Won't you be my dictator?

Isn't it nice that we live in a country where the military doesn't secretly pull all the strings and get away with murder, unencumbered by an elected civilian government.

Oh. Never mind. Read the rest of this post...

Bedtime in America (well, east coast America) open thread

In with the good air, out with the bad. Read the rest of this post...

Hurts So Good...

Check out the current crop of headlines at Yahoo:



Let's restate those headlines:

* DeLay - Corruption in senior levels of government.
* Brown - the President put a complete idiot in charge of our nation's key disaster preparedness agency
* Reuters - the Pentagon is making it impossible for the American people to be told what's being done in their name
* Frist - More corruption in senior levels of government.
* Gulfport - shipping companies won't clean up their mess.

While it saddens me that this is the state of my country, I'm so happy to see that after 5 years of these fools in charge, today, at least, it seems like it's getting better. The media is calling it out. They are finally (just starting) to get their due... Read the rest of this post...

I guess freedom is un-American

I've read five articles now about the cancelation of this "freedom museum" that they were going to build at the World Trade Center location in NYC. Apparently there was concern that the museum, dedicated to spreading the message of "freedom," would become a staging ground for anti-American messages.

Oh, right, because nothing stinks of anti-Americanism like freedom. Read the rest of this post...

Surprise! We WON'T be substantially cutting the US troops presence in Iraq in 2006

Because you can never have enough photos of dead Iraqis.

From Reuters

The top U.S. general in Iraq on Wednesday cast doubt on his previous forecasts of a substantial cut in American forces in 2006, saying Iraq was in a period of heightened uncertainty that made it "too soon to tell" if troops can be brought home.

Gee, so the president lied during the election? And the US military has been lying to us about how great things are in Iraq? Whodathunkit! Read the rest of this post...

DeLay has his "I am not a crook" presser

It's always partisanship when the GOP gets in trouble:

"I have done nothing wrong ... I am innocent," DeLay told a Capitol Hill news conference in which he criticized the Texas prosecutor, Ronnie Earle, repeatedly. DeLay called Earle a "unabashed partisan zealot," and "fanatic," and described the charges as "one of the weakest and most baseless indictments in American history."

Um, kettle, this is pot, you're black.

So, the maestro has given all his lackies the talking points. It's all partisanship. In a way, he's right, but he's got it backwards. He is in trouble for partisanship. But the partisanship that got him in trouble was his own. He's so obsessed with GOP rule, that he was willing to break the law. That's what partisan fanatics do. Read the rest of this post...

Should AMERICAblog publish the uncensored death photos on our home page?

I was discussing this with Joe in DC earlier today. Now that the Pentagon has decided to totally ignore this scandal, to sweep under the rug the fact that US troops are making the electronic version of ear necklaces from the dead, is it time for AMERICAblog to publish the worst of the photos on our site?

I'm talking, there are photos of faces ripped off of bodies - leaving only the face behind, not the skull, the face just lying on the ground. Guys sitting in their cars, heads totally blown off.

This is gruesome stuff folks. Probably the worst thing you can imagine. But I'm seriously wondering if the only way to prove how bad this is is by creating a scandal by publishing the very visible and very uncensored death photos on this very public blog.

What do you all think? I could go either way. Read the rest of this post...

Karen Hughes got the crap kicked out of her by Turkish activist

So much for the listening tour:

Sent to improve America's image in the Muslim world, President Bush's public relations chief stressed the need for better dialogue in her brief address Wednesday to Turkish women activists. What Karen Hughes got back was a barrage of criticism about the U.S. war in Iraq.

There is "no chance for America to make its image better … while the war in Iraq is still going on (and) people are dying every day," Turkish activist Hidayet Sefkatli Tuksal told journalists after meeting with Hughes at a museum in a medieval citadel looming over the modern city of Ankara.

How intriguing to think that government officials will sit down with critics. I hear stuff like that happens in democracies like Turkey. Now, if we could only do that in America. Imagine an open forum with Bush or one of his lackies. You'll have to imagine it cause it will never happen. Read the rest of this post...

BREAKING: Army cancels probe of "war dead for porn" scandal

Message to the world: The US government doesn't give a damn about Muslims or the Geneva Conventions.

