Dems issue subpoenas over Bush administration firings of US Attorneys

This is why being in the majority matters.

Mmmm... subpoenas...

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Open thread

Have at it. Read the rest of this post...

New head of Walter Reed let soldier sleep in his own urine

Are these people insane? The Army fired the head of Walter Reed today, and the new guy who's taking over until they can hire a permanent replacement is Kevin Kiley, the same guy who reportedly let a soldier sleep in his own urine, and refused to lift a finger when he was notified by the wife of a GOP congressman who had witnessed the horrifying scene.

This is a guy who only one week ago implied that the problems at Walter Reed were nothing more than a pack of lies. So he's the guy now in charge of fixing the non-existent problems. Per last week's Washington Post:

The Army's surgeon general yesterday criticized stories in The Washington Post disclosing problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, saying the series unfairly characterized the living conditions and care for soldiers recuperating from wounds at the hospital's facilities.

"I'm not sure it was an accurate representation," Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, chief of the Army Medical Command, told reporters during a news conference. "It was a one-sided representation."

These people have no shame. How DARE they put someone in charge of Walter Reed, even temporarily, who let an injured American soldier from Iraq sleep in his own urine?! Someone who only days ago tried to deny the problem even existed?

Here is the guy who is taking over until a permanent replacement can be found, per ABC:

Weightman will be replaced temporarily by the head of U.S. Army Medical Command, Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, until a general is selected, the Army said in a statement. Kiley, who has previously overseen the hospital, has also been criticized for failing to act on previous reports of serious problems at Walter Reed.

And here is what the Washington Post had to say about Mr. Kiley earlier today:

In 2004, Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) and his wife stopped visiting the wounded at Walter Reed out of frustration. Young said he voiced concerns to commanders over troubling incidents he witnessed but was rebuffed or ignored. "When Bev or I would bring problems to the attention of authorities of Walter Reed, we were made to feel very uncomfortable," said Young, who began visiting the wounded recuperating at other facilities.

Beverly Young said she complained to Kiley several times. She once visited a soldier who was lying in urine on his mattress pad in the hospital. When a nurse ignored her, Young said, "I went flying down to Kevin Kiley's office again, and got nowhere. He has skirted this stuff for five years and blamed everyone else."

There need to be calls for this man's removal NOW. Read the rest of this post...

Bush pays back major Swiftboat funder by nominating him as Ambassador to Belgium

Bull. The Republicans can hold up nominees because the nominee had the temerity to attend the wedding of a gay couple, and we're supposed to let this jerk go through when he's one of the guys who bankrolled the Swiftboat slimeballs? I don't think so. It's easy for one Senator to put a hold on a nomination. And that one Senator, for starters, should clearly be John Kerry. This is the John Kerry we want to see. Read the rest of this post...

BREAKING: Top general fired at Walter Reed

About time. Now when is the Army Surgeon General getting the boot? You'll recall he's the one who let a soldier sleep in his own urine, according to the wife of a Republican congressman who witnessed it first-hand and then reported it to the now-surgeon-general to no avail.

Note to Dana Priest: Make room on your bookshelf for that Pulitzer. Read the rest of this post...

Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) & Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) fingered as trying to influence DOJ corruption investigation preceding firing of US attorney

But Alberto and his deputy told Congress that politics wasn't a factor in the recent firing of scores of US Attorneys. See, there Alberto is below swearing under oath on January 18, 2007.



If he lied, it's over. More from TPM. Read the rest of this post...

Administration incompetence led to North Korea nukes?

Today's New York Times article on North Korea is really a significant (and excellent) piece of reporting. It give a good history of the issue, explaining the different policies and programs over the last two administrations, but then kind of obscures the fact that evidence increasingly shows that the Bush administration basically allowed North Korea to make nuclear weapons through sheer diplomatic idiocy.

Yglesias got to writing about it before I did, and I don't think I could improve much on his analysis, so go check it out. He even uses bullet points for expediency. Money quote:

The odds look decent, in other words, that the administration effectively let the DPRK build nuclear weapons for absolutely no reason at all other than its generally bad attitude toward diplomatic agreements and "stuff Bill Clinton did."

And for a brief primer on the plutonium versus uranium (and other similar background) check out this analysis from back in October. Read the rest of this post...

CNN host hits on female guest, on the air

(Update: I screwed up the link yesterday, it's fine now.)

Disgusted, yes. Surprised, no. More from Chris Achorn. Read the rest of this post...

Mainstream media, ABC and CBS and others, Swiftboat Al Gore

A few days ago, a small "organization" no one had ever heard of got their hands on Al Gore's utility bill. And, not surprising for a man who lives in a large home, Gore's bill was a lot of money. The "organization" claimed that Gore was a hypocrite for proclaiming the need to address Global Warming while living in a 20-room home.

