Bad Things Happen

woman tased after calling for police about prowler

2010-07-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

A woman is considering legal action after cops tased her multiple times. The woman, Janice Wells, called police in the western Georgia town of Richland because she thought there was a prowler outside her house. Mrs. Wells had called family friend John Robinson to stay with her until the cops arrived. When policeman Tim Murphy arrived, he spoke to Robinson and found out where he lived, how long he had known Mrs. Wells, and the nature of their relationship. In his incident report, Officer Murphy wrote that he let Mr. Robinson go because it's best to ensure participants in domestic violence remain apart. Mrs. Wells said that there was no domestic violence and had been no indication of any. So when Officer Murphy asked Mrs. Wells Mr. Robinson's name, she wouldn't tell him. This escalated the situation and Mrs. Wells, a 57 year-old-lady, was ultimately tased multiple times by Officer Murphy and an officer who arrived shortly after.

The officers are no longer employed by the police department, but this sort of thing should not be happening. The county sheriff, Larry Jones, suggests that race may be a factor in the case. Mrs. Wells is black and the two arresting officers are white. I would endorse Jones' suggestion. This would not have happened had the lady calling the police been white. Cops using tasers so recklessly only uphold the suspicions of people of color and poor people about the interests of police departments. It would be hard to counteract those arguments, given the horrific nature of videos such as that showing Mrs. Wells being tased.

Bibi Netanyahu, unmasked

2010-07-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

Bibi Netanyahu has been caught on tape claiming that the US can easily be manipulated. He says that the US would not hinder the foreign policy goals of a Netanyahu administration. He also says that the Oslo Accords are not a hindrance to Israeli retention of land because the Oslo Accordsallowed Israel to retain land which was defined as military land. In the video, Netanyahu boasts that given that, he argued that large areas of Israel were military zones, allowing Israel to retain control over land which could quite easily be argued is nothing of the sort.

bees in my bonnet

2010-07-01T05:24:00.001-07:00

There are several stories which have been bugging me today but don't really have time to comment more extensively on them so I'll just post the links here so you can read more.

There's this story about the degree to which the mainstream media has adopted the US government's framing of what most sensible people call torture. The study covered in the story reveals that waterboarding before 2004 had almost always been called torture but that from 2004 until the present, the newspapers with the widest circulations in the US have largely shrunk from calling it torture and have used many euphemisms.

The GOP doesn't care about poor people.

John Boehner is an asshole, part 28496.

Sharon Angle is also an asshole though not quite of the same vintage as John Boehner. Boehner's assholiness is assholiness at its most accomplished. One can't just get up in the morning one day and decide to be an asshole of the quality of John Boehner. It takes years and years of practice, decades of misrepresenting, and a great deal of projecting in defense of one's shifty political decisions to be such a complete asshole as John Boehner. Still, Angle is certainly well on her way, particularly with the volume of insensitivity she has coughed up in her short time on the national stage. If she keeps up this pace, she will be one of the All-Star Asshole Greats of All Time one day.

Naomi Klein points out that while there was vandalism during the G20 summit, the REAL crime scene was within the buildings where the leaders met. While the banks made the financial crisis, the G20 finance ministers, in their wisdom, have vowed to cut public debt by half by 2013. So poor folks, kids, old people, the disabled, will be punished for the drunken binges of bankers.

The financial reform bill looks toothless. The consumer protection agency is gutted and there's no regulation of derivatives.

Lakers on the edge

2010-06-14T17:39:00.000-07:00

Well, my Lakers lost 2 out of 3 in Beantown. Now they're comin' back to LA and have to win Game 6 to force a Game 7. They are going to have to establish their inside game because right now the Celtics' excellent defensive strategy is to smother The Best Player in the Game and force the other players to beat them. It's worked to a T. Andrew got off early, Fish did also, but Pau only had 12 shots, but Ron only went 2 for 9 and the Lakers never looked able to out-wait and out-strategize the Celts in the second half. They have have to get more touches to their bigs. They need to get it in deep to Pau and Andrew early and allow them to establish their positions down low. If they do that, it will open up shooters and of course those shooters can be cutters also because obv. Pau and 'drew are both very good passers.

Of course Kobe can score, as he did, in an amazing 3rd quarter, but the Celtics are savvy and could care less if Black Mamba goes off. They're giving him the ridiculous shots that Kobe made in that third quarter, but no one else is scoring. No one else had more than 12 points. That is unacceptable. The shots Kobe was making in the third quarter of Game 5 very few others could make. DWade might get in a zone and make a series of shots like that. LeBron might, but even his consistency from that range I doubt. I don't think I've seen Paul Pierce make a series of shots that ridiculous. However, again, that is playing into the Celtics strategy. If Kobe is making spinning 27 footers and off balance 28 footers, well, the Celtics will tip their green felt hats to him and jig off to another championship. I'm not mad at Kobe for taking those shots. He's a competitor. That's what he does.

However, as Laker coach, Phil Jackson has to ensure that Pau and 'drew are established. He has to take his initiative as the coach in order to ensure that the Lakers stick to their offensive sets. When the Lakers get in "Watch Kobe" mode, their energy and focus dips and they can't afford any dips against this disciplined, veteran team. If they do that in Game 6, another banner will be hanging in the hated Gahden very soon. If the Lakers get Pau and Andrew going, it opens up lanes for cutters, it opens up shooters in the corners, and the Lakers can unleash their multi-faceted offensive options on the C's. A low-post focused offense also limits long defensive rebounds to Rondo and Pierce which lead to fast-break hoops which makes the C's almost unbeatable. Kevin Garnett has really stepped up the last couple of games. Paul Pierce was hitting his shots and Ron Ron was strangely ineffectual in Game 5. Rondo is a pest but he is only able to be a pest when the Celtics are breaking.

The Celtics D on Kobe should be a model for any scout or coach prepping to face Black Mamba. Kobe can get his, but deny everyone else. Obviously as a Laker fan, this is not a strategy I endorse, but I respect the hell out of the Celts. Lakers need to get their bigs involved very quickly or we will have to suffer through another grating Green celebration and Black Mamba may just internally combust at a season-end presser.

IDF admits doctoring audio of raid

2010-06-06T14:50:00.000-07:00

The IDF has admitted doctoring audio of some of the raid on the Mavi Marmara boat. Their duplicity was confirmed when two members of the flotilla who were not on the boat were put there. And Israel expects people to believe that they were simply trying to make audio easier to hear.

Israel's collapsing case regarding the aid flotilla

2010-06-05T23:19:00.000-07:00

So it turns out that 30 shots were found in the nine victims of the Israeli assault on the flotilla trying to deliver goods to Gaza. Israel has claimed that they were acting in self-defense. This is absurd. They attacked a ship that was in international waters. The accounts of folks who were on the boat are coming in and they indicate that the initial violence came from Israel. From multiple accounts it seems that the Israelis timed the assault to coincide with morning prayers and that they first unleashed sound bombs and tear gas. They tried to board the boat from the side and found the humanitarian aid workers not particularly accommodating. That was why they then tried land via helicopter from above.

Another interesting tidbit not reflecting well on Israel is the claim that the footage that has been replaying repeatedly on American TV is pirated. It is allegedly footage confiscated from journalists who were held incommunicado by Israel after being brought to the Israeli port of Ashdod. This is not of such great concern as the blatant disregard for laws and international norms which Israel has flouted via this attack, but it's another instance reflective of the Israeli disregard for any law or norm they don't want to respect.

Israeli commandos kill up to 19 aid workers

2010-05-31T02:07:00.000-07:00

Israel has killed as many as 19 humanitarian aid workers attempting to deliver food to Gaza by boat. The flotilla of boats was boarded by Israeli commandos although the reason for the murders of the aid workers is unknown at this point. Some of the members of the group Free Gaza have asserted that the flotilla was attacked in international waters. Israel has claimed that the waters off the Gaza coast are "Israeli territorial waters" but they actually have no legal claim to the Gaza coast, having been in contravention of international law on Israeli/Palestinian borders since 1967.

McCain, Reagan, and bankers, oh my!

2010-05-29T03:23:00.000-07:00

Just an assemblage of fuckery from right-wingers...that is to say, another day.

And you think George W. Bush's Vietnam evasion was shameful. Well, Joe Conason highlights the insanity that was Saint Ronald of Reagan's belief that he was actually present at the liberation of Auschwitz when in fact he had been in Hollywood FOR THE DURATION of the Second World War. And yet this man is venerated by prominent Repubs. This is so completely delusional, as was his belief that he didn't trade arms for hostages and his belief not only in astrology but also in the occult.

There's good ol' John McCain always wrong about everything. Here he says that we should crack down on the flow of illegal immigrants into the US-as he did in his goofy ad-but apparently once they've breached the border, well, I guess ol' Johnny thinks it's OK for employers to milk immigrants illegally for every penny they can get out of them. So to re-cap: illegal immigration=bad, illegal exploitation of Mexicans=meh. And now, ol' Johnny is soliciting comments from anti-gay groups condemning and fear-mongering the possible repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Really, he's just wrong about everything.

Dean Baker on how there's one standard for most employees, but a totally different onefor the banksters. Dean Baker has been right about everything economically for the last 10 or so years-and perhaps longer, that's just as long as I've been reading his work, so if you're more interested in what he does, check out his Center for Economic Policy and Research.

And just to cheer things up a bit, before you go off on BP too hard, just remember that there have been many seconds during the company's existence when oil has not been gushing into the ocean from one of their oil wells.

Thoughts on a great playoff game

2010-05-29T02:07:00.000-07:00

Well this was a great one for hoops fans, even if you aren't partial to either team. It seemed like the Lakers were much the better team, but Steve Nash had a great game to keep the Suns in it. Here are some more thoughts on what was a great game and also on the outlook for game 6.

Derek Fisher is the forgotten man on the Lakers and showed his veteran poise when the Lakers needed it greatly-22 points on a very efficient 12 shots.
Kobe nearly with a triple double (31, 11 boards and 9 helpers)-what can you say about the guy? You have to watch him every game to appreciate his consistent excellence.
Lamar very aggressive and active (17 pts, 13 boards, 4 assists in 36 minutes).
Pau had a quieter game, but the game's ultimate hero, Ron Ron, also played some fantastic defense on the guys he was guarding. That said, the Lakers let the Suns get back into it, losing a very big lead and nearly letting the game slide into overtime.
Channing Frye is back and Jared Dudley continues his excellent playoff play.
Dragic was stymied very well by Sasha Vujacic who it was good to see getting some burn.
Amar'e Stoudamire had 19 points, but only four boards. He should really stay down low more in order to use his athleticism to more effect.
Robin Lopez seemed tentative after some early misfires. Andrew Bynum played some nice defense against Amar'e but it was cancelled out by Lopez' good D against Pau. Robin Lopez is going to be a very good NBA center. He's only 22 and it's obviously he's starting to feel his oats and recognize he can play in the league. The frontline of he and Amar'e is going to be a nightmare for all teams except perhaps the Celtics and Lakers.

Again, this was a great game and very nerve-racking for this Laker fan, but the Lakers pulled it out. If they can be more aggressive in guarding their men and remain aggressive, I think they should be able to pull out Game 6 in PHX.

George W. Bush, economist

2010-05-29T00:41:00.000-07:00

Investment? We don't need no stinkin' investment!.

2010-05-29T00:13:00.000-07:00

Renowned business expert Drew Carey addresses the Cleveland city council on the solution to all Cleveland's problems. Well, good to know they have all the experts addressing the complex economic and social problems affecting Cleveland. In a separate story, a moment of candor from Secretary of State Clinton points in the right direction.

stereotype much Bill?

2010-05-27T14:47:00.000-07:00

Bill tells Columbia African-American studies professor Lamont Hil that he looks like a cocaine dealer. Well Bill, you look like a sleazy, douchebaggy, sexual harasser. Oh wait, you are!

It's Getting Better Every Day

2010-05-24T08:39:00.000-07:00

This is why I'm-well, I say I'm only responding to circumstances-but others say I'm a pessimist. It's because, given the higher rates at which black folks are incarcerated, given the greater, and growing, income differences between the rich and poor in America, given the bleak job market, and the fact that black folks have been fighting an uphill battle ever since they were brought to the American continent, this is not a surprise. Don't believe the hopey changey hype. The numbers don't lie.

Meet the new boss...

2010-05-24T03:47:00.000-07:00

same as the old boss.

SB 1070 cartoon

2010-05-24T03:16:00.000-07:00

Really, really funny cartoon mocking the racism of SB 1070.

don't use the Force blue

2010-05-22T21:28:00.000-07:00

This has really gotten out of control. Here's video of Marquis Daniel's step-father tased at Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals in Orlando. Apparently this man, Willie Buie, had been arguing with fans who didn't take kindly to his support for his step-son's team. He had been escorted out of his seat before because he had argued with them. Apparently he told a reporter who called his home that his rights were those which had been abused and that police responded with excessive force. Even if he had gotten into a disagreement, it's ridiculous that a taser is required to be used. Cops should be better at actually resolving conflicts rather than having to always use force. That confrontation could have been dissipated if cops could actually resolve differences.

