Biased, partisan, joint GOP congressional panel to whitewash Katrina is now dead

We learn from the LA Times, via Markos, that the congressional Republicans' effort to establish a joint House-Senate commission, made up mostly of Republicans, to "investigate" the Katrina mess is now dead. Why? Because Dems would have nothing to do with a political panel whose only purpose is to whitewash what went wrong.

More still needs to be done. We need to push for an independent non-partisan panel, made up equally of Dems and Republicans, or even no political partisans at all, to find out what went wrong so we can fix it. Otherwise we won't be prepared if and when Osama strikes again. So far the Republicans still appear to be talking about doing partisan Republican-led investigations in the House and Senate, but separately rather than jointly. This is still absurd. The GOP should stop playing partisan politics with this investigation. We need to know what went wrong, not waste even more money playing politics with this tragedy.

Kudos to you guys, our readers, for helping to jump on this issue - judging by the feedback, a LOT of you called the Hill last week to voice your concern in response to our alert. And thanks to Markos (and other bloggers, I suspect) for directing his readers to our site last week so that they could act on our Katrina Commission alert.

And finally, kudos to the Democrats. They stuck to their guns on this issue and it worked. Amazing how that happens :-) And I suspect that your calls to the Hill helped reinforce the effort the Dems were making - both in bucking up the Dems and softening up the Republicans - so again you all get credit for helping.

The trick now is to keep the pressure up and ensure that the nation gets its independent Katrina commission. We owe it to those who died in this hurricane, those who survived and suffered, and to all of us who need a government that is actually prepared to deal with the next disaster whenever it hits.

I think tomorrow we're going to do another alert, and this time, let's do a detailed report on what individual offices are saying. I'll need your guys' help, again, to do that. Stay tuned for an alert tomorrow, and thanks again.

PS I would be remiss not to remind folks that we got t-shirts to protest this partisan panel :-) Read the rest of this post...

Pentagon voices "optimism" on Iraq

And who says the Pentagon doesn't believe in fairies?

My favorite part of the article, by far:

Chief Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita urged people not to gauge the war based on the volume of rebel bombings. "That's not a good way to determine how good or bad things are going -- by (counting) how many things are exploding," Di Rita said.

Then read the rest of the article, quoting all the impartial experts saying we're basically screwed. Read the rest of this post...

Village Voice: NYC Cops Yank Microphone Away From Cindy Sheehan

The Village Voice reports that police shut down a protest and speech by Cindy Sheehan at Union Square in NYC. (Thanks to reader Mary for pointing us to this.) Cops insist a camped out group of protestors advocating for Cindy have been troublemakers and when Cindy showed up to speak to a crowd of 150+, the cops moved in, grabbed the mike away from her and arrested the local leader of the encampment. The kicker?

Inspector Michael McEnroy, commander of the 13th Precinct, insisted the shutdown order had nothing to do with the content of Sheehan'?s speech, but was instead about the "provocation" caused by Zulkowitz. "This has been going on for much longer than today,"? McEnroy said, adding of Sheehan, "I don't even know the woman."? That last part prompted one pissed-off onlooker to shoot back: "Haven't you watched the news or read a paper in the last three months?"

Read the rest of this post...

Bush Admin. Staffer arrested on 3 criminal counts

Josh Marshall has the details. The perp, David Hossein Safavian, worked with both Jack Abramoff and Grover Norquist. At the time of his arrest, he was working at the Office of Federal Procurement in the Office of Management and Budget which, its website notes, is in the Executive Office of the President. Read the rest of this post...

Condi wants to end foreign interference...by others, not us

What Condi said:

"Lebanon has to be free of foreign interference. This is an issue of national sovereignty for Lebanon and Syria must respect the national sovereignty of Lebanon," Rice said. "Syria needs to get on the right side of events that are going on in the Middle East."

What could be said right back to her:

"Lebanon Iraq has to be free of foreign interference. This is an issue of national sovereignty for Lebanon Iraq and Syria the United States must respect the national sovereignty of Lebanon Iraq...Syria the United States needs to get on the right side of events that are going on in the Middle East."

