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January 29, 2005
Iraq votes: riveting cable news coverage
The coverage is gripping. FNC is showing live footage of an empty polling place decorated with lovely flower arrangements and repeated footage of two empty plastic ballot boxes. In a split screen window, an analyst is saying, and I'm not making this up, "This video you're showing is truly historical."
MSNBC is showing the same looped footage of a woman in a yellow coat voting, and looped footage of a man in a white shirt examining a ballot box as if it's broken. Scarborough is "anchoring" for some reason, further blurring the line between pundit and reporter. A correspondent in Iraq just said, "People are turning out to vote," while the split screen live footage is the same totally empty polling place which is being shown on FNC.
And CNN has been showing a vacant polling place with three men in black standing out front shooing some sheep.
11:42 PM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Freedom of assembly on trial
A diarist at dKos has the story. This is a tragedy. Plain and simple. Bubble Boy must not win this one.
Brett Bursey, a long-time political activist, has been found guilty of violating a little-used federal statute that Congress passed in 1971 to protect the president's personal safety. Bursey's "crime" was holding a sign that said, "No More War for Oil" at a presidential campaign venue - without an invitation from the Republican National Committee.
And...
A reading of the statute, however, makes it abundantly clear that Mr. Bursey did none of the things that would have put him in violation of the statute because he did not impede the conduct of governmental business; did not impede or obstruct the president's or any other person's movement at the venue; and, did not engage in any physical violence.
Full story.
06:23 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
The deep breath before the plunge
(AP photo and verbatim caption) Iraqi youths stand next to five dead bodies in Ramadi, an insurgent stronghold 113 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2005.
In five hours, the polls will open. Is Zarqawi bluffing? Will anyone turn out to vote? Will the Bush administration use the expats as evidence of the process working? Will it be the first day of a civil war?
And will the blue ink on the fingers of voters make them targets?
Reuters sets the table.
05:59 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Bring on the democracy!
Here's where we are at this point:
-Rocket attack on the U.S. Embassy. Two Americans dead. Six wounded.
-Polling sites bombed, and a suicide bomber hits near the Iranian border.
-President Yawar predicts many Iraqis will stay away from the polls.
-And how does the voting function? Here.
UPDATE: CNN has reported that voters are confused by the complicated ballots (see ballot photo). Expect a percentage of the vote to go to Pat Buchanan. CNN is also using a telestrator to mark a video map of Iraq.
02:18 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
January 28, 2005
Thanks for the reminder, Mr. Bush
Today while meeting with congressional Republicans, George W. Bush gave a preview of his state of the union address next week:
"I will remind the country we're still at war. I want to thank the Congress for providing the necessary support for our troops who are in harm's way."
They need all the support they can get, considering Mr. Bush has blamed many scathing wartime scandals on them (Abu Ghraib, Al Qa Qaa, "Mission Accomplished", to name three). His support has also come in the form of his 2005 budget pledge to cut their veteran benefits. And his inability to properly supply them with armor has resulted in the one of the highest rates of amputations of any American war.
How can we forget that we're at war, Mr. Bush? I think you need to be reminded, since you don't read the papers and refuse to listen to bad news. We need to be reminded? You can remind us all you want when Jenna and Barbara enlist and are stationed in Mosul.
Speaking of the First Twins, more from the AP:
Republican sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that in the private portion of the discussion, Bush invoked his twin 22-year-old daughters, Jenna and Barbara, as examples of the need to pass Social Security legislation.
How do Jenna and Barbara, who will never have to worry about money, accurately represent the average 22-year-old?
10:12 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Bedtime Story for Margaret Spellings #2
It's time for another bedtime story for our brand new Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. Where did we leave off last night? Oh yeah.
"Sisters" by Lynne Cheney. A steamy tale of nineteenth century lesbian desire and acceptance.
She went on up the stairs to her room and took off her dripping clothes. Connie came in as she started undressing. "Go away, Connie, leave me alone." She took off her dress, her petticoat, her corset, her stockings. Even her lacy undershift and drawers were wet, clinging to her body before she stripped them off. Standing naked, she...
Stop by tomorrow night for more from "Sisters" by Lynne Cheney, when you might hear Connie say...
"Mmmm, soft. Soft and smooth."
09:39 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Dr. Roberts on the delusional right
Like many of his fellow old-school conservative Republicans (the non-neocon type), Dr. Paul Craig Roberts has been highly critical of the Bush administration and everything that oozes out of it. In Dr. Roberts' latest column, he lets the "delusional" (his word) right-wing media have it. To wit:
This is the mindset of delusion, and delusion permits no facts or analysis. Blind emotion rules. Americans are right and everyone else is wrong. End of the debate.
That, gentle reader, is the full extent of talk radio, Fox News, the Wall Street Journal Editorial page, National Review, the Weekly Standard, and, indeed, of the entire concentrated corporate media where noncontroversy in the interest of advertising revenue rules.
Delusion is still the defining characteristic of the Bush administration. We have smashed Fallujah, a city of 300,000, only to discover that the 10,000 US Marines are bogged down in the ruins of the city. If the Marines leave, the "defeated" insurgents will return. Meanwhile the insurgents have moved on to destabilize Mosul, a city five times as large. Thus, the call for more US troops.
This is a must read. It's comforting to know that not everyone on the right has drank the Kool-Aid and rationality still exists amongst some conservative thinkers.
09:20 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Take off, Dick!
Dick Cheney's disrespectful cold weather gear at Auschwitz yesterday reminded me of something.
Washington Post has more.
06:58 PM | Comments (10) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Some Friday night Coulter idiocy
UPDATE: Video here.