One blogger, Digby, has been documenting the violence and deaths caused by tasers for several years. Some of the posts, such as this one about a man named Jarred Massey seems to have been tased for no good reason, are really disturbing. Officer Jon Gardner tells him to get out of the car and Massey does so. Massey then points out to Gardner the speed limit and again asks what he (Massey) has done wrong. He asks Gardner what is wrong with him (Gardner), and having turned around as the officer had asked him to, he's shot up with 50,000 volts. Later on in the video, Gardner is caught lying to an associate about having warned the man that he would be tased. Massey won a $40,000 settlement against the state of Utah after filing suit but really, why should things need to get to that point? If the officer could simply have explained to the man why he was stopping him, or, finding insufficient evidence, letting him go, there would have been no need for such violence. There's this one wherein a plaintiff IN COURT, upon claiming that what a judge has said is "bullshit", is subdued by five cops. The judge orders the man taken into custody and then, being held by five cops, he's tasered. Yes, perhaps he should be charged with contempt of court, but when five cops have you under control, there's no need to use a taser.

There's the horrific case of Robert Dziekanski, a man who had just emigrated to Canada from Poland. He had just arrived at the Vancouver airport and had picked up office chairs and put them in front of the security doors. He had also thrown a computer to the ground. However, when he is approached by police, they ask him to stand against a wall and he does so, without resisting. However, at that point, they tase him. He moans and writhes for about 90 seconds and then stops moving. The video ends shortly thereafter and emergency services were unable to bring him back to life. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police recently apologized to his mother and she was granted financial compensation for her son's death, but I'm sure whatever the amount of money was, his mother would gladly return every penny in return for her son.

These sorts of deaths should not happen. That more people do not find the incidents such as those I have highlighted above, and myriad others, worrying, is what is most worrying to me. The widespread use of tasers is a symptom of a failure to appropriately rein in excessive police power.

Update: fixed link to Marquis Daniels' player profile and re-phrased how William Buie interacted with Orlando fans. Re-stated the sequence of events prior to Dziekanski's death.

At least Rand Paul is honest

2010-05-22T02:42:00.000-07:00

Rand Paul is saying some crazy shit at the moment and I certainly don't agree with his opinions. I think that should be nearly self-evident-but what I do appreciate is his honesty. His ideology is SO insane that I think it might make for a teachable moment about the completely unsustainable model of the supposed conservative world view. It's not really conservative. These guys are enamored of too much power invested in a president-as they themselves have said, they are fans of a strong executive branch (the strong Unitary Executive theory) and I'd argue that some of them veer toward Fascist, but we are seeing what happens when there is no regulation. We have the BP oil spill, we have an SEC in which the watchdogs are watching porn instead of the financial industry, we have astronomically expensive wars. And yet even Rand Paul, this supposed laissez-faire Tea Bagger, isn't so loyal to his ideology when it comes to ensuring the money stream keeps flowing into his medical practice. He's a doctor and although he's fervently anti-government, when it comes to ensuring that he doesn't lose any of his precious income, he's a bleeding heart liberal. So again, can so-called conservatives ever be intellectually honest? If they would, well, perhaps we could evolve....but no, I guess there are too many political points to be made.

Perhaps a few people will think about the insanity of his beliefs and realize that government is not all that bad. Yeah, sometimes government makes poor decisions, but who would you rather have leading you? The esteemed Senator from BP? Yeah, they're geniuses. The honorable gentleman from Halliburton? I'm sure they'd NEVER lie to you. The distinguished representative from Goldman Sachs? Just don't let your wallet out of your sight. When I ask my supposedly-conservative friends this, they have no answer. They hem and haw and it's obvious they don't want to have that discussion. This is why the world is in trouble.

Some might say Rand Paul might have exposed himself as a lunatic, but to me, it's really not that surprising. He's just a more honest Teabagger. Rand Paul is not the exception to the rule, he is just a more candid expression of it.

the hypocrisy of supposed small-government "tea partiers"

2010-05-19T23:55:00.000-07:00

I have no problems with conservatives. However, I don't believe the vast majority of Tea Partiers have much connection to lower-case "c" conservatism. Eisenhower, a Republican, warned the country about the dangers of the military-industrial complex, not about the threat posed to America by brown people, in his final speech as President in 1961. However, Tea Partiers have shown themselves not at all concerned with the expansion of the American empire-itself the elephant in the room regarding the ballooning debt which these so-called patriots claim to be concerned. Tea Partiers have a positive opinion of George W. Bush-a leader who had very little concern for keeping government's footprint small.

Regarding government regulation-we haven't heard much Tea Party criticism of the absence of regulation which allowed for the mining accident in West Virginia last month in which 29 people died. Indeed, the CEO of that company, completely not coincidentally, was recently at a rally in which he, Sean Hannity, Ted Nugent, and others railed at Obama, cap-and-trade legislation, supposed green "extremists", and regulation. Indeed, his company sponsored the rally. But apparently, hoping that workers don't die in industrial accidents is not a Tea Party value.

It just points out again, the absurdity of claiming that Tea Partiers are conservatives. Conservatives who truly believe in limited government would have an issue with the bill in Arizona which privileges state government over federal government on the issue of immigration. The fact that the Association of Arizona Police Chiefs opposes the bill on the grounds that immigration is better dealt with at the national than at the state level does not restrict Tea Partiers from offering empty praise to police.

As one pundit put it, Tea Partiers have an issue with small government until it interferes with "warring, wiretapping, or waterboarding."

ooh the crazy

2010-05-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

Step right up kids, see the bearded lady, the Elephant Man, the midgets, the carnies.......and caged off in a strait jacket-remember kids, don't put your hands inside the cage-and please don't encourage the wingnuts- the wackiness of Daniel Pipes and Debbie Schlussel. OK folks, that's enough now. We're a little concerned that you are not subjected too much to their crazy rantings. Watch out! They just threw some feces against the wall! Oh wait, those are their column. OK, take your kids home now, read them a story, and tuck them in.

No one could have predicted the breaking of the levees

2010-05-14T15:52:00.000-07:00

And imagine that, President Obama authorizes off-shore drilling but yet then rants at oil industry execs. What did he expect they would do? President Obama has got to stop playing nice with his political opponents. These people are not his friends and they are not going to behave in any sort of ethical way. Really? You're surprised by bad behavior on the part of oil companies? Really? If he nominated Jesus to the Supreme Court, they'd ask what judicial experience he had. The Republicans-while their policies are nightmarish, approach the realization of those policies with a single-mindedness that Democrats need. If Dems had Republican zeal and determination, this world would be very different.

Well since you put it that way...

2010-05-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

BP's chief puts it all in perspective for us. Yeah, there's so much more water in the Gulf than there is oil that all those little animals really need to just swim hard and try and get away from the oil. They'll find there's lots of water if they just swim far enough. Hey, if they just buy little animal cars, there's all that gas available for free-that's a pretty good deal for them!

LeBron

2010-05-13T21:03:00.000-07:00

People need to back off LeBron. Yeah, his TEAM lost to the Celtics' TEAM. LeBron's numbers were typically fantastic. What else is the man supposed to do? It ain't his fault. If they haven't got the supporting cast this year, well, perhaps they need a bit more patience with the squad they have. I don't think that blowing up the team is the answer. But certainly, blaming LeBron is WAY out of line. Is there a better player in the league outside of #24 for the Los Angeles Lakers? I don't think anyone would claim there is. So leave LeBron alone. You wanna clown Jamison, Mo Williams, Delonte West? Fine. Clown Shaq, Anthony Parker, Big Z, JJ Hickson, but what else can LeBron do, short of physically putting Quicken Loans Arena on his back? Also, just because you lose to a team, doesn't mean your team is crap.

George Rekers

2010-05-13T05:52:00.000-07:00

Rachel Maddow pwns self-hating gay man George Rekers. She points out the hypocrisy of his claims-refuted by pictures-that the companion he took with him to Europe was there because he needed help with his luggage. She also points out that a letter from an organization with which he is affiliated claiming that homosexuality can be cured was sent the day before he went on his trip to Europe with his escort hired from Rentboy. Not sure how Rekers could look any more hypocritical. Rekers is a total fraud and he has been, cough, outed as such. Stephen Colbert also completely takes him down.

tax levels in the US at their lowest since 1950.

2010-05-11T14:42:00.000-07:00

Not that this is news to those of us who live in the reality-based community, but still an' all. No Virginia, the sky is not falling. No Virginia, the Kenyan President is not a socialist, or a Communist, or a Fascist. He's not coming for your guns or your apple pie or your white children. Relaaaaaaaaaaaaax.

Underrated......

2010-05-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

Rajon Rondo, Tim Duncan (yeah-Tim Duncan, mm-hmm), at the moment NOT the Atlanta Hawks.

George W. Bush-man of the people

2010-05-09T04:28:00.001-07:00

George W. Bush visits Haiti and his disdain for Haitians is symbolic of how he treated the world for 8 years.

Sean Hannity has some nerve

2010-05-08T21:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I'll give him that. In spite of the two million internally displaced people in Iraq, in spite of over a million Iraqi deaths, in spite of the looting of some of the world's most important historic relics, in spite of the prohibition of the exclusion from Iraq government jobs of Ba'ath party members, in spite of a unilateral disbanding of the Iraqi army, Sean Hannity thinks that Iraq should be grateful to the point that they should re-pay the US for their "liberation." If that's liberation, I think I want to be in solitary in the hole for the rest of my life.

conference semis

2010-05-08T15:49:00.000-07:00

Orlando is absolutely destroying Atlanta. Van Gundy has them dudes playing the same game. Dwight Howard is playing like a man driven. Jameer Nelson, Matt Barnes, Vince Carter, Michael Pietrus, Rashard Lewis, Marcin Gortat, JJ Redick, Jason Williams, Ryan Anderson-they all know their roles. This team is scary. Yeah, as individuals, they do not particularly sound intimidating, but this is a team. This is why we watch. It was embarrassing watching for Atlanta. I can't think of a worse performance this deep into the playoffs. The fans were nearly too embarrassed to boo. No one could do much of anything. Goodness-to watch as good a team as Atlanta get so completely pwned as that, one knows that Orlando is REALLY good. I'm impressed by Phoenix too. Channing Frye, Goran Dragic, Jared Dudley, Leandro Barbosa have been big off the bench and Grant Hill-well, what can you say about the guy? I appreciate guys who are quietly good for lengthy periods of time but I have to admit even I've been a it taken aback by the level at which the consummate pro continues to do it. I don't think, however, that if the Lakers get through to the Conference finals that they should have too much trouble with the Suns.

Cavs/Celtics. Cavs are deep but I still like the Celtics experience. Celtics in 7. I love the Jazz too. They are always ready and that's a tribute to Jerry Sloan. They just don't have the size though, to beat the Lakers. It's no knock on the Jazz-the Lakers are an excellent team. I just don't see the Jazz with enough to beat the Lakers. I'd say Lakers in 6, and if they show a bit of intensity maybe in 5.

false equivalence from President Obama

2010-05-07T01:30:00.001-07:00

President Obama attempts to claim that Republicans and Democrats engage in the politics of self-destruction. Robert Parry notes that the President only ensures that Republicans will continue to attack him because it hasn't mattered whether policies were some that might garner Republican support. They have no desire to support Democratic policies. If it were a policy asserting that kittens are adorable, Republicans would claim that kittens are a lot of work and grow up to be pesky, troublesome animals. As Parry notes, until President Obama responds to fire with fire, he will continue to get hammered by Republicans acting in bad faith.

how funny

2010-05-06T23:17:00.000-07:00

...is it that Danny Ainge has now been involved in two news-making incidents regarding towel throwing? Robert Horry was traded from the Suns to the Lakers (thanks Suns!) after Horry was angered by his then-coach Ainge during a time out and threw a towel at him. Ainge was a nuisance as a player and once so angered Tree Rollins that Rollins bit him.

Robert Reich on the similarities between Goldman Sachs, Halliburton, and Massey Energy

2010-05-06T20:26:00.000-07:00

What do Massey Energy, Goldman Sachs, and Halliburton have in common? They're all the beneficiaries of a insufficient regulation. Halliburton, in spite of being responsible for multiple breaches of laws-from the deaths of at least 16 troops, from electrocution owing to KBR's faulty wiring, from the detention of Jamie Jones after Jones had been raped, to the inability to account for $1.4 billion in Iraq to which Halliburton was entrusted, to the very process by which Halliburton was awarded multiple contracts which had not been exposed to public bidding.

Goldman Sachs has benefitted from a close relationship with the federal government (quite apart from the political party in the ascendance in Washington). They are bailed out, in spite of their bundling almost indecipherable, and typically worthless financial products. Their sway, and the tendency of the SEC to watch porn rather than regulate Goldman Sachs, facilitated the ascendance of Goldman Sachs and the other large banks largely responsible for sending the world's economy into the toilet.

Massey Energy has a lengthy record of breaking laws and not being punished. Its CEO, Don Blankenship spent over $3 million to elect a member of the West Virginia Supreme Court who subsequently voted to repeal a fine imposed on Massey Energy over a conviction reached in West Virginia ruling that Massey had engaged in fraud in order to put a competitor, Harman Energy, out of business. His company was fined $1.5 million over the deaths of two miners who the regulatory agency ruled had died because of safety violations in a Massey mine in January 2006. Massey Energy, via its' CEO claims to believe that regulation would comprise us needing to learn Chinese and he also is quite alright with elementary school aged children breathing coal-laced air.

All these companies have been the beneficiaries of a Wild West of commerce over the last 30 years, in which business has largely been untethered from rules that would significantly motivate them not to do damage to the communities in which they do business. Reich nails this dynamic much better than I can.

Troubletown on the Arizona law

2010-05-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

There are gradations of what is acceptable suspicious behavior in Arizona, according to Lloyd Dangle. Great stuff.

Facebook switch

2010-05-05T19:05:00.000-07:00

Why would Facebook switch from allowing you to become a fan of something to simply telling you to "like" it? It limits our range of expressing how we like something. Incredibly counterproductive. Then again, I suppose if Facebook really doesn't respect our privacy, it's not really surprising.

