Giant Chocolate Jesus more than Catholics can tolerate

After strong protests from Catholic groups and other religious conservatives, a Manhatten art gallery has dropped its showing of a large chocolate sculpture of Jesus on the cross. The gallery's artistic director has tendered his resignation to protest the cancellation.

Artist Cosimo Cavallaro's sculpture, My Sweet Lord, was to be exhibited next week in a street-level window of the Roger Smith Lab Gallery in Midtown Manhattan.

The 300,000-strong Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights had written to hundred of religious and secular organisations calling for a boycott of the connected Roger Smith Hotel.

Intolerant people are jumping up and down with joy. Fans of Chocolate Jesus are playing Tom Waits:

Dont go to church on sunday
Dont get on my knees to pray
Dont memorize the books of the bible
I got my own special way
Bit I know jesus loves me
Maybe just a little bit more

I fall on my knees every sunday
At zerelda lees candy store

Well its got to be a chocolate jesus
Make me feel good inside
Got to be a chocolate jesus
Keep me satisfied

Well I dont want no anna zabba
Dont want no almond joy
There aint nothing better
Suitable for this boy
Well its the only thing
That can pick me up
Better than a cup of gold
See only a chocolate jesus
Can satisfy my soul

(solo)
When the weather gets rough
And its whiskey in the shade
Its best to wrap your savior
Up in cellophane
He flows like the big muddy
But thats ok
Pour him over ice cream
For a nice parfait

Well its got to be a chocolate jesus
Good enough for me
Got to be a chocolate jesus
Good enough for me

Well its got to be a chocolate jesus
Make me feel good inside
Got to be a chocolate jesus
Keep me satisfied

ADDED: I AM CHOCOLATE JESUS!

Gary Permalink on 3/31/2007

Danny Bonaduce: 'Execute Rosie For Questioning the Government'

Link from Sparkmeter.
Gary Permalink on 3/31/2007

Bush has taken up reading

Bush has a lot of time on his hands when he is not being the decider and Rove and Cheney have been recommending him books. Bad, self-glorifying books. Jacob Weisberg finds that the latest, a history by Andrew Roberts, has probably a mistake on every page as well as an odd slant celebrating America assuming "the white man's burden" from the British Empire.

Link from Froomkin.

Gary Permalink on 3/30/2007

BREAKING: Drudge links to Politico 45 times during its two-month existence

THAT explains a lot. Politico=Drudge Report with DC media guys. There is a metric that most of Politico's traffic comes via links from Drudge.

Gary Permalink on 3/29/2007

The occupation news today

Iraqi Policemen went on a rampage and massacre in the town Bush hailed as proof we are winning the war. Saudi Arabia is becoming more furious at Bush and Cheney for giving Iraq to Shiite fundamentalist radicals. Iran offers to give British sailors back when Blair apologizes. Map the UK used to show they their soldiers were in Iraqi waters not internationally recognized, shows ship closer to Iran than Iraq.

My latest musings, will Iran become Bush's Cambodia? Think about it.

Gary Permalink on 3/29/2007

What We Call The News by JibJab

More a reflection of popular discontent with the news media than funny. Glenn Greenwald has been on a tear on the sucky so-called-liberal-news mass media. His latest is David Brook's I love Big Brother admission in the NYT. Jon Stewart's The Daily SHow is often about the sucky media.

Gary Permalink on 3/29/2007

Democrats Oppose Socialized Medicine - Liberal Values

Most people have this as one of their number one issues. So why when the Democratic presidential candidates have a debate on this did everyone yawn? Because with few exceptions, Bill Clinton is a famous policy wonk, people don't care about policy details.

Liberal Values gives the perception from a doctor who has to deal with the current system and looks at the changes that the candidates proposals would make. He likes most Democratic plans. Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama plans fare the worse in his opinion. Hillary because she has a bad plan, complicated, regimented and with a big role for HMOs. Obama because he has no plan. In the comments is an interesting debate from medical professionals - a rich Republican denouncing Edwards for making millions off of their friends' mistakes which killed and maimed people.

Gary Permalink on 3/29/2007

Gulf allies say they won't allow U.S. attack on Iran from their territories

IHT:

The U.S. military on Wednesday wrapped up a massive air-and-sea exercise meant as a public warning to Iran, as a skittish American ally — the United Arab Emirates — joined a list of Gulf countries declaring they would take no part in any attack on Iran.

The U.S. has denied any intention to attack Iran. But the public refusals of several countries to allow the United States to use their lands if any such action looms could affect U.S. military options, or require shifting of resources, if tensions did seriously escalate.

The United States has close to 40,000 troops in the Gulf, including 25,000 in Kuwait, 3,000 in Bahrain, 1,300 in the United Arab Emirates and a few hundred in Oman and Saudi Arabia, according to figures from the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center.

Qatar — home to 6,500 U.S. troops and the enormous al-Udeid air base, headquarters of all American air operations in the Middle East — has already said it would not permit an attack on Iran from its soil.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, a loose alliance of six Gulf Arab states, has also called on its members not to offer support to any U.S. action against Iran.

Op-Ed News:

there are reports in the European press that American forces are massing along the Iraq border with Iran, even as the U.S. is conducting war games in the Gulf simulating an attack on Iran. There have also been reports for some time that US special forces have been operating in Iran, gathering intelligence and establishing coordinates on likely bombing targets, and perhaps linking with anti-government groups inside Iran that have been conducting terror attacks there. More recently there have been reports that the Bush administration has been using misappropriated Iraq reconstruction funds to finance Kurdish and Al Qaeda group attacks inside Iran.

Back in the U.S., the Bush administration succeeded in getting Congress to back off of attempts to include legislation barring the White House from attacking Iran without prior Congressional approval. Bush has already claimed that Iran is a terrorist nation and that he thus has the authority to attack that country at will because of the 2001 Congressional Authorization for Use of Military Force which was actually an authorization for the US attack on the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

It all would seem to point to the real possibility of an attack on Iran—a move that would be a war crime, that would be a disaster for the U.S., that would spark a global recession, and that would inflame the entire Middle East for years to come.

Do the oil traders know something that we in America should be knowing?

And why aren’t Congress and the US media discussing all this?

Gary Permalink on 3/28/2007

Losing Afghanistan

Gary Permalink on 3/28/2007

Buchanan thinks Bush, GOP setting up Democrats for anti-war hit

The game of Iraqi funding chicken is beginning. Bush will veto spending for troops with strings attached and the GOP hopes the Democrats will splinter on the next bill with no strings. Except will there be a bill with no strings? Will the GOP say no for money for troops if that is only what the Democrats offer?

Gary Permalink on 3/28/2007

A Glimpse Into Government Is Cause For Concern

Libertarian Reason Magazine takes potshots at Democrats for only being concerned over the overly partisan nature of the Justice Department, not the misplaced priorities revealed in emails. BTW, anytime Reason looks at government they think it is cause for concern.

Link from Jim.

Gary Permalink on 3/28/2007

Several Reports from Russia that an April attack by US forces against Iran planned

This one is in English and has the most details. April 6 is the suggested date. Some wild unsubstantiated claims in the article but is confirming other sources pointing to the same time frame.

