Late Night Open Thread

Oh Georgie, you had a tough week in Asia. Any chance you found a way to catch a couple of these while over there? (It sure would have explained some of the "jet lag" don't you think? And that whole door incident.) So, for a pre-Thanksgiving nightcap, may we suggest...

China Village Mai Tai

1 oz Bacardi® dark rum
1 oz Bacardi® light rum
1 1/2 oz triple sec
1/2 oz Tropicana® orange juice
1 oz canned pineapple juice
1/4 oz grenadine syrup
ice cubes

Method
In a metal shaker add a fair amount of ice cubes. Add dark rum and light rum, then grenadine, orange juice, and pineapple juice. Finally add triple sec and shake vigorously.

Pour in a thick tall ribbed glass. Top with a cherry or a dash of triple sec.

Open thread away! Joe has Maine covered for the holiday, and I've got Connecticut and Massachusetts covered. It's a very New England Thanksgiving! Read the rest of this post...

Religious right plans to talk to children about blowjobs and anal sex during the Macy's parade

Well, that IS what they say the gay lifestyle is all about, and that's why they object to - heaven forbid - any discussion of gay issues in schools or on TV. So why is the religious right trying to force innocent children to read about sex during a holiday celebration?

There ought to be a constitutional amendment stopping these perverts from marrying and procreating. Read the rest of this post...

When in doubt, make shit up

Rep. Jean Schmidt, the lady who beat Paul Hackett in Ohio, the one who read a letter calling Murtha a coward. Well, seems she simply made it all up.

Though there is something poetic in defending a war based on a lie with, uh, lies. Read the rest of this post...

Vatican about to say gays not welcome in the priesthood

You know, kick 'em all out for all I care. With estimates that the number of gays in the Catholic priesthood are somewhere between 25% and 50%, I say kick 'em all out and watch how much power the corrupt old men running the Vatican have when they destroy their own church.

And if we're going to kick gays out, then I think we ought to have a gay test for all Vatican officials too. Let's start with Pope Nazi. How do we know he's straight? He certainly isn't the butchest guy I've ever seen. I'm serious. He doesn't give off major straight vibes. How do we know he isn't gay? If they're afraid of gay priests they ought to be VERY afraid of a gay pope. I hope whatever the new policy is, they start at the top and question everybody. Then what that evil corrupt pedophile-enabling institution crumble. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Ok, I'm established at the AMERICAblog Chicago headquarters :-) Joe is on his way to the great north (Maine), and I think Rob is off somewhere as well. Busy busy busy. Anyway, I'm here for the evening. What have I missed? Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Take it. It's yours. Read the rest of this post...

"Just because they say it doesn't make it true"

Yesterday, on the Situation Room, Wolf Blitzer was pushing Murtha on the Administration's dire predictions about what would happen if the US withdrew troops from Iraq. Murtha responded, "Just because they say it doesn't make it true." Such a simple concept, but hard for the media to grasp.

Given the Bush administration's track record, if they say it, it probably isn't true. Yet, media constantly take their words as gospel. How many lies does the White House have to tell before the media holds them accountable? Or before reporters do some basic fact checking to see if their statements match what reality?

One news organization, Knight Ridder, is actually holding White House officials accountable to their words according to Dan Froomkin's column today:

William Douglas of Knight Ridder Newspapers today maintains his bureau's tradition of consistently pushing back on mischaracterizations in White House speeches, rather than just repeating them.

"Cheney laid out the administration's defense of the war again -- and again conflated the war with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, even though investigative commissions have concluded that there was no connection between them and Saddam Hussein," Douglas writes.

He quotes Cheney:

"(T)hey attacked us on 9/11 here in the homeland, killing 3,000 people. Now they are making a stand in Iraq. . . . '

"Would the United States . . . be better off, or worse off, with Zarqawi, bin Laden and Zawahiri in control of Iraq?'

" . . . A precipitous withdrawal from Iraq would be a victory for the terrorists."

Then Douglas writes: "But the war in Iraq isn't primarily with terrorists. Cheney didn't note that Iraq's insurgency rises primarily from ethnic and sectarian tensions among Sunni and Shiite Muslims and Kurds, rejection of U.S.-led occupation forces, and loyalists to Saddam and his once-dominant Baath Party."

