California Legislature Passes Gay Marriage

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

A landmark bill to legalize gay marriage passed the Assembly by a single vote Tuesday and now goes to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has not said whether he will sign it.

Read the article here. Read the rest of this post...

Gilligan has died

Ok, here is my favorite quote from the obituary on AP:

The show's success, according to its creator, Sherwood Schwartz, was rooted in the fact that people of entirely different backgrounds were thrown together each week in a comedic setting.

"I knew that by assembling seven different people and forcing them to live together, the show would have great philosophical implications," Schwartz said.

LOL Hey, I loved the show, but let's not get carried away, Sherwood. Read the rest of this post...

Praise God Open Thread

Jon Stewart is on... just ended. Watch it if you can, here's a glimpse. Bush is only on # 10 of the named disasters of his administration. Click for a larger image.



Thank you Jon Stewart. For a brief moment tonight, I finally felt someone express what I've felt all week.

(Thanks Erik for the image.) Read the rest of this post...

White House can't explain how it's going to keep us safe from a major terrorist attack

From today's White House press briefing. Be very afraid, when the White House can't even explain how it's going to protect millions of Americans from a terrorist attack.

Q Well, let's talk about it. Are you saying the President is -- are you saying that the President is confident that his administration is prepared to adequately, confidently secure the American people in the event of a terrorist attack of a level that we have not seen? And based on what does he have that confidence?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, and that's what he made clear earlier today, that obviously we want to look and learn lessons from a major catastrophe of this nature.

Q Yes, but you're telling us today there will be time for that somewhere down the road. Well, what if it happens tomorrow?

MR. McCLELLAN: We can engage in this blame-gaming going on and I think that's what you're getting --

Q No, no. That's a talking point, Scott, and I think most people who are watching this --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, that's a fact. I mean, some are wanting to engage in that, and we're going to remain focused --

Q I'm asking a direct question. Is he confident --

MR. McCLELLAN: We're going to remain focused on the people.

Q -- that he can secure the American people in the event of a major terrorist attack?

MR. McCLELLAN: We are securing the American people by staying on the offensive abroad and working to spread freedom and democracy in the Middle East.

Q That's a talking point. That's a talking point.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, that's a fact.

Go ahead.

Q No, it's not. And you think people who are watching this think that's -- from what does he derive that confidence, based on the response --

MR. McCLELLAN: David, I'm interested in the people in the region that have been affected and getting them help. We can sit here and engage in this back and forth --

Q The whole country is watching and wondering about some --

MR. McCLELLAN: The time for bickering and blame-gaming is later. The time for helping people in the region is now.

Read the rest of this post...

So is President Bush still going ahead with his September 11 party on the mall, concert and all?

What about THAT diversion of resources? From today's White House press briefing:

MR. McCLELLAN: You don't want to take away from the efforts that are going on right now. And if you start getting into that now, you're pulling people out that are helping with the ongoing response, Terry. Not at all. The President made it very clear, I'm going to lead this effort and we're going to make sure we find out what the facts were and what went wrong and what went right. But you don't want to divert resources away from an ongoing response to a major catastrophe. And this is a major catastrophe that we -- and we must remain focused on saving lives and sustaining lives and planning for the long-term. And that's what we're doing.

Yes, the White House doesn't want a diversion of resources to find out what the hell went wrong last week when Bush was responsible for leaving thousands of Americans to their deaths, while he went on vacation, but they have no problem diverting White House and DOD resources for some pro-Iraq war party they're holding on the national mall later this week.

Cancel the September 11 party and concert NOW. Read the rest of this post...

Yeah, Brownie, You did a heck of a job

Only George Bush could think someone this incompetent did a heck of ajob:

The government's disaster chief waited until hours after Hurricane Katrina had already struck the Gulf Coast before asking his boss to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security employees to the region - and gave them two days to arrive, according to internal documents.

Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Mike Chertoff roughly five hours after Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29. Brown said that among duties of these employees was to "convey a positive image" about the government's response for victims.

Before then, FEMA had positioned smaller rescue and communications teams across the Gulf Coast. But officials acknowledged Tuesday the first department-wide appeal for help came only as the storm raged.

Read the rest of this post...

While the Gulf Coast was being destroyed, Rummy was at a ball game

No shit. Spamalot for Condi. The Padres for Rumsfeld who was at a baseball game on Monday night:

Baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield wasn't the only VIP who joined Padres President John Moores in the owner's box last night at Petco Park. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, here to join President Bush at the North Island Naval Air Station today, took in the game, too.

Was anyone in the Bush administration paying attention to Katrina? ANYONE?
Thanks to sans-culotte for the tip. Read the rest of this post...

AP: Bush stayed on vacation and played politics

Finally, it's being reported in one place:

Even as Katrina was bearing down on the Gulf Coast that Sunday night and early Monday, Aug. 28-29, and the National Hurricane Center was warning of growing danger, the White House didn't alter the president's plans to fly from his Texas ranch to the West to promote a new Medicare prescription drug benefit.

By the time Bush landed in Arizona that Monday, the storm was unleashing its fury on Louisiana and Mississippi. The president inserted into his speech only a brief promise of prayers and federal help.

He continued his schedule in California, and he didn't decide until the next day that he should return to Washington. But it took him another day to get there, as he flew back to Texas to spend another night at his home before leaving for the White House.

Once the president was in Washington, the criticism only intensified.

NEVER forget that this is what your President was doing while an American city was being wiped out and while thousands of Americans were dying. Read the rest of this post...

Oh My God...if this is true....

Josh Marshall has a link to the Shelbyville Tennessee newspaper, the Times-Gazette. The news is gruesome to say the least:

A co-owner of Shelbyville-based Gowen-Smith Chapel has been deployed to Gulfport, Miss., to help with recovery since Hurricane Katrina, and his business partner here has described the grim task there.

"DMort is telling us to expect up to 40,000 bodies," Dan Buckner said, quoting officials with the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team, a volunteer arm of Homeland Security.

There have been many veiled references to a tragically high death toll. This number exceeds all of them.

Perhaps some enterprising reporter should talk to DMORT...if they haven't already. I get the sense that many people know the awful truth, but they don't think we can handle it. Read the rest of this post...

Kicking the crap out of Scotty

He's such a weasel and the White House Press Corps nailed him today. E&P; has the transcript and this is how they describe it:

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan had not had a full-length press briefing in Washington, D.C. for weeks, and after today, may have wished he had postponed this one. With almost unprecedented vigor, the press corps attacked and probe the federal response to the hurricane disaster, the president's personal responsibility and failure to fire anyone who failed in his or her mission....

Definitely, definitely worth a read. It will release some of your pent up frustration.

Besides muttering "blame game" over and over, Scotty did say the buck stops with Bush:

Q I just want to follow up on David's questions on accountability. First, just to get you on the record, where does the buck stop in this administration?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President.

Q All right. So he will be held accountable as the head of the government for the federal response that he's already acknowledged was inadequate and unacceptable?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President's most important responsibility is the safety and security of the American people. He talks about that often. That is his most important responsibility. Again, there's going to be plenty of time to look at the facts and determine what went wrong and what went right and how the coordination was between the state and federal and local authorities. Right now we've got to continue doing everything we can in support of the ongoing operational activities on the ground in the region to help people.

Uh-oh, someone better tell the President and we are holding him responsible. Read the rest of this post...

Is General Myers a liar or an idiot?

As noted in several posts below, here's what our top general had to say today about why the Bush administration ignored the disaster in New Orleans last week, and why Bush himself stayed on vacation even after everyone was drowning:

The headline, of course, in most of the papers on Tuesday — “New Orleans Dodged a Bullet,” or words to that effect...