AZ law and conservatives

2010-05-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

I SO love my libertarian/conservative friends supporting the Arizona monstrosity. The same people who claim that Obama is taking their freedom are endorsing a law that abridges fourth amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures. Hypocrisy much?

drill baby drill?

2010-04-30T20:08:00.001-07:00

Sarah Palin, where you at?

get me some cheese with

2010-04-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

that whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine. Ooh I feel terribly oppressed. When will WASPs ever get a chance?

new law in Arizona

2010-04-27T08:58:00.001-07:00

Not at all surprising, but certainly instructive, how little Tea Partiers and libertarians, many of whom are supposedly interested in limited government seem to be concerned about the law in Arizona requiring people who the cops even suspect of being illegal, to show their papers.

Breaking News: Eric Cantor is not in favor of violence!

2010-03-25T11:36:00.000-07:00

Cantor says "I do not condone violence. There are no leaders in the building that condone violence" he's not condemning it. He's simply saying I'm not in favor of it. This is about as controversial as being against mass-murder or child abuse or liking kittens or sunny days. Again, it's clear that Repub leaders like Cantor want to signal to their increasingly agitated base that they don't want to be seen as explicitly condemning them while at the same time knowing that that events have gotten so overheated of late that it's imperative they make some sort of "violence is not good" statement. But yet Cantor is such a wuss that he won't even say that. He simply says leaders don't condone it. Wow, so we won't find any pro-murder or assault memos originating out of GOP headquarters? Well gee, maybe I'll need to re-think my perspective on Repubs now I see you're anti-murder and assault. Perhaps I've been too hard on Repubs. Well gee, thanks for that Eric. I'm betting for your next bold prediction you're gonna say that that Kobe Bryant might just be a decent basketball player if he keeps on workin' hard.

Dean Baker on health-care reform

2010-03-25T04:05:00.000-07:00

Yes it's good that folks who didn't have healthcare will now have it and it's good that a "pre-existing condition" (health care speak for a reason to increase our bottom line and increase the stock price) no longer precludes people from being cared for, but there is no public option and the very greed which caused the health-care debacle will undoubtedly only be further motivated by the prospect of even greater profits. Accordingly, Dean Baker's column is right on point. He suggests people taking advantage of excellent medical care and much lower prices in other countries in order to secure better healthcare for themselves.

Republican party: the world is watching

2010-03-24T22:13:00.001-07:00

All these Republicans, if they want to avoid being tarnished with the same brush, need to repudiate this racism being propagated so brazenly and confidently. There is no place in America for this sort of attitude. If you don't repudiate it, you'll be tarnished as a racist yourself. Really, it's these sorts of divisive acts which can destroy a nation, gut it, from the inside. This unanswered hate is creating serious divisions among political parties, state populations, families, etc. Claiming these are the actions of a few bad apples won't fly. The Southern Strategy, popularized by Republican strategist Kevin Phillips asserted that because of the Democrats' support of Civil Rights, they would be less attractive to white southerners when previously white folks in the South had been a key Democratic constituency. In order to increase their appeal to white southerners, Republican strategists decided to employ racist, hateful, but somewhat subtle, means of playing on white peoples' fears.

David Frum, one of W's speechwriters, in the wake of the passage of the healthcare, wrote that Republicans had listened to the most extreme voices in their party in failing to attempt to make a deal with Democrats on healthcare and putting all their eggs in one basket - staking a huge portion of their short and near-term electoral outlook on ONE ISSUE. By taking such a hard tack, they gave themselves no wiggle room through which they might make some compromise that would allow them to take some action that would allow them take some credit for the health care legislation. But they didn't reject the extremism but made a Faustian bargain instead-gambling that they could "defeat" health-care reform - as if being the gatekeepers for the health-care industry is more important than ensuring that kids don't die in childhood - and now that they've lost, they have no tangible results from this Congress to show to their constituents. The party leaders' failure to condemn the disgraceful strategies emanating from these Tea Partiers' speaks to the tolerance Republican "leaders" have for the tea party ideas.

They might not really agree with some of the disgraceful things that Tea Partiers and others have said, but they are happy to take advantage of the increased enthusiasm for Republican, and Republican-friendly, ideas which the Tea Partiers have generated by turning the media's attention to their regressive gatherings. Frum says that the party elders made a mistake in failing to reject the hell-bent, extremist, Republican strategy on health-care. The longer Repubs fail to reject such disgraceful actions from Teabaggers, the more I have to conclude that the Republicans don't disagree with them.

you stay classy

2010-03-24T05:59:00.001-07:00

Wingnuts.

I'm not a Truther....

2010-03-24T02:52:00.000-07:00

I'm not I'm not I'm not. I don't think the government is competent enough to perpetrate such a massive cover-up and some of the claims about even more widespread conspiracies are completely incoherent, and consequently, for my money, not credible.

That said, I know when someone's b.s.ing me. If the US had nothing to hide about 9/11, why did Bush and Cheney first resist a 9/11 Commission so passionately, why did they then nominate a man linked with some of the most egregious examples of secretive governance Henry Kissinger to head the Commission, and finally, if Bush and Cheney had nothing to hide, why would they initially refuse to testify and only agree when they were allowed to testify together? Given what we know about Bush and Cheneys' disinclination to adhere to laws they didn't want to respect, do you not think they would shout from the rooftops if they were truly innocent of some charges?

Anyway, with that proviso, lemme say, I was listening to "Background Briefing" this past week and heard a discussion with former CIA agent John Kiriakou. He says (about 50 minutes in) that when the CIA re-claimed some documents from the Taliban embassy in Peshawar, they found a file folder of phone calls, in English, of 163 calls made from the embassy to a large number of destinations in the United States until September 10, 2001. These calls resume September 16, 2001.

This seems extremely problematic. If there are multiple calls being made to the US which include a gap coinciding just before September 11 and ending just after, suspicions are raised. At a bare minimum, it would seem we should investigate whether there is a material connection between the phone numbers where those phone calls went and folks suspected of terrorism. If there is no fire where the smoke is, fair enough. On the other hand, if the recipients of the phone calls were suspected terrorists or were under investigation for something, such investigation should continue.

Again, some of things I've heard from Truthers are not substantially supported by documentation, or are speculative. But that does not mean that we have been told the whole story. There's a lot of daylight between some conspiracy theories and claims that Bush and Cheney did nothing wrong with regard to September 11. Given Bush and Cheney's furious protestations of their innocence, do you not think that if they truly were innocent, that they would proclaim that from the rooftops? I don't. Again, I'm not a Truther but I know we haven't been told the whole story either.

manipulation of Tea-Partiers

2010-02-21T18:12:00.000-08:00

Glenn Greenwald has an excellent post up about how the GOP is once again masking as big backers of limited government. During W's tenure, they didn't hesitate to advocate any measure which might increase the size of government via wars, intrusion into civil rights, limiting the free speech of those who spoke out against them, etc. Anyone who criticized Bush was told that we are at war so please be quiet and be a good American. Now of course, with W and Cheney among the least popular figures in American political history, the GOP is trying to re-position themselves as the party of more limited government, which they legitimately were through about 1970 and so now they're making nice with the Tea Partiers, attempting to co-opt their energy and anger against the Obama administration as though Bush & Co. were not much, much more intrusive. But this matters not to the GOP who knows their brand is in the toilet and so they attempt to co-opt the intellectually dishonest claims that Obama is grasping at totalitarianism. They're trying to re-write history in an attempt to salvage their political party.

You stay classy....

2010-01-09T00:05:00.000-08:00

fear-mongering GOP pols. It's nice that politicians you don't like are on a par with terrorists. Cheers!

Obama legitimates Bush

2009-12-15T10:06:00.000-08:00

Obama's speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize was another step in President Obama diminishing the space between himself and President George W. Bush. While he campaigned as a reformer, his promises, particularly on foreign policy, were so vague as to be meaningless. Hence these actions are not particularly surprising. However they are nonetheless disappointing as he confirms my worst suspicions about the course of his presidency. President Obama said in his remarks accepting the Nobel Peace Prize that America has underwritten security for the world over the past 60 years. I guess the President forgot to ask Mohammed Mossadeq, Guatemala, Vietnam, Grenada, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, and Iraq, among others. President Obama also claims waging war is a means of securing future peace. So eight years in Afghanistan isn't long enough to secure peace in Afghanistan so perhaps 35 years will be enough? Would one more death in Iraq secure greater security there? No. Is there a compelling national interest for continued US presence and troops in Afghanistan? No. Is the US presence there ensuring further, understandable antagonism toward the US in the future? Yes. I never believed Obama was an agent of change because he was Wall Street's favorite son. Until there is campaign finance reform, none of this will change.

global warming

2009-11-29T08:30:00.000-08:00

is fake say flood victims in Saudi Arabia.

complacent Obama fans

2009-11-28T19:39:00.000-08:00

There are many WASP-y Obama supporters out there for whom the election of President Obama was not particularly significant insofar as he represented a rebuff to the insular, secretive, big-business friendly W presidency but too much, because he wasn't George W. Bush. Too many people voted for President Obama simply because they were so (understandably) sick of the increasingly brazen corruption which typified W's leadership.

However, voting for someone because they aren't the worst guy ever isn't much of an endorsement of the new guy. It's not saying much to remove us from the seventh circle of hell and improve things a little bit. If those are the standards by which we define success, well, our "leaders" will continually fail to reach the standards of ethical, responsible leadership which the people of America should expect. But worse than the damning with faint praise is the fact that President Obama has doubled down on the secrecy of the Bush administration by abrogating his promise that he would veto any bill upholding telecom immunity. Obama has empowered the same financial advisors who facilitated the treasonous too big to fail bailouts at the end of Bush's second term. And we continue to bomb our "ally". With friends like that, who needs enemies? That brings me to this. Too many of my nice, urbane, yuppie college friends are not sufficiently upset, if they bought into the claims of Obama that he would change things, that he is much too content with same as it ever was. He hasn't empowered people, but is run by the same interests that have run politics in the US for a long time. Fine, if you want to criticize Bush, totally reasonable, but is Obama living up to the hype? When you promote yourself, and win awards for a campaign promoting change, you should be more than just talk.

in spite of the name of this blog.....

2009-11-26T12:55:00.000-08:00

sometimes good things happen. I guess since it was Thanksgiving yesterday, this is as good a time as any to post a more upbeat post. I am, believe it or not, an optimist. I'm just a hard-nosed one. This quote from Oscar Wilde sums up my outlook fairly well: "We are all laying in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." It seems too many people take pleasure in the shortcomings and failures of their fellow man and use man's many failures to validate their own failure to try and make the world better. People see people's failures but not their successes? Why is that? Sure people screw up, but they also do things right, and well. Why can't people focus on those things rather than the negative? .

Anyway, I was at the airport the other day, flying back to the States for Thanksgiving and we had a starter problem on one of the engines, discovered only when we were taxiing down the runway to take off. So while the captain learned of this problem, we of course sat there helplessly, in the plane, for about an hour and a half or maybe even two, until they learned that the replacement part would have to be shipped from Japan. Finally we were told that because this part wouldn't be arriving any time soon that we'd have to go back into the airport. So back everyone trooped, having to return THROUGH customs because we had cleared once. It was a long, winding trip back to the terminal and at one point we had to descend an escalator to wait in a small area in front of an automatic double doors so that we could take a shuttle back. So as people came down the escalator, they naturally didn't move particularly quickly forward, away from the escalator. People would move a little ways and then stand there, because...well, why bother? However, it became apparent that if we didn't all move a decent ways forward from the bottom of the escalator after coming down it, that people coming down it would bump into the people who'd just come down and there could potentially be a bit of a build-up of people. Some people noticed this fairly early and said quite clearly and forcefully that people should move forward. There were probably 150 or so people waiting in an area around 20' by 30' and so it was imperative that people did move once they got down the escalator. Once folks got down to the bottom, we had to stand around for about 15 minutes, having sat on the plane for a couple of hours with no water, many folks having connections put in jeopardy or having missed them altogether.

However, there at the bottom of the escalator, folks stood around, joked, people were polite to one another, no one pushed or dissed anyone, and everyone was a good human, just waiting for our shuttle bus to take us back to the terminal so that we could make new reservations for our flights to wherever we were going. And there were people of every race-black, white, Asian, Latino. It ain't much, but it's something.

Meet the new boss

2009-11-25T10:30:00.000-08:00

same as the old boss

15 Signs of the Unraveling of Society

2009-11-21T19:15:00.000-08:00

Things fall apart the center cannot hold (Keats). Guns proliferating, jobs lost, health care has disappeared, continuing and accelerating mortgage foreclosure. Perfect storm for chaos.

Immorality of Republican Senators

2009-11-20T14:44:00.001-08:00

As if there were any question....but here is further evidence. According to Roll Call magazine, the Republicans accept that the health-care bill will not be substantively altered and that they will attempt to obstruct the passage of the bill. That this country desires that people should have healthcare and that these Republicans are ensuring that people will die because of an absence of such healthcare, really speaks to the hypocrisy of those Republican Senators who support such obstructionism.

failure of the media

2009-11-20T14:17:00.000-08:00

Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks nails the shortcomings of the national media in failing to clearly state What Happened. As he says, the national media likes to say that there are two equal and different sides to every story and that People Just Disagree when in fact, on many issues, a clear majority of the evidence suggests one side is right and the other is wrong. The media, however, likes to encourage talking, regardless of how inane or mindless. So they downplay the fact that the truth might be clearly on one side. This is truly demoralizing to those of us who follow the news quite closely and place great value on judgments being made on the basis of evidence, rather than pretending that there are two equally valid claims as to what happened. Uygur and The Young Turks are perceptive-and funny-commenters on the American scene.

the economic recovery continues

2009-11-17T14:07:00.000-08:00

I'm glad to see that people are able to eat satisfactorily and that delinquencies on mortgages are decreasing. This is wonderful news. Yes, stocks are at a 13 month-high so I guess everything must be right with the world. Now off to finish my polo match before a brief stay at my Bali estate.