Read the rest of this post...

Din din open thread

Chat away. Read the rest of this post...

Honey, I shrunk the presidency

Uh oh.

President Bush's vow to rebuild the Gulf Coast did little to help his standing with the public, only 40 percent of whom now approve of his performance in office, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday.

Just 41 percent of the 818 adults polled between Friday and Monday said they approved of Bush's handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, while 57 percent disapproved.

And support for his management of the war in Iraq has dropped to 32 percent, with 67 percent telling pollsters they disapproved of how Bush is prosecuting the conflict.

Going, going, GONE! Read the rest of this post...

Papal envoy rips US "shameful" poverty

And they were all such good friends, except for those differences on war and human rights abuses and now this. Now that the Vatican is back to their bizarre American inquisition, I'm sure they're all going to be friends again. Those bonds of joint hatreds are just so hard to break.

The German-born Archbishop Paul Cordes, who heads the Vatican's charity organization, traveled to Louisiana and Mississippi last week to express the pontiff's solidarity with the victims as well as bring aid.

"Many were struck by ... poverty, at times shameful, in rich America," Cordes told Vatican Radio.

Read the rest of this post...

Bush insiders: "We're sunk"

Oooh. Always interesting when Bush insiders start talking. They're not allowed to that, and Bush hates it. Then again, he only hates it when the leaker isn't his top aide leaking classified information that could jeopardize the war on terror. THAT'S okay.

From the very conservative American Spectator:

But at this stage of the game, barring some imaginative political moves that bear some resemblance to the Bush Administration circa 2002, Republicans on Capitol Hill and even some longtime Bush team members in various Cabinet level departments say this Administration is done for.

"You run down the list of things we thought we could accomplish and you have to wonder what we thought we were thinking," says a Bush Administration member who joined on in 2001. "You get the impression that we're more than listless. We're sunk."...

Congressional committee sources on both sides of Capitol Hill predict tough slogging on anything of policy consequence. "Social Security is dead as far as my chairman is concerned. So are the tax cuts," says a Ways and Means staffer of Chairman Bill Thomas.

Before hurricane season wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast and in Washington, the thinking was that Thomas was poised to take up a major tax bill that might feature several critical components of the Bush Administration's Social Security reform. Now those plans appear to have dimmed considerably.

Read the rest of this post...

Republicans say the darndest things

Seems a fax for Karl Rove ended up going instead to a Democratic Hill office. Doh! Read the rest of this post...

Two post-speech polls have Bush dropping on Katrina

The big speech in the Big Easy was a big flop.

Think Progress has the daily tracking numbers from Rasmussen Reports. His poor rating rose from 37% to 41%.

Political Wire links to the polling from SurveyUSA. They say "a "can't win" dynamic is unfolding for the President." Disapproval rose from 52% to 56%. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Talks amongst yourselves. Read the rest of this post...

Dick Cheney Speaks!

I have to comment on a link provided by Joe in DC. Ever since Katrina struck, we've been flabbergasted that the MSM hasn't asked the most obvious, basic questions: why did Bush stay on vacation till Wednesday, why did Rice GO on vacation Tuesday and finally come back Thursday (only out of embarrassment) and how could Cheney conceivably stay on vacation through Saturday morning, some FIVE DAYS after the worst natural disaster in our nation's history devastated three states? Do they regret staying on vacation? What exactly were they doing on vacation (shopping for shoes, buying a mansion, etc.) while the floodwaters were rising and people were dying? Well, according to an opinion columnist at US News & World Report, one reporter (they don't even say who) finally had the cajones to ask Cheney.

When asked by a reporter why he did not return from his vacation earlier than last Thursday, three days after the hurricane hit, the vice president replied: "I came back four days early."

