One conservative blogger gets it

The Maytag repairman of conservative bloggers weighs in on modern conservatism:

I almost feel I don't know these people anymore. It seems now they feel government cannot have nearly enough power. Secret courts, secret warrants, secret prisons, suspect torture, massive data gathering on all aspects of US citizens including medical records, library records, and financial records are all wonderful things. They hold up the Patriot Act as a great piece of legislation that the Bush Whitehouse pushed through to combat terrorism (little seem to understand most of it was written during Clinton's years).

I truly and honestly do not understand. People who once proudly quoted Franklin's "Those who give up essential liberty for a little safety deserve neither" now cheerlead the executive branch on in removing any judicial oversight, congressional oversight, and in fact ANY oversight (as most of these laws are secret) from the land. Far from the transparent government the founders imagined, we are now entering a system where laws are kept secret, prosecutions are kept secret, and national security is a password to removing any and all liberty that stands in the way of anything government wishes to do....

People who support a clandestine program of warrantless domestic spying are not “conservatives” or “libertarians.” Neither are people who support the creation of a worldwide archipelago of secret torture sites. Neither are people who support the usurpation of the functions of government by the executive branch; who espouse the theory that the executive branch is the final arbiter of the legality of the actions of the executive branch; and who call for the investigation or prosecution of a free press that dares to report on the executive branch’s secret programs of domestic spying and outsourced torture.

Those people, my friends, are called the radical right.

More on this from liberal blogger Michael Berube. (Hat tip to Atrios) Read the rest of this post...

It's official. Computers hate me. And I hate Sony.

Well, it's official. Computers hate me.

My mom and my sister kill watches. It's not clear why. Watches just die on their wrists. In my case, it's computers. They simply mess up when I use them. I killed Michael's computer in NYC, I've killed my own computers more times than I can count. And each time I wasn't doing anything in particular - for example, typing an email (hardly an act that counts as computer malpractice). Then - bam! - something goes pop and the computer goes haywire.

Many of you who have been with the blog for a while will recall my Sony fiasco this past January. I bought a lemon of a Sony desktop that was turning itself off and relaunching all on its own as I was merrily trying to type emails, write documents, etc. After a month of hell, Sony finally took that baby back and, to show my good faith, I bought an even better Sony model that was 1/3 off - the RA820 - so I spent the same and got a GREAT computer. (Oh, and don't yell at me that I should have bought a Mac - I'm buying a Mac laptop, more on that in a moment.)

Well, you'll all be happy to know that the newer Sony has been a disaster. It's never worked quite right from day one. I can't remember the sequence of disasters anymore, but they include a stint of the computer relaunching itself on its own (again), the thing getting stuck during boot-up, a .dll error that it took Sony 2.5 months to fix - yes, 2.5 months the "new" and really expensive computer didn't work - and now that they finally got that last glitch fixed a few weeks ago, what happens now? The computer has gone back to its getting-stuck-while-booting tricks AND it's doing the turn-off-and-relaunch-at-will trick. And funniest of all, I have like 4 weeks left on my warranty. Are you laughing yet?

Well, before the Mac-lovers out there tell me "I told you so," you'll be glad to know I'll soon be buying a Mac laptop, I'm pretty set on it being a 15 inch powerbook. Why do I need a new laptop? You guessed it, my laptop just went poof as I was writing an email to Atrios. The thing is dead, it started giving me multiple reboot errors and now it won't boot at all. As the thing is 4 years old, it's time to put it to rest anyway, though you Mac lovers out there will probably tell me "it wouldn't be working old if it was a 4 year old Mac!"

Anyway, the dead laptop has now accelerated my search for a new one. Guess what John's getting for Christmas?! Actually, I may wait until after Christmas as I hear the Macs are getting new Intel chips and it's been recommended to me to wait until the new ones come out. Having said that, with my atrocious Sony lemon I'm using, I'm just waiting for my return to DC when Sony is bound to tell me - like they tried to tell me during the last fiasco last month - that they'd need to take my computer all the way to California and rip it apart for a month to see exactly what's wrong. Uh huh. The thing is under a year old, hasn't worked right from day one, had been on the fritz for almost 3 months (partially because the Sony repair guy on the phone lied to me, repeatedly, and I finally caught him weeks later), and they're telling me that my warranty is expiring - when it still doesn't work right - and I just know they're going to want to take it away and "fix" it.

God I hate companies.

