Sneak preview

New Dem online ad takes on Repubs. It's cute. Read the rest of this post...

New Poll: America hates Bush

They hate me, they really hate me!

The number of Americans disapproving of President Bush's job performance has risen to the highest level of his presidency, according to the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday.

According to the poll, 53 percent of respondents said they disapproved of Bush's performance, compared to 45 percent who approved.

The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The 53 percent figure was the highest disapproval rating recorded in the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll since Bush became president in January 2001.

The approval percentage -- 45 percent -- matches a low point set in late March. The 8-point gap between those who disapproved and approved was the largest recorded during Bush's tenure.

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Open thread

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

UK says bird flu "as grave a threat as terrorism"

I have been following the bird flu for a while and there certainly are a lot of bad signs out there which seem to be suggesting that it could be approaching soon and when it does, it is going to be very serious. Officials in the UK Civil Contingency Secretariat are saying that a flu pandemic could kill 700,000 civilians. Other international health organizations are also warning the public.

The World Health Organisation has warned that "the world is now in the gravest possible danger of a pandemic", while the Food and Agriculture Organisation calls it a "sword of Damocles" hanging over the globe.

On Friday, a new report in the US suggested 500,000 could die and 2 million hospitalized when the flu pandemic arrives. Considering the sorry state of US healthcare in the US those numbers could be conservative because the US has a limited supply of vaccine, for only 2% of the population compared to Western Europe where the numbers are ten times or more.

A more serious strain strikes every few years and a so-called pandemic strain emerges once every 27 years, on average. The more virulent strains sweep around the world within months.

Pandemics hit in 1918 -- killing up to 40 million people globally -- 1957 and 1968. Health experts all say the world is overdue for another and fear the avian flu in Asia may be it.

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We've just launched a MAJOR AMERICAblog storefront

Our store is now open, for real, with a new storefront, and LOTS of new products.

Just FYI, we DO get a good portion of each sale, so shop liberally, as they say. This will, hopefully, become a reasonable source of income for AMERICAblog (I'm basically doing the blog full-time now, and trying to help Joe, Chris and Michael keep themselves clothed and well-fed). And I hope that the concept of t-shirt blogging, as I call it, will also help us further our agenda (as the Lynch Mob t-shirts helped created news in and of themselves).

Now for some of the details...

You can see the new storefront home page here to go there.

We've created a large number of new products, some of which I know you're gonna love - they made me laugh out loud. This is a collage of the new designs for t-shirts, mousepads, bumper stickers and more.



- You can find the new Gitmo Gear here.

- Draft the Bush Twins, and Are You Peppered With Obscenity? here.

- If I weren't gay... here

- I blog, therefore I am... etc. here.

- AMERICAblog logo gear here.

- Even more orchid photo stuff here (including some mousepads and stuff). Read the rest of this post...

Rumsfeld Shows Incompetence On Iraq (Again)

UPDATE: Crooks and Liars has the video of Rumsfeld admitting that we're meeting with the insurgency. That was before he denied it today.

Anyone in the media or the Republican Party still wondering why Americans have lost total confidence in Bush's ability to lead our country in a time of war? The incompetence of his top advisers is one place where to start.

Rumsfeld went on the Sunday talk shows where he repeatedly and explicity confirmed over several shows and several hours a British newspaper report that the US military had been meeting with insurgents. In fact, he went FARTHER than the report and blithely claimed that these meetings had been going on all the time.

He blithely insisted that "none" of the insurgents we were negotiating with were terrorists, when Tim Russert pressed him about this on "Meet The Press." I was just about to post on this issue, wondering exactly which part of the insurgency WASN'T involved in terrorism or direct attacks on US troops, since that is their entire strategy. Did they say they weren't when he asked? And if they did, how could Rummy possibly check it out? And if it didn't check out, by what possible standards could they be considered insurgents? In short, Rummy confirmed repeatedly on Sunday that we were negotiating with terrorists or he simply was completely incompetent and had no idea what he was talking about.

Today, Rummy has seized on the "I'm a complete idiot" argument. Reuters and AFP are reporting that top military leaders in Iraq have insisted absolutely NO talks have been started or contemplated between the US military and the insurgents.

Rumsfeld chastised the news media for the attention given to the subject.

"I must say, I've been impressed how overblown these meetings are, these, quote-unquote, meetings. I don't know anything about specific meetings on specific days, nor does General Casey," Rumsfeld said.

"But there are meetings going on all the time between people in Iraq and other people in Iraq, attempting to get them to be supportive of the government, which is, obviously, the logical thing one does in a political process," Rumsfeld said.

So Rummy has completely contradicted himself and proven he doesn't have a clue as to what is going on in Iraq. No biggie for a Sec. of Defense who in those same interviews agreed the insurgency was in its last throes AND that it could continue for the next decade, if not longer.