Borrowing a theme from the lovely and brilliant Wonkette, I decided to check out even more of the "headlines that day." Here they are.



So I ask again: General Myers, liar or idiot? Read the rest of this post...

Myers is another of Rove's political hacks

We know now General Myers is nothing but a political hack saying,

The headline, of course, in most of the papers on Tuesday — “New Orleans Dodged a Bullet,” or words to that effect..

Really, for Christ sakes, is this how the head of our military gets his info...from the morning papers? If that's true, it's no wonder we are in such a mess in the South and in Iraq. The episode makes it clear that Myers just does what Rove commands.

So, we know he's got to be lying about reading the papersto think that everything was okay. Those goofy and blatantly false talking points were first mouthed by Chertoff on Meet the Press. And, it does beg the question about which papers they purport to read.
Wonkette had a very good selection yesterday for Chertoff. For Myers, how about the military's own paper, Stars and Stripes? FYI: Stars and Stripes "is a Department of Defense-authorized daily newspaper distributed overseas for the U.S. military community." Read the rest of this post...

It's a Classic Rove Campaign

All the Bush team can do is politics:

[F]acing what is clearly a full-scale political disaster, Rove and a handful of other masterful political operatives have gone into overdrive. They are back in campaign mode.

This campaign is to salvage Bush's reputation.

Like previous Rove operations, it calls for multiple appearances by the president in controlled environments in which he can appear leader-like. It calls for extensive use of Air Force One and a massive deployment of spinners.

It doesn't necessarily include any change in policy. It certainly doesn't include any admission of error.

It utilizes the classic Rovian tactic of attacking critics rather than defending against their criticism -- and of throwing up chaff to muddle the issue and throw the press off the scent.

It calls for public expressions of outrage over the politicization of the issue and of those who would play the "blame game." While at the same time, it is utterly political in nature and heavily reliant on shifting the blame elsewhere.

For Rove to succeed again, the media has to buy in again. Let's see if they can withstand it. Read the rest of this post...

Jt Chiefs Chairman General Myers is a liar. Just said DOD didn't offer Katrina relief because the Tuesday papers said everything was okay!

I kid you not.

Here's the outright lie our top military commander just told a press conference:

The headline, of course, in most of the papers on Tuesday — “New Orleans Dodged a Bullet,” or words to that effect. At that time, when those words were in our minds, we started working issues before we were asked, and on Tuesday, at the direction of the secretary and the deputy secretary, we went to each of the services. I called each of the chiefs of the services. One-by-one I called them and said, we don’t know what we will be asked for yet. The levees and the floodwalls had just broken and we know some of what will be asked because we had some requests for assistance already. There is probably going to be more.

Actually, General, the headlines were atrocious Tuesday morning. And the levee had not just broken, they'd broken 24 hours before, on Monday morning, you complete idiot. Not to mention, the head of the strongest military in the world gets his news from the morning papers? Putting aside the fact that important people get their news from the Internet, not the morning papers that are at least 12 hours old, you GET YOUR NEWS FROM THE MORNING PAPERS? Is that how you handled 9/11 general? Is it how you make decisions in Iraq - you pick up the Miami Herald and decide who to invade today? Fucking idiot.

When the head of our military is a blatant bald-faced liar, or worse a total idiot, where does that leave us?

Come on mainstream media, are you going to again settle for these guys outright LYING to you?

And just to show you how much of a liar General Myers is, check out the ACTUAL Tuesday headlines from the Newseum:

- Engulfed Coast
- Killer Katrina
- A Grievous Blow
- Katrina Chaos
- Deadly Impact
- Everything is Flooded
- Millions Stranded
- Katrina Ravages South
- Devastated
- Devastating Hit
- Devastation

General Myers is a liar. The un-American asshole ought to be fired immediately. Read the rest of this post...

I just received a report

UPDATE: I'm told from a source who would know that CNN employees have been told not to estimate (i.e., guess-timate) the number of dead, bur rather rely on good sources. Fair enough.

