surgery to children abroad who have facial deformities. The GOP tried to snare her up and get her to attend the $2500 a person dinner, the proceeds of which are going to help elect Republicans this coming November. Simpson, quite rightly, felt uncomfortable associating her charity with a partisan cause.

And she's right. If she attended the Republican fundraiser she'd be associating herself and her charity with Republicans only. That's dumb, and it doesn't help the children.

In the story, the Republicans claim that "that didn't stop Bono." But I have a hard time believing that Bono attended Republican fundraisers. And if he did, someone should have a chat with Bono.

Good for Jessica. The safest thing for her to do is what she did, bow out gracefully and protect the kids. Read More......

Open Thread

The GOP-led Senate just raised the national debt limit to $9 trillion. That's around $30,000 worth of debt for every American according to ABC News. Read More......

US starts biggest attack in Iraq since 2003

Three years after the war started, the US launched the biggest assault since 2003. Is this the progress we keep hearing about?:

U.S. forces, joined by Iraqi troops, on Thursday launched the largest air assault since the U.S.-led invasion, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital, the military said.

"More than 1,500 Iraqi and Coalition troops, over 200 tactical vehicles, and more than 50 aircraft participated in the operation," the military statement said of the attack designed to "clear a suspected insurgent operating area northeast of Samarra," 60 miles north of Baghdad.

Read More......

Missouri GOP begins war on birth control

The GOP is exposing their full allegiance to the theocratic agenda. It's not just abortion and gays, they're after. They want more. In Missouri, they're going after birth control. Fired Up Missouri has the details.

A lot of people in America have benefitted from the right to privacy that was propounded in the landmark case of Griswold v. Connecticut back in 1965. In that case, the Supreme Court overturned a state law that prevented giving birth control advice and treatment to married couples. Yes, married couples. And that was only 40 years ago. In Connecticut.

In Missouri, the theocrats in the GOP are going very public with the campaign against access to basic birth control. Read More......

Yet another poll...yet another new low

NBC/Wall Street Journal poll:

According to the poll, only 37 percent approve of Bush’s job performance — his lowest mark ever in the survey. That’s a two-point drop since the last NBC/Journal poll, and a one-point decline from his previous low of 38 percent last November. In addition, just 26 percent believe the nation is headed in the right direction, a tie from the previous Bush administration low, which also occurred in November.

Why would anyone cower before Bush? Read More......

She's staying in

We do still have Katherine Harris to kick around. She is not dropping out of the Florida Senate race:

U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris vowed to continue her bid for a Senate seat and pledged to boost the campaign with $10 million she recently inherited from her father.

"I'm staying. I'm in this race. I'm going to win," Harris said Wednesday night on Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes." "I'm going to put everything on the line."

Fine. Put everything on the line -- and lose. Read More......

Another open thread

Off to bed here. And I can I say, I'm still just as sick as I was on Monday. This thing sucks. Read More......