Open thread

Bad, bad president. Read More......

Rightwingers now saying the MSM made up all the stories about how bad New Orleans was in the post Katrina aftermatch

Uh uh. Our reporter, Kyle, wasn't there until 9 or 10 days AFTER Katrina struck, and he was in his SUV wading through 3 feet of water, looking at dead bodies (funny that Kyle didn't point his finger at any for the camera and laugh), and raw sewage everywhere. Not to mention, he reported that it was a total ghost town, with mercenaries walking around with guns, and scarier than hell.

Yeah, it was all a lie. Damn you, Kyle. Read More......

US Army has ALREADY concluded that they won't press charges against soldiers based on the death-photos-for-porn scandal. Gee that was fast.

Fast, and rather disgusting. And rather poorly timed, the same day Lynndie England is convicted for her Abu Ghraib big adventure.

Think about how crass the Pentagon is. DOD is contacted about this scandal earlier today, tell the press they're investigating, because of course they only JUST heard of this horrible scandal recently (that's why they didn't act sooner, of course), and then a few hours later says sorry, we can't prosecute but we'll be sure to consider disciplinary action. Huh?

An Army spokesman, Paul Boyce, later told AP that the preliminary criminal inquiry determined, based on available evidence, that felony charges could not be pursued. But the matter, including the possibility of disciplinary action, was being handled in coordination with other military services, he said.

Why can't they prosecute? This could be very well be a violation of the Geneva Conventions, and I quote the conventions themselves:

Article 34.-Remains of deceased
1. The remains of persons who have died for reasons related to occupation or in detention resulting from occupation or hostilities and those of persons not nationals of the country in which they have died as a result of hostilities shall be respected

And tell me that our distinguished military lawyers, the ones who are able to take "conduct unbecoming an officer" and twist it to mean simply being gay - these same folks aren't able to find posing with dead bodies as trophies and using photos of those bodies to trade for porn, that they can't find in their little legal minds a way to make this stick? Come on.

Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ)
ART. 133. CONDUCT UNBECOMING AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN

Any commissioned officer, cadet, or midshipman who is convicted of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

Now in all fairness, maybe the military means they're considering a court martial when they say they're looking at "disciplinary" measures. Though somehow I doubt it.

Maybe somebody should buy Mr. Rumsfeld a copy of the Geneva Conventions and explain to him that the reason we signed on to these "quaint" rules was to protect OUR SOLDIERS from being treated improperly, be they dead or alive. We certainly don't have a lot of standing to criticize others for abusing our soldiers when we abuse theirs and look the other way.

Ah, the whitewash begins. And are the bodies even cold yet?

PS I'm a lawyer, but I'm not an expert on international law or the UCMJ. Can someone out there tell me: is a violation of the Geneva Conventions a felony under US law; how are such violations prosecuted; and is a violation of the UCMJ a felony? And if not, are there any felony charges that exist that apply to this situation? Read More......

If we all clap our hands, Tom Delay will get indicted tomorrow

The latest story hints that it might be coming. And a little birdie tells me (well, okay, it's Joe in DC's little birdie who told him, then Joe told me) that Delay might just be indicted tomorrow. Stay tuned. Read More......

Lynndie England gets 3 years

Good. Read More......

Open thread

Blah Read More......

AP breaks military porn-for-death-photos scandal

Update: Make sure you give the AP story a 5-star recommendation at the bottom of the AP story page. It helps raise the story in the AP system, get more readers.

Good job, Associated Press.

The MSM finally reports on the story we wrote about yesterday morning (namely, US soldiers using pictures of dead Iraqis and Afghanis as trophies to trade for access to online porn sites). And CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, did a great job in helping make this a story. Sometimes, for the media to act, you need another shoe to drop. In this case, CAIR writing a letter to Rummy protesting the photos and the treatment of Iraqis and Afghanis by taking the photos, posing with bodies, etc. That was smart of CAIR, a smartness that most DC-based non-profits don't usually show. So kudos to CAIR for helping, along with all the other bloggers and media (like the Nation and East Bay Express) who helped make this news.

Now let's get even MORE coverage. :-) Read More......

GOP wants Dems to promise not filibuster Bush's next Supreme Court pick

Why should they promise that? Bush hasn't even told us who it's going to be. Not to mention, Bush and the Republicans in Congress are both at - oh - 38% in the polls. Why should the Dems worry about ticking off 38% of the country?

I have an idea, why don't Dems ask President Bush to "promise" now that he'll appoint someone in the image of Justice O'Connor to fill her slot?

Promises go both ways. Read More......