Problems

2009-11-11T23:32:00.000-08:00

Ya know ya got 'em when you're Sarah Palin and Fox News is fact-checking you.

Veteran's Day

2009-11-11T02:44:00.000-08:00

On this Veteran's Day, thank you to all you who gave your time and energy and passion to serve your country. It is much appreciated. It's a shame when our "leaders" use your goodwill for their own nefarious ends. Here's a poem by Wilfred Owen taking harsh, scabrous stock of some of the false reasons given to poor, ill-informed young young folks, to risk their lives for their country. Here's another take on war.

Israeli settlers taking over Palestinian homes

2009-11-10T07:42:00.001-08:00

This video is heartbreaking, but maddening at the same time. That the US continues to play possum regarding Israel, and fund Israel when Israel is a strategic liability for the US, is an embarrassment to the United States. Unfortunately, most Americans are so ill-informed about events in Palestine and Israel that they will not be fully aware of the scale of humanitarian catastrophe which continues to persist in the West Bank, until another particularly audacious Israeli land grab occurs again, as it did in '08 and '06 most recently.

Meantime, these sorts of steady, grinding thefts of Palestinian property will continue, until the US tells Israel that its ongoing financial sponsorship is contingent on Israel evidencing some sort of regard for Palestinian human rights.

You stay classy....

2009-11-10T01:09:00.000-08:00

House Republicans.

bizarre narrative strategy to softpedal ostentation for which NY Times allegedly feels some guilt

2008-12-21T13:59:00.000-08:00

Wellthis truly is a bizarre and really yucky story. The NY Times travel section does a tour of the extravagant manses of some 19th and 20th century titans of industry. The writer, however, notes that it is a a little distasteful to speak about such ostentatiousness given the financial meltdown currently going on in the world. This, to me, does not ring true. You didn't own the house. I didn't own the house. We are just going to look at it. If you feel uncomfortable about seeing such gaudy wealth, how about not going there? However the supposed uneasiness which the writer for the Times claims to feel about documenting the extravagance of the homes doesn't deter him from writing about them. Instead, he creates imagined discussions between himself and the owners - among them Jay Gould, railroad baron considered one of the 19th century's robber barons, Frederick Vanderbilt of the famous Vanderbilt family , and - in which the moguls confess that some of the more extravagant elements of their homes might just have been a little much....

So we have the specter of alleged guilt over even visiting these houses, and then we have imagined conversations with former industrial big-wigs in which apologetic dialogue is attributed to them in the event that, oh yeah, perhaps they exploited and walked all over a few too many people to accumulate such wealth. Yeesh. The NY Times has a curious way of recognizing the seriousness of our financial crisis....by claiming unwarranted guilt over seeing extravagant houses and then attributing unexpressed guilt to the barons who built those houses.

hypocrisy much?

2007-11-09T21:13:00.000-08:00

Again, skating over the fact that this is fairly obvious, as pointed out by David Kuo in his book, Tempting Faith. Karl Rove and the kingmakers had no compunction about using the conservative right for political leverage and casting them aside when they became a hindrance. One of the most cynical things I've heard in politics (and that is saying something) was Karl Rove's statement, when attempting to secure religious right support for his patron/houseboy, was Rove's demand to an aide to "get me one of those f***ing faith-based things. Got it?" So it's clear that really these cynical kingmakers care nothing for the principles which the religious right cares for. They just like the sizable voting bloc which takes its voting cues from these grasping powermongers.

It's with the opportunism of the fascistic bloodsuckers of the upper ranks of the Republican party in mind that a story has come to note this week. Pat Robertson (yes, that Pat Robertson) has endorsed Rudy Giuliani (yes, that Rudy Giuliani) for President.

So, given the fact that Pat Robertson is opposed to abortion, the death penalty, and equal rights for LGBTs, one might think that he might have a bit of a problem with 9/11 (a.k.a Rudy). Again, so yeah, that tells you how closely Pat Robertson holds his religious beliefs. He's such a devout Christian that he will back a candidate for President who flouts basically all of them. So yeah.....

liveblogging Tony Snow on the Late Show with David Letterman

2007-10-05T00:30:00.000-07:00

Tony Snow is quite tall. He's taller than Letterman by an inch or so and Letterman is 6'2. Wearing a light shirt, open collared, dark jacket. But of course, once he starts talking, he's largely full of it.

Letterman asks him if any reporters who were trying to start stuff and he said there was one who was always trying to instigate nuclear match-ups (David Gregory?) between countries. Now how could a reporter, asking a question, be responsible for two countries pointing nukes at one another? That's what countries do. Policy determines whether people point nukes at one another. If you have a nutjob as leader, perhaps he might force a confrontation. Otherwise, it's not going to happen. Certainly not because of a reporter.

Letterman wonders whether Bush's approval rating (he says/asks, what is it, 30 something; Snow agrees) bothers the White House. Snow says it could be better. How to make a 33% approval rating appear not so bad.....yeah, and the sky could be higher up. What does that mean? Snow babbles on about how a wartime President isn't popular. Uh huh....so Monkey Boy wasn't popular after initially hitting Afghanistan...through '03.....starts to slow down. Yeah, it has nothing to do with a quagmire in Iraq or a storm in New Orleans. And, uh, FDR (not sure if there were opinion polls then, but he was certainly very popular). Ike I believe was at least not too unpopular, even through the political minefields of high level political service. George Washington....very popular. Kennedy, popular in the very early days of Vietnamese involvement. Bush's daddy very popular during the Gulf War in '91. So it helps if the war is perceived to be for a somewhat noble cause. Yeah, I hate those unfortunate facts interfering with Tony Snow's unpaid PR work. I guess once a hack, always a hack.

Oh yeah, then when Letterman throws him a bone noting-perhaps this is a regurgitation of a right-wing talking point-that Bush is in person a decent guy (cough cough as long as you agree with him in everything cough cough) Snow notes that there are lots of practical jokes done in this administration. Well that's reassuring eh?

Matthews gets a taste of his own medicine

2007-10-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

Oh man....I've waited a long time to see this. Matthews, consummate insider, the man who's all cozy with Tom DeLay and all up in Hilary's bidness, who's never met a subject who he won't interrupt and who he won't talk over, just gets taken to town by Jon Stewart. Oh man, this was hilarious. I thought Matthews would concede Jon was basically correct and that it's important to do right...but no, he just keeps hammering away at (yes, he really said this) how (and this was such a bizarre anecdote) he thought the way to get girls in college (wait....wasn't that like 40 years ago Chris? You're talking as though it's ongoing) was drinking and hoping for the best...and Bill Clinton says, no, it's listening. Apart from the fact that, uh, when has Bill Clinton ever said that, Jon follows up that this begs the question of whether politicians are actually interested or whether they're just going through the motions. Either Chris has never thought of this or he's so in the tank that he can't think objectively about this, but he's confused. He presents the example of Hilary's listening tour and Jon says, well, does she (or any other pol) really care?

By the end, Matthews is really frustrated. BTW, what is up with his laugh? And why does he walk out with his arms crossed? Who does that? Jon's invited on Hardball and he demurs, saying "I don't troll". The funny thing is....this.is.an.interview. Jon obviously knows what Chris is talking about....he just doesn't believe the hype, so to speak. Matthews has written a book that basically says (with apologies to that old chestnut) "Everything I Learn In Life, I Can Learn From Campaigning". And Jon says, isn't there something to do with, do right, do the right thing? And Matthews here gets a bit hazy. He claims the two are intertwined, but he doesn't seem to believe it himself. Matthews claims at the end that this is "the interview from hell." I think if he'd admitted essentially that he was a hack and there was a limited amount one can learn from the cynical business of modern politics, he might have survived. But when Jon notes that this book is a recipe for sadness in response to Matthews' claim that everything in life is essentially campaigning-trying to get a girlfriend, get a job, etc-he reveals his essentially craven political hack-ness. Matthews compares this interview to an interview he did with Zell Miller (D-Insania) during the '04 Repub convention in which he met his match in political cynicism. Miller's odd smile after supposedly convincing Matthews to back off a bit is one of the strangest political moments I've ever seen, and we've seen some doozies over the last nearly seven years in particular.

more Rush

2007-10-02T23:03:00.000-07:00

This guy is incredible. So now again, he's denying "agency" (a nice graduate history term which basically refers to autonomy) to the guy who said, "come and call me a phony soldier to my face", basically saying this guy is being used by the left.

As if this guy doesn't have a mind of his own. As if Rush's comments aren't despicable on their own. But yet where are the Repubs condemning this? FAUX News has circled the wagons with this clown? Ughh, I need a shower.

C-SPAN 3 hearing on Blackwater

2007-10-02T15:58:00.000-07:00

Wow, in these partisan times, I love the relations among the House Oversight Committee members. It's just wonderful the passive-agressive snipping between committee members. When one representative was simply asking the CEO of Blackwater, about the number of accidents involving Blackwater employees and Prince noted that the company had lost three helicopters in Iraq in the past year, professional civic idiot Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Moronia) interposed, outside of the Roberts' rules of orders-just straight interrupted and said.....I swear I heard this.......did this committee investigate the helicopter crash of (former Clinton Commerce Secretary) Ron Brown. Rep. Waxman and Rep. Davis, the chairs and minority standing members both said they weren't on the committee at that time. Really, Issa is such a douche. He, Dan Burton (R-Idiotiana-he's from Indiana but I have nothing particularly against Hoosiers), Tom Mica (R-FL) just want to give this guy's balls a little tickle. They all noted that Blackwater had not allowed any Congresspeople to be injured. Is this the indication of the fitness of Blackwater's work? Dan Burton also just attempted to offer Prince the floor (when he didn't have the floor) to answer a claim that was not an opinion and which was made at the end of one of the Representatives' period for questioning witnesses and in which there was no more time for questions to be addressed. Of course, the reason for Burton's defensiveness is that these are inconvenient facts (as most are) for neo-cons. It's unbelievable how intellectually dishonest these guys are. They had (and still have, in some ways, because of the spinelessness of too many Dems) their way in pushing undemocratic, unaccountable, unresponsive government, for several years after 9/11/01, but when the tables are turned, they attempt to minimize the validity of opposing points of view. And Chris Shays just seems bonkers. He was very brusque with Prince even though his questions weren't particularly harsh. He really is a sick dog. Who knows WHAT goes on behind closed doors with him.

To be honest, Prince seems like an OK guy-at least he's somewhat decent. Given the lawlessness of his company, he seems pretty forthcoming. He might be a nice guy. Again, that is not reason to win a billion dollars in contracts. He's obviously a hard-core neo-con judging by his financial contributions to the Republican party, but the problem is really bigger than whether Blackwater is running amok in Iraq. What we really need is testimony of the State Dept. about the accountability of Blackwater and whether they are accountable to the Dept. of Defense. And unfortunately they are not accountable to the Dept. of Defense, but to the Dept. of State. It is this crossing of wires in the accountability of US personnel is the unaccountable space in which Blackwater and others like them can act so blithely.

Humorous quote of the last 20 minutes: Prinz says: "I think my financial folks will tell you I'm not a financially-driven guy." Yeah, that's why he just said earlier today that he made more than one million dollars in '06 while David Petraeus, the man in charge of US forces in Iraq, made at least six times less. Also in the previous link, Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus notes that in arranging a contract with Regency Hotel for hospital security, Blackwater charged Regency on average $1100 per day per person while their average employee made $600 a day. So you do the math. There are $500 per day per person profits on a 34 person contract negotiated for a year for a contract back in 2004 which is going straight into Blackwater's pocket. And the average pay for a soldier in Iraq? Glad you asked. Also from Pincus' article, an unmarried sergeant makes about $83 a day and a married sergeant, around $170. Something smell bad to you too?

(More has been written about this disaster capitalism by Naomi Klein including excerpts here, and the seminal book on Blackwater by Jeremy Scahill).

mock Jena 6 re-enactment

2007-10-02T13:20:00.000-07:00

This is really pretty sick. These kids dressing up blackface and re-enacting the Jena 6 assault claim that they had been drinking and things just got out of hand.....yeah, I'll say. Is it any wonder this country is in such a mess?

Rush Limbaugh goes wawee wawee wawee

2007-10-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

You know, I wouldn't be surprised if aliens have reached and contacted Earth, just not the US. They might have contacted people in other countries and established relations with them, on the grounds that we don't have interact with those crazy Americans.

Yes that's right, Rush Limbaugh is at it again. It's not enough that he refers to soldiers who don't agree with him as phony, but when Harry Reid rightly criticizes him, he comes back like a third-grader who's just been hit in the head at dodgeball. Say it to my face? He could say it to your face, but it'll be a ways from you because of that big belly between you and the Senator. If you wanna see a couple good smackdowns of this pomposity, here's one from a vet, and here's another from the veteran advocacy group Vote Vets.org. This is all despicable. These guys, most especially Limbaugh, play rhetorical games while soldiers die. Forget the fact that the policy itself is a disaster, let's argue about how polite we are in talking about how disastrous the policy is.