This made me smile the smile of all smiles. From This is Rumor Control:
Coulter: "Canada used to be one of our most loyal friends and vice-versa. I mean Canada sent troops to Vietnam - was Vietnam less containable and more of a threat than Saddam Hussein?"
McKeown interrupts: "Canada didn't send troops to Vietnam."
Coulter: "I don't think that's right."
McKeown: "Canada did not send troops to Vietnam."
Coulter (looking desperate): "Indochina?"
McKeown: "Uh no. Canada ...second World War of course. Korea. Yes. Vietnam No."
Coulter: "I think you're wrong."
McKeown: "No, took a pass on Vietnam."
Coulter: "I think you're wrong."
McKeown: "No, Australia was there, not Canada."
Coulter: "I think Canada sent troops."
McKeown: "No."
Coulter: "Well. I'll get back to you on that."
McKeown tags out in script:
"Coulter never got back to us -- but for the record, like Iraq, Canada sent no troops to Vietnam."
Her wandering bug-eyes must've been going crazy.
06:57 PM | Comments (6) | Posted By Bob Cesca
The Jeff Gannon (real name?) mystery
Who is Jeff Gannon? We know he lifted White House and GOP press releases and talking points, while presenting himself and Talon as an independent media source. But what else?
Media Matters is firing with all barrels to figure out this unit.
To begin, how did an organization which behaves like a political activist group attain press credetials to the west wing press room? Read this.
And Atrios is on the case as well:
According to sources, Jeff Gannon's real name is not, in fact, Jeff Gannon. According to the same sources, his White House press credentials list him as "Jeff Gannon" - they let him use his pseudonym -- even though married female reporters, who use their maiden name professionally, are given credentials with their married name and aren't allowed to be credentialed under their maiden names...
More at Eschaton.
Just a quick recap of some background here.
06:45 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Answer the question
Courtesy of Democracy Now, from Wednesday's press conference:
REPORTER: That there are some responses that Judge Gonzales gave to his Senate testimony that has troubled some people, specifically his allusion to the fact that cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of some prisoners is not specifically forbidden, so long as it's conducted by the C.I.A. and conducted overseas. Is that a loophole you approve?GEORGE W. BUSH: Al Gonzales reflects our policy, and that is we don't sanction torture. He will be a great Attorney General. And I call upon the Senate to confirm him.
Let's put the Bush non-answer into real-life perspective:
MOTHER: Did you or did you not plagarize your school paper?
CHILD: Plagarism is wrong, and I'm down with that. I am a really good student, and I want my teacher to see that.
WORKER: Did Johnson complete the proposal for the client?
BOSS: Johnson is an outstanding worker and proposals are important. As are clients. Give Johnson a pat on the back.
WIFE: Do you think it's okay for you to sleep with other women?
HUSBAND: I am a loving husband. I think you should treat me with love and respect.
Write or call your congressperson, and urge the impeachment of this disgrace to the human race.
01:14 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
The Progressive Pitch
A couple weeks ago, The American Prospect began a discussion (which continued at dKos) of the Democratic/progressive "elevator pitch" -- the single line that defines our political agenda and ideology. They began by defining the effective GOP pitch:
We believe in freedom and liberty, and we're for low taxes, less government, traditional values, and a strong national defense.
What is the progressive agenda in a single 30-word-or-less sentence?
Here's mine:
We stand united for ensuring peace with security, equal rights, fiscal responsibility, saving the environment, and creating jobs and economic opportunity for the lower and middle classes.
Add your suggestions in the comments area. And feel free to rip mine to pieces.
12:39 PM | Comments (4) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Another writer takes White House payola
"Ethics & Religion" writer Michael McManus. Salon, via dKos:
One day after President Bush ordered his Cabinet secretaries to stop hiring commentators to help promote administration initiatives, and one day after the second high-profile conservative pundit was found to be on the federal payroll, a third embarrassing hire has emerged. Salon has confirmed that Michael McManus, a marriage advocate whose syndicated column, "Ethics & Religion," appears in 50 newspapers, was hired as a subcontractor by the Department of Health and Human Services to foster a Bush-approved marriage initiative. McManus championed the plan in his columns without disclosing to readers he was being paid to help it succeed.
Here's what Mr. Bush said on Wednesday:
But all our Cabinet Secretaries must realize that we will not be paying commentators to advance our agenda. Our agenda ought to be able to stand on its own two feet.
08:08 AM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
January 27, 2005
Bedtime Story for Margaret Spellings #1
For the next several nights, I'm proud to present a special bedtime story for our brand new Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. If you're reading this, Maggie, climb into your jammies and snuggle under the covers. Ready?
"Sisters" by Lynne Cheney. A steamy tale of nineteenth century lesbian desire and acceptance.
"Amy Travers? She's here?"
He nodded. "She's one of our high-school teachers now."
"Oh, yes, she and Helen were the most intimate friends," Anna May said. Her words made Sophie remember how attached Helen had been to Miss Travers even at Fort Martin. She had followed the young schoolteacher everywhere, spent every moment she could with her, composed long notes to her. "The two of them were so beautiful together, so pure, so loving."
Stop by tomorrow night for a "Bedtime Story for Margaret Spellings". Here's a preview of what's in store from "Sisters" by Lynne Cheney...
She was sitting with her legs bent back in inverted V's...
09:37 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Right-wing reporter caught plagiarizing
WARNING: News about one of the most brazen, uninformed, snarky, right-wing White House lap-dogs ahead.
Media Matters has nabbed Talon Reporter Jeff Gannon for plagiarizing White House press releases. If you watched Wednesday's press conference, you'll remember Gannon from his softball question to Mr. Bush:
...Yet, in the same breath, they say that Social Security is rock-solid and there's no crisis there. How are you going to work -- you said you're going to reach out to these people -- how are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?
