Experts tell Bush to fire "national security team," fueling speculation he's going to blame the war on the generals

Oh, this is good. Bush is being told to fire his national security team because they're the ones who screwed up Iraq - and the Post is suggesting that this may fuel rumors that he may fire top generals at the Pentagon. Yes, if the big bad generals running the Pentagon had only listened to Bush and Rummy and Cheney and Wolfowitz, then we'd be winning this utter disaster. Ironic that "national security team" isn't taken to mean Bush's actual national security team - Cheney, Condi, and Hadley.

From the Washington Post:

The group suggested the president shake up his national security team. "All of us said they have failed, that you need a new team," said one participant. That recommendation is likely to fuel Pentagon rumors that Bush and his new defense secretary, Robert M. Gates, may decide to replace Marine Gen. Peter Pace as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Whether Bush takes the advice is another question. But you'll note that this little detail was happily leaked to the press by someone. And, as the Washington Post notes, these are "carefully choreographed meetings." The White House has chosen these people most likely because they already agree with Bush. The fact that he's getting advice, and leaking advice, that's implicitly taken as blaming the career military - the people who have actually served their country, and risked their lives for their country - is astounding.

But it's not surprising.

The Republicans have no respect for our military. And the military just keeps coming back for more. You guys voted for this jerk, you supported him all these years, and look what he's doing to you. And now, the icing on the cake - he's blaming the military itself for Bush's mistake. Amazing. Read the rest of this post...

Almost four years after Bush started the war, he thinks it's time to get "advice" on Iraq

Let me get this straight. The President of the United States has decided he needs to consult with the people who work for him about Iraq. Almost four years in to this disaster, Bush wants "advice," now.

From the Washington Post:

President Bush opened a round of consultations on Iraq today by reviewing political and diplomatic options with senior State Department officials as part of what he said was an effort to find "a new way forward" in the war-ravaged country.

Bush, accompanied by Vice President Cheney, met for more than an hour at the State Department with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other top officials. He was scheduled to confer this afternoon with a group of civilian and military analysts described by the White House as "outside experts on Iraq."

This war was Bush's idea. It's a quaqmire and everyone in America seems to know it, except our President. Just now he's figured out he should be getting some advice? This is a show. Nothing but a political show. We are so screwed. Read the rest of this post...

Evangelical Christian cabal recruiting inside Pentagon

I don't mind if they're religious extremists, I just wish they wouldn't flaunt it.

From Reuters:

A watchdog group that promotes religious freedom in the U.S. military accused senior officers on Monday using their rank and influence to coerce soldiers and airmen into adopting evangelical Christianity.

Such proselytizing, according to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, has created a core of "radical" Christians within the U.S. armed forces and
Pentagon who punish those who do not accept evangelical beliefs by stalling their careers.

"It's egregious beyond the pale," said Mikey Weinstein, president and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. "We apparently have a radicalized, evangelical Christian Pentagon within the rest of the Pentagon."...

The religious freedom group also raised issues with the content of the video, including a comment from Air Force Maj. Gen. Jack Catton that he would discuss his faith with people who came to his Joint Staff directorate within the Pentagon.

Weinstein compared what he said was radical proselytizing within the military with the Islamist militants U.S. troops are confronting in wars overseas.

"When we're facing a global war on terror against what we call Islamic extremists, it certainly doesn't help when we have apparently a viewpoint from the cognoscenti and glitterati, the leadership of the Pentagon, pushing a particular virulent worldview down the throats of people who are helpless to argue against it," Weinstein said.

Do these people ever practice religion in a, oh I don't know... CHURCH?! Read the rest of this post...

White House says GOP Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) isn't in favor of democracy

First, ironic as hell that the White House that brought democracy to a new low in this country, and brought anarchy to Iraq, has the nerve to claim that others don't favor democracy.

Second, this is an incredibly vicious accusation from the chief spokesman of the president. It's the kind of thing that could make someone switch parties. Stay tuned.

From Editor & Publisher:

REPORTER The Senator is not saying that's immoral. He's saying that the U.S. -- he's saying, of course democracy is a great goal --

WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN TONY SNOW: You know what, Ed? Ed, I'll tell you what. You're engaging in an argument and you're trying to fill in the gaps in a --

Q It's not an argument. It's a Republican senator saying it, not me. It's a Republican senator saying it, and he's not --

MR. SNOW: Then tell me exactly what --

Q -- of course he's in favor of democracy.

