Wow. This Donohue vs. O'Reilly video really is a must-see

You gotta love how well Donohue handles himself. Calling O'Reilly "Billy." Woosh. It's almost not worth commenting on. O'Reilly pretty much concedes the war was a big mistake, has become a big mess, but then says it's "noble" for our boys to stay over there to ensure that Iraqis have a chance at freedom.

Well, you know what. 6 billion people around the globe deserve freedom. It doesn't mean I'm going to pay for all of them to have it, and it also doesn't mean I'm willing to die for their freedom. My freedom, yeah. My country's, sure. Everybody's? Not so much.

There's a limit to what one country can do, and since when did Republicans decide that it was time for America to save the entire world? That's not a hell of a criteria for declaring war, or narrowing down which wars you declare and which ones you take a pass on. And simply declaring it "noble" and waving the flag hardly excuses sending our men and women to their deaths and empowering Al Qaeda even further via this stupid war. I thought the war on terror was supposed to be real and not a feel-good gesture.

Bluster is cute, but as Donohue said, it doesn't make right. Read the rest of this post...

Texas is a total disaster

Bush is right: Osama is watching and laughing.

Four years and billions of dollars of planning, and guess what? We can't evacuate a single city worth a damn. This isn't just about mayors and governors. This is no longer just about New Orleans. It seems that our emergency plans just don't work, at least as it concerns mass evacuations.

Washington, DC, kiss your (our) ass good-bye.

The storm's march toward land sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the nation's fourth-largest city in a frustratingly slow, bumper-to-bumper exodus.

"This is the worst planning I've ever seen," said Judie Anderson, who covered just 45 miles in 12 hours after setting out from her home in the Houston suburb of LaPorte. "They say we've learned a lot from Hurricane Katrina. Well, you couldn't prove it by me."

Read the rest of this post...

Late Evening Open Thread

Since the President prefers shots, may I suggest a...

Texas Sweat

1 shot alcohol
1 dash grenadine syrup
1 shot vodka
1 shot rum
1 shot gin
1 shot tequila

Mix all together and filter back and forth through ice to chill and mix. Not a sipping drink, shoot it.

I think it's just the right drink for the President tonight, don't you?

Enjoy the open thread, and feel free to pass along any of your own suggestions. Jon Stewart is about to start out here on the East Coast. Read the rest of this post...

Public has little confidence in Iraq outcome

Bush's legacy issue isn't inspiring the country:

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Thursday indicated fewer than half of Americans believe the United States will win the Iraq war, and 55 percent of those surveyed said it should speed up withdrawal plans.

Only 21 percent said the United States definitely would win the war in Iraq, which began when a U.S.-led coalition invaded in 2003 to topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Another 22 percent said they thought the United States probably would win.

Twenty percent of respondents said the United States was capable of winning in Iraq -- but probably would not. And 34 percent said they considered the war unwinnable.

Read the rest of this post...

New AP Story on Frist's "Insider" Stock Sale - Is He Under SEC Investigation?

In honor of the first day of Fall, we have the season's first snowball rolling down the hill. From AP:

When Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist asked a trustee to sell all his stock in his family's hospital corporation, a large-scale sell-off by HCA Inc. insiders was under way.

Shares of the Nashville, Tenn.-based hospital company were near a 52-week peak in June when Frist and HCA insiders were selling off their shares - just about a month before the price dropped.

Information about the insiders' moves was publicly available through disclosures required by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
...
The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a California-based group, called for the SEC to investigate the majority leader's financial relationship with his brother.
...
"If there was any sort of insider information that caused Frist to use ethical considerations as a cover, we think the SEC needs to investigate," said Carmen Balber, the group's consumer advocate.

SEC spokesman John Nester would neither confirm nor deny that Frist or any officer or director of HCA is the subject of an investigation, citing the agency's policy.

Read the whole article, it goes into excellent details on how Frist's formerly "blind" trust came to see again. Such a miracle! Now THAT would explain Frist's diagnosis of Terri Schaivo's possible recovery - million dollar miracles happen every day in Frist's family!

As for the SEC, now sure, it could just be policy NOT to talk to the press at all, and this SEC flack might just be doing his job. BUT, don't you think that it might make sense for the public to know if their Senate Majority Leader is under investigation with his family for insider trading?

The corruption of the Republican Party is utter and complete. To a single one, they all just have their hands in every cookie jar they can find. Disgusting. No wonder Frist wants the White House job so badly, Bush has sure taught him that after you're done with the corporate treasury, there is always the government one! Read the rest of this post...

