Senate GOP Whip Trent Lott confirms support for Iraq timetable

Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

They are FREAKING.

Lott has now confirmed what House leader Boehner told us yesterday. GOP Senators and House members have now publicly given the White House a timetable for victory in Iraq. It's this fall. And if there isn't a significant turnaround by then, the GOP is bolting from Bush and Iraq.

The Republicans are freaking out. Read the rest of this post...

THIS JUST IN: World Bank panel finds Wolfowitz guilty

It's nice to see bad people held accountable. Finally.

From the NYT:

A committee of World Bank directors has formally notified Paul D. Wolfowitz that they found him to be guilty of a conflict of interest in arranging for a pay raise and promotion for Shaha Ali Riza, his companion, in 2005. The findings stepped up the pressure on Mr. Wolfowitz to resign....

It was not clear whether the committee, consisting of 7 of the bank’s 24 board members, would remove Mr. Wolfowitz from his post or, more likely, express a loss of confidence in his leadership in a manner that might persuade him to resign. Bank officials say that a majority of the bank board has concluded that he should go.

And guess what, now we're paying a price for Bush putting Wolfie in this cushy job:

This official said that the overwhelming sentiment in Europe, as expressed in editorials, political commentaries and even web logs, was that European governments should never again let the United States pick the president of the World Bank all by itself.

Nice loss of prestige for the US, if we lose the prerogative of picking the Bank chief. Read the rest of this post...

Navy calls up openly gay sailor

Well this should be interesting. ABC's Jake Tapper has the story. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

John's at CNN. The comments really helped in the post below really helped.

I'll get the video up soon.

What else do we all need to know?

Here's John's first segment on CNN tonight - it's about the Iraq war and Hillary's plan to de-authorize it. John did not let the Republican spinmeister get away with anything tonight:

Click To Play

Read the rest of this post...

Going on Paula Zahn's show tonight to discuss Hillary's Iraq plans and a hip-hop incident

The first topic is Hillary's new proposal that we deauthorize the Iraq war - i.e., Congress passes a resolution rescinding the authorization - and then Bush can argue to Congress and the country why he should get a new authorization to continue his little pet war in Iraq. The second topic is about a hip-hop artist named Akon. Apparently he simulated sex on stage during one of his concerts and now the right-wingers want him destroyed. You can read more about the incident here, and scroll down to see a video. The article claims this is "simulated rape," and some conservatives are now calling him a misogynist (of course, those would be conservatives who supported the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, so take them with a grain of salt). Apparently we're discussing this controversy as part of the larger "hate in hip-hop/rap" story line. I'm not sure this incident is the same as rap lyrics calling for "ho's" to be raped and gays to be killed, but am curious what you guys think - especially the women. Is this as bad as Imus? As bad as hate-hip-hop (hate-hop?)?

I'll be doing two short segments on the show, not sure what times exactly. Read the rest of this post...

Bush's disastrous impact on the National Guard goes far beyond Kansas

Joe wrote earlier about how there aren't enough National Guard troops and equipment in Kansas to deal with the recent tornado disaster. It's not just Kansas: Kansas, Oklahoma, Michigan, Oregon, New Mexico, Arksansas.

When I was a kid, my mom used to read me Aesop's fables (growing up Greek had its quirks). One of my favorites was the story of the Grasshopper and the Ant. From Bartleby:

IN a field one summer’s day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart’s content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.
“Why not come and chat with me,” said the Grasshopper, “instead of toiling and moiling in that way?"
“I am helping to lay up food for the winter,” said the Ant, “and recommend you to do the same.”
“Why bother about winter?” said the Grasshopper; “we have got plenty of food at present.” But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food, and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew:
“IT IS BEST TO PREPARE FOR THE DAYS OF NECESSITY.”

Bush and the Republicans want to pretend that there is no cost to the war, not cost to their incompetence. Go ask Kansas. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Yay for hereditary monarchies! And also the British system.

Mid-afternoon thread time. Read the rest of this post...

