|
Faithful husband, soccer dad,
basset owner, and former cowboy
Return to TboggHomePage
FELLOW TRAITORS
*The Nether-Count*
100 Monkeys Typing
Ain't No Bad Dude
Alicublog
Americablog
American Leftist
Attytood (Will Bunch)
Bad Attitudes
Balloon Juice
Better Inhale Deeply
Bitch Ph.D
Bloggy
Bob Harris
Brilliant At Breakfast
BusyBusyBusy
Byzantium's Shores
Creek Running North
Crooked Timber
Crooks and Liars
Cursor
Daily Kos
Dependable Renegade
David Ehrenstein
Democratic Veteran
Dohiyi Mir
Down With Tyranny
Echidne of the Snakes
Edicts of Nancy
Elayne Riggs
Eschaton (Atrios)
Ezra Klein
Failure Is Impossible
Feministe
Feministing
Firedoglake
First Draft
Freewayblogger
The Garance
The Group News Blog
Guano Island
Hairy Fish Nuts
Hammer of the Blogs
Hullabaloo(Digby)
I Am TRex
If I Ran the Zoo
I'm Not One To Blog
Interesting Times
James Wolcott
Jesus' General
Jon Swift
Juan Cole
King of Zembla
Kung Fu Monkey
Lance Mannion
Lawyers Guns and Money
Lean Left
Liberal Oasis
Main & Central
Majikthise
Making Light (Nielsen Hayden)
Mark Kleiman
Martini Revolution
MaxSpeak
MF Blog
MyDD
Needlenose
The Next Hurrah
Nitpicker
No More Mr. Nice Blog
Norbizness
Norwegianity
Oliver Willis
One Good Move
Orcinus
Pacific Views
Pam's House Blend
Pandagon
Pharyngula
Political Animal(K.Drum)
The Poorman
Progressive Gold
Right Hand Thief
Rising Hegemon
Roger Ailes
Rude Pundit
Rumproast
Sadly, No
Seeing The Forest
Shakesville
Sisyphus Shrugged
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
Slacktivist
SteveAudio
Suburban Guerilla
TalkLeft
The American Street
The Left Coaster
The Road To Surfdom
The Sideshow
The Talking Dog
The Talent Show
Tom Tomorrow
Tom Watson
Whiskeyfire
UggaBugga
Wampum
Wonkette
World O'Crap
TOSS ME
A BONE
Amazon Wish List
SOURCES
MSNBC
CNN
The Washington Post
Media Matters
The New York Times
The Guardian
Yahoo News
Salon
The Raw Story
Common Dreams
Media Transparency
The Nation
Alternet
Joe Conason
Talking Points Memo
THE VAST WASTELAND
Captain Corndog & Friends
Cheerleaders Gone Spazzy
80% True
Corner of Mediocrity and Banality
Village Idiots Central
Darwin's Waiting Room
News for Mouthbreathers
Mailbox
Your e-mail may be reprinted sans name and e-mail address. Think about how stupid you want to appear.
Blogroll Me!
Site Feed
|
Monday, October 31, 2005
The Six Million Dollar question
Bernie would ask it... 
During a Presidential debate in 1988, moderator Bernard Shaw asked Michael Dukakis, in reference to the death penalty, what he would do if someone raped and murdered his wife. Dukakis fumbled.
It should be incumbent, when the Alito hearings take center stage, for a Democratic Senator with a spine (assuming one can be found on such short notice) to ask Samuel Alito whether he would support the decision of his daughter to have an abortion were she either to have been raped or if bringing the pregnancy to term might possibly kill her.
We deserve an answer.
So does his daughter for that matter.
posted by tbogg at 11:03 PM
|
Rich Lowry Watch Fuzzy math 93 dead this month. October '04 - 63 dead October '03 - 44 dead Not one of them named Rich Lowry.
posted by tbogg at 10:53 PM
|
I've got a question....Michael Ledeen (who is more of a 'big picture guy' than a foot soldier in the fake war) is proud of his kids for doing what he has never done. The first child, Simone, our daughter, is just back in Washington after nearly a year in Iraq and many months in Afghanistan. She works in finance, and has an MBA. She was working with the Iraqi Finance Ministry on ‘post-combat reconstruction,’ to answer questions like, ‘What does a modern banking system look like? Iraq had been a completely cash economy. In Afghanistan, she figured out that if they could collect customs duty they could cover half the national budget.Maybe for his first Pajamascoop he could ask her the question that we have all been asking: Where's the money?
posted by tbogg at 9:05 PM
|
Thr drunken chinless guy wants to step outside C'mon man...bring it on. But first let me put down my Zima... Pretty darn scary words from a pudgy frat boy: The "Scalito" nickname guarantees that this will be a retroactive proxy fight over Antonin Scalia, and the conservative, strict constructionist philosophy in general. I think that at this moment, many, many conservatives, confident that the American people want judges to be judges, and not legislators, are stretching, flexing their muscles, and pounding the chest, whispering menacingly, “Bring. It. On.”Oh. For. Fucks. Sake. Is this guy serious? He'd be laughable if he weren't so ridiculously sad and goofy looking.
"“Bring. It. On."Oh, Jesus.... I see there is a lot of this going on. You know, if half of these 'bring it on' clowns would just sign up to go to Iraq...well, we'd still be losing but life would be quieter.
posted by tbogg at 8:38 PM
|
In or out...up down...whatever.The dreaded return of the up or down vote: Republicans sounded relieved to be rid of the Miers appointment, which collapsed last week after it became clear she faced an uphill climb in winning confirmation.
"Let's give Judge Alito a fair up-or-down vote, not left or right," said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.
He was one of several Republicans to say so, and there was irony in that.Remember: up and down for boys...in and out for girls. Unless you're doing the reverse cowgirl in which the girl gets to do all the work while you watch SportsCenter.
posted by tbogg at 3:50 PM
|
Come the Rapture, Jesus will eat your brains.
Well he is a zombie...Gut A Pumpkin for JesusOh, sure, it's not near as much fun as playing Daddy Whips His Penis Out, but then again, it's also not something you'll feel compelled to confess to Oprah later on.
posted by tbogg at 1:24 PM
|
VDH vs VDHTerry at Nitpicker looks deep within the soul of Victor Davis Girded Loins Hanson and finds VDGLH at war with himself...and losing.
posted by tbogg at 12:30 PM
|
From demonic to dementedThanks god that the MSM didn't touch up this photo of Condi at her loveliest. And to think that no man has snatched her up....
posted by tbogg at 11:39 AM
|
You get the readers you deserveRoger Simon, founder and chief financial beneficiary of PajamAmway, points out that even though Joseph Wilson pointed out that his wife felt "like she'd been hit in the stomach" when Robert Novak outed her, months later she posed for Vanity Fair which, to me, means that she got over it just like Roger was able to move on years after writing Scenes From A Mall. Compounding the stupidty, one of his readers points this out: Vanity Fair? I’ve got a better one than that. It was common knowledge among Wahinton(sic) insiders that Valerie Plame was employed by the CIA. Please scroll down to see the much clearer photo of Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame taken at the local elite restaurant, Nathan’s Lunch:
Link...As you can see from the Nathan's caption, it says "Joseph Wilson and his super secret CIA spy-wife Valerie Plame (codenamed: Ivanna Happythighs) try the veal". As you may also note, the picture was taken after Wilson's book about the whole affair came out in case you're one of those types who aren't into that whole linear time construct. If Scooter Libby uses this at his trial it will become known as the Famous Nathan Defense.
posted by tbogg at 9:58 AM
|
Great moments in political miscalculationsK-Lo: POLITICAL PLUS [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
An Alito battle and confirmation should help Rick Santorum's reelection campaign.