That CNN said they will NOT be reporting on the body count from New Orleans. Can anybody confirm that?

If that's true.... Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

How many died while Bush was playing guitar on vacation AFTER Katrina had already struck?

Read the rest of this post...

Another bad poll for Bush

Just resign already.

Worst. President. Ever. Read the rest of this post...

Newsweek prints more sloppy lies about Bush's heroism

From Newsweek

When Air Force One dipped below the clouds on Tuesday so the president could peer out the window down at the disaster, the image was uncomfortably imperial.

In fact, Bush didn't fly over New Orleans until Wednesday afternoon, a full 60 hours AFTER the hurricane has destroyed the city. Had Newsweek, and the rest of the media, bothered paying more attention to the fact that our president stayed on vacation until the 3d day after the hurricane, they might have gotten this fact right.

In general, I love Newsweek, don't get me wrong. But they have joined the rest of the media in basically ignoring the simple fact that Bush chose to stay on vacation for DAYS after the disaster and that this clearly was the key factor hindering the federal response to the disaster. If the prez is on vacation, what message does that send to FEMA, the Dept of Homeland Security, the National Guard, and the military at large?

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

Bush says today he will investigate himself

That's nice. Bush is going to investigate his OWN bungling of Hurricane Katrina.

That's nice. Will he be investigating why he remained on vacation until the 3d day AFTER the hurricane destroyed New Orleans? Will he be investigating why Condi Rice went on vacation to NYC for most of the week? Why Dick Cheney and Andy Card STAYED on vacation even after the hurricane struck? Why it took Bush until Wednesday to chair a meeting at the White House with his cabinet to address the catastrophe?

Talk about your conflict. Read the rest of this post...

The Death Count begins: 22 bodies found tied together

This is horrible, but expect a lot more of this:

The 22 people died together.

Police believe they tried to escape the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina lashed to one another with a rope.

Rescuers found them last week in this village just east of New Orleans.

No one has identified them yet. No one has tried to figure out who they were or how they knew each other or how far they had come before a rescue crew found them wrapped around a pole.

Read the rest of this post...

3 Duke students travel to New Orleans, rescue people, come back while feds say they couldn't help anybody

But hey, in all fairness, George Bush was on vacation.

A trio of Duke University sophomores say they drove to New Orleans late last week, posed as journalists to slip inside the hurricane-soaked city twice, and evacuated seven people who weren't receiving help from authorities.

The group, led by South Carolina native Sonny Byrd, say they also managed to drive all the way to the New Orleans Convention Center, where they encountered scenes early Saturday evening that they say were disgraceful.

"We found it absolutely incredible that the authorities had no way to get there for four or five days, that they didn't go in and help these people, and we made it in a two-wheel-drive Hyundai," said Hans Buder, who made the trip with his roommate Byrd and another student, David Hankla....

At 2 p.m., the trio decided to head for New Orleans, Buder said. After looking around, they swiped an Associated Press identification and one of the TV station's crew shirts, and found a Kinko's where they could make copies of the ID.

They were stopped again by authorities at the edge of New Orleans, but this time were able to make it through.

"We waved the press pass, and they looked at each other, the two guards, and waved us on in," Buder said....

"Anyone who knows that area, if you had a bus, it would take you no more than 20 minutes to drive in with a bus and get these people out," Buder said. "They sat there for four or five days with no food, no water, babies getting raped in the bathrooms, there were murders, nobody was doing anything for these people. And we just drove right in, really disgraceful. I don't want to get too fired up with the rhetoric, but some blame needs to be placed somewhere."

Read the rest of this post...

It's time to make America great again

That should be our motto as Democrats. Bush is their Jimmy Carter. Who will be OUR Ronald Reagan? Read the rest of this post...

The Stench Is Horrific

The stench I'm talking about isn't the human death and misery in New Orleans, it's the stench coming out the Government, Republican from one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the next.

