Frist Won't Criticize Cheney for Cursing

So now apparently "go fuck yourself" is standard family values pablum for the Republicans. Read the rest of this post...

Top CIA official blasts Bush's 'war on terror' in new book

CNN.com:

A book written by a top CIA counterterrorism official alleges that the Bush administration has bungled the war on terror, and because of poor decisions the United States faces a choice in Iraq and Afghanistan 'between war and endless war.'
Written by a high-level counterterrorism expert and published under the name 'Anonymous,' the book 'Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror' is unique in that it was written by an official still working for the CIA.

And with the book slated to be released next week, the author has already appeared -- in shadow -- on a Sunday political talk show to defend his work.

On ABC's 'This Week with George Stephanopolous,' the author accused some senior officials in the U.S. intelligence community of 'a great deal of moral or bureaucratic cowardice' in dealing with the war on terror.

Although he was relatively muted on the topic of George Tenet, the outgoing director of the CIA, the author was unsparing in his criticism of the Bush administration's decision to wait a month after the September 11, 2001, attacks before going to war in Afghanistan.
'We were facing a government, the Taliban, which was basically a rural insurgency trying to govern cities, and al Qaeda, which is a 20-year-old insurgency. If you were going to hit them, sir, you had to hit them on the 11th or the 12th or the 13th.'

'By the time the 7th of October rolled along, most of those forces had been dispersed into the countryside, into Pakistan, into Iran, overseas to other countries. There was no 'there' left when we went there,' he said.

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Iraqi militants reportedly threaten to behead Marine

Ok, now the Iraqi militants, or whatever the PC word for them today is, claim to have captured a US Marine, and plan to behead him. I have a strong feeling that if such a thing happens, all hell is going to break loose. First, if Bush doesn't want military morale to go through the floor, he's going to have to do something big in response. And second, if Bush doesn't want US public opinion to hit rock bottom, again he'd better come up with some response.

Our guys increasingly appear to be sitting ducks in a war that was a bit fat mother-fucking lie. I want to see Rummy, Cheney, Wolfowitz and Perle in military uniforms and stationed in Baghdad until the last troops come home. Read the rest of this post...

Gee, one prisoner lies to Bush and we all go to war

So now the Bushies are apparently blaming a captured Al Qaeda commander for making us go to war against Iraq. One guy lies to these jokers and we blow up an entire country. Oops.

A captured Qaeda commander who was a principal source for Bush administration claims that Osama bin Laden collaborated with Saddam Hussein's regime has changed his story, setting back White House efforts to shore up the credibility of its original case for the invasion of Iraq. The apparent recantation of Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, a onetime member of bin Laden's inner circle, has never been publicly acknowledged. But U.S. intelligence officials tell NEWSWEEK that al-Libi was a crucial source for one of the more dramatic assertions made by President George W. Bush and his top aides: that Iraq had provided training in 'poisons and deadly gases' for Al Qaeda.

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Republicans again trying to throw the election

God forbid the Republicans ever won an election because the voters simply liked them better. No, they go to Jeb, they go to that drag queen with all the make-up, they go to Scalia, they go to Arnold, and now they even try to put a candidate on ballot who they don't even support - all to subvert the people's choice. Hello, Democratic rage, where are you?????

Washington Post:

The conservative group Citizens for a Sound Economy, co-chaired by former House majority leader Richard K. Armey (R-Tex.), called its Oregon members to attend a Nader state convention in Portland yesterday. The goal: Get Nader on the Oregon ballot in November and thus draw votes from Kerry in hopes of securing a Bush victory. The phone script: 'Ralph Nader is undoubtedly going to pull some very crucial votes from John Kerry, and that could mean the difference in a razor-thin presidential election. Can we count on you to come out on Saturday night and sign the petition to nominate Ralph Nader?'

Democrats say that Oregon is not an isolated case and that at least 17 of the 92 people who have given Nader $2,000 contributions are regular GOP donors. Citizens for a Sound Economy spokesman Chris Kinnan said the group's chapters will help put Nader on the ballot in other states 'if they see an opportunity.'

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U.S. Edicts Curb Power Of Iraq's Leadership

That should get us a few more beheadings. Read the rest of this post...

Eleanor Clift reviews Michael Moore's film

A good piece from Clift. I went to see the film last night, and it was good. I would have liked a bit more substance - meaning, he was just getting rolling on making the case of what a moron and idiot Bush is, and then it's as if he started a completely different movie in the 2d half. Having said that, it was good, will energize the masses, etc. Particularly surprising, to me at least, was how much Moore took on Democrats for refusing to stand up to Bush. Good for him. Read the rest of this post...

Mmmmm.... freeee.....

PC World: 94 tools and sites that help you work smarter, communicate better, and have more fun--all great, and all gratis. Read the rest of this post...

Bush approved feigned drowning and suffocation?

Someone tell me how this isn't torture? I agree, it's one hell of an interrogation technique, but to not consider this torture is an outright lie. Interesting how AP missed the real story - not that the CIA is postponing interrogation techniques approved by the WH, but rather that the WH actually approved of pretending to drown and suffocate prisoners to get them to talk. Again, perhaps it's effective - I have no idea - but it's torture. Read the rest of this post...

Ignore that rogue nation behind the curtain

According to AP, "Iran will resume building centrifuges for its nuclear program on Tuesday despite international objections, but will continue to hold off enriching uranium, the foreign ministry said Sunday." This is the real threat out there guys, but NO, we had to MAKE SHIT UP about another threat that didn't even exist in order to finish off the-man-who-was-mean-to-daddy. What the fuck is Bush doing about nukes in Iran and nukes in North Korea?
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White House Tries to Rein In Scientists

We need to GET RID OF THESE PEOPLE:

The Bush administration has ordered that government scientists must be approved by a senior political appointee before they can participate in meetings convened by the World Health Organization, the leading international health and science agency.

A top official from the Health and Human Services Department in April asked the WHO to begin routing requests for participation in its meetings to the department's secretary for review, rather than directly invite individual scientists, as has long been the case.

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Greens Reject Endorsement for Ralph Nader

Thank God. Now go away. Read the rest of this post...

Hitler Image Used in Bush Campaign Web Ad

AP:

Adolf Hitler's image has surfaced again in the White House race. President Bush's campaign is featuring online video of the Nazi dictator, taken down months ago from a liberal group's Web site and disavowed, in a spot that intersperses clips of speeches by Democrats John Kerry, Al Gore and Howard Dean.

There's an element of irony to all of this. I suspect that Hitler, were he a Republican, would complain if people compared him to himself. The point is that: 1) Nobody directly compared Bush to Hitler, and 2) It is absolutely fair to raise concerns about the historical, slow, stealthy rise of extremism in Germany and how history can repeat itself in other developed western countries.

Are we so naive and egotistical as to assume that it could never happen here? Look what we did to the Japanese during WWII? Look what we're doing to American citizens who are named "enemy combattants" today? The anti-gay marriage amendment? The religious right's incredibl racist comments about American Muslims?

If we are so full of our ourselves as to consider ourselves exempt from history, then we surely are doomed to repeat it.

PS Perhaps my favorite part of Bush's action alert about his new Hitler ad - I got it by email today - was where he goes on about the 6 different ways lefties have compared him to Hitler, then Bush quotes someone talking about "the gulags." Last time I checked, Professor Bush, the gulags were in the Soviet Union. Read the rest of this post...