Scotty on Bush's guitar playing while New Orleans lay in ruins

Read E&P; to see Scotty try to explain why Bush was playing the guitar on the Tuesday after Katrina had destroyed New Orleans:


It's rich. After a reporter asked Scotty whether Bush's trip to Texas tomorrow was just a photo op, they got on to the subject of the guitar which you can see has the Presidential seal on it:

Q But it sounds like a bit of a photo op, one that he'd prefer over playing the guitar at the airport photo op.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, first of all, let's correct the record on that. There was a reporter from your news organization that was backstage during that event. That was an event to go and thank our troops and talk about the war on terrorism. And it was not an event, as you may have portrayed to some people that are watching this out there by this simple statement. It was --

Q He didn't pick up the guitar while the hurricane was rolling into Louisiana?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- much more than that. The person that was entertaining our troops there presented a gift to the President. So I think you need to make that clear to everybody who's watching this or to your viewers. And it was one of your colleagues at ABC News who was backstage taking a picture of that.

Q It was a very good picture and I'm proud of her, but the question I have --

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, but that picture was taken by someone -- hang on, hang on, Terry -- that picture was taken by some people way out of context. And it was portrayed that the President was simply doing that, and that's not the case, as you and I know.

Q The point was that he was over there and not --

MR. McCLELLAN: As you and I know, I had announced shortly before that, that we were returning the next morning. As you and I know, we had announced the President -- the day before -- all the briefings he was participating in. The President spoke the day before. He spoke that day about the hurricane. So let's just set the record straight.

C'mon Scotty. It was a pre-planned photo op. That's why the guitar had the Presidential Seal on it. You had to approve it.

And we all know that tomorrow's trip to Texas is just a photo op because Bush is tanking. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Anybody else down in hurricane country reading the blog?

PS Lots of stories about Cindy Sheehan arriving in dc for the weekend's war protest. Read the rest of this post...

They're after your children

Who the hell wants to some religious fanatic accosting their children alone outside of school?

I don't want my kids (had I kids) talking to any strangers outside of school, let alone some nutjob. I certainly hope the religious right people promoting this kind of harassment have insurance, because if there's even a single report of one of those people touching a kid or saying anything even vaguely out of line, there's going to be a massive lawsuit. And the suit will be against the nutjob, his benefactors, and the school district who allows these people to harass innocent children.

Last spring Janice Colston, a Christian woman who lives outside of Dallas, was distributing religious literature on a public sidewalk outside Crowley High School when administrators forced her to move to the end of the street, preventing contact with students. Believing that her right to free speech was being denied, Colston sought legal advice from the Liberty Legal Institute in nearby Plano, then tried several times to resolve the issue with school officials, to no avail.

Christian woman, my ass. You come near my kids, uninvited, and you're toast, lady. Read the rest of this post...

Chaos in Houston

I just got an interesting email from someone in Houston. Sounds like they're a bit over-prepared to the point of creating their own disaster.

Writing from Houston, I'm one of the very few people who has decided to stay put during this thing. Traffic is absolutely nuts - e.g. at a standstill on all evacuation routes. Every once in a while, the local media approach the issue of whether over-cautious govt officials triggered the exodus which launched in earnest Wednesday evening.

I wish you guys could see the local media. These guys are really pushing ever increasing hysterical story lines - to the point of being irresponsible. After Katrina, no one seems to want to be reasonable and prudent. Are there locations in Houston that should evacuate? Sure. But not the entire city of four million.

Also, the evacuation is incredibly even handed. Rich and poor are running out of gas and being stranded. This talking head just said the govt should airlift fuel to disabled cars (KTRK). WTF?

Let's see if this traffic clears before the thing hits. If these folks are anywhere out-of-doors in 75mph winds, there will be trouble.

Starbucks has closed. The first sign of the apocalypse.

Read the rest of this post...

Mr. President - Rita Requires Ending Tax Cuts for the Rich

Mr. President - Now two days out from what will undoubtedly be another major financial blow to the United States economy and budget, we ask you once again to eliminate your tax cuts for the rich. After Katrina you're running up the nation's credit card bill like a drunk dad coming home with toys and jewelry to make it up to the kids and wife. This time need not be the same.

Stand up before Rita hits, today, and declare that this country CAN afford to pay for disaster relief -- if we get our priorities straight. Decide today that this time, this disaster, will be the beginning of the end of unnecessary budget deficits. This country must do better. Relying on foreign countries buying our debt to pay for rebuilding OUR nation's infrastructure is a terrible legacy to leave to this nation's children and grandchildren.