To a single one, I have heard Republican Congressperson after Republican Congressperson toeing the Party line that "now is not the time to point fingers." This morning it was Mark Foley from Florida on CSPAN.

How dare they?

How dare they tell the public not to hold their Government accountable? How dare they think photo ops are enough to quell public outrage at the utterly preventable human catastrophe?

THE REASON THAT WE POINT FINGERS IS BECAUSE YOU REPUBLICANS ARE TOO STUPID TO FIRE THE IDIOTS YOURSELVES. If the President EVER held ANYONE accountable the public and the media wouldn't have to point fingers. Instead, the Republican Party looks more and more like Soviet Communists, valuing Party and self-enrichment over the people they profess to lead. From 9/11, to WMD, to Katrina, NOT A SINGLE PERSON HAS BEEN HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR DECISIONS MADE THAT CAUSED THE DEATHS OF TENS OF THOUSANDS.

For the four years since 9/11 we've watched as Republicans, with total control of Government, choose themselves over the public. We've seen them put people wholly unqualified in positions of great responsibility. And they have failed. And people are dead as a result.

I'm sorry if the Party doesn't get it when the citizens of a nation are outraged at their Government. I'm sorry if the Party doesn't get it when the public demands that their leaders DO THEIR JOBS in either a time of war or in a natural disaster.

Jefferson County Parish President Broussard has it right:

I'm not surprised at what the feds say, they're covering their butts. They're keeping the body counts down because they don't want to horrify the nation. It's worse than Iraq, worse than 9-11. They just don't want to know how many were murdered by bureaucracy.

The Republican Party hasn't, at least in my lifetime, believed in Government. They have railed against it for decades, calling it evil.

I used to believe that they thought it was a necessary evil. Now we've seen that they don't believe in it at all - other than as a trough at which they and their cronies gorge themselves. From Cheney's Halliburton down to patronage positions like Michael Brown. Since when is the Federal Emergency MANAGEMENT Administrator a patronage position? Since the Republican Party has controlled all of Government.

Sometimes you need to be outside of insanity to observe it and understand it. The UK's Independent is right: "There is a sense that the struggle for the soul of America is gathering pace."

Here at home, Keith Olbermann is right: "For many of this country's citizens, the mantra has been - as we were taught in Social Studies it should always be - whether or not I voted for this President - he is still my President. I suspect anybody who had to give him that benefit of the doubt stopped doing so last week."

This is not MY Government. This is not the people's Government. As we have seen now three times, 9/11, Iraq and New Orleans, this isn't a "Government" at all. What used to be a Government is now rotten to the core and the stench is horrific.

Throw them all out, now. As they have shown over the last three years, the potential for human death and misery over the next three years is terrifying. I would never have ever imagined that I could ever write that about my own Government and it would actually be true. Read the rest of this post...

Questions For Condi

I can't believe the MSM is letting Condi Rice defend the President's callous indifference to the suffering and death during the worst natural disaster in our nation's history. Why aren't they asking Rice to defend her own shameful actions? Some questions:

1. What was Rice's exact itinerary during the worst natural disaster in our nation's history? What time did she leave for her New York City vacation? It was late Monday or Tuesday -- after the levees broke and the disaster spiraled out of control. But it would be nice to know exactly what horrors were going on when she decided it was time for a break.

2. Did Rice enjoy "Spamalot?" Tickets normally cost $100.00 but they're very hard to snag. How much did her tickets cost? When Rice responds that the question is inappropriate at a time like this, ask her why GOING TO THE SHOW IN THE FIRST PLACE wasn't inappropriate at a time like this?

3. What else did Rice do on Wednesday while New Orleans was sinking into chaos?

4. How much did the shoes Rice bought at Ferragamo on Fifth Avenue cost exactly? Can we see them? Reports say the pair of shoes cost in the thousands. Was she really accosted by a woman who berated Rice for being on vacation during the worst natural disaster in our country's history? How did that make Rice feel? Does Rice realize that while she was spending an obscene amount on shoes that Americans were digging deep into their pockets to donate money to the Red Cross and wondering how else they could help? Does she realize what a terrible contrast that is?