Hadn't found a translation of Bush's comments to then Spanish PM Jose Maria Aznar as printed in El Pais so hadn't commented about this, but it's pretty dreadful. Well, it's really not too surprising I guess; it's about in keeping with what he said to Blair last year in terms of his awarness of the world and international relations. At that time, as Juan Cole says so well above, he displayed the lack of mastery of international relations which bedevils our relations with the rest of the world, suggesting that the Syrians "need to cut this shit out." It's as though he was telling his 8 year old son to stop poking his seven year-old sister or something. Ah, yeah, cut that shit out-thanks W-now we know how to stop this gruesome hemorrhaging in the Middle East. If no one had told us that before, we would just have continued bombing and killing each other. But now we know.....why didn't someone tell us that in 1949? So many lives could have been saved.....

And here Bush goes again, this time with then Spanish PM Aznar, saying that waiting for Saddam was like "Chinese water torture", that there was "no guarantee" Saddam wouldn't be assassinated as an alternative to going into exile (which he had offered to do), said that he was running out of patience with Saddam and said that he didn't think he could wait for the UN too long. He also says makes the sort of thuggish, bullying suggestions for which he is now known, suggesting not-so-subtly that those world beaters Angola, Chile, and the Cameroon, if they attempt to hold Bush back, might be dealt with punitively. This is a 6th grader pounding on a 2nd grader. And then when Aznar mentions waiting until March 14, Bush demurs, saying maybe he can handle the 10th. This guy's megalomania, while well-established, becomes just more appalling by the minute.

god protected us from the peaceful protesters

2007-09-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

Saw this atrocious news conference from the DA for Lousiana's 28th Judicial District, home to Jena, site of the now infamous incident which has caused the Jena 6 affair. This man, Reed Walters, is quite a piece of work. He told the Jena 6 that he could make their lives miserable. Nothing was done when those black children were on the receiving end of white intimidation via nooses hung in a tree after they had been told that no, black kids could not rest under that tree. Then, after nothing was done to the white kids, the black kids were charged with murder owing to a fight in which they'd used (I swear I'm not making this up) their shoes. And yes, in spite of the fact that this student was allegedly the target of an attempted murder, he, uh went to a party that night. So yeah, you know that attempted murder, with, uh, shoes, must have been harsh. Must have had nearly a shoe mark on their behinds. Honestly........

And then, after Walters decides that Mychal Bell, one of the six who had been charged as an adult will only be charged as a child, he has the nerve to hold the above press conference. Yes, how did that guy and all those around him survive such possible savagery from all those big scary black people. Yes, it must have been the big man upstairs, the big JC, etc. Yeah, had nothing to do with black people simply being, you know, exactly the same as white people in that they just want what everyone wants and that they will endure hardships and tolerate bad conditions and the ignorance and harsh words of people who just don't understand. So yes, Reed Walters, yeah, it's not that, you know, black people and sympathetic people of other races can, you know, behave themselves in the pursuit of a higher goal. It's that the big JC protected you from those typically savage black people. Yeah, that's it.

PBS' "The War"

2007-09-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

Have spent too long today (OK, nearly 7 hours) watching Ken Burns' "The War". It is compelling, riveting stuff. As Burns says at the end of one of the episodes, he doesn't employ any talking heads to discuss it. He doesn't need any because the men who participated in it are still alive. He focuses on the stories of a few men whose stories are, well, emblematic. He goes into detail with the soldiers' families, in offering a look at the effect of war production on the economies of an area (Mobile, Alabama most specifically), and focuses on several towns-Sacramento, Waterbury CT, Mobile, and Luverne MN which provides the perspective on the war from big and little towns, east and west, industrial and rural. I'm still watching it because I did not get to see the shows when they were shown for the first time this past week. Still, the remembrances with the veterans, the film and still pictures, the accounts of the vets, are amazingly compelling and one doesn't hear the sometimes staid, removed, large-scale commentary on the strategy and tactics of the war plan. These are immediate, specific, graphic memories of a tragic (not that there is any other kind) war. It is most definitely required viewing.

floods in Africa

2007-09-29T01:47:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know they're going on? I must admit, I've read a bit about them, but I'm a bit of a news junkie. Still, it's hard to track, beyond a superficial depth, the extent of the disasters in such varied areas.

There is obviously Iraq, the ongoing mess that is the Middle East where it seems one particularly rash or even more extreme by someone in the Middle East and it seems dominoes are ready to fall; there was a massive earthquake in Peru last month, there was another big earthquake in Indonesia a couple of days ago, less than three years after the massive damage inflicted by the huge tsunami of 2004.

There were forest fires in Greece which killed 37, but of which I'm keenly aware because of some family. And in the wake of those fires, vague zoning laws have allowed for the possibility of large-scale theft of land. And then of course, there were the worst floods Britain has seen in some time during the summer. And while of course this damage in Britain is bad, the country is to a great degree insured against natural disasters. Being an island in a fairly mild climate, buffered by the moderating Gulfstream which keeps weather in Britain fairly mild, Britain is, long-term, not at the significant risk that Peru (often vulnerable to earthquakes) and southeast Asia, very vulnerable to earthquakes and floods, are.

Still an' all, these are by most accounts, the worst floods in Africa in a long time. They've affected a wide swath of sub-Saharan Africa, from Mauritania and Burkina Faso in the west, across the Cameroon, Uganda, the Central African Republic, Niger, and the forlorn Sudan. Sudan-whose accursed citizens must think they were evil in another lifetime to warrant such pain in this life. The floods have also ravaged Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, the Congo, Sierra Leone, and Ghana. Altogether, estimates put the number of those affected directly (via loss of home) at 1.5 million. In Uganda, over 300,000 are negatively affected and are reliant on non-profit aide for at least the next six months. That number is 60,000 in Togo where 30,000 homes have been washed away as well as six dams. In Ghana the number is 75,000 needing immediate and sustained NGO or government assistance.

Sudan, one of the largest African countries, has been perhaps the worst hit, with 500,000 needing above-mentioned help and 113 perishing in the floods. The cost of providing for such large numbers of the sick and infirm is $64 million in Uganda. This is a challenging fund-raising goal but is quite achievable if the West set its mind to it. Of course, given the financial incentives, will the Western media devote sustained attention to Africa? Survey says: don't bet on it.

Katie Couric

2007-09-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems things are not bad enough for Katie Couric to call out the Bush administration on the war. In this interview with Marvin Kalb of the Kennedy School of Government, Couric says that "unless something is really egregious", it's not her role to call the government on it. I'm just wondering how many dead soldiers, how many lies, how dire the Civil War, how corrupt the Iraqi government, how degraded and insecure the Middle East, how downright FUBAR the whole situation must get before Ms. Couric does her job.

It's pretty ironic because she did admit just recently that she felt some heat-though really, is that all it takes to dissuade corporate journalists (rhetorical question, don't really expect answer) from asking some questions? (And has Katie Couric ever really done a tough interview? I think that is a Kafkaesque question). And with regard to the Petraeus report, she said recently that she saw what the military wanted. So she admitted several weeks ago that she had been propagandized. Then in this more recent interview Couric says that unless things are "egregious", she won't report on them. But this suggests the Platonic story of the cave. If you're in a hole and you know you're in a hole, how can you question the severity of what is going on outside? You've already admitted that you're not getting an unvarnished view, so how can you question whether you truly understand whether what you're seeing is untainted or unmediated by outside influences? Katie Couric does not ask tough questions, and I really don't expect a whole lot more at this point. I'm jaded enough that my expectations are quite low. But to have to tolerate the dog-and-pony show of her distortions and half-truths is intolerable.

The hits keep coming

2007-09-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

For a guy who's this headstrong, the signs, well, hell, who cares about the signs. Still, I think Barney must have made his public stance on Iraq clear recently. Now, it turns out his daughter Jenna parts with her father on family planning. His family planning: only do it when you want a child; hers-be smart, be educated. Imagine that. Well, she may have learnt it at home because apparently her mother thinks similarly. Well, Bush's stubbornness was about Iraq but we can see a dry drunk who views every policy through the lens of ideology doesn't see things rationally. How can you, when you put party over policy, or over country?

And then, this from Nancy Pelosi. See, we've come to know George W. Bush is a tool, a douche, a fucktard, a hoser, a dope, etc. But one would expect more from the (alleged) opposition party. But not only is Pelosi adamant at the end of the video that impeachment has always and will always be off the table regarding Bush, as long as she is speaker, but she claims fatuously that this is the Republicans' war and that she could not have facilitated an end to the funding for the war-as if she and her majority whips had no resources or mettle by which to end the war. She has plenty of pull as the Speaker of the House and she could have used it. She obviously doesn't care. And for her to get all pissy with Wolf Blitzer is truly the height of pique. I think her botox nearly exploded there. This is really the worst kind of CYAism (Cover Your Ass) and it's a shoddy job at that. For her to attempt to attribute this war to the Repubs is completely untenable. Dems have too often sold their souls and I sure hope Cindy Sheehan can beat Pelosi. Pelosi is doing the worst sort of covering, and for an almost unbelievably immoral administration. It's not just their war. And the more you, Nancy Pelosi, claim it is, the less it is.

Falafel O'Reilly learns black people are human

2007-09-25T17:34:00.001-07:00

Well, apparently, it's been a busy day for Falafel O'Reilly. He must be a bit more informed and a bit more worldly today. He "has learned" that black people are human, that they do not need to use profanity to order food, that "their" restaurants work largely like "other" restaurants. Here are some other things that Falafel O'Loofah has learned.

Perhaps more perversely though, Falafel also says that black people are "starting to think more and more for themselves. They're getting away from the Sharptons and the Jacksons and the people trying to lead them into a race-based culture. They're just trying to figure it out."

Huh?

Again, the ignorance-actually, I don't believe for a second that it is ignorance with Falafel. He knows what side his bread is buttered on and he'll say anything to lather up his base. It's like throwing raw meat to sharks. Still......this is amazing......President Bush is destroying the world, this man is underestimating the intelligence and independence of black people, but will he continue to work at FAUX? You betcha. I mean, how does he think black folks (I'm not black) survived 400 years here being treated shittily? By virtue of their connections? On the grounds of their political legacies? Hell no.....on their wits. I mean, to survive and thrive as black people have done and continue to do, given so few breaks along the way, Falafel O'Loofah you haftabefuckinkiddinme.

smorgasbord of bad things....

2007-09-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

(updated at bottom)

I've been seeing so many bad things over the last couple of months and I've been wanting to consider them for some time so some of these are dated. That said, these issues have been knawing at me for some time and it's important to give them ass much daylight as possible so all, uh, 0 readers of this blog, can know about them. Anyway, herewith, some large portions of my head the last couple months:

If one of the most horrific casualties of the last 6.5 years of Clusterfuck of America isn't Jose Padilla, I don't know who is. It would appear from this transcript of Democracy Now that Jose Padilla has undergone Stockholm Syndrome and was concerned about possible ill effects that his testimony might have on the Bush administration. That is to say, he had been so brainwashed that he had been convinced of the justness of the Bush administration and the persecuting tendencies of an allegedly hostile media and society. I listened to the show and it's frequently heartbreaking, but this one was sad to an even greater extent. Given that Padilla had been held for over 3.5 years without ANY access to anyone. He was kept in extreme isolation, to the extent that he was denied access even to a lawyer for all that time. Reading his lawyer's reflections and thoughts about Padilla's state of mind and his experience in detention, it is truly tragic that a man against whom charges were diminished significantly as the Bush administration attempted to avoid the embarassment of one of its allegedly key victories in the war on turrr amounting to nothing, has of course been most grievously affected by such unjust and finally unjustified treatment. To hear his lawyer reflecting on Padilla's experiences and his state of mind now which seems to have been irreparably harmed by his detention experiences is one of the saddest, and most tragic things I have ever read.

The recent surge "debate" has also been one of the weirdest things I have ever seen. Really, it's no wonder Americans like movies which are completely incoherent and just a clusterfuck of ill-conceived and irrational premises. I'm not averse to the occasional escapist movie, but it doesn't seem to matter how stupid or ridiculous a movie is, it's described by too many viewers as awesome or kick-ass, or whatever. When I point out the complete severing from reality and physical laws, I see eyes glaze over and/or the old canard, aw shoot, it's just one movie. But yet all these ridiculous movies make a lot of money. My point is Americans seem to have a high tolerance for bullshit. They can claims simultaneously that they are attached to reality while enjoying movies like "Saw" and its sequel, all the Scary Movie movies, "Hostel" (when I've been to Mexico and met Americans who didn't even know what a youth hostel was!!!!! (unthinkable for a young European traveller), and numerous others.

So it's not surprising that they'll tolerate bullshit from Tony Snow about the supposed, well at least not failure, and possibly success, of the surge, regardless of the fact that casualties have actually gotten larger overall in Iraq. Yeah, perhaps they've gotten smaller in Baghdad. That's where most of the surge troops were posted. It's just that the violence migrated to other parts of the country instead.

Well, on a positive note, I should include some wonderful music videos which I found recently. The first one is an incendiary-seriously, make sure your computer isn't too hot when you play this because this performance might just ignite the battery-performance by the late, great, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Stevie Wonder, back in '86. Stevie Ray had asked to visit Stevie Wonder and Stevie obliged and you get the whole performance, live and uninterrupted. The second one is Stevie Wonder doing "Higher Ground" back in the day, just a live bass, rhythm section, again, make sure you are using your computer in a freezer because the heat of this performance might just set your computer off. And the third one is a bit more Stevie Ray Vaughan, this time at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1988, tearing through an old favorite, "Willie The Wimp."