Unbelievable. I don't think Thursday is even remotely accurate. We didn't even see Cheney till Sat. morning at a photo op. With the internet buzzing that Cheney might be ill (what other possible explanation could there have been for his staying on vacation, we thought) and with the relief effort in disarray, they kept his return a secret for two days? Are we to believe he flew back Thursday and hid from view? They didn't want America to see them getting back to work?

And why do I have to find this out buried in an opinion column in US News & World Report? Why wasn't this stunningly callous and out-of-touch comment repeated in every major newspaper in the country? Why isn't this STILL front page news, with on-the-record comments from Cheney and his staff as to exactly what he was doing on those (three or) five days? When did he close the deal on that multi-million dollar mansion? Did he go fly fishing? And does he regret his decision? Am I crazy or do these let-them-eat-cake comments deserve widespread condemnation? Read the rest of this post...

Errors of Commission: the GOP effort to whitewash the Katrina disaster

My new Radar column is up:

Fifty-four Republican senators voted against legislation that would have created the independent Katrina commission, and the GOP House is getting ready to pass a bill authorizing a Republican-led inquiry. Their reasoning for rejecting the will of the people? It depends on which politician you ask.

A spokesperson for Senator John McCain says that the senator supports an independent commission. But when pressed if that meant a 9/11-style commission, the response was, “Uh, no.” Ohioan George Voinovich’s office is saying that the senator doesn’t yet have a position on the commission—apparently because he has more pressing concerns than the loss of a major American city and preparing us for a future al Qaeda attack. (This would include preventing the passage of a bill to reduce auto emissions.) Arlen Specter’s spokesperson says that the senator supports a “bipartisan” commission, but not an “independent” one. (Specter apparently believes that independence is overrated.) And Oregon senator Gordon Smith’s office is telling callers that he opposed the 9/11-style commission only because of a technicality in how the legislation was introduced. So the senator would support the amendment if that technicality was fixed? Unlikely. Gordo is merely hiding his unpopular, partisan choice behind a smokescreen of proceduralism.

Read the rest of this post...

What Karl says behind closed doors

Huffington Post puts what Karl says "off the record" on the record. The entire MSM already seems to know what he says when he is on "super secret double background," now we can too:

Karl Rove, President Bush's top political advisor and deputy White House chief of staff, spoke at businessman Teddy Forstmann's annual off the record gathering in Aspen, Colorado this weekend. Here is what Rove had to say that the press wasn't allowed to report on.

On Katrina: The only mistake we made with Katrina was not overriding the local government...

On The Anti-War Movement: Cindy Sheehan is a clown. There is no real anti-war movement. No serious politician, with anything to do with anything, would show his face at an anti-war rally...

On Bush's Low Poll Numbers: We have not been good at explaining the success in Iraq. Polls go up and down and don't mean anything...

On Iraq: There has been a big difference in the region. Iraq will transform the Middle East...

On Judy Miller And Plamegate: Judy Miller is in jail for reasons I don't really understand...

On Joe Wilson: Joe Wilson and I attend the same church but Joe goes to the wacky mass...

Gives some insight as to how he thinks for Bush. The lying traitor has the audacity to mock Cindy Sheehan. Her son died for his country. Rove betrayed the national security of his country. Cindy's son is dead. Rove still has top secret security clearance.

And, the "only mistake" they made with Katrina "was not overriding the local government..." So, the President spent all last week, telling us he was responsible for the failures of the federal government. And, that's the only mistake? That you didn't override the locals? So, who do we believe: Rove or Bush? Which one is lying? Hearing Rove's thoughts you realize nothing Bush has said for the past few weeks was honest. Nothing.

All they do is spin, smear and lie. Read the rest of this post...

Condi still lying, still linking 9/11 to Iraq

From Newsweek's interview with the Secretary of State who just can't tell the truth:

NEWSWEEK: You’ve recently been in the Gulf, the Gulf coast, and some of us were wondering about a potential battle for resources or even an emotional tug-of-war between the reconstruction effort there and what’s happening in the Middle East. Do you see that tension and how do you plan to deal with it?

