Open thread

Is it just me, or has Google News become useless? Their definition of "news sites" seems to include an ever increasing number of simply bizarre Web sites that aren't even the top in their category of site. Meaning, they've tried to include blogs, but only some blogs, and many of the ones they have you'll never have heard of, and many of the ones you have heard of are just plain bad. When I'm doing a news search, I want news site - not blogs, not left-wing conspiracy sites, or right-wing religious nutjobs. News. If they want a blog search enging, that's fine too. But the current state of affairs has taken a great news search engine and turned it into a bunch of noise. Read the rest of this post...

Gott in Himmel! Zer are gayz in zee Republican pahty

Okay, we got caught. It's no use hiding any longer.

We gays are everywhere.

We control everyone.

We control everything (except, of course, international banking, Hollywood and the media - that's the Jews).

It's no use denying it any longer. The Nazis and the Klan were right. We're very very bad people, and we must be stopped before we steal your children and use their blood in our holiday meals (oh, that's right, Jews again).

The religious right is in full meltdown mode because they've suddenly discovered that there are gay people working openly in the Republican party.

Uh, this is the first time they've noticed? Rick Santorum's press secretary is openly gay. There are scores of openly gay people working in the White House. The Republican National Committee looks like a Gay Disney Tea Dance. And don't even get us started on Senator George Allen's office (think San Francisco, circa 1970, but without the mustaches). To find an openly gay Republican embraced by the highest reaches of the GOP, one need look no farther than the Vice President's campaign director (also known as his daughter).

Yes, Virginia, there are gays in the Republican party, and you've known it for years. So why all the belly-aching now?

I'll tell you why. Because while gay and lesbian Americans have been increasingly welcomed into the fabric of the American family, including the Republican party, the religious right has increasingly exposed itself as a fringe movement of hateful bigots, and nobody likes them anymore.

While the Republicans are unparalleled in their ability to gay-bait, Latino-bait, black-bait, Muslim-bait, France-bait, and woman-bait, few of them really mean it. Most Republicans don't give a damn about the religious right agenda. In fact, they hate it. I know more than a few Republicans in town, several of them downright conservative, and I can't find a one who has a good word to say about any of the religious right hate groups or their deluded, hate-filled followers. In fact, they find them kind of nutty and obnoxious.

So, it's no surprise the Republican party welcomes the religious right publicly, but then laughs at them behind their backs. And it's no surprise that the Republican party shuns gays publicly, but loves them behind closed doors. They like us. We're fun. They don't like you. You're not. And it's taken the likes of Falwell and Robertson thirty years to figure it out.

Anyway, you simply must read the latest hate-filled screed from one of the lead far-right groups. This document on its face shows better than I ever could why the Republicans can't stand these people.

(Here's a link to a German-English dictionary, in case you're having trouble understanding anything.)

...the GOP has played a trick on itself. The party brought so-called gay Republicans into positions of power in Congress only to realize that the confidential information they held about a secret gay network was political dynamite that could backfire....

A New York Times story by Mark Leibovich confirmed that gay Republicans have occupied "crucial staff positions" in Congress and "have played decisive roles in passing legislation, running campaigns and advancing careers."....

If you are getting the idea that gay Republicans may be closeted Democrats, then you are beginning to understand how the Mark Foley scandal could have been a Democratic Party dirty trick.... gay Republicans are in reality "liberal activists" who want to use the party to advance the same homosexual agenda embraced by the Democrats....

Ominously, the Foley scandal suggests that this network has inside information about the sexual behavior of members of Congress and their staffers that can be exploited in order to create scandals at a moment's notice.... It is now apparent that this power has been used to sabotage the party from within....

It is also beyond dispute that the current scandalous state of affairs will outlive the Foley scandal unless the secret network of bludgeon and blackmail is exposed....

It's early in the probe, but we may be looking at emerging evidence of a homosexual recruitment ring that operated on Capitol Hill. It's time to get beyond partisan politics and follow the evidence wherever it leads. Our media should not be intimidated by charges of "gay bashing." They must lead the way in getting to the bottom of this terrible abuse of power.

Like the guy said. It's early in the probe, but he's gonna get to the bottom of it and make sure everything is exposed. (Is it warm in here?)