MR. SNOW: Tell me --

Q Are you saying Republican Senator Smith is not in favor of democracy?

MR. SNOW: Well, I don't know. You just said he said it's immoral; when I listed the elements of the policy, you said that's not what he was talking about. So please tell me what he was talking about.

Fine, then arrest Gordon Smith for treason, try him, and if you find him guilty, mete out the punishment reserved for traitors. Why don't they just stop playing games and get to the point. You are a traitor if you do not support their un-American and incompetent policies. And traitors in America are shot. Is that what Tony Snow is advocating we do to a sitting US Senator in his own party?

This White House thinks it's December of 2004, and not December of 2006. Their overheated, arrogant rhetoric is going to be the undoing of the Republican party again in 2008. Keep it up, Tony. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Read the rest of this post...

Tom Delay's blog

Tom Delay just launched a blog. Really. Apparently the initial comments he received from readers weren't very kind, so he removed them. Fortunately, someone saved them. I can't vouch for these being real, but they sure sound real. And in George Bush's America that's enough justification for going to war, so I figure we've met the blogger credibility threshhold.

A lot of the comments are a bit harsh, but a few are priceless, including this one:

Everyone already assumes bloggers are unemployed losers... thanks for reinforcing that stereotype...

Read the rest of this post...

Why is our food suddenly always contaminated? Think "Republican donors"

From the author of Fast Food Nation on the recent steady stream of food problems:

Over the past 40 years, the industrialization and centralization of our food system has greatly magnified the potential for big outbreaks. Today only 13 slaughterhouses process the majority of the beef consumed by 300 million Americans.

And the fast-food industry's demand for uniform products has encouraged centralization in every agricultural sector. Fruits and vegetables are now being grown, packaged and shipped like industrial commodities. As a result, a little contamination can go a long way. The Taco Bell distribution center in New Jersey now being investigated as a possible source of E. coli supplies more than 1,100 restaurants in the Northeast.

While threats to the food supply have been growing, food-safety regulations have been weakened. Since 2000, the fast-food and meatpacking industries have given about four-fifths of their political donations to Republican candidates for national office. In return, these industries have effectively been given control of the agencies created to regulate them.

The current chief of staff at the Agriculture Department used to be the beef industry's chief lobbyist. The person who headed the Food and Drug Administration until recently used to be an executive at the National Food Processors Association.

Cutbacks in staff and budgets have reduced the number of food-safety inspections conducted by the F.D.A. to about 3,400 a year - from 35,000 in the 1970s. The number of inspectors at the Agriculture Department has declined to 7,500 from 9,000.

Who needs food anyway? Read the rest of this post...

Another big Colorado evangelical comes out as gay

It's the mountain spring water. From the Denver Post. Read the rest of this post...

Pelosi

This is funny. Rob, Joe and I were discussing this on Saturday - that incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should be presenting the real her to the public, the little Italian-American girl from Baltimore who done good. And now she is.

From the LA Times:

Pelosi is planning a series of events to commemorate her swearing-in as the senior official in the House, second in the line of succession. The events in the first week of January will try to plant Pelosi's version of her life story in the national consciousness, showing her as an Italian American and devout Catholic from Baltimore, who married her college sweetheart, raised five children, ran for Congress in middle-age and shattered a Washington gender barrier days before her sixth grandchild was born.

The impending inauguration kicks off the contest over who will define Nancy Pelosi: Republicans who see her as a reckless liberal, or Pelosi herself, who wants to be seen as an American Everywoman, leading her party on a steady course to the center.

Just as good, Pelosi understands the need for a good, hard-nosed message team.

Having spent years watching her party outmaneuvered in the message wars, Pelosi is soliciting advice from former Clinton White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry, one of the Democrats' most respected communication strategists.

Plans are also afloat to move the main communications operation from the speaker's office to incoming Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel of Illinois. He would handle party message and rapid response.

McCurry has the Clinton messaging know-how, and Rahm is a bulldog. This is good, very good. Read the rest of this post...

