General tried to warn Bush about Pat Tillman's death

Surprise. I'm sure no one remembers this either. Read the rest of this post...

Our new favorite man-whore is in even more trouble

Oh my. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Gorgeous night here. 65 degrees, and no birds.

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Jesse Jackson denounces Congressional Black Caucus Institute for wooing anti-Black FOX News

From ColorOfChange.org:

Rev. Jesse Jackson today denounced the Congressional Black Caucus Institute’s planned presidential debate partnership with FOX. He called for yesterday’s decision to be reversed and for presidential candidates not to attend a FOX debate.

Jackson said, “I am disappointed by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute's partnership with FOX, and strongly encourage them to reverse that decision. Why would presidential candidates, or an organization that is supposed to advocate for Black Americans, ever give a stamp of legitimacy to a network that continually marginalizes Black leaders and the Black community? FOX moderating a presidential debate on issues of importance to Black Americans is literally letting the Fox guard the henhouse – FOX should be rejected.”

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Growing concern about student loan providers

Imagine that...the big names on Wall Street and US banking connected to questionable student loan practices. Shocking, really.

Amid growing government scrutiny of the student loan business, the chairman of a House committee said Thursday he has asked five major lenders to provide information about their relationships with college financial aid offices.

California Democrat George Miller requested the information from industry leader Sallie Mae as well as rivals Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup's Student Loan Corp.

In a letter to Thomas Fitzpatrick, chief executive of SLM Corp., the formal name for Sallie Mae, Miller cited news reports raising "concerns about student loan providers offering gifts or other questionable incentives to colleges that agree to encourage students to take out their student loans with specific lenders."

Miller, who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee, asked for the information to be provided within 10 days.

He is seeking a wide range of data on loan recipients and benefits extended to them and their colleges, as well as documents on marketing practices and compensation policies, all extending back as far as 2001.

The lawmaker has already introduced legislation that would require lenders and institutions to disclose more fully the terms of their relationships.

Shocking that the Republican Congress saw nothing wrong with this, sort of like there was nothing wrong with the subprime lending programs. What else did the GOP ignore and when will we find out? It's going to be a never-ending story of corruption and greed and I'm sure we have just barely begun to scratch the surface. Read the rest of this post...

CNN host launches sexist attack on Senator Clinton

Of course, this is the same CNN host who called Mrs. Clinton a "bitch" two weeks ago, so why stop there? This is the same CNN host who suggested that all Muslim-Americans are working with the terrorists, that the word "faggot" isn't really much of a slur, that women should be referred to by their weight, that he "hates" the families of the victims of September 11, that Hurricane Katrina victims are "scumbags," and that Senator Obama is so "colorless... he might as well be white."

But hey, CNN wants ratings. And they've apparently learned that racism, sexism and homophobia work for FOX, so why not CNN? Very sad.

More from ThinkProgress, and hat tip to My Two Sense for finding this and dogging this pitiful excuse for a CNN host. Read the rest of this post...

The creator of the (in)famous Hillary/Apple/1984 ad speaks out

I actually met Phil last month, before this story happened. The spoof he did of the 1984 Mac ad is just brilliant (he took the old ad and updated it with Hillary content, it's seamless). I know Phil got some shit for it, lost his job actually. But the quality of the ad, the genius behind it, is simply amazing. The guy is worth a million bucks.

Here's his interview:



Here's the ad he made:



And finally, here is the original Mac ad from 1984 that he's spoofing.

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Newspaper editor sends son to a war he opposes

Great column by an editor whose son has decided to go to Iraq. From E&P;. Read the rest of this post...

FYI There's a story in the Advocate about Hillary and Obama, quotes me a good deal, most of the quotes are wrong

I had a back and forth all week with the Advocate over their new article about Hillary and Obama and the gay community. They interviewed me, gave me a good few paragraphs in the piece, then to my dismay I realized that 80% of the quotes attributed to me were really quotes that someone else said. Apparently the editors cut some paragraphs and someone else's quotes became mine. It wouldn't be that big a deal, most of the quotes are pretty benign (though who knew that Hillary was a "street fighter"?), but I do object to one quote in particular - claiming that Hillary is now ambivalent on DOMA. That's not true, as far as I know, and I don't want to be quoted in the future as saying so (which is what happens if lazy reporters rely on old quotes they find via google). The editors tell me that they're issuing a correction or a retraction or something. So, just giving you guys a heads up. If you read the Advocate this week, most of those quotes attributed to me are not mine. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Day 7 of "waking up at dawn with the birds" I've retired the new bird feeder. It was a nice idea, but seriously, chirping 10 feet away from my bed at 5:30 in the morning every single bloody day? I don't think so. So, I got a few neat pictures this week of the birds, and now am trying to convince them to go away. The sirens in this town are bad enough (it's been insufferable since September 11), but bird fights all day long? I don't think so. Here are a few pictures I snapped (that's the Capitol dome in the background.) - as always, click on each picture to see a larger version.





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Just whose side is the Congressional Black Caucus on?

We already know - their non-profit institute is on the side of racist TV networks. Corrupt, corrupt, corrupt.

Visit the Color of Change for more info on this issue. Read the rest of this post...

Top Republicans just can't remember key facts. They are either lying or evading. Or both.