Posted at 09:43 AMYes, nothing like reminding people of the fact that women are second-class citizens to bump up Santorum's poll numbers.
posted by tbogg at 9:42 AM
|
We are merely children with naught but good intentionsDick and Scooter - totally non-Machiavellian: The vice president and his chief aide often shared bits of secret information, so perhaps it was unremarkable that on June 12, 2003 (according to the indictment handed up last week), Dick Cheney told Scooter Libby that Joe Wilson's wife worked for the Counterproliferation Division in the CIA's secret Directorate of Operations, also known as the Clandestine Service. Libby had been agitating to find out more about Wilson, an ex-diplomat who had been telling reporters that the administration's main case for going to war in Iraq—that Saddam had WMDs—was bogus.
It is a good bet that Cheney and Libby did not think they were conspiring to trash a political foe by ruining his wife's career as an undercover agent. Given their view of themselves and their roles in the world, especially post 9/11, it is much more likely they believed that they were somehow safeguarding the republic. It's also a good bet that they did not foresee the disastrous consequences of their conversation, as well as a series of others between Libby and government officials and several reporters in the summer of 2003. Libby, as well as his boss, operated, at least in their own minds, on a higher plane.Yup. They were just sitting up in their He-Man Islamohaters tree fort protecting it from the evil kids from the other neighborhood, when one of the rocks they threw accidently hit a girl and they're really realy really really sorry. ...and they won't do it again. Promise.
posted by tbogg at 8:08 AM
|
Someone take the wheelTaking a tip from comments, let us remember that George Will has already warned us that George W. Bush (squinty guy, 39% approval rating, dry drunk... that George W. Bush) has forfeited the right to pick the next Supreme Court Justice: Furthermore, there is no reason to believe that Miers' nomination resulted from the president's careful consultation with people capable of such judgments. If 100 such people had been asked to list 100 individuals who have given evidence of the reflectiveness and excellence requisite in a justice, Miers' name probably would not have appeared in any of the 10,000 places on those lists.
In addition, the president has forfeited his right to be trusted as a custodian of the Constitution. The forfeiture occurred March 27, 2002, when, in a private act betokening an uneasy conscience, he signed the McCain-Feingold law expanding government regulation of the timing, quantity and content of political speech. The day before the 2000 Iowa caucuses he was asked -- to insure a considered response from him, he had been told in advance he would be asked -- whether McCain-Feingold's core purposes are unconstitutional. He unhesitatingly said, ``I agree.'' Asked if he thought presidents have a duty, pursuant to their oath to defend the Constitution, to make an independent judgment about the constitutionality of bills and to veto those he thinks unconstitutional, he briskly said, ``I do.''It is axiomatic that what was true the day Will wrote that is still true today.
posted by tbogg at 7:26 AM
|
Ruining the conservative's moment. A family less creepy... Attention seeker Bill Clinton slips in behind the Alito family as young Philip Alito thanks god he wasn't forced to wear a suit with shorts no matter how much Karl Rove begged.
posted by tbogg at 7:08 AM
|
Mmmmmmm...strip searches.Clarence Thomas to be joined by man after his own heart. In Doe v. Groody, Alito agued that police officers had not violated constitutional rights when they strip searched a mother and her ten-year-old daughter while carrying out a search warrant that authorized only the search of a man and his home. [Doe v. Groody, 2004]Coupled with his finding that a woman's uterus is something for her husband to have and to hold, I'd say he has some issues when it comes to non-PenisAmericans.
posted by tbogg at 6:44 AM
|
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Toothless in Gaza Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of academia... Victor Davis Conan the Tree Farmer Hanson wants the Steely Eyed Rocket Man to go Full Metal Strongman on the country in order to fulfill his Clash of Civilizations wetdream: For good or evil, George W. Bush will have to cross the Rubicon on judicial nominations, politicized indictments, Iraq, the greater Middle East, and the constant frenzy of the Howard Dean wing of the Democratic party — and now march on his various adversaries as never before. He can choose either to be nicked and slowly bled to death in his second term, or to bare his fangs and like some cornered carnivore start slashing back.
[...]
...he should call in top Republican senators and the point people of his base — never more needed than now — and get them to agree on the most brilliant, accomplished, and conservative jurist possible. He should then ram the nominee through, in a display to the American people of the principles at stake.
[...]
George Bush also should begin addressing his most venomous critics at home, by condemning their current extremism. He must explain to the nation how a radical, vicious Left has more or less gotten a free pass in its rhetoric of hate, and has now passed the limits of accepted debate.Can reeducation camps and gulags in Wyoming be far behind? As James Wolcott put it: This will no doubt pass the limit of accepted debate, but allow me to part with the following sentiment: Fuck you, Victor Dave. The limits of accepted debate have already been trampled into mud and splinters by Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, David Horowitz, Michelle Malkin, and the Swift Boaters, among others, about whose rhetorical extremes you've never made a peep. Moreover, this conflating of Howard Dean Democrats with Islamofascist hate speech is McCarthyism at its most unrefined. Truth is, Democrats have been remarkably watery and ineffectual when it comes to the Iraq war, as Arianna has lamented (and when a Greek goddess laments, it's like thunder from the mountaintop).
Hanson's use of the phrase "the limits of accepted debate"--he probably meant acceptable debate--has the authoritarian ring we've become used to on The O'Reilly Factor and other Fox news shows, where the word "treason" is thrown at every sharp note of dissent.
Not that I'm worried about an authoritarian crackdown. I think the Bushies are now too deep into the crackup stage to attempt and enforce a crackdown on opinion. The very vehemence of Hanson's report is a sign of impotent frustration. He's not getting his way and it seems less likely he's going to get his way, so he's hankering for a showdown that will at least provide theatrical catharsis.Which you may remember from here: Otter: Dead! Bluto's Victor Davis Hanson is right. Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part.
Bluto Hanson: We're just the guys to do it.And if there is something futile to be done, well, Hanson's got just the guy to do it: In the last six months we have heard from various demagogues — though they are recognized as such due to their prominence in the media — that we were waging nuclear war in Iraq (Cindy Sheehan), that there was cannibalism in New Orleans (Randall Robinson), that George Bush and Dick Cheney should be shot (the novelist Jane Smiley) or executed (Al Franken). Alfred Knopf has published a book about the theoretical assassination of the president, and the Nazi slur is now commonplace in Democratic circles, where a Senator Dick Durbin or Ted Kennedy slanders American soldiers as akin to either Saddam’s torturers or even Nazis and Stalinists. The case needs to be made that we are seeing a new paranoid style — but from the Left, whose opponents are not to be out-argued, but rather deemed worthy of death or demonization as Nazis. The recent eclipse of George Galloway — due in no large part to Christopher Hitchens’ lonely and underappreciated pursuit of his perfidy — reminds us how hard these reprobates finally will fall.
All of these issues are interrelated. If the president can win the hearts and minds of the American people on one theme, the others will fall into play. The more the president talks of principle and values, the more he can do so with zeal, and yes, real passion and occasional anger. Because when everyone from the media to the novelists to mothers of dead soldiers to publishers to comedians to Senators to the CIA (see below) to a public that has grown tired of an endless war are out to get you... they're the paranoid ones. Poor Hanson. With his buddy Scooter spending his days boning up on the value of a carton of cigarettes at the correctional institute where he will soon be making his bunk, Hanson sees his influence slip-sliding away and all that he has to look forward to is a future of tending to his tree farm and maybe, like an aging Don Corleone, he will spend his final days chasing Michael Ledeen's grandkids around the seedlings and making scary Islamofacist noises until one day he collapses on the ground and the kids gather around and laugh at the silly old man with the harmless orange-peel teeth. That's gotta hurt. (Added) Billmon on VDH
posted by tbogg at 10:00 PM
|
I blog, therefore I can find my own weenie. Leans to the right, in case you hadn't noticed... Thanks to a link in comments below, we find one of the pricipals in PajamAmway Media giving us a taste of the kind of hard-hitting citizen journalism and analysis we can expect from the residents of Desperation City: Consider: Assuming that Valerie Plame was some sort of genuinely covert operative -- something that's not actually quite clear from the indictment -- the chain of events looks pretty damning: Wilson was sent to Africa on an investigative mission regarding nuclear weapons, but never asked to sign any sort of secrecy agreement(!). Wilson returns, reports, then publishes an oped in the New York Times (!!) about his mission. This pretty much ensures that people will start asking why he was sent, which leads to the fact that his wife arranged it. Once Wilson's oped appeared, Plame's covert status was in serious danger. Yet nobody seemed to care.