Anyway, this is my vent as the damn laptop died two hours ago (using mom's computer). Rest assured that if Sony dares tell me they're going to take my computer and fix it, there will be unholy hell to pay. Companies have just gotten nastier and nastier and nastier in terms of customer service over the past several years. And now I'm saddled with a very expensive Sony lemon and you know I'm going to have to reach the president's office before I can get them to take this lemon back.

Thus, all the more reason I'm finally buying a Mac. I've had it with PCs. Though I have to admit, now that my Sony sucks, again, or still, I'm half tempted to just buy a big Mac desktop. But still, I'll need a laptop in any case, with my travel etc, so I'm getting the powerbook first, then we can move on from there.

Stay tuned for more adventures in computer disasters with your friend John. Read the rest of this post...

After three years in super secret US military custody, Bush now wants to transfer "terrorist" Jose Padilla to a regular old federal prison

May I be the first to say "huh?"

If Padilla is so dangerous that we had to keep him holed up in secret military prisons without the right to an attorney for the past three years, then how does he suddenly become so unimportant that Bush now wants to put him in the regular old federal court system and try him like any other criminal?

Kind of suggests that Padilla is another very big "whoopsie" by the Bush boys.

Aren't you glad Bush has all that unfettered power to take away our constitutional rights? Glad he never seems to get it wrong.

Oh, and check this out from the NYT article about this:

In denying the administration's request, the three-judge panel unanimously issued a strongly worded opinion that said the Justice Department's effort to transfer Mr. Padilla gave the appearance that the government was trying to manipulate the court system to prevent the Supreme Court from reviewing the case. The judges warned that the administration's behavior in the Padilla case could jeopardize its credibility before the courts in other terrorism cases.

Gee, you mean the Bush administration is trying to manipulate the courts on cases regarding taking away the constitutional rights of Americans. Gosh, sound familiar? Read the rest of this post...

Nixon 2.0

Brilliant turn of phrase from MSNBC's Howard Fineman. Read the rest of this post...

And your little dog too...

From the Scotsman Read the rest of this post...

Vote: Do you think Bush should be impeached?

I vote yes. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Things are happening fast and furious today. What have you heard? Read the rest of this post...

Pelosi is making the GOP work -- demands a recorded vote on the Budget

Oh, this is good. Nancy Pelosi is playing hard ball...and the GOPers are going to HATE it. Pelosi is demanding that they stand and be counted on their budget. Good for her:

Pelosi will not allow approval by unanimous consent and will request a recorded vote.

Oh, the GOP will whine and moan, but considering the pain the GOP is inflicting on millions of Americans, that's tough:

"Even though this budget passed the Senate by a one-vote margin, because Democrats secured key changes to this legislation, it must now return to the House to be re-examined in the light of day. As it stands now, it hurts the neediest in our country, while providing huge giveaways to managed care and drug companies and the oil industries.

"Democrats believe this Republican bill has the wrong priorities. That is why we will request a recorded vote where all Members return to Washington to make clear their values to the America people. Democrats will work with our allies to fight for a budget that represents the values and needs of all Americans."

This was a tough vote for many GOP members a couple days ago. Make them stand and be counted again.

Just make sure every Dem. is there to vote NO. (And thanks to David Sirota for the tip.) Read the rest of this post...

Froomkin: "The I-word is back"

Yep, it's back. And, it's in Froomkin's column today:

The revelation that President Bush secretly authorized a domestic spying program has incited a handful of Congressional Democrats to discuss his possible impeachment. And while continued Republican control of Congress makes such a move extremely unlikely, the word is reemerging into mainstream political discourse.

Read the rest of this post...

Bush is a criminal update: Matt Drudge caught lying to defend Bush

UPDATE: I had the link wrong, sorry - it's right now.

I know, another icon of truth shot down. How will you make it to Christmas?

Matt Drudge was claiming yesterday that Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter signed executive orders permitting the spying without search warrants on American citizens!

Breaking News! Flashing lights! Stop the presses!

Of course, it isn't true. But hey, it does make a good story.

The indispensable ThinkProgress again quite easily goes to the original documents and proves that Drudge is again lying.

Just imagine if the liberal blogs consistently ran with shit they just made up?

This is another document that you need to copy and paste into an email, then mail it around the Internet to your friends as more proof that Bush is a criminal.

Here's a bit of ThinkProgress brilliantly simple analysis:

The top of the Drudge Report claims "?CLINTON EXECUTIVE ORDER: SECRET SEARCH ON AMERICANS WITHOUT COURT ORDER." It'?s not true. Here's the breakdown:

What Drudge says:

Clinton, February 9, 1995: "The Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order"

What Clinton actually signed:

Section 1. Pursuant to section 302(a)(1) [50 U.S.C. 1822(a)] of the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance] Act, the Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches, without a court order, to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year, if the Attorney General makes the certifications required by that section.

