Gingrich calls on House to replace Delay as Majority Leader

T-o-a-s-t

And former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) called on House Republicans to elect a new majority leader to permanently replace Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), Abramoff's most powerful ally in Washington, who faces a trial on unrelated criminal charges of violating Texas campaign laws.

"Unequivocally, the House Republicans need to select a new majority leader in late January or early February," said Gingrich, who cited revelations in The Washington Post that a public advocacy group organized by DeLay associates had been largely financed by Russian energy interests.

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NSA started domestic spying BEFORE Bush approved it, i.e., on its own authority

Okay, now we're talking rogue agency wiretapping people in the US in violation of the law and without the president's approval. This is getting into incredibly serious territory. Even if you buy Bush's bogus "L'etat c'est moi" argument that was Bush says IS the law, since Bush hadn't signed off on what the NSA was doing, Bush appears to have no legal leg to stand on for what the NSA was doing.

It shouldn't be surprising that we're learning about more and more mission creep each day with regards to the NSA spy scandal. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. It's only a matter of time. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Any other news this evening? Read the rest of this post...

Totally cool panoramic photo software

Ok, how cool is this? The software is called Autostitch, you can google it. It's ridiculously easy to use. And check these results:

This is a panorama of Trajan's Market in Rome (click the photo to see the blow up), it's around 15 photos:



Some friends of mine along a beach south of Rome, around 8 or so photos stitched together:



An arch in the Roman forum - here you can see how the software automatically stitched together some non-matching segments in the right side of the photo - note the columns in the right, it's pretty cool how it blended them. Mind you, this was numerous photos, top and bottom layers, and I didn't even need to tell the program which photo fit where, I just highlighted all the photos in my file and it sorted them:



Here's a series of 7 photos of Saturn's temple, I believe, in the Roman Forum:



And finally, a 360 degree circle of the Roman Forum:



I'm in geek heaven. Read the rest of this post...

Abramoff ONLY gave money to Republicans, not a dime to Dems

From Media Matters:

Earlier today, “Embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges of conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud, agreeing to cooperate in an influence-peddling investigation that threatens powerful members of Congress.”

Despite Chris Matthews’ minimization of the Jack Abramoff scandal, a November 25, 2005 Washington Post article identified four lawmakers under investigation in connection to Abramoff -- former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT), Rep. Rob Ney (R-OH), and Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-CA) -- all Republicans. Our search of the Center for Responsive Politics database of campaign contributions did not find any contributions from Abramoff to Democrats or Democratic leadership political action committees.

Despite those facts, we have documented Washington Post staff writer Jeffrey H. Birnbaum miscasting the rising tide of ethics investigations and corruption scandals plaguing primarily Republican officials as a bipartisan problem. We have also noted a number of national media figures that have cast the recent spate of political scandals as "nonpartisan," while the vast majority of government officials who have been indicted or are under investigation are Republicans.

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GOP wants to turn phrase "liberal blogger" into a bad word

From DKos.

Gosh, I sure hope they aren't able to make the phrase "liberal blogger" mean "really dumb, arrogant fratboy who lies, spies on Americans, breaks the law, violates the Constitution, spends like a drunken sailor, harbors known threats to national security, appoints unqualified friends to key jobs, loses an entire American city for the first time in history, lets the top terrorist in the world get away scot free, sends our soldiers to die because of a lack of proper body armor, and is damn proud of it."

Because that would be really embarrassing. Read the rest of this post...

Scott McClellan says Democrats are involved in Abramoff scandal. Oh really?

The latest Republican talking point is that Abramoff is a bipartisan scandal, Democrats and Republicans alike are involved.

Oh really?

I haven't heard of a single Democrat who accepted a bribe from Jack Abramoff in exchange for official favors. Not a one. This scandal isn't about politicians accepting donations - they all do that, and if it's a crime then all 535 members of Congress are criminals. I doubt the GOP really wants to go there, especially when there are more of them in Congress than us.

The scandal is about bribery; accepting those donations in exchange for official acts.

To quote the plea agreement posted below on the blog:

Abramoff and Scanlon provided "a stream of things of value ... in exchange for a series of official acts and influence." ... These things of value "included but are not limited to, foreign and domestic travel, golf fees, frequent meals, entertainment, election support..., employment for relatives, campaign contributions."

