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January 08, 2005
Good Lord!
This headline from Newsweek: U.S. Considers Elite Hit-Squads for Iraq.
Basically, the brain trust at the Pentagon is looking into training Iraqi nationals to assasinate heads of the "insurgency" or their sympathizers. And the best part - the Pentagon is calling it:
"the Salvador option" after strategy instigated during the Reagan administration's battle against the leftist guerrilla insurgency in El Salvador in the early 1980s.
Now that's really creative!
Read it here.
11:09 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Jim Biederman
Jobs - The Other Numbers
Despite attempted rosy interpretations of jobs and the economy, the US unemployment numbers are still incredibly high. As the NY Times points out,
As of November, about 1.8 million, or one in five, unemployed workers were jobless for more than six months, compared with 1.1 million when the recession officially ended in November 2001.
Further, even real economic Conservatives (as oppossed to the Neo-Fascists headed by Bush) are concerned,
"Usually at this point in a recovery, job creation is skyrocketing, but so far that hasn't happened," said Kevin A. Hassett, economic director at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, a conservative organization. "It's not a partisan issue, it's a fact. The labor market is worse than in the typical recovery."
Read more here.
10:50 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Jim Biederman
A Long Ways From Justice
A powerful article about the families of the murdered civil rights activists who have waited for justice for 40 years ago.
Read it here
11:40 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Jim Biederman
Some words associated with Bush
Some words associated with Bush since November 2:
Propaganda, illegal, torture, waterboarding, Taser, hillbilly armor, dictatorial, stingy, miserly, mental disorders, homeless vets, logging in national forests, deception, life without trial, gulags, war crimes.
That's the short list.
Bush voters: does this make you proud of your choice?
09:21 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Williams fired, White House dodges
Tribune Media Services fired Armstrong Williams (link) from his syndicated column yesterday, but Williams plans on self-syndication.
Has anyone, including Bush, been fired? Not yet. But they're denying and making excuses and arguing semantics.
"Our contract was for advertising," said department [of education] spokesman John Gibbons. "Our intent was to reach out to minority audiences. Armstrong went out and talked about it -- we didn't have anything to do with that."
Did you see that? "Advertising". So now when you decide to rob a bank, be sure to claim that you were simply "withdrawing cash" or "borrowing some money" when you're caught. The Washington Post continued:
But the contract also required Williams to "utilize his long term working relationship" with black producers to "encourage" them to "periodically address the No Child Left Behind Act."
In other words, pass off "advertising" as "news" or "information". That means "propaganda".
What does the White House say? More...
Friday's McClellan press gaggle:
Q Can I ask one more substantive question, before we get to that?
MR. McCLELLAN: No, no substantive questions today. It's Friday.
Q Or any other day, right? (Laughter.)
USA Today says the Education Department paid a TV commentator, Armstrong Williams, about a quarter million dollars to promote No Child Left. And in a related matter, the GAO found yesterday the drug policy office broke federal law by using taxpayer money for covert, "propaganda," with made for TV story packages. Are these practices that you condone?
MR. McCLELLAN: On the first one, that was a decision by the Department of Education, and a contracting matter. So you ought to direct those questions to the Department of Education. I know the headline said that the White House -- basically implied that it was the White House, and it wasn't. If you read the story -- if you read the story, it pointed that out.
Q It's your administration, Scott. It's the President's administration.
Typical dodge by the White House. "I didn't do it! It was the CIA, FBI, "a few bad apples", the DoE..." Can we please have one responsible adult from the Bush White House? Please? What is it, exactly, that the White House is accountable for? Nothing? They have parties with Elmo and make skits about the dog, and that's it? Are we really to believe that the White House operates in a vacuum independent of the actions of its subordinates?
No. They're 100% responsible. When was the last time propaganda was an issue? How about torture? These are unique to the Bush Era.
08:43 AM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
January 07, 2005
Dem letter to our Propagandist-in-Chief
This morning, I listed a series of questions we should be asking Mr. Bush and the White House regarding the illegal propaganda network they're developing with tax-payer funds. Fortunately, Senate Democrats Frank Lautenberg, Ted Kennedy, and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid have stepped up to quiz the Propagandist-in-Chief. Download the full letter here (pdf).