The long awaited US military attack on Iran is now on track for the first week of April, specifically for 4 am on April 6, the Good Friday opening of Easter weekend, writes the well-known Russian journalist Andrei Uglanov in the Moscow weekly “Argumenty Nedeli.” Uglanov cites Russian military experts close to the Russian General Staff for his account.

The attack is slated to last for 12 hours, according to Uglanov, from 4 am until 4 pm local time. Friday is the sabbath in Iran. In the course of the attack, code named Operation Bite, about 20 targets are marked for bombing; the list includes uranium enrichment facilities, research centers, and laboratories.

The first reactor at the Bushehr nuclear plant, where Russian engineers are working, is supposed to be spared from destruction. The US attack plan reportedly calls for the Iranian air defense system to be degraded, for numerous Iranian warships to be sunk in the Persian Gulf, and for the most important headquarters of the Iranian armed forces to be wiped out....

Gary Permalink on 3/28/2007

Senate Backs a Pullout Date in Iraq War Bill 50-48 - NYT

Republicans decided not to waste time on slow down maneuvers like a filibuster but have a straight vote. They lost 50 to 48. This sets up the later game of chicken with the president. If Democrats insist on beginning to withdraw from Iraq as a condition for more money who will blink? If an impasse occurs in Washington what happens when the funds run out?

One Democratic Senator voted against this - Mark Pryor of Arkansas. Republicans Hagel and Smith also voted to begin withdrawal.

The measure would require our troops start leaving in 120 days but not lay down a specific timetable for the withdrawal, using March 31, 2008 as a non binding date.

Gary Permalink on 3/28/2007

Drudge and Politico -- which presented admittedly "trivial" inconsistencies -- coordinating attacks on Democrats?

Update - Greenwald covers this quite well.

Gary Permalink on 3/27/2007

Greenwald has a major indictment of America's Media Elite

Why they are so wrong and so helpful to the Bush administration and to Republicans with a short video example. The media is not liberal, they are power toadies used to GOP power. Anyone who wants to claim liberal media bias first has to refute this indictment.

Gary Permalink on 3/27/2007

The New Civil Rights - Gay Equality Riders

Gay Christians are visiting Christian campuses across the country to teach tolerance. Some aren't very tolerant of them. They have been arrested at Baylor University in Texas as well as on a Mississippi College campus. They can make side trips to show the love and get arrested as well.

Twelve members of the Soulforce Equality Ride were arrested Monday after staging a sit-in at the office of Albert Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, to protest his suggestion that a biological basis for homosexuality may be proven, and that prenatal treatment to reverse gay orientation would be biblically justified.

ADDED - Seems there were a few other arrests in other states I missed. Oklahoma, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Utah.

On the westbound bus, riders were arrested at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Ind., and Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee before the bus headed west toward Provo, Utah, where Brigham Young University is located. The riders stopped in Salt Lake City a few days prior to their visit to prepare for the March 21-22 events.

For eight of this year’s riders the event is something of a homecoming because they are former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and former BYU students. Matthew Kulisch, 24, and his former BYU roommates Kourt Osbourn, 21, and Emil Pohlig, 25, were students last spring when the Equality Riders came to their school. All three are also gay and out to each other and family members. Kulisch and his friends participated in a SoulForce memorial service, which they dubbed a “die-in,” at the university to remember gay Mormons on and off campus who committed suicide.

Although the school sent out e-mails about SoulForce asking students to treat the riders with respect, five people, including Kulisch, were arrested for trespassing because the university called the service an unlawful public demonstration.

Gary Permalink on 3/26/2007

New Translation Prompts Debate on Islamic Verse

Does the Koran instruct husbands to beat their wives? It depends on the meaning of a word.

Gary Permalink on 3/26/2007

Texas Sen. Hutchinson calls for impeachment

In a closed door meeting, Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson called for impeachment and conviction even if there was not an indictable crime. She was just eight years early.

"I do not hold to the view of our Constitution that there must be an actual, indictable crime in order for an act of a public officer to be impeachable. It is clear to this Senator that there are, indeed, circumstances, short of a felony criminal offense that would justify the removal of a public officer from office, including the President of the United States. Manifest injury to the Office of the President, to our Nation, and to the American people, and gross abuses of trust and of public office clearly can reach the level of intensity that would justify the impeachment and removal of a leader."

Gary Permalink on 3/26/2007

Pasadena City Charter and Bored with Texas Politics

Lately I have been incredibly bored and depressed about Texas politics. Good thing Grits for Breakfast is keeping up with legal and judicial stuff. Texas Lefty Feed gives me enough info on Texas politics to decide I don't want to know any more. Don't get me started on Dan Patrick - baby buyer.

The only thing I have kept up with a little is Pasadena City Charter election. Pat Van Houte has done a Pro and Con list on each of this year's charter amendments. I helped her with the formatting which is why some of it is messed up. (Damn you paragraph tabbing controls.) She should send it off to the Pasadena Citizen as a letter to the Editor.

She wants to print off more than a thousand copies if she could get someone to fund it. So far the only people who are interested in that are those who want it to say vote YES on everything or vote NO on everything. The only amendment I am 100% in favor of is raising the City Council pay. Keeping the mayor but adding a very well paid City Manager is not necessarily a step in the right direction. There actually seems less power for Pasadena citizens in the amendments, not more, which is going in the wrong direction. There is a group opposed to the Charter revisions.

I told you this much I might as well import the whole thing.

Proposed Charter Changes

The Home Rule Charter is a set of laws that defines how the city is run. The charter can only be changed with voter approval. The charter was voted into existence in 1964, and has been changed in 1975 and 1992. This May, in addition to the city council election, there will be nine proposed charter changes on the ballot. You the voters decide which of these changes you want in Pasadena.

Proposition 1: To change from the strong mayor/council form of government to city manager/council.

For: The city manager would be trained for this type work, and have experience.
Having a city manager should cut down on politics affecting city employees. They would not have to fear being fired whenever there is an election.
If there are problems, council can terminate the city manager, rather than having to wait for the next election to get someone else.

Against: A good city manager for a city the size of Pasadena would cost more than we pay the mayor. Also, if the city manager is terminated, the city might be obligated to pay out the rest of his contract.
Voters would not be choosing the person who administers the city government.
As this proposition is written, council members would not be allowed much contact with other city employees, which would hinder their effectiveness.

Either system can be good or bad, depending on the person in the position.

Proposition 2: To allow the CEO (mayor or city manager, depending on the results of proposition 1) to choose the city attorney. Currently the charter does not specify who selects the city attorney. This would allow the CEO to select the city attorney, subject to council approval. The city attorney could only be removed by city council. The city attorney would hire and fire all other employees of the legal department.

For: This would keep control of the city attorney under council, regardless whether we have a strong mayor or a city manager. Control of the rest of the legal department would be under the city attorney, rather than under the mayor or city manager.

Against: If it has been working the way it is, why change it?

Proposition 3: To raise city council salary from $300/month to $600/month.