OK, one more hit. Ahmadinejad was in New York today, speaking at the United Nations and Columbia. Of course the media gets its knickers in a twist over "such a controversial" figure being here. And yeah, Ahmadinejad's views on the Holocaust are disgraceful, his view that there are no gay people in Iran is disgraceful. But again, we have helped people like Laurent Kabila, Mobutu Sese Seko; we've supported people like Carlos Menem who went along with the IMF dismantling of the Argentine economy and has been investigated for some time over corruption charges; we've supported people like Fujimori of Chile who is under investigation for financial abuses and human rights violations. And now, Ahmadinejad, who is clearly the other side of the same coin from W, is using official American antagonism toward Iran (it ain't comin' from me-no Iranian ever hurt me) to strengthen support for his leadership. And really, when someone is backed into a corner, is it surprising that their people will stick to their side?.

Still an' all, what has Ahmadinejad done to America yet? They tried to reach an agreement with us in 2003 in order to avoid conflict in the Middle East. Ahmadinejad has claimed that Iran is conducting nuclear development in order to increase their industrial capacity which is well within their rights. They are adhering to IAEA guidelines on the development of nuclear power. So really, there is no problem except Bush being pestered by his right wing and some of the religious fanatics in his group to hit Iran. That's it.

UPDATE: added spaces between links to three music videos.

school district disparities

2007-09-19T22:38:00.000-07:00

As a teacher-even a substitute teacher-who has worked in different school districts and in areas which vary greatly socio-economically, going to a school today which is obviously well funded by its tax base and local taxes, it was astonishing to see the difference between the level of local services available in this school in the Chaffey School District and my friendly local Rialto Unified. I love Rialto and perhaps even prefer it, having worked there the last 5.5 years. And I'm really not surprised by the quality of the school in Chaffey; ok, it was Los Osos High. Anyway, this is what high school should be. There should be sufficient amenities for students, an acceptable physical plant, and resources for teachers as they wish (at least within reason) also. And the teachers in Rialto do all they can. It's just...well, after registering with Chaffey in order to cut down on the length of my commute, it's just eye-opening to see a....you know, functioning, adequate school and all the corresponding amenities. Today was the first day there. It was just....well, it felt like a college campus. I couldn't believe how well-behaved the students were. After working so long at Rialto, one is on edge a bit during class....I was nearly expecting flare-ups.....and they didn't happen. Again, this is not a reflection on the students in Rialto. They are born into the world in which they live. They don't shape it too much as youngsters. Stil an' all, it's just amazing to see such a well-appointed and adequately funded school and district...and of course the cruelest irony is that Rialto is only about 15 miles away (and of course there are other better schools between Chaffey and Rialto). Such a short distance, such major gaps in educational funding.

They make Manuel from Fawlty Towers look competent

2007-04-29T23:10:00.000-07:00

Well, we all now, or at least somewhat rational, sane people, all know, that the Cheney administration is a farcical sham embodied in incompetence, corruption, and cronyism, which characteristics reveal themselves at every action that the US federal government takes these days. But in accepting help to provide aid during Hurricane Katrina, all they had to do was say, "Please sir, can I have some more?". The Washington Post today details the amount of foreign aid offered to the United States in the wake of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the inexplicable rejection of most of that money. Really, how on Earth, after seeing pictures like this or this, or this, or this could the Cheney administration refuse to accept any financial assistance to help the victims of this horrific tragedy? The mind boggles once again at the pride this time, and complete breakdown of the mechanisms of government under this crowd. What a disgrace. I mean......they didn't even have to DO anything....just say.....yes, please....can we have some more. What a sham, cabal, crony nest. Geez. And believe me, Manuel was very incompetent...

poverty in the United States

2007-02-25T12:15:00.000-08:00

Read a pretty depressing story the other day about poverty in the United States. While perhaps there are 37 million in poverty in the United States in severe poverty in the country is at a 32-year high and the numbers have grown 64% since 2000. Additionally, the ranks of the severe poor have grown 56% faster than than the numbers of poor. This is truly very disturbing and points out the fact, again, that while productivity has increased during that time period, real earnings have dipped
This is the "two Americas" rhetoric which John Edwards touched on in his 2004 Presidential campaign. He was widely ridiculed for this position but it's clear that poverty is growing, and at a tragic pace and scale.

More news...while the Bush administration loves to demonize the terrorists (which he says with not a hint of irony), it turns out that, a la Hamas, otherwise objectionable militia groups such as the Shi'ite ans Sunni gangs are offering benefits and health care to their supporters when the West has betrayed them and doesn't have the resources or capacity to help the men who are working in their interests. This counters the notion (not that anyone with any sense really believes it) that rebel groups representing the legitimate interests of a group (such as Hamas, or some of the Iraqi groups, don't care about people and are at root, nihilistic. This is obviously just not true and once, again, along with the fact that there is an increasing humanitarian crisis in Iraq and that the United States will not accept more refugees itself, seem to make a prescient point about the more humane civic institution.

There's been a lot of news about the shortcomings of the Veteran's administration to help returning vets and the consequent damage effecting vets and their families. A story from Playboy Enterprises notes that VA and Dept. of Defense doctors are being pressured to limit their diagnoses of PTSD. In spite of that, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine states that between 13 and 20% of soldiers are being diagnosed as having PTSD. In spite of these diagnoses, only about 2000 soldiers have been diagnosed as having PTSD, which would suggest that a great number of soldiers who have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder have not been diagnosed as such. This would seem to uphold the findings of the New England Journal of Medicine and their conclusion that many soldiers are evading the PTSD diagnosis.

The other big story about the failure to help Veteran's is about the terrible conditions at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. Apparently there was mold on the walls, bugs infesting the rooms, and not nearly the amount of
medical care to attend to the injuries afflicting the many who had been injured in America's name. It's truly disgraceful that America's finest should be so cast aside in such a cold manner.

Oh yes, and go and see "Children of Men." Fantastic, inspiring, sobering film.

Racism is dead...

2007-02-12T21:44:00.000-08:00

long live racism. And this from a supposedly progressive, or at least somewhat sophisticated webzine. What a disgrace. Analyzing every nuance of his body language as though that can provide definitive insight. And suggesting he was uppity? Are they completely racially tone-deaf. good lord.

Got $9 bn. to burn?

2007-02-10T16:22:00.000-08:00

No, you probably don't, but Paul Bremer did. And, um, oops, apparently he did a whoopsy wiff da $8 billion (yes, with a b). Indeed, $2 million was moved around in a bag. Imagine what he would would have got if he had looked after that money. But this is a family blog, we don't talk about that sort of thing here. You can read about it after hours I'm sure somewhere on the Internets, or just visit one of those "adult" stores with no windows.....I'm sure you could see what ol' Pauly might have gotten if he'd actually held onto that money. Even though Wolfowitz said the war would pay for itself. Remember that? Maybe $2
trillion (yes, with a t), perhaps we'll be clear of that cost. And that estimate was made assuming the US wouldn't escalate the saber-rattling on Iran. Really, the escalation of the war effort is so similar to what happened with Iraq. And as the Raw Story link two links above notes, the NY Times report is completely outside their usual standards of journalism in that they have standards for anonymous citation. They supposedly require verified sources for controversial stories but, as was the case four years ago (it was the same reporter who co-wrote the WMD stories with Judith Miller...coincidence?), and in spite of the responsibility that the Ol' Grey Lady took for her fawning coverage of the propaganda served up in '02, here it goes again. The usual suspects are citing anonymous sources, using misleading evidence and making claims that are just flat-out lies. And yet the ~~Government Public Relations Dept.~~ networks continue to peddle the same tired, BS stories to promote.....what? Death for poor and middle class people in Iraq and Iran. Fantastic.

Juan Cole notes that if Iranians had been killing Americans to the extent that the Tired Grey Lady says, they would essentially have been solely responsible for American deaths in Baghdad. And really does the NYT reporter not think Iraqis have enough reason to want to kill Americans by themselves? I would think so. As people noted Iran wanted to co-operate in handling Saddam, but we rejected them out of hand-not that the Iraq War was ever a good idea but at this point we're looking for the best of many bad options. It seems, however, that Monkey Boy wanted chaos in the Middle East. More criticism of the NY Times from Glenn Greenwald who points out that the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times seem to have learnt from their stenography sessions for the Cheney administration in 2002 and early '03. The NYT though, as he notes, remains the fair hand-maiden for Dear Leader.Think Progress also criticizes the NYT for their stenography. This article mentions a National Journal article which says that it was the intelligence community and not Stephen Hadley (as he claims in an Los Angeles Times article cited by Think Progress) which demanded that the overstatements about Iranian involvement in Iraq were removed. Yeesh, haven't we been down this road before?

Yet another reason Clint Eastwood rules. Neil Cavuto tries to lead him to pander to right-wing talking points but Clint's having none of it. He's frank and to the point and won't be led down the fanciful path Cavuto walks. Dickhead

to unload my head....

2007-02-03T13:02:00.000-08:00

with apologies to Robert Zimmerman, there is so much stuff going on that I've been meaning to blog about, or at least express some regret about. Herewith:

Would Jesus really lie about what the police were allowed, or not, to do? I think we know the answer to that.

R.I.P. Molly Ivins. She has encouraged and enlightened me since I became politically conscious maybe 15 years ago. Anyway, there are multiple tributes to her, as is fitting. Here's the Rude Pundit who I have a soft spot for; he's obviously as torn up as I am about her death. Here's Maya Angelou in a graceful tribute; Here's her magazine, The Texas Observer with its tribute to her. Here's The Nation's tribute to Molly as well as a podcast featuring John Nichols of The Nation commemmorating her. Here is Firedoglake (an excellent liberal blog (also they're second-to-none for coverage of the Libby trial) with a tribute and clips of her columns. And Arianna Huffington, a woman similar to Molly in lots of good ways.

Yeah, obviously since we're there, we have to keep order, but here's The Bull In The China Shop, yet again.

The President wants more money. $250 billion. Just to put that in perspective, the annual education budget is $70 billion. Think about how much more wisely this money (the war money, not the could be spent.

Plus ca change.... I wanted to write a post like this. The man has culled all the contradictory and misleading reports about the threat of Iran. The networks are drinking the ~~regime~~ administration's hype on Iran, just as they did on Iraq. You know someone is making so much money off these wars because people are not this stupid for no reason.

And dunno if you guys saw the marketing campaign which The Cartoon Network undertook for a TV show. Y'all probably know the story, but anyway, they arrested a couple guys who were responsible for the marketing campaign. Some people got really bent out of shape. The press conference of the "marketing gurus" was really funny:

And enough badness and negativity, here's Jon Stewart on Dick Cheney's false indignation over Wolf Blitzer just mentioning his daughter. Here's The Daily Show on the State of the Union:

And then here The Daily Show on Dick Cheney's and W's refusal to consider withdrawing, you know, coz we have to avenge every death.

I'm glad they're finally doing this. I blogged about this some time ago. The President won't veto, he just claims false authority to ignore parts of laws he doesn't like. What a wonderful example to kids ("Mom, no, I'll do the dishes every week except for the second week of the month".)

Nice to see we're aiding the Iraqi cops so ably.

pwned

2007-01-24T14:38:00.000-08:00

Sen. Hagel is a hero. Well, at least an honest man.

Furious George (McGovern)...

2007-01-22T13:01:00.000-08:00

George McGovern with a few "impolitic" questions for a less distinguished George. We're waiting for answers Monkey Boy.

Pot? Kettle.

2007-01-19T16:57:00.000-08:00

I'd like to introduce you. Actually, the pot is looking quite healthy compared to the kettle. I think the kettle is just tired of standing out.

Well isn't that speccccial?

2007-01-18T19:27:00.000-08:00

As The Church Lady said. Turns out that the Iranians offered us what we essentially want now, from them. Isn't that lovely? Oh the foresight of President Cheney...once again, he's only five years behind the curve. I guess that's more ahead than he is on the torture issue-you know, like 800 years. Actually I think by that point the Vikings realized, wait, all this looting and vandalizing is pretty rude. We should stop. No wonder Cheney doesn't want his TV on anything other than FOX. Good to see Cheney is consistent at least.

Yup, more listening to the Generals

2007-01-18T11:26:00.000-08:00

Well, I wonder if Bush will listen to the Generals as he so often does. Yeah...that's the ticket.

Can't he just....

2007-01-11T08:13:00.000-08:00

call it what it is? It's an escalation. Just as in Vietnam when US popular for Johnson's course of action was low, even in 1967, even though the War went on and the US bombed Cambodia for nearly four years with no real strategic gain in Vietnam, even though Johnson reached a nadir in popularity with the disaster of the Tet Offensive, even though he was discouraged from seeking re-election, the US still acted as though it had a mandate to warmonger more.

Perhaps this is not happening to this degree in Iraq; Cambodia was destroyed as many had known it and the resulting political vacuum allowed for the accession of psychopath Pol Pot; that said, in both cases, the American people had made clear their feelings about the situations, and in both cases, Presidents had completely ignored the intensity of those feelings and carried on as though nothing had changed. Apparently, one can cordon oneself off in an incomparable manner, even though the job is perhaps that in which one is accountable to the most people (at least in the United States). And history seems to be repeating itself as again the Cooped-Up-One-In-Chief turns up his imperious nose at the American people and the world.

Bush glad for more dissenting opinions

2007-01-08T16:44:00.000-08:00

In a clear sign that his comment about only Barney and Laura supporting his War on Turrr (and the idea that the fact that its afilure hasn't suggested to him it might not have been the best idea) will be a self-fulfilling prophecy, Bush is replacing Gen. Casey and Gen. Casey because they haven't ~~been adequately obsequious~~ because they voiced doubts about the insane escalation of the War on Turrrrr. Apparently Bush has the tunnelvision of death on because that is what is going to be happening to many other people because of his decisions. At some point when he cannot escape reality-or when the American people start taking to the streets, reality will be a biooootch for him.