That section requires the Attorney General to certify is the search will not involve "the premises, information, material, or property of a United States person."? That means U.S. citizens or anyone inside of the United States.

Read the rest of this post...

Who needs a statute? Gonzales says they'll do what they want

Hey, once you start ignoring the rule of law, what the heck. Thanks to Atrios for finding the money quote from Gonzales:

QUESTION: Attorney General Gonzales, if the Senate does not reauthorize this provision for the Patriot Act, does the president have the authority under Article 2 and the authorization of use of force to give the go-ahead for these procedures on his own?

GONZALES: What I will say is we continue to have hope that these provisions will be reauthorized.

To the extent that they're not reauthorized, we will look at the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies throughout the government to see what authorities do exist. And we will do what we can do under existing authorities to continue to protect America.

That means, we don't care, we'll just assume we have the authority anyway. Those pesky laws and the constitution just get in the way. Read the rest of this post...

Senate filibusters Defense Bill over Arctic Refuge

Another loss for Frist -- and the curmudgeon, Ted Stevens. The Senate voted to block final passage of the Defense bill over the Arctic Refuge drilling that Stevens inserted:

Drilling backers fell four votes short of getting the required 60 votes to avoid a threatened filibuster of the defense measure over the oil drilling issue. Senate leaders were expected to withdraw the legislation so it could be reworked without the refuge language. The vote was 56-44.

Read the rest of this post...

You might be surprised to learn that the right-wing is now lying about Bush's domestic spying program

Oh yes, Virginia, it's true.

They're now coming up with all sorts of "examples" of where Clinton - surprise! - and Jimmy Carter supposedly spied on Americans without search warrants.

Now, please sit down before I tell you this. But, the right wing blogs, Matt Drudge and Rush Limbaugh are lying to you.

I know, next thing I'll be telling you there isn't a Santa Claus.

Anyway, to debunk the first lie, here is ThinkProgress' report on the Echelon program - a program that Newsmax, among others, claimed had Clinton spying on MILLIONS OF AMERICANS. Yeah right. And if that were the case, then why would Bush even need the Patriot Act?

Anyway, ThinkProgress has dissected these morons and shows that they're lying.

As these guys are spreading this crap all over talk radio and around the Net, please do take ThinkProgress' analysis and email around the Net. Subject line: Republicans now lying to defend Bush's spying. Read the rest of this post...

Cheney breaks tie to pass budget cuts in Senate

Merry Christmas to the poor, students, the elderly and the sick from Dick and George:

The measure, the product of a year's labors by the White House and the GOP in Congress, imposes the first restraints in nearly a decade in federal benefit programs such as Medicaid, Medicare and student loans.

The "restraints" are cuts in programs. Meanwhile, the very, very rich are sucking up their tax cuts.

Any college students or parents-of out there? Check this out:

The student loan program would be targeted for $12.6 billion in savings over five years, much of it from a change that would peg loans to a fixed interest rate.

Yes, they're cutting student loands by nearly $13 billion when just two weeks ago they passed ANOTHER FOUR tax cuts totaling nearly $100 billion. Did you get that? They cut your student loans in order to pay for another tax cut.

Ah, to be Republican. Cut taxes and cripple the students. America. Read the rest of this post...

If we take back the House or Senate in 11 months, the hearings on SnoopGate will begin

Seriously. If we take back the House or Senate, our guys will be holding LOTS and LOTS of hearings on every Bush scandal imaginable, especially Bush's illegal domestic spying program, but let's not forget Karl. And fret not, if any of the Dems go soft, we can put pressure on them to have the hearings.

This is why elections matter. This is why who controls Congress matters. This is why supporting even so-called moderate Republicans for re-election is unacceptable because those "moderates" make the GOP a majority in Congress and they vote to have people like Bill Frist as leader of the Senate.

Elections matter. And come next November, let the revolution begin. Read the rest of this post...

Pelosi wants her letter to Bush, criticizing NSA program YEARS AGO, declassified and released publicly

The shit is hitting the fan. Bush said Democratic leaders endorsed his domestic spying program, and we're now finding out that those very same Dem leaders either weren't briefed at all on the program OR expressed their grave concern about it at the time. That hardly counts as "the Dems endorsed it."

Go Nancy! The following is Pelosi's press release:

Pelosi Requests Declassification of Her Letter on NSA Activities

Washington, D.C. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on her request to the Director of National Intelligence to declassify a letter she wrote several years ago to the Bush Administration expressing concerns about the activities of the National Security Agency.

