Open thread

Disco Saturday night. Going to Joe's, we're gonna watch The Good Shepherd on DVD, with Matt Damon. Will let you know how it turns out. Read the rest of this post...

Orrin Hatch (R-Liar)

GOP Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said today that Gonzales is a-okay because he never intentionally misled anyone. Of course, that's exactly what we just found out he did.

From AP:

"He has always been straightforward and honest with me," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "So, unless there is clear evidence that the attorney general deliberately lied or misled Congress, I see no reason to call for his resignation."

Gonzales has said he participated in no discussions and saw no memos about plans to carry out the firings on Dec. 7 that Democrats contend were politically motivated.

His schedule, however, shows he attended at least one hourlong meeting, on Nov. 27, where he approved a detailed plan to execute the prosecutors' firings.

Read the rest of this post...

McCain, Romney and Giuliani suck up to Pat Robertson

Robertson is a loon. But the Republicans keep telling us that he doesn't really have any influence in the party. Funny then, that McCain, Romney and Giuliani are all off paying homage to that loon. Read the rest of this post...

Republicans who refuse to support our troops

DailyKos has the list. Read the rest of this post...

Bush trashes House Dems. for representing the will of the people

Today in his radio address, your President again trashed the Democratic plan to set a plan for withdrawal from Iraq:

This means that the Democrats do not have enough votes to override my veto. By choosing to make a political statement and passing a bill they know will never become law, the Democrats in Congress have only delayed the delivery of the vital funds and resources our troops need. The clock is running.

That, of course, is Bush-speak. He still tries to run the country like it's 2002. His days of fear-mongering and tough war rhetoric are so over.

What Bush calls a "political statement" is actually what the American people want. They've had it with Bush and his war, which Think Progress reminds us has already been confirmed by a recent ABC News-Washington Post poll:

Bush is paying the continued price of an unpopular war. Sixty-four percent now say the war in Iraq was not worth fighting, up six points from last month to a new numerical high. (It was 63 percent in October.) A majority hasn't said the war was worth fighting since April 2004, and it's been even longer since a majority has approved of how Bush is handling it. Sixty-seven percent now disapprove; 55 percent disapprove strongly.

In a fundamental change, 56 percent now say U.S. forces should be withdrawn at some point even if civil order has not been restored in Iraq. That represents a continued, gradual departure from the "you break it, you've bought it" sentiment that until now has mitigated in favor of continued U.S. involvement until some stability is attained.

Another part of this change has been a shift in views on setting a withdrawal date. Given pro and con positions (avoiding casualties vs. encouraging insurgents), support for a deadline has risen from 39 percent in late 2005 to 47 percent last summer and 53 percent now. That's a majority, but not a large one; 46 percent still oppose a deadline, underscoring the difficulty of finding consensus on how to get out of Iraq.

Bush never had a plan for Iraq. Four years later, we're trapped in a civil war. The Democrats have started the process to get us out, which is something the Republicans didn't do and won't do. Read the rest of this post...

New Orleans is still scary and sad... and forgotten

My friend BicycleMark reports live from the Gulf Coast with some podcast reports (i.e., audio) and more:

I'm down here in Mississippi... spent the last 3 days in New Orleans meeting with organizations and locals to talk about the rebuilding effort and what is getting in the way of it. Things are very scary in much of the city here... never mind scary.. just sad. And then today I've come over to the coast of Mississippi and it is a whole other level of sad.. with entire houses just... gone.. neighborhoods.. gone.

Any semblance of George Bush giving a damn about having lost an entire American city? Gone.

More from Mark's trip, including blog entries here, and podcasts here. He'll be having some video blog entries soon as well. Mark does an amazing job at audio and video reporting, he's like a very cool NPR - so please do check it out. Read the rest of this post...

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Well, that was another interesting, non-stop news week. You know, absolute power did corrupt Bush and the GOP absolutely. We see more evidence of the absolute corruption every day. It really happened. What's next?

Have at it.

One other thing: Every Saturday, our good friend Bob Geiger (who knows more about the U.S. Senate than most U.S. Senators) posts some of the best editorial cartoons of the week. He has permission to do this from the best editorial cartoonists around. It's definitely worth a look. This week's cartoons focus primarily on the U.S. Attorneys scandal and the four year anniversary of the war in Iraq. I'll include a link to Bob's cartoon post on Saturday mornings. Read the rest of this post...

Zimbabwe continues to unravel

Now that the government has starved its population and beaten them up, they have re-started threats against foreign diplomats, demanding that they keep quiet and avoid all criticism. Not satisfied with the results, the government is now warning the international media or at least the media that is still allowed in the country.

The government warned representatives of foreign media organizations against "peddling false stories" on security issues, the state media reported Friday.

The government also threatened to clamp down on unlicensed foreign reporters making clandestine visits and said erring reporters should beware of authorities and should "stay away from the security forces" or face action.

State radio and television, Zimbabwe's sole broadcaster, and the daily Herald newspaper, a government mouthpiece, singled out the U.S. network CNN for what it called biased reports on political unrest and the alleged assault and torture of opposition leaders, including Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main Movement for Democratic Change.

Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

So I got a bird feeder a few weeks ago, thinking it would be kind of fun. I have it hanging from my balcony, so they don't crap all over my balcony. And, like the instructions said, it took a good 3 weeks or so for the birds to find it. This week they did. It's been non-stop fights for 4 days now. You'd think birds would be cute, sitting outside your window, eating, flying. Screeching however, and flapping at each other to knock everyone else way from their bird feeder, less cute. They've got another week to straighten out. Read the rest of this post...