In addition to recovering these funds, we would urge you to disclose if any other journalists have been paid by your Administration to skew their media reports in favor of your initiatives, proposals or political messages...
In addition to the illegality of these actions taken by your Administration, we believe that the act of bribing journalists to bias their news in favor of government policies undermines the integrity of our democracy. Actions like this were common in the Soviet Union, but until now, thought to be long extinguished in our country.
The target here has to be the White House. The media spent the day grilling Williams -- excellent publicity for him, but it gets us nowhere.
When does the Bush promise to "restore character and integrity to the Oval Office" actually kick in? At this point, so much damage has been done, I'm actually hoping he keeps up this crap. He was only re-elected two months ago, and, since then, we're on -- what -- scandal number 12? I lost count somewhere around Kerik and "You go to war with the Army you have". Seriously, at this rate, by inauguration day, he'll be running across a tobacco field ankle-shackled to George Clooney and John Turturro.
Actually, no. That's too dignified for what he deserves.
10:03 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Frist uses devastation for photo-op
Senator Bill Frist has been touring -- and attaining photo-ops in front of -- the devastation in Sri Lanka. The Maryville, TN Daily Times has the story.
Just before his helicopter lifted off, Frist and aides took snapshots of each other near a pile of tsunami debris.
"Get some devastation in the back," Frist told a photographer.
And get that corpse over there in the shot -- adjust its hand so it's giving me a thumbs-up. No, no! Not the indigenous corpse! The white tourist corpse. Should I smile or look solemn?
Tip courtesy South Knox Bubba via dKos.
01:28 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Perspective on today's job numbers
Expect the White House to crow about today's employment figures with quotes like, "We created the the highest job numbers in five years!" and, "The economy is going through the roof!" and, "Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh!" (Bush only).
Atrios, however, lends this perspective:
+157K in December. Need 140-150K to keep up with growth in working age population. At the end of December 2000, the number of jobs was 132,441,000. It now stands at 132,266,000.
Plus, the jobless rate is stagnant. Holding at 5.4%.
10:43 AM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
O'Reilly: Moyers a 'totalitarian'
Speaking of right-wing media... Media Matters is reporting that O'Reilly last night called Bill Moyers a "totalitarian" in an attempt to debunk Moyers' claim that the media is under the control of the right.
O'Reilly needs to read this morning's USA Today. And we need to ask whether O'Reilly has taken tax-payer money from the White House as well.
09:16 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Talker Williams paid by White House
USA Today is reporting that right-wing talk radio host Armstrong Williams was paid $240,000 by the White House to propagandize "No Child Left Behind" on the air and elsewhere.
The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts."
CNN reported this morning that Williams besmirched their airwaves on October 14, 2004 when Williams appeared on the cable newser to discuss NCLB.
A Congressional investigation appears likely.
The top Democrat on the House Education Committee, Rep. George Miller of California, called the contract "a very questionable use of taxpayers' money" that is "probably illegal." He said he will ask his Republican counterpart to join him in requesting an investigation.
Questions we should be asking... How often has this happened? How many other hosts and networks have received money from the White House? How does the White House answer for the tax money used? How illegal is it? (Answer: very illegal!)
The contract may be illegal "because Congress has prohibited propaganda," or any sort of lobbying for programs funded by the government, said Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "And it's propaganda."
The subversion of the media by the White House, and a smoking gun to prove it. Let's roll.
08:48 AM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
January 06, 2005
Let's play 'Who Said That?!'
"These so-called ill-treatments and this torturing... were not, as assumed, inflicted methodically, but were excesses committed by individual leaders, subleaders, and men who laid violent hands on internees... It is obvious that there were elements among them who would ill-treat internees, but this ill-treatment was never tolerated."
"Who Said That?!"
Was it:
A) White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales in Congress today?
Or...
B) Nazi Auschwitz Kommandant Rudolf Hoess during the Nuremberg Trails?
The answer... after this.
Cartoon by Kevin Siers, The Charlotte Observer
If you answered, A) White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales in Congress today, you'd be close... But wrong.
Rudolf Hoess said this about concentration camp abuses and torture, but doesn't it sound eerily familiar? Only the use of the word "internees" instead of "detainees" really gave it away.
09:20 PM | Comments (6) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Gonzales represents us?
During his confirmation hearings today:
If confirmed as attorney general, I will no longer represent only the White House; I will represent the United States of America and its people.