This leaves two possibilities. One is that the mission was intended to result in the New York Times oped all along, meaning that the CIA didn't care much about Plame's status, and was trying to meddle in domestic politics. This reflects very badly on the CIA.
The other possibility is that they're so clueless that they did this without any nefarious plan, because they're so inept, and so prone to cronyism and nepotism, that this is just business as usual. If so, the popular theory that the CIA couldn't find its own weenie with both hands and a flashlight would appear to have found some pretty strong support.So either the CIA is so frigging brilliant that they were able to arrange for Wilson (who just happened to be the former acting ambassador to Iraq in the lead-up to the Gulf War) to go and find exactly what they knew he would find, predicted his response to the dubious run-up to the war, helped him write his NY Times op-ed, got him a coveted spot on the editorial page, and then sat back with a big bowl of popcorn and watched the hilarious hijinks...or they're just a bunch of goof-offs who were just fucking around after 9/11 while the rest of the members of the Administration (whose intentions were pure and noble and eerily god-like) were fighting the good fight despite them. Walt Disney should have had Glenn Reynolds imagination...
posted by tbogg at 8:34 PM
|
The peasants are revolting They certainly are... Based on the letters from the local San Diego Union, it looks like the natives of this quaint little beach-front town filled with retired and active military are getting a touch restless. You can go here to read the in all of their glory, but here are some snippets: All this leads to one major conclusion: Rational people can either believe we are in Iraq for other purposes and Bush is lying, or that he is telling the truth and is woefully incompetent to get the job done by comparison to leadership we had in World War II. Your choice.
Either way, we are fighting a more or less conventional war in Iraq as a presumed method of attacking a truly unconventional opponent. We tried a similar thing in Vietnam. It didn't work very well there either.
Are comparisons between the present situation and past wars overly simplistic? Sure, but comparisons are not totally without value. Everything that happened between Sept. 11, and today has happened during George W. Bush's tenure in office. If the invasion of Iraq is the equivalent national response to Pearl Harbor, we have not succeeded. Where does the buck stop in the Bush White House?
SHERMAN E. DeFOREST
Carlsbad
No person can justify invading and initiating a war against an entire country that did not attack us or threaten to attack us. No person can link Sept. 11, 2001, to Iraq; 15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.
The Bush administration would like the American public to believe that Iraq is the battleground where we must fight terrorism. That is not true. Wherever terrorism exists, go there and eliminate the terrorists. Don't invade countries and lie about the cause and effect.
Iraq was about oil and giving contracts to defense contractors and corporate America such as Halliburton.
I also am outraged that few Republican politicians who are so pro-war have kin serving on the front lines in Iraq.
JOSEPH M. MORENO
San Diego
At this stage in the chaos known as the occupation of Iraq, one would hope the media in general and the Washington, D.C., press corps in particular would ask Bush why he ordered the invasion of Iraq.
Was it because of weapons of mass destruction? Not so – none existed. Was it because of Iraq's nuclear capability? Not so – none existed. Was it because Iraq had links to al-Qaeda? Not so – none existed. Was it because Iraq had involvement in Sept. 11? Not so – none existed.
Perhaps some member of the press corps might paraphrase a speech by a late president: "Mr. Bush, tear down your wall of multiple deceptive explanations, and tell the world why you really commenced the war with Iraq."
FRANK FERRONE
El Cajon
In "More good news from Iraq" (Insight, Oct. 23), Robert Caldwell continues to try and put lipstick on the pig by touting recent events in Iraq. Perhaps he needs a brief reality check.
His contention that the constitution is political salvation can easily be refuted by Kenneth Pollack, a former CIA and National Security Council expert on Iraq. Although Pollack was an advocate for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein who agrees that the constitutional referendum was an important step, he says it only amounted to "dodging a bullet than actually making real progress toward the goals of stability and democracy in Iraq."
In a recent interview with the Council on Foreign Relations, Pollack said the United States likes to focus on such political developments, but "what concerns me is my fear that what really matters in Iraq are other issues, which we have badly neglected: the security of the Iraqi people more broadly; the problems that the security vacuum we've created for their political structure; the rise of Iraq's militias; and the growing disconnectedness between the average Iraqi and the political process that's taking place inside the Green Zone in Baghdad."
The worldwide consensus is that U.S. optimism about the constitution and why we relentlessly pushed for its timetable, have been dictated by the constraints of our own domestic political realities, such as Bush's abysmal poll ratings directly related to the war and the growing realization by the American public that we are firmly entrenched in a costly quagmire of epic proportions with a death toll already past the 2000 mark.
[...]
LINDA VASCONCELLOS
Scripps Ranch
posted by tbogg at 5:08 PM
|
Saturday, October 29, 2005
If wishes were horses, Cliff May would still be an assCliff May, who does some of his stupidest work on the weekends when Bill Buckley is in his coma and K-Lo is working on her Duran Duran fan-fic, somes up with this gem of woulda-shoulda-coulda that plays fast and loose with the facts just enough to make him sound smart to the Fox News crowd: Imagine if, immediately after the criticism of the “16 words” in Bush’s State of the Union, the administration’s response had not been, in essence: “Oh, gosh, golly, gee, we’re so sorry, those words shouldn’t have been included, it was a big mistake.”
Imagine if the response had been instead: “The President cited British intelligence which continues to believe Saddam Hussein sought uranium in Africa. We believe our British friends know what they are talking about.”
Then Wilson would have happily leaked details – both true and false – of his secret mission to Africa and he would written his op-ed. Administration officials would -- and should-- have been responded by saying: “Joe Wilson believes that the 8 days he spent at a hotel in Niamey, sipping mint tea with government officials, provided him with more information and insight than British intelligence has gathered over the past few years. He’s entitled to his opinion. We don’t share it.”
And if the administration had wanted to play hard-ball it might have added: “We regret that the CIA had no one on staff available to undertake this sort of investigation.”
They would have refrained from adding: “No doubt all the CIA staffers were too busy writing tell-all books criticizing the president.” One imagines May sitting in an empty apartment mulling over every devasating retort he couldn't manage to spit out, but thought of later, every time a woman left him . That'll show 'em. Bitches.
posted by tbogg at 1:33 PM
|
Dammit. My best flagellant shirt is still at the dry cleanersApparently there wasn't enough rending of garments and gnashing of teeth as citizens observed the death of 2000 Americans. Some were even caught on film smiling for the camera and chatting (gasp!). Afterwards they set cars on fire and danced naked around the pyre in honor of Our Dark Lord Clenis the First before rutting in the streets like the foul godless beasts that they are. Then they went to Coco's for pie.