When Bush, Cheney and Rummy repeatedly stare facts in the face and refuse to admit to them, they unnerve the American people and lose our confidence in their ability to even recognize a problem, much less respond to it and solve it. That is why the American people have lost faith in George Bush.

(Thanks to threader Mike V. for pointing us to this story.)

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If I only were a cat, Rick Santorum wouldn't hate me

I'm not impressed with PETA helping to soften Santorum's image pre-election (which frankly, has got to be the only reason he's pushing this legislation). Someone needs to slap PETA on the nose with a rolled up newspaper. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Love it when the GOP self destructs Read the rest of this post...

When Will George Bush Stop Graverobbing The Dead of 9-11?

No, President Bush, we haven't forgotten. Your attack dog Karl Rove came to New York City and the sacred ground of 9-11 and made a nasty, partisan political speech and he used that national tragedy to do it. Rove very directly made a comparison between conservatives and liberals, but put that aside. Whether you believe Bush was using Rove to attack a small group of Americans he thinks are misguided or the 50 million Americans who didn't vote for him or the vast majority of Americans who now realize he lied about Iraq, using the dead of 9-11 to try and beef up your poll numbers is reprehensible and wrong.

No one should use the dead of 9-11 to try and further their partisan political agenda. Whomever Bush wants to pretend that screed was directed at, he used the innocent victims of 9-11 to do it.

Of course Bush hasn't apologized. He's abused the tragedy of 9-11 repeatedly. Bush used the carnage of 9-11 in a political ad. He showed the corpses of loved ones being pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center to try and score a few extra votes. Widows and children were put through the trauma of not knowing whether the ad might be showing their husband or wife, their brother or sister, their son or daughter being removed from that scene of horror. And Bush didn't care. The outcry was so immediate and intense over his crass use of a national tragedy for partisan political purposes that the ad didn't run. But Bush never apologized. In fact, he defended it to the hilt.

And Bush's Republicans have graverobbed the innocent dead of 9-11 again and again to push every pet project of theirs under the sun, from oil drilling in Alaska to the flag-burning amendment. The bereaved family members have begged and pleaded and prayed for everyone to stop politicizing their loved ones and making hay out of their pain and suffering. And George Bush has turned his back on them again and again.

The entire country was united behind our president after 9-11 and everyone, to put it bluntly, wanted revenge. George Bush has now had almost four years to hunt down and kill Osama Bin Laden and he has failed miserably. And because he's too weak to attack Bin Laden, Bush has resorted to attacking Americans. Because he's too weak to divide and conquer Al Queda, Bush is trying to divide and conquer America.

When will George Bush stop graverobbing the dead of 9-11? Never. Read the rest of this post...

When Repubs Attack -- Each Other

Love it when they start bashing each other. First, Cheney goes after Hagel. Now conservative leader Grover Norquist attacks three GOP Senators over at the College Chickenhawks conference:

Speaking to the same group a few hours later, party strategist Grover Norquist lambasted three Republicans who broke party ranks over the issue of judicial filibusters. He referred to them as "the two girls from Maine and the nut-job from Arizona" - Sens. Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe and John McCain.

Seems to be more of this going around. Read the rest of this post...

Freedom and democracy in the new Iraq - girls beaten by police

Iraqi police beat up and shaved the heads of two Iraqi girls who dared wear jeans and long hair after first beating the girls in front of a crowd of people in Najaf. Did the US actually train these criminals? It's a type of democracy and freedom that I'm not familiar with but perhaps the White House can tell us more about what they are doing to protect the rights of women in Iraq. Better yet, why not send Laura to go save the day and show her support for Iraqi women. Read the rest of this post...

The TV networks shouldn't broadcast Bush's propaganda speech

I'd mentioned this last night. Atrios chimes in, as does David Corn. Bush's speech is nothing more than a PR stunt to raise his poll numbers. Nothing has happened to prompt the speech, there's no news on Iraq, no new policy he's unveiling, nothing. Why cover this speech? Read the rest of this post...

When GOP chickenhawks attack Republicans who tell the truth

The honest Republicans fight back.

Senator Hagel kept up his criticism of the Bush Iraq policy to vets in Nebraska according to the Omaha World Herald (hat tip to DailyKos):

The Bush team sent in too few troops to fight the war leading to today's chaos and rising deaths of Americans and Iraqis. Terrorists are "pouring in" to Iraq.

Basic living standards are worse than a year ago in Iraq. Civil war is perilously close to erupting there. Allies aren't helping much. The American public is losing its trust in President Bush's handling of the conflict.

And Hagel's deep fear is that it will all plunge into another Vietnam debacle, prompting Congress to force another abrupt pullout as it did in 1975.