Fact checking Bush, Cheney, Rove, McClellan and the rest of that gang should be the norm, not the exception. It's easier...and lazier...to just regurgitate what they say rather than do real reporting. The White House must just laugh at how easy it is to manipulate the MSM. Read the rest of this post...

More lies from the Washington Post

Anyone surprised?

The new Washington Post. Kind of like the old Washington Times. Read the rest of this post...

When is Cheney going to call the Iraqi government on their support of terrorism?

Today, the front page of the Washington Post has the story of Dick Cheney's speech trashing war opponents yesterday. Cheney has become the administration's tough guy on this. The Post writes:

He added that to begin withdrawing from Iraq now, as some lawmakers have suggested, "would be a victory for the terrorists."

Yet, yesterday, as John notes in the posts below, the Iraqi government said just that yesterday. And worse, the Iraqi government made it very clear they do not consider violence against US troops to be acts of terrorism:

In Egypt, the final communique's attempt to define terrorism omitted any reference to attacks against U.S. or Iraqi forces. Delegates from across the political and religious spectrum said the omission was intentional. They spoke anonymously, saying they feared retribution.

"Though resistance is a legitimate right for all people, terrorism does not represent resistance. Therefore, we condemn terrorism and acts of violence, killing and kidnapping targeting Iraqi citizens and humanitarian, civil, government institutions, national resources and houses of worships," the document said.

So, resistance against US forces is legitimate and it's not terror. Nice government we installed over there. These are the people we're supposed to be fighting for.

Murtha keeps referring to the Iraqi poll that says 80% of Iraqis want the US gone and 45% thinks it's legitimate to attack US forces. Now, we know their government feels the same way.

Where is the official US outrage? The Bush/Rove/Cheney team are willing to eviscerate and smear Americans who question their war policy. They are letting the Iraqi government sanction the killing of our soldiers. That has got to be the ultimate undermining of our troops. Read the rest of this post...

Dear MSM, I DARE you to comprehend the full impact of today's story that Iraq wants us to withdraw

ABC News this morning ran the story about Dick Cheney slamming Dems for wanting to withdraw, then they had a small snipped about "oh yeah, the Iraqi government wants us out too" and I don't believe ABC even got the fact that the Iraqi government just gave their seal of approval to terrorist acts against US troops.

Rather than just run more Cheney stories, the real story here is now Bush and Cheney and the congressional GOP vs. the elected Iraqi government. Does Jean Schmidt think they're cowards for cutting and running? Does Dick Cheney think they want to simply help the terrorists?

The Bush administration has said repeatedly that if the elected Iraqi government wanted us out, we'd leave. They now want us out. That is a MASSIVE story.

I'm heading to the airport. Let's see if the MSM surprises me and actually gets the gravity of this earthquake by the time I arrive in Chicago.

Tick tock, tick tock... Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

So has Dick Cheney called the Iraqi government reprehensible for wanting us to withdraw? I can't wait for Rep. Jean Schmidt's statement that the Iraq government is full of cowards. Read the rest of this post...

Powell and Bremmer and Joint Chiefs rep said we'd leave if the Iraqis wanted it

Well, now they want it.

Secretary of State Colin Powell emphatically said yesterday that if the incoming Iraqi interim government ordered the departure of foreign troops after June 30, they would pack up without protest, but emphasized he doubted such a request would be made....

His statement, which was echoed by L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, and the foreign ministers of Britain, Italy and Japan, came one day after conflicting testimony by administration officials on the issue.

Testifying before the House International Relations Committee on Thursday, Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman appeared to say the interim government could order the departure of foreign troops, only to be contradicted by Lt. Gen. Walter Sharp, Joint Chief of Staffs director for strategic plans and policy, who asserted that only an elected government could do so. Iraqi elections are scheduled for January....

"If the provisional government asks us to leave, we will leave," Bremer said, referring to an Iraqi administration due to take power June 30. "I don't think that will happen, but obviously we don't stay in countries where we're not welcome."