For: There is a lot of time involved in reading agenda items, going to various meetings, and helping constituents.
Council members are currently getting less than minimum wage for their time.

Against: It would cost the city $28,800 more each year.
Some cities don’t pay council anything; it is considered an honor to serve.

Proposition 4: To change to 3-year terms for mayor and council. Terms would be overlapping, with four districts elected one year, the other four districts and the mayor elected the next year, and one year with no election.

For: This would provide continuity of government, because there would never be all new people. There would always be some experienced people remaining, in the positions not up for election that year.
A 3-year term would allow more time to do things before starting to run for election again.

Against: There would be more confusion about who votes when. Some districts would vote once every three years, and some twice in three years. In districts where the council election is not the same year as the mayor, if the councilmember runs for mayor and wins, the city would then have to have a special election to replace that council member. Both of these things would cost more.
The districts where the council seat is up for election the same year as the mayor might have a higher turnout, and therefore more weight in electing the mayor.

Proposition 5: To change term limits to nine years total as a councilmember and nine years as mayor. This would be a permanent limit; after reaching this the person could not sit out a term and run again.

For: This would avoid having the same people keep coming back in office. New people would bring new ideas.
It can be difficult to beat someone who has experience and name recognition. It may be more expensive to run against such a person.

Against: A district that is happy with a particular councilmember would not be allowed to keep that person in office.
A person who wants to continue to serve the city in this way would not be allowed to do so.

Proposition 6: To change the procedure for a city employee to appeal, if terminated. Also switches an appeal by a finance department employee from council to the Appeals Board. Both the time period in which to file an appeal and the amount of notice of the date of the hearing would be shortened.

For: The decision of the Appeals Board would be final. Eliminating council approval shortens the process.
Council would not be “second guessing” the Appeals Board.

Against: A department head or an employee who has been with the city less than one year could not appeal.
City council would have no control over terminations.

Proposition 7: To clarify the city’s powers. This adds the power and authority for the city to act for beautification, economic well being, trade, and commerce. It eliminates references to obsolete laws.

For: The expanded definition of city powers could reduce the likelihood of legal action.

Against: This makes it easier for the city to take property by eminent domain, and increases the number of reasons for which property could be taken.

Proposition 8: Regarding city financial audits. This eliminates quarterly uncertified audits, and retains annual certified audits. A CPA would be chosen through a city council request for proposals, rather than being appointed by the mayor.

For: Having audits less frequently would cost less.

Against: With audits done less frequently, if there is a problem, it could take longer before it is discovered.

Proposition 9: Ethics. This requires city council to adopt an ethics ordinance, review it each year, and enforce it.

For: This will provide standards for ethical behavior for officials and employees of the city.

Against: The charter already requires following state law. This does not add details specifying what will be covered by the ordinance or how it will be enforced.


Because this will be a joint election, run by Harris County, it will not be using the same locations normally used for a city election. The location will be determined by your precinct, with most precincts in a district combined. If you do not know where you will be voting, call Harris County at (713)755-5792.

Gary Permalink on 3/26/2007

History Lesson - Jon Stewart Exposes John Bolton (video)

Gary Permalink on 3/26/2007

National Review Predicts War With Iran Soon

Whatever happens in the Council next, the next chapter in this story will play out on the waters of the Persian Gulf. Events in the Gulf so far this week:

• French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle joins American battle-groups for exercises in the Arabian Sea.
  
  
• Ali Khamenei hints that Iran will abandon the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.
  
  
• Iranian navy conducts live-fire exercises in close proximity to American naval forces patrolling the Gulf.
  
  
• Iranian Revolutionary Guards seize fifteen British sailors supposedly on patrol in Iraqi waters, but nearby British warship does not interdict the RG raid, suggesting strongly that the Brits were not in Iraqi waters.

Link from Greenwald. National Review's blog is closely following Iranian stories and throws out an April 9th date, but they expect something by Iran.

Gary Permalink on 3/26/2007

GSA Officials Video-Conferenced about how to Elect more Republicans

This would be a violation of the Hatch Act and the GOP head of the General Services Administration is alternating between refusing to answer questions, saying it is a witch hunt and lying about it.

Republicans hate government so they don't know what is acceptable and what isn't, how to govern and how not to.

Gary Permalink on 3/26/2007

I Am An FDR Democrat

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the Nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens. For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world. - FDR State of the Union 1944

John Edwards might be closest to consistently articulating that vision today. A discussion of this vision was on Daily Kos.

Gary Permalink on 3/26/2007

Hillary in 5th Place Among DFA Democrats

I doubt that any media or blog with thousands of readers will cover this so I will. Democracy for America, the grassroots Democratic organization for supporting fiscally responsible and socially progressive candidates, had a presidential preference poll: Poll results:

Barack Obama 28.1%
John Edwards 24.6%
Other 12.4%
Dennis Kucinich 10.3%
Hillary Clinton 8.7%
Bill Richardson 7.6%
Undecided 4.9%
Joseph Biden 1.9%
Christopher Dodd 0.5%
Mike Gravel 0.3%

Most of the Other was for Howard Dean and Al Gore. Even DFA buried Hillary Clinton's performance on the second page and eight paragraphs down in their announcement of the results. Grassroots Democrats don't trust her. She is the candidate of business Republicans and Democrats and DC insiders and moderate Democratic office-holders. Like Lieberman was in 2004 she will be the "emergency Republican" candidate for 2008.

Gary Permalink on 3/26/2007

The Iraq Bill I would like
Sam Farr's H.R. 413:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. REPEAL OF PUBLIC LAW 107-243.

The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note) is hereby repealed.

SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM IRAQ.

The President of the United States shall provide for the withdrawal of units and members of the United States Armed Forces deployed in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom in a safe and orderly manner.

That's entirely it. Short and sweet. Our soldiers out of Iraq.

Digby writes about the bills and politics that got us out of Vietnam and how Congress must follow that plan.

Gary Permalink on 3/26/2007

A serious question

This was asked on the Thom Hartmann show and CrooksandLiars picked it up.

Given Rush Limbaugh's callous dismissal of Elizabeth Edwards's announcement that her cancer had recurred; Bill O'Reilly's incredibly patronizing timeout of Lis Wiehl for giving the correct information; Tucker Carlson describing Hillary Clinton as "castrating", Glenn Beck referring to Rosie O'Donnell as a "fat witch", not to mention the Republican platform of removing choice for women and then castigating "Welfare Queens," what on earth could make any woman want to be a Republican? What do the Malkins, Coulters and O'Beirnes get out of being part of a party that has so little respect for women and make subjugating them part of their platform?

Gary Permalink on 3/26/2007

Sock-Puppet to Me from dead trees walking

Gary Permalink on 3/25/2007

DoJ and Tom DeLay and Others - Still Corrupt

In addition to the very partisan Republican attorneys that were just installed at the Department of Justice, there are some holdovers including one that may be shielding Tom DeLay.