Howie Kurtz asked today: "Does everyone in the Bush administration have amnesia?" He then provides some striking examples of allegedly very smart people, who, by the way, are running the government of the United States, with some very faulty memories:

Alberto Gonzales kept saying he wasn't involved in any discussions about the firing of U.S. attorneys, but according to his former chief of staff yesterday, he was -- several times over.

Gonzales couldn't even recall a conversation with the president involving GOP complaints about some U.S. attorneys, although Bush remembered it.

In his Senate appearance yesterday, Kyle Sampson flatly contradicted his ex-boss's denials. As for himself, Sampson said that, whaddya know, he had forgotten some of the e-mails he sent and received when briefing the deputy attorney general about his appearance before Congress. At one point, Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) said: "We're trying to find out what in heaven's name he does remember."

GSA chief Lurita Doan, who testified Wednesday about a January videoconference in which a White House official briefed the agency about targeting congressional Democrats, said: "I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit this, but I can say that I honestly don't have recollection of the presentation at all."

She kept repeating the "do not recollect" defense until a Democratic congressman likened her to Sergeant Shultz, the see-nothing dufus Nazi guard on "Hogan's Heroes."

Scooter Libby is facing the prospect of jail because he told a grand jury he couldn't remember leaking Valerie Plame's identity to some reporters.

But the GOP amnesia isn't limited just to "loyal Bushies." Today's NY Times profiles Rudy Giuliani's forgetfulness about Bernard Kerik's alleged ties to the mob. Now, let's not forget that before Rudy was mayor, he was a hard-charging U.S. Attorney who famously went after the mob. Yet, asked whether he'd been told that his choice to run the NY Police Dept. might have some mob-related issues, Rudy couldn't remember:

At one point, a senior Bronx prosecutor, Stephen R. Bookin, asked Mr. Giuliani, “As you sit here today, your testimony is, and correct me if I am wrong, that you don’t recall ever being told that a close friend of your correction commissioner had been indicted in a federal case?”

Mr. Giuliani responded: “I don’t recall that until 2004. I can’t tell you that it wasn’t, but I don’t — I don’t — I don’t remember.”

Is it a lie to say you can't remember to avoid lying? Funny thing how most of these moments of forgetfulness happen under oath.

Telling the truth is not a GOP value. Read the rest of this post...

The largest data breach to date at TJ Maxx-Marshalls

Thanks for nothing, TJ Maxx. Doing nothing, that is. You would expect that a highly profitable business run by very well paid executives would have shown an interest in data security for their customers, but not TJX, parent company of TJ Maxx and Marshalls. Unauthorized software was working inside the company together with hackers who managed to access 45.7 million credit and debit card numbers. The data was then used across Florida, with reports of international purchases as far away as Hong Kong.

It is almost shocking that nobody has been sacked to date for this mismanaged fiasco but the Bush administration has certainly set new standards in America for holding firm in the face of incompetence and failure. Can you imagine that the largest data breach in history has had such minimal impact? Perhaps someone from TJX can provide some detail as to how they intend to compensate their previously loyal customers who have been exposed to this problem that could easily haunt them for years?

TJX owes some answers to its customers, at a minimum. As consumers, don't we deserve it? Read the rest of this post...

Friday Morning Open Thread

Big day for George Bush. He gets to do a photo op at Walter Reed. Bush thinks taking pictures constitutes support for the troops.

And, is Alberto Gonzales still our nation's top law enforcement official? In Bush world, lying doesn't mean one can't be the Attorney General. Says so much.

So, it's Friday. Start threading the news. Read the rest of this post...

Children massacred by Uganda army according to report

The Bush-friendly government often struggles with the truth, so groups such as Save the Children might be more reliable sources than government and military leaders.

Ugandan army raids in the country's troubled northeast killed up to 66 children who were shot or crushed by armored vehicles and stampeding animals, aid workers said Friday, citing witnesses.

Children's rights charity Save the Children said it has met with 256 people who reported the deaths during raids by the Ugandan People's Defense Force on a cattle ranch in Karamoja on February 12.

"Reports of children being killed in indiscriminate, illegal and inhumane way is absolutely devastating. Such allegations must be fully investigated and those involved brought to account," said Valter Tinderholt, country director of Save the Children in Uganda.

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Democrats warn Interior Department over Endangered Species

Common sense is coming back into style. I love balance of power.

Rep. Norm Dicks and senior Democrats warned the Interior Department on Wednesday against making major changes in the Endangered Species Act without involving Congress.

The quick and unambiguous response came one day after reports that the Interior Department has been working for months to reinterpret the 1973 law in a way that environmentalists said would gut the primary tool for protecting plants and animals on the verge of extinction.

The Bush administration and some Republicans have been working for years to change the act, which they say is onerous and overly expensive for landowners. At each step, however, Congress has blocked the changes.

The new approach would change the law unilaterally by changing the way it is interpreted. Those changes surfaced in a 117-page document and in departmental memos that discuss ways to restrict the law without needing congressional approval.

Dicks, who spoke Wednesday with Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, said he was especially concerned by a proposal that would require extra protection only in areas where endangered species are found.

That would significantly narrow protections because current practice includes habitat that historically supported a species, even if that species no longer lives there.

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