Read the rest of this post...

Senate report accuses Grover Norquist of defrauding taxpayers for Abramoff

The king of the anti-tax movement and some of his colleagues in the right wing were using their non-profit, tax-exempt organizations to benefit Abramoff according to a new Senate report. These hard-core conservatives really are a shifty bunch:

Five conservative nonprofit organizations, including one run by prominent Republican Grover Norquist, "perpetrated a fraud" on taxpayers by selling their clout to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Senate investigators said in a report issued today.

The report includes previously unreleased e-mails between the now-disgraced lobbyist and officers of the nonprofit groups, showing that Abramoff routed money from his clients to the groups. In exchange the groups, among other things, produced ostensibly independent newspaper op-ed columns or press releases that favored the clients' positions.

Senator Max Baucus, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee which authored the report, said the IRS and FBI should investigate Norquist's group. The Republican chair of the Finance Committee, Charles Grassley from Iowa, "endorsed [the reports] findings of wrongdoing by the nonprofit groups."

Could Grover run his famed Wednesday morning meeting from prison, one wonders? Read the rest of this post...

Head of British Army calls for Brits to withdraw from Iraq, says troops presence is exacerbating the problem

UPDATE: I fixed the link, sorry about that.

That's what Democrats have been saying for a while now. Read the rest of this post...

More allegations of prisoner abuse at Gitmo, this time a Marine sergeant had made the accusations under oath

Had enough yet? Read the rest of this post...

Condi recognizes gay man's "mother in law" in front of Laura Bush at official ceremony

It doesn't get more real than that. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a member of George Bush's cabinet, while standing alongside First Lady Laura Bush, recognized a gay man, his partner, and his "mother in law" - i.e., his gay partner's mom.

For all the criticism we give Condi, and it's well deserved, she gets kudos for this one. I interviewed her years ago, during the 1999 campaign for the presidency, and the lady doesn't let out a word she doesn't mean. She said "mother in law" because she meant "mother in law." And she meant to say it in front of Mrs. Bush and the cameras. She knew exactly what she was doing. The question is why Ms. Rice felt the need to make a pro-gay gesture at this point in time. With the Foley scandal in full bloom, you'd think the Bushies would want to stay away from gays like the plague.

Yes, I get it - Foley is not a "gay" scandal, BUT, the gay issue is obviously hot right now, and with the religious right seething like neo-Nazis at a synagogue, it just strikes me as odd, though welcome, that Rice decided now was the time to make a bold gesture in favor of gay marriage - and that's essentially what she did. Read the rest of this post...

US Deaths "surge" in Iraq

What the hell is happening over there in Bush's quagqmire? He keeps talking progress, but it's getting worse. This is what happens when the President says "stay the course":

U.S. military casualties have surged in Iraq in recent weeks, with U.S. troops engaging in perilous urban sweeps to curb sectarian violence in Baghdad while facing unrelenting violence elsewhere.

At least 44 U.S. troops have been killed so far in October. At the current pace, the month would be the deadliest for U.S. forces since January 2005. After falling to 43 in July, the U.S. toll rose in August and September before spiking this month. The war's average monthly U.S. death toll is 64.

Read the rest of this post...

New ad from the September Fund

First ad from the September Fund (a pro-Democratic 527). It was produced by the same guy who does Eliot Spitzer's ads -- those ads are just super. His name is Jimmy Siegel and he's not one of the usual DC media types -- far from it as you'll see from the ad:
Markos thinks the ads are "phenomenal." What do you think? I like it. Heard it tested very well. This ad starts running on CNN and will be up in around 12 districts over the weekend. Read the rest of this post...

Media Matters debunks the right wing's falsehoods about the Foley scandal

The GOP has come up with a bunch of whoppers about their child sex predator scandal. They're undeterred by needing facts to back up their false claims. The media doesn't always catch them in their lies. But, fortunately, Media Matters does. Read the rest of this post...

Recent Republican Intelligence Committee report plays politics with North Korea

In the wake of North Korea's nuclear test, it's worth looking at a recent Congressional report. Republicans on the House Committee on Intelligence are yet again neglecting their responsibility for oversight to put out a partisan screed on an issue that Republicans have alternately neglected and mismanaged. The subcommittee on intelligence policy turned its myopic eye to North Korea, releasing a report (PDF) that hypes the North Korea threat while ignoring the very reasons it has become one.