Media Matters has a side-by-side comparison of passages from Gannon's reporting and their White House press release counterparts. This is a must read.
On his official website (major snark alert) he makes no defense what-so-ever of the fact that he, 1) has no mind of his own, and 2) steals entire passages from another source and passes them off as his own.
His slogan? "The White House Correspondent for TALON NEWS
delivers 'unfiltered' news". Try "verbatim" news.
08:18 PM | Comments (3) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Mind-numbing: Today in Iraq
This list of items directly from the AP is mind-numbing. E-mail this to the Bubble Boy here. If his advisors won't give him bad news, we will.
-Insurgents launched mortars at a military base near Iskandariyah, killing one Marine and wounding five.
-The al-Qaida affiliate led by Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi posted a videotape on the Internet showing the murder of a candidate from the party of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
-Three Iraqi civilians were killed when a car bomb exploded in Samarra.
-A roadside bomb missed a U.S. convoy in Mahmoudiya, but killed three Iraqis and injured seven others.
-A suicide car bomb in Baqouba killed an Iraqi soldier and injured five civilians and two Iraqi police officers.
-A roadside bomb targeting a U.S. convoy killed one Iraqi bystander near Tikrit.
There's more. A lot more.
-Insurgents attacked seven polling stations in Kirkuk with mortars and machine guns and opened fire on a police patrol, killing one policeman.
-Armed men blew up a school administration building after first ordering the staff to leave in Samarra. The building was scheduled to be a voting center.
-An Iraqi civilian was killed and another was injured in Samarra when fighting broke out between U.S. troops and armed men.
-Militants fired mortar shells at four schools designated as polling stations in the southern province of Basra.
-U.S. and Iraqi troops clashed with insurgents on Haifa street in Baghdad, witnesses reported.
-A suicide car bomber struck a U.S. military convoy near the northern city of Beiji, witnesses said. No casualties were reported.
-An Iraqi army soldier was killed and seven people were injured when a suicide car bomb exploded near an Iraqi patrol in Diyala province, U.S. officials said.
-In Ramadi, an Iraqi national guard soldier was killed when insurgents attacked a joint U.S.-Iraqi force guarding a voting center at a school, said police Lt. Safa al-Obeidi.
-The body of Talib Minshid, a colonel in the former Iraqi intelligence under Saddam Hussein, was found in Baqouba, two days after he was abducted by armed men.
-A U.S. solider died of a gunshot wound at a base near Tikrit, in what U.S. military command called an accident.
-Australian officials announced that eight Australian soldiers were injured by a car comb on Baghdad's airport road on Wednesday.
-A British soldier testified in court that three comrades accused of mistreating civilians had laughed and joked as they forced two Iraqi men to simulate sex acts.
07:03 PM | Comments (3) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Who's got the Kool-Aid?
Seymour Hersh, one of the few professional journalists who hasn't had a full-frontal lobotomy, was on The Daily Show the other night, and even Jon Stewart couldn't make Seymour laugh. Because Seymour has seen far too much. He's had the laughter wrung out of him.
He also spoke recently at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York, and, among other things, compared the Bush administration to a cult. Here are a few gems:
On the macro, we're hopeless. We're nowhere. The press is nowhere. The congress is nowhere. The military is nowhere. Every four-star General I know is saying, “Who is going to tell them we have no clothes?” Nobody is going to do it. Everybody is afraid to tell Rumsfeld anything. That's just the way it is. It's a system built on fear. It's not lack of integrity, it's more profound than that. Because there is individual integrity. It's a system that's completely been taken over -- by cultists.
He goes on, and you can read it all courtesy of Democracy Now!, or just continue reading below for some of the best quotes.
...the amazing thing is we are been taken over basically by a cult, eight or nine neo-conservatives have somehow grabbed the government. Just how and why and how they did it so efficiently, will have to wait for much later historians and better documentation than we have now, but they managed to overcome the bureaucracy and the Congress, and the press, with the greatest of ease. It does say something about how fragile our Democracy is. You do have to wonder what a Democracy is when it comes down to a few men in the Pentagon and a few men in the White House having their way.
Words mean nothing -- nothing to George Bush. They are just utterances. They have no meaning. Bush can say again and again, “well, we don't do torture.” We know what happened. We know about Abu Ghraib.
Hersh's reporting on Iraq has the ability to look at both the big picture and the small picture at once. And as he has made clear, both pictures are dreadful. Here's some more truth-telling from Mr. Hersh.
On the bogus, White House-created, media-adpoted term "insurgency":
Let's all forget this word “insurgency”. It's one of the most misleading words of all. Insurgency assumes that we had gone to Iraq and won the war and a group of disgruntled people began to operate against us and we then had to do counter-action against them. That would be an insurgency. We are fighting the people we started the war against.
On the wounded troops:
...you know about the terrible catastrophic injuries, but you don't know about the vegetables. There's ward after ward of vegetables because the brain injuries are so enormous.
On our economic situation in terms of the rest of the world:
Europe is not going to tolerate us much longer. The rage there is enormous. I'm talking about our old-fashioned allies. We could see something there, collective action against us. Certainly, nobody -- it's going to be an awful lot of dancing on our graves as the dollar goes bad and everybody stops buying our bonds, our credit -- our -- we're spending $2 billion a day to float the debt, and one of these days, the Japanese and the Russians, everybody is going to start buying oil in Euros instead of dollars. We're going to see enormous panic here.
History will not smile upon Bush, or the millions of dumbkoffs (note my use of German! It's purposeful and ironic!) who support him and who, like him, refuse to read, to learn, to empathisize, to SOLVE PROBLEMS.