He represents us?
Shit.
RUN!
04:03 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Rep. Ric Keller condemns Moore, Boxer
Rep. Ric Keller (R-FL), while wearing a decorative hat (see right), used his time today to condemn Barbara Boxer for attending the premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11", which somehow diminishes Boxer's veracity.
That fuzzy hat must be impairing Keller's memory since he's appeared on the "O'Reilly Factor" -- a show hosted by a pathological liar and alleged sex offender (see Keller's official website).
And who's veracity should be questioned, Congressman Keller, with your furry little friend?
03:09 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
David Dreier: protest 'emboldens enemy'
Moments ago in the House debate on the electoral vote, Congressman David Dreier squealed that the objection to Ohio's electoral vote emboldens the enemy while our country is at war.
Thomas Jefferson's corpse just threw up in his mouth.
One of the many reasons this war needs to end is due to its supporters' psychopathic use of Iraq and 9/11 as an excuse for everything from suppressing voters to suppressing free speech; to suppressing protest; to suppressing transparent government; to suppressing civil rights and liberties; to suppressing the Constitution.
02:44 PM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
GOP: ensuring the right to vote "sad"
Representative Sam Reynolds and his GOP allies in the House electoral college debate seem to think that making a statement to protect future voting rights for all Americans amounts to "a sad day" in America.
You know what's really "sad"? It's sad that in a single day, the GOP are criticizing a protest designed to protect voting rights; and an admitted torture proponent is going to be confirmed as our next Attorney General. Sing along: "And I'm proud to be an Am-er-i-can...!"
02:12 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Watch electoral proceedings
They're underway now.
12:59 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Sen. Boxer, prepare to be reamed
What Barbara Boxer is doing today is historic. It's only been done once before, over a hundred years ago. Her courage is only going to be matched by the might and will of the Republican slime machine, which will do everything they can to bring her to her knees.
Here's an easy place to send her an email telling her she rocks.
She needs to know that millions are standing with her.
12:58 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
An outbreak of spine growth!
Jesse Jackson just announced that Minority Leader Harry Reid is on board with the Ohio Electors Challenge.
12:53 PM | Comments (2) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Gonzales and GOP endorse torture
Al Gonzales and Judiciary Republicans have summarily endorsed the use of torture. Without coming out and saying it directly. In an exchange with Senator Cornyn (R-TX), the senator asked Gonzales if he believes prisoners should be treated according to the law.
Gonzales agreed.
This in and amongst statements from Gonzales and the GOP senators that anti-torture laws don't apply to accused terrorists. Therefor, accused terrorists -- we can only assume -- can be tortured and treated inhumanely, and our next Attorney General and the Republicans in Congress endorse it.
I'll track down the appropriate transcript passages when they're made available.
12:48 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Rosenberg endorses vote challenge
That low rumbling you hear is the sound of some Democrats simultaneously growing spines. DailyKos is reporting that DNC chair candidate Simon Rosenberg is supporting the Democratic challenge to the Ohio election results.
More at dKos.
12:41 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Boxer signs with House Dems!
Senator Boxer stood up with the House Dems contesting the certification of the electoral vote. Full story.
10:00 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Watch the Gonzales hearings
CSPAN will be carrying live the proceedings from the Senate Judiciary Committee.
I wonder if they'll ask Gonzales to do a scene from his wacky comedy sketch with Barney the First Dog -- then follow-up with photos of detainees being tortured with dogs.
09:22 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Social Security doom: 2005's WMD
Before we get into it, our official 2005 agitprop nickname for Karl Rove will be "Turdblossom". This is Rove's actual nickname given to him by Bush based on the Texas term for a weed that grows out of a pile of horse shit.
A White House memo has been released that reveals the Turdblossom-based strategy for hyping Social Security doom. We've read this story before when it came to the "imminent threat" from Iraq and their invisible stockpiles of WMD. MSNBC has the story:
The success of President Bush’s push to remake Social Security depends on convincing the public that the system is “heading for an iceberg,” according to a White House strategy note that makes the case for cutting benefits promised for the future.
