GOP Senate leader: If Iraqi parliament votes for us to leave, we'll leave

I suspect Mr. Bush is going to be having a little phone call with Mr. McConnell tomorrow. The Republicans are falling apart at the seams, and it's only May.

From CNN:

BLITZER: And if they're not going to do what they need to do, what happens
then?

MCCONNELL: Well, the Iraqi government is a huge disappointment. Republicans overwhelmingly feel disappointed about the Iraqi government. I read just this week that a significant number of the Iraqi parliament want to vote to ask us to leave.

I want to assure you, Wolf, if they vote to ask us to leave, we'll be glad to comply with their request.

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Virginia, home of the VA Tech massacre, recently passed a law to protect the illegal sale of guns

And big surprise here, it was the Republicans working with the gun lobby who got the law passed. Because, you know, the biggest problem we face in America is the injustice of a crooked gun dealer illegally selling weapons. The Republicans are amazing. Read the rest of this post...

Al Qaeda says it's holding 3 American soldiers in Iraq

Absolute freaking mess. Read the rest of this post...

This week's American deaths in Iraq

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ABC's THIS WEEK's weekly remembrance of American servicemembers who died in the past week, week ending May 12, 2007.

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It's time for Europe to stop being Bush's lapdog on global warming

From the Washington Post:

Negotiators from the United States are trying to weaken the language of a climate change declaration set to be unveiled at next month's G-8 summit of the world's leading industrial powers, according to documents obtained yesterday by The Washington Post.

Bush is, yet again, trying to water down an international statement on global warming. Will the Europeans, who are the other parties to the statement, sign on, like they always do, when Bush waters down every single good thing they ever try to do? It's time the European governments started acting like adults. If Bush doesn't want to acknowledge global warming, then fine, let him kill the entire G-8 statement that you're all preparing. Bush is at 28% approval in our country - if he kills this deal, he will be the one to blame in our country and yours. At some point, European governments need to start defending their own people and their own interests rather than simply being lapdogs to an out of control, lame duck president. What do those same countries think Bush would do if he didn't like what you were forcing down his throat? He'd say "screw you" and walk.

And at some point, the European people need to start forcing their governments to do the right thing. Read the rest of this post...

Bush and Gonzales: Now, you have a "Monica Problem"

What do they teach the law school students at Pat Robertson's law school? Looks like the Robertson's most notorious graduate, Monica Goodling, had free rein to undermine the justice and the rule of law at the Department of Justice:

Two years ago, Robin C. Ashton, a seasoned criminal prosecutor at the Department of Justice, learned from her boss that a promised promotion was no longer hers.

“You have a Monica problem,” Ms. Ashton was told, according to several Justice Department officials. Referring to Monica M. Goodling, a 31-year-old, relatively inexperienced lawyer who had only recently arrived in the office, the boss added, “She believes you’re a Democrat and doesn’t feel you can be trusted.”

Ms. Ashton’s ouster — she left the Executive Office for United States Attorneys for another Justice Department post two weeks later — was a critical early step in a plan that would later culminate in the ouster of nine United States attorneys last year.

Ms. Goodling would soon be quizzing applicants for civil service jobs at Justice Department headquarters with questions that several United States attorneys said were inappropriate, like who was their favorite president and Supreme Court justice. One department official said an applicant was even asked, “Have you ever cheated on your wife?”

Ms. Goodling also moved to block the hiring of prosecutors with résumés that suggested they might be Democrats, even though they were seeking posts that were supposed to be nonpartisan, two department officials said.

Monica was a big problem. She was out of control. Read the rest of this post...

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

A slew of Presidential candidates are getting time on the shows today. Rudy's bringing his new liberal positions to the GOP station:

•NBC’s “Meet the Press,” ... — Guest: Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican.

•“Fox News Sunday,” ... — Guest: Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

•ABC’s “This Week,” ... — Guests: Sen. Barack Obama, Illinois Democrat; Brooke Shields, actress.

•CBS’ “Face the Nation,” ... — Guest: Sen. Chuck Hagel, Nebraska Republican.

•CNN’s“Late Edition,” ... — Guests: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican; Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh; Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat; Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican; former Sen. Max Cleland, Georgia Democrat.

Should be plenty to discuss. Thread away. Read the rest of this post...

The start of another royal family?

The Bushes, the Clintons and now the Blairs? With just weeks left at number 10, Cherie Blair is speaking out about an issue that has gone nowhere in the past decade under her husband's rule, despite being an influential force behind the scenes.

In what will be interpreted as Mrs Blair's first attempt to stake out her own political credo even before the couple leave Downing Street, the human-rights lawyer has warned that sending mothers to prison increases the risk of their children turning to criminality later in life.

As new government figures showed that about 100 babies a year are born to mothers behind bars, Mrs Blair called for "alternative sentences" for all except the most serious women criminals. Speaking exclusively to The Independent on Sunday, Mrs Blair warned that society will pay the price of removing children from their mothers' care while they are in jail.

Yes, the world is screaming for more of the Blair family so luckily she's there to help. Just a guess, but the British might be even more interested in her using her voice to clean up the human rights catastrophe in Iraq that her husband helped create or even easing up on some of the police state-Big Brother machinery in the UK that Tony added during his term, but that might remind people of everything they detest about the Blair's. Read the rest of this post...

Sunday gardening

Spring gardening is the true break with winter, no matter how mild it may have been. It has been a work in progress for a few weeks now, but we're down to the final plants and plant positioning. With the sun today, it's time to finish the planting and cleanup and possibly a pastis, which always reminds me of summer. Read the rest of this post...

US pretends to search for missing troops

After Bush and the Pentagon brass abandoned a kidnapped American soldier last fall, I don't have high hopes for them really trying this time. More from AP.

More on the American soldier still being held captive in Iraq, and still being ignored by the Bush administration and the Pentagon and the Republicans on the Hill, here. Read the rest of this post...