Alice Fisher, a partisan Republican with no law experience, was promoted to Chief of the Public Integrity Unit of the U.S. Justice Department. Since Fisher’s appointment, the federal investigation into Tom DeLay’s improper activities with Jack Abramoff and other convicted felons has stalled. Meanwhile, DeLay appears as though he is not worried about new federal charges and is working to reclaim the conservative spotlight. Lone Star Project shows Fisher's ties to the Bush-Cheney Federalist branch of the GOP and a number of cases where further indictments were expected but have gone quiet. Lone Star Project also has a number of reports on recent activities not serving the people of Texas by Governor Perry and State Attorney Greg Abbott.

Over in People's Republic territory they are enjoying Tom DeLay's pitiful bleatings a bit too much. Only radical conservatives are still supporting Tom DeLay. When he was just appointed to the American Conservative Union board four very conservative mebers resigned.

Susan of kiss my blue butt fame is more optimistic about the DoJ and spots two signs that more indictments may be coming. She also first directed me to Lone Star Project after I have been avoiding Texas politics as too depressing. At least there are fights going on in the DC.

Coby spots an incredible story of the other worthless evil lying scumbag Bob Perry abusing the elderly and ignoring the homebuilder arbitration commission he set up and stacked the deck in his favor with and going to the friends he has on the Supreme Court to avoid judgement on his actions. Will Perry's almost $350,000 he has funneled to the Supreme Court Justices in the last election save him the over one million dollars he owes an elderly couple for their shoddy home?

Tom DeLay and Bob Perry make me long for the days of old-fashioned tar-and-feathering.


Gary Permalink on 3/25/2007

Viacom Sues YouTube - Daily Show

link from Boing Boing.

Colbert Report on the USAToday gay agenda.

Colbert says Impeach Bush now or Democrats are a bunch of wimps.

Stephen Colbert challenges the Democrats to impeach Bush now. He's just been taunting you all these years with the outing of Valerie Plame, WMD lies, Katrina tragedy, wiretapping, attorney firings, etc. etc. etc...

Gary Permalink on 3/24/2007

Phil de Vellis, aka ParkRidge47: I Made the "Vote Different" Ad

Hi. I'm Phil. I did it. And I'm proud of it.

I made the "Vote Different" ad because I wanted to express my feelings about the Democratic primary, and because I wanted to show that an individual citizen can affect the process. There are thousands of other people who could have made this ad, and I guarantee that more ads like it--by people of all political persuasions--will follow.

This shows that the future of American politics rests in the hands of ordinary citizens....

I've resigned from my employer, Blue State Digital, an internet company that provides technology to several presidential campaigns, including Richardson's, Vilsack's, and -- full disclosure -- Obama's. The company had no idea that I'd created the ad, and neither did any of our clients. But I've decided to resign anyway so as not to harm them, even by implication.

Gary Permalink on 3/24/2007

Robert Fisk: The crushing fear that stalks America

If "we" left Iraq, she said in a quavering voice, the jihadists, the "terrorists", could come here to America. They would attack us right here.

I sighed with frustration. I was listening to her voice but it was also the voice of the woman on Fox TV, the repeated, hopeless fantasy of Bush and Blair: that if we fail in Iraq, "they", the monstrous enemy, will arrive on our shores. Every day in the American papers now, I read the same "fear" transformed into irrationality. Luke Boggs - God, how I'd love that byline - announces in his local paper: "I say let the terrorists rot in Guantanamo. And let the Europeans ... howl. We are a serious nation, engaged in the serious business of trying to kill or capture the bad guys before they can do us more harm." He calls Guantanamo's inmates "hardcore jihadists".

And I realise that the girl in Dr Noll's seminar isn't spouting this stuff about "jihadists" travelling from Iraq to America because she supports Bush. She is just frightened. She is genuinely afraid of all the "terror" warnings, the supposed "jihadists" threats, the red "terror" alerts and the purple alerts and all the other colour-coded instruments of fear. She believes her president, and her president has done Osama bin Laden's job for him: he has crushed this young woman's spirit and courage.

But America is not at war. There are no electricity cuts on Valdosta's warm green campus, with its Spanish style department blocks and its narrow, beautiful church. There is no food rationing. There are no air-raid shelters or bombs or "jihadists" stalking these God-fearing folk. It is the US military that is at war, engaged in an Iraqi conflict that is doing damage of a far more subtle kind to America's social fabric.

Terrorized by 'War on Terror'
How a Three-Word Mantra Has Undermined America
By Zbigniew Brzezinski

The "war on terror" has created a culture of fear in America. The Bush administration's elevation of these three words into a national mantra since the horrific events of 9/11 has had a pernicious impact on American democracy, on America's psyche and on U.S. standing in the world. Using this phrase has actually undermined our ability to effectively confront the real challenges we face from fanatics who may use terrorism against us.

Gary Permalink on 3/24/2007

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be pundits ...

I'm with Eric on this, Joe Klein is a lying hypocrite. Michael Kinsley, another stupid hypocrite, has been brought on board Time to replace him when he goes down. Anne Marie is surely wondering if her experience with assholes is why she was brought into Time's Swampland. This has been the latest edition of pundit cat fights.

Gary Permalink on 3/24/2007

The Authoritarians - free ebook

All about the Authoritarian Fascists ruining our country. The opposite of authoritarianism is liberalism and some varieties of libertarianism.

Authoritarianism is something authoritarian followers and authoritarian leaders cook up between themselves. It happens when the followers submit too much to the leaders, trust them too much, and give them too much leeway to do whatever they want--which often is something undemocratic, tyrannical and brutal. In my day, authoritarian fascist and authoritarian communist dictatorships posed the biggest threats to democracies, and eventually lost to them in wars both hot and cold. But authoritarianism itself has not disappeared, and I'm going to present the case in this book that the greatest threat to American democracy today arises from a militant authoritarianism that has become a cancer upon the nation....

High RWAs are earnest, hard-working, happy, charitable, undoubtedly supportive of people in their in-group, good friends, and so on. Social dominators are ambitious and competitive--cardinal virtues in American society. It’s as big a mistake, I have to keep telling myself, to see people as all-bad as it is to see them as all-good. But the downside remains, and I want to emphasize that it’s really there. The presentation of the research in this book has not passed through any kind of theoretical or ideological filter. In almost every experiment, low RWAs and low Social Dominators had as much a chance to look bad as their counterparts on the high end. But they seldom did. I have not stole past any praiseworthy findings about authoritarians; I have always reported any bad news that turned up about lows. I know it seems very one-sided, but that’s the way the data tumbled. While authoritarian followers and authoritarian leaders have their good side, their bad side is pretty broad and hard to miss....

So what’s to be done right now? The social dominators and high RWAs presently marshaling their forces for the next election in your county, state and country, are perfectly entitled to do what they’re doing. They have the right to organize, they have the right to proselytize, they have the right to select and work for candidates they like, they have the right to vote, they have the right to make sure folks who agree with them also vote. Jerry Falwell has already declared, “We absolutely are going to deliver this nation back to God in 2008!”