The e-mail memo, written by Turdblossom deputy Peter Wehner, essentially makes the case that they should reform Social Security because they can. And in order to do that, they need to disseminate fallacies about the program's dire straits. From the actual memo:
We need to establish in the public mind a key fiscal fact: right now we are on an unsustainable course. That reality needs to be seared into the public consciousness; it is the pre-condition to authentic reform.
"Reality"? We all know that the White House admits to existing in a non-reality based community. So when they speak of "reality", translate that to "lie".
First, there is no crisis. Second, how did the Clinton era Democrats intend to insure Social Security? Eliminate the deficit and contribute the surplus to Social Security. Remember Gore's "lockbox" mantra? Bush was handed this solution in 2001 and instead chose to give the wealthy a tax cut; run up record deficits; go to war in Iraq; lie about a crisis; and ultimately kill Social Security once and for all.
08:25 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Bubble Boy ignores Iraq 'bad news'
The Nelson Report, a Washington insider newsletter, cracks the Bubble Boy's plastic shell:
There is rising concern amongst senior officials that President Bush does not grasp the increasingly grim reality of the security situation in Iraq because he refuses to listen to that type of information. Our sources say that attempts to brief Bush on various grim realities have been personally rebuffed by the President, who actually says that he does not want to hear "bad news."
Of course, fabricating bad news has become an industry inside the White House.
Read all of it here.
08:24 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Gonzales speaks
Alberto Gonzales, in a prepared statement released today, promised to "abide by anti-torture treaties if he is confirmed as attorney general". So I guess all this concern over his previous legal endorsement of torture is, no pun intended, just a bunch of hand-wringing. You can read it here.
Of one curious note, however, is the following paragraph:
He said there was a difference between working for the White House as presidential adviser and representing the United States as attorney general, which he said would require him more broadly to ensure a fair enforcement of laws.
Huh? Does he mean that working for the White House is like working above the law? I guess that is a difference.
01:14 AM | Comments (2) | Posted By Jim Biederman
January 05, 2005
Multi-millionaire Savage donates blather
Mike Savage (real name: Mike Weiner) on his wildly popular nationally syndicated radio show:
We shouldn't be spending a nickel on this, as far as I'm concerned. ... I don't want one nickel of my money going over there. ... I am sick of being bled to death by every damn incident on the earth.
More from Media Matters.
Send Savage an e-mail: michaelsavage@paulreveresociety.com
09:58 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Some perspective on Bush's $10,000
Bush's annual income: $1.6 million
Amount donated to relief effort: $10,000
Percentage of annual income donated: .6%
If you're earning, for example, $30,000 per year and you donated $180, you donated .6% of your salary. $10,000 for George W. Bush is the same as $180 to you. And Mr. Bush is not only a member of one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the world, but he's also the President of the United States.
UPDATE: Putting Bush's wealth and charity-giving into further perspective... Bush's handmade inaugural cowboy hat, complete with silver buckle and 14k gold "W", carries a price tag of $1,800. Read more.
09:01 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Help tsunami victim links
Here are some links to directly and indirectly help victims of the tsunami disaster:
07:27 PM | Comments (2) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Call senators who MIGHT do something
Since John Kerry is already worrying about how to lose the 2008 election, call a senator who might actually stand up for democracy. Here are the two best bets:
Senator Dianne Feinstein: 202-224-3841
Senator Barbara Boxer: 202-224-3553
05:47 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Kerry wimps out
John Kerry is a big disappointment. He has sent out a letter to all his supporters in which he 1) asks them to hound Congressional leaders to get "election reform," and then 2) says he won't be joining Rep. John Conyers to contest the Ohio electors.
"Election reform" isn't going to happen even IF a bunch of Kerry supporters call the Republican heads of Congress.
But if John Kerry were to contest the Ohio electors, you can be damn sure the story that the mainstream media wishes would just go away would do nothing of the sort. The thievery that mars our electoral process would be forced onto the front pages.
What's Kerry afraid of? That he's going to be called names by Rush and O'Reilly? Jesus, the challenger in the Ukraine was POISONED and he didn't stop fighting for a transparent and fair democratic process.
Don't waste your time or your dime calling Hastert and Frist. Instead, call Kerry and tell him to do the job he was elected to do.
04:59 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Multi-millionaire Bush donates $10,000
George W. Bush has just made a personal donation to tsunami relief in the sum of $10,000 (AP story).