If the Republicans want to now claim that Democrats accepted bribes, I say "bring it on." I don't want any elected official, Democrat or Republican, accepting bribes. But so far, the only ones I'm hearing about who actually accepted bribes, who participated in a quid pro quo, are Republicans.

It is, however, sad to see that conservatives are yet again justifying yet another crime. To the modern day Republican party, law and order is just a TV show. Read the rest of this post...

Scott McClellan comments on an ongoing criminal investigation

Note to MSM: Guess that rule's out the door.

Q Scott, Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff has pleaded guilty to fraud and corruption and tax evasion here in the federal court in Washington. Already the DNC has put out a statement essentially saying that this is another example of what they are calling the "culture of corruption and abuse of power" that has been the hallmarks of the Bush administration. Any response?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I've seen press reports that indicate that he has -- he and his clients have given to both Democrats and Republicans. So that's the first thing that I would say.

Secondly, I'm not sure if he's actually entered a plea at this point, but the wrongdoing that he apparently now is acknowledging he was involved in is outrageous. And if he broke laws, he needs to be held to account and he needs to be punished. And beyond that, I think we'd just be speculating about things at this point, and I'm not going to engage in speculation.

ThinkProgress has outdone themselves with an incredible Abramoff page here - everything you'd want to know, who got what, etc. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Anything new? Read the rest of this post...

Hardball's Chris Matthews trying to downplay Abramoff scandal: It's not about Republicans, really

Yeah, the Republicans don't have an ethics problem. Sure, Abramoff is Republican, Delay is Republican, Frist is Republican, and Scanlon and that guy from GSA and Scooter and Karl and all the rest. But really, this isn't a partisan scandal because, uh, because if the media were call it one then Republicans might threaten to stop coming on their shows. And the shows matter more than the substance in this town. Read the rest of this post...

Copy of Abramoff plea bargain agreement

Here you go:

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Copy of the Abramoff indictments now available here

Get em while they're hot.



NOTE: If you're going to link to this document, please use this URL. Read the rest of this post...

Scotty's mother quits the GOP

This is an interesting story out of Texas. Scott McClellan's mother quit the Republican Party to run for Governor of Texas as an independent:

Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn turned her back on the Republican Party and announced Monday she will run for governor as an independent.

The move allows Strayhorn to escape a potentially ugly primary battle against Gov. Rick Perry. The GOP primary is set for March 7.

Strayhorn, who calls herself "One Tough Grandma," has been a harsh critic of Perry's leadership over the past couple of years. Monday's announcement all but guarantees Perry will be the Republican candidate on the November ballot.

Never a dull moment in Texas politics. Read the rest of this post...

Free Nellie

Nellie McKay. Love love LOVE this chick. Saw her perform, and actually met her, at a Planned Parenthood event in NYC at the GOP convention. She is simply amazing. I have never heard music like that in my life. Her performance was one of those rare and wonderful moments in life where you sit back and watch something and think "oh my God, I've not only never seen anything like this before, I never IMAGINED anything like this before." And I told her that.

Columbia Records needs to grow up and release her album - Nellie is amazing. Read the rest of this post...

Abramoff: Fraud, public corruption and tax evasion

What a way to start the year...and hoping this isn't overkill, on the Abramoff scandal...but the newest "cooperating witness" has got to be causing ulcers at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue:

Jack Abramoff will plead guilty to three felony counts in Washington today as part of a settlement with federal prosecutors, ending an intense, months-long negotiation over whether the Republican lobbyist would testify against his former colleagues, people involved with the case said.

Mr. Abramoff, 46, is pleading guilty to fraud, public corruption and tax evasion, setting the stage for prosecutors to begin using him as a cooperating witness against his former business and political colleagues. In exchange, Mr. Abramoff faces a maximum of about 10 years in prison in the Washington case.

So much for Bush controlling the news this week. Read the rest of this post...

Abramoff's guilty and he's singing

He's made the deal and he's cooperating. Atrios heard it on CNN.

UPDATE: AP's got this on the wires:

Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff has reached an agreement with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to two criminal charges stemming from the 2000 purchase of SunCruz Casinos, his attorney said Tuesday.