If the people who are not social dominators and right-wing authoritarians want to have those same rights in the future, they, you, had better do those same things too, now. You do have the right to remain silent, but you’ll do so at everyone’s peril. You can’t sit these elections out and say “Politics is dirty; I’ll not be part of it,” or “Nothing can change the way things are done now.” The social dominators want you to be disgusted with politics, they want you to feel hopeless, they want you out of their way. They want democracy to fail, they want your freedoms stricken, they want equality destroyed as a value, they want to control everything and everybody, they want it all. And they have an army of authoritarian followers marching with the militancy of “that old-time religion” on a crusade that will make it happen, if you let them.

A discussion of the book here or just the latest.

Gary Permalink on 3/24/2007

Even righties believe Gonzales was lying

Captain's Quarters: Did Gonzales Lie About His Involvement?

With a few digs about liberal blogs Captain Kirklite admits Gonzales is lying or incompetent and should go.

Gonzales' dismissal/resignation would not do any more damage to Republicans than has already occurred. If we have to defend incompetents and/or deceivers as critical to the Republican cause, then be prepared for a disastrous 2008. Offering Clintonian word-parsing as a defense does nothing to help the cause of conservatism.

TPM: The White House knew the Justice Department was lying. DoJ liason to White House resigns.

MM: DC a town full of worthless memories in the administration and the press.

A president who just three weeks ago saw one of his top aides convicted of perjury and making false statements to investigators now refuses to allow other aides to testify under oath. And apparently nobody in the White House press corps thinks to ask Tony Snow if that's because Bush is afraid of another of his aides committing perjury -- or whether his refusal to allow a transcript is because he's afraid of them getting caught.

John Dean: This case illustrates the authoritarianism of Bush and Cheney with their defense of strong executive powers. More on the crazy GOP team players undermining separation of powers.

Gary Permalink on 3/24/2007

Right Wing Nut House » ARE WE DAYS AWAY FROM WAR WITH IRAN?

Proving that my right-wing nut house friends can read the same foreign press and watch force movements as well as I can. I remain at over 50% odds of an American attack by April 15. Not likely before April 5th.

Wesley Clark: Averting the Next Gulf War. Like his presidential campaign too little, too late.

Gary Permalink on 3/24/2007

300 Spartan beefcake hotties versus Persian trannies

I have been trying to avoid this glorification of the worst of the psychotic Greek city-states in the battle against Persia. Leave it to our modern day conservative He-man closeted homosexuals to defend this unintentionally funny comic book of a movie.

NY Times: Battle of the Manly Men

"300” is about as violent as “Apocalypto” and twice as stupid.

Buy lots of popcorn to throw at this silly movie and watch for the boners on your friends of Hitler.

Gary Permalink on 3/24/2007

The Blingdom of God: Buddhism in Doctor Who

Amy sends this little story of Buddhism in Dr. Who.

Gary Permalink on 3/24/2007

GOP ID digging itself into a hole

The percentage of voters identifying themselves as Republicans has steadily declined since 2002 as voters not only reject Bush and the Iraq war but nearly all the positions the Republican Party claims to represent.

Mark Blumenthal with Pollster.com:

Even more striking than the changes in some core political and social values is the dramatic shift in party identification that has occurred during the past five years. In 2002, the country was equally divided along partisan lines: 43% identified with the Republican Party or leaned to the GOP, while an identical proportion said they were Democrats. Today, half of the public (50%) either identifies as a Democrat or says they lean to the Democratic Party, compared with 35% who align with the GOP.

.... the authors see in their various measures an improved "political landscape for Democrats" stemming from "increased public support for the social safety net, signs of growing public concern about income inequality, and a diminished appetite for assertive national security policies."

Pew Poll: Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007 Summary

Political Landscape More Favorable To Democrats.

Complete study PDF.

LA Times:

What's more, the survey found, public attitudes are drifting toward Democrats' values: Support for government aid to the disadvantaged has grown since the mid-1990s, skepticism about the use of military force has increased and support for traditional family values has decreased.

The findings suggest that the challenges for the GOP reach beyond the unpopularity of the war in Iraq and Bush.

"Iraq has played a large part; the pushback on the Republican Party has to do with Bush, but there are other things going on here that Republicans will have to contend with," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Center. "There is a difference in the landscape."

Gary Permalink on 3/23/2007

My National Security Letter Gag Order

The FBI has issued 140,000 letters requiring recipients to turn over information and not reveal they have. The link shows one case where the recipient believes it was an unauthorized fishing expedition not connected to national security.

Gary Permalink on 3/23/2007

The Raw Story catches up - the extent the President placed party over law at issue

As I previously wrote the heart of the attorney firings is how Bush placed party over the rule of law. There is such a vigorous defense by the president because some of the leaked emails reveal he is the one that ordered attorneys fired if they were not loyal to him and the party enough. After the fact they worked up justifications for the firings. Earlier Department of Justice actions and inactions also reveal partisan politics in the pursuit of "justice" under this administration.

Not all emails turned over. Clinton did not do it too, firing of eight attorneys before the end of president's term unprecedented.

Josh: This is a simple case of subverting justice for partisan politics.

Refuting Karl Rove's talking points.

Joe: Rove cannot be trusted to tell the truth.

Gary Permalink on 3/23/2007

House approves deadline for war pullout, Sets up game of chicken

Nancy Pelosi's gamble paid off - House votes for troops out by September 2008. Bush threatens veto.

What next?

This sets up a game of chicken with the GOP and Bush. They will try to stop a supplemental bill with a troop withdrawal attached. The problem for the administration and the GOP is if they are unable to pass a bill there is no money for the troops in Iraq. The Democrats hold the commanding position as it is those wanting the troops to remain who need more money. On the other hand, the game of chicken is usually won by the driver who is more insane. In that case Bush and the GOP wins hands down. They are willing to wreck the military, wreck everything else, to get their way.

Greenwald: The WP gets it wrong on Iraq bills again.

Tags: Bush, Iraq war, Congress, Nancy Pelosi Gary Permalink on 3/23/2007

The Politico: Gossip rag masquerading as news organization?

Glenn Greenwald gets it right in the close ties between the GOP, Drudge and the Washington insider press corp represented by Politico. There is no difference between the blogs and the news organizations except past credibility for the press. Announcing that Edwards was suspending his campaign was just one of a series of mistakes for the fast and GOP-rumor-filled Politico.

Gary Permalink on 3/22/2007

Prosecutor Says Bush Appointees Interfered With Tobacco Case - washingtonpost.com

Department of Justice partisan and corrupt in other cases.

The leader of the Justice Department team that prosecuted a landmark lawsuit against tobacco companies said yesterday that Bush administration political appointees repeatedly ordered her to take steps that weakened the government's racketeering case.

Sharon Y. Eubanks said Bush loyalists in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales's office began micromanaging the team's strategy in the final weeks of the 2005 trial, to the detriment of the government's claim that the industry had conspired to lie to U.S. smokers.

She said a supervisor demanded that she and her trial team drop recommendations that tobacco executives be removed from their corporate positions as a possible penalty. He and two others instructed her to tell key witnesses to change their testimony. And they ordered Eubanks to read verbatim a closing argument they had rewritten for her, she said.