02:38 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Your Retirement Future? Look to Chile!
The private pension system in Chile, the same program Bush hails as a model to emulate in his War on Social Security, is forcing retirees into poverty because... IT DOESN'T WORK!
From the NY Times:
Dagoberto Sáez, for example, is a 66-year-old laboratory technician here who plans, because of a recent heart attack, to retire in March. He earns just under $950 a month; his pension fund has told him that his nearly 24 years of contributions will finance a 20-year annuity paying only $315 a month.
Mr. Saez goes on to state:
I have a salary that allows me to live with dignity, and all of a sudden I am going to be plunged into poverty, all because I made the mistake of believing the promises they made to us back in 1981."
Might this be a common lament in America, fifteen years from now?
10:13 AM | Comments (2) | Posted By Jim Biederman
Why are the Cheneys smiling?
Dick and Lynne Cheney at the commemoration of 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Somehow, the brutality and death is worthy of a big, evil grin.
Via AmericaBlog.
09:51 AM | Comments (4) | Posted By Bob Cesca
January 26, 2005
Bush insults seniors, our intelligence
From today's press conference, via AmericaBlog.
Q I never got my billion --
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Because you're not a senior citizen yet. Acting like one, however. Go ahead. (Laughter.)
Q What is there about government that makes it hard --
THE PRESIDENT: Faulty memory. (Laughter.) Go ahead. (Laughter.)
Alzheimer's jokes are hilarious! Score!
Overall, Bush's performance was more petulant, arrogant, evasive, uninformed, and insulting than any Bush press conference I can recall. How can anyone have seen that 45 minute farce and come away feeling proud of this man? Partisanship, policy, and ideology aside, his demeanor wasn't that of "the common man", as his supporters use as an excuse.
He was Napoleon Dynamite with more smirking. And less charm.
03:39 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Judiciary GOP confirms Gonzales, torture
The Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed Alberto Gonzales in a 10-to-8 party-line vote today. Gonzales now moves to the Senate floor for a vote early next week. Here's the list of Republicans who think torture is praiseworthy:
Orrin G. Hatch, Charles E. Grassley, Arlen Specter, Jon Kyl, Mike DeWine, Jeff Sessions, Lindsey Graham, Larry Craig, Saxby Chambliss, and John Cornyn.
02:58 PM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Incompetence... victorious
85 to 13. Condoleezza Rice is confirmed as our new Secretary of State.
Senators Shumer, Clinton, and Obama: "yea".
12:09 PM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Some press conference flip-flopping
George W. Bush this morning:
I don't think foreign policy is an either/or proposition.
George W. Bush, September 20, 2001:
Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.
So in terms of war, "either/or" is fine. In terms of human rights in "friendly" nations like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, China, and Russia, it's not.
11:28 AM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
12 generals stand against Gonzales
The following letter appeared in "Stars & Stripes" yesterday:
Gonzales not right fit for GIs
As retired professional military leaders of the U.S. armed forces, we are deeply concerned about the nomination of Alberto R. Gonzales to be attorney general. We feel that his views concerning the role of the Geneva Conventions in U.S. detention and interrogation policy and practice have put soldiers in harm’s way.
During his tenure as White House counsel, Gonzales appears to have played a significant role in shaping U.S. detention and interrogation operations in Afghanistan; Iraq; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and elsewhere.
Today, it is clear that these operations have:
Fostered greater animosity toward the United States; Undermined our intelligence-gathering efforts; and Added to the risks facing our troops serving around the world. Before Gonzales assumes the position of attorney general, it is critical to understand whether he intends to adhere to the positions he adopted as White House counsel or chart a revised course more consistent with fulfilling our nation’s complex security interests — and maintaining a military that operates within the rule of law.
Among his past actions that concern us most, Gonzales wrote to the president on Jan. 25, 2002, advising him that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to the conflict then under way in Afghanistan. The reasoning Gonzales advanced in this memo was rejected by many military leaders at the time, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, who argued that abandoning the Geneva Conventions would put our soldiers at greater risk and would “reverse over a century of U.S. policy and practice in supporting the Geneva Conventions.”
Perhaps most troubling of all, the White House decision to depart from the Geneva Conventions in Afghanistan went hand in hand with the decision to relax the definition of torture and to alter interrogation doctrine accordingly. These changes in doctrine have led to uncertainty and confusion in the field, contributing to the abuses of detainees at Abu Ghraib [prison in Iraq] and elsewhere, and undermining the mission and morale of our troops.
The full extent of Gonzales’ role in endorsing or implementing the interrogation practices the world has now seen remains unclear. A series of memos prepared at his direction in 2002 recommended official authorization of harsh interrogation methods, including waterboarding, feigned suffocation and sleep deprivation.
The United States’ commitment to the Geneva Conventions — the laws of war — flows not only from field experience, but also from the moral principles on which this country was founded, and by which we all continue to be guided.
We urge senators to take into account the effects of Gonzales’ advice on U.S. detention and interrogation policy and practice.
Marine Brig. Gen. David M. Brahms (retired)
Carlsbad, Calif.
The letter also was signed by: Army Brig. Gen. James Cullen (retired), Army Brig. Gen. Evelyn P. Foote (retired), Army Lt. Gen. Robert Gard (retired), Navy Vice Adm. Lee F. Gunn (retired), Navy Rear Adm. Don Guter (retired), Marine Gen. Joseph Hoar (retired), Navy Rear Adm. John D. Hutson (retired), Army Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy (retired), Air Force Gen. Merrill McPeak (retired), Army Maj. Gen. Melvyn Montano (retired), Army Gen. John Shalikashvili (retired).