The report is a political document with the false imprimatur of the Intelligence Committee that is belied by a partisan slap right in the introduction:

I am disappointed to report that following participation in initial drafts of this report, the Minority staff earlier this month chose to no longer participate in producing this valuable [sic] report. While the decision of the Minority is regrettable, I believe the report can make a useful contribution to the ongoing debate over this critical national security issue.

Good for the Democrats on Intel for refusing to legitimize the report with their participation. For the terrorism report, Democrats expressed some important minority views, but when reality-based views are being excluded, sometimes refusing to participate is the best option. And if the political nature of the document isn't clear enough already, the first quote on the report is this:

'The United States should consider the danger that we could transfer nuclear weapons to terrorists, that we have the ability to do so.' – North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye-Gwan, April 2005

That's right, North Korea equals terrorists!! Anybody who's not still living the Cold War understands that there’s a big difference between states and non-state actors. Non-state actors, which most terrorist groups are these days, don't have a power apparatus consisting of borders, armies, or an economic system. They don’t have the institutional wealth and power of dictatorial leaders, and you tend to see them in caves rather than palaces. The state leaders, conversely, tend to really like being filthy rich and all-powerful. I mean, according to the report, Kim Jong Il is the world's leading purchaser, at as much as $720,000 per year, of "Hennessey" cognac (and yes, all you really need to know about this report is summed up by the fact that they spelled Hennessy wrong), and rich and powerful dictators generally tend not to do things that will instantaneously result in their being toppled by a pissed-off foreign power. For North Korea to hand weapons to terrorists would be suicidal, and Pakistan has already proven that the U.S. will sit idly by if nuclear technology is sold to state actors, so they’re pretty safe on that front.

Aside from crass politicization and hypocritical terror-hyping, though, it's also full of poor analysis. First of all, let's call North Korea what it is: a part of President Bush's Axis of Failure. Since he bizarrely linked North Korea, Iran, and Iraq nearly a half-decade ago, North Korea has almost certainly acquired nuclear capabilities, Iran has become more militant and more powerful, and we've turned Iraq into a terrorist-producing failed state. Axis of Failure. North Korea is the product of miserably failed policy, and saber-rattling isn’t going to help any.

The subcommittee report lists many problems we face with North Korea without once acknowledging the source of these problems: failed Bush administration policy. North Korea's actions increasingly seem like a big cry for help (via international aid and deals), and its government is probably wondering why it can't get the kind of sweet diplomatic deal we've already offered countries like Libya and Pakistan.

In the face of this test, though, we aren't left with good options. Only consistent and effective diplomacy can begin to remedy this bad situation, and it's not like this administration has proven adept in that area. North Korea has a despicable regime, and I'd be very happy to see Kim Jong Il go the way of Saddam and Milosevic, which makes it even more important that the intelligence committee do something other than partisan shilling. A little oversight would be nice, and the way she's been going since the primary challenge, I'd be very happy to see Chairman Harman start to sort this stuff out. Read the rest of this post...

Karl Rove's people threatened Mark Foley to make him run again

From The New Republic:

According to the source, Foley said he was being pressured by "the White House and Rove gang," who insisted that Foley run. If he didn't, Foley was told, it might impact his lobbying career.

What did Karl know and when did he know it? Read the rest of this post...

Former #2 in Bush "Faith Based Initiative" office says Karl Rove's office referred to Evangelical Christian leaders as "the nuts"

I suspect the nuts aren't going to be very happy, or surprised, to hear this.

“Tempting Faith’s” author is David Kuo, who served as special assistant to the president from 2001 to 2003. A self-described conservative Christian, Kuo’s previous experience includes work for prominent conservatives including former Education Secretary and federal drug czar Bill Bennett and former Attorney General John Ashcroft....

He says some of the nation’s most prominent evangelical leaders were known in the office of presidential political strategist Karl Rove as “the nuts.”

“National Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person and then were dismissed behind their backs and described as ‘ridiculous,’ ‘out of control,’ and just plain ‘goofy,’” Kuo writes.