Outrageous. They just canceled the entire investigation of the scandal involving US soldiers allegedly trading death pics from Iraq for access to online porn. And the reasons the military is giving for canceling the investigation are simply outrageous. Get this.

The Army Criminal Investigation Command in Iraq conducted the preliminary inquiry within the past week but closed it after concluding no felony crime had been committed and failing to determine whether U.S. soldiers were responsible for the photos and whether they showed actual war dead, Army officials said. Col. Joe Curtin, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, said there currently was no formal investigation into the matter.

Again, they're playing with this "felony" word but then suggesting that there's no other formal investigation going on. There are lots of problems here beyond whether or not a felony has occurred.

Second, the reasons for their not finding a felony are simply bizarre.

1. They can't figure out if US soldiers are responsible for the photos. Uh, there are several photos of soldiers faces. They're smiling for the camera and pointing at the body parts. Have you asked them? Also, the Online Journalism Review story quotes a soldier by name admitting to posting the photos online.

Have they talked to this guy?



Or any of these guys?



Or these guys?



2. The military can't tell whether the photos show actual war dead. Uh excuse me, but what exactly do those photos show? A man behind a steering wheel with his head blown off and two US soldiers peering in the window. Again, have you asked those soldiers?

And, tell me, how exactly did this man die with so many US soldier standing over his body? Suicide? Natural causes? Angina? Broken heart?



And here are some more questions for the military:

1. Why were these photos taken at all?
2. Who took these photos - if not military, then who? Do our soldiers normally pose with dead bodies for strangers on the streets?
3. How did these photos get online at all? Have you bothered asking the soldiers in the photos? Have you tried to get the records of the web master to see who emailed him and from what computer?

What exactly HAS the military done to get to the bottom of this? They launched an investigation that lasted, apparently, a matter of hours. And now they tell us there's nothing they can do, and nothing they're going to do, about the outright racist abuse of Muslims by US troops.

And we wonder why they hate us? Read the rest of this post...

Bush and congressional GOP are blocking health care coverage for hundreds of thousands of hurricane victims

Oh yeah. A party that truly hates itself.

With Gulf Coast governors pressing for action, Senate Finance Committee members complained Wednesday that the Bush administration is blocking a bipartisan $9 billion health care package for hundreds of thousands of evacuees from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Read the rest of this post...

Dreier is OUT

Oh yeah, they picked Congressman Roy Blunt and NOT David Dreier.

Dreier will now only be a "helper" working with the chairman to move the agenda across the house floor.

We'd heard that apparently the gay issue is what influenced the decision. They knew about the controversy and that's why Dreier got uninvited to be Majority Leader.

Oh well. Now Dreier knows how it feels to be discriminated against based on your sexual orientation. Read the rest of this post...

Oh, let's all talk about Delay

It's worth another open thread to talk about all of this. :-) Read the rest of this post...

David Dreier voted to ban gays from adopting kids in Washington, DC

Enough said.

The 52-year-old single congressman voted for the Marriage Protection Act in July, a measure that would have stripped federal courts of jurisdiction over challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act, which bans the federal government from recognizing gay partnerships. Dreier did not vote on the latest amendment to constitutionally ban gay marriage, and said he was against it.

Dreier, a Christian Scientist, also voted for the original Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 and a measure that banned gays from adopting in Washington, D.C. He has a 92 percent favorability rating from the Christian Coalition, and was elected with Ronald Reagan in 1980.

And here's David Dreier's whopping 22% score from the gay-rights group Human Rights Campaign:

Read the rest of this post...

Hastert to pick Closet-Heterosexual David Dreier as Majority Leader

Ok, this is sweet. The Speaker is reportedly going to pick Congressman David Dreier (R-CA), an avowed, well, an avowed nothing, as the next Majority Leader of the House. This is pretty historic since Dreier refuses to respond to ongoing rumors that he's gay, but even more importantly, I was sitting next to Dreier last summer at the GOP Convention when Mike Signorile was interviewing him, and Dreier refused to answer a direct question from Signorile about whether Dreier was heterosexual.



Here's what Dreier said:

SIGNORILE: There have been a lot of rumors that you yourself are gay. People feel it’s hypocritical of you not to speak on the subject of same-sex marriage.

DREIER: I have spoken out very, very vigorously in opposition to amending the U.S. Constitution, which is really the key question and the key issue here.