A multi-millionaire and the leader of the free (for now) world. His net worth is reported to be upwards of $18 million. That wad of spooge on his mouth in the third debate is worth more than $10,000 (imagine the eBay auction price and a legion of Freepers bidding continuously).
And Sandra Bullock has donated $1 million. Sandra Bullock.
04:14 PM | Comments (6) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Blackwell: The Evil Continues
Rep. John Conyers has just released a report detailing the horrors of the Ohio voting process. If you care about democracy, read the Conyers report. You can get the report here courtesy of truthout.org.
The brutal, bitter irony is that the vote scam in Ohio was pointedly racist, and the chief architect of the scam, Kenneth Blackwell, is black. Even his name has Dickensian irony: Black-well. He is, apparently, neither.
01:14 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Blackwell: future governor, current dick
And he's running for governor of Ohio. The Raw Story here.
12:33 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Gonzales attended WH torture meetings
The Washington Post is reporting that special legal round tables were held at the White House regarding torture techniques to be used against detainees.
And Alberto Gonzales was there.
In one of the meetings a technique called "waterboarding" was discussed in which torturers simulate the drowning of someone being interrogated.
[The government] asked for a legal review -- the first ever by the government -- of how much pain and suffering a U.S. intelligence officer could inflict on a prisoner without violating [The 1994 War Crimes Act] that imposes severe penalties, including life imprisonment and execution, on convicted torturers. The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel took up the task, and at least twice during the drafting, top administration officials were briefed on the results.
Who were the top administration officials? Possibly Dick Cheney, whose lawyer, David Addington co-wrote -- or perhaps ghost-wrote -- some of the Gonzales torture memos?
Gonzales is up for the top spot in the Justice Department, isn't he? Write to the members of the Judiciary Committee (including Biden, Kennedy, Feingold, Durbin) NOW and ask them to hand down justice by denying confirmation for this torturer.
09:11 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Staples pulls advertising on Sinclair net
Breaking news from Broadcasting and Cable:
Office supply store chain Staples is pulling its advertising from newscasts on Sinclair Broadcast Group TV stations as of Jan. 10.
Anti-consolidation activist group Media Matters for America was trumpeting the move, attributing it to its campaign against the broadcaster.
According to the e-mail, Staples said: "As a result of Staples' ongoing review of its advertising media activity, Staples will no longer be airing advertising on any Sinclair stations' news programs as of Jan 10, 2005."
Media Matters, with assists from MoveOn.org, MediaChannel and other consolidation foes, launched the SinclairAction.com Web site last month, in part to drum up e-mails to advertisers. The group says it generated over 36,000 e-mails to Staples. Staples spokesman Owen Davis would not say why the company pulled the ads, beyond saying that it was in response to customers who expressed concerns, "some of which may have been aware of the Media Matters campaign."
The campaign aims to spur action against Sinclair Broadcast Group's 62 television stations for what Media Matters says is "systematically promot[ing] partisan political interests." Of particular concern is a nightly "news and commentary" segment, "The Point," by Sinclair VP Mark Hyman, as well as Sinclair's airing before the election of parts of an anti-Kerry documentary.
Hyman had no comment at press time.
01:00 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Jim Biederman
January 04, 2005
Ethics, schmethics
Tom (the Bugman) DeLay did an end run around his critics yesterday by "urging" his fellow Republicans to return to a decade old ethics policy that he had "urged" his fellow Republicans to reverse a month ago.
But as always with our elected representatives it's one step backward, three steps back...
11:44 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Jim Biederman
We need a senator. Any senator will do.
Any hope at getting an accurate accounting of who really won the election in Ohio now lies in the hands of one of the 100 members of the once august body of the U.S. Senate.
Frankly, there isn't much hope. But Vaclav Havel, the former president of the Chezch Republic, and the kind of leader we can only dream of in our empire, had something to say about hope:
"Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out."
We have to make things make sense. We have to be rational, creatures of reason. Otherwise, we are lost. Hope means taking action. Call your senators tomorrow. Participate in democracy.
I got the Havel quote via William Rivers Pitt, editor of Truthout.org, who wrote a great piece on the whole contesting of the vote matter. I suggest you read Will's piece. It can be found here.