The White House Conservation Plan, by Scott McClellan

From E&P;, Scotty as press secretary to the conservationist in Chief:

After asserting that, actually, the White House has been advocating conservation since 2001, such as turning up the thermostat in summer, McClellan said Bush aides have been "looking at additional ways that we can conserve energy.

Of course, it was 2001, when Cheney and Ari bad-mouthed conservation:

In 2001, Vice President Dick Cheney said, "Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it cannot be the basis of a sound energy policy." Also that year, Ari Fleischer, then Mr. Bush's press secretary, responded to a question about reducing American energy consumption by saying "that's a big no."

But, Scotty gave us a list:

We'll also be sending out notices to staff about -- reminding them to turn off lights and printers and copiers and computers when they leave the office. We'll continue to move forward on more e-government, paperless systems that would reduce the use of faxes and copiers and printers and things of that nature, encouraging all government vehicles to try to consume less.

"That would include by people sharing rides in government vehicles, not letting cars idle, which wastes gas. We'll be sending out notices to staff to promote mass transit options, as well, letting them know about Metro stops and encouraging ride sharing, telling them where pick-up and drop-off points are at the White House, or reminding them of that, and just scrutinizing staff travel even more, so that people can videoconference where they can versus actually traveling, and things of that nature.

Okay, there are some common sense things here, but this is the best they can do? Maybe Scotty and Chimpy don't know that the President can actually do positive things to improve our energy situation. Maybe all they know is more oil, more pollution and drilling in the Arctic. Read More......

Double-super-secret congressional staffers

Yes, the "new" CIA, under Republican patronage rules, is now turning to congressional aides for super secret intel. I kid you not. Read More......

Open thread

Thread away. Read More......

Abramoff, the GOP, and gangland killings

Ah yes, I love watching a political party implode.

Fort Lauderdale police have arrested three men on murder and conspiracy charges in the 2001 gangland-style killing of a South Florida businessman who sold a casino cruise line to Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, authorities said today.

Read More......

Don't ever trust ABC's "The Note" again

ABC News has a daily email update called "The Note." It's supposed to be an insider's look at what's happening in Washington, nice little tidbits, blog style. Today "The Note" decided to publish an advance copy of a speech George Bush is going to give later today. It's a hell of a speech. But for the fact that it's a total fake.

You see, The Note was joking. Bush isn't going to give this speech at all. In fact, it's the verbatim text of a speech that Jimmy Carter gave in 1979. Of course, The Note doesn't tell you that. They simply say, quite straight faced, that they've received an advance copy of Bush's speech today and that they're publishing it on their site - ABCNews.com, mind you - and that's it.

Here's what The Note had to say in their prelude to the supposed Bush speech:

It is very rare to get leaked a copy of a presidential speech before it is delivered Â? and especially rare to get such a leak from the Bush 43 White House.

So in part to show off that someone slipped us the President's major address for later today in Beaumont, Texas Â? but also in part because we think it is a pretty interesting and newsy set of remarks Â? we bring you the text, as written, of what President Bush plans to say.

Obviously, this speech pushes off in large measure from the President's dramatic call yesterday for energy conservation Â? something Dick Cheney and Ari Fleischer have in the past suggested was nearly un-American (or, at least, a big waste of time).

The President's speech is likely to cause further ripples in Washington and, indeed, around the world.

So, without further ado: ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States:

Pardon me if I missed the part of the intro that makes clear this is a joke.

Here's my problem with this. This isn't satire. This isn't parody. It's a serious, legitimate new source publishing a presidential address and claiming it's a scoop they just receieved. There is no irony in what they wrote in the intro, none at all. Now sure, if you're some geek with a PhD in government you might recognize this as Jimmy Carter's speech from 25 years ago. But otherwise, we're to believe this speech is real. (And oh yeah, there's an itty bitty link in their intro, called "link", to Jimmy Carter's speech - which honestly, only makes you think that Bush is harkening back to Jimmy Carter.)

My problem with all of this? People are emailing The Note's "speech" around the Internet today, thinking it's for real. That's how I got a copy. I just got done writing a long blog post about the speech, thinking it was real, since I trust ABC News, only to talk to Joe in DC who told me "that can't be real, The Note must be being funny."

Well, yeah, real funny guys. So funny in fact that I won't be reading or trusting anything you write in the future.
appreciateiate a good joke. And I appreciate the point The Note was trying to make. Namely, that Bush is starting to channel Jimmy Carter. But a serious new source like ABC News doesn't make that point by publishing 30-year-old speeches and claiming that they're an advance copy of today's address by the president. That's not satire. That's just stupid. And you just put our reputation at risk because we believed you.

