Has It Come To This?

First this...


Then this...


The final result of over Two Trillion Dollars spent, 2,300 American lives lost, 125,000 Iraqis killed and our standing as a world leader for democracy and peace ruined.

All hail King George Bush, American Disgrace.

Why Do Our Soldiers Hate America?

Last year when Congressman Jack Murtha (D-PA), a twice decorated Vietnam War veteran, suggested that we begin to remove the troops from Iraq because the mission had soured, the Bush administration reacted in an interesting way. Instead of listening to the long time military man, an expert in military planning, they and their noise machine minions smeared the Congressman by questioning the circumstances surrounding the awarding of the two Purple Hearts he received for acts of valor in Vietnam.

This was the continuation of an extended media campaign that began with the the dismissal of Cindy Sheehan's anti-war protests. Essentially they dragged out the old war-horse, "We don't cut and run," meme and implied that to set a deadline for withdrawal would be somehow treasonous. Cindy Sheehan and Jack Murtha were uttered in the same breath as their anti-american strawman, Michael Moore.

Well, it seems the Bush Administration is going to have to include the entire US army serving in Iraq on their list of anti-american traitors. This, from Nicholas Kristof.

A new poll to be released today shows that U.S. soldiers overwhelmingly want out of Iraq — and soon.

The poll is the first of U.S. troops currently serving in Iraq, according to John Zogby, the pollster. Conducted by Zogby International and LeMoyne College, it asked 944 service members, "How long should U.S. troops stay in Iraq?"

Only 23 percent backed Mr. Bush's position that they should stay as long as necessary. In contrast, 72 percent said that U.S. troops should be pulled out within one year. Of those, 29 percent said they should withdraw "immediately."

Perhaps we can ship them to Gitmo and purchase the United Arab Emirates' army as a replacement.

The Fearenstein Monster Attacks His Master

While the smoke, dust and ash was still settling from the collapse of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the Bush Administration's mad political scientist, Karl Rove, retreated deep into his undisclosed laboratory and began to create his dream; the pinnacle of his life's work...the ultimate political monster.

Working in the dead of night not unlike the witches from MacBeth, he concocted his monster from a powerful mixture of stolen parts of the body politic: a yellow belly, a lilied liver, trembling hands, rubber legs, lying eyes, and, worst of all, the heart of darkness.

He programmed his monster to listen to only his voice and vowed then and there that this creation would become the power behind his plans.

And the mad scientist succeeded in creating his alter-ego, Fearenstein.

Karl began slowly, testing the political waters to see how much power his creation wielded. It didn't take long for him to discover that Fearenstein was everything he had wished he would be. He quickly learned that the mere mention of his monster's name, would transform the usually skeptical press and combative political opposition into mush.

Challenges were dismissed with a simple elevation of the threat level. Fearenstein! Questions of policy were easily wiped away with accusations of treason. Fearenstein! The economy? Fearenstein! Taxes cuts for the wealthy? Fearenstein! Skyrocketing Defense Spending? Fearenstein! Deficts? Incompetence? Cronyism? Fearenstein! Fearenstein! Fearenstein! And the ultimate test, a war of aggression against a sovereign nation, rich with oil reserves, that posed no threat and had never attacked the United States? Fearenstein.

Witnessing his wild success, the monster was let loose to freely roam and everywhere he went he left behind a wake of mistrust and terror, and the people trembled and, looking for comfort, embraced the worst of their own natures. Division, hate, prejudice, greed, accusation....

And Karl said, "It is good."

BUT...Fearenstein, it seems, had a mind of his own, after all. He began to NOT listen to Karl alone, and when Karl's administration reached too far, and attempted to to grab at the brass ring by selling US ports and security to their Middle East, Carlyle friends, the Fear Fearenstein created in the masses turned and is now threatening to eat its maker.

Beware the power of fear, for, As Karl is now learning, it has no master.

Did Cheney Really Shoot Whittington?