Huh?

Since when was it a crime, or even in poor taste, in America to do well and live in a nice home - and since when did Al Gore lecture anyone on the need to buy smaller homes? (Sure, it fits into the conservative smear about rich liberals being hypocrites, because somehow we're all supposed to be poor Capuchin monks, but that's neither true nor news.) But, no one was claiming that Gore was wasteful with his energy use. No one was claiming that Gore didn't try to "greenify" his home (he did). What they were claiming was that Al Gore lived in a large home and thus had a high energy bill. Uh, yeah. And?

So how exactly is this story news? Simply because some out-of-nowhere "organization" just happens to attack Al Gore a few days after his documentary gets the Oscar? Gee, some conicidence there. And in fact, contrary to the implication that Gore was sloppy with his own energy use - which would be news - Gore has been doing exactly what he preached:

The vice president has done that, Kreider argues, and the family tries to offset that carbon footprint by purchasing their power through the local Green Power Switch program -- electricity generated through renewable resources such as solar, wind, and methane gas, which create less waste and pollution. "In addition, they are in the midst of installing solar panels on their home, which will enable them to use less power," Kreider added. "They also use compact fluorescent bulbs and other energy efficiency measures and then they purchase offsets for their carbon emissions to bring their carbon footprint down to zero."

Now, ABC will argue that there is a controversy here and they're simply reporting both sides. Gee, thanks. But the first rule of journalism, in my book at least, isn't whether there's a controversy, it's whether there's a story. You can't legitimiately do a he-said-she-said when you know that there's no there-there. In this story, the complaint on its face, that Al Gore lives in a 20-room house, is bogus, unless Al Gore has been lecturing people about the need to live in smaller houses - and he hasn't, to my knowledge, nor do the stories say otherwise.

To reiterate a point made by ABC's own Mark Halperin a few years back:

We have a responsibility to hold both sides accountable to the public interest, but that doesn't mean we reflexively and artificially hold both sides "equally" accountable when the facts don't warrant that.

The attack on Al Gore is the equivalent of the "have you stopped beating your wife" allegation. It's not news, and it's not fair and balanced, simply because you report the views of the slanderer and the victim, especially when you know that the only thing people in the middle will take away from the story is a scent of scandal that blackens Gore's good name.

You can read ABC's piece on this here. Read the rest of this post...

With McCain endorsements, Senators Warner (R-VA) and Collins (R-ME) want another President who will escalate the Iraq war

McCain went on Letterman last night to tell the world that he is running for President. A couple of GOP Senators running for re-election, who purport to oppose escalating the war in Iraq, have already endorsed the leading advocate of escalation. Virginia's John Warner announced his support this week. Maine's Susan Collin went overboard praising McCain when she endorsed him a couple weeks ago:

Collins said McCain's experience on both domestic and foreign policy issues is "unparalleled."

"I can think of no better person to lead our nation than John McCain," Collins said.

Warner and Collins have enabled Bush for the past six years. Both of them chaired key committees that could have held Bush accountable. Neither did.

Now, they're supporting McCain who wants to escalate the Iraq war in ways that far exceed even what Bush is thinking. Warner and Collins can talk about ending the escalation and throw an occasional vote that way. But, through their support for Bush and McCain, Warner and Collins own the Iraq war -- and the escalation. If we get the Warner/Collins choice for President, we get more of the same and a bigger escalation.

Warner and Collins need to go in 2008. Read the rest of this post...

Thursday Morning Open Thread

Top officials at Walter Reed knew what a mess it was. And, a long-serving GOP member of Congress and his wife knew. Clearly, people were talking about it. But, NOTHING was done. NOTHING.

The Bush Administration doesn't support the troops. They have disdain for them. They don't give the troops the right equipment to go to Bush's war, then don't take care of them when their injured in Bush's war. In Bush world, the troops are great political props, but not much more. Our current leaders are beneath contempt. And, Congress needs to take some action. Soon. Hold hearings at Walter Reed. Hold hearings at the other Army hospitals.

This story is far from over.

What else? Read the rest of this post...

Romney in 3rd place in NH polling

I guess they know him too well. Despite his numerous visits to the neighboring state and his vacation home in New Hampshire, the former governor of Massachusetts who seems to want to hide that fact (by announcing his campaign in Michigan, strangely enough) is struggling and only showing 13% compared to McCain at 28% and Giuliani at 27%. Read the rest of this post...

Stock market in China drops 1.7% today

Plenty of debates swirling around on the topic of whether this is a correction or a real decline. Either way, it's going to bumpy for the near future. The Nikkei in Tokyo also down. Again, what happens with China is critical for the US (and beyond) because of how tightly our economies are all interconnected.

It's a good thing we have an economic giant like Laura Bush out there to tell us it's OK though. Read the rest of this post...