posted by tbogg at 9:41 AM
|
Friday, October 28, 2005
I don't claim to be an "A" student Grab a seat Paul, the lesser of the NotAssrockets at Power Line (he's the less telegenic one...No, really. It is possible) somehow managed to squeak through both Dartmouth and Stanford Law (don't these schools have standards any more?) without a well-rounded education in history and math: Once evidence appeared that Miers might hold a liberal judicial philosophy, some conservatives (including me) argued that, if she could not satisfactorily explain herself, she should lose the votes of conservative Senators. This was not hypocrisy. There can only be one set of rules for voting on judicial nominees. If liberal Democrats persist, as they have, in voting against qualified conservative nominees on purely ideological grounds, conservative Republicans must do the same. We can't have Ruth Bader Ginsburg waltzing to confirmation with 90 plus votes while conservative nominees struggle to capture a single liberal Democratic vote.We'll let the fabulous Lindsey Graham field this one: SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: I would just urge this committee as we go to the next debate to remember that Scalia was obviously conservative. There is no way Roberts is more conservative than Scalia. There is no way that Roberts is more challenging and in your face than Scalia in his writings. Scalia got 98 votes. Now what has happened? Ginsburg got 96 votes; what is going on? I think Sen. Grassley put his finger on it; there is a lot of pressure on us all. This is the easiest vote a Republican will ever make. This is so easy for us to vote for Roberts.Thanks Lindsey. Now go wait in the car...
posted by tbogg at 10:38 PM
|
Judy Miller? ...Pissant. I sing the body bullshit The New York Times found a speck of credibility in its newsroom and decided to piss on it (via Kevin Drum): The right's embrace in the Miers nomination of tactics previously exclusive to the left - exaggeration, invective, anonymous sources, an unbroken stream of new charges, television advertisements paid for by secret sources - will make it immeasurably harder to denounce and deflect such assaults when the Democrats make them the next time around. (my emphasis) Looks like someone is auditioning for Judy Miller's old cubicle.
posted by tbogg at 10:10 PM
|
Soon to share a cell...If there is any justice in the world Michael Ledeen will be Scooter's bunkie for being part and parcel to the trumped up rationale for an unneccesary war. So here is Ledeen, dancing and pooh-poohing as fast as he can: I think the indictment stinks. You have to parse it very carefully to figure out whether Libby is accused of lying to the grand jury or the FBI, or to journalists. Go look. I finally concluded that it says that Libby lied to the grand jury (and elsewhere the FBI) when he testified that he told (Cooper, Miller or Russert) things that in fact he did not tell (Cooper, Miller or Russert).
If that is right, it means that this poor man may well have been indicted because his memory of those conversations differs from the journalists'. And Fitzgerald chose/wanted? to believe the journalists' memories. Pfui. To this non-lawyer, that's not good enough to shake up the staff of the vice president of the United States.
Isn't perjury a knowing lie? Why should Fitzgerald assume, even if he thinks he KNOWS that the journalists' memories are all reliable, that Libby didn't misremember the conversations?
Footnote: that's why lawyers tell clients not to say anything unless they have a very clear recollection of something. They can't prosecute you for having Halfheimer's disease...
Then, I entirely agree with those who have said that Fitzgerald has introduced an entirely different rationale into this process. He was supposed to determine if anyone had outed a covert operative. In this indictment, and in his press conference, he just said that her identity was classified, and so he wants to prosecute people for improper use of classified information. I expect the defense will have fun with that one. Is it criminal to say that so and so works at CIA? If so, a lot of normal people and even some journalists should be prosecuted forthwith.
I'm not impressed at all. I think he's straining, I think he's forcing this issue, I think it's unreasonable. When one considers Ledeen's previous history involving security clearances and such, and if there is any proof that Ledeen had anything to do with the Italian forgeries that are at the heart of the Plame affair, then I think further indictments would be more than reasonable.
posted by tbogg at 2:22 PM
|
He'd be a more passable candidate if he were married.
Prop kids would be nice too...Jesus Harold Christ
posted by tbogg at 7:31 AM
|
New! Different! The same!PajamAmway Media is going to cause a tectonic shift in the paradigm by thinking outside the box and creating synergy. I think the previous sentence is what passes for their business plan. And here is why they'll be different: Though Simon was still pretty cagey about details last night, wanting to save any big news for the official launch on Nov. 16, it was possible to glean that Pajamas Media will kick off with about 70 blogs on its site and grow to many times that in the months ahead. These blogs will be chosen from across the political spectrum, and will also include lifestyle and sports sites.
In keeping with the nature of the Internet, PM will operate 24/7, with managing editors in L.A., Sydney and Barcelona. An editorial board will approve stories before they appear, and corrections will be made on the front page in real time. There will be no editing of the blogs themselves, to preserve their independence. In every way, readers will be intimately involved with the site, from commenting and correcting, to submitting content, especially events on the ground in distant corners of the world — ultimately providing streaming video.
[...]
At the heart of Pajamas Media, says Simon, is that "we are going to be a true citizens' site," dedicated to giving readers all points of view, not (like traditional media) deciding what they need to know.(my emphasis) Wow. The MSM should think about getting themselves some of those "editors" thingys. It's a brave new world...
posted by tbogg at 6:29 AM
|
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Friday Random TenCrawlspace - The Beastie Boys The Last Hour - Elliott Smith The First - Tegan & Sara Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order (Crystal Method CSII Mix) Fat Man In The Bathtub - Little Feat (live Waiting for Columbus) Feed The Gods - White Zombie Calling It Quits - Aimee Mann Estupenda Graca - Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays Fire - Ohio Players Someone Take The Wheel - The Replacements
posted by tbogg at 11:05 PM
|
The Mourning After One more for the Gipper, one more for the road... Apparently the last five years have just been one big Lost Weekend for Peggy Noonan and now it's Monday morning and she still has Friday night's clothes on but someone else's underwear, she can't find her car keys or her debit card, and her mouth tastes like Rush Limbaugh slept in it But don't take it from me, go read Peggy here and then go read Roy here.
posted by tbogg at 10:19 PM
|
Thursday Night You're Harshing The Party, Man.iTunes has a feature called party mix which is another name for shuffle, and that is what I usually put on when I'm scouring the internets for stupidity. That usually takes about three minutes (four minutes if I stay away from Power Line). For the most part party mix seems like it tends to choose songs that are fairly beat heavy which is what keeps me awake most of the time so that I don't keyboard off the road. Tonight in order I got: Waterfall - The Stone Roses Hands of Death (Burn Baby Burn) - Rob Zombie Castanets - Alejandro Escovedo You Got Me Rocking - The Rolling Stones Love Shack - The B-52s Divine Thing - The Soup Dragons and then... The Grave by Don McLean, a song you will probably never hear if you listened to radio 24/7 for the next ten years. Since Bush's War passed the 2000 disserved mark this week, I thought I would share the lyrics. I'd say 'enjoy!', but it's not a joyful noise: The grave that they dug him had flowers
Gathered from the hillsides in bright summer colors,
And the brown earth bleached white at the edge of his gravestone.
He’s gone.
When the wars of our nation did beckon,
A man barely twenty did answer the calling.
Proud of the trust that he placed in our nation,
He’s gone,
But eternity knows him, and it knows what we’ve done.
And the rain fell like pearls on the leaves of the flowers
Leaving brown, muddy clay where the earth had been dry.
And deep in the trench he waited for hours,
As he held to his rifle and prayed not to die.
But the silence of night was shattered by fire
As guns and grenades blasted sharp through the air.
And one after another his comrades were slaughtered.
In a morgue of marines, alone standing there.
He crouched ever lower, ever lower with fear.
"they can’t let me die! the can’t let me die here!
I’ll cover myself with the mud and the earth.
I’ll cover myself! I know I’m not brave!
The earth! the earth! the earth is my grave."
The grave that they dug him had flowers
Gathered from the hillsides in bright summer colors,
And the brown earth bleached white at the edge of his gravestone.
He’s gone. Okay everyone! American Pie! All together now...
posted by tbogg at 9:57 PM
|
We must not inconvenience this President Karl Rove: Down but not out. Faster Prosecutor! Indict, indict!THE CONTINUING INVESTIGATION [Mark R. Levin]
From the New York Times piece: "Karl Rove, President Bush's senior adviser and deputy chief of staff, will not be charged on Friday, but will remain under investigation, people briefed officially about the case said."