09:28 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Gonzales: 'cruel and unusual' a-okay
Within Gonzales's lengthy written response to Judiciary Committee questions, the attorney general designate said:
...the Convention Against Torture treaty, as ratified by the Senate, doesn't prohibit the use of "cruel, inhuman or degrading" tactics on non-U.S. citizens who are captured abroad, in Iraq or elsewhere.
Gonzales, White House counsel and a close Bush adviser, described recent reports of prisoner abuse as "shocking and deeply troubling." But he refused to answer questions from senators about whether interrogation tactics witnessed by FBI agents were unlawful.
Full story from the Mercury News.
On that note, dKos has started a blogger pledge to stand unified against the nomination of Gonzales. LINK. Clearly, Reality Based Nation stands in whole-hearted support of the pledge. Gonzales and the White House has embarassed America and ushered in a new era of insecurity, cruelty, and lawlessness. The pledge below the fold...
FROM DAILY KOS:
Unprecedented times call for unprecedented actions. In this case, we, the undersigned bloggers, have decided to speak as one and collectively author a document of opposition. We oppose the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to the position of Attorney General of the United States, and we urge every United States Senator to vote against him.
As the prime legal architect for the policy of torture adopted by the Bush Administration, Gonzales's advice led directly to the abandonment of longstanding federal laws, the Geneva Conventions, and the United States Constitution itself. Our country, in following Gonzales's legal opinions, has forsaken its commitment to human rights and the rule of law and shamed itself before the world with our conduct at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. The United States, a nation founded on respect for law and human rights, should not have as its Attorney General the architect of the law's undoing.
In January 2002, Gonzales advised the President that the United States Constitution does not apply to his actions as Commander in Chief, and thus the President could declare the Geneva Conventions inoperative. Gonzales's endorsement of the August 2002 Bybee/Yoo Memorandum approved a definition of torture so vague and evasive as to declare it nonexistent. Most shockingly, he has embraced the unacceptable view that the President has the power to ignore the Constitution, laws duly enacted by Congress and International treaties duly ratified by the United States. He has called the Geneva Conventions "quaint."
Legal opinions at the highest level have grave consequences. What were the consequences of Gonzales's actions? The policies for which Gonzales provided a cover of legality - views which he expressly reasserted in his Senate confirmation hearings - inexorably led to abuses that have undermined military discipline and the moral authority our nation once carried. His actions led directly to documented violations at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and widespread abusive conduct in locales around the world.
Michael Posner of Human Rights First observed: "After the horrific images from Abu Ghraib became public last year, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld insisted that the world should 'judge us by our actions [and] watch how a democracy deals with the wrongdoing and with scandal and the pain of acknowledging and correcting our own mistakes.'" We agree. It is because of this that we believe the only proper course of action is for the Senate to reject Alberto Gonzales's nomination for Attorney General. As Posner notes, "[t]he world is indeed watching." Will the Senate condone torture? Will the Senate condone the rejection of the rule of law?
With this nomination, we have arrived at a crossroads as a nation. Now is the time for all citizens of conscience to stand up and take responsibility for what the world saw, and, truly, much that we have not seen, at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. We oppose the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General of the United States, and we urge the Senate to reject him.
---
Reality Based Nation signs its support.
08:57 AM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
White House expects $427 billion deficit
The White House announced on Tuesday that the federal budget deficit was expected to rise this year to $427 billion, a figure that includes a new request from President Bush to help pay for the war in Iraq.
The White House's announcement makes it the fourth straight year in which the budget deficit was expected to grow; as recently as last July the administration had predicted that the deficit, which was $412 billion last year, would fall this year to $331 billion.
So much for cutting the deficit in half by 2010. However, remember that the White House has entertained the option of making it seem as if they've reduced the deficit when the actual numbers come in and they happen to be lower than the projections. In other words, if the actual deficit ends up being $327 billion they'll claim they reduced the deficit by $100 billion.
08:49 AM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
NRO reporter took White House pay
The Washington Post is reporting that National Review Online columnist Maggie Gallagher took $21,500 from the Bush administration to promote Mr. Bush's ridiculous marriage incentive plan in her column.
Did she disclose the relationship? Stupid question. She's a Bushie. Bushies don't disclose jack.
"Did I violate journalistic ethics by not disclosing it?" Gallagher said yesterday. "I don't know. You tell me."
You violated journalistic ethics and you broke the law along with your White House financiers. Full article.
And here's the NRO column she wrote (grab it before it's scrubbed).
Tip courtesy Lew Rockwell.
12:54 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Choose the form of the destructor!
We've been using the agitprop nickname "Stay-Puft" for both Jerry Falwell and Richard Land (Bush advisor and Christian fundamentalist). It's time to settle on one or the other. Vote for your choice via e-mail or in the comments.
Will it be:
"Stay-Puft" Richard Land... Or... "Stay-Puft" Jerry Falwell
Choose! Choose the form of the Christian conservative destructor of all things constitutional.
12:12 AM | Comments (4) | Posted By Bob Cesca
January 25, 2005
Sign Boxer's petition
Barbara Boxer is my new hero. She makes me proud to live in California, something I never thought I'd say. If you haven't done so already, click on the link here, and put your name on Boxer's petition to oppose the nomination of lying, war-mongering Condoleezza Rice to the crucial post of Secretary of State. Having Condi as your representative to the leaders of other nations is like signing Ken Lay up to redo the electricity in your house.
Boxer's got over 88,000 names already. Having 100K will make her point with even more strength. So spread the word to your whole progressive email list.
We like to say "Bush Lied, People Died." And it's true. But it's also true that "Condi Lied, People Died." Stop her.