W Respects the Constitution...ha ha ha; Exxon is Honest...ha ha ha

2007-01-06T21:19:00.000-08:00

Yeah, so this has gotten plenty of play by now. Story broke probably Wed. or Thurs. but what can I say, I'm homeless at the moment. But yeah, Bush has employed one of his signing statements to claim the right to look at people's mail in "exigent circumstances". To what end? All of his policies have not reined in terrorism at all. All the numbers show that things are getting worse in Iraq and not better. So he can't claim that we're trying to protect people from terrorism. All your "protection" so far has only gotten people killed and de-stabilized the Middle East. I'm wondering if there are any grounds on which a lawsuit can be made over the appropriateness of signing statements-are they being used appropriately? Apparently, at least according to Wikipedia, they are. Is the purpose of the signing statement being ignored or abused by Bush's use of them? Sheesh. They represent a serious blot on the notion that the powers are separate and they, deny the legislative and judicial branches some of their powers to check and balance. Unconscionable.

Oh yeah, one more thing, it turns out Exxon has spent $18 million over the past 8 years funding organizations which misrepresent the threat of global warming. Lovely. They've done this by funding organizations which will basically do their dirty work for them. They know they are mistrusted and reviled so they pass of their dirty work to someone else. Fantastic.

More on the possible Saddam snuff-film filmer

2007-01-03T13:52:00.000-08:00

Found several posts about the unseemliness and insensitivity of hanging Saddam on al-Eid, a high Holy Day in Iraq. A veteran Iraq journalist, Nir Rosen, has writtenwhat others in the know such as Juan Cole (and yours truly, by some happy accident) wrote. Namely, that choosing the Sunday rather than the Saturday to hang Saddam endorsed the legitimacy of Shi'a Islam over Sunni Islam. It is bad enough that a holy weekend was selected during which the man was supposed to hang, but to do it when Sunnis (of which Saddam was one) were celebrating a very holy day is the sort of unprincipled, cynical, heinous thing that will do nothing but further polarize the situation in Iraq, as even a prominent Conservative commentator has noted. No doubt other informed commentators on Iraq have weighed in on the inappropriateness of hanging Saddam on a holy weekend. This is quite apart from the very notion that his execution was wrong on simple human rights or even strategic military grounds.

Anyway, now comes the not-at-all-surprising-news that the man who possibly filmed Saddam's hanging was Mowaffak al-Rubbaie, a former spokesman for the Dawa party, the strict Shi'a group which is fueling some of the violence in Iraq and seventeen of whose members went to prison for the murder of 17 people at the French and US embassies in Beirut in 1983. This gave way to a whole new round of terrorism including the hijacking of a plane on which two Americans died two years later. But of course al-Rubaie isn't anyone important right? Oh no...just.....the Defense Secretary.....uh huh.

Well, the man who initially accused al-Rubaie of filming the execution-Munkith al-Faroun, one of the prosecutor's at Saddam's trial, has backed off the accusation some, saying that he did not believe al-Rubaie filmed the execution once the scrutiny and outrage over the filming of the death raised. But as is typical for Bush's, oops, I mean al-Maliki's Iraq, al-Maliki will not disclose the identity of the guard. That doesn't necessarily mean that a guard did not film it, but it does leave open the option that an innocent schlub is set-up to be the hangman (no pun intended) to protect al-Faroun. He had said that he believed he had and that he had noted that the guards had not done it. But he seems to have backpedalled some. Regardless, whether a shrill possible terrorist endorser filmed him or not, perhaps more importantly, he's now the Defense Secretary. Do you think he's pursuing helpful, sensible policies designed to aid all Iraqis?

intellectual integrity and Republicans....

2006-12-29T20:06:00.000-08:00

Yes, I thought some good humor was in order before the end of the year. Intellectual integrity and Republicans go together like the Houston Texans and good American football, like Paris Hilton and brains, like R. Kelly and your 14 year-old-niece. It doesn't matter whether it's troops, Secretary of Defense (for Heaven's sakes) telling him the "surge" (can we just call it an increase in troops? is it that hard to be honest with the people whose children, grandchildren, cousins, parents, grandkids, you're killing?. Another prominent military figure, a major in charge of American training has said that, essentially, we don't have an interest in the result between the two warring parties in Iraq. He has essentially conceded that the US forces are bystanders in Iraq, either innocent or not, but that we are not integral to the outcome. And yet this bad news from people who would know does not stop people who don't know from pushing old news or just tired propaganda to push the idea that they were somewhat right about something.

Another interesting post about the matter of President Bush’s unwillingness to implement the suggestions of experts, and those who, you know, know more about the Middle East than him (my 18 month old nephew (but not 6 month old….) among them)) from Sidney Blumenthal. He points out that of course these are not the first experts to warn him about the impending explosion of sectarian ties. But as this war has now dragged on so long, this warning happened over two years ago. And not just from a mid-level commander or something, but from the CIA Station Chief in Baghdad. He had written a memo in November 2004 entitled “The Expanding Insurgency Iraq” in which he stated (correctly-and nothing has been done to change course yet) that in Sunni provinces, the insurgency was “largely unchallenged” and the failure to address their concerns was “bolstering their confidence.” He also predicted over 2000 dead. So he was invited to the White House where, according to Thomas Ricks’ book, ”Fiasco”, President Bush dismissed him by asking later about him, “What is he, some kind of defeatist?”

So we see how the President deals with legitimate observations. Those indeed, probably do not rise to the level of criticism. It is his job as an intelligence officer to assemble information to present a picture of the state on the ground and not necessarily to prescribe solutions. This he did. And yet because his observations were absent from the President’s active fantastic image of Iraq which he carries in his head, he was dismissed, and glibly.

Another interesting point about Bush’s reception of advice is his comment in anticipation of the release of the Baker-Hamilton report. As it is, the report had not even come out yet, and yet he glibly (there’s that word again) downplayed its conclusions by saying that “We probably won’t agree with every proposal…we’ll act on it in a timely fashion.” Perhaps he should just have had a blue-ribbon committee make the case for staying on indefinitely as it’s obvious he was just trying to lend luster to his mediocre (actually no, that’s an insult to mediocrity) leadership.

Blumenthal also points out that Bush, after one of his top lieutenants (Stephen Hadley, one of the truest of believers in the Bush regime) had just been revealed to have written a memo demeaning the abilities of Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki, invited prominent radical Shi’ite cleric Abdul Aziz al-Hakim whose organization is supported by the Badr Brigade, a group which has taken an active role in polarizing and dividing Iraqis by linking ethnicity and religion ever more explicitly. Yes, we need to move away from moderate leaders who might be able to unite disparate bodies of people in favor of fringe rabble-rousers appealing to peoples’ more base beliefs. A uniter, not a divider right?

Update: Read this in Juan Cole's piece on the execution of Saddam for Salon but forgot to mention it. Just now read more about it at Crooks and Liars. Apparently this weekend is a very holy weekend for Muslims: the Eid, or the day on which Muslims commemmorate Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Jacob for God. Sunnis (of which Saddam was one) celebrate it on Saturday which means the holiday was just opening when Saddam was killed. Shi'ites celebrate it on Sunday and of course the government is disproportionately composed now of Shi'ites. So Saddam is being sacrificed not only on a Holy day, but on a day which is contested by Shi'ites and which Sunnis disagree with their brethren on. The ultimate loss for Saddam. Again, this is not expressing sympathy for Saddam but simply saying that if you really wish to win "Hearts and Minds" (remember? The relatively halcyon days of 2003...), you must respect the traditions and the culture of a country. George Bush has disrespected Muslims in general, and Iraqis in a more specific sense, at every turn. He was never going to be able to win hearts and minds given the tenor of his foreign policy.

more troops?

2006-12-16T15:56:00.000-08:00

So I've read a couple of articles in the last few days which really capture the idiocy of sending in only a tiny number of additional troops.

Professor Juan Cole, whose Informed Comment is your one-stop shop for information about the destruction in the Middle East (not just Iraq) is right on point in noting that 20 or 30,000 troops (the President talks about them with all the gravity you might talk about the latest Hollywood blockbusters) will not stem the sectarian violence in Iraq. As Army Chief of Staff Eric Shineseki predicted back in early 2003, and which accurate statement brought him a pink slip from Mr. Known Knowns, and also reportedly discouraged other Generals from speaking out about the threats to our position in Iraq-to the detriment of the US military and Iraq (and world security), if the US was really serious about securing the country and ensuring stability and that Iraqi society was secure (those who believe this, I have some stocks to sell you as well....) they would have sent nearer to half-a-million of our young men and women over to Iraq. Of course, it's good that not more have died, but obviously with the age ceiling raised in order to allow for more willing troops, the softening of the laws that prohibit criminals from serving in the military, and the myriad recruiting violations by recruiters less and less able to honestly attract recruits, there was no way that a force of this size could be gained. And unfortunately, in spite of the accuracy of predictions of folks like Shinseki and Thomas White, another guy who, as in the above link about the dismissal of Shinseki, lost his job for, you know, doing his job. Not that it is a good idea to send troops.

But if (perhaps the world's biggest if ever) we were serious about securing the country, that's the number of troops we'd need to do it. However, as Bush says, oh so often (though, oh-so-suprisingly, not as often anymore...) he'll listen to the Generals, except when, you know, he won't.

And with regard to Ted Rall's commentary, he's utterly right; the invasion of Iraq was such a bad idea from day one that no minor shifts in policy would ever truly recover the credibility of its architects. Only a complete renunciation and turn from it would begin to fix the situation. And unfortunately, with wonderful advisers like Henry Kissinger, and a stubbornness that hints strongly at Bush's authoritarian streak, one wouldn't know that Bush's mandate was soundly rejected during the November elections, or that his approval rating has been in the 30s for the last several months, or the fact that just today, he said "it's not as bad as it looks" (famous last words many times over and really, lowering the expectations far below what a civilized (?) modern country should expect).

As these writers have said, there is no easy solution to the problmes in Iraq and things are not going to get easier. They're just going to get harder. It's leaving now or it's leaving later in the manner of the final evacuation from Saigon.

this is what's happening in Iraq

2006-12-15T20:16:00.000-08:00

Great post from Dahr Jamail featuring some of the correspondence he has had recently with his contacts in Iraq. He was an unembedded reporter in Iraq for a couple of years until it became implausible even for an Arab-American who speaks Arabic. Anyway, his correspondence is heartbreaking although of course not at all unexpected. This is what your government is causing in your name.

Is this thing (still) on?

2006-12-12T19:47:00.000-08:00

Could apply to this blog, could apply to the war. Although I'd happily discontinue this blog for an end to the war. That said, we all know that is not happening any time soon. So I guess I need to fight on. In that spirit, here's some of the correspondence that Iraqi-American journalist Dahr Jamail has received in recent times as things descend (yes, they still are and will be able to for as long as we pursue fuck-witted policies) further in Iraq. Terrible. But important to get out the word that these are real people in Iraq. Real soldiers too, whose so-called commander-in-chief and the pasty-faced Pillsbury Dough Boy a.k.a. Karl Rove and Dick ""Other priorities" Cheney continue to promote.

BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!!!!!

three heartbreaking articles

2006-05-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

Bought to you by the President of the United States, cynically exploiting Memorial Day since 2002:

a San Francisco Chronicle article about the insufficiency of public services in Baghdad at this point.

a rough Boston Globe article identifying how ~~The Prince of DarknessThe First Vice-President To Shoot A Man In The Face During a Staged Duck-Hunting Event~~ Richard B. Cheney has his office screen legislation for possible limitations it might impose on Presidential power. Balance of powers my ass.

And another heartbreaking article about widows whose husbands were working for George Bush's mission to create a new Halliburton, um, I mean Iraq.

And to all those who have served the country, thank you for your courage. Now let's demand the same in our public officials.

Confessions....

2006-05-26T22:20:00.000-07:00

So Monkey Boy has “apologized.” Supposedly he apologized in a joint press conference with his ~~co-defendant~~, um, counterpart, Tony Blair during Blair’s visit to Washington D.C. Only, as some have noted, it did seem more of a political maneuveur than an admission of wrongdoing.

Bushie claims that “we’ve been paying for Abu Ghraib” for some time. But have not the people of Iraq been paying even more? How many Iraqis have died since then? According to Iraqi Body Count, over 40,000 Iraqis have died in the conflict, so you do the math. Obviously The Lancet claimed a couple of years ago that 100,000 had died. And even if that number has not died, how many live in poverty? Unemployment was about 60% two years ago. Things have only gotten worse since then, so undoubtedly the unemployment situation has not improved. and while Bush looks wearied, what about the millions of Iraqis who have lost loved ones, who have now, about one or two hours of electricity a day? About an ever worsening Civil War? About limited mobility within the Sunni Triangle?

And just who has been paying for Abu Ghraib here? Has he? Politically, maybe but even the press really doesn't give the impression that this President is so significantly mistrusted and disliked. And really, if an administration is weakened, they are politically impotent and unable to impose their political will. Bush still continues to saber-rattle with Iran. He still chooses, and has confirmed a CIA director with a very poor understanding of the Fourth Amendment and about whom there were significant concerns.