(Hat tip to ThinkProgress) Read the rest of this post...

Iraqi leaders adopt Murtha proposal for withdrawal

This is an extremely bizarre and rather earth-shattering story. Basically, Iraq's leaders want us out, and they seem to have just endorsed Congressman Murtha's proposal for a timed withdrawal, a real beefing up of the Iraqi armed forces, and stronger protection at the borders. Even wilder, and something that's not in Murtha's proposal, Iraq's leaders now say it's not terrorism if you attack Americans. It's only terrorism if you attack Iraqi citizens or Iraqi "institutions."

There's really no other way to read this. They want us out and it's clear that we're not listening. They've likely told the Bush administration privately, and now they're going public. This is incredibly embarrassing for Bush. And it's very troubling for all of us. These guys are pretty much telling us to get out, please.

Leaders of Iraq's sharply divided Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis called Monday for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces in the country and said Iraq's opposition had a ``legitimate right'' of resistance.

The final communique, hammered out at the end of three days of negotiations at a preparatory reconciliation conference under the auspices of the Arab League, condemned terrorism, but was a clear acknowledgment of the Sunni position that insurgents should not be labeled as terrorists if their operations do not target innocent civilians or institutions designed to provide for the welfare of Iraqi citizens.

Even funnier, it seems that they've adopted Cong. Murtha's proposal:

The participants in Cairo agreed on ``calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops according to a timetable, through putting in place an immediate national program to rebuild the armed forces ... control the borders and the security situation'' and end terror attacks.

The conference was attended by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Iraqi Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers, as well as leading Sunni politicians.

So what are the Republicans going to say now? Iraq hates freedoms? Only cowards cut and run? Read the rest of this post...

Abramoff/DeLay pal pleads guilty

Michael Scanlon is guilty of conspiracy to bribe Congressmen. "Congressman A" in the indictment is Ohio's Bob Ney:

The plea agreement lists gifts Ney was offered or received, including a golf trip to Scotland in 2002, $4,000 to his campaign committee, $10,000 to the National Republican Campaign Committee made with credit to Ney, regular meals and drinks at Abramoff's Signatures restaurant, sports tickets, and frequent golf and related expenses at courses in the Washington area.

The document states that the gifts were "in exchange for a series of official acts." These included providing legislation, agreeing to put statements into the Congressional Record, contacting federal officials to influence decisions, meeting with Abramoff's clients and endorsing a wireless telecommunications company that wanted to install antennas in House office buildings.

As part of his deal, Scanlon is going to rat out all the rats. So, this is the tip of the iceberg...we should be seeing indictments of Congressmen A, B, C, D....maybe he can throw a couple Senators in the pokey, too. Read the rest of this post...

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Gray, ugly, stormy day in DC. Fits the mood of the city. Read the rest of this post...

McCain and Graham: GOP in trouble

McCain and Graham both see that the GOP is in deep trouble and seem convinced that a little tweak here and there will get them back on track. If only it was so easy, but it's not. The spending is as out of control as it has ever been in DC and the GOP vision for climbing out of that hole is keeping the corporate welfare and hacking more money from the middle class and poor. Is that what they think is a winning plan? Sure Reagan and Clinton recovered but they also did not have a very expensive and very bloody war hanging around their neck either. Even more, they weren't at the beginning of a few deep scandals (Plamegate and Abramoff) which have yet to show their full potential. Apples to oranges.

Worse yet, Graham is completely oblivious to what the American public is saying. Graham seems to think that the numbers do not show that the public wants to ditch this failed war immediately. Somehow he thinks that Americans want to sink another 20 years into that adventure and send more people off to die for no reason. Interesting theory and keep it going...see your guys in 2006 and good luck with that strategy. Read the rest of this post...

Phoenix monsignor arrested

Maybe Santorum can tell us all about how left wing Phoenix is and that is the problem. At least this time the local diocese is cooperating with the police, unlike previous investigations.

The former vicar general of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix was arrested Monday on charges he fondled boys and young men and asked them prying questions about their sex lives that he pretended were part of confession.

Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

I'm off to bed soon Read the rest of this post...