If this is accurate, and I say if, it bothers me a great deal. To continue to hang this investigation over the president's top aide seems highly inappropriate to me. If they couldn't find something on Rove by now, then move on. If they couldn't find or convince witnesses to contradict Rove by now, then move on. It appears they took another run at his assistant the other day, but may have come up empty. This is clearly disruptive to the president. And at some point you would think this would be relevant to investigators.Kenneth Starr's investigation In August 1994, a special three-judge panel appointed Kenneth Starr independent counsel to investigate potential wrongdoing by President Clinton and his associates in connection with the failed land deal in Arkansas known as Whitewater. Now, more than three and a half years and $25 million later, Starr says, "The end is not yet in sight."You know, if Karl Rove had gotten a blow job we could be wrapping this up. But that would be too much to ask and, trust me, Karl has asked.
posted by tbogg at 9:24 PM
|
Thursday Night basset Blogging The less-than-dynamic duo waking up from a nap so that they can take another nap. Later there will be food, pooping, and more napping.
posted by tbogg at 6:33 PM
|
Thank you....to LA Candy for the Yo La Tengo CD and the copy of On Bullshit. And gift-wrapped, no less! Someone's momma raised them right.
posted by tbogg at 4:42 PM
|
If yer not busy this weekend President Bush hugs Florida resident Priscilia Herrera
while visiting a relief center in Pompano, Fla., as he tours
the area affected by Hurricane Wilma on Thursday. Later he nominated her for the Supreme Court.
posted by tbogg at 4:02 PM
|
Shorter Victor Davis Memento Mori HansonComparative historical arguments, too, are not much welcome in making sense of the tragic military deaths...not that that is going to stop me.
posted by tbogg at 1:36 PM
|
If, by 'bi-partisan' you mean two RepublicansMSNBC: Bush said Miers withdrew because of a bipartisan effort in Congress to gain access to internal documents related to her current role as counsel to the president.
“It is clear that senators would not be satisfied until they gained access to internal documents concerning advice provided during her tenure at the White House — disclosures that would undermine a president’s ability to receive candid counsel,” Bush said. “Harriet Miers’ decision demonstrates her deep respect for this essential aspect of the constitutional separation of powers — and confirms my deep respect and admiration for her.”Slate: The fight over documents related to Miers' work in the White House was the last straw. According to administration officials, Sens. Sam Brownback, R-Kans., and Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., were adamant that they would need documents—something, anything—to make up for her thin record and middling performance since her nomination. Miers' questionnaire had been paltry. Her visits with senators had not gone well. At his Cabinet meeting Monday, Bush told his staff the documents represented a "red line" that he would not cross, setting the stage for the showdown.Well they are from two different states...
posted by tbogg at 12:39 PM
|
Wait for the punchlineThis is a couple of days old and, as you read it, keep in mind that this is 2005: One year ago, Arizona authorities set up shop in a double-wide trailer here at the edge of the nation's largest polygamous community, trying to bring at least a semblance of secular law to an American small town like no other.
Theirs was the first independent government presence in half a century at this settlement straddling the Arizona-Utah border, a place frozen in a 19th-century frontier theocracy inspired by the early Mormon Church.
But the twin towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, continue to defy the law, the authorities and dissidents say: under the direction of leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, women are still being removed from their husbands and assigned to other men, and girls under 18 are ordered to become brides of older men on a day's notice, all despite the presence of full-time outside law enforcement.
DeLoy Bateman, a high school science teacher here who left the church several years ago, says his daughter's marriage was recently broken up by church leaders. She was ordered to become the bride of her father-in-law, a man twice her age, Mr. Bateman says.
"This just makes me want to cry," said Mr. Bateman, a lifelong resident of Colorado City. "They tore up this marriage and ordered her to have sex with this older man. I've lost my daughter and her children to this church. I have to stand outside on the sidewalk and beg if I want to see my grandchildren."
Other residents and investigators tell similar stories about the church, which continues operating under the direction of its absolute leader, Warren Jeffs, in spite of his being one of the country's most-wanted fugitives, indicted on sexual abuse charges along with eight of his chief followers
[...]
Church leaders - and officials of the mayor's office, the Police Department and the school board, all of whom are followers - declined to be interviewed. The police, as well as church body guards in white pickup trucks, followed a visiting reporter and a photographer around town for several days.
Members of the sect say they are the true followers of Joseph Smith, who founded Mormonism 175 years ago. About a third of the residents are on food stamps, and the welfare rate is one of the highest in the West. The followers, who account for most of the twin towns' 8,000 people, justify taking public money with a term used by Smith's own followers: "bleeding the beast" - that is, taking from a government under which the early Mormons were often persecuted.
[...]
Mr. Jeffs, whose whereabouts is unknown, no longer defends himself in any legal proceeding and has ordered his followers to do the same, state officials say. The sexual abuse charges on which he was indicted in June maintain that he forced a 16-year-old girl to marry a 28-year-old married man.
Mr. Jeffs, age 45, has as many as 70 wives, people who have left the church say. He teaches that a man cannot get to heaven unless he has at least three wives. And because there are not enough women to meet the demands of men who want eternal life, brides are constantly being reassigned.
"Just yesterday I got word of one of my students who had stopped attending classes: she has been pulled away from her husband and assigned to another man," said Carolyn Hamblin, a counselor and assistant dean at the Colorado City branch of Mohave Community College.
"It just breaks my heart," said Ms. Hamblin, a follower of the mainstream Mormon faith, which renounced polygamy in 1890 as a condition of Utah's statehood.
[...]
The Arizona attorney general, Terry Goddard, whose own office is already active here, has asked the Justice Department to investigate the local police, saying they "seem to be aiding and abetting" criminal behavior by discouraging witnesses in sexual abuse cases from testifying; a third of the force has been decertified by Utah and Arizona for criminal conduct.
In a recent letter to the United States attorney general, Alberto R. Gonzales, Mr. Goddard wrote, "I believe that the officers of the Colorado City Police Department have engaged in a pattern of conduct that deprives individuals of their constitutional and civil rights."...and here it comes: The Justice Department has not decided whether to intervene.If Bill Clinton was getting a blowjob in that town, the Justice Department would be sending in SWAT teams. Women are being snatched away from their families and forced to marry other men right here in the US and we're worried about Islamic theocrats in Iraq? (via feministe)
posted by tbogg at 12:20 PM
|
Who'll be the next in line Disco Ted to the rescue According to firedoglake one of the names being floated to fill the gaping void that is George Bush's heart is the Widower Olson seen above trying to get over his own broken heart. Meanwhile Michelle Malkin says: Just hearing (and I just posted The clock is ticking). What a relief. Sad, pensive, what-a-waste relief. Not happy-joy-joy relief.So it's a happy-happy-joy-joy kind-of-crampy-retaining-water-relief bitter-about-my-flopping-book-relief-sad lock-up-some-foreigners-and-make-me-smile-again happy-sad relief. Got that?
posted by tbogg at 6:46 AM
|
Miers does what George H.W. Bush should have done 59 years agoIn order to spend more time with Karen Hughes' family, Harriet Miers withdrew from consideration for the Most Totally Bitchin' Supreme Court evah this morning, which will now allow George W. Bush to select someone who is qualified (and will overturn Roe) in place of Miers who was unqualified (and would overturn Roe.). The normally upbeat Miers has indicated that she will join a traveling road company of Mama Mia! instead while a distraught and petulant President Bush has refused to come out of his room and he keeps playing Hall & Oates' She's Gone over and over and would only say through the door that he would "pay the devil to replace her". Dr James Dobson has accepted the offer. In other news, Hugh Hewitt has been put on suicide watch but they're not really watching that closely... (Cross posted with Jo Fish...one of us should have used She's Out of My Life)
posted by tbogg at 6:39 AM
|
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Dear Chicago After sweeping the Astros everyone had snacks... I'm didn't really care much one way or the other who won the World Series (although I did get a charge out of watching George H.W. and Barbara Bush witness something even more disappointing than their children), but it was nice to see an old school team win it for the second year in a row as opposed to those upstart spend-a-shitload-of-money-then-collapse teams (Marlins '03, D'Backs '01). Like a lot of baseball fans I would have liked to have seen Bagwell and Biggio win one before they retire, but, oh well. Full disclosure: Casey was once an Astro  We were Astros once and young... Having said all that, here are the completely unrelated to baseball lyrics to Dear Chicago, a Ryan Adams song that I have been playing over and over for about two weeks now. Good lord, is it gorgeous. And it mentions Chicago. Dear Chicago,
You'll never guess.