"The political people were pushing the buttons and ordering us to say what we said," Eubanks said. "And because of that, we failed to zealously represent the interests of the American public."

Eubanks, who served for 22 years as a lawyer at Justice, said three political appointees were responsible for the last-minute shifts in the government's tobacco case in June 2005: then-Associate Attorney General Robert D. McCallum, then-Assistant Attorney General Peter Keisler and Keisler's deputy at the time, Dan Meron.

Gary Permalink on 3/22/2007

82nd Airborne Finds Itself Stretched Thin

My nephew's unit is getting worn out and stretched very thin. He would be back in Iraq now on his fourth rotation except he is training the new recruits going into the maw to be chewed up. Training has been sped up. The New York Times looks at the degraded readiness of all of our combat brigades.

Tags: militaty, readiness, Bush-Cheney, Iraq, WoT Gary Permalink on 3/22/2007

BREAKING: John Edwards and wife holding press conf on Thursday

Big news about the campaign and Mrs Edwards.

Edward's wife just had a major medical appointment to check progress on her battle with breast cancer.

Her cancer has returned, his Presidential campaign will continue.

Gary Permalink on 3/21/2007

Small viewership for cable evening news

The "big" numbers for weekday cable evening news viewers ages 25-54 are O'Reilly with 476 thousand and Greta on Fox with 412. The pitiful numbers are MSNBC's Mr. conservative bow tie with 76 thousand viewers and the new conservative clown Beck on Headline News with 87 thousand.

Watch Graphic War Zone Diary tonight (Wednesday) on MSNBC.

The Hill:

Fox News viewers supported George Bush over John Kerry by 88 percent to 7 percent. No demographic segment, other than Republicans, was as united in supporting Bush. Conservatives, white evangelical Christians, gun owners, and supporters of the Iraq war all gave Bush fewer votes than did regular Fox News viewers.

Gary Permalink on 3/21/2007

Gingrich says don't look at my blow jobs, nailing campaign aides on desks, divorces, corruption now

Gingrich: 2008 race should avoid private lives of candidates. Let's see:

In the late '60s, Gingrich was smoking dope and married his high school math teacher to get a deferment from Vietnam.

As a young campaigner in the '70s, he had one main drawback, according to Dot Crews, his campaign scheduler at the time. "We would have won in 1974 if we could have kept him out of the office, screwing her [a young volunteer] on the desk."

Not only did he serve his first wife divorce papers while she was in a hospital bed, he became a deadbeat dad. The local Baptist Church had to take up collections for their children because Newt refused to pay support for them. She had to go to court to get him to keep the lights on. Gingrich was like another fellow Southern Baptist in another important way. He liked blowjobs, in part because he could, like his fellow Southern Baptist, good ol' boy Clinton, deny having sex - at least technically. Blowjobs meant you could say you never slept with the woman.

He taught at a backwater college in West Georgia where he had an affair with Anne Manning, wife of another professor there. It was Manning who explained that Gingrich preferred oral sex. "He prefers that modus operandi because then he can say, 'I never slept with her.'" Despite the fact that Gingrich appeared at Christian Coalition events, he also was caught in someone's car with someone's wife giving him a blowjob. Hence his reelection promise in 1978. "When elected, Newt will keep his family together." But alas, it was not to be. Newt ran for Congress a couple of times in the 70s. He married his first wife when he was 19. A few years later he got divorced and married Mary Ginther. As he was having an affair with his next wife to be, he demanded a couple of congressmen be expelled for having affairs with their pages. He was elected Speaker of the house in January, 1985.

A decade after that, he was proclaiming to the Conference of Mayors that Victorian England should be lauded as a model, because it reestablished, "values, by moral leadership and by being willing to look at people in the face and say, 'You should be ashamed.'" This is the same man who also explained about his first wife, that she wasn't "young enough or pretty enough to be the President's wife" (she in turned said "I don't want him to be president and I don't think he should be"). He was actually considering a run for the presidency in 1996.

All through the Clinton-Lewinsky adultery scandal, Gingrich was busy denouncing Clinton for adultery while he himself was dating his third wife to be while he was still married to his his second wife. She sang in the National Shrine Choir. Many a night he would read his Bible while waiting for her at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. They would end up having breakfast together and, hopefully, a nice time inbetween. Newt left behind Marianne, his wife of 18 years.

But perhaps more important than the joys of the flesh, the sin of lust, was his unerring attraction to money. Such as the deal he made with Rupert Murdoch, the $4.5 million book deal, [after he used a similar scandalous book deal in the GOP campaign to bring down his Democratic predecessor], the House Banking Scandal in which he bounced 22 checks, the secret pay raises, the Lincoln Town Car limousine and chauffeur, the sliding scale between donations made for his politics and those for his personal comfort

Now, I wonder why he says we should avoid candidates private lives and past scandals?

Gary Permalink on 3/21/2007

Angry Bush: My aides can speak as long as they can lie

I don't think when the scandal is why the Justice Department and the White House lied about why they fired their attorneys trying to permit the White House staff to lie will go over well. What else would you say they can testify but not under oath means?

Bush was very angry. I think this was because there are already strong implications Bush was the one who ordered the firings. That is also why he doesn't want his staff under oath.

ADDED - The NYT editorial board seems to agree with me in a bit more temperate language.

DoJ brainstormed after the fact to come up with reasons they fired the attorneys. (Thanx cursor.org.)

House Committee authorizes subpoenas of White House officials.

Gary Permalink on 3/21/2007

DeLay polluting the airwaves again

Anyone else see Tom cut-and-run DeLay urging Alberto Gonzales to stay and fight?

"Fight. Fight," DeLay advised embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales during an appearance Tuesday on NBC's Today show.

Asked by the interviewer if he himself hadn't given up the fight when he quit Congress, DeLay replied: "No. I just changed arenas."

Crooked, very crooked. He and Newt Gingrich started the whole fake charities for politicians scam. That way supporters can make tax-deductible contributions to their campaigns. Then the fake charity spends the money on "educating" voters that Republican candidates are better. When does his trial start?

Gary Permalink on 3/21/2007

Daily Kos: Re-Killing the Electric Car

Is there now any incentive for Detroit to go green?

Gary Permalink on 3/20/2007

Peace Marchers Arrested In Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs is "home to the greatest concentration of fundamentalist Christian activist groups in American history" according to Harper's Magazine. It also doesn't like people marching with a bookmobile and wearing green. Not if they are carrying peace signs.

A local peace group had purchased a permit to march in Saturday's St. Patrick's Day Parade but as they started down the parade route and organizers saw the signs advocating peace and out of Iraq now the organizers asked the police to make them leave. Most of the group complied but some arguments ensued. Seven peace marchers went limp and dropped to the road as a non-violent protest of their constitutional free speech rights being ignored. These were dragged away and arrested. Some minor injuries occurred while people were being dragged away.

Parade organizers said the protester's permit did not make clear it was a protest group applying. The march organizers say they allow political speech but not social protests or statements. It will be interesting to see how that plays in court.

How embarrassing that Colorado Springs is going to be shamed in the national media for not knowing the Constitution and police brutality on peaceful marchers.