SIGNORILE: Any comment on the rumors about your own sexual orientation?

DREIER: No. You know, there are an awful lot of people out there who try to do harm to a lot of individuals, and I believe it is absolutely wrong. And so I’m not going to get into anything like that.

SIGNORILE: So you are, are you saying you’re heterosexual?

DREIER: No, I’m not going to talk about this issue.

Other than Ken Mehlman, Dreier is the only "closet heterosexual" I've ever met in my life.

This is a great day for ambiguously gay heroes. Ken must be so proud.

I wonder how the religious right is feeling just about now? They can kiss their anti-gay constitutional amendment goodbye, and much more. If the religious right doesn't think we can pressure Dreier to stop their anti-gay crap, then they really haven't been reading up on their gay agenda. :-) Read the rest of this post...

INDICTED

UPDATE: GOP rules will force Delay to resign his post as Majority Leader!



From CNN.com, breaking news:

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay indicted on one count of criminal conspiracy by Texas grand jury, according to Travis County clerk's office.

More from the Austin American-Statesman:

A Travis County grand jury today indicted U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on one count of criminal conspiracy, jeopardizing the Sugar Land Republican's leadership role as the second most powerful Texan in Washington, D.C.

The charge, a state jail felony punishable by up to two years incarceration, stems from his role with his political committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, a now-defunct organization that already had been indicted on charges of illegally using corporate money during the 2002 legislative elections.

The grand jury, however, took no action against Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick, Texas Association of Business President Bill Hammond or state Reps. Dianne Delisi and Beverly Woolley, both of whom sit on the political committee's board, for their roles in the election.

The grand jury's term ended today.

Delay's defense team will hold a press conference in Austin later this afternoon. The team includes defense attorneys Bill White and Steve Brittain of Austin and Dick DeGuerin of Houston.

State law bans corporate money being spent in connection with political campaigns and Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, a Democrat, has spent almost three years investigating whether Republican groups and their business allies violated that ban. The groups helped elect a Republican majority to the state Legislature which, in turn, drew new Congressional districts that benefited Republican candidates.

DeLay and his associates insisted the corporate money was legally spent on committee overhead or issue advertising and not campaign-related activity.

An indictment does not force DeLay to resign as a member of Congress, but the GOP's rules demand that he resign his post as majority leader as he fights the charges. Congressional Republicans earlier tried to drop that requirement, citing Earle's investigation as a political vendetta, but they ultimately maintained the rule after withering criticism....

Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Any news on the Hammer yet?

PS cute video about Bush here. Read the rest of this post...

AMERICAblog ♥ CNN's Blog Chicks

The NY Observer has a big profile today on CNN's beloved blog chicks, Jacki and Abbi.

Yeah, the article dwells a bit too much on the fact that both ladies are hot:

“Rrrreowww,” said The Daily Show’s Rob Corddry during a segment mocking cable news. As in: “Those two blog chicks on CNN are kinda hot-dot-blogspot-dot-rrrrrreowwww!”

Then again, we dwell a lot on the fact that Anderson Cooper is hot. Read the rest of this post...

Bush Family Reality Shows

Laura Bush is doing "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

Your nomination for the reality show her husband should do? I'm leaning towards "Intervention." Read the rest of this post...

NY Times covers "gore for porn" scandal

Last night, John did a post last night asking if this scandal constituted violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Convention. Today, the NY Times raises those same issues. This scandal is permeating the MSM:

The Army has opened an investigation into whether American troops have sent gruesome photographs of Iraqi war dead to an Internet site where the soldiers were given free access to online pornography, Army officials said Tuesday.

Some photographs on the Internet site show people in American military uniforms standing around what appear to be dead bodies. Other photos include graphic images of severed body parts and what appear to be internal organs spilling from bodies onto the ground.

The images are said to come from Afghanistan as well as Iraq. Their authenticity has not been determined.

Paul Boyce, an Army spokesman, said that if soldiers had posted the images, their actions could violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which defines conduct unbecoming an officer or enlisted soldier.

Another Pentagon official who reviewed the Web site said it raised questions, as well, of whether the acts could be viewed as a violation of the Geneva Conventions, which set standards for treatment of remains of those killed in a combat zone.

Funny thing. John did a post last night asking about if these were violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Convention. Read the rest of this post...