You know the girl you said I'd meet someday?
Well, I've got something to confess.
She picked me up on Friday.
Asked me if she reminded me of you.
I just laughed and lit a cigarette,
Said "that's impossible to do."
My life's gotten simple since.
And it fluctuates so much.
Happy and sad and back again.
I'm not crying out to much.
Think about you all the time.
It's strange and hard to deal.
Think about you lying there.
And those blankets lie so still.
Nothing breathes here in the cold.
Nothing moves or even smiles.
I've been thinking some of suicide.
But there's bars out here for miles.
Sorry about the every kiss.
Every kiss you wasted back.
I think the thing you said was true,
I'm going to die alone and sad.
The wind's feeling real these days.
Yeah, baby, it hurt's me some.
Never thought I'd feel so blue.
New York City, you're almost gone.
I think that I've fallen out of love.
I think I've fallen out of love . . . with youMore baseball here and here and here and here and here.
posted by tbogg at 11:53 PM
|
My God, man... kerning doesn't work!
Alert the Photoshoppers... Filter > Blur > Dumb Blur We have now solved the mystery of why no one is buying Michelle Malkin's book. They're all getting bizzy using their mad Photoshop skillz, yo to prove that the MSM is out to Demonize Condi: Notice anything peculiar about her eyes?
No, Condi isn't possessed; the photo was manipulated.Now we all know that Condi hasn't been possesssed by a demon... at least since that hot August afternoon when she asked the Steely-Eyed Brush Cutting Man to come into the yard at Campo Borracho and bust up a chifferobe and she "...reached up an' kissed me 'side of th' face. She says she never kisssed a grown man man before an' she might as well kiss a POTUS. She says what her papa do to her don't count. She says 'Kiss me back, Bushie.' I say Miss Condi lemme outa here an' tried to run but she got her back to the door an' I'da had to push her....."Sorry. Got off track there. Anyway, Condi? Possessed?. Nope. But she does look a bit more clear-eyed than normal what with the early morning ice skating lessons, afternoon shoe shopping binges, and late night cavorting through the DC piano-bars with Ken Mehlman (who can belt out a mean The Man I Love after a few Sweet Bad Mamas, lemme tell you). And this has brought out the NotMoonbats who have linked this assault on all that is good and low-carb to USAToday, the Neuharth family, the Knights Templar, and Jennifer Love Hewitt and her firm thrusting breasts. Here is a sample: "I'm a feature film visual effects artist out here in Los Angeles. I work for a major visual effects studio, and have worked on a whole lot of major blockbuster movies which you have undoubtedly seen. I have almost 10 years of professional experience at digital image manipulation...and I never thought this would happen to me.
Last week these two totally hot lesbians moved in next door to my sad and lonely studio apartment overlooking the freeway. Their names are Vixen Hottrot and Amanda Lubeasy and they walk around the pool area naked except for torn wifebeaters doused in vegetable oil..."Wait. That's the wrong, albeit more interesting email. Here's another one: I wanted to comment on the reader who suggested the photo was the result of improper use of the unsharp mask filter. Not. This filter is used on all digital images to correct inevitable fuzziness, but there's no way it could produce the eyes in the doctored shot. No, to arrive at the published photo, someone had to go into the image, select the pixels in the whites of her eyes and make those pixels REALLY white. Stupid and deliberate, without doubt!Meaning that the terrorists have won. Which is really bad news for Vixen and Amanda... Those hot bitches.
posted by tbogg at 10:32 PM
|
It sure beats stalking Bin Laden The "Political Pit Bull" is a most fearsome beast. Instead of fighting godless (well, it's not exactly 'godless' so much as the wrong god) Islamofacism overseas, he takes to the streets of DC and stalks the mothers who sons have died fighting godless (see above) Islamofacism. He is a 'pit bull' indeed, and by 'pitbull' we mean sneaky little chickenshit.
posted by tbogg at 9:33 PM
|
Touched by a prosecutorI'm trying to not get too excited about the whole Plame kerfluffle-on-steroids. I've been burned too often by expectations of people doing the right or honorable thing, so I'll just hold my fire and not start buying Fitzmas presents just yet. But I did enjoy this little tidbit from Kos: Thanks to a letter of February, 2004 which Fitzgerald asked for and obtained expaneed authority, the Special Prosecutor is now in possession of an Italian parliament investigation into the forged Niger documents alleging Iraq's interest in purchasing Niger uranium, sources said.
They said that Fitzgerald is looking into such individuals as former CIA agent, Duane Claridge, military consultant to the Iraqi National Congress, Gen. Wayne Downing, another military consultant for INC, and Francis Brooke, head of INC's Washington office in an effort to determine if they played any role in the forgeriese or their dissiemination. Also included in this group is long-time neoconservative Michael Ledeen, these federal sources said. (my emphasis) This of course uncomfortably brushes up against the Corner (where Ledeen dabbles) as well as his real real good buddy, Roger Simon (who is a dabbler in his own right) which should set off more than a few defensive harrumph harrumphs which, in turn, will provide us with hours of entertainment, snark, and completely unfair characterizations. Life is good.
posted by tbogg at 12:13 PM
|
Youth wants to knowEach week the free local San Diego Reader runs a music column that lists stories about local bands, general music gossip, etc. One of the regular features is a listing of demands included in contracts by the bigger bands coming to town ("promoter must supply three cases of Budweiser, three bottles of Jack Daniels, bowl of salted nuts, greased-up dwarf, etc.") One thing that is almost always included is a request for socks. When the Foo Fighters were in town, they requested ten pairs of cotton tube socks. The latest is Sheryl Crow who is requesting six pairs of black cotton socks. This is probably a stupid question, but why do they ask for socks? Please post theories in the comments (click on the time stamp). Points given for originality and, no, this isn't a "bleg" of the type that Jonah uses when he's too lazy to do research which is...always.
posted by tbogg at 10:13 AM
|
Like Jesus General's Long Lost SisterThe Edicts of Nancy
posted by tbogg at 9:57 AM
|
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
The credibility gapFranken's The Truth# Hardcover: 352 pages
# Publisher: Dutton Adult (October 25, 2005)
# Language: English
# ISBN: 0525949062
# Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
# Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds. (View shipping rates and policies)
# Average Customer Review: based on 119 reviews. (Write a review.)
# Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2 in BooksMalkin's Unhinged# Hardcover: 256 pages
# Publisher: Regnery Publishing (October 24, 2005)
# Language: English
# ISBN: 0895260301
# Shipping Information: View shipping rates and policies
# Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,394 in BooksAs you can see, Franken's book came out Tuesday and has already generated 119 reviews. Malkin's book, which hit the shelves on Monday, has exactly...well none. Not even a "LOL, this is teh funny. Demonrats are morans." We will have to assume that Malkin's fans aren't exactly what the trades call 'speed readers' or 'people who can read without moving their lips'. I imagine sales will pick up for her once the German language edition gets released.
posted by tbogg at 11:29 PM
|
Kay Bailey IsSheReallyThatStupid?...sets the table, and Jane invites the Republicans to " eat it".
posted by tbogg at 11:24 PM
|
Take the Cheney Challenge Pissing on the truth. Assrocket in Wonderland: Ron Fournier of the Associated Press doesn't like Dick Cheney. That's pretty much the content of Fournier's latest hit piece. And Fournier is, perhaps because of his animus toward the Vice-President, no stickler for accuracy. He writes:
The latest disclosure also raises fresh questions about the vice president's credibility, long-ago frayed by inaccurate or questionable statements on Iraq.