CONDOLEEZZA RICE: Well, it’s always a potential there for precisely that, when the United States experiences something this wrenching at home, that questions about what needs to be done here and what that means for what needs to be done abroad. But I think that this will come out in the right place because I think Americans know that what we are doing in the Middle East relates fundamentally to our security and fundamentally to what we experienced on September 11, and that finishing the job in Iraq, making certain that Afghanistan is stable, making certain that you have the resources to help Pakistan so that it makes the transition from the extremist haven that it was prior to September 11 to now, and especially the broader Middle East project, democratization, I actually think those are going to be more than defensible.

Managed to work in September 11th twice....just like her boss.

Actually, Condi,you think Americans have fallen for that lie that what we are doing in Iraq "relates fundamentally to our security and fundamentally to what we experienced on September 11." They don't. They know you and your boss are lying. That's one reason his numbers on Iraq have been tanking according to last week's Washington Post/ABC News Poll:

Bush's handling of Iraq and terrorism also have never been lower, according to the poll. Thirty-eight percent approve of the way Bush is handling the situation in Iraq and half the country now approve of the way Bush is handling the campaign against terrorism.

I don't understand why the Newsweek reporters didn't just ask her to stop lying. That was the first question and they know, like everyone else does, that what she said isn't true. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

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

US puppets in Iraq blow a few billion dollars

This even dwarfs the revolting oil-for-food scandal at the UN, which of course, the US knew about but chose to do nothing. The hand picked puppets in Iraq have spent $1.3 Billion on purchasing military equipment, much of which is outdated and unusable. When the dust settles, there could be up to $2Billion worth of wasted US taxpayer money spent by the puppet government. I'm sick of hearing wingnuts talking about liberals as free spenders when I have yet to witness any willingness to be cautious about spending from Team Bush. The so-called conservative party is all about cronyism, no-bid contracts and helping their own. If the money is going to their friends in high places, cash is lavished upon the richest of the rich but when we talk about average and poor Americans, they are always asked to tighten their belts. (This reminds me of the old joke from Vietnam during the end of the Soviet era: Memo from Moscow - limited budget, time to tighten belts. Response from Vietnam: send belts.)

Is Team Bush really the team that we want distributing $200B along the Gulf Coast? Can we really trust these people to spend our money and govern our country? Just think what the Gulf Coast region could have done with an extra $2 Billion of US taxpayer money. Just think what average Americans could have done with that money.

US money seems to always go through Chalabi and his family and friends, so how long before we hear new allegations of corruption tied to that guy? Read the rest of this post...

German vote deadlocked - Merkel by one seat

Angela Merkel somehow managed to blow a massive lead and ended up with probably one more seat in parliament than Schroeder so at the moment there is a lot of backroom dealing going on at the moment to form a new government. If a "grand coalition" (joining the two major parties) is formed as expected, whoever ends up leading it will be stuck with limited options to make any changes. Schroeder did a great job of campaigning once again this year. If only he could lead the government in such a way instead of just during a campaign.

Both Schroeder and Merkel and claiming mandate (where'd they ever get such an idea?) but that is hardly the reality. The end result is going to be an impossible situation for the next few years with the current problems and challenges sticking around for the near future. Read the rest of this post...

Zimbabwe starves because they are picky eaters

So says Robert Mugabe in a recent interview. Yes, starting people starve because they don't want to disrupt their delicate palates. Sure, the primary food in southern Africa in many areas is corn (mealy-meal) but that also has a lot to do with cost and traditional availability. Mugabe is trying to suggest that the people starving because they won't eat rice or potatoes but this claim is so nuts, it could only come from him. This ranks right up there with his decree that forced all Zim weather reports to go through his office because he viewed them as a matter of national security. Heaven forbid the people were to hear the actual reports that said no rain was coming because who knows what might happen.

It's a shame that the West has done so little for the suffering in Zimbabwe and it doesn't say much when fellow African nations let this thug starve so many of his own people and destroy a country. Read the rest of this post...