11:39 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
White House hiding Gonzales memos
Al Gonzales: performs with dogs, tortures with dogs. On Thursday, confirmation hearings to make this double-threat our next Attorney General will begin in the Senate, and SURPRISE! The White House isn't handing over memorandums penned by the special counsel regarding torture at places like Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. See the Chicago Sun-Times for more.
I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on this one. They're not turning over these documents clearly because they're humble and modest ol' so-and-sos. The memos are obviously empassioned texts dripping with humanitarian pleas to military and FBI officials to treat prisoners with love, caring, and respect.
Seriously, would they really prevent the Senate from seeing documents that shed a positive light on Gonzales?
Senators would do well to grill and question and show pictures of prisoners awash in shit when the hearings get underway. Of course, no dogs or electrodes or "stress positions" will be used. Not even a torturer is deserving of that brand of interrogation.
11:38 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Talking to God
Good news! Pat Robertson's direct line to God remains open. According to Media Matters, Robertson has quoted God as saying, "I will remove judges from the Supreme Court quickly, and their successors will refuse to sanction the attacks on religious faith."
God, clearly, minces words. "Remove" is a nice way of God saying he's going to kill, probably, John Paul Stevens and William Rhenquist. He didn't name names.
But God just wouldn't shut up. Robertson also "heard it from the Lord" that Bush will have Social Security and tax reform passed and that Muslims will turn to Jesus Christ.
When I heard that I started to wonder if Robertson was being fooled, and it wasn't Yaweh he was chatting with, but Ganesh (pictured here). Ganesh has been known to fuck with evangelical nutjobs.
08:44 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Generals don't like Gonzales
12 high-level military brass have petitioned the Senate to resoundingly reject Alberto Gonzales, the torture-lovin' judge/attorney that advised Gov. Bush kill more people than any sitting governor.
Read more here about why the generals, including a former Joint Chief, don't want Execution Al running the "Justice" Department.
04:33 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Exit poll raw data and analysis
In case you're still scratching your head over the election exit poll data and how (strangely) none of it matched the actual results, the raw data from the NEP and a University of Pennsylvania analysis have been released.
U of Penn Analysis (pdf)
Raw Exit Poll Data
09:08 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Republicans Reverse Rule Change
Republican leadership in the House of Representatives vote to return to a decade old ethics rule. Specifically, if you can believe it, it was Tom DeLay who requested the reversal.
Republicans applauded behind closed doors as they approved on a voice vote DeLay's motion to revert to their decade-old rule that requires a leader indicted of a felony to step aside, said spokesman Jonathan Grella.
According to Grella,
"Tom spoke from the heart. He said he wanted to put the focus on the Republican agenda (and such matters as education and health care) -- not him."
Excuse me, but I think I just threw up in my mouth.
Oh, yeah and the Republicans also made it harder for the House ethics committee to investigate a complaint against a House member. But who really cares, right? I mean after all "Tom spoke from the heart".
01:39 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Jim Biederman
January 03, 2005
More grim information on troop levels
Following up on Plummer's article below... During the Vietnam War, our troop levels outnumbered the VC guerrillas by around 3-to-1, according to Robert McNamara's July, 1965 memorandum to President Johnson. That ratio shifted only slightly as the war escalated.
And we got clobbered.
Partly because the recommended "winnable" ratio was actually 10-to-1. Ten U.S. soldiers to every one VC guerrilla.
If the 200,000 Iraqi insurgent number is correct, and if the old Vietnam ratio still applies (both are guerrilla wars), we'd need 2 million troops to secure the country and to "smoke out" the evildoers.
And that would mean a draft.
Additional reading on guerrilla warfare here.
08:45 PM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Outnumbered in Iraq
Troops hit by a "gas bomb."
"I think the resistance is bigger than the U.S. military in Iraq. I think the resistance is more than 200,000 people," Iraqi intelligence service director General Mohamed Abdullah Shahwani told AFP today.
That's 50,000 more than the U.S. has.
Their soldiers have a deep commitment to their work. Our troops are just trying to earn a living. Who do you think will "win" this one? Ask the Viet Cong.
05:46 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Christian Right targets Dem senators
The Rev. James Dobson wants to put six Dem senators in the "bull's eye" if they give Bush a hard time over judicial nominees. The NYT has the details on Dobson's latest crusade against democracy.
If anyone out there doubts the political power of the Christian Right, keep in mind that Dobson helped bring down Tom Daschle last year.