Really? It would be interesting to see how many such inaccurate statements Cheney made, that were not also made by John Kerry and Hillary Clinton....and then John selectively uses quotes that make an agreeable echo in his head. So let's play along.
Iraq-Al Qaeda ConnectionsThere's overwhelming evidence there was a connection between al Qaeda and the Iraqi government. I am very confident that there was an established relationship there." - Vice President Cheney, 1/22/04
“There was a relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda.” – Vice President Cheney, 9/14/03 (From the same transcript that Hinderaker linked to) Iraq WMD“We believe Saddam has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons.” – Vice President Cheney, 3/16/03
“Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt that he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us.” –Vice President Cheney, 8/26/02
Post war
“I think has been fairly significant success in terms of putting Iraq back together again…and certainly wouldn't lead me to suggest or think that the strategy is flawed or needs to be changed.” – Vice President Cheney, [ 9/14/03 ]
“We will, in fact, be greeted as liberators. . . . I think it will go relatively quickly... (in) weeks rather than months.” – Vice President Cheney [3/16/03]Hinderaker goes on to say: As a certified liberal, Fournier subscribes to the dogma that Iraq couldn't possibly have anything to do with al Qaeda:
[Cheney] also insisted there was a link between al-Qaida and Iraq.
But of course! No one could possibly deny, in light of all of the revelations both before and after Saddam's downfall, that there were links, connections, relationships--call them what you will--between Iraq and al Qaeda. We have discussed them many times. It is possible to debate the extent and significance of the links between Iraq and al Qaeda, but for Fournier to imply that they didn't exist is absurd.However, since we know that Hinderaker and the two other NotRockets are known to skip over salient facts, blatantly ignore reality, and make shit up we'll just have to take those " links, connections, relationships--call them what you will" (known in the trade as weasel words) with a grain of salt bigger than the Rockets ego. If that's possible.
posted by tbogg at 10:55 PM
|
And You Shall Know Us By The Trail of Dead Four Horsemen of the Iraqalypse:
Incompetency, Venality, Stupidity, and Senility 2000 dead. The number of U.S. troops who have died in the Iraq war hit 2,000 yesterday, a toll felt deeply at big military bases across America that active-duty soldiers and families call home, as well as in hundreds of communities where the National Guard and reservists work, live and train.
The threshold was crossed with the Pentagon's announcement that Staff Sgt. George Alexander Jr., 34, of Killeen, Tex., had died at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas on Saturday of injuries suffered in Iraq earlier this month, when a bomb planted by insurgents exploded near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
Since the March 2003 invasion and quick march to take Baghdad, U.S. troops have been dying at about 800 a year, with most killed in action by crude but powerful roadside bombs and in firefights against an unrelenting insurgency. More than 90 percent of the deaths have come after President Bush declared an end to "major combat operations" on May 1, 2003.Progress? October 2003: 44 dead October 2004: 63 dead October 25, 2005: 67 dead Or, as Rich Lowry might put it: 
posted by tbogg at 10:25 PM
|
Speak to me of anger issues... It must be great to be Al Franken and know that your every move causes your favorite stalker's blood pressure to boil over, making her more incoherent than normal. That would be Michelle Malkin (unhinged, foaming at the mouth racist, blond Aryan gal...that Michelle Malkin): It's a clip of the last few minutes of an exclusive promotional sales pitch for Al Franken's new book, "The Truth (with jokes)," featured at Amazon.com. (Thanks to my web guy, Mark Jaquith, for the technical assist.) The video skit blurs truth and fiction as a psychotic Al Franken kicks a man potraying a conservative reader in the groin, smashes a stool over his back, and grins as another man playing one of Franken's fans cracks a bottle over the conservative's head.
A few video stills (that's Franken on the right assuming the crane position)
[...]
Al Franken, we know, is an angry, unstable man. He's got temper-control issues. Remember this and this and this? He didn't have to stretch much for his Amazon.com role. The skit, however, comes across not as self-effacing or satirical, but creepily, seriously cathartic.
There is absolutely nothing funny about the clip, though I suppose it is somewhat amusing to imagine Franken's obsequious team of overpaid Harvard libs crowded around the set telling their boss what a comic genius he is.
Franken is, of course, baiting us to be outraged. But what you should feel for this man is pathos. The guy needs professional help....said the woman who was up at 1:25 in the morning obsessing over this. *** Oh wait. This must be it: Malkin's Unhinged: # Hardcover: 256 pages
# Publisher: Regnery Publishing (October 24, 2005)
# Language: English
# ISBN: 0895260301
# Shipping Information: View shipping rates and policies
# Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,695 in BooksFranken's The Truth: # Publisher: Dutton Adult (October 25, 2005)
# Language: English
# ISBN: 0525949062
# Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
# Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds. (View shipping rates and policies)
# Average Customer Review: based on 40 reviews. (Write a review.)
# Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7 in BooksNo wonder she's doing her stalking in the stacks of Amazon.
posted by tbogg at 10:40 AM
|
Monday, October 24, 2005
The Big Flush Pajamas Media settles on a
corporate logo There is a lot to read about here, but if there is anything going down the la toilette les toilettes faster than the Mier's nomination it has to be Pajamas Media which is starting to look like the Comet Kohoutek of the Blogiverse. Dennis the Pheasant shines a light on the ugly underbelly of a ludicrous idea turning bad like potato salad in the sun. Long story short: Roger Simon of rogerlsimon.com teams up with Charles Johnson of mybikeride-picturesofthesky-muslimhatred.com to create a media empire that will make them money on the backs of a bunch of rube bloggers who think that they're gonna get rich, rich, rich on that internets thing. Hence the name change, come November, to PajamAmway Media.I like it. It's got a good beat and you can fuck people over to it...
posted by tbogg at 10:31 PM
|
Another Great Moment in the Goldberg Canon Quoth the Pantload, 'Whoops... my bad' Post at 5PM: SIMPLY THE BEST [Jonah Goldberg ]
This has been around for a while but it really is a classic. G-Rated, but loud. Worst....halftime show...ever.
Posted at 05:00 PMForty six minutes later: RE: SIMPLY THE BEST [Jonah Goldberg]
Several readers have complained that the halftime show I posted to featured retarded kids and it's wrong to make fun of them. In all honesty, I didn't pick up on that at first. I wasn't studying the video. I rewatched it now, and I can see they're probably right. My apologies. Update: Several readers say they might in fact be deaf. Though quite a few of you have noted that some mental problem is surely associated with wearing a Che t-shirt.
Posted at 05:46 PMIf Bill Buckley wasn't already incontinent, he would just shit...
posted by tbogg at 9:56 PM
|
Shut the fuck up and die for me "When she gets a grip, send her my way. I've got
a few ideas on where to invest that death benefit.
In the meantime, I'll be in the bar." Jr. Investment Chickenhawk Jonathan R. can't understand why 2000 dead American soldiers means anything to anyone and how come some guy who actually served in Iraq can't see the big picture like he can from his not-quite corner office: As the number of Americans servicemen killed in Iraq approaches 2,000 (fewer than the number of Americans killed on December 7, 1941, allied forces killed on June 6, 1944 or American civilians killed on September 11, 2001), the Left is preparing a celebration. They will call it a commemoration or an observance or some such thing, but it really is nothing more to them than a gift: an excuse to once again show their opposition to the war on terror.
How do we know this? The number 2,000 has no particular meaning, except that it is a nice round number and is a good marketing tool for them (sort of like their Y2K, their millennium).
[...]
For some, it is a time for some to ask questions.