07:22 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Newt and the Republicans hate marriage
Speaking of marriage protection, David Corn has the story about how Newt left his second wife after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. This was after he left his first wife while she was in the hospital dying of cancer.
Oh yeah, and Corn writes:
Newt, 57, secretly had been having an affair with congressional aide Callista Bisek, 34, whom he plans to marry next month in Alexandria, Va. That would make the blond-haired Bisek wife No. 3 for the onetime Republican revolutionary.
Here's the talking point, progressives: Republicans actually hate marriage. They hate marriage so much that they want to pass a constitutional amendment preventing an entire segment of the population from marrying. And... they often divorce their wives (Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich to name a couple), which decreases marriages.
Next time you encounter a Republican, ask him or her:
"Why do Republicans hate marriage so much?"
05:51 PM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Marriage amendment re-introduced
Senate Joint Resolution 1, also known as the 'Marriage Protection Amendment' or the 'Federal Marriage Amendment' , was re-introduced yesterday by sponsor Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO). Thomas hasn't posted the full text yet, but here's what it looked like last year:
Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.
And the anti-equality fascists who co-sponsored the bill:
Sen Alexander, Lamar [TN]
Sen Burr, Richard [NC]
Sen Cornyn, John [TX]
Sen Crapo, Michael D. [ID]
Sen DeMint, James W. [SC]
Sen Dole, Elizabeth H. [NC]
Sen Enzi, Michael B. [WY]
Sen Frist, Bill [TN]
Sen Hatch, Orrin G. [UT]
Sen Hutchison, Kay Bailey [TX]
Sen Inhofe, Jim [OK]
Sen Isakson, Johnny [GA]
Sen Kyl, Jon [AZ]
Sen Lott, Trent [MS]
Sen Martinez, Mel [FL]
Sen McConnell, Mitch [KY]
Sen Roberts, Pat [KS]
Sen Santorum, Rick [PA]
Sen Sessions, Jeff [AL]
Sen Talent, Jim [MO]
Sen Thune, John [SD]
Sen Vitter, David [LA]
Whenever possible, it's necessary to yank the pointy white hoods off the well-groomed heads of these people who seem obsessed with keeping gay Americans in steerage.
And now, Frog-Boy-Love proponent Rev. Dobson and his cohort the Stay-Puft Falwell are threatening the Bush administration to support the amendment or else they'll pull their support from the Social Secuity privatization scam. Full story.
05:28 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Troops to remain in Iraq through 2006
In Bushworld, we can only assume this really means "at least 2010".
The Army's current plan is to keep about 120,000 soldiers in Iraq through 2006, roughly the same number that are fighting there now, a senior operations officer said Monday.
More from the New York Times.
12:51 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Human Rights Watch: More Iraq torture
Human Rights Watch has learned that the new Iraqi police forces are routinely torturing Iraqi citizens -- and children. And the U.S. forces are "turning a blind eye". The Independent:
The report says US soldiers intervened at times to stop abuse by members of the Iraqi security forces and made arrests. But the soldiers' superiors usually told them not to interfere.
From the full Human Rights Watch report:
Methods of torture cited by detainees include routine beatings to the body using cables, hosepipes and other implements. Detainees report kicking, slapping and punching; prolonged suspension from the wrists with the hands tied behind the back; electric shocks to sensitive parts of the body, including the earlobes and genitals; and being kept blindfolded and/or handcuffed continuously for several days. In several cases, the detainees suffered what may be permanent physical disability.
So I'm trying to figure this out. What exactly does "liberate the Iraqi people" actually mean? If they were tortured under Saddam and they're tortured under us and the new government installed by us, how are the Iraqi people better off? Another pathetic Bush justification for war debunked.
09:27 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Will the embassy have a Starbucks?
As part of an additional $80 billion requested for Iraq, Mr. Bush has requested $1.5 billion for the U.S. embassy construction in Baghdad. Full story.
Just some perspective on $1.5 billion by way of Atrios... The projected price tag for the new World Trade Center "Liberty Towers" is $1.5 billion.
Now that there's this rad embassy going up, how's about an exit strategy?
08:54 AM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
January 24, 2005
Senate Tuesday: good news, bad news
GOOD NEWS. Tomorrow, the Senate will engage in nine hours of floor debate over the potential confirmation of Condoleezza Rice for Secretary of State. The leader of the Democratic opposition will be Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA). Fire up the CSPAN!
BAD NEWS. The other leader of the Democratic opposition will be Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV).
Arg. By putting Byrd front and center, the Senate Democrats have set themselves up for a tangential and distracting post-debate debate in which the issue won't be whether Condi is worthy of the post. Nope. The post-debate debate in the right-wing media will be watered down into a battle over Senator Byrd's former KKK status and thus how the Democrats are racists for attacking Condi.
You simply don't feed material like this to the Republicans. Especially material that allows them to make our side seem like the racists. The right-wing talkers have been griping about this for nearly a week -- it's not like the Senate Dems haven't had some fair warning.
Oy.
08:25 PM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
NBC's Brian Williams: Dittohead
Media Matters notes this from an interview with Williams on CSPAN's "Q&A":
WILLIAMS: I do listen to Rush. I listen to it from a radio in my office, or depending on my day, if I'm in the car, I will listen to Rush. And he will tell you I've been listening for years. I think it's my duty to listen to Rush. I think Rush has actually yet to get the credit he is due, because his audience for so many years felt they were in the wilderness of this country. No one was talking to them.... So I hope he gets his due as a broadcaster.
Had Williams said the same thing about, say, Tommy Chong, he'd be summarily fired, then flogged with a skull bong. Nevermind that Rush is a serial racist, misogynist, and liar. See Media Matters for a brief list of some of what Brian Williams is megadittoing.