The lasting Bushification of the judicial branch means all three branches of government will be in the shitter. But the judicial branch is the one with staying power. If you're gay/poor/female/Muslim/non-white or you just like to use your brain for critical thought, you might want to start looking for another country.
05:05 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Dismantling Social Security
Finally the mainstream press is catching on that Bush and his cronies are not trying to "reform" Social Security, but simply "remove" it. In an editorial in today's NY Times,
In effect, the administration's plan would get rid of the financial burden of Social Security by getting rid of Social Security. The plan shifts the financial risk of growing old onto each individual and off of the government - where it is dispersed among a very large population, as with any sensible insurance policy. In a privatized system, you may do fine, but your fellow retirees may not, or vice versa.
Read it here.
04:26 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Jim Biederman
Thank you, Iraq War supporters!
Thanks to this wonderful war and the 60,608,582 Bush voters who endorsed it, we get this from the Iraqi Islamic Army via AFP News:
This year "will bring woes on America. The mujahedeen (holy warriors) have prepared big surprises for your sons outside America and a big surprise for you inside America," said the statement whose authenticity could not be confirmed.
Thank goodness Bush has made the country safer. Can you feel it? You know, the safety?
01:22 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Reducing the deficit with one easy lie
We all know that Bush has plans to reduce his party's tax-cut-and-spend federal budget deficit in half by 2009. A tall order considering he doesn't plan to turn away from his tax cuts, and he's hell bent on tempting a further $2 trillion deficit by privatizing Social Security. So how will he do it?
By lying, of course.
The New York Times reports that the White House intends to cite old projections for the budget deficit in order to make it seem as if the budget has been reduced.
To make Mr. Bush's goal easier to reach, administration officials have decided to measure their progress against a $521 billion deficit they predicted last February rather than last year's actual shortfall of $413 billion.
By starting with the outdated projection, Mr. Bush can say he has already reduced the shortfall by about $100 billion and claim victory if the deficit falls to just $260 billion.
So without doing a single damn thing, the budget deficit drops by over $100 billion. Clever, clever, clever lies. And combined with his intention to "not count" the potential Social Security deficit ($2 trillion) incurred by privatization in with the overall federal budget deficit, he furthers a fiscal policy of "out of sight, out of mind".
How about this... Why doesn't he just use a pencil and change the "-" to a "+" and voilà! The deficit magically turns into a surplus.
Don't think he hasn't considered it.
11:19 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Lugar opposes detainee gulag
We've been following closely the news that the Bush administration is exploring plans to detain suspected terrorists for life without a trial (previous article) in cases where there's not enough evidence to convict. The volume of congressional opposition voices you'd expect has been small. One person small. And that person is GOP Senator Richard Lugar:
"It's a bad idea. So we ought to get over it and we ought to have a very careful, constitutional look at this," Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on "Fox News Sunday." (full article in the Washington Post)
Is anyone the slightest bit worried that someone actually has to ask, "Is this constitutional?" Like torture, since when did ideas like these attain the dignity of being an option in this country? That's easy: since neo-fascists took over our government.
In 17 days, Mr. Bush will stand before the world and swear an oath to defend the Constitution, while scoffing at Amendments 5, 6, and 8 (to name a few). For quick reference, I've posted those Amendments on the next page.
AMENDMENT V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
AMENDMENT VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
AMENDMENT VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
The Presidential Oath of Office:
"I [George Walker Bush] do solemnly swear [or affirm] that I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
10:27 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
This week in Washington: 2 big events
GONZALEZ HEARINGS
Confirmation hearings begin this week for torturer and sketch comedian Alberto Gonzales. Be sure to write to your congressman and senator and ask him or her to stand in opposition to Gonzales and his penchant for ignoring the Geneva Accords. We just left a despotic Attorney General behind. Let's not have another.
Drudge is blasting Democrats for apparently wanting show some of the torture video at the hearings. But clearly the hearings are a good place for Gonzales to answer for those images.
Don't forget to sign the petition.
CONGRESSIONAL ELECTORAL VOTE
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Congress will ratify the final electoral college vote count. Congressman John Conyers and a coalition of House Democrats are planning on contesting the tally, as you've seen happen before in "Fahrenheit 9/11". He just needs a senator.