In the past, people have pulled together in times of disaster, like creating sandbag chains to help protect homes and property from flooding. Isn't it time that this nation pull together and share the sacrifice required to recover from what Rita will do?

Call the White House, 202-456-1414, and ask the President to stop charging disaster recovery on the nation's children and grandchildren and suspend his tax cuts for the rich.

P.S. - if they ask you to define rich, start with people who make over $250,000 a year. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Houston Chronicle has started a Rita Blog. Some of the best and most accurate info. during Katrina came from the local blogs. Read the rest of this post...

Do you think Dem Senators should vote for or against John Roberts for the Supreme Court?

I don't mean "do you want Roberts on the Supreme Court?" I certainly don't want him there. My question is somewhat different.

Do you think the Dems should vote for or against Roberts, not based on substance, but based on what the politically smart vote would be. (We all agree that, on substance, we don't like him.) But by politically smart, I mean the following...

I want to thwart Bush and the radical right packing the court with far-right judges who would unravel many of our basic freedoms and rights. What's the best way to achieve that goal? Roberts will win confirmation, we know that. So what's the best way to ensure that the NEXT judge Bush nominates will be a "uniter," and if he or she isn't, what's the best way to ensure that they don't win confirmation?

Do Dem senators vote against Roberts in order to send a signal that the country won't tolerate Bush trying to move an already conservative court further to the right (and also send the message that we won't permit judicial nominees to simply stonewall and not answer any serious questions)? Or do senators vote FOR Roberts and say "this is the last time, you got your conservative to replace another conservative (Rehnquist), but next time you're replacing O'Connor and you'd better give us a moderate to replace a moderate?"

Will the Dems have more credibility opposing, perhaps even with a filibuster, a future nutjob appointment by Bush if they vote FOR Roberts now? Or will they draw the line better by voting against Roberts now?

Your thoughts? Read the rest of this post...

Tom DeLay to the rescue

Rita is bearing down on (DeLay's) the Devil's District:

To help their districts cope with Hurricane Rita, several Houston-area lawmakers flew home from Washington on Wednesday, and others planned to follow.

The first to leave was House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Sugar Land, whose district includes evacuated areas such as Clear Lake.

Has he been indicted yet? Read the rest of this post...

Pretty good anti-Bush video

Video and audio, it's a bit vulgar for the at-work crowd. You may have seen it before, I hadn't. It's good. Kudos to reader Joe for sending this to me. Read the rest of this post...

Old people stuck in Hurricane's path

Funny, I thought Bush was "focused" on helping everybody this time? Oh well, guess we're going to get another speech about how he really does care about black people.

So, since the GOP tells us thta when these things go wrong it's all the fault of the local government, isn't it interesting that the Texas governor is a Republican and, gosh, who was the Republican governor before him? Read the rest of this post...

Is that a hurricane in your pocket?

This is a real Hurricane Rita image on NOAA's Web site right now.



Man, Texas really is fucked.

(Hat tip to Lori for catching this.) Read the rest of this post...

Gas at $5/gallon???

So say the experts at CNN/Money:

"We could be looking at gasoline lines and $4 gas, maybe even $5 gas, if this thing does the worst it could do," said energy analyst Peter Beutel of Cameron Hanover. "This storm is in the wrong place. And it's absolutely at the wrong time," said Beutel.

Hmmm. Who will profit from that? Read the rest of this post...

Bush links terror and Katrina

Huh?

Mr. Bush said he had been "thinking a lot" about the comparisons between the response to the attacks in New York and Washington, and the storm devastation. "We look at the destruction caused by Katrina, and our hearts break," he said. Turning the subject to terrorists, he said: "They're the kind of people who look at Katrina and wish they had caused it. We're in a war against these people."

Okay, there is so much wrong in that snippet...where to begin. He is really reaching. Most Americans look at the destruction caused by Katrina and think: we're screwed. He is the WORST PRESIDENT EVER. Read the rest of this post...

More questions about Frist's amazingly successful stock sale

What are the odds of selling all of the stock just a few weeks before the stock takes a nose dive? What a lucky guy he is.

Precisely a month later, after the stock was sold, its price tumbled 9 percent when executives in the company -- HCA Inc., which was founded by Frist's father and on whose board Frist's brother serves -- disclosed that hospital admissions of insured patients were lower than expected, depressing profits in the second quarter.