Mitt Romney wuvs gay Republicans

The Boston Globe reminds us of how much Christian fundamentalist, I mean Mormon, Republican presidential candidate wannabe Mitt Romney loved the gays until just two years ago when he decided he wanted to woo the religious right. Which begs the question of why Mr. Romney isn't converting and becoming an evangelical if he's so big on Baptists.

Read the rest of this post...

More Americans losing their homes through foreclosures

George Bush, May 2006:

Owning a home is an important part of the American dream. During National Homeownership Month, we raise awareness of homeownership and encourage more Americans to consider the benefits of owning their own home.

Nearly 70 percent of Americans enjoy the satisfaction of owning their own home, and my Administration continues to promote an ownership society where the promise of America reaches all our citizens.

But just because he says something doesn't mean it's true. George Bush's America, December 2006 via Reuters:

A mortgage survey due on Wednesday is expected to show that more and more Americans are in danger of losing their homes. The quarterly report from the Mortgage Bankers Association is also expected to show that the same mortgage products that helped send the housing market into the stratosphere are now weighing homeowners down.

In a hint at Wednesday's data, October saw more foreclosure actions than any other month this year according to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties.

This is becoming a very serious issue. Both Atrios and BondDad (who has been writing at DailyKos but is now starting his own blog) have written on the subject repeatedly and with expertise. Despite Bush's praise for home ownership, don't expect the President to do anything about it. Read the rest of this post...

The rise of the 30-somethings in the Democratic House caucus

Today's Washington Post reports on the ascension of the "30-somethings" within the Democratic caucus. C-SPAN and YouTube helped garner a lot of attention for that group led by Tim Ryan from Ohio and two Floridians: Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Kendrick Meek. Watching them in action was fun. They were smart, tough and played to win. Now, they're getting key positions in the caucus:

The young Democrats played an important role in helping their party take control of Congress, and now they are beginning to reap the benefits. Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat who will become speaker of the House when her party assumes control of Congress next month, is making room for these and other young House Democrats, giving them opportunities they would not normally enjoy under the rigid seniority system that typically defines life in the Capitol.

Last week, Pelosi announced Wasserman Schultz will be a deputy chief whip and Meek and Ryan will serve on the party's steering committee, which sets policy and makes committee assignments, along with two incoming freshmen. In addition, Wasserman Schultz and Davis are being considered for a seat on the prestigious Ways and Means Committee, which sets tax policy, and Meek is vying for a seat on the Appropriations Committee.

"Some members have waited four or five terms to be a member of Appropriations or Ways and Means," said Meek, who hauled an oversized rubber stamp to the House floor to argue that the Republican Congress was in lockstep with the White House. "The fact that an incoming third-termer is even being considered is evidence that Speaker Pelosi is committed to giving opportunities to younger members to participate in real policymaking."

The Democrats need this kind of thinking and energy. Read the rest of this post...

Monday Morning Open Thread

The President is undertaking a "listening tour" this week about Iraq. So now, he's claiming he wants to hear to what others have to say. It's just another admission that the guy has no idea what he's doing. And, he'll never really listen. It's maddening.

And I just realized that Christmas is two weeks from today. Read the rest of this post...

The French always hate Americans

Sure they played a pivotal role in the independence of America and we may never have broken free had it not been for Admiral de Grasse, but what have they done since then? Why do they always hate Americans?

On Tuesday, the French and British ambassadors plan to honor [Virginia] Hall, who died in 1982 at age 78, at a ceremony at the home of French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte in Washington.

Oh.

"I think it was ironic that the State Department turned her down because she was an amputee, and here she went on and did all this other stuff," said Catling, who lives in Baltimore. Catling said she didn't learn many of the details of her aunt's espionage career until after her death.

Hall, who was fluent in French, was living in Paris when the Nazis invaded in 1940, and she decamped for London, where she was recruited by the secret British paramilitary service, the Special Operations Executive, becoming its first female field operative.

Hall was sent to Lyon, becoming "the heartbeat" of the local French Resistance, said Judith L. Pearson, whose biography of Hall, "Wolves at the Door: The True Story of America's First Female Spy," was published last year.

"Any agent from London came through her flat. She coordinated them with Resistance members," Pearson said. "Most agents only stayed about three months in the field. She stayed 15 months."

Read the rest of this post...