Even if, as a Democrat, you believe the election was a clear Bush win, we need to use this opportunity to protest the incompetence and evil of this administration. Nothing should come easily for Bush. Nothing. We have to stand against him.
08:45 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Oliver Willis: Rules for 2005
Oliver Willis compiled a great list of rules for 2005. Here's some choice cuts:
3. The media is not your friend. They are not interested in complexity or actual journalism. They must be bullied, cajoled, and wooed into reporting what we want them to.
4. Bipartisanship is dead. Any and all attempts at bipartisanship will result in failure. There are two enemy camps at war and any sign of weakness invites defeats. They hate us, we hate them. The good old days are over.
6. The Republicans are the party of Washington. They are the insiders. They are the party of the government. Democrats are outsiders and not the establishment.
8. If you aren't willing to fight, you should get out of the game.
Go here for the whole list.
08:44 AM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
CBS News kisses Bush's ass
If you've ever had any doubt that the news media is really just a bunch of whores, Broadcasting and Cable Newsletter breaks this disturbing story:
Mr. Heyward Goes to WashingtonBy Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/2/2005 11:07:00 PM
Let the fence-mending begin. According to a Broadcasting & Cable source in Washington, D.C., CBS News president Andrew Heyward, along with Washington bureau chief Janet Leissner, recently met with White House communications director Dan Bartlett, in part to repair chilly relations with the Bush administration.
CBS News’ popularity at the White House—never high to begin with—plunged further in the wake of Dan Rather’s discredited 60 Minutes story on George Bush’s National Guard service.
An incentive for making nice is the impending report from the two-member panel investigating CBS's use of now-infamous documents for the 60 Minutes piece.
Heyward was “working overtime to convince Bartlett that neither CBS News nor Rather had a vendetta against the White House,” our source says, “and from here on out would do everything it could to be fair and balanced.” CBS declined to comment.
Are fair and balanced the new code words for sin of commission?
12:27 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Jim Biederman
January 02, 2005
Petition against Gonzales
Sign a petition urging Congress to oppose Alberto "torture is quaint" Gonzales' nomination for Attorney General.
Petition here.
01:56 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By Jim Biederman
Apocalypse Now, Part II
James Wolcott's commentary on an article about our military in Iraq in the current issue of The Economist. Brilliant.
And a real quote, as if written by John Milius, himself.
'If anyone gets too close to us we fucking waste them,' says a bullish lieutenant. 'It's kind of a shame, because it means we've killed a lot of innocent people... It gets to the point where you can't wait to see guys with guns, so you start shooting everybody..."
01:18 PM | Comments (7) | Posted By Jim Biederman
Good news for gay couples in California
With the turn of the new year, gay couples in California are now able to attain similar legal rights as married couples in the state. The AP reports:
Same-sex couples in California for the first time will have access to divorce court for dividing their assets, seeking alimony and securing child support. They also will have automatic parental status over children born during the relationship and responsibility for each other's debts.
Now some cold water... Separate-but-equal must not become the norm and must only be a means to an end, because by its very nature it furthers a system of second class citizenry. Without full marriage status, gay couples remain metaphorically seated at the back of the social bus and drinking from "queer only" water fountains.
10:52 AM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
No trial for some accused detainees
The Washington Post is reporting that the Bush administration is working on a plan to be able to detain suspected terrorists indefinitely -- without the need for evidence or trial. The item:
...plans to ask the U.S. Congress for $25 million to build a 200-bed prison to hold detainees who are unlikely to ever go through a military tribunal for lack of evidence, defense officials told the newspaper.
Terrorists are evil. Accused terrorists without a trial simply aren't terrorists. With this loophole opening wider, thus passes constitutional amendments 5, 6, and 8.
10:30 AM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
It's Called TORTURE
The paper of record is reporting on horrific and newly revealed torture methods used at Gitmo, including sensory deprivation, living in one's own shit, and forced enemas.
But the Times doesn't call it "torture," except when quoting the International Red Cross.
The Times continues to find every kind of euphemism for torture, because, of course, the word "torture" exists in the Geneva convention statutes. It's disconcerting to see the flagship of the supposedly "liberal media" go to ridiculous lengths to avoid calling torture what it is, in what is clearly an attempt to protect an administration that has made torture business-as-usual.
As John Lennon said, "Gimme some truth."
01:51 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