First of all, let me begin this web with Alan Dershowitz's lawyerly observation:

Why would a media-savvy and clever man like Dick Cheney delay notifying the press and the police about an accident when a) he knew it would eventually be covered by the press and b) he knew he would be criticized for delaying release of the story?

A simple cost/benefit analysis suggests that he (or those advising him) must have believed that there was more to be gained than lost by a 14 hour delay that would eventually be made public. It is likely, therefore, that something happened during that 14 hour period which was worth the negative costs of the delay.

Something jumped out at me in this WaPo article:

Salinas and San Miguel [investigating officers] said they went to the site of the shooting. They said Whittington had been standing in the bed of a dried pond, several feet downhill from where Cheney and another hunter, Pamela Pitzer Willeford, the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, were standing as they were shooting quail.

See it? The third hunter. U.S. Ambassador, Pamela Pitzer Willeford.

Keep that in mind, now. A tall blond...on a hunting trip...walking next to the VP...the third hunter. That's been speculated here...

But, what if she's the one who shot Whittington and Cheney is taking the fall for her in an attempt to keep probing eyes away from questions like who she is and why she's there?

Look at what we know. The weapon was a 28 gauge shotgun, what's been described as a Girl's Gun...and Cheney is an experienced hunter and would he have committed such a screw-up?

Also, and this is what got me thinking: Scott McClellen, during that initial press conference kept repeating an odd story line.

The initial report that we received was that there had been a hunting accident. We didn't know who all was involved, but a member of his party was involved in that hunting accident. And then additional details continued to come in overnight.

Additional details kept coming in overnight. David Gregory kept pressing him, but he did it from the perspective that there was NO DOUBT that it was the VP who pulled the trigger, and it made for a really odd disconnect; like they were talking about two separate events. Go read the entire press briefing with the idea that it was still up for grabs as to who the shooter was, and it fits in a very odd way.

Then we found out later that Armstrong's story is completely non-credible and the result is that no one really saw the actual shooting.

Think about it. If it came out that Pamela Willeford had shot Whittington while standing right next to Darth Cheney during a weekend get-away hunting trip at a duck ranch, the media frenzy would have shown its spotlight on her and the VP. As it now stands, we're all talking about booze and incompetence...which is bad, but it ain't as bad as the alternative. After all, we know that in order to get impeached, the crime needs to be about sex.

Just sayin'.

The Laughter Abruptly Stops

Earlier today, the White House chose how it was going to handle the story that Dick Cheney shot a 78 Year old man in the face. There decision? To laugh it off.

Well, It's not funny anymore. The man has had a heart attack from buckshot that moved to his heart.

He "got peppered a little?" Right.

I wonder if the family is laughing, and we'll see how quickly Cheney rushes to Mr.Wittington's side to comfort him. After all, Cheney's had a few heart attacks and must know how it feels.

As John at Americablog points out, this entre incident clearly shows who is in charge of this administration, and his initials aren't GWB.

Speaks For Itself

Cheney Shooting Story: Metaphor Is Just Too Perfect

The Cheney Shoots Hunting Partner story's the perfect metaphor for the Administration.

The VP, who ran a sneering "Kerry just hunts for the photo-op" campaign in 2004, shoots and critically wounds a billionaire while hunting at a Bush Pioneer's "raise and release" shooting ranch for rich guys who hunt out of SUVs, with a "girlie man" shotgun, while violating just about every NRA hunting safty rule in the book, and the White House doesn't tell anyone about the shooting until the Pioneer ranch owner blabs to a local scribe 18 hours later, with a completely dismissive, spin machine crafted description of the "unfortunate accident." --my account

There it is. Create the image. Demean your opponents. Fabricate a controlled situation. Over-estimate your ability. Fuck up royally. Cover up the facts with lies from a lackey to make yourself look better.

The Bush/Cheney Administration in a nutshell.

I'm waiting for the final step; the White House release of a terrorism story to knock it off the front page.

[UPDATE]Here's what hunters are saying.

Kenneth Starr: Lying and Suborning Perjury?