How did seeing signs advocating peace hurt anyone? How did people dropping and adopting nonviolent resistance limpness merit police brutality? Shame.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or ABRIDGING THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH, or of the press; OR THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE PEACEABLY TO ASSEMBLE, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

I hope some of the people locked up find a good lawyer and instruct the police and some parade leaders on the law.

Gary Permalink on 3/20/2007

See you tomorrow - I'M FINE - A Tribute to 'Moon River'


Gary Permalink on 3/19/2007

Looking Back

In looking back at my archives from four years ago, I find I wrote this on March 5:

I have been listening to many high officials today speak in favor of this war. Within a minute each will say something which is not true or is misleading.

Iraq has complied with UN weapons inspections and no evidence has ever been presented that Iraq has produced any weapon's of mass destruction since the Gulf War. I can point to three major UN weapon's inspectors and three high ranking Iraqi defectors that back that up - there are no known WMD's, there is no support for terrorists aimed at the United States, Iraq poses no threat to the region, let alone the United States.

Despite some grammatical errors I was absolutely right. I think before we listen to anyone now we should see what they were saying then.

See also my post from exactly four years ago on the business manager as president.

Gary Permalink on 3/19/2007

White House Seeking Gonzales Replacements - Politico.com

Bedtime for Gonzo.

Gary Permalink on 3/19/2007

Krugman: Bush only continuing the Reagan legacy

Why is there such a strong family resemblance between the Reagan years and recent events? Mr. Reagan’s administration, like Mr. Bush’s, was run by movement conservatives — people who built their careers by serving the alliance of wealthy individuals, corporate interests and the religious right that took shape in the 1960s and 1970s. And both cronyism and abuse of power are part of the movement conservative package.

In part this is because people whose ideology says that government is always the problem, never the solution, see no point in governing well. So they use political power to reward their friends, rather than find people who will actually do their jobs.If expertise is irrelevant, who gets the jobs? No problem: the interlocking, lavishly financed institutions of movement conservatism, which range from K Street to Fox News, create a vast class of apparatchiks who can be counted on to be “loyal Bushies.”

The movement’s apparatchik culture, in turn, explains much of its contempt for the rule of law. Someone who has risen through the ranks of a movement that prizes political loyalty above all isn’t likely to balk at, say, using bogus claims of voter fraud to disenfranchise Democrats, or suppressing potentially damaging investigations of Republicans. As Franklin Foer of The New Republic has pointed out, in College Republican elections, dirty tricks and double crosses are considered acceptable, even praiseworthy.

This is in reaction to the TIME cover story with the picture of Reagan with a tear over the state of his conservative movement.

Gary Permalink on 3/19/2007

Dallas $2 mugger pardoned after 17 years

An issue in the Dallas election that became a Democratic sweep was the racist justice system. Publicity over a black man in jail for life over a $2 mugging while a white murderer was allowed to repeatedly violate his parole with drug offenses both tried by the same judge played a part in the campaign atmosphere. Today the black man is back out on parole.

Gary Permalink on 3/19/2007

YouTube - Vote Different

Campaign 2008 has officially started with an unauthorized viral video ad. More on the Ad here.

. Gary Permalink on 3/19/2007

Fox Hounded - 4 Years On

This column in the Los Angeles Times is absolutely correct. Rather than take the word of Fox News and some in the so-called professional media that radical left-wing activists were responsible for canceling the Fox News sponsership of a Democratic debate, he asked Democratic professionals. They uniformly applauded the idea as Fox News is the Republican Party propaganda arm.

"Everything Fox does is directed toward aiding and abetting the Republican Party, and it uses its newsgathering organization more or less as a cover for that."

"They are in business to promote the Republican Party and to hurt the Democratic Party, and they have every right to do that, but to the extent that their pretense of objectivity can be challenged, it should be."

I decided to check out Fox News today, the fourth anniversary of their Iraq War. Surely they would want to celebrate that. Nope, they were trying their best to ignore it. They upped their commercials, at times it seemed like more commercials than news. They found a missing Boy Scout to go wall-to-wall coverage on. They had very long national weather reports. They briefly covered domestic news, "the Supreme Court will decide if students can make banners supporting drugs - Bong Hits 4 Jesus." Then they brought on Ann Coulter for her domestic news insights of the day. Their new advertisement during this: "We are not slanted Left-Wing like the other news, We are Fair and Balanced." Then my TV exploded.

No, sorry, that was another Fox News special effects logo.

CNN was doing a blend of coverage. Some on the fourth anniversary of the war, some on domestic and other news, some on the missing Boy Scout. (It's true, Fox News and Drudge determine some of CNN's coverage.) MSNBC was doing a special day of looking back at the war and where are we now and very brief reports on any other news. Lots of viewpoints from all sides being expressed. I switched to Al Gore's Current viewer supplied TV and saw a long report on the large Women's protests in Brazil against Bush's visit. They urged anyone with an opposing viewpoint to sent it in.

I report, you decide. Which of these seemed the least fair and balanced?

BTW, The New York Time's Frank Rich spots a lot of errors in a timeline but doesn't mention their own.

Gary Permalink on 3/19/2007

The Brownshirts are Coming

The vets turned both sides of Constitution into a bitter, charged gantlet for the war protesters. "Jihadists!" some vets screamed. "You're brain-dead!" Others chanted, "Workers World traitors must hang!" -- a reference to the Communist newspaper. Some broke into "The Star-Spangled Banner" as war protesters sought to hand out pamphlets.

The New Brownshirts. Michelle Malkin channels Joseph Goebbels and Leni Riefenstahl complete with the obligatory "rich Jewish financiers" trying to bring down the Homeland. I had commented last week how funny Malkin and Coulter were. Most intellectuals thought Hitler was funny when he started.

More photos from the march on the Pentagon. There seems to be a difference in numbers here. Was it the 1,000 pro-war protesters reported here or the 30,000 the Michelle Malkin reported? Considering her other lunacy need I ask?

Gary Permalink on 3/18/2007

House Dems stumble badly on Iran

I agree with John Nichols. A few conservative Democrats and AIPAC have eased the way toward an attack on Iran by opposing explicitly confirming that Bush must consult with Congress before military action.

Under pressure from some conservative members of her caucus, and from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) and from lobbyists associated with neoconservative groupings that want war with Iran, Pelosi agreed on Monday to strip the Iran provision from the spending bill that has become the House leadership's primary vehicle for challenging the administration's policies in the region.

One of the chief advocates for eliminating the Iran provision, Nevada Democrat Shelley Berkley, said she wanted it out of the legislation because she wants to maintain the threat of U.S. military action as a tool in seeking to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

"It would take away perhaps the most important negotiating tool that the U.S. has when it comes to Iran," explained Berkley.

The problem with Berkley's "reasoning" if it can be called that is this: Nothing in the provision that had been included in the spending bill would have prevented Bush from threatening Iran. Nothing in the provision would have prevented war with Iran.

It merely reminded the president that, before launching such an attack, he would need to obey the constitutional requirement that he seek a declaration of war.