"What we don't want to happen is for this to end up another Vietnam," Hagel told the legionnaires, "because the consequences would be catastrophic."

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Rick Santorum says liberals are pedophiles

Rick "dog sex" Santorum is at it again. Writing in "Catholic Online" about the pedophilia problems facing the Catholic Church, he says:

it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm.

So now liberals aren't only responsible for 9/11, hating America and trying to murder our troops, they're pedophiles, too.

Small problem, however. The "center of the storm" isn't Boston, it's just gotten the most attention. The epicenter is really the diocese of Covington, Kentucky, where the catholic church has proposed the largest single sex-abuse settlement in history. The total is $120 million -- they want $80 million from their insurance policies (they actually included sex abuse in their policies) and another $40 million of their own assets.

Covington, of course, is one of the reddest districts in a very, very red state. Went HUGE for Bush, Bunning, and the R congressional candidate. Not a librul for miles and miles. Oh yeah, and there's nearby Burlington's "cross burning" problem. Why do GOP racists like to rape children?

So what's Santorum's excuse for Covington? Perhaps Rick Santorum should stop thinking about sex so much. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Gee, the GOP-appointed Supreme Court turned down the 10 Commandments. So, who does that make wrong - the "liberal activist judges" or the religious right and their suck up up politicians in Congress and the White House? Read the rest of this post...

CREW files FEC complaint against Bill Frist

CREW is one of the only groups in town with balls. The video doctor is in trouble. Read the rest of this post...

GOP threatens Major League Baseball, you'd better not sell Nationals to Soros

So now Republicanism stands for controlling the free market. Big-time Republicans, like, oh, George W. Bush, are permitted to own the Texas Rangers. But Soros is different because, uh, Democrats hate America, don't get 9/11 and want to kill our troops, so in uber-Christian-white America we don't let rich Jewish financiers do the same business deals that white Christian Republicans are allowed to do.

But this has nothing to do with Nazi Germany, circa 1934.

More on this here.

UPDATE: I had mentioned Peter Angelos earlier, but he's a Democrat, not a Republican. In any case, the Bush example nails this point home even better. Read the rest of this post...

Closet heterosexual, Ken Mehlman, believes in "social justice"

Baltimore Sun:

Mehlman, the first Jewish chairman of the Republican Party in modern times, said he believes "the values you're raised with have an impact on your political philosophy. ... I think that there's a belief I personally have in social justice that comes from my upbringing."

Yeah, our hero. A real Martin Luther King you are, Ken. Read the rest of this post...

Sup. Ct: 10 Commandments CAN be displayed NEAR Public Buildings

Latest from CNN, split decision from the Court on 10 Commandments which can be displayed near public buildings -- on public property, but apparently not in public buildings. Read the rest of this post...

Sup. Ct: No 10 Commandments Display in Court Houses

CNN reports that Supreme Court has ruled 10 Commandments cannot be displayed in Court Houses.

Link to AP Story. Read the rest of this post...

Supreme Court Open Thread

Awaiting big decisions and possible retirement(s)....what do you think? Read the rest of this post...

Could Frist be President?

Washington Post asks if he is up to the task and starts by examing Frist's recent Bolton fiasco:

By noon last Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist seemed done with John R. Bolton's nomination to be U.N. ambassador. Bustling from the Capitol to have lunch with President Bush, he told reporters he planned no further votes to try to end the Democrats' long-running filibuster of the embattled nominee.

But after his presidential chat, Frist announced he would keep trying, prompting newspaper headlines such as "Frist Reverses Himself," which his staff called unfair.

The next day, the Tennessee surgeon-turned-politician again seemed to wash his hands of Bolton. "It's really between the White House and Chris Dodd and Joe Biden," he said, naming two senior Democratic senators. At 11 p.m., however, he was working the phones, successfully urging another conversation between Biden and White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. But the late-night Biden-Card call did not resolve a dispute over documents at the heart of the Bolton impasse, and Frist had little to show for his work but negative news reports and political headaches.

The Post article sure doesn't help his cause. The answer about whether Frist is up to being President is pretty resounding NO. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Getting the week started....what's new? Read the rest of this post...

Toronto Gay Pride And Where The Bigots Went

I checked out John's post about Toronto's Gay Pride, its biggest ever. And I couldn't help laughing over the kicker about the political bigot Conservative Leader Stephen Harper and where he spent Gay Pride. While the mayor and the police chief and other major figures in Toronto showed their support and respect for ALL of Canada's citizens, where was Harper? According to CBC News,

He was in suburban Toronto, where he spoke out against same-sex marriage while addressing a Muslim religious convention.

Yes, amusing, though Muslims who want to be part of a free and pluralistic society should learn that this means respecting the rights and dignities of everyone, not just people you agree with. Read the rest of this post...