Several ethics experts and watchdogs said they found it odd that Frist could intervene to order such a sale when the HCA stock was ostensibly out of his reach in blind trusts. Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, said, "The notion that you have a blind trust but you can tell your trustee when to sell stock in it just doesn't make any sense. It means you have a seeing eye trust and not a blind trust. It's ridiculous."

Larry Noble, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, agreed that the arrangement "seems to defeat the purpose of a blind trust. Somebody else is supposed to have control over it to avoid potential conflicts of interest. If you can just reach in and sell stock, it seems it defeats the whole purpose."

Jan W. Baran, a Republican ethics expert at Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP, said, "That's the question, 'What changed?' " to compel Frist to sell his stock when he did.

Read the rest of this post...

Early AM Open Thread

As John mentioned below, just in case the President is looking for something other than a shot, may I suggest...

Hurricane

2 ounces amber rum
1/4 cup passion fruit juice, or 1 tablespoon passion fruit syrup
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
1/2 teaspoon grenadine
Juice of 1/2 lime
Cherries and orange slice to garnish
Ice cubes

In a cocktail shaker mix the rum, passion fruit juice and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add the grenadine, and lemon juice and stir to combine. Add the ice cubes and shake. Strain Hurricane into a cocktail glass. Garnish with orange and cherries. Yield: 1 serving

Any other drink suggestions for the President? Otherwise, open thread away. Read the rest of this post...

What's the excuse this time?

Bush and the GOP had been itching for a war ever since Vietnam where they could fight it there way. The common belief, often by those who never actually fought, was that the politicians controlled the war and that next time, they were going to let the military fight the war and win. (Perhaps they also pine away for living in a military dictatorship as well where pesky folks who are representatives of the people don't get in the way.) OK, so they have the war that they always wanted, they've managed to neuter the press and for a good while had the country buying their story and accepting it all.

So how come Iraq is such a mess? They enjoyed complete GOP control in Washington, found enough dumbass Democrats to go along with it and yet they still couldn't get the job done. They had no plan, but no matter. Criticism came and went like water off a duck's back. Perhaps their response is that it's going well, democracy, blah, blah, blah but Iraq has been a failure and a money drain on the US taxpayer, just like Vietnam. Who are they going to blame this time for a failed venture like this? They rarely accept blame and have carried this torch ever since the withdrawal from Vietnam, so fess up and explain. C'mon, they were all supposed to be experts at this (as they often liked telling us) and yet it's a mess.

If anyone knows who their whipping boy is this time and what the excuse is I'd like to hear it. Read the rest of this post...

Chaos continues in British occupied Iraq

Protestors in Basra took to the streets after the bizarre British "rescue" of SAS agents from a local prison as well as from the home of a Shiite militia home. I'm hardly surprised with the turn of events because for a long time, there have been warnings about Iran infiltrating Iraq with their own agents so it's more of a surprise that it has taken so long for this to happen.

If the British occupied region starts to face more violence due to the Iranian influence, what will Blair do and what will Bush do? Blair is going to struggle if he tries to send more troops and the US already has it's hands full in the rest of Iraq. Bush and Blair had to have this war, so what's the plan for addressing the Iranian infiltration? Read the rest of this post...

Catholic Church: Gays? No. Drug Lords and Child Molesters? Yes. War Criminals? Maybe.

In Mexico, Bishop Ramon Godinez is ignoring the pleas of the country's leader by insisting he has no problem with taking money from cruel and violent drug dealers responsible for misery and death all over the hemisphere.

"If they have money, they have to spend it; I don't know why such a scandal has been made of this," Godinez said in a follow-up interview with the Televisa television network Tuesday....

"Let me explain: We live on this, on the offerings of the faithful.

So it wasn't just a one-time slip of the tongue. The bishop said it, said it again, and can't figure out why people are upset. Exactly how could an unrepentant drug dealer be considered "one of the faithful?" As John posted below, back in the US, a grand jury condemns the Philly archdiocese:

The Philadelphia Archdiocese concealed sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests for four decades, a grand jury has found, but no criminal charges can be brought against the church or its clergy because of the limits of state law....

The report names 63 priests "whose abusive behavior was well-documented in archdiocese files and by witnesses who testified" before the grand jury.

Finally, a UN prosecutor says the Vatican is hiding a Croatian war criminal indicted for crimes against humanity in a monastery. The Church says "Prove it." How low can the Church sink? Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Buh bye Read the rest of this post...