"I hope that this milestone marks the point when the American people realize the U.S. military is not going to stop the violence in Iraq, and they instead start demanding a political solution to this problem," Sean O'Neill, a U.S. Marine who served in Iraq, said in a statement.
If he's missed the two landmark elections in Iraq, which now appears to have a constitution as a result of this ongoing political solution, he can probably be excused because the MSM is choosing to ignore it.(his emphasis) Yes. The MSM completely ignored both elections. In fact, they are still ignoring it. In the end, Iraq is on a democratic course, and history will remember the bold action of the President who set about to remake the middle east, not the gnats who snipe at every opportunity.Jesus. Fucking. Christ. Just when you think that conservative bloggers can't get any stupider they start up a Special Olympics of Dumbfuckery and it seems like everyone is going for the gold.
posted by tbogg at 9:27 PM
|
Coming up after the break - Car Breaks Down On Freeway, Chiggers: Can They Happen To You? .... and Fat Sweaty C-List Speaker Gets Yelled AtTim Graham, one of the lesser lights of The Corner (we're guessing about three watts) complains about news coverage: Usually the phrase "Monday morning quarterbacking" looks backward, as in fans or analysts replaying a football game and telling how differently they would have advised playing it. But when it comes to the news cycle, you could define Monday morning quarterbacking as trying to signal where the news agenda SHOULD go this week. The network morning shows (with Russert, Stephanopoulos, and on CBS, pundit Amy Walter) were heavy on this line for the week: White House indictments, or The Night Before Fitzmas? 2,000 dead in Iraq? And is the Miers nomination dead yet? They clucked in objective third-person tones that the news was all bad for Bush, without noting that they are the news manufacturers, not just the news deliverers. "The news is all bad for the president" -- this use of the third-person by the media should be just as off-putting as the politician's variety: "Bob Dole won't stand for it."
That's not to say Miers isn't a mess, or that the Plamegate probe WON'T come to indictments. But there is a heavy foot on the speculative bad-news accelerator today.This must be in line with Warren Bell's earlier post: I spoke today at a panel discussion as part of the Liberty Film Festival. Hosts and organizers Govindini Murty and Jason Apuzzo were very gracious to invite me. The crowd was bright, and appreciative, as they always seem to be at these sort of things. A number of Corner readers said hello, and I'm sorry I couldn't stick around to chat, but my kids had a charity Halloween carnival to get to.
Meanwhile, Govindini told me that Friday's program was marred when two men rushed the stage while David Horowitz was speaking, screaming something along the lines of "you have no right to speak here!" I've seen no media coverage of this anywhere -- has anyone else? MSM bastards...what else are they hiding from us? Michelle Malkin has promised a five-part series on Horowitz-gate just as soon as she as decides whether they should be "unhinged moonbats" or "moonbats who are unhinged".
posted by tbogg at 8:14 AM
|
The best of the worst of the bestVia Norbiz, a listing of one-star reviews from Amazon from some of our brighter citizens. My favorite: Lord of the Flies (1955)
Author: William Golding
“I am obsessed with Survivor, so I thought it would be fun. WRONG!!! It is incredibly boring and disgusting. I was very much disturbed when I found young children killing each other. I think that anyone with a conscience would agree with me.”
posted by tbogg at 7:08 AM
|
Sunday, October 23, 2005
America Hates America. Loves Scooby. Ruh roh! 'raig 'ritley full roh crap. Two weeks ago Meghan Barsham, the plucky-but-not-entirely-bright Townhall movie reviewer, told us the USA was back at the movies! bigger and better than ever! Much has been made lately of Hollywood’s ongoing slump. Theories for it have ranged from the technological (DVDs and high definition television create home theaters that rival big screens) to the qualitative (for the first time, studios are openly considering the idea that bad scripts, bad directing, and bad acting might have something to do with audiences staying away).
While both are valid arguments, screenwriter Craig Titley pointed out on this site that history reveals another culprit: political hubris. Titley suggests that the film industry’s blue state machinations have turned 51 percent (the red-state percent) of the ticket-buying market off by insulting their values and mocking their patriotism.
[...]
But the junket I recently attended for Cameron Crowe’s Elizabethtown indicates that filmmakers may finally be getting the message that if they want to sell movies to the “right” half of the country, they can’t make America the bad guy. In fact, if the Elizabethtown marketing machine is any indication, Hollywood’s new movie-selling mantra may very well be, “We love the U.S. of A!”But even the best laid mantras o'mice an' marketing machines gang aft a-gley as Elizabethtown has pulled in $18,953,000 in two weeks with a drop off of 46% last week down to $5,725,000...or about $10 million less than Doom did in three days. That's what Meghan gets for being mesmerized by that smooth-talking Craig Titley and his riveting out-of-school tales from the closed set of the Scooby-Doo movie .
posted by tbogg at 11:54 PM
|
The Bush Administration Hole CardIn case of Administration Collapse....unleash the McNulty
posted by tbogg at 11:32 PM
|
A Little Bit Nutty and A Little Bit Slutty Nuttier Where's Hinderaker? Let's see...we already know that John Hideraker is, hmmmm.... how should we put this, I know: a big fucking liar. Now we see that either he knows the details of the biggest conspiracy/cover-up since lawyers pulled themselves out of the primordial ooze, or he's just nuts. Here he attacks a movie that he admits is "loosely based" on an actual case for being ...loosely based: I shuddered when I heard that a movie called North Country was being made out of the Jenson case, in which a group of female miners sued the owner of a taconite mine in northern Minnesota. I happen to know something about that case, which inspired a book called Class Action. The movie was said to be loosely based on the book and the actual case, and I could imagine how distorted Hollywood's product would be.
The movie is now out; it stars Charlize Theron, who was no doubt cast for her striking resemblance to the miner she plays. The film's web site is remarkably preachy, posturing the movie as a landmark in the battle against sexual harassment. The New York Post's review of North Country confirms that the movie is awash in liberal stereotypes. But one jarring note jumped out at me:
Inspired by Anita Hill's testimony at the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Josey talks Bill, a local hockey-hero-turned-lawyer (Woody Harrelson, in his best work in years) into mounting a lawsuit. And like Hill, Josey is confronted by the mine owner's "nuts and sluts" defense that focuses on her own sexual past.
The real Jenson case was filed in 1985, six years before the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearing. So this particular embellishment is pure fiction. Why did the moviemakers throw it in? Why do you think? The Supreme Court is in the news, and Justice Thomas is a hero to conservatives. So the liberals who made North Country went out of their way to slime him, shifting the movie's time line by six years just so they could slander a Republican. No wonder conservatives hate Hollywood.Why did the moviemakers throw it in? Because " the Supreme Court is in the news" according to Fanciful John. But how did filmmaker Niki Caro know that the Supreme Court would be in the news during the opening weekend of 10/21 back when she was making the film? I see that William Rehnquist died on 9/3 yet the movie was completed and shown at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9/13. Was Caro able to pull the entire crew and cast back for a reshoot, adding in the crucial Supreme Court references in an attempt to embarrass Harriet Miers (I mean, more than she has embarrassed herself) a mere ten days before the premiere in Toronto? Or did a team of Black-Op Hollywood Stealth Ninjas sneak into Justice Rehnquist's quarters and smother the aging Justice while he napped between episodes of Iron Chef. in an effort to create 'industry buzz'. And is paying a crack team of Silver Lake Lesbian Vampire Shadow-Warriors to terminate a Supreme Court Chief Justice with extreme prejudice, a better use of promotional dollars than, say, doing a tie-in with McDonalds to include North Country Sexual-Harassment Action Figures with every Happy Meal? All of which makes us state the obvious: No wonder conservatives hate reality. It's not near as interesting as their fever dreams. As for some of the other Hinderaker assertions about Anita Hill, one might start here to see that John is, as usual, full of shit.
|
|