Bush unwittingly makes crack about the Queen's age

He really is an idiot. Then he follows it up with what one might call a sexist comment as well. (Video here.) She is, after all, a head of state. Then again, I guess we should be thankful he didn't give her a neck massage.

Read the rest of this post...

Top Wolfowitz aide resigns at World Bank

One of his top two aides just quit, saying that the current scandal is making it difficult to get anything done. Wolfie is toast. Read the rest of this post...

30 American deaths in Iraq this week

ABC's THIS WEEK has the roster of our soldiers and Marines who died in Iraq this week. Note the ages:

34
20
25
21
25
24
21
20
28
21
19
30
24
21
21
19
23
20
26
19
25
24
28
25
25
21
21

Three were 19. Twenty-five were in their 20s. Two were in their 30s.

Click To Play

The American dead in Iraq, week ending May 7, 2007, from ABC's THIS WEEK.

Read the rest of this post...

National Guard equipment is in Iraq, not in Kansas where it's needed

The tornado in Kansas this weekend totally destroyed the town of Greensburg. It's gone. Now the clean-up begins. But, that's being hampered by the war in Iraq:

The rebuilding effort in tornado-ravaged Greensburg, Kansas, likely will be hampered because some much-needed equipment is in Iraq, said that state’s governor.

Governor Kathleen Sebelius said much of the National Guard equipment usually positioned around the state to respond to emergencies is gone. She said not having immediate access to things like tents, trucks and semitrailers will really handicap the rebuilding effort.

This war has made Americans less safe in so many ways.

Andy Towle has a link to photos documenting the complete devastation. Read the rest of this post...

General says U.S. death toll will increase as escalation unfolds

Clearly, the death toll for U.S. soldiers has been increasing. Seems like there have been many more horrific events with multiple deaths lately -- like this weekend. So, the prediction from a top general is stating the very ugly obvious about Bush's plan for an escalation of the war:

A U.S. Army general on Sunday warned that American casualties would rise in the coming months, a prediction underscored by the deaths of six soldiers and a foreign journalist in a roadside bombing north of Baghdad. Five other American troops died elsewhere over the weekend.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, said casualties would climb as American troops went deeper into enemy territory as part of a stepped-up military operation ordered by President Bush in January. Lynch, who oversees a swath of territory to the south and east of Baghdad, gave his bleak prediction on the heels of the deadliest month so far this year for American forces in Iraq.

In April, 104 U.S. troops were killed, only the fourth time since the beginning of 2005 that U.S. deaths have exceeded 100 in a single month. At least 25 troops have been killed so far in May, a grim start to a month in which Democrats are expected to keep up pressure on the White House to plan a withdrawal from Iraq.

Read the rest of this post...

Monday Morning Open Thread

What's on the agenda this week? Read the rest of this post...

Bush becoming more isolated on global warming

In right wing president-elect Sarkozy's acceptance speech he declared the need for the US to take the lead role in combating global warming and the conservative government of Japan is announcing a $100 million campaign to fight against global warming. Bush is becoming even more isolated in the world fight against global warming, though he does sit side by side with China and he continues to maintain solid support from creationists, so he has that much going for himself. Read the rest of this post...

Uniter not a divider, the second act?

Following the announcement of the Sarkozy victory last night, trouble started quickly enough between police and protesters. A normally quiet evening was full of helicopters in the air and sirens. At his victory speech, Sarkozy covered a lot of ground including reaching out to Africa, helping battered women around the world and generating jobs and hope for the troubled suburbs of France where unemployment is rampant. The two sides of Sarkozy - one calling suburban youth "scum" and the other calling for affirmative action and quotas - remain a mystery. He still remains the only serious force that talks of addressing the racial inequalities that are dividing France, but he also ran hard on anti-immigration positions.

One final tidbit of interest from the election yesterday is that roughly 20% either abstained or voted blank in an otherwise high turnout of 84%.

He's a uniter, in theory, so why are so many afraid of him? Read the rest of this post...