Admittedly, this is not all his fault. His confirmation can not be tired wholly to him. A supine Congress would probably implement the mandatory sacrifice of the occasional child if the President said it was in the interests of "fighting turrr". He also stands behind Veteran's Secretary, Jim Nicholson who sat on the information that millions of veterans’ personal information had not been adequately protected and who didn't address the weak security protecting it. He also stood behind his Housing Secretary who cancelled a large government contract because the recipient was critical of President Bush. And even when Kenny Boy Lay, another Bush friend is sent to jail, he still governs as though he were a talented, popular, widely trusted President. He said he intended to spend his political capital and to me it seems as though he’s a good number in the red now.

And another thing, once again reminds us that nothing this man does can be taken at face value or that he can be taken at his word, he doesn’t really “apologize” for the abuses of Abu Ghraib or his careless, provocative talk with phrases such as “bring it on” and “wanted: dead or alive”. He says that these things were ”misinterpreted overseas” . No they weren’t. They were taken to mean exactly what you meant them to mean, one reason they were so harmful. So he doesn’t really apologize but rather says some words that too many Americans will cite as penitence.

People have a hard time demanding an apology from people. Sports figures have also made similar non-apologies, such as Terrell Owens. Again, this is scapegoating mildly cleverly disguised as an apology. He says that we didn’t understand him when he spoke. Well, given his oration, I guess there’s a possibility of that.

Voldemort & Darthvader proclaim Bush "too evil"

2006-05-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

Well well well, it turns out even Voldemort and Darth Vader are distancing themselves from the Bush administration. They have signaled that enough is enough and are now aligning themselves with Oprah, Martha Stewart, and the Quakers in Bringing Goodness Into the World ® and so they’ve finally realized that Bush is Bad™.

So the NSA has been listening in on Americans with the assistance of those phone companies who Value Your Business and We Will Get to Your Call Immediately. Unbelie-well, really it’s not unbelievable to me. Nothing these thugs do is unbelievable. And now Bush wants to put troops on the Mexican border. Yeah, it’s not like they’re needed anywhere else or anything.

And the White House is interested in who some ABC reporters (irony alert ahead) have been calling in order to identify some confidential sources. Well shoot, while you're listening in, why not just ask them?

Hmm, what else? Oh yeah, a greater percentage of women enjoyed Dumb and Dumber than people support the Bush administration. Well, I guess Bush has been honest about one thing. He doesn’t govern by the polls. He’s still acting like he’s being tried on various impeachment counts re: Monica-gate (yup, Bubba’s polls went up as his impeachment trial went on (indicating people believing that Bubba was being given the shaft by Repubs' whose vindictiveness was approaching Eminem vs. Everyone levels)). Sad sad times in a country with such great potential.

Rip Van Bush

2006-03-02T20:57:00.000-08:00

Has Rip Van Bush woken from his long nap? Does he know there's still a conflict going on in Iraq? I'm sure he knows nothing about wiretapping or anything else also. It's not like he's the President or anything...one wonders what he knows if he claims as he did (and it's videotaped), that the government was ready to address the disaster fall-out from Katrina. I'm scared to think what a state of unreadiness would be like. Perhaps this?

Not that it matters.....

2006-03-01T16:03:00.000-08:00

you know you don't use math(s) in the real world? Right? Right? Hmm, so if I drive home in four hours, how many beers can I drink in 20 minutes so I can still be safe...?

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 9/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Qu'est-ce que c'est le sens vrai?

2006-03-01T12:38:00.000-08:00

Just some mind-boggling revelations these last few days. This is essentially a link dump so that I can square some of these ideas in my head a little bit:

Intelligent neo-con-I just wonder how much he must be paid to spout ideas he seems much to intelligent to spout says that "we have not had a serious three-year effort to fight a war in Iraq." I'm just wondering again why Democrats are considered so unsympathetic to the troops.
There are still 2,000 people unaccounted for from Katrina. And yet Mardi Gras went on yesterday. Whoever was celebrating there really should be ashamed of themselves.
72% of troops believe we should leave within the next year, and 29% believe that we should leave immediately. Another interesting finding is that 90% (90%!!) don't blame the insurgency for attacking. Obviously the attacks are tragic and deadly, but the soldiers have much more sense than the pundits here in the States and realize that people there are unhappy with the continued occupation; not that it excuses suicide attacks, but at least the troops have more sense than the pundits.
Also, a story in the Washington Post indicates that over one-third of troops returning from Iraq are seeking professional psychiatric care relating to their service in Iraq. And yet...and yet...Republicans continue (with some success) to link Democrats to a cavalier attitude on national security. Incredible that Dems are not more assertive. Unless they have some really nasty skeletons in their closets, totally inexplicable their political acquiescence.
34% approval rating for Bush. Yeesh. If Nixon was alive, he'd be saying, well, at least I'm not that guy.

Just how much more incompetence might it take before there is a broader call for impeachment? One of the ideological forefathers of neo-conservatism has admitted that the venture into Iraq has been a failure. What do they know now that they weren't being yelled at by libs in 2002? There's nothing new. These guys are just a bunch of snake-oil salesmen.

Oh well. As Digby points out, obviously intelligent, but also obviously intellectually dishonest people like Kristol and Buckley are positioning themselves so that they can criticize Dems, (as the FUX NEWS ~~shills~~ analysts do here) for essentially causing the failure of the mission in Iraq because of their complaining. Uh huh. So it has nothing to do with bad policy right? Sort of like how some dirty hippies in Berkeley and Cambridge, Mass. in 1968 had so much influence that they led to the US' ignoble departure from Vietnam. Yup, nothing to do with The Gulf of Tonkin ("We don't want the smoking to be a mushroom cloud?" anyone?) or JFK secretly ratcheting up the number of US forces in Vietnam in 1961, not fooling himself even that they wouldn't be engaged in combat although they were ostensibly there to train the south Vietnamese. Nothing to do with LBJ being caught between fear of domestic criticism of appeasement of Communists and a well-founded concern that the US was making no progress in Vietnam-in fact such an internal conflict facing LBJ that he didn't run for a second term.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world looks on in shocked horror as the mask comes off the United States. All the things that kids living outside the States, at least in Britain I guess when I was a kid, but probably similar things in many parts at least of western Europe, learn about the US from the earliest years of elementary school (freedom, opportunity, wealth) etc. are being exposed as barely plausible masks.

I remember always being so amazed hearing about America when I was a kid. The film In America by Jim Sheridan certainly rang true for me, especially the wonderment of the two little girls (not that I was a little girl) and the fact that the story was set around the same time we moved here; but certainly the wonder and fearlessness that some little kids have to drink in everything around them, regardless of how fearful their parents are about such fearlessness. I don't somehow think that America is such an attractive place for kids growing up these days.

Anyway. Can't leave on that note. Perhaps you've seen the video of the autistic boy in Rochester, New York who wasn't a full member of the varsity squad at his high school but who had served loyally as team manager and general odd-job man throughout his high school years. However, the coach put him in the last game of the season with the game safely out of reach and he was, to quote Dan Patrick, en fuego (on fire for fellow non-Spanish speakers). Here it is and here's some good common sense from someone who's been writing thoughtfully about Bush post-9/11 from the start.

So what does it mean? It means that France was right and George Bush's presidency has been an utter failure.

Isn't it ironic?

2006-03-01T01:12:00.000-08:00

That while Democrats actually know what they believe, at least in George Bush's AmeriKKKa, that don't aggressively promote those ideas or really stand up for themselves when criticized, while Republikkkans, who really (at least if George Bush is a conservative) don't know what they stand for but have each others' backs if criticized by an evil, evil Democrat? (Well, though it seems less now the long knives are coming out as King George the Incompetent becomes progressively more unhinged and unpopular) I swear, if the Democrats were a basketball team, they would lost most games by scores like 80-20, 90-40, etc; and whenever there was a pressure situation, they would have turned the ball over. Absolutely no nerve.

Like rats from a sinking ship or, better late than never

2006-02-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

When Francis Fukuyama, the man who wrote The End of History, a book which posited that given the supposed triumph of liberal capitalism, there was no more debate as to the fact that liberalism was the Official Governmental Sytem of the World (all rights protected, patent pending, etc.) pre-eminent historical/philosophical mode (although apparently no one told Monkey Boy, North Korea, Myanmar, Sudan, our good friend Saudia Arabia, or Snarl (The Man Who Mistook His Friend For a Quail)), is rejecting the course of the Bush administration, you know Elvis has left the building. From an excerpt from his new book featured in the NY Times this past weekend, it seems he realizes that he believes that the neo-cons have erred in falsely linking the (legitimate) threat of undemocratic institutions with a belief that unilateral and the poorly planned use of force in interfering with sovereign governments was the solution. Well, cheers for coming round Francis. I wonder if your students are impressed or not. Anyway, as noted, better late than never; though really Francis, you might have noted this about, oh, say, five years ago.

And in the No Man Is An Island Except for Monkey Boy Category, it seems that Georgie intends to grant a contract to the United Arab Emirates to oversee a whole bunch of American ports. Now really, are there not decent, hard-working Americans who can't do this work? C'mon now. Of course there are. This is ridiculous. And, surprise surprise, it turns out that there may well bea quid pro quo. Hmm...imagine that, someone having Little Georgie by the saggy, straggly rocks. Hmmm.....was this not the "President" (and I use this term advisedly given the company he's in) having declined to use his veto one time in five (very.very.very.long) years, has decided that he is going to use it to ensure that this company gets this contract. And, given threat to challenged this decision by his "allies" (another term I use advisedly these days, re: Monkey Boy) and indeed, his Congressional leaders, Speaker Hastert and Sen. Frist, yes, it would seem that Bushie has won Presidential Survivor. He is indeed alone on an island. I love how he requests the trust of the American people in his claim that this UAE deal is already done. Oh yeah Bushie, well, if you want our trust, shoot, why didn't ya just say so? I mean, you ain't fucked up nuttin' else right? Right? (crickets chirp infinitely)

And really, if every American could just see this clip, perhaps Bush's megalomaniacal power grab would come to a grinding halt in a hurry.

Well, it should fuel a nice fire

2006-02-18T21:19:00.000-08:00

More nonsense from the LA Times, which usually has more wisdom in Doonesbury than in the main news sections; reading the paper on Friday however, there was more than one's average quota of nonsense.

There was an article about one of the tooliest tools in the Senate, Sen. Roberts of Kansas claiming that the need for investigation into wiretapping (they're calling it Terrorist Surveillance-to be honest that sounds no better) had been pre-empted by the White House agreeing to co-operate (oh how generous-the criminals seeing the error of their ways) in revising legislation governing wiretapping. (Although, by agreeing to do so, does that not indicate the uselessness of legislation which they ignored anyway? Hmmm...we don't like this legislation-let's break the law and if they catch us, we'll "agree" to make new legislation) So we should just take them at their word that they'll fix the law (not that it needs to be fixed).

Well regardless, the article was written as though ther is a great deal of disagreement over whether the wiretapping program is unconstitutional when there really isn't. Typical of the cowardice of the mainstream media that they don't have the nerve to call the President's program what it is and stop pretending that there's really much debate about the legality of the program. The media could become much more powerful if they were that assertive, but yet they continue to waffle on these very important issues, possibly fearing that they won't get access. Maybe-but if they grew a couple and told the White House that we'll keep reporting honestly on what you do, they would take the moral high ground unabashedly and the White House would be forced either into embarassment or into reforming. sigh. Ah well, it's a nice thought anyway.

The FISA legislation gives the President the authority to enact wiretapping on those whom he suspects of, um, badness retroactively. That is, the President's argument that he doesn't have enough time to apply to the FISA court for a warrant for a wiretap is unwarranted and null. Not only that, but if he had applied to the FISA court, it is almost certain that his application would have been approved. He doesn't even have to apply to FISA before enacting his wiretapping. This is not a complicated issue. President Bush has even stated that he re-approved the program about 40 times. In announcing this, in one of the more memorable bits of TV I've seen in recent times, he was essentially telling the country (not to mention James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and all the other Framers of the Constitution) "Fuck you, I'm Preznit, I'll do what I want". I mean, if the country does eventually come to its senses and newspapers start to simply report the facts of this affair, and Bush is eventually impeached, well, that's Exhibit A right there. It's like a bank robber leaving his phone number, social security number, address, next of kin, and wife's name on a note for the cops in the bank when he's finished robbing.

Also there was also an article in the LA Times on Friday about the supposed tepidness of the Iraqi reaction to the latest batch of photographs (warning: graphic) of abuse from Abu Ghraib. The article was entitled, "In Iraq, a Subdued Response to New Detainee Abuse Photos". Why, are Iraqis supposed to be rioting in the streets or something? And could anyone really blame them if they did? And just because they weren't making their unhappiness with the new revelations known in public venues, do you really think they were any less happy in private. And also, I read a while ago that Iraqis have known about these things for a while. This is not terribly shocking for them. They see how the US is behaving over there and so it's not news that their men and women are being abused in this way.

Additionally, does one not think that there is some abuse fatigue for Iraqis? They've undergone so much at the hands of The Troops Who Would Be Liberators that, well, they're probably exhausted to some degree with all the mistreatment that occurs. Not only that, but they're trying to live day-to-day in a country where unemployment was at 18% last year, according to CNN. (Al Jazeera, however, put the number at 70% a year and a half ago). In any case the number is high and the point is that life is not good in Iraq. But to suggest that somehow Iraqis aren't as angry about the pictures coming out of Abu Ghraib is, well, serving as a water carrier in the worst way for the Pentagon.

Yes, so no trees at all should have been hurt in the making of this newspaper. Yup, two sides to the wiretapping story and wow, Iraqis don't seem too upset over new Abu Ghraib pix. All in a day's work for one of the biggest papers in the country.