Well, well, well. From the, "What goes around, comes around, " Department. Remember that pornographer, Kenneth Starr, the independent prosecutor who investigated lying and perjury in the Bill Clinton impeachment case; who ended up publishing a hard core tome outlining the charges; a tome that most Republicans, I'm sure, keep in their bedside table next to their Bibles to suppliment their moral studies?

Via Rising Hegemon, we get wind of Ken Starr's latest legal wranglings. It seems he has been caught creating evidence in the form of letters with other peoples' signatures, sending them to California judges and the Governator and then possibly lying about it.

Can anyone spell IRONY?

This from the MSNBC/AP story.

SAN FRANCISCO - Lawyers for a death row inmate, including former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr, sent fake letters from jurors asking California’s governor to spare the man’s life, prosecutors said Friday.

.....

San Joaquin County prosecutor Charles Schultz also said the letters sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week were “untrue” and “pure fiction.”

Starr was not immediately available for comment, said a spokeswoman for the Pepperdine School of Law, where Starr is the dean.

RHETORICAL QUESTION ALERT: Is there no end to the hypocrisy of the GOP and all its minions?

I Am Not Afraid

As an American and as a Democrat, I have something to say to the Bush Administration and the Republican Party:

Unlike you, I am not afraid.

I am not afraid of your fear.
I am not afraid of terrorism.
I am not afraid of Osama.
I am not afraid of Saddam.
I am not afraid of Islam.
I am not afraid of negotiation.
I am not afraid of thought.
I am not afraid of consideration.
I am not afraid of problem solving.
I am not afraid of giving.
I am not afraid of kindness.
I am not afraid of equality.
I am not afraid of women.
I am not afraid of race.
I am not afraid of homosexuality.
I am not afraid of charity.
I am not afraid of laughter.
I am not afraid of pain.
I am not afraid of sharing.
I am not afraid of education.
I am not afraid of science.
I am not afraid of the truth.
I am not afraid of the Constitution.

and I am certainly not afraid of you.

It's 2006. There is an election coming. Bring it on.

Glen Greenwald Rocks!

Glen Greenwald is live-blogging from the Gonzales Senate hearing. He has this gem:

Of course Gonzales begins his Opening Statement by quoting Osama bin Laden and Zawahri. We used to quote Madison, Jefferson and Lincoln to decide what the principles of our Government are going to be. Now we quote Al Qaeda. The Administration wants Al Qaeda and its speeches to dictate the type of Government we have. It is the centerpiece of everything they do and say.

The New United States Constitution

WE THE PEOPLE...

have decided to let some clown from Texas make it up as he goes along. We're just too damn busy and afraid to care.

Boehner: Iraq Greatest Gift to Our Children

John Boehner, the new House majority leader, just said on MTP:

It (Iraq War) may not benefit our generation, but for our kids and theirs, this maybe the greatest gift we give them.

What part is the greatest gift?

The war caused deficit?
The increased terrorism?
The instability in the Middle East?
The death and maiming of their mothers and fathers>
The loss of international credibility?
The hatred incurred among the entire arab population?
The rise of a nuclear Iran?

Answer me that, Mr. "fresh start" Majority Leader.

Yup, I'm sure our kids will be grateful.

Here's the video, via Crooks and Liars.

Meet The New Boss...

Today, the House handed Tom Delay his most humilating defeat in a long string of humiliating defeats when it selected John Boehner instead of Delay's hand-picked man, Roy Blunt, (R-Ohio) as the House Majority Leader. Boehner was elected in an attempt to create the impression of a new clean beginning for the House leadership.

Well, not so fast.... It seems Mr. Boehner was on the lobbying Gravey Train:

Public Citizen Report Shows How Lobbyists Use Non-Profits to Exploit Loopholes in Congressional Ethics Rules to Take Lawmakers on Lavish Trips

--snip--

Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), who is seeking to be the next House Majority Leader, took two trips costing a total of at least $13,920...

The new boss is the same as the old boss, when it comes to ethics.