Trust me when I say I won't be making that mistake every again. Read More......

Red Cross successfully lobbied Bush to give Katrina money to religious groups

Chris in Paris noted this article in a post below, but I wanted to talk more about the Red Cross angle. Apparently the Red Cross has been lobbying in favor of religious groups, churches, etc. getting federal money to reimburse them for the "charity" work they did on Katrina.

From the Washington Post:

After weeks of prodding by Republican lawmakers and the American Red Cross, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said yesterday that it will use taxpayer money to reimburse churches and other religious organizations that have opened their doors to provide shelter, food and supplies to survivors of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

FEMA officials said it would mark the first time that the government has made large-scale payments to religious groups for helping to cope with a domestic natural disaster.

Funny, I didn't realize that the federal government was in the business of people for charity work. Is the Bush administration going to start paying the Mormons to compensate them for their missionary work (all that travel and those white shirts add up)? Are they going to reimburse the religious right groups for their "ex-gay" ministries, i.e., their brainwashing camps where they claim to "cure" gays?

And while we're at it, where's my reimbursement for my monetary donation to the Katrina fund (where's yours?)? Where's my federal bail-out for all the time we spent on this blog working on the Katrina issue in an effort to get the Bush administration to help all the people affected by the hurricane? And where's your $1500 to compensate all of you who donated to help send Kyle down to New Orleans to cover the hurricane? If self-less acts are now the domain of the federal government, then I want my fair share, hallelujah!

And finally, it's nice to know that some of the money Americans donate to the Red Cross, instead of going to help disaster victims, is instead going towards inside-the-beltway lobbying on behalf of the far-right agenda. Read More......

Consumer confidence tanks

It's amazing what seeing a failure shoved in your face will do for confidence. Who could possibly feel confident with an expensive, failing war, high gas prices from Mr "Jawbone" and an inability to help its own citizens after Katrina? The consumer outlook for the next few months was not positive either in this monthly study. Read More......

Drownie's testifying

It's live on CNN and C-SPAN. He thinks he does a pretty darn good job. Frightening. Read More......

Great background on the military porn-for-death-photos scandal

From Mark Glaser at Online Journalism Review. He wrote a great story about this a few days ago, do read it. The military claims they're looking into this matter. Interestingly, he references a NY Post story from February of this year reporting that the military was outraged over the site because it included photos of nude female soldiers, some having sex. So nude female soldiers is taboo, but US soldiers posing with dead body parts, that's okay. Well, it was until Glaser wrote his story.

My earlier story on this is here. Read More......

In Congress, its GOP v. GOP

The House Republicans are fighting among themselves:

Squeezed between a conservative clamor for spending cuts and the rising cost of hurricane relief, Republican congressional leaders will respond this week with a public relations offensive to win over angry conservatives -- but no substantive changes in budget policy.

The super hard core right wingers are in a battle with the just hard core right wingers. This should be fun to watch. Read More......

Open Thread

We should talk. Read More......

Bush team shoveling cash over to religious groups for Katrina relief

So what the hell happened to seperation of church and state? That was generous of the religious groups to help offer food and shelter after Katrina but why should taxpayers be giving their money to these religious groups? This is yet another attempt by the failed Bush team to win back support from their wingnut supporters who are probably also many of the same people who have traditionally complained about the size of the federal government and taxes.

"Volunteer labor is just that: volunteer," said the Rev. Robert E. Reccord, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board. "We would never ask the government to pay for it."

Becker said he and his staff at the Red Cross also urged FEMA to allow reimbursement of religious groups.

I donated to the Red Cross after 9/11 but have since struck them from my list and this only confirms my disgust with that organization. They don't know how to spend money wisely, their ethics are questionable and now they're encouraging federal taxpayer handouts to religious groups, so go to hell.

"The good news is that this work is being done now, but I don't think a lot of people realize that a lot of these organizations are actively working to obtain federal funds. That's a strange definition of charity," he said.

Read More......

Do we really want this administration giving the Pentagon more control?

It's still up for debate whether or not the military truly needs to have an expanded role in disaster situations in the US but putting that aside, is this really the team that we want making such a change? Look what they already have done to FEMA, a previously well run, well organized institution. Then consider what these people did with jamming bogus intelligence through the Pentagon for political purposes to get the war that they always dreamed of and then botching the entire invasion with a failed plan.

This team cannot be trusted to implement anything, especially one that would give an expanded role to the Pentagon. Let's limit the damage as much as possible and just say no. Read More......