Read the rest of this post...

Mark Warner not running for President

Via the Washington Post. Announcement at 11 a.m.

(Blogger.com has been acting very badly today. Sorry for any inconvenience. Note to YouTube: Google owns Blogger.com, too. Be prepared.)

Warner just released a statement. I'm still unconvinced as to why he's pulling out. He didn't think before that a presidential run, and being president, would take time away from his family? Hmmm....

I have decided not to run for President.

This past weekend, my family and I went to Connecticut to celebrate my Dad’s 81st birthday, and then we took my oldest daughter Madison to start looking at colleges.

I know these moments are never going to come again. This weekend made clear what I’d been thinking about for many weeks—that while politically this appears to be the right time for me to take the plunge—at this point, I want to have a real life.

Read the rest of this post...

Hastert and Reynolds are toxic on the campaign trail

The two Republicans most responsible for maintaining their majority can't campaign for Republican House candidates. They're toxic from the Foley scandal:

Weeks before the Nov. 7 elections, the Mark Foley scandal and its aftermath have already had a visible effect on Republican prospects: Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds (R-N.Y.), the two men leading the GOP efforts to keep power in the House, have both been largely sidelined from the public campaign.

Under normal circumstances, the House speaker and the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, currently Reynolds, would be in a full sprint in the closing weeks of an election campaign -- raising money and rallying partisans to help House members in the most competitive races. Both leaders, however, have drastically curtailed their appearances this month after coming under fire for what critics have called an inadequate response to early warnings about Foley's behavior with House pages.

This is a major distraction for the GOP campaign apparatus. The NRCC's flack actually said the scandal hasn't impacted Reynolds' ability to run the organization. Right. Reynolds is losing in his own race. The Republicans have to spend money on races they thought were safe. Their campaign infrastructure is crumbling.

The GOP doesn't want to lose power. They're like wounded animals right now. They're going to get ugly, really ugly. Read the rest of this post...

Thursday Morning Open Thread

Today Kirk Fordham will testify before the House Ethics Committee. This story just keeps going...

Anything else? I heard Bush gave a press conference yesterday. I thought I watched it. But, he just seems irrelevant these days. Still dangerous, still incompetent. But irrelevant.

Get it started. Read the rest of this post...

DoJ approves Big Telco mega merger - consumers can pound salt

My goodness, is everything about GOP total control in Washington about helping the biggest special interests? What the hell ever happened to that kooky idea of consumers and competition? The GOP is obsessed with creating bloated mega corporates that are coddled and protected from any and all competition. How does this Justice Department decision to approve the ATT-Bell South merger help the American consumer? It doesn't. It is just another rubber stamp to help campaign contributors.

The customary job losses that will surely be announced within hours of the final approval by the FCC and consumers can start counting the days to see how long it will take before an already terrible and uncompetitive market becomes even more expensive. As I have mentioned before, in France and other European countries, we have countless options for phone/internet/cable that are a fraction of the costs that are available in the US. (My own monthly bill for unlimited calls in France and 30 countries around the world, plus high speed internet plus about 100 TV channels is 30 euro.) France is not traditionally known as a market of competition so it is interesting to compare the directions of the two countries at the moment.

Let's see what the FCC says about this uncompetitive merger but with GOP rule, I can't imagine many, if any, changes. Read the rest of this post...

Four more years of this?

That's the Bush plan, at least. At least everything is going in the right direction, with the right leadership, no?

For planning purposes, the Army is gearing up to keep current troop levels in Iraq for another four years, a new indication that conditions there are too unstable to foresee an end to the war.

Just for planning purposes, naturally. Sounds like Rummy had a child-like temper tantrum at the news conference as well. It must be tough for someone as arrogant as Rummy to see such a self created mess with nobody but himself and his inside circle to blame. Read the rest of this post...

Why have gas prices dropped recently?

According to this new Washington Post-ABC News poll, the leading answer is "upcoming election/political reasons." What? The public has suspicions with the administration and the deep ties to Big Oil? It seemed like only yesterday that the public was buying into everything the administration said and today, the magic is gone. The pendulum is finally moving in the other direction. Read the rest of this post...