DeLay Indictment Watch Open Thread

Does DeLay get indicted today? Here's the latest from the Austin paper:

U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's leadership post is on the line today as a Travis County grand jury is expected to consider indicting DeLay on conspiracy charges, several lawyers familiar with the investigation said.

The charges would stem from DeLay's role in using corporate money in the 2002 elections. State law generally bans corporate money from campaign activities.

"I wouldn't have expected this a year ago," one Austin criminal defense lawyer said. "It's quite a turnaround if it happens."

Read the rest of this post...

How does Amtrak contribute to the new conservation push?

They raise prices, naturally. This sounds like yet another attempt to sabotage Amtrak and shut it down because now more than ever we should be thinking of how to encourage more riders, not push them back into their SUVs. The wingnuts who insist that Amtrak must be profitable ignore the issue of increased drivers (and the need for more roads and regular maintenance) on the roads and increased pollution. What is the cost of that? Then again, I guess it depends on who is donating to your campaign instead of what is best for the country and the environment. Read the rest of this post...

No-bid contract to Carnival is a prime example of waste

Everyone knew that the no-bid contracts were going to be a mess and Carnival is an early leader in the story. Carnival has done a fantastic job over the years of making all of their money out of the US but sheltering their income in Panama to avoid paying US taxes. (Of course, individuals who try to do this are begging the IRS to investigate them.) Because planning isn't of any concern to the Bush team as we have discovered time and time again, nobody planned for emergency housing in a post-Katrina world so the contracts for housing were not negotiated until after the event.

Now everyone is outraged by the $236 Million contract for Carnival Cruise lines to provide temporary housing while the ships are well under capacity. With the feeding frenzy that is happening in DC now for the rest of the no bid contracts, I'm sure we're going to see countless other Carnival sweetheart deals, all at the expense of the middle class and to the profit of the wealthiest of the wealthy. Mission Accomplished. Read the rest of this post...

Bureaucracy once again slowing aid to hurricane survivors

So now that Bush has decided to take the helm and run around playing leader, does this mean he's bumbling the relief effort? If he's going to play leader, shouldn't he accept the responsibility that comes with it or does that not fit into a photo op?

Port Arthur Mayor Oscar Ortiz, whose own home was destroyed by fire after the hurricane, said "we've had 101 promises" for aid, "but it's all bureaucracy."

Hmm, sounds pretty familiar. Read the rest of this post...

Torture Scandal: Pentagon Has Two Choices

The Pentagon could do a serious housecleaning -- it could punish or kick out the people in charge who oversaw the widespread torture, state clear guidelines that follow US law and the Geneva Convention and restore honor to the US military. Or it could attack the soldier who risked his career to come forward and try to hunt down the other soldiers who backed him up. Guess which choice the Pentagon just made? Read the rest of this post...

Jon Stewart Agrees With John Aravosis

Jon Stewart covered the weekend anti-war protest in DC. Stewart could have mocked the MSM's coverage of 100,000+ people marching on Washington -- most press photos I saw barely hinted at the size of the protest, stories were buried deep inside newspapers, and many also included sizable references to the counter-protest by war supporters without making clear theirs was pathetically small in comparison (hundreds of people as opposed to hundreds of thousands).

Did Stewart do any of this? Nope, he made the same point John in DC did -- that poorly organized protests with people wandering around the podium and with speakers raising every unrelated issue under the sun make us look stupid.

Stewart: On Saturday, a 100,000 strong peace march descended on Washington seeking to crystallize America's dissatisfaction with the war into one single idea.
Clip of young male speaker: Peace!
Stewart: Okay.
Clip of male speaker: Justice!
Stewart: (pause) Fine.
Clip of male speaker: Environmental protection!
Stewart: (pause, confused look on face)
Clip of male speaker: No racism!
Stewart: (dumb-founded, and then says in Valley Girl-like voice) Dude! I didn't hike from Oberlin for this.

Stewart then mocked the organizers for following Cindy Sheehan's speech with a poet and then said, "All in all, a rather disorganized protest that no doubt cheered conservatives."

Happily, Stewart DID mock the absurdly small counter-protest, something the MSM failed to do properly. But when Jon Stewart believes -- just like John in DC -- that throwing in every issue under the sun at an anti-war protest is stupid, people should listen. Read the rest of this post...