By first including the provision and then removing it, Pelosi and her aides have given Bush more of an opening to claim that he does not require congressional approval.

Gary Permalink on 3/17/2007

2002 Pre-Iraq War Analysis

"This language is so broad that it would allow the President to order an attack against Iraq even when there is no material threat to the United States."

"A unilateral attack on Iraq by the United States will cause instability and chaos in the region and sow the seeds of future conflicts all over the world."

"Unilateral action against Iraq will cost the United States the support of the world community, adversely affecting the war on terrorism."

"There is no credible evidence that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction."

"There is no connection between Iraq and the events of 9/11."

One presidential candidate was right. I wonder what the others said?

Gary Permalink on 3/17/2007

The Decline of Headline News and other news

Glen Beck, the conservative bozo added to CNN's Headline News and Good Morning America, said: "You know Khalid Shaikh Mohammed has confessed to 9-11 and trying to kill President Carter. Why would you try to kill President Carter? He's on your side, for the love of Pete."

Since when is accusing a former President of being on the side of terrorists acceptable on the SCLM? Does that mean we will get reports on how Bush and Cheney aid terrorists on the mass media?

If the So-Called-Liberal Media would get away from their cocktail party GOP friends and read the blogs for awhile they will see the dirty hippies have been right - following their lead will break a lot of stories for some enterprising reporters. The people driving policy in the Bush administration have a history of not being right about anything. Some reporters should just read Hullabaloo.

There are only a very very small group of people with college degrees who worship Bush. Finding them must be a full-time job. Here they found a group of these Bush worshippers to impart more wisdom to him. Isn't that a contradiction in terms, Bush worshippers and wisdom?

We have long known that Bush Is Churchill (along with all the chest-besting neoconservatives who cheer on wars), but now we learn (from Bush) that he has become convinced that he is stronger than Churchill because Bush "has God" and Churchill didn't

. Greenwald on the Department of Justice:

If the President proclaims the right to break a law, and the DOJ refuses to say it will obey that law when asked directly, and it is then revealed that that very law has been broken -- repeatedly and in quite dangerous ways -- aren't those facts rather vital to understanding what happened here?

1) Lying to Congress is a crime, even if you're not under oath. 2) Alberto Gonzales lies repeatedly to Congress. 3) QED ???

Even the conservatives suggest Gonzales should go and are mad at the White House for letting a mountain be made out of a molehill. Way to support the rule of law Captain Kirklite.

Media Matters on the Washington Post's, and other media's, hypocrisy.

AP as GOP propaganda arm; Plame sheds little light. Meanwhile, the really deranged are claiming Wilson outed his own wife. David Corn was right all along.

Joe Conason: Should people be wise to the GOP blame Clinton dodge by now?

Richard Morrison: Introducing the Man Who Will Beat John Cornyn, not me. Rick Noriega has an impressive resume and a lot of friends.

Sunday Morning political talk has been tilted toward the GOP and conservatives for years. This Week may have noticed November's power shift, not the others.

The dusted off Straight Talk Express is already out of steam and going off the rails. McCain's twelve second pause while trying to recall his latest position is a derailment. He couldn't think of his position and couldn't find a way to support the conservative position on condoms without sounding like an idiot so dead air.

LATimes gets it right: Blogs can top the presses. TPM and his Muckrakers owns the attorney firings story by good old fashioned journalism. The press is still playing catch up because their sources, the GOP leadership, is wrong on the issues. FireDogLake owned the Libby trial. They are what reporters used to be.

I include this Newsweek Poll because figures on TV, including many reporters, keep getting it wrong:

Q5. In general, do you favor or oppose President Bush’s decision earlier this year to increase the level of U.S. troops in Iraq?

Favor: 32%
Oppose: 64%
Don't Know: 4%

Q6. Do you favor or oppose Congressional legislation that would require the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by the fall of 2008?

Favor: 59%
Oppose: 34%
Don't Know: 7%

For four years support for this fiasco has been declining and now opposition to our occupation is similar to American opposition to staying in Vietnam.

Top Bush Official Reveals White House Never Investigated Plame Leak vs Bush: “If there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is.“

Iraq, economic colony of Iran - NYT.

Cheney was responsible for the US intelligence used on Iraq and waged a campaign to destroy the CIA. Radical leftists? No a fully documented report on PBS - Frontline "The Dark Side." This report was last summer, how far has this knowledge spread?

There is now a climate change in DC. Cold days in Hell for Bush and the GOP.

Republicans are fretting, and Democrats are fantasizing, about what the debacle foretells for the next year and half.

"We've only had subpoena power for the last six weeks and every tree that we've barked up so far has had a cat in it," said a senior Democrat who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly. "Imagine where we'll be after six months."

Gonzales, who a week earlier had brushed off the brouhaha over the prosecutors as "an overblown personnel matter," was making the rounds of network and cable news shows in an effort to save his job.

Sen. John Sununu became the first GOP senator to call on Gonzales to resign Wednesday afternoon.

Latest Scare the Yokels Campaign

Homeland Security WARNS! of terrorists driving school buses but admits "the government has no credible information to suggest terrorists are "involved in buying school buses or seeking licenses to drive them.... no indication of any immediate threat to the country."

Andrew: Will Rumsfeld forever escape the ghosts of Abu Ghraib? Will Yoo? Is Cheney impeachable?

The lemming experience.

Gary Permalink on 3/17/2007

Rolling on the floor laughing

Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Elizabeth Ames Jones said Wednesday that politics and the oil and natural gas industry are the same inasmuch as the integrity of one's word is paramount in both fields.

Gary Permalink on 3/15/2007

If Crack Dealers Took Lessons From Walgreens, They Really Would Be Rich

Generic Prozac cost at Walgreens: $117. Cost at Costco: $12.

Costco does not require membership to use their pharmacy. Just don’t try to buy a ten pound box of pretzels while you’re there unless you become a member.

Link from Jim from Boing Boing.

Gary Permalink on 3/15/2007

Thrown to the Assassins

Mother Jones has the story of one Iraqi translator for the Americans. How many Iraqis will we let into the U.S. to thank them for their support for us?

The United States admits more refugees than any country in the world, but in 2006, only 202 Iraqis were allowed in, and most of them had fled persecution under Saddam before the war. This year, millions of Iraqis, Tibetans, Sri Lankans, and Afghans must compete for a mere 5,500 refugee slots Congress has allocated for the Middle East and South Asia. The Iraqis are in line behind their compatriots who have been waiting in Jordan since the late 1990s.

Gary Permalink on 3/15/2007

Iran and U.S. back off – slightly – from confrontation

A promising sign that Cheney won't get his attack in April is the recent talks with Iran.

OTOH - Some leftists say that Iran attack more likely than ever pointing to the cost of the recent deployments.

There was a prediction late last night, early AM on Coast-to-Coast AM that if Cheney does not get his Iran strike soon he will resign for health reasons. The other prediction was for a very eventful year. The psychic forecast is for the countdown toward Armageddon and an economic depression to continue.

Gary Permalink on 3/15/2007