Abramoff will also agree to cooperate in any ongoing federal investigations in Washington, according to his Miami attorney Neal Sonnett. Prosecutors there are investigating several members of Congress who received favors from Abramoff or his clients.

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NYC to get new City Council speaker -- it's a she and she's gay

The second most powerful person in the nation's largest city is Chris Quinn, a Democrat who is also a lesbian. Gotta love New York:

The city will have its first female and openly gay City Council speaker, with enough backers lining up behind Councilwoman Christine Quinn that she's expected to get the nod at Wednesday's official vote.

Quinn (D-Manhattan), edged out her closest rival, Councilman Bill de Blasio (D-Brooklyn), for the influential position. The balance swung in her favor when the powerful Queens delegation, with 13 Democrats, decided to back Quinn.

The council speaker is widely considered the second most visible -- and powerful -- position in city government, as the face of the 51-member City Council and often the most prominent counterpoint to the mayor.

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Things should start cranking again today. One week til the Scalito hearings start. And, the Abramoff plea deal could be announced today. Read the rest of this post...

US running out of ground troops in Iraq

And the results are predictable, peppered with ugly failures. The Pentagon PR folks love talking about surgical strikes but fighting a war from the air instead of the ground always brings cases like this latest story where a family of 14 is killed. No, there's no shortage of ground troops in Iraq at all, even though the US is going to the air more and even using Air Force troops on the ground. Nope, no problem at all. Everything is going well because Bush tells us so. Read the rest of this post...

US cutting back in Afghanistan

Now why would anyone ever get the impression that the US is going to cut and run in Afghanistan? Just because they did it before and there is an expensive and failing war in Iraq, that doesn't mean anything, right? With NATO's vision of policing and a weak Afghan army, southern Afghanistan could get interesting later this year.

The most dramatic example will come by this summer, when the U.S. military officially hands over control of the volatile southern region -- plagued by persistent attacks from Islamic militias -- to an international force led by the NATO alliance. The United States will cut its troop strength by 2,500, even though it is not clear how aggressively NATO troops will pursue insurgents, who have shown no sign of relenting.

Still, Wardak noted, the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. support after the decade-long Soviet occupation ended in 1989 precipitated a civil war that culminated with the Taliban movement taking power.

"I hope the international community, and especially the U.S., has learned the lesson of what happened," he said. "I hope that history will not repeat itself this time."

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Dad says soldier/son's death in Iraq "was a waste"

An incredible op ed in Tuesday's Washington Post:

I am outraged at what I see as the cause of his death. For nearly three years, the Bush administration has pursued a policy that makes our troops sitting ducks. While Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that our policy is to "clear, hold and build" Iraqi towns, there aren't enough troops to do that.

In our last conversation, Augie complained that the cost in lives to clear insurgents was "less and less worth it," because Marines have to keep coming back to clear the same places. Marine commanders in the field say the same thing. Without sufficient troops, they can't hold the towns. Augie was killed on his fifth mission to clear Haditha....

Two painful questions remain for all of us. Are the lives of Americans being killed in Iraq wasted? Are they dying in vain? President Bush says those who criticize staying the course are not honoring the dead. That is twisted logic: honor the fallen by killing another 2,000 troops in a broken policy?...

Though it hurts, I believe that his death -- and that of the other Americans who have died in Iraq -- was a waste. They were wasted in a belief that democracy would grow simply by removing a dictator -- a careless misunderstanding of what democracy requires. They were wasted by not sending enough troops to do the job needed in the resulting occupation -- a careless disregard for professional military counsel.

But their deaths will not be in vain if Americans stop hiding behind flag-draped hero masks and stop whispering their opposition to this war. Until then, the lives of other sons, daughters, husbands, wives, fathers and mothers may be wasted as well.

This is very painful to acknowledge, and I have to live with it. So does President Bush.

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Kerry Positioned for '08 White House Bid

Over our dead bodies.

His campaign Web site boasts of an online army of 3 million supporters.

Oh please, I'm one of those 3 million supporters and I think Kerry needs to take a hike. Nice man, I voted for him, he had his chance, and he couldn't enunciate a clear and consistent position on an issue if his life depended on it. He had his moment, time to move on. Read the rest of this post...