5. When and where did Rice hit tennis balls with Monica Seles? Did she watch any television during this pleasure trip? Did she see images of the death and destruction in her own home state and throughout the region?

6. When did Rice decide to cut her vacation short? Thursday morning? Thursday afternoon? Why did she cut it short? How many countries had called her offering their support and aid when she got back to work on Thursday afternoon? When did they call? Did anyone return those calls on Monday? On Tuesday? On Wednesday? When did Rice herself return those calls offering precious medical and rescue aid?

7. How can Rice possibly defend GOING ON VACATION during the worst natural disaster in our nation's history? How can she defend the President staying on vacation during the worst natural disaster in our nation's history? How can she defend the Vice President STAYING ON VACATION FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK during the worst natural disaster in our nation's history. Isn't it obvious that a key reason the Bush administration failed completely during those first crucial 72 hours was because all of its top people were on vacation and didn't bother to return to work?

8. When is Rice going to apologize to the American people? Read the rest of this post...

Senate Dems. Will be tougher on Roberts now

As they should be:

Senate Democrats said that the move to make Roberts the 17th chief justice of the United States required careful deliberation, particularly given Roberts's relatively short, two-year tenure as a federal appeals court judge.

"The stakes are higher and the Senate's advice and consent responsibility is even more important," said Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). "If confirmed to this lifetime job, John Roberts would become the leader of the third branch of the federal government and the most prominent judge in the nation."

The question we all need to be asking is: Can we trust the man who created the failed Department of Homeland Security and who stayed on vacation during the worst disaster to hit the US to give us a capable Chief Justice? Read the rest of this post...

GHWB: Stop picking on my kid

Last night Daddy Bush went to Larry King to tell people to stop being mean to his kid - basically he's blaming the press. E&P; has the transcript:

"But you know the media has a fascination, Larry, and you know this, I'm not saying you but the media has a fascination with the blame game and instead of looking for what can we do to help now there's a lot of why didn't we do something different?"

Like father, like son. Andrew, Katrina.

YOUR SON STAYED ON VACATION DURING THE WORST CATASTROPHE TO EVER HIT OUR COUNTRY. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Let's get it started. Read the rest of this post...

Who really represents the "ownership society" and who's a wimp?

The buck stops here.

I didn't do it.

Read the rest of this post...

Olbermann rips the law, order and terror team

C&L; has the video link where Keith blasts the administration, the one who "ran for reelection just last year as the law, order and terror team."

Nationally, these are leaders who won reelection last year largely by portraying their opponents as incapable of keeping this country safe.

I've said it before that these people want to rule on their ability to keep us safe, so fine, let's make that the issue and let's talk about it. Just what steps have these people taken to keep the citizens of America safer? How has the administration managed to spend billions and billions of dollars of taxpayer money and then fail so miserably? I'm not waiting for another crap 9/11 report to study what went wrong because I can see with my own eyes this was a failed mission. How many more chances are we to give these bumbling idiots and what are they waiting for? An entire half of the country to be removed from the map?

Using their ever-loved 3 strike rule, I'd say they're out: 9/11, Iraq and now Katrina. Read the rest of this post...

"The struggle for the soul of America is gathering pace...."

The Independent UK has an insightful, challenging editorial about the challenges facing America:

We could be witnessing a significant moment in America. Hurricane Katrina has revealed some uncomfortable truths about the world's richest and most powerful nation. The catastrophe in New Orleans exposed shocking inequalities - both of wealth and race - and also the relative impotence of the federal authorities when faced with a large-scale disaster. Many Americans are beginning to ask just what sort of country they are living in.... There is a sense that the struggle for the soul of America is gathering pace.

Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

And off to bed Read the rest of this post...