"When I learned several years ago that the National Security Agency had been authorized to conduct the activities that President Bush referred to in his December 17 radio address, I expressed my strong concerns in a classified letter to the Administration and later verbally.

"Today, in an effort to shed light on my concerns, I requested that the Director of National Intelligence quickly declassify my letter and the Administration's response to it and make them both available to the public.

"The President must have the best possible intelligence to protect the American people. That intelligence, however, must be produced in a manner consistent with our Constitution and our laws, and in a manner that reflects our values as a nation to protect the American people and our freedoms."

Read the rest of this post...

Bush's NSA director Michael Hayden: We didn't seek retroactive warrants because it involved "paperwork"

I'm not kidding. This is the reason given by this two-bit un-American generalissimo who deserves to be fired and thrown in jail for life:

Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden, who was NSA director when the surveillance began and now serves as Bush's deputy director of national intelligence, said the secret- court process was intended for long-term surveillance of agents of an enemy power, not the current hunt for elusive terrorist cells.

"The whole key here is agility," he said at a White House briefing before Bush's news conference. According to Hayden, most warrantless surveillance conducted under Bush's authorization lasts just days or weeks, and requires only the approval of a shift supervisor. Hayden said getting retroactive court approval is inefficient because it "involves marshaling arguments" and "looping paperwork around."

Oh, well a big fat general thinks the current law is "inefficient" because it would require him to write down a few things and actually explain why he wants to invade the privacy of innocent Americans in violation of the law. Gosh, life must be really tough for General Hayden now that he no longer has Soviet dictators to emulate.

Then there's this little bit of illogic from Gonzales, who also needs to spend a few years standing on a box with a block hood on his head:

"This is not a backdoor approach," Gonzales said at the White House. "We believe Congress has authorized this kind of surveillance." He acknowledged that the administration discussed introducing legislation explicitly permitting such domestic spying but decided against it because it "would be difficult, if not impossible" to pass.

Did you get that? Gonzales claims Bush believed that Congress authorized the domestic spying. Then Gonzales says Bush didn't want to ask Congress directly to authorize the spying because he thought Congress would never approve of it. That means Gonzales and Bush knew that Congress opposed legislation permitting domestic spying without a warrant, so they also obviously knew Congress never intended to include such an authorization in the Patriot Act or elsewhere.

So basically, our Attorney General is now lying to us about why he massively violated the civil liberties of American citizens. Read the rest of this post...

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Remember when "he knows if you've been sleeping, he knows when you're awake" meant Santa Claus was spying on you, not the President? Read the rest of this post...

Bush continues to divide - Iraq results show heavily divided country

As if it wasn't bad enough that he ripped apart the US, he then did his best to destroy years of US diplomacy and good will and now Iraq. With the election results coming in there is little doubt that the Iraq is a divided nation. The religious extremists have the upper hand and the puppets that Bush tried propping up were handed major losses. This fragmented environment seems to be a specialty of the Bush team. How long will Iraq continue to be Iraq before civil war breaks out?

The Shia religious coalition has won a total victory in Baghdad and the south of Iraq. The Sunni Arab parties who openly or covertly support armed resistance to the US are likely to win large majorities in Sunni provinces. The Kurds have already achieved quasi-independence and their voting reflected that.

The election marks the final shipwreck of American and British hopes of establishing a pro-Western secular democracy in a united Iraq.

Islamic fundamentalist movements are ever more powerful in both the Sunni and Shia communities. Ghassan Attiyah, an Iraqi commentator, said: "In two and a half years Bush has succeeded in creating two new Talibans in Iraq."

Iran will be pleased that the Shia religious parties which it has supported, have become the strongest political force.

Another victor in the election is the fiery nationalist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose Mehdi Army militia fought fierce battles with US troops last year.

"People underestimate how religious Iraq has become," said one Iraqi observer. "Iran is really a secular society with a religious leadership, but Iraq will be a religious society with a religious leadership." Already most girls leaving schools in Baghdad wear headscarves. Women's rights in cases of divorce and inheritance are being eroded.

Mission Accomplished. Read the rest of this post...

Abramoff cutting a deal with DOJ?

This news won't be well received by the GOP. No wonder the GOP wants to create an immigration problem out of thin air. How else are they going to distract the public from the numerous scandals within their ranks? Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

It's a balmy 10 degrees here in Chicago.

And I just read the following quote on Kos from the neanderthal Senator from Texas:

Sen. John Cornyn: "None of your civil liberties matter much after you're dead."

Apparently they don't matter much when we're alive either. Read the rest of this post...