08:00 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Summary: Dobson's erect cartoon frogs
Just a recap of the articles (so far) about the wood-sporting frogs on Rev. James Dobson's kiddie site, Ribbits.com. Again, if he's so worried about corrupting children with such terrible ideas as "tolerance", he should police his own kiddie site where he's corrupting children with erect cartoon frogs.
Erect frog on Dobson kiddie site
More erect frogs on Dobson kiddie site
Letter to Mullah Dobson
Another letter to frog-lover Dobson
Write to Dr. Dobson or simply dial 1-800-A-FAMILY and ask him why he's forcing children to look at frog boners.
05:07 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Zogby: 31 percent 'ashamed' of Bush
"Ashamed" has always been at the core of my feelings about Mr. Bush --the stomach-turning resentment that our generation will be partly associated with electing a patently unqualified and dangerous idiot whose legacy will have historic and far-reaching negative consequences.
The latest Zogby poll shows Bush's approval at 49% -- no bump from the inauguration and historically low for a second-termer. But now, 31% of registered voters have actually gone so far as to admit they're ashamed of Mr. Bush.
04:42 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Another letter to frog-lover Dobson
Promoted from the comments section, here's another brilliant letter to Rev. James Dobson regarding his love of anatomically correct amphibians. By commenter "Rev. Paul Gluck".
Dear Dr Dobson,
My wife and I are devout Christians, because of some personal tragedies I suffered as a young gymnast, I am unable to have children of my own.
My wife and I recently adopted two Latino children, Rosaria Maria Constantina age 4 (We call her Cindy) and Juan Alejandro Hector Pedro age 5, (we call him Peppi).
We recieved several of the Ribbits videos for gifts for the children. I must say that as a new parent I have been hyper sensative, as to what my children watch, I dont want to condemn their little hearts to hell.
When I read that your Ministry was behind the videos, I didnt even prescreen them. Boy did I regret that!
Have you watched this filth! Your name is on the boxes, but I cant believe you support this! Most of the frog characters are drawn with HUMAN sex characteristics! Male frogs, have "buldges" between their legs, and since the characters are NOT wearing pants, one can only assume that the "buldges" are exposed sex organs!
There's more -- a 'must read' (graphic image included)...
Several of the Female characters, especially "Rosita Anita Juanita Buggita Froggita" are drawn with large breasts that move and undulate as if the women were not wearing bras. I have noticed that the "young children" characters are drawn without clothes, while all of the Adult characters are drawn with clothes.
In my opinion this sends the wrong message to our kids, and it is almost "pornographic" the way all the adults in the stories consort with young undressed children. The characters do not have behaviors of the amphibians they are supposed to be. Your Amphibians, stand on two legs, have visible genetaila and subscribe to sterotypes like the "smart one", the "fat one", the "latin one" etc.
They are drawn enough like humans that small children can grasp the difference.
Yesterday, my boy Peppi, was stripped naked (except for a ball cap) in the back yard hopping around and "ribbiting". when my house cleaner pointed this out to their nanny, she asked Peppi, "What are you doing?"
Peppi replied, "I am being Tad Pole".
After I got the call, I promptly left the office and came home. After my wife had finished cleaning up dinner, we sat down together to watch the videos. I must say that there is a very obvious layer of adult eroticism, and I can not believe that this was intended for small children. I have recently heard of your criticisms towards "SpongeBob Square Pants" and honestly can say that I would rather have my children watch the Playboy channel (channel 595 on Direct TV) than watch your "ribbits", any day.
Stop Taking lessons from Hugh Heffner, Bob Guccione and Larry Flynt!
Concerned Parent and Christian Man
12:43 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
U.S. Environment: "We're number 45!"
The Environmental Sustainability Index, which ranks nations according to their environmental conditions, has been released and the news for the U.S. is pathetic. The New York Times:
Finland, Norway and Uruguay held the top three spots in the ranking, prepared by researchers at Yale and Columbia Universities. The United States ranked 45th of the 146 countries studied, behind such countries as Japan, Botswana and the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, and most of Western Europe.
When Bush took office in 2001, we were ranked 11. This stands repeating... When Bush took office in 2001, we were ranked 11. (See 2001 numbers)
How are the rankings compiled?
The report is based on 75 measures, including the rate at which children die from respiratory diseases, fertility rates, water quality, overfishing, emission of heat-trapping gases and the export of sodium dioxide, a crucial component of acid rain.
As progressives, this should be our first priority. In all polling, the environment is ranked amongst the most supported issue areas. What are we afraid of? Even the experts hired by Bush (Whitman, Pachauri) agree. If we're afraid to take on this very basic human and planetary crisis then we should just quit and go home.
The position... There won't be Social Security if children are dying from asthma and disease. There won't be freedom around the world and democracy in Iraq if the air and water kills millions. There can't be a "War on Terror" if we allow the "terrorism of neglect" to destroy our planet. There won't be an America when the might of a crumbling planet crashes down upon us all.
10:58 AM | Comments (0) | Posted By Bob Cesca
January 23, 2005
Global warming at point of no return
Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said to a delegation of Small Island Developing States:
"Climate change is for real. We have just a small window of opportunity and it is closing rather rapidly. There is not a moment to lose."
The twist? Mr. Bush lobbied for the appointment of Dr. Pachauri in 2001 after Exxon petitioned the White House for a new chairman. But after Dr. Pachauri's comments, the Independent reports:
His comments rocked the Bush administration - which immediately tried to slap him down - not least because it put him in his post after Exxon, the major oil company most opposed to international action on global warming, complained that his predecessor was too "aggressive" on the issue.
The most staggering paragraph from the article... (MORE)
Afterwards he told The Independent on Sunday that widespread dying of coral reefs, and rapid melting of ice in the Arctic, had driven him to the conclusion that the danger point the IPCC had been set up to avoid had already been reached.
And... wait... It gets worse:
He also cited alarming measurements, first reported in The Independent on Sunday, showing that levels of carbon dioxide (the main cause of global warming) have leapt abruptly over the past two years, suggesting that climate change may be accelerating out of control.
This is an expert lobbied for by the Bush White House in order to appease Exxon. Far from what El Rushbo would call "an environmentalist wacko".
We're so damn screwed.
07:00 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
The mission will NEVER be accomplished
We have been losing the Iraq War since we began it. And this is not just my opinion. This is a statistical fact, based on an analysis of the numbers, done by by Tom Lasseter and Jonathan S. Landay of Knight Ridder Newspapers. They crunched hard numbers, and Messrs. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Limbaugh, Hannity, et al: numbers don't lie. Here are the numbers on American deaths:
U.S. military fatalities from hostile acts have risen from an average of about 17 per month just after President Bush declared an end to major combat operations on May 1, 2003, to an average of 82 per month.
The average number of wounded Americans has gone from 142 per month when Bush zipped up his flight suit for his photo op to 808 a month currently.
808 wounded troops per month. 82 troops dead per month.
Not one of those troops is the child of a member of the cabinet, the child of a member of Congress. Not one of them matters a damn bit to Bush. He won't visit them in the hospital or attend their funerals. But they are maimed or dead.
And for what? Not the Iraqi people: over 100,000 of them are dead. Not WMDs: they don't exist. Not "freedom": freedom does not agree with these numbers. Perhaps these thousands of people have been killed or wounded all for the profit of companies like Haliburton. But even there, things are not as good as they once were. Oil production is down half-a-million barrels from pre-war peak of 2.5 million per day.
Numbers don't lie. This is worse than Vietnam. Far, far worse.
06:51 PM | Comments (0) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Does Bush shoot blue lightning...
...from his fingers?
I know the physical resemblence to Bush is only passing, but the ideological similarities are undeniable.
Check out this bit of astute analysis of our nation's current imperial situation:
No banquet under the sun will last forever. After the firework fades away Washington is still under a dark sky. The sole superpower sends a sense of inauspiciousness to the world when it's president is inaugurated under wartime security standards: America, where are you heading?
This is from China's "People's Daily" paper. Time, Newsweek, and the rest of the American media can pretend that Bush means "freedom" when he says "freedom." But the world media -- from Canada to Ireland to Kenya to England -- knows "freedom" really means "occupation" and "dictation." The Christian Science monitor has the world media's in greater detail here.
Our empire too shall pass. How many thousands of humans will lose their lives in the process? How many civil rights will be ravaged, species made extinct, environments despoiled?
Impeach the Emperor.
06:07 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By John Christian Plummer
Johnny Carson 1925-2005
The fun he would've had with the current group in Washington.
02:04 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Letter to Mullah Dobson
Promoted from the comments section, written by JoAnn Krieger:
Here's the letter I sent to The Dr. Dobson:
My son, Joshua, was on Ribbits for the first time yesterday.I logged him myself and even bookmarked it even thinking that we'd continue to go back to it often. I went to make lunch, and shortly therefter he came running up to me.
He seemed upset and confused and he asked me to go with him to the computer.
"Why dear, what's the matter?" I quized. I couldn't imagine what would have put him in such a dither.
"The purple frog on Ribbits has a stick pee pee," he practically shouted. What could he possibly be talking about, I wondered?
So we went the monitor and he put his little finger on the "stick". I gasped... There, sure enough... that huge purple frog had an... er**tion.
I could not believe what I saw. What could I say to him, I thought? He's only 4 years old... a child. I could not, would not, explain to him what were both looking at. He's just not ready for this information.
I immediately suggested that we turn off the computer and that he "read" his Noah's ark book instead. When my husband came back from the hardware store, we went into the office and closed (and locked) the door, so the Joshua couldn't come in.
Together we stood there in complete shock. But getting to the point here, who in your computer art department would do such a thing? Please, either pull that page or change the picture of that purple frog. My son continues to press me on going back to the site again. I won't even sign him on for fear that he'll want me to go back to your site again. (Curiosity, you know?)
What could your people be thinking? I'll monitor it (the site) daily (alone) during the next few weeks to be sure that it's "cleaned up". Otherwise, I'll just take it off the bookmark totally.
Perfection. Thanks, JoAnn.
01:51 PM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Bush: Tolerance (except for gay couples)
Clearly, the full text of Mr. Bush's address should include an asterix next to the word "tolerance".
George W. Bush's inaugural address:
In America's ideal of freedom, the public interest depends on private character - on integrity, and tolerance toward others, and the rule of conscience in our own lives.
Focus on the Family on the "We Are Family" video:
While some of the goals associated with this organization are noble in nature, their inclusion of the reference to "sexual identity" within their "tolerance pledge" is not only unnecessary, but it crosses a moral line.
Bush and his social policy advisor, Mullah Dobson, have their own definition of the word which doesn't match the traditional meaning.
tol·er·ance n. The capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others.
11:13 AM | Comments (1) | Posted By Bob Cesca
Rasmussen: Bush approval at 44%
And believe it or not, that's up one point from yesterday when his approval rating was at 43%. Full report.
Can a president make radical, expensive, and unpopular reforms in domestic and foreign policy while sporting the lowest approval numbers of any incumbent president since the advent of polling?
Another thought... What "event" will the Bush Regime trump up in order to bolster those numbers?
09:31 AM